The Daughter of the Murderer - BOOK 1 - *COMPLETED*

Chapter 30 - Laughing In The Face Of Your Greatest Fear

"Welcome students!" says Moon- oh I apologise, Professor Lupin, when we arrive for DADA. Today we're having our first Defence Against the Dark Arts class and we just got to the classroom. It remains quite the same, except for some new creatures we'll be studying this year and an old wooden wardrobe.

"For our first class," he carries on, "we'll talk about Boggarts".

Some people make questioning faces; those guys who already know everything we'll be studying this year. Apparently, we weren't supposed to be studying Boggarts.

"I know, I know..." says Lupin, upon their interrogative look, "It isn't in the school program for fifth-years... But, since I realised you hadn't talked about them before, and since I had one for the third-years, I decided to show it to you too".

He pointed at the wardrobe with his wand and it moved, as if there was something inside it trying to get out.

"Now, does anyone know what form a Boggart takes?" he asks.

I raise my hand. Looking around, it seems that I was the only one to do so.

"Yes, Ms Black?".

"You never know its real form" I answer, "It takes the form of your greatest fear whenever you're around it, so you'll never know what it actually looks like".

Some people look at me, surprised. I know why; I'm not really the type to raise my hand and answer the question of a teacher. But, DADA is actually pretty cool. Also, Moony had told me about Boggarts before, and they're insanely interesting; you'll never know their appearance and they can kind of read your mind and discover your biggest fear! That's cool...

"That's right, Ms Black" says Lupin, "Now, do you know what is the only thing that could defeat a Boggart?".

My hand goes up almost automatically, which makes Lupin's lips turn into a slight smile.

"Yes, Ms Black?".

"Laugh" I respond, "If you laugh in the face of your fear, it will fade away".

"Correct, again" he says, "Now, if you can't manage a laugh, you'll have to use real magic. And the spell, which is ironically easy to memorize, is 'Riddikulus'. Repeat after me, Riddikulus!".

The whole class shouts 'Riddikulus', and Lupin smiles again.

"Anyone think they're ready to try that out with a wand and this one" he pats the wardrobe, making it shiver again, "in front of them?".

A moment of silence when no one seems brave enough to face their greatest fear. Until I feel a wave of courage and raise my hand for the third time.

"Ms Black!" says Lupin, "You seem like a very interested student..." he tries to sound serious, but I find a bit of sarcasm in his voice. I mean, I'm not a bad student... And I'm not a boring one that doesn't care about classes either... But, yes, it's quite surprising the number of times my hand shot up in this class.

I step forward and Lupin motions for a spot in front of the wardrobe.

"Now, think of your greatest fear" he says.

The confident smile I've been trying to keep while I walk to the wardrobe trembles when I think of my greatest fear.

"Done it?" he asks. I nod, "Now think of a way to make it funny".

My smile was supposed to grow again, maybe even turn into a grin like it does when I think of some stupid joke, but it just seems to fade more. How could your biggest fear become something funny? Well, guess I'll have to make something up...

"Ready?".

I give a slight nod again, a cue for Lupin to slowly open the door of the old wardrobe.

From there emerges the angry man from The Prophet. The thing is, he seemed much younger, cleaner and... happier, much happier. The clothes he was wearing were the ones he wore on the day he was taken to Azkaban. I don't understand... is that my biggest fear? It can't be...

Then, out of nowhere, a green light hits him in the back, his smile fades and he falls dead on the ground. I feel a few tears forming on my eyes, but they don't fall; it seems like my brain is aware of the fact that this isn't real.

Suddenly, the man's hair turns red, his face becomes covered in endless freckles, but his body still lies on the floor. I hear a small gasp from behind me, maybe it was Angie, maybe Fred, maybe George himself, who was now lying dead in front of me.

Then the body changed again, but I believe no one else noticed; it seemed so similar to the other one, but there were some small differences: there was a small scar on his left eyebrow from when he fell from his broom when he was 6... George said he was able to keep himself on top of his, but Fred had fallen on the first 10 minutes in the air.

Then Fred's red hair became a caramel brown. The scar on his eyebrow multiplied itself and suddenly, his face was filled with unwanted faded claw marks. I feel Remus, the real one, looking at me, as if silently asking if I wanted help.

When the dead Remus's hair starts to grow and darken, his scars slowly disappearing, I hear another gasp from behind. I know this one was from Angelina; it must feel weird to see yourself dead in front of you.

But before the body could transform into Harry, or Lee, or Oliver, or Katie, or anyone else, I point my wand at it, and shout "Riddikulus!".

The body rises in the air, and explodes in many colourful fireworks, like the ones from last Christmas. I finally feel a grin forming on my face, and a laugh escapes my mouth. Everyone around is laughing along: mission accomplished.

"Well done!" says Lupin, smiling, "Now form a line, all of you, each one is going to try and defeat the Boggart".

Everyone forms a line, and tries their best to get over their fears. There was some pretty terrifying stuff there. Like Mountain Trolls and Acromantulas and whatnot.

Still, I couldn't seem to get the idea of my friends dead out of my mind... What if it actually happens one day? What if it happens and I can't do anything about it? What if...?

A/N: hellooooooo my nifflersssss! hope you're doing well, and hope you enjoyed this chapter!!

look out world (that would be enough... yeah, you guys don't like hamilton, right...?), IT'S CHAPTER 30!! yay me! i guess...

i have school tomorrow :( btw, was this chapter too long?? i think it was a bit, but i'm not sure, so...

anyways, i don't really know what else to say so yeah...

luv y'all

~luna loveniffler 💙