The Marauders: Year Three | #Wattys2016

Professor Veigler's Boggart

Professor Veigler's Boggart

"I've got a brilliant lesson in store for you lot today!" Professor Veigler said, jumping up from the dusty old trunk he'd dragged out to the center of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The trunk instantly began to rattle and shake across the floor before their very eyes the moment that his weight was off of it. Lily Evans was to one side, crouching close to the floor, staring at the shuffling trunk with wide eyes. Peter ducked between Remus's wheelchair and James, who was pushing him along, as Sirius stared hungrily at the trunk, eager to find out what was making it move like that. "Today, we'll be learning about boggarts," Veigler announced.

"Boggarts," whispered Sirius, mesmerized already. He scurried to sit on the wood floor next to Lily.

Remus looked nervous.

"What are boggarts?" Lily asked, her voice tremulous.

James pushed Remus closer and then sat down on the floor, leaning against the wheels of the chair as Peter reluctantly lowered himself between James and Sirius.

"They're a sort of spiritual being," Professor Veigler answered Lily, "An amortal shape-shifter. The thing that goes bump in the night? Or the proverbial monster beneath your bed? That's most likely a boggart."

Lily looked frightened, though not nearly as much so as Peter did, who was positively pale. Sirius patted Peter's shoulder with an amused expression. "What do they look like?" Lily asked.

"An excellent question, as usual, Miss. Evans," Professor Veigler said as he walked 'round so he was standing behind the trunk. "No wizard has ever seen a boggart in it's natural form. Our best guess is that when it lies in wait in the dark and shadows, the boggart has no form. Boggarts take on the form of an on-looker's worst fear, and so, until someone has looked at it, the boggart doesn't know what to become."

"This sounds like a ghost story," Lily said.

"Ghosts are far more predictable than a boggart," Veigler said, "Ghosts are an echo of a living being whose soul has been left behind on the earth to fulfill some purpose. A boggart's sole purpose is to strike fear in the heart of any it can come into contact with. A boggart feeds off fear, similarly to the way a dementor feeds of good and happiness. Likewise, a boggart strikes fear in order to eat, in a manner of speaking."

Lily shivered.

Sirius asked, "So that's a real boggart you've got in that trunk there?"

"Yes it is," Professor Veigler answered, "And, before the end of this lesson, you'll have each had an opportunity to face him."

"Are there a lot of boggarts in the world, sir?" Peter asked squeakily.

Professor Veigler nodded, "Oh yes. Loads. They love lurking in shadows and in dusty attics and all sorts of places. Dark alleyways, abandoned buildings, deep forests... you get the idea. There are, of course, boggarts that are stronger than others - and that's led to some fairly well known boggarts over time... For example there was the Old Boggle of Canterbury, which had scared an entire village into believing he was a cannibalistic hermit... and the Bludgeoning Boggart of Old London Town. He wrecked such havoc on the whole of London that it took a very powerful wizard to conquer him. Turned him into a hamster, as the story goes. And of course the Screaming Bogey of Strathtully." Veigler looked at Remus, "I suppose you know all about him, don't you, Mr. Lupin?"

All eyes turned toward Remus, who had turned quite red. "My dad still has the matchbox," he murmured.

"What?" James asked.