Lionheart ~ Harry Potter (Under Heavy Editing)

Chapter Nine | Boggarts Are Not Fun

The next morning, Ariana had woken up in her usual state; in a cold sweat, panting. Nightmares plagued her almost every time she closed her eyes, ones that only reminded her of how terrible her life had been so far. She recognised the symptoms she displayed as PTSD... and that didn't surprise her in the slightest. It was terrible, but her depression had, for the most part, lifted since meeting her three friends.

Their letters over the holidays is what kept her going during the summer holidays, hearing about how their their holidays were going and writing complete lies about her own. She received presents for her birthday and sent gifts to Harry for his, eight days after her own. On the days where you wanted the ground below her feet, she studied, reread the letters from her friends and spent time with Nova, without whom she'd completely alone at the house.

She insisted on awakening before the other girls in her dorm in an attempt to conceal her past from them. So, at 05:00 she woke up and got ready for the coming day. After showering, she done har hair and applied the little make-up she usually wore: mascara and simply making sure her eyebrows were the same shape. Then got changed into her robes, but not before checking on Nova.

She and her friends all met up in the common room before journeying down several flights of self-moving stone staircases to the Grand Hall. Breakfast was just as spectacular as usual, looking just as delicious as it smelled. All kinds of breakfast foods were piled along the house tables, making the first-years 'ooh' and 'aah'. Ariana had a bowl of stodgy porridge, garnished with strawberries and raspberries, while Ron had a full English, something which Ariana did not like the look of at all.

Today was the day they finally had their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and Ariana was buzzing with excitement. She had always excelled at Defense Against the Dark Arts, as well as her other classes, but even more than that, she had a passion for it.

At the start of the year, Professor McGonagall had suggested that Hermione and Ariana be given a Time Turner. It was a small device that would take them back in time of they so desired, but only to attend classes. Sometimes the Heads of the Houses suggested that certain students obtain Time Turners in order to take more classes than their peers, if they are deemed fit. Both of the Gryffindor girls were, since their intellectual skills were supportive of this.

No-one knew about the Time Turner they shared; since their extra classes were together, they had one between then. Harry and Ron had no idea how they kept appearing just after classes began, and neither of the girls could really reveal their secrets.

Both Ariana and Hermione had just used the Time Turner to get from Astronomy class to DADA, making it into the class only a few minutes after it began. A mixture of third year Gryffindors, Slytherins, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs stood in a large group, watching as their new Professor stood in front of them.

Ariana had a better look at him in the daylight as it poured through the windows. He had reasonably short chestnut hair and a thin mustache on his upper lip. However, the most noticeable thing about him was two large scars down his face, that looked as if something had sliced his face with claws.

A tall wardrobe sat in the center of the large classroom, which had been cleared of desks, rattling violently as if something was moments away from bursting out if it.

"Can anyone tell us what a Boggart looks like?" Lupin enquired, obviously referring to the creature inside the wardrobe.

"No one knows," Hermione stated.

At the girls' sudden appearance, Ron jumped to the side, shocked. He glanced at the new arrivals and whispered to Harry, and Ariana assumed he was asking his friend if he knew when they got there.