stardust ⋮ george weasley

five :

F I V E

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They were only a few minutes into Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Adeline was loving Professor Lupin so much more than the previous professors in the past. The first two were forgettable and boring, Quirrell apparently had Voldemort sticking out the back of his head, and Lockhart was an imbecile.

So the standards were already low. But even if the bar was a little higher, Professor Lupin would have surpassed that by miles.

The lesson on the first day was boggarts, and admittedly, it was a little entertaining to watch everyone face the boggart. Not the part about seeing everyone's worst fears, but seeing how they transformed was so much fun. Estelle's swarm of crawling bugs turning sparkling bunch of confetti, Melanie's ginormous clown suddenly losing control of its unicycle and wheeling wildly around the classroom, and Ophelia's stationary desk piled high with papers suddenly turning into a beautiful dragon flying free.

Professor Lupin gestured for Adeline to make her way to the front and, almost immediately, the boggart began to shift. Adeline watched in horror as the boggart turned into her parents, dressed in the clothes they were wearing on Adeline's eleventh birthday and holding that Hogwarts letter. The boggart began to scream at her about how their reputation was ruined and why couldn't she just hide her magic, and Adeline felt herself biting back tears that were starting to start to prick at the corner of her eyes.

This wasn't Adeline's worst fear. This was a memory. She remembered that day so vividly because of how quickly her mood had gone from overjoyed to heartbreak. Adeline had naively hoped that when her parents had been faced with the truth that they would accept it, but they were still refusing to acknowledge it to this day. She still walks on eggshells in her own home, terrified that one wrong move would send her parents into a frenzy.

Adeline's worst fear wasn't her parents at all. Her worst fear was the rejection that came with it.

"Riddikulus!"

The Hogwarts letter began to spark, causing the boggart to look at it in confusion. Suddenly, a bunch of fireworks began to go off, filling the room with light and color. The whole room whooped and laughed with delight, and while Adeline painted a smile on her face, she could feel the silent tears begin to streak down her cheeks. She wiped them furiously as she made her way to the back of the room, hoping that no one would notice her tears or question why exactly her boggart had turned into her parents.

But one person did.

So when he dismissed the class, Lupin asked for Adeline to stay back for a few moments. He did so with a smile as to not worry the girl too much. Adeline sat down in one of the desks in the front row and Lupin leaned his back against the desk. "Ms. Reyes, how's your day been so far?"

"It's been going alright," Adeline replied slowly. "And you, Professor Lupin?"

"It's been going well so far, thank you." Lupin took a deep breath, trying to find the best way to approach the subject carefully without her shutting down. "I wanted to check in with you as you seemed to an especially...emotional reaction to the boggart."

Adeline sucked in her breath quietly. She knew she had to be careful as to how she responded. "It just freaked me out to see my worst fear right in front of me," Adeline replied eventually. "Don't worry, Professor. I'm fine."

Maybe it was how she just discretely avoided eye contact with him or the fast-paced way she tapped her finger against the wooden desk, but Lupin could tell she wasn't telling the whole truth. Yet Lupin also knew from his past experiences that he wasn't able to force Adeline to talk about her home life to him, especially since he had only known the girl for a day.