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CHAPTER THREE

from my deepest darkest nightmares

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JULIET HAD BEEN ANTICIPATING her first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson ever since her mother had told her that her Uncle Remus was going to be teaching there. Waiting for him to arrive in the classroom, she and Callum were talking excitedly about their predictions on what he was going to teach them. They had already taken out all their supplies by the time Lupin came into the room.

Lupin smiled vaguely and placed his tatty old briefcase on the teacher's desk, he looked healthier since the last time Juliet had seen him.

"Good afternoon," he said, "Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands."

A few curious looks were exchanged as the class put away their books. They had never had a practical Defence Against the Dark Arts before, unless you count the memorable class last year when their old teacher had brought a cageful of pixies to class and set them loose.

"Right then," said Professor Lupin, when everyone was ready. "If you'd follow me."

Professor Lupin led them to the staffroom after earning the class' respect immediately after using magic to force gum into Peeves the poltergeist's nose. The only teacher there was Snape, the Potions professor, who immediately got up to leave, not before giving Juliet one of the dirtiest looks that seemed to only be reserved for her. She had to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

At the doorway Snape turned on his heel and said, "Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear."

Neville went scarlet. Juliet and Callum glared at him.

"Isn't it bad enough that he berates students in his own lessons, he has to do it in front of other teachers?" Callum muttered under his breath, and Juliet nodded in agreement.

However, Professor Lupin merely raised his eyebrows.

"I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation," he said, "and I am sure he will perform it admirably."

Neville's face went even redder. Snape's lip curled, but he left, shutting the door with a snap.

"Now, then," said Professor Lupin. He beckoned the class to the end of the staffroom, where there was only a large wardrobe, which jolted suddenly and banged against the wall.

"Nothing to worry about," Professor Lupin reassured the class, after some people jumped back in alarm, "There's a boggart in there."

Juliet cringed. She hated boggarts – they reminded her of everything terrifying in this world: everything from her deepest darkest nightmares.

"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," explained Professor Lupin. "Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks – I've even met one that had 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?"

Hermione put her hand up immediately.

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

"Couldn't have put it better myself," said Professor Lupin, and Hermione glowed. "So the boggart sitting in the darkness 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 of us most fears.

This means that we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?"

It was very hard for Harry to answer Professor Lupin's question when from the corner of eye he could see Juliet staring at him, waiting for his answer. Her piercing gaze oddly distracted him from what he was trying to answer but he gave it a go anyway.

"Er — because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?"

"Precisely," said Professor Lupin. Juliet had turned her head away from and Harry felt his chest loosen.

"It's always best to have company when you're dealing with 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 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 that you find amusing.

We will practise the charm without wands first. After me, please ... Riddikulus!"

"Riddikulus!" said the class together.

"Good," said Professor Lupin. "Very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is where you come in, Neville."

The wardrobe shook again, though not as much as Neville, who walked forward as though he were heading for the gallows.

"Right, Neville," said Professor Lupin. "First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"

Juliet saw Neville's lips move, but she couldn't hear what he had said.

"Didn't catch that, Neville, sorry," said Professor Lupin cheerfully.

Neville looked around frantically before whispering ever so quietly, "Professor Snape."

Nearly everyone laughed, Juliet one of them, but it was more pitiful as she thought about his biggest fear being a teacher; but even Neville grinned apologetically. Professor Lupin, however, looked thoughtful.

"Professor Snape... hmmm... Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?"

"Er — yes," said Neville nervously. "But — I don't want the boggart to turn into her either."

"No, no, you misunderstand me," said Professor Lupin, now smiling. "I wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?"

Neville looked startled at this. "Well... always the same hat. A tall one with a stuffed vulture on top. And a long dress... green, normally... and sometimes a fox-fur scarf."

"And a handbag?" prompted Professor Lupin.

"A big red one,"

"Right then," said Professor Lupin. "Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind's eye?"

"Yes," said Neville, very confused.

"When the boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape," said Lupin. "And you will raise your wand — thus — and cry 'Riddikulus' —and concentrate hard on your grandmother's clothes. If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into that vulture topped hat, and that green dress, with that big red handbag."

There was a great shout of laughter. The wardrobe wobbled more violently.

"If Neville is successful, the boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn," said Professor Lupin. "I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical...."

The room went quiet. Juliet didn't have to think hard to figure out what scared her most in the world: it was her mass-murdering father. The most recent photograph of her father in Azkaban replayed over and over in her head and she couldn't think of any way to make that comical. His sunken face and erratic look in his eyes made her shiver. She shut her eyes in hopes that no one saw.

"Everyone ready?" said Professor Lupin.

Juliet lurched in fear. Surely her Uncle Lupin knew better than to call her forward, that to him Juliet's biggest fear was obvious. However, in all her life they had only ever spoken of her father twice, the most recent being five years ago. Everyone else was nodding and rolling up their sleeves.

"Neville, we're going to back away," said Professor Lupin. "Let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward.... Everyone back, now, so Neville can get a clear shot—"

Everyone backed up against the wall, leaving just Neville alone with the wardrobe. He was trembling and looked very frightened, but held his wand ready.

"On the count of three, Neville," said Professor Lupin, who held his own wand in the direction of the wardrobe "One two — three— now!"

Sparked flew from Lupin's wand and shot at the doorknob of the wardrobe. It burst open and a menacing Professor Snape emerged from it, flashing his eyes at Neville. Neville stumbled backwards, mouthing wordlessly. Snape advanced toward him.

"R — r —riddikulus! "squeaked Neville.

There was a noise like a whip crack. Snape stumbled; he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag.

There was a roar of laughter; the boggart paused, confused, and Professor Lupin shouted, "Parvati! Forward!"

Parvati stepped forward confidently with her wand raised and face set. The boggart turned toward her and transformed into a bloodstained, bandaged mummy that began to approach her.

"Riddikulus!" cried Parvati. A bandage unravelled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off.

Next in line was Seamus. Crack! The mummy morphed into a banshee that wailed so loud it made their hairs stand on end. Riddikulus! The banshee lost its voice. Crack! The banshee became a rat. The rat began chasing its own tail. Crack! THe rat turned into a rattlesnake. Crack! The rattlesnake became a singular, bloody eyeball.

"It's confused!" shouted Lupin. "We're getting there! Dean!"

Dean hurried forward. Crack! The eyeball became a severed hand that flipped over and began to crawl toward him.

"Riddikulus!" yelled Dean. 'There was a snap, and the hand was trapped in a mousetrap.

"Excellent! Ron, you next!"

Ron leapt forward. Crack!

Many people screamed: the hand had turned into a giant, hairy spider that was over six feet tall. Riddikulus! The spider's legs disappeared and it rolled over between the space where Juliet and Harry stood. As it was obviously much closer to him, Harry stood with his wand ready but–

"Juliet!" Lupin called forward quickly.

Juliet shook her head frantically but it was too late – a tall looming Sirius Black stood in front of Juliet, tilting his head dangerously. A couple of people close to them gasped. Juliet paled and she felt like she had stopped breathing. He was only there for a split second before Lupin had jumped forward with a shout. Crack!

For a second, everyone looked wildly around to see where it was. Then they saw a silvery-white orb hanging in the air in front of Lupin, who said, "Riddikulus!" almost lazily. The only person who hadn't looked around for Lupin's boggart was Harry, who was transfixed on Juliet's horrified expression.

Whatever the orb had turned into Juliet didn't see: she had turned away from the boggart and desperately hurried out of the staffroom. She sped-walk down the corridor until she found the broom cupboard from before. She rushed inside and felt her back hit the door behind her. Juliet clutched her throat and didn't even feel the hot tears on her face nor did she realise she was sliding onto the floor until she had felt the cold, hard surface beneath her.

All she could think about was the real life sight of her father. She knew that wasn't actually him, and that it was just her fear, but that split second of shadow he casted over her had left her shaken to the core. It was one thing to see his photographs and wanted posters everywhere, but seeing a physical replica? She couldn't handle it. Juliet prayed no one had noticed, even though it was out of her hands.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Juliet, it's Callum. I know you're in there. I saw what happened." he said, voice muffled by the door.

"Just go," Juliet sniffled, "I'm fine, I just need a moment,"

"You're not fine."

"I am! Just go Callum, you're going to be late for your next lesson."

"But–" Callum protested.

"Just go!" Juliet said, louder and more aggressive than she had intended.

Callum fell silent. Guilt consumed Juliet immediately: she knew Callum was only trying to help.

"I'm sorry,"

"It's alright, but know I'm here for you, if you ever want to talk about it." he said, and Juliet heard his footsteps fade away.

Soon after, Juliet heard another knock.

"Come on Callum, I told you to go–"

"It's Professor Lupin,"

Juliet shot up and quickly opened the door, wiping the tears off her face. Professor Lupin stood with a solemn and apologetic look on his face.

"Lupin?" Juliet said, opening the door fully.

"Juliet, I just wanted to apologise. It was thoughtless of me to call you forward, knowing it would cause you so much distress. I was caught up in the moment of trying to stop Harry from materialising Lord Voldemort in front of the class." Lupin explained, and if this had been any other time, Juliet would have flinched slightly at the mention of Lord Voldemort. She felt her chest relax slightly at his explanation.

"That doesn't excuse it though, I'm sorry," Lupin continued, "Even if I am your professor now, it doesn't stop me from being your uncle, come here,"

Juliet accepted Lupin's open arms and hugged him tight. She felt her fear wash away as the warmth of his body comforted her.

"You're alright," he said, and Juliet knew she was: there was no way Sirius Black could harm her here.

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authors note!
another irregular void update!!!
— so sorry guys I do really need to update more but my life is so busy and I'm working on other things but I will try as hard as I can to get more chapters out

published: 4th february 2024