ide 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," said Professor Lupin, choosing to ignore Neville's 'mall 
sputter of terror, "that we have a huge advantage over the boggart 
before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?" 

Trying to answer a question with Hermione next to him, bobbing up and 
down on the balls of her feet with her hand in the air, was very 
off-putting, but Harry had a go. 

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

"Precisely," said Professor Lupin, and Hermione put her hand down, 
looking a little disappointed. "It's always best to have com pany 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. 

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"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 practice 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?" 

Neville's lips moved, but no noise came out. 

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

Neville looked around rather wildly, as though begging someone to help 
him, then said, in barely more than a whisper, "Professor Snape." 

Nearly everyone laughed. 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?" 

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Neville looked startled, but said, "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," said Neville. 

"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 uncertainty, plainly wondering what was coming next. 

"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. Harry thought... 'What scared him most in the 
world? 

His first thought was Lord Voldemort -- a Voldemort returned to full 
strength. But before he had even started to plan a possible 
counterattack on a boggart-Voldemort, a horrible image came floating to 
the surface of his mind.... 

A rotting, glistening hand, slithering back beneath a black cloak ... a 
long, rattling breath from an unseen mouth... then a cold so penetrating 
it felt like drowning.... 

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Harry shivered, then looked around, hoping no one had noticed. Many 
people had their eyes shut tight. Ron was muttering to himself, "Take 
its legs off " Harry was sure he knew what that was about. Ron's 
greatest fear was spiders. 

"Everyone ready?" said Professor Lupin. 

Harry felt a lurch of fear. He wasn't ready. How could you make a 
dementor less frightening? But he didn't want to ask for more time; 
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 --" 

They all retreated, backed against the walls, leaving Neville alone 
beside the wardrobe. He looked pale and frightened, but he had pushed up 
the sleeves of his robes and was holding his wand ready. 

"On the count of three, Neville," said Professor Lupin, who was 

pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One two -- three 
-- now!" 

A jet of sparks shot from the end of Professor Lupin's wand and hit the 
doorknob. The wardrobe burst open. Hook-nosed and menacing, Professor 
Snape stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville. 

Neville backed away, his wand up, mouthing wordlessly. Snape was bearing 
down upon him, reaching inside his robes. 

"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!" 

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Parvati walked forward, her face set. Snape rounded on her. There was 
another crack, and where he had stood was a bloodstained, bandaged 
mummy; its sightless face was turned to Parvati and it began to walk 
toward her very slowly, dragging its feet, its stiff arms rising -


"Riddikulus!" cried Parvati. 

A bandage unraveled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face 
forward, and its head rolled off. 
"Seamus!" roared Professor Lupin. 
Seamus darted past Parvati. 
Crack! Where the mummy had been was a woman with floorlength black hair 


and a skeletal, green-tinged face -- a banshee. She opened her mouth 
wide and an unearthly sound filled the room, a long, wailing shriek that 
made the hair on Harry's head stand on end -- 'Riddikulus!" shouted 
Seamus. 


The banshee made a rasping noise and clutched her throat; her voice was 


gone. 
Crack! The banshee turned into a rat, which chased its tail in a circle, 
then -- crack!- became a rattlesnake, which slithered and writhed before 
-- crack! -- becoming a single, bloody eyeball. 


'It's confused!" shouted Lupin. "We're getting there! Dean!" 
Dean hurried forward. 
Crack! The eyeball became a severed hand, which flipped over and began 


to creep along the floor like a crab. 
"Riddikulus!" yelled Dean. 
'There was a snap, and the hand was trapped in a mousetrap. 
"Excellent! Ron, you next!" 


112 



Ron leapt forward. 

Crack! 

Quite a few people screamed. A giant spider, six feet tall and covered 
in hair, was advancing on Ron, clicking its pincers menacingly. For a 
moment, Harry thought Ron had frozen. Then -


"Riddikulus!" bellowed Ron, and the spider's legs vanished; it rolled 
over and over; Lavender Brown squealed and ran out of its way and it 
came to a halt at Harry's feet. He raised his wand, ready, but -


"Here!" shouted Professor Lupin suddenly, hurrying forward. Crack! 

The legless spider had vanished. 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!" almosi lazily. 

Crack! 

"Forward, Neville, and finish him off!" said Lupin as the boggart landed 
on the floor as a cockroach. Crack! Snape was back. This time Neville 
charged forward looking determined. 

"Riddikulus!" he shouted, and they had a split second's view of Snape in 
his lacy dress before Neville let out a great "Ha!" of laughter, and the 
boggart exploded, burst into a thousand tiny wisps of smoke, and was 
gone. 

"Excellent!" cried Professor Lupin as the class broke into applause. 
"Excellent) Neville. Well done, everyone.... Let me See... five points 
to Gryffindor for every person to tackle the boggart -- ten for Neville 
because he did it twice... and five each to Hermione and Harry." 

"But I didn't do anything," said Harry. 

"You and Hermione answered my questions correctly at the start of the 
class, Harry," Lupin said lightly. "Very well, everyone, an excellent 
lesson. Homework, kindly read the chapter on boggarts and summarize it 
for me... to be handed in on Monday. That will be all." 

113 



Talking excitedly, the class left the staffroom. Harry, however, wasn't 
feeling cheerful. Professor Lupin had deliberately stopped him from 
tackling the boggart. Why? Was it because he'd seen Harry collapse on 
the train, and thought he wasn't up to much? Had he thought Harry would 
pass out again? 

But no one else seemed to have noticed anything. 

"Did you see me take that banshee?" shouted Seamus. "And the hand!" said 
Dean, waving his own around. 

"And Snape in that hat!" "And my mummy!" 

I wonder why Professor Lupin's frightened of crystal balls?" said 
Lavender thoughtfully. 

"That was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson we've ever had, 
wasn't it?" said Ron excitedly as they made their way b