69 69: R. J. Lupin

Alaric had found himself walking alone to lunch after a brief meeting with the Weasley twins regarding the 'celebrating'. 

Relief finally washed over Alaric once he had expressed his thoughts to his sister. He believed that it was in their best interests to lead separate lives at Hogwarts without constantly interfering with each other. Still, he could have chosen his words more carefully. But he couldn't change what had been done. 

He hoped her friends would console her... because he wouldn't. 

Glancing at his pocket watch, he briefly stopped at the kitchens to grab a bite of whatever lunch the elves had cooked before heading to the library. His purpose was to see if the restricted section contained any books on sensory charms that he hadn't already stashed away in his suitcase — The map wouldn't make itself. 

Following a lengthy, tedious, and tense exchange, Madam Pince reluctantly granted the young man access to the section, though her displeasure couldn't be more evident. Alaric and the Hogwarts Librarian frequently found themselves at odds, given the less-than-orthodox manner in which he had obtained his pass from Lockhart.

"If you rip, tear, shred, bend, fold, deface, disfigure, smear, smudge, throw, drop, or in any other manner damage, mistreat, or show lack of respect towards the books, the consequences will be as awful as it is within my power to make them, Mr Grindelwald!" She said in a loud enough whisper he couldn't believe she hadn't used a Sonorous.

"You hurt my feelings, Madam Pince," Alaric said sardonically, flashing the librarian a smirk before strutting away. 

Several hours went by, and at the stroke of one o'clock, Alaric put an end to his writing on the various charms he planned to use for the map. He casually waved his wand, causing all the books that had been spread across the desk to close and float back to their spots on the worn-out shelves. 

A few desks away, Alaric had noticed a ghost observing him since he entered the library. A gaunt and silent spectre covered in silver bloodstains. The Bloody Baron. 

He could count on one hand how many times he heard his house's ghosts speak to students. Most of those were just grumblings of an ancient spirit, and the occasional others were short sentences whenever he tried to interact with people. 

Alaric was sure he spoke more to the Fat Friar, the Hufflepuff's ghost, about Hogwarts's food than to the Baron.

His pearly white, nearly transparent face was fixed on Alaric. No, to be more precise, it was transfixed on his pendant. Alaric looked down, but nothing was wrong with the necklace. It was just a broken piece of crystal held by a thin silver chain, with a sporadic glow only he could see. 

Frowning, he tucked the necklace beneath his collar and left the library. 

__________

Professor Lupin was notably absent when Alaric arrived for his first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson of the year. Everyone took their seats, and Alaric chose a spot at the second desk from the front, close to Theodore and Blaise.

"Al, m' boy, it's a proper treat to have you back after all this time!" Blaise exclaimed, reaching out his hand.

"A delight as well, Blaise, my lad. But you know how it is. I'm a man of many obligations," Alaric replied, shaking his friend's hand in a rather theatrical way. 

There were a few laughs and chortles from the nearby students, but Alaric felt that a small section of the room hadn't let out even a giggle. Coincidently, he could feel someone staring daggers at him from the same place. 

Lysandra had her face covered by her arms, silently crying. Hope and Hermione had their arms around her, whispering comforting words to her, while Harry and Ron had their eyes fixed on Alaric. He was sure they would hex him if they weren't in a classroom. 

They could try. 

While he and Theodore were talking about the Quidditch trials later, Professor Lupin finally entered the room. He smiled vaguely and placed his tatty old briefcase on the teacher's desk. Lupin was as shabby as Alaric remembered but looked healthier than he had on the first feast, as though he had had a few square meals.

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

Alaric arched an eyebrow and looked at Theodore and Blaise who had excited expressions on their faces. They had never had a practical DADA lesson before unless you counted the memorable class last year when Lockhart had brought a cageful of pixies to class and set them loose.

He wondered for a second where the fraud had escaped but shrugged. Lockhart couldn't have gotten far. The man couldn't even apparate. 

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

He led them down a second corridor and stopped, right outside the staffroom door.

"Inside, please," Lupin said, opening it and standing back.

The staffroom, a long, panelled room full of old, mismatched chairs, was empty except for one teacher. Professor Snape was sitting in a low armchair, and he looked around as the class filed in. His eyes were glittering and there was a nasty sneer playing around his mouth. As Professor Lupin came in and made to close the door behind him, Snape said, "Leave it open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this,"

He got to his feet and strode past the class, briefly looking at Alaric and Lysandra, the latter still sniffling softly. 

"Now, then," said Professor Lupin, beckoning the class toward the end of the room, where there was nothing but an old wardrobe where the teachers kept their spare robes. As Professor Lupin went to stand next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall. "There's a boggart in there,"

Most people knew what a boggart was, and took a step back. Those who didn't, did the same, wary of whatever could shake a wardrobe so fiercely. 

"So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a boggart?"

Some put their hands up, but Alaric didn't. He could easily deal with boggarts, but he hated seeing one. Except, Professor Lupin didn't look at those who seemed to know, but at those who had backed away from the front. 

"You there," He said in a kind tone. "What's your name?" 

"Alaric Grindelwald, sir," Alaric answered, not amused to be chosen the one time he tried to hide himself. 

"Ah, yes, Lysandra's brother," Lupin nodded his head. "Well, Alaric, do you know what a boggart is?" 

"A shape-shifter that takes the shape of whatever he thinks will frighten his target the most," 

"Couldn't have put it better myself. Five points to Slytherin," He said, and Alaric received a few unwelcome taps in the back, including from Draco. 

"So the boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form," Lupin continued. "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. Our numbers," 

Alaric leaned on the stone wall, watching impressed as the professor taught the charm that repelled a boggart to the class. Even Longbottom, whom Alaric considered the worst wizard he'd ever seen, apart from in Herbology, seemed to get the movement and incantation down. He'd have no trouble repelling the creatures if he'd gotten a proper wand. 

"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... how about you, 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,"

"Right," Professor Lupin said with a small smile. "Just imagine Professor Snape in her clothes. Can you do that?" He asked, and Neville nodded. "Alright, everyone, give Neville some space please!" 

They did as they were told, backing away to the wall behind Neville, who 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. Alaric had to stifle a laugh when he saw Professor Snape step 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!"

Parvati, a girl Alaric knew had a hand in helping whatever Lavender wrote about him, 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 unravelled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off.

A few more students went after her. Blaise's boggart was a furious Graphorn charging him, but he did quick work of it by turning it into pudding. Next went Tracey, and a giant centipede coiled around itself in front of the girl, but a swift flick of her wand gave her biggest fear some ice-skating shoes for each leg. 

When Ron had just taken the legs from the spider the boggart had turned into, Lupin called another student. 

"Lysandra! You next!" he roared.

Lysandra lept forward, her eyes still puffy but otherwise looking better than at the beginning of the class. 

Crack!

Quite a few people screamed. The giant legless spider twisted and turned into itself, before revealing a corpse sprawled on the floor. It had familiar pale-blonde hair, lifeless icy-blue eyes, a sharp jaw, and full lips. But what caused most people to take a step back was the horrid expression playing on the body's face. 

Blaise, Daphne, Tracey, and Theodore were speechless. They looked at Alaric, who was staring at the boggart whilst bitting his lip out of frustration. 

"Riddikulus!" Lysandra cried, her wand pointing at her brother's corpse, but nothing happened. "Riddikulus! Riddikulus! R-riddikul—"

"Here!" Professor Lupin exclaimed. 

For a second, everyone looked wildly around to see where the boggart was. Then they saw a silvery-white orb hanging in the air in front of Lupin, who said, "Riddikulus!" almost lazily.

"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.

"Perfect! Perfect!" Lupin said with praise. "Well done, everyone! That's it for today, see you Thursday!" He continued. After some students left, he turned to Lysandra. "Lysandra, a word please?"

**********

A/N: I just realized I'm pretty much shit at coming up with titles. 

Fun fact! One of the flying cars used in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was stolen off the set. It was discovered months later after a tip-off to the police.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!