Susan, in tears, collapses to the floor, as Harry rushes over and holds her.
"Oh dear… that… didn't go how I expected at all." Professor Lupin said, looking at the incredibly frightened girl. "Ms. Bones… do you need to go see Madame Pomfrey?" he asked.
Susan simply shook her head, calming down slightly as Harry held on to her. "Give her a minute… she just really wasn't expecting that." Harry said, as Susan pulled him closer.
"Yes… quite. Well, I suppose we must move on. Mandy Brocklehurst, I believe you are next." Lupin said, attempting to guide the class away from the crying Hufflepuff.
Padma, Hermione, and Hannah make their way over to the side of Susan and Harry, managing to calm her down as more students faced their fears, although some failed to properly cast the spell, none had quite the same reactions to their fears as Susan had.
Professor Lupin then called Hermione's name, and she made her way toward the wardrobe. She slapped her cheeks slightly as she psyched herself up for what would emerge for the wardrobe and took her stance in front of the doors. The now familiar dark clouds rolled out from the wardrobe before forming into a familiar face for those in the room: Harry Potter. This Harry was different from the one who stood with them though. He was uncomfortably thin, his robes hanging limply from his frame, and his skin was deathly pale, with dark circles under his eyes. He didn't stand long though, as he quickly collapsed to the floor, very obviously dead. Tears welled up in Hermione's eyes as she cast the required spell, the pale skin of the corpse turning a brighter white, like cloth, as the neck turned into a spring and bounced the head up and down like a dummy in a cartoon. The Boggart vanished back into his wardrobe, and Lupin congratulated Hermione on a successful spellcasting. Hermione simply thanked Professor Lupin for his words, heading back to Harry and crushing him into a hug.
Harry did partially enjoy his time as an emotional support wizard, although he wished they didn't have to be so sad to use him as such.
More students confronted their fears, some successfully casting their spells, some not, as Padma's turn came up. With more confidence, knowing that even if she failed, Harry would be there for her, she stood in front of the wardrobe and readied her stance. Unlike before though, no black mist poured from the wardrobe. Instead, a fully formed larger than life green snake appeared, and lunged at Padma, causing her to jump out of the way. Caught off guard, she reacted purely off instinct, and cast the wrong spell. "Flippendo!" she incanted, knocking the snake away from her. Just as she realized her error, she began to ready herself to recast the spell, but the snake turned and set its eyes on a new target, Harry.
The figure shifted, the snake turning briefly into the same inky black smoke the others had seen, before a new figure was formed. A tattered black cloak, with a dark void where one would normally find a face. Harry though, saw differently. Deep in that void, was a face, ever shifting, but recognizable. At first it was the rotund face of Vernon Dursley, red with anger, screaming and fuming silently. Then it was Quirrel, sneering, before his head turned around and the face of Voldemort shown behind him. Then Voldemort's face changed to that of Tom Riddle, and then for a brief moment, there was just a solitary flash of green light from within the figure, as Harry and Padma called out in unison "Riddikulus!" and hit the creature with their spells, shooting it back into the wardrobe.
Harry's breath hitched in his throat, his skin turning pale as he barely held himself up. Harry had been afraid before. He knew that. But at that moment, Harry was more afraid than he had ever been. Harry felt weak. He had stood up to powerful creatures before, but this boggart was what caused all of this? He was jerked from his thoughts as Padma, Susan, and Hermione shook him.
"Harry? Are you okay?" Hermione asked, looking at him. Harry looked at her brown eyes, full of concern, and felt himself returning back to his body.
"Yeah 'Mione… I'm fine." Harry said.
"Oh dear… that was unexpected. I… I think we will avoid using the Boggart for the rest of class. I think it may be doing more harm than good. Maybe we can revisit it later. I'll dismiss class early for today." Professor Lupin said, and a sigh of relief flooded the classroom. Everyone had been on edge about their fears, and while the controlled environment of the classroom was theoretically safe, it provided little comfort to those involved.
As students were packing up their things to make their way to other parts of the castle, Harry approached Professor Lupin. "Excuse me, Professor Lupin?" Harry prodded.
"Yes Mr. Potter? Did you need something?" Lupin responded.
"I had wanted to thank you for saving me on the train. The girls told me that you scared off that… Dementor I think is what they called it?" Harry said, trying to not think about the encounter in question.
"Oh! Well it was no issue. I would be remiss in my duties as a teacher if I allowed harm to come to any of my students, even if you weren't one quite as of yet. I was rather concerned that you didn't wake up on the train ride though. The Dementor's kiss can be quite nasty. I'm simply glad I got to you in time." Lupin said, letting out a sigh. "It's really the least I can do."
"Regardless, I do appreciate it." Harry said.
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T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.