Chapter 24. Easy Mode. Defeat your Old Laptops!

I worked quickly. I didn't come in contact with Dementors again.

The first Boggart I came across after leaving the group behind was a large bird that was the stuff of nightmares.

I don't think I've ever come across it before so I decided to play safe and use the 'Riddikulus' spell.

The bird vanished and transformed into my old laptop.

This caught me so off guard that I had to bend over, my stomach hurt from laughing.

The Boggart immediately vanished because I was able to laugh in the face of my 'deepest fear'.

'Did somebody set this fight to easy mode or something?'

Who decided that my old laptop was the one thing that would bring me to my knees, sobbing?

Granted, there was a time when my laptop brought me so much trauma and pain but that felt like a lifetime ago.

But the more I thought about it, the more I couldn't find something else that I was terrified of.

I knew Basilisks were near impossible to create so I had no fear of them. My Patronus was beyond powerful so Dementors had no hold over me either.

It meant that whenever I used the 'Riddikulus' spell on the Boggarts, they turned into laptops.

I had to stop to laugh again, resting against the wall for support.

If anyone bumped into me, they would probably think that I had gone crazy but I couldn't help my laughter.

I moved quickly because of this cheat. The floors were mostly empty now because most of the students had gotten to safety.

I still had to move carefully though because if I bumped into a Professor, they would tell me to go to the Great Hall.

Would I listen? Of course not but it would be a nuisance if they decided to take me themselves.

I cleared the second floor now and made my way to the next floor.

For the first time since I started this battle, I was stunned stupid.

Right down the third-floor corridor, there was an unmistakable replica of myself. It wasn't just me but Roxana and I? Kissing?

Who the fuck was creating this nightmare?

I crept closer, and even more shocking than the fact that a replica of me was kissing Roxana was the person behind this fear.

It was Sawyer.

His eyes were blanked out as he stared helplessly at Boggart-me and Boggart-Roxana who seemed to be fused at the lips.

He didn't even notice my presence, lost in the scene unfolding before him.

"R-Ri-Riddikulus!" He shouted savagely, his wand hand trembling violently.

The Boggart transformed into a dead Roxana this time. Her skin was ivory pale, her eyes blanked out and lifeless, beneath her, a pool of blood kept rapidly growing.

Sawyer dropped to his knees on the hard stone floor, his expression like he was the one dying.

The horror in his eyes was so disconcerting that it made me actually feel bad for him.

I pointed my wand at Roxana's dead body. I had cast enough of the 'Riddikulus' spell that I could do it non-verbally.

It hardly formed into a laptop before it vanished.

Sawyer was still on his knees on the ground, his head bowed. This made his brown hair fall over his face and hide his expression.

"Sawyer? You good?" I walked closer.

When I got to his side, he reached out to violently grab my forearm, squeezing so harshly that it made me wince.

He looked up at me, still on his knees. His eyes were red but painfully dry and he glared at me with the most hatred I've ever seen in his eyes.

"Shithead, you made Rox come look for you because you couldn't keep your stupid ass in one place."

I blanched. "Roxana is not in the Great Hall? Shit." I ripped my hand from his vicious hold.

Boggarts might be nuisances at most but in certain circumstances, they could get extremely dangerous.

"If anything happens to her, I'll fucking kill you!"

I ignored Sawyer's ranting and kept moving. If he knew what was good for him, he would head back to the Great Hall.

But now what he saw made sense. If he had gone looking for Roxana who in turn went looking for me, his deepest fear would be either me hooking up with Roxana or her turning up dead.

Pieces of the puzzle kept falling into place. Sawyer must have hated my guts because the only girl he really liked was into me, he still hated me.

Even worse, I didn't seem to notice nor care about her interest. I couldn't even blame Sawyer.

If I really liked a girl and she almost seemed to despise me but instead, liked this one loser who didn't even see her, I'd see red.

But first I had to find Roxana.

Pretty much all the students had already gotten to safety in the Great Hall. If a student was still wandering around, it was probably because they were defeated by their deepest fears or searching for someone else.

Or if they were like me, just trying to level up.

I felt responsible for her though, if she had gotten in trouble while trying to save me, I owed it to her to look out for her.

I moved faster, when I got to the Armor Gallery, I bumped into a couple of Professors.

Professor Flitwick and Professor Faringray. They made for a funny contrast because Professor Flitwick was like half the size of Professor Faringray.

I immediately hid in the Trophy room, listening to their conversation as they briskly walked past.

"We haven't run into a Boggart for a while now, it would be troublesome if they were hiding in obscure places…" Their voices trailed away.

I couldn't help my smug smile as I listened to them, I slipped out of the Trophy room and continued my journey.

The Armor Gallery was a long passageway full of suits of armor, they were lined up as if on display.

There was also a portrait of Brutus Scrimgeour on the walls, this hid a secret passage to the fourth corridor.

"Dignitate Honestatis." I muttered the password, gaining access to the secret passageway.

The smug smile that had been lingering on my face fell off when I got to the fourth-floor corridor.

It was Roxana.

A half-dead Roxana.

Her eyes were tightly shut, no doubt to protect herself from the Basilisk attacking her but that wasn't all they could do.

The Basilisk was wrapped around her tightly, trying to squeeze her to death. She was deathly pale and looked half unconscious.

I moved quickly, the Basilisk vanished in mid-air so I had to catch a falling Roxana.

I winced from the impact of her weight from such a height, relieved that I had managed to catch her.

Her weight was inconsequential now that I was simply holding her and not trying to catch her from the sky.

Roxana slowly opened her eyes, staring up at me like she was seeing a ghost.

"A-Audr…" She didn't get my name out because she started coughing up blood.

I panicked. There was blood staining her lips and throat, I had to get help.

Fortunately, the Hospital Wing was on the fourth floor so I headed straight there.

Madam Pomfrey wasn't impressed that I had been moving around when I was supposed to be at the Great Hall but she was also thankful that I had gotten to Roxana when I did.

I didn't rat out on Roxana that she had come looking for me and that was why she had gotten in danger.

I simply told Madam Pomfrey that I was the one that had gone looking for her when I couldn't find her in the Great Hall.

She refused to let me leave the Hospital Wing after but at this point most of the Boggarts were banished by me or the Professors had gotten to them.

I was also exhausted, I'd been on my feet the entire time, running around and fighting old laptops.

There were quite a number of students at the Infirmary, and I knew that the numbers would double by the time the situation was under control.

Madam Pomfrey made me lie down on a bed and did a quick check-over even though I kept telling her I was okay.

I was more concerned about Roxana who turned out to have a couple of broken ribs and internal bleeding.

I let my eyes slip close for a few minutes, the danger was past. For now.

///Author's Note///

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