The Heiress of Slytherin

it's giving 🌟trauma🌟

When Ivy and her friends shuffled into the already fairly full Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom they were greeted by Remus Lupin, who was standing by the side of a large wardrobe which was set by the stairs to his office on the far side of the room. All the desks and chairs had been haphazardly shoved against the walls, leaving the floor empty.

Ivy dashed up to Lupin the second she entered the room, grinning so brightly at him that he couldn't help but beam back at her. She skidded to a stop in front of him and clapped her hands together excitedly. "I am so happy you're teaching here Rem-, sorry, Professor Lupin. You are honestly the first worthwhile Defense teacher anyone in here has ever had."

Remus laughed gently. "It's lovely to see you Ivy, and thank you very much, let's hope I live up to the expectations." Ivy had very little doubt about that, they'd only had half a semester of tutoring sessions the prior year and she'd already learned more than she had from Quirrel and Lockhart put together.

The wardrobe was rattling hard and banging sounds were admitting from within as though something was fighting viciously to get out. Ivy raised her eyebrows at it then pivoted back towards her teacher. "Please tell me those aren't Cornish pixies."

He laughed loudly and shook his head. "No, I can assure you you're safe from pixies in this room. But you'll earn no clues from me."

With a chuckle and another bright smile Ivy turned to rejoin her friends. Before she had made it particularly far she caught sight of Ron, Harry and Neville all standing together off to the side of the room. They all looked rather grim, but Longbottom looked positively ashen. Ivy caught Harry's eye and gestured to the boy, shaking her head in a silent question of what was wrong. Harry simply mouthed "Snape" back at her, and that was explanation enough.

If Snape hated anyone more than Harry, it was Neville, and his treatment of the timid Gryffindor had been enough to solidify Ivy's deep dislike of her greasy haired head of house. She could not fathom any reasonable excuse for an adult being so maliciously cruel to any child who was supposed to rely on them for knowledge and support.

She was pulled from her unpleasant musings by Lupins voice at the front of the room. "Good morning class. Would anybody venture a guess what's in this wardrobe here?"

From over near where Harry stood a boys voice piped up. "That's a boggart, that is." Lupin clapped his hands together approvingly. "Very good Mr. Thomas! Now, who can tell me what a Boggart looks like?"

Hermiones voice rang clear through the room, "Nobody knows." Ivy swivelled her head. She hadn't seen her friend come in, but she supposed she must have simply missed her in the bustle. "Boggarts are shape-shifters. They take the shape of whatever a person fears the most. That's what makes them so-"

She trailed off but Remus smiled kindly and finished her thought. "So terrifying, yes. Luckily a very simple spell exists to repel a Boggart. Let's practice it now." He led the class through how to pronounce and cast Riddikulus.

Ivy went through the motions with everyone else. She watched and appreciated as Lupin pulled Neville up to the front and guided him through successfully turning Snape into Snape in his grandmothers clothes. But it all felt like dim background noise as her head swirled round and round. Whatever a person fears the most was what Hermione had said.

Ivy felt it was a fair assessment to say that she wasn't afraid of many things. Spiders, heights, enclosed spaces and the other common fears had never rattled her much. But that made this whole exercise so much more terrifying. If this thing showed what was truly your biggest fear then that meant that not only she would have to face it, but soon all her peers would know too.