Chapter 164: Something Is About to Go Wrong (Patreon)

“Wait.”

Wade suddenly realized something important.

“You said Sirius Black betrayed Harry’s parents? Then what was his relationship with Harry’s parents?”

“Good friends.”

Daphne thought for a moment.

“He was very close to Harry’s father, James Potter, almost like Harry and Ron are now. That’s why so many people found it hard to believe when it happened.”

Wade was even more surprised. Something still didn’t add up.

If Sirius and James had been such close friends, there was no reason for him to betray them.

And more importantly, more than ten years had passed between the supposed betrayal and the moment Sirius finally turned his attention to Harry Potter.

That was an awfully long gap.

“Don’t worry about it. It has nothing to do with us.”

“True.”

Wade nodded absentmindedly.

The case from more than a decade ago had long since been settled. Sirius Black himself had admitted to the crime, so there was no reason for Wade to dig any deeper.

However, once Harry learned the truth, there was no way he would be able to suppress his desire for revenge.

Wade had to find a way to protect him. He couldn’t let the shield he had worked so hard to establish be destroyed.

One option was to capture Sirius before Harry could go after him.

Perhaps he could work with Professor Snape. After all, if Sirius hadn’t betrayed them, Harry’s mother, Lily Evans, would never have died.

The other option was to suppress Harry’s reckless impulse.

That would require someone to help him. Ron and Hermione might be able to stop him at a critical moment.

Er…

Ron could be ruled out.

The fact that he wouldn’t immediately grab his wand and rush off to die alongside Harry would already count as remarkable restraint.

That left Hermione.

But he would have to proceed carefully.

That girl was extraordinarily intelligent. If he acted too deliberately, she might notice that something was wrong.

That afternoon was the first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson of the term. The third-year Gryffindors and Slytherins were taking the class together.

The classroom was almost empty. The only unusual thing inside was a cabinet that looked extremely old and occasionally trembled.

“Today will be a practical lesson. You won’t need your textbooks or quills. Just make sure you have your wands.”

The students put their books away, but there was a hint of suspicion in their eyes as they looked at Lupin.

They had hardly had any practical Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons before. Last year, Lockhart had given them a firsthand demonstration of just how troublesome Cornish Pixies could be.

Hopefully, this year wouldn’t be nearly as terrible.

“Would anyone like to guess what’s inside?”

“A Boggart.”

“Very good, Mr. Thomas.”

Lupin nodded.

“Boggarts prefer dark, enclosed places. A wardrobe, beneath a bed, or even a cupboard beneath a sink—any of those places could be hiding a Boggart.

“So… can anyone tell me what a Boggart looks like?”

“No one knows.”

Hermione raised her hand.

“Boggarts can transform. They become whatever the person in front of them fears most, so they’re very…”

“Frightening, yes.”

Lupin nodded.

“This Boggart hasn’t taken on a specific form yet because it doesn’t know what the people outside are afraid of.

“But the moment I let it out, it will immediately transform into whatever each of us fears most.”

“So that means we have a huge advantage over the Boggart. Can anyone figure out what that advantage is?”

Hermione rose onto her toes and raised her hand as high as she could.

“Miss Granger.”

“Numbers. There are so many of us that it won’t know what to turn into.”

“Exactly. Five points to Gryffindor.”

Lupin clapped his hands.

“The best way to deal with a Boggart is to face it in a group. It won’t know what form to take and will end up confusing itself.

“However, there’s no need to worry if you encounter a Boggart alone. There’s a very simple spell that can deal with it, though it requires a strong will.”

“Let’s practice. Don’t use your wands yet.

“Repeat after me. Riddikulus!”

“Riddikulus!”

The entire class repeated the incantation.

“Very good. That’s the easiest part, but simply casting the spell isn’t enough.

“The ultimate way to defeat a Boggart is to laugh. You have to transform it into something you find absolutely ridiculous.”

After the theoretical explanation came the practical exercise.

Lupin chose Neville as the first student.

Neville nervously stepped forward, trembling even more than the cabinet itself.

“Neville, tell me what you’re most afraid of.”

“Professor Snape.”

Neville’s voice was so quiet that no one except himself could hear it.

“What?”

“Professor Snape.”

Everyone burst out laughing.

Harry Potter was undoubtedly the student Professor Snape targeted most harshly during Potions, but Neville Longbottom was unquestionably the one who suffered the most and feared him the most.

“Professor Snape. Yes, everyone’s afraid of him.”

Lupin pondered this for a moment before continuing.

“You live with your grandmother, don’t you?”

“Yes, but I don’t want the Boggart to turn into my grandmother.”

Neville looked awkward and uneasy.

“No, it won’t.”

Lupin spoke gently.

“I want you to imagine the clothes your grandmother wears. Just the clothes. Make the image as clear as possible.”

“She carries a red handbag…”

“You don’t need to say it out loud.

“If you can imagine it, we can see it.

“When I open the cabinet, I want you to do exactly that.”

Lupin leaned toward Neville’s ear and whispered,

“Imagine Professor Snape wearing your grandmother’s clothes.”

“Are you ready?”

Neville looked panicked. He nodded while swallowing nervously.

“Good. Wand at the ready.”

Lupin gave Neville an encouraging look before drawing his wand and pointing it at the cabinet.

“One, two, three…”

Click!

The cabinet door swung open, and Professor Snape came storming out with an imposing expression.

Neville immediately stumbled backward several steps. If Lupin hadn’t been standing right behind him to steady him, he might have collapsed completely.

“R-Riddikulus!”

Neville hurriedly cast the spell.

A sharp whip-like crack rang through the air.

Professor Snape staggered.

His black robes transformed into a frilly dress. A tall, vulture-shaped hat appeared on his head, complete with a large red handbag dangling from his hand.

“Hahahaha!”

The classroom erupted in laughter.

The Boggart itself froze in place, completely bewildered.

“If Professor Snape ever found out he had been turned into this, I wonder how furious he’d be.”

Wade laughed loudly.

“Speaking of which, Professor Lupin ruined Professor Snape’s image in his very first lesson. I’m starting to wonder if the two of them have some kind of grudge against each other.”

“That’s not important.”

Daphne dismissed the matter with a wave of her hand.

“What I’m curious about is what you’re most afraid of.”

“To be honest, I’m curious too.”

Wade clicked his tongue thoughtfully.

So far, there wasn’t anything he was particularly afraid of.

There were, however, a few people he was wary of.

Wait.

The Boggart wouldn’t actually manifest those people, would it?

Dumbledore was one thing. Wade had once helped Quirrell perform a divination concerning him, so perhaps the guilt over doing something wrong could be explained.

But Voldemort’s lingering soul fragment, Tom Riddle in his youth, and Nicolas Flamel, who was more than six hundred years old…

There was no way he could explain any of those.

Damn it.

Something is definitely about to go wrong!