Bad Reputation - Harry Potter Fanfic

Chapter Fourteen

"Are you ready?" Professor Lupin asked me, having just explained to Potter about remembering his happiest memory and the incantation 'expecto patronum'.

"Nope," I answered quickly.

"What're you having trouble with?" he asked.

"Finding something to make it funny. Unfortunately, a stuffed vulture on a hat would just add to the effect," I said flatly, I could very well imagine Lucius wearing the hat, which definitely didn't make me smile.

He then looked at Potter, who had been practising the incantation.

"Then we will have you first, Harry," he said, turning his attention to the younger student. I decided to watch the pair interact.

"Did you see that?" Potter exclaimed after a silvery mist left his wand. "Something happened!"

"Very good," said Professor Lupin, smiling. "Right, then — ready to try it on a Dementor?"

"Yes," Potter said, gripping his wand very tightly, and moving into the middle of the deserted classroom.

I kept my eyes on the Professor, who, no matter the student, just looked like he was genuinely pleased with accomplishments made by the students. I found it weirdly relaxing.

Professor Lupin grasped the lid of the packing case that housed the boggart and pulled.

A Dementor rose slowly from the box, its hooded face turned toward Potter, one glistening, scabbed hand gripping its cloak. The lamps around the classroom flickered and went out. The Dementor stepped from the box and started to sweep silently toward Potter, drawing a deep, rattling breath.

"Expecto patronum!" Potter yelled. "Expecto patronum! Expecto —"

And he dropped, out like a light. The boggart then turned its attention to me, it then changed form to an exact replica of my Father, who almost immediately raised his wand at me.

I thought of flowers, I pointed my wand, and shouted, "Riddikulus!" as Lucius the boggart started to hiss, "Crucio."

Before anything happened, his wand turned to flowers. It wasn't very humorous for me, to be honest - Lucius torturing me was probably worse than him killing me.

"Riddikulus." The boggart was shoved back into the trunk and Professor immediately went to wake Potter up and give him a chocolate frog, giving a very nice reassurance that he didn't expect him to get it on the first go. The patronus charm was a difficult charm to say the least.

"You did well, Caelum," he said, looking very sympathetic as he offered me my own chocolate frog.

I didn't really feel like I needed it, but unwrapped it all the same and ate the head before the rest of it could get away from me. I didn't feel any better. I put the rest of it aside, not really wanting more, when he looked back at Potter for another go, telling him to think of another memory. I stood up, again.

The boggart was released again, but this time, its attention fell onto me first, morphing into Lucius Malfoy yet again.

"Cruc-"

"Riddikulus!" I wasn't thinking of flowers this time, I was thinking about the last time I saw him and the muggle radio, and just muggle things in general. The boggart that was Lucius was then wearing muggle clothing, jeans, a bright yellow tee shirt, and a denim jacket. Instead of a wand, he was holding a muggle boombox, to which he stared at in disgust, dropping it at his feet before noticing Harry.

And then, thankfully, turning into a dementor and just making the room cold.

Potter passed out, again, and Lupin had it back in its case in record time.

As Lupin went to wake Potter up again, and when it had taken him longer this time, I decided to make my way to where he had stored his chocolate, picking up another chocolate frog for Potter.

"I heard my dad," Potter mumbled, after a minute. "That's the first time I've ever heard him — he tried to take on Voldemort himself, to give my mum time to run for it . . ."

I felt like this was too much of a private moment for me to be listening to. Even so, I glanced at Potter, and he had tears. I looked away, putting the chocolate frog box back down and making my way back to my chair, picking up my bag. This was all too private.

"You heard James?" said Lupin in a strange voice.

"Yeah . . . Why — you didn't know my dad, did you?"

I started to walk to the door.

"I — I did, as a matter of fact," said Lupin. "We were friends at Hogwarts. Listen, Harry — perhaps we should leave it here for tonight. This charm is ridiculously advanced...I shouldn't have suggested putting you through this . . ."

"No!" Potter objected, but I heard no more, I was out the door and it had closed behind me. I didn't like Potter, sure, but because he didn't like me, it just didn't feel right staying there. And it's not like I didn't have my own problems.

And, I had to admit, the fact that my fear of Lucius torturing me just felt almost too real. There, of course, was the chance he may have done if he'd been allowed to.