Adventures at Hogwarts

Chapter 6: The Best Teacher Yet

Once they entered the Great Hall, they split up to go to different tables. Meg sat with her friends, and Draco sat with his. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all looked at Meg when she sat down. "What," she asked her friends? All three of them looked at her. Meg was very confused. She didn't know why her friends were looking at her with disgust. Harry finally spoke up, "So, how's Malfoy?" Meg looked at him and replied, "He's fine. He'll live. However, he'll be out of Quidditch for a while so his arm could heal." Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other again. Meg finally asked them, "What the bloody hell is wrong with all of you? You're looking at me like I just had sex with Malfoy or something. What's going on?" Hermione spoke up, "We saw you and Malfoy walking down the corridor with each other hand in hand. We also saw the way he was looking at you when you came to the entrance to the Great Hall. He wants you, Meg. How can you be this oblivious?" Meg was offended. She replied to Hermione, "For your information, Hermione, I'm not oblivious about Malfoy! I know he's been wanting me since our first year. I also know that he's different around me. He's not as rude to me as he used to be. Besides, he's got plenty of girls to choose from if I shoot him down. I mean look!" She gestured to the Slytherin table. The four friends saw Malfoy sitting with his army of skanks, and next to him was Pansy Parkinson stroking his injured arm. She kept asking him, "Does it hurt terribly, Draco?" Draco answered her, "It comes and it goes. I consider myself lucky. For without Madame Pomfrey, another minute or two and I could've lost my arm." Meg turned back to her friends. She observed what she saw. "That bitch. She's always on him. Trying to seduce Draco into liking her instead of me." Harry chimed in, "She really is a slut. Every time the Slytherin Quidditch team goes for practice after Gryffindor, she always shows up to cheer on Malfoy. It's bloody annoying." "Sometimes, she'll try to sneak into the training room to spy on the players during Strength and Conditioning. It's down right ridiculous." Hermione chimed in, "Someone's jealous." Meg glared at her. She knew Hermione was right. Before they could continue their conversation, Seamus yelled, "He's been spotted! He's been spotted!" Everyone ran closer to hear. Seamus continued, "Sirius Black has been spotted just outside Hogsmeade." Hermione chimed in, "Thats not far from here." Harry looked very concerned.

Their class after lunch was Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Lupin. The four friends were very excited about this class. The two teachers they have had in the past two years haven't been the best. Quirrell had Voldemort living in the back of his head and tried to kill Harry, and Lockhart was just flat out annoying. When the four friends came to the door of the classroom, they saw that the classroom was completely empty. The only things that were in the room were a wardrobe and Professor Lupin. The whole class came in and gathered around Professor Lupin. Lupin began by asking the class about the wardrobe in the middle of the room. "Intriguing isn't it? If anyone would like to venture a guess as to what's inside?" Dean raised his hand, "That's a Boggart that is." Professor Lupin praises him. "Very good, Mr. Thomas. Now could anyone tell me what a Boggart looks like?" Hermione answered him, "No one knows. Boggarts are shape shifters they take the form of what a particular person fears the most. That's what makes them so..." Lupin interrupted her, "So terrifying, yes. Luckily, there is a simple charm that can repel a Boggart. Let's practice it now. Without wands please." He stood in front of the class and said, "Now, Repeat after me. Ridiculous." The class repeated him. He continued, "Now listen, very clear, listen. Ridiculous." The class repeated him again. From the back, Draco Malfoy stated, "This class is ridiculous." His gang agreed. Lupin congratulated the class and continued. "Very good. So much for the easy part. You see, the incantation alone is not enough. What really defeats a Boggart is laughter. You have to show it that the figure you see is funny. Let me explain." He called for a volunteer, "Neville, will you join me please?" Neville was reticent at first, but reluctantly walked towards Professor Lupin. Lupin asked him, "Neville, what frightens you most?" Neville answered him quietly, "Professor Snape." Lupin replied, "He frightens all. And I believe you live with your grandmother." Neville jumped in, "Yes, but I don't want that Boggart to turn into her either." The class laughed. Lupin assured him, "It won't. I want you to picture her clothes very clearly in your mind." Neville began to describe her, "She carries a red handbag." Lupin interrupted her, "We don't need to hear. If you see it, we'll see it. When I open that wardrobe, here's what I want you to do." He walked close to Neville and whispered, "I want you to picture Professor Snape in your grandmother's clothes." Neville agreed. Lupin turned around and said, "Wand at the ready. 1...2...3." The wardrobe opened and Snape came walking out of it closer to Neville. Lupin encourages him. Neville said the incantation and within seconds, Snape was wearing an elder lady's clothing. The whole class laughed. Lupin told the class to form a line to test the Boggart.

Ron was the first in the line. He went up to the Boggart and it transformed into a giant spider. Ron was scared. Lupin encourages him. When Ron said "Ridiculous", the spider had skates on its feet and it struggled to keep balance. Everyone laughed. Parvati Patil was next. Her Boggart was a giant Cobra. When she said "Ridiculous", the Cobra turned into a Jack-in -the-Box. Up next was Harry. When he walked in front of the Boggart, it didn't shape-shift for a few seconds. Then, all of a sudden, it turned into a Dementor. Lupin jumped in front of Harry and the Boggart turned into a full moon emerging from behind clouds. Lupin shouted, "Ridiculous!" The Boggart turned into a deflating balloon that traveled all around the room. He then guided it back into the wardrobe and dismissed the class. "Alright, well, that's enough for today. Don't forget to collect your books from the back of the class. That's then end of the lesson." Everyone was disappointed. Lupin apologized and everyone left.

It was almost time for their last class of the day. Meg and Hermione started towards Arithmacy and Harry and Ron headed to Herbology. On the way to Arithmacy, Meg and Hermione we're discussing what their Boggarts would be. "Mine is definitely a failed test," Hermione told her friend. Meg replied, "Why am I not surprised?" Hermione laughed at her friend's joke. She asked Meg, "What would your Boggart be?" Meg had never really thought about what her greatest fear would be. She was afraid of Voldemort, yes, but when her father was alive, she wasn't afraid of anything. She replied to Hermione, "Probably either a Dementor, or Voldemort." Hermione wasn't surprised by this answer. However, she thought Meg would say something about Malfoy. She knew Meg had feelings for Malfoy deep down, but, she still wasn't surprised that Meg said her greatest fear was Voldemort or a Dementor.