thefictionvixens Chapter 53 What are you most afraid of?
Chapter 53 What are you most afraid of?
Riding a hippogriff is a completely different experience from flying broomsticks. As "vehicles" with their own ideas, Buckbeak and Fallon chose their flight routes entirely according to their own preferences. This truly allowed Harry, who loves to fly, to experience a completely different kind of flight.
About ten minutes later, two black dots appeared in the sky. With two loud "bangs," Harry and Malfoy landed one after the other.
Harry, whose hair was already a mess, looked even more unrestrained after being blow-dried. He excitedly flipped off Buckbeak and waved to his best friends:
"That's awesome! Ron! Hermione! You guys have to try it!"
Ron and Hermione glanced at Harry, then at Malfoy, whose hair was disheveled, eyes were closed, body was trembling, and whose bottom was almost sliding onto Fallon's neck, and said tactfully:
"No, let's forget about it."
"Cough cough! I haven't been feeling well these past few days, probably because I'm too tired from taking care of Banban until late at night. You've experienced it for yourself."
"Oh."
Harry nodded with a hint of regret, then winked at Hagrid and whispered a reminder:
"Hurry up and give Malfoy some points, or he'll cause trouble again."
Hagrid, who was about to walk over to Harry to celebrate, paused noticeably and then changed his words:
"Excellent! That was fantastic, Harry! Ah... I mean, you two were both amazing! Gryffindor and Slytherin, add 10 points each!"
The cheers and applause immediately drowned out the sounds of the dozen or so hippogriffs sharpening their claws and pawing the ground. Even Crabbe and Goyle, who usually disagreed with the students from the other houses, waved their fists.
"That's fantastic! Young Master Malfoy is truly amazing!"
"Of course!"
Malfoy, who had initially planned to threaten Hagrid with "I'm going to write to my father," swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue. He slid down little by little onto Fallon's broad back, cleared his throat, and said:
"Well... cough cough! These big guys aren't anything special, are they?"
Such a face-saving argument naturally displeased Fallon, and before the blond boy could take two steps, it nudged him in the back with its rear. This terrified Malfoy, who, thinking he was about to be attacked and killed by his mount, immediately drew his wand and screamed:
"Ahh! It attacked me!"
"Expelliarmus." (Give me your weapon.)
With lightning speed, Harry used the Disarming Charm to snatch Malfoy's wand, and then used a silent, wandless version of the Summoning Charm to pull Malfoy by his robes and bring him to his side.
"Can't you pay attention in class? Didn't you hear Professor Hagrid say that the hippogriff is a very proud magical creature? It can understand the meaning of your bow, so of course it can understand what you are saying."
Malfoy, blushing, snatched the wand from Harry's hand and said:
"None of your business? You think I don't know?"
After saying that, he turned and walked back into the Slytherin student group without looking back, leaving Harry muttering to himself in confusion:
"Didn't you do much better in school last semester? Why are you rebelling again?"
……
With the successful demonstration by the two volunteers, some students mustered their courage and entered the enclosure. Hagrid unchained the hippogriffs one by one, and soon the enclosure was filled with people and beasts bowing to each other.
Having only seen the movies, Mo Ran had never seen anything like this before. If it weren't for the fact that the creatures standing opposite Neville and the others were indeed enormous magical creatures, he would have thought he had traveled back to his fourth year and was doing prom training with Harry.
"Wouldn't that be too dangerous? If a dozen hippogriffs went berserk at once, even Hagrid wouldn't be able to control them, would he?"
Upon hearing Mo Ran's reminder, Harry nodded almost imperceptibly, then mentally replied:
"Yes, I understand what you mean. I'll take action if anything happens."
And so, Harry, who had inexplicably gone from volunteer to teaching assistant, completed his first lesson on protecting magical creatures with Hagrid amidst his nervousness. With Harry overseeing things and Hermione occasionally offering reminders, Hagrid's initial performance as professor was quite good.
It was Thursday afternoon. The Gryffindor lions, who had just finished their Potions class with Slytherin a few hours earlier, were in dire need of some high-quality classroom instruction to lift their spirits. But having learned their lesson from Quirrell and Lockhart, they didn't seem to have much hope for the sickly Professor Lupin.
"good afternoon!"
Lupin's voice was powerful, and compared to when he was on the train, he was radiant.
"The first Defense Against the Dark Arts class this year is a practical class. Students, please put away any unused textbooks, notebooks, and quills. All we need are wands."
Hermione, carrying an oversized backpack, instinctively replied after hearing this:
"Oh no..."
This left Ron dumbfounded, and he asked:
Why did you bring so many books? You only have one class this afternoon.
"Hmm, I must have remembered it wrong..."
Hermione mumbled a reply, and just as she was putting the textbook she had just taken out into her bag, Harry quietly walked up to her.
"I think you should give up a few of the classes you don't like after this week. It's too tiring for you."
Feeling that her secret had been discovered, Hermione gave Harry a surprised look, but what puzzled her was that after saying those words, Harry simply helped her put the book back in her backpack and then left without saying a word.
"Is everyone ready? Follow me."
The ragged Professor Lupin was a stark contrast to Lockhart, who had turned the classroom into a stage the previous year. Some students were skeptical, while others were intrigued, but without exception, being able to step outside the classroom and use a wand during class was something all young wizards longed to see.
Upon entering the faculty lounge, the students were startled by the constantly shaking wardrobe placed in the center of the room.
"What is that, Professor!"
"A Ravenclaw student asked earnestly. (On his way to the faculty lounge, Professor Lupin had demonstrated a spell called "Vadisvasi" to deal with the mischievous Peeves. This greatly increased his respect among the students.)
"Relax, don't be so nervous."
Lu Ping said calmly:
"There's only one Boggart in here."
"Boggart? What is a Boggart?"
Some children from Muggle families asked cautiously.
They couldn't understand why Neville, Ron, and the others still looked like they were "that's exactly what I need to worry about" after the professor said "Don't worry."
"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces. Any wardrobe, under the bed, or even a cupboard under the stairs can become their dwelling. This one I found in a large grandfather clock at the school, and I asked Headmaster Dumbledore to let me keep it so that everyone could use it for practical lessons."
"Next, I'd like to ask you a question—what is a Boggart?"
Hermione, true to tradition, raised her hand.
"Boggarts are shapeshifting creatures, and no one knows what they really look like because they always transform into the most terrifying form in people's minds."
"very good."
Professor Lu Ping smiled and praised:
"I don't think I could explain it any more clearly than Miss Granger, Gryffindor +10 points. Actually, the simplest way to deal with a Boggart is to go in groups. If there's a large group of us around it, even if it crawls out of the cupboard, it'll be too confused to know what to do. But today, I want to teach you a spell that can repel a Boggart when you're alone. Ahem!"
He cleared his throat and read:
"Repeat after me, Riddikulus." (Funny)
“Riddikulus!” (Hilarious)
"Very good, everyone did a great job, but I wonder if you've noticed that the name of this spell is very similar to the word Ridiculous? Can anyone guess why?"
Hermione raised her hand high again, almost jumping over Harry on tiptoe. Professor Lupin's gaze swept over the students, finally giving the opportunity to answer the question to Neville, who had been keeping his head down.
"Navie, can you guess?"
"Um, because Boggart is afraid of being seen as not scary...is that right, Professor?"
Lupin extended his palm and led the applause for Neville, saying:
“Very good, that’s right, well done Neville! What will finally destroy the Boggart is our laughter. The spell forces it into an image that we find hilarious. Come on, Neville, show the class how to defeat the Boggart, and tell us what you fear most?”
“Professor Snape…”
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
All the students in the faculty lounge laughed. Professor Lupin first stroked his chin, then, as if he had thought of something, leaned close to Neville's ear and said:
"You live with your grandma, right?"
"Ah, I don't want Boggart to become my grandma either..."
"No, no, I want you to be able to imagine Professor Snape wearing your grandmother's clothes, understand? Remember the spell, and imagine it while you recite it."
After speaking, Professor Lu Ping straightened up and directed everyone to leave an open space in front of the cabinet.
"Get ready, Neville! I'll count to three. One, two, three!"
Click!
Professor Lupin twisted the handle on the cabinet with his wand, and the next second, "Professor Snape," who seemed to be about to deduct 100,000 points from Gryffindor, strode menacingly toward Neville.
“Riddikulus!” (Hilarious)
Neville practically shouted the incantation. With a whoosh, Snape's black robes suddenly transformed into a long, lace-trimmed dress. His previously menacing expression turned confused and flustered; he had no idea why a lady's red handbag and a vulture-themed hat had suddenly appeared in his hands and on his head.
"Alright, very good! Everyone line up, get your wands ready, no pushing or shoving, think about what you're most afraid of and how to make it funny. Come on! Next! Parvati!"
The Class of '91 students, who had been tormented for two academic years, had never experienced such an interesting Defense Against the Dark Arts class before. Before Professor Lupin could even turn around and put the record player away, they crowded together like people rushing to buy tickets during the Spring Festival travel rush.
"Ouch! Don't step on my foot! I was here first."
"A Hufflepuff student shouted."
"I was first! I was already standing behind Hannah!"
Another Ravenclaw girl chimed in, not to be outdone.
Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione, who also looked expectant, nodded, and then walked alone to the back of the group.
"Huh? You're afraid of Boggart?"
Mo Ran was somewhat surprised that he couldn't sense Harry's inner turmoil.
"No, you probably don't want your classmates to see what you're afraid of."
"Your guess is about half right."
Harry replied:
"It's not so much that I don't want everyone to see my Boggart, but rather that I'm unsure what I'm most afraid of. What if my Boggart conjures up some unexpected and terrifying scene, and I don't have time to imagine it as something funny? Wouldn't that scare all my classmates?"