Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin

Chapter 23: The Boggart (Pt 2)

"I think a temporary confiscation of Jim's cloak is a most satisfactory solution," said Dumbledore, who then turned to Jim. "I hope this will help you to understand how these pranks can suddenly turn very serious, young man. And I also hope you will do the right thing and apologize to your brother as soon as possible so that the two of you can put this behind you."

Jim nodded. With that, the impromptu disciplinary meeting ended. Professor McGonagall accompanied Jim to take custody of the invisibility cloak, while Lily and James went once more to check on Harry's prognosis, and the other staff members retired for the night.

Jim stepped into the Gryffindor Common Room, followed by McGonagall. Instantly, he froze. It looked like over half the House was there waiting for him, and most of them looked unhappy. Longbottom, Granger and Lovegood sat together on a sofa. The first two were staring at him in judgment, the third with something that looked strangely like pity. From over in a corner, Ron flashed him a smile and a nod, reassuring Jim that he would still have at least one friend in the House, but everyone else just looked at him in confusion and worry, as if waiting to hear how the Boy-Who-Lived had screwed up this week.

At McGonagall's direction, Jim went upstairs to retrieve the cloak while she addressed the House. With an icy calm, she explained to everyone that Jim had performed a prank which had injured another student and informed them of his punishment. The reaction was a mixture of shock at the nature of the offense and fury over the points lost. McGonagall also announced that her tolerance for pranks was at an end, and any further pranks against Slytherin House would be met with the harshest sanctions. Jim returned with the cloak and gave it to McGonagall, who left without another word to him.

Later, Jim and Ron were sitting alone in their dorm room discussing what had happened.

"It's not fair," said Ron bitterly.

Jim shrugged. "I deserved it. If anything, I probably got off easy. It was stupid of me to let the boggart loose like that. It's lucky he wasn't hurt worse."

"I thought the plan was to just get a picture of Harry's boggart with Colin's camera. What happened?"

"The first time, Harry was too fast. The boggart popped out and took Vernon's form... sort of... but Harry banished it before I could take the picture. I thought I could let it out again and then take a quick photo before he could get his wand out. I just thought it was Uncle Vernon he was afraid of. I should have realized that doxies would play a part in it."

"So? How does that change things?" Ron asked.

Jim sighed. "Mum says if your boggart is actually based on a physically traumatic event, exposure causes you to relieve that trauma. When Harry couldn't banish the boggart the second time, he felt as though he was getting stung nearly to death again. It must have been agonizing."

Ron was silent for several seconds. "Look, it may have been bad for Harry, but that punishment was still way too harsh for an accident. If you want me to, I'll go to McGonagall and tell her the whole 'boggart thing' was originally my idea to begin with. Maybe she'll split your detention time and give some of it to me."

Jim smiled wanly and punched his friend in the arm. "Nah, mate. It was your idea, but it was my screw-up, so I'll take the punishment. There's no reason for both of us to be in the doghouse."

"If you think that's best. So what are you going to do about Harry? You know he'll come after you for this."

"I'll talk to him tomorrow morning and apologize. I hope he'll agree to, well, a cease-fire I guess."

"He won't honor it, Jim. He's a Slytherin!"

"Hey now, your sister's a Slytherin, mate!" Jim said with a smile. "We need to be a bit more open-minded now, don't we?"