Emrys Riddle and The Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3 of the four Ribbons Series)

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Face Your Fears

" I think she's a little to excited for this class." Jackie said as we approached the forbidden forest, Cass had a huge grin on her face and was moving very quickly. Something that I had come to realize about Cass in the three years that I had known her, was that she was obsessed with magical creatures, mainly dragons; I had concluded that it came from the fact that she was a muggleborn.

The three of us still hadn't informed her of the giant spiders. As we got closer, Cass took off running, lost her footing, fell flat on her face, popped back up, and then took off running again like it hadn't even happened; the grin never once leaving her face. We joined the crowd of students as Hagrid, who was now our Care of Magical creatures professor, explained how to get the monster books open. Malfoy started to complain and it was clear that it was getting to Hagrid. He brought forward the creatures he would be showing us today. They had the body and hind legs of a horse and the head, front legs, and wings of an eagle. " Hippogriffs." Hagrid told us happily before waving us forward. Spencer, Jackie, Cass, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I, all stepped forward with cautious curiosity, but Harry got closest, which gained the attention of the hippogriff that Hagrid introduced as Buckbeak. Hagrid instructed him to bow, and only if he bowed back, was he allowed to get closer.

What happened after he bowed, I just found very unfair. Harry climbed onto the back of the hippogriff, and then took to the sky where he disappeared. When he returned, everyone seemed much more willing to get closer, and the class seemed to be going just fine.

Until my idiot cousin opened his big mouth.

" I bet your not dangerous at all, are you, you ugly brut." I heard him call out from behind me. I turned as I heard him scream and Hagrid wrestled the color back onto Buckbeak. Malfoy lie on the ground bleeding and dramatically yelling out that he was dying. Hagrid carried him off to the hospital wing and I shared a look with my friends as we made our way back up to the castle.

It was after dinner, that Cass suddenly disappeared, and it wasn't until the next day that we saw her again. " I wanted to make sure that Hagrid was okay." She explained quietly when asked about it, but that was all she would say.

*******

It was our first DADA lesson after potions the next day, and the three of us were curious about this new Professor. We sat in our usual seat at the back, and talked quietly amongst each other as we waited for him to arrive. He set his briefcase down on the desk at the front of the room, before instructing us to put everything away and to get out our wands. " Looks like we're actually getting to do something this year." Cass muttered as we all followed him out of the classroom and down the corridor where we found Peeves, the Hogwarts poltergeist stuffing gum in a keyhole. Professor Lupin dealt with him, before we continued into the staffroom where we found Snape sitting in a large armchair.

Snape left after warning him about Neville's poor ability at following instructions. I glanced toward the now embarrassed Gryffindor, and frowned. Neville wasn't very talented in anything magical, and often found himself in very embarrassing situations. Most of which received him the bullying of the potions master, Professor Snape.

Professor Lupin beckoned us toward a large wardrobe which began to shake as he got closer. He told us hat there was a boggart inside, and several of us exchanged looks of worry. " What's a boggart?" Cass whispered to spencer and I, but found her question answered as Professor Lupin explained.

" Boggarts like the dark. Enclosed spaces, wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks. I've even met one that lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice. So, the first question we must ask ourselves is 'what is a boggart?'."

For the first time in a DADA lesson, I was faster then Hermione, something which caused several heads to turn. I knew the answer because my mum had shown me how to deal with the one we had once had in our attic." Miss Riddle?"

" It's a shape shifter. It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."

" So, the boggart within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each one of us most fears. This means, that we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?"

" Because there are so many of us, it wont know what shape it will be." Harry attempted and Lupin nodded. " It is always best to have company when facing a boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse, or a flesh eating slug. I once saw a boggart make that very mistake, tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening. The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires a force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a boggart is laughter. What you need to do, is force it to assume a shape you find amusing. We will practice the charm without wands first. After me please, Riddikulus."

" Riddikulus " We all repeated.

" Good, very good, but that was the easy part I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough, and you see, this where you come in, Neville."

Neville stepped forward with a look of fear on his face, and the wardrobe shook. " First things first, what would you say frightens you the most in the world?"

" Professor Snape." He whispered, as if the potions master would hear him, and several people laughed, even Professor Lupin, who then asked. " I believe you live with your grandmother."

" Yes, sir. But I don't want the boggart to turn into her either." He said and Lupin chuckled before asking about her clothes, which he described for him. Lupin instructed him on what to do when he opened the cabinet, before telling the rest of us to focus n our own fears. What scared me the most?

I glanced toward my friends with a frown. Losing them, that scared me, but it didn't feel like it was my worst fear because I knew I could protect them. Then it hit me. I knew what I was afraid of.

Everyone moved away from Neville to give him some room, and Lupin opened the cabinet. Snape stepped from the cabinet and Neville stuttered as he cried. " Riddikulus"

Snape's clothes changed to the ones that Nevile had described as his grandmother's and everyone burst into laughter. Lupin called us up one after another, and with each person a new fear showed itself before turning into something hilarious. " Levi." Lupin called at one point and Spencer stepped forward, his hair going white the roller skated spider boggart belonging to Ron, turned into a man who greatly resembled Spencer appeared and began yelling insults at him. "  Riddikulus. " Spencer cried and a beehive dropped onto his head, cutting him off mid  yell about how much of a disappointment he was. After him was a Gryffindor, who's boggart was an group of people.

Next was Cass, who's boggart was some sort of large creature with 7 horned heads, a large tail, and two front legs which then became some sort of large buff guy. I would have to ask her about that one later. " Riddle." Lupin called out, just as confused.

I pulled my wand as I stepped forward and the boggart faced me. I kept the image in my head as it began to change until I found myself staring back at me. This me, had red eyes and a cruel smirk that reminded me of the Tom Riddle I had faced down in the Chamber of Secrets. " You think you can protect them? How can you protect them when the real threat is you?"

" Riddikulus." I cried in response and from somewhere above a bucket dropped on her head, and a banana peel appeared for her to slip on. Several people let out laugh, though I wasn't one of them as I walked over to stand next to my friends who were smiling at me. Spencer even elbowed me to try and get me to smile, but the Boggart's words had gotten to me.

How could I protect them from my father, if I couldn't even protect them from myself.