Hecate's Realm

Leo the Boggart

AN: This has been beta'd by my friend Kasey while my usual beta reader is in China, so send her good vibes I guess?

-

"Frank, now!" Lupin yelled, encouraging the son of Mars to face the boggart next. He went to the spot where Ron previously was and tried to stay calm as he watched the boggart transform. It elongated into a humanoid body, then became shorter. The first identifiable features were elfish ears, curly brown hair, and a faint smell of sulfur. Frank's eyes widened once he recognised the figure.

"Leo?!"

-

The boggart smirked as his body began to combust. A few of the students behind him screamed at the sight. Frank subconsciously shifted into a better battle stance. This all happened within a few seconds as the room descended into chaos. Almost everyone inched their way to the back of the room, except for Frank, Seamus, Professor Lupin, and the Golden Trio.

Leo the boggart started to speak, drawing everyone's attention. "She doesn't belong here. Not with you." His hand began to glow brighter, hotter, and through his fingers, Frank could see his life stick, burning to ash.

"You're wrong," Frank countered. In that moment he wished more than anything that he could have his bow and arrow instead of some wand. 'My wand!' When he raised it, the boggart spoke again.

"All of you should be rotting in the Fields of-" Frank interrupted him with a strong "Riddikulus!", transforming Leo into a tiny bulldog.

It rolled over and over and it came to a halt at Harry's feet. He raised his wand, ready, but-

"Here!" shouted Professor Lupin suddenly, hurrying forward.

Crack!

The bulldog had vanished. For a second, everyone looked wildly around to see where it was. Then they saw a silvery-white orb hanging in the air in front of Lupin, who said, "Riddikulus!" almost lazily.

Crack!

"Forward, Neville, and finish him off!" said Lupin as the boggart landed on the floor as a cockroach. Crack! Snape was back. This time Neville charged forward looking determined.

"Riddikulus!" he shouted, and they had a split second's view of Snape in his lacy dress before Neville let out a great "Ha!" of laughter, and the boggart exploded, burst into a thousand tiny wisps of smoke, and was gone.

"Excellent!" cried Professor Lupin as the class broke into applause. "Excellent, Neville. Well done, everyone. . . . Let me see . . . five points to Gryffindor for every person to tackle the boggart, ten for Neville because he did it twice . . . and five each to Hermione and Harry."

"But I didn't do anything," said Harry.

"You and Hermione answered my questions correctly at the start of the class, Harry," Lupin said lightly. "Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson. Homework, kindly read the chapter on boggarts and summarize it for me . . . to be handed in on Monday. That will be all."

The class left the staffroom, talking excitedly. However, no one seemed to notice how Professor Lupin had stopped Harry from seeing his boggart.

"Did you see me take that banshee?" shouted Seamus.

"And the hand!" said Dean, waving his own around.

"And Snape in that hat!"

"And my mummy!"

"I wonder why Professor Lupin's frightened of crystal balls?" said Lavender thoughtfully.

"That was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson we've ever had, wasn't it?" Frank heard Ron say excitedly as the class made their way back to the classroom to get their bags.

"He seems like a very good teacher," said Hermione approvingly. The Son of Mars thought back to Seamus telling him about their other two DADA teachers so far, and how none of them had been very good so far. "But I wish I could have had a turn with the boggart."

"What would it have been for you?" said Ron, sniggering. "A piece of homework that only got nine out of ten?"

'Yup,' Frank thought. 'She'd get along swimmingly with Annabeth.'

-

They opened the doors and walked over to Draco, who sat up when he saw them come in. He frowned internally, knowing he would have some explaining to do, especially when he saw Frank's face as he entered.

-

Hazel was studying in the library when Emerson approached her. "Mind if I join you?" she asked quietly.

"Not at all." Emerson sat next to her and pulled out a book. She studied for a few minutes before turning to the daughter of Pluto.

"Hazel?" she whispered.

"Yes?" she whispered back in a similar tone.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"In class with Professor Lupin. Who was your boggart?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Why not?"

"She's gone."

"Gone? Like gone? Or gone gone."

"Gone gone," Hazel answered after a moment.

"Well she was wrong, you know."

"Excuse me?"

"You're not cursed, no matter what anyone says." Hazel nodded even though she knew she was. "And she can't get to you at Hogwarts."

"Thank you Emmy." Her roommate seemed satisfied with their conversation, and resumed reading.

The following silence gave Hazel the chance to wonder; was she free from her mother at Hogwarts? Sure, she hadn't seen her yet, and it had become harder for things to escape back to the mortal world after she and the rest of the Seven defeated Gaea. But then again, she was living proof that escape wasn't impossible. 'Next time I send an Iris message to the Camps, I'll ask Nico about ghosts from the Fields of Asphodel,' she decided. Surely her half brother would know more about ghosts. He raised them on the regular, after all. Gods, she could only imagine what he'd do if he ever saw Hogwarts. He'd probably be torn between sending them back to the Underworld and figuring out if they liked Happy Meals. The thought brought a smile to her face, helping banish the memory of the boggart taking the form of her mother from the front of her mind.

-

Sorry for the short chapter paired with a mini hiatus. School started and prepping for my first Comic Con took a lot of time and energy. The next chapter will come out sooner than this one did, scout's honor.