Jennifer Potter and the marauders (book 5) 19 Years Later

Scared Of A Snake

"Look, I know you are all very excited that Hogwarts won the Care of Magical Creatures challenge last night, but if we could focus on the task at hand, I would grately appriciate it" said Jenny firmly.
She had spent ages searching the castle for a Boggart for her third years to fight, and eventually she found one in an empty trunk in the room of requirement.
But her students were far more excited about Hogwarts's second win the night before, than her lesson.
Jenny had pushed the desks to the side of the classroom, and had the students standing a safe distance away from the trunk, in case the Boggart managed to break out.
"I hope you have been thinking about what scares you the most, and how you would be able to make it amusing instead. Because it's time you faced your Boggart" continued Jenny.
The students shuffled uncomfortably and didn't take their eyes of the trunk, which had begun to shake.

"Who can tell me a few places where you'd find a Boggart?" Asked Jenny.
Dominique's friend Charity Hartlock raised her hand, so Jenny called on her.
"Boggarts like dark enclosed spaces, like wardrobes, cupboards, gaps under beds. That kind of thing" she answered.
"Exactly. And why did I ask you all to picture your fears and try to turn them into something funny?" Questioned Jenny.
Once again Charity's hand shot in the air.
"Because Boggarts live off fear, so you have to use laughter to defeat them" answered Charity.
"Right again. And since you're the only one who appears to have done their homework, why don't you go first, to show everyone how it's done. Come and stand beside me, everyone else take a step back and get ready for when I call on you. Now, don't forget the spell that accompanies your amusing thought, Riddikulus" instructed Jenny.

Nervously, Charity took a step closer to the trunk, while the rest of the class retreated.
"Ready?" Asked Jenny.
Charity removed her wand from her pocket and nodded her head, too scared to speak.
"Don't worry, you can do it. And I will be here to intervine if any starts to go wrong" encouraged Jenny, as she stepped to the side leaving Charity alone in the centre of the room.
Charity gripped her wand tightly as Jenny flicked her own at the trunk, undoing the lock, and causing the lid to flip off.
Instead of some terrifying creature, a middle-aged woman climbed out of the trunk, which confused Jenny, until she saw the terrified look on young Charity's face.
"You know what to do" whispered Jenny, as the woman began to walk closer to Charity.
"Riddikulus!" Shouted Charity bravely.
There was loud bang and a second later the woman's clothes had disappeared, and had been replaced by a swimming costume complete with snorkel.

The class laughed, and Charity took a deep breath as she started to relax.
"Well done Charity. Now rejoin the group. Lucus, you next" insisted Jenny, as Charity stepped back and swapped places with a nervous looking Slytherin boy.
Several scary monsters later, Jenny knew that she would have to allow her niece and nephew to face the Boggart, even though she would rather protect them.
"James, you next" announced Jenny.
He grinned and swaggered up to the Boggart, ready to face his biggest fear.
The creature began to change and transform into the largest snake Jenny had ever seen. Several students in the room screamed and ran backwards, as the snake began to take up most of the room.
Although Jenny had never seen a basilisk in person, she assumed it would look something like the creature in front of her. She knew that it wouldn't be able to kill her class with its stare, since it wasn't an actual basilisk, but she was worried that it could do some damage if it wasn't stopped soon.
Despite it's obviously terrifying nature, Jenny was unsure as to why the giant snake was James's biggest fear, when she knew that he had never seen in a basilik, or any snake that size before.

"Riddikulus" yelled James, causing the snake to shrink down to the size of a worm.
With the giant snake gone, the students felt safe enough to come back into the middle of the room.
Jenny continued to have the students take on the Boggart one by one, luckily none of their fears were quite as deadly as the basilisk.
Once the last student had gone, Jenny realised that she would have to defeat the Boggart, as the students spells hadn't been quite enough to completely finish it off.
She wanted to outwit the Boggart by tricking it into turning into something that wasn't actually her deepest fear, but a minor older fear of hers, so that she didn't scare her class by having Voldemort or something worse appear in her classroom.
Jenny stepped forward and thought back to the time when she used to be so scared of Lucius Malfoy, that he would often plague her nightmares.

A second later the Boggart began to transform into the Death Eater, but not how he looked in the present. Instead he looked just like he used to in Jenny's dreams, and because of this she was momenterily taken aback.
Jenny shook her head and focused on the task at hand.
"Riddikulus!" She said loudly, causing Lucius's blonde hair to start growing until it had filled half of the room, making him look like a very ugly Rapunzel.
Everyone in the room laughed and even Jenny couldn't hold in a chuckle. That was all the spell needed to stop the Boggart for good, and it exploded into tiny pieces before disappearing all together.

"Well done class. 10 points to Gryffindor for Charity answering my questions at the beginning of class, and for facing her Boggart first. Don't forget we start werewolves next, so if you want to be ready for the next class, I'd read the chapter on them. Charity, if you could stay behind and help me put the class back to normal please" said Jenny.
Once the students had left, Charity removed her wand and began moving the tables and chairs back to their normal places.
"Well done today" praised Jenny.
"Thank you Professor" replied Charity.
"I was wondering though, who was the woman that your Boggart turned into, I didn't recognise her?"
"She's my aunt"
"Your worst fear is your aunt?".

"My aunt is quite an intimidating person" admitted Charity.
"You live with her don't you?" Questioned Jenny.
Charity sighed and nodded her head, "Yes, I don't really remember my parents very much, as they died when I was only a few years old. I've lived with my aunt ever since then".
"Why does she frighten you so much?"
"She can be quite strict, that's all. She has a lot rules"
"I see. Well you'd better run along, you don't want to be late to your next class. If you do get in trouble though for being late to Potions, just tell Professor Vance that it was my fault you were late".
Charity nodded her head before exiting the room and allowing Jenny's next class to enter the space.
Jenny found it very hard to concentraite during her next lesson though, as images of her students Boggarts kept running through her mind.