Chapter 322: Boggart in the closet (Edited)

The success of earning Casa points on the first day led Fish to be more active in class for the next few days.

Unfortunately, this didn't last long.

It's not that Fish couldn't earn Academy points in other classes, it's that the kitty wasn't adept in class.

So after two or three days of being a "good student," Fish became lazy and started sleeping through most classes again....

This was regretted by both Professor McGonagall and Hermione, who had only been happy for a couple of days.

They soon had their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the semester, and from the comments of those who had already taken the class, Lupin seemed to be doing a pretty good job as a teacher, no worse than Professor Flitwick, who had taken the class last year.

So, everyone arrived with great anticipation and took their seats in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, even Fish did not sleep, but was sitting in his seat, awaiting Lupin's arrival.

Just as the group was talking, Lupin walked in with a slight smile on his face, looking much better than he had on the train.

"Hello everyone," Lupin said to the crowd as he placed the tattered box in his hands on the podium, "Please put your books back in your bags, today is a practical lesson, all you need is your wands."

There was a small cheer from the audience, last year they had heard similar things from Professor Flitwick, each practical lesson was very interesting, and that was the main reason why Professor Flitwick was so well received last year....

Well, except for the practical session where Lockhart released the goblins.

Everyone put away their textbooks and looked expectantly at Professor Lupin at the podium.

"All right, you guys come with me."

Without further delay, Professor Lupin led the group out of the classroom.

The class's interest was heightened by the fact that both Professor Flitwick's popular practices and Lockhart's practices had only been held in the classroom, but this was the first time they had gone directly outside.

The group followed Professor Lupin down the empty corridors, and as they rounded the corner they came upon Peeves sticking a piece of gum on a key ring in the utility room.

"Peeves, hello nya!"

(●ΦωΦ●)?

Fish waved him off.

"I'm not well at all!"

Peeper had suffered so much for the kitten that when he saw that Fish was there, he dropped his joke without hesitation, made a face at the group, and then fled to the roof.

Seeing Peeves' deft movements, Professor Lupin flashed a wry, sympathetic smile...though he didn't know what Peeves had suffered at Fish's hands.

"Well, here, let me show you a very useful little spell," Lupin told the group, pulling out his wand after shaking the creepy feeling of recognition from his mind, "Be careful."

He pointed his wand at the blocked hole in the lock and intoned the incantation.

Immediately, the stuck gum flew out of the keyhole like a bullet and stuck to the opposite wall with a snap.

Professor Lupin then wiped the gum away with a wiping spell before putting away his wand and leading the group forward, finally stopping before the door to the staff room.

"Come in."

Professor Lupin opened the door and stepped back to let the group step forward.

"Severus, you're here too."

(●ΦωΦ●)?

As soon as he entered the teacher's lounge, Fish saw Professor Snape sitting inside.

Snape responded with a small nod of his head, but his grim eyes had been fixed on Lupin from the start.

In comparison to Snape's hostility, Lupin was very calm, giving Snape a polite nod before closing the door behind him.

"All right, everyone, come with me."

Lupin closed the door behind him and pointed to an old closet for the group,

The closet suddenly shook and made a banging sound.

"Don't worry," Professor Lupin said calmly as he saw a few students recoil in shock, "There's a boggart in there."

Then, most looked even more worried, especially Neville, who was struggling to keep his plump body, hidden behind the dark, thin Dean Thomas.

Snape, sitting in a low armchair, surveyed the scene and let out a grimace.

"Remus, what's a boggart?"

?ω?

Fish asked, cocking his head curiously.

He could sense the creature in the closet, but there was no sign that he could communicate with it, as if the creature, like most insects and fish, had some lack of intelligence.

With a small smile, Professor Lupin relayed the question to the others.

"So, can someone explain to Fish what a boggart is?"

Every time there was a question to answer, it was Hermione who put her hand up and answered Professor Lupin and Fish's questions perfectly.

"That's amazing nya!"

?△?

The little cat gasped in surprise.

It wasn't Hermione's answers to Professor Lupin's questions that impressed, it was the fact that Boggart could become something that others feared that intrigued the kitten...

If he could learn it, he could use it to scare Professor McGonagall when he challenged her later.

So the kitten was eager to find out how Boggart could do it.

"How did he know what Fish would be afraid of nya? Fish doesn't even know."

"It's Boggart's innate ability to read the image, or scene, that scares you the most, and then reproduce it."

Professor Lupin's response was disappointing to Fish.

But he didn't know what the kitten was thinking, and continued, "If you were good at Occlumency, then Boggart's ability wouldn't work for you, but Occlumency is still too advanced for you, so what we're going to learn today is another, simpler method..."

After teaching the students in detail how to repel the Boggart, and the spell to use, Professor Lupin looked around the group, his eyes fixed on Neville, cowering behind Dean.

"Now, we need someone to show you how to do it." Professor Lupin said by name, "Neville, now it's your turn."

Neville resisted, not wanting to be the first to confront Bogart, and hastily shot a pleading glance around, which everyone avoided, as no one wanted to shit themselves in front of the crowd.

Only the bold Fish kept his hands up and kept waving them at Professor Lupin.

"Remus, let Fish do it! Fish wants to know what he's afraid of!"

?(●?ω?●)?

But Professor Lupin ignored the kitten's offerings and just looked at the clueless Neville with a smile on his face...

Are you kidding me? If Fish was turned back into that big white tiger by the Boggart, would he still be alive?

Seeing that Professor Lupin was determined that he would take the lead, Neville had no choice but to approach the cabinet, trembling as if he was about to be executed.

"Hmph! Why don't you let Fish play first?"

(〃｀3′〃)

The kitten pouted in annoyance, holding his hands to his chest and grumbling.

Hermione had a good idea what Professor Lupin was thinking, but she couldn't tell Fish, so she could only whisper quietly, "Maybe Professor Lupin thought that the Boggart would choose to become something less scary because he was near you? Anyway, let's see what happens with Neville first."

Fish wagged his tail in annoyance, reluctantly agreeing to this.

"Very well, Neville," Professor Lupin, who had heard Hermione's voice, shot him a look of thanks, then turned to Neville, "First things first: what would you say, in this world, scares you the most?"

Neville's body shuddered, and then he looked unconsciously at Professor Snape, who was sitting in the distance.

"Hmph!"

Snape, who knew what would happen if the Boggart came out, Snape's expression turned even grimmer in an instant, snorted coldly, looked at Neville viciously, stood up and walked over.

Neville, who was already terrified, shivered even more when he saw the grim-faced Snape approaching him, and his face went so white that he looked ready to faint at any moment.

"Very well..."

Professor Lupin sighed helplessly and stepped between Snape and Neville, though he could have let Neville go on, but provoking Snape like that would not have been a good way for Neville to act, so he had to give up trying to help Neville find his courage for the time being.

"So let's move on to another student," he said as he let a relieved Neville back into the group, then looked at the other students and asked, "Anyone else want to try?"

"Fish, pick Fish!"

?(●?ω?●)?

The kitten waved his hands again and Professor Lupin ignored him again.

"Fish hates Lupin again, nya!"

Having been ignored twice in a row, Fish's good opinion of Professor Lupin, who had accidentally hurt Professor Lupin and his bad experience, vanished in an instant.

Professor Lupin also disregarded the cat's complaints and, after a quick glance around, he again named someone else:

"Would you like to try it, Hermione?"