yellow ribbon | a harry potter fanfiction

it's not all fairy tales

READING BOOKS LIKE Harry Potter, people have that moment of faith and wonder, what would it be like to be in that book. To imagine what house to be sorted into, what wand, your patronous, and Amorentia smell. But one thing Wendy didn't envy upon reading the books—Boggarts.

Professor Lupin was an incredible teacher, and would show to be also a great person too, but Wendy wasn't very fond of him during that lesson. Every student in line, scared but excited to see what their Boggarts would look like, but not Wendy.

She wanted to place herself after Harry, as she knew after his turn Professor Lupin would have dismissed the class. Unfortunately, her other classmates were already squishing her in between Ron and Parvati. She knew she didn't have a choice.

Ron was done, and his fear of spiders conquered by it loosing its legs. Not as ridiculous as what they showed in the movies but Wendy thought that maybe wizards didn't have roller skates in their world.

She was up next and with a deep breath she took a step forward. The previously leg-less spider spinned around as the Boggart studied Wendy's deepest and darkest fears. It took a while longer than the others, maybe it was confused by Wendy's complicated mind. Professor Lupin took a step forward, closer to Wendy, ready to intervene. He knew when people had something to hide, he was the king of it, and Wendy definitely was hiding something. He was just not sure what she was keeping secret.

After a few moments of dreadful waiting the Boggart decided to take its shape. Two people stood in front of her, one mirrored her completely. Her expressions and subtle movements, but she looked older. It was herself in her true age.

Wendy didn't understand why would she be afraid of herself at 29 years old until she looked at the other figure behind her. She was hand in hand with a child. He looked a lot like her father, but there was something different about him. His eyes, were like her mother's.

"Michael?" She whispered.

Her brother stepped out of the shadow and looked up at her. Her older brother. It didn't make sense, it wasn't possible. Until it came to her. By continuing this path, along with her new wizard friends, her life before would be gone. She couldn't come back to it, it would be ridiculous.

"Why did you leave me?" The little boy asked and continued to scold her, "I told you to not run off again."

Wendy shook her head. That was not real. For how tangible it could be and how real his voice was, it was just not real. She did her best to think of anything positive to change that horrible thought with and decidedly called out the spell, "r-riddikulus!"

The Boggart did not flinch, instead it took a step forward and the image of Cedric Diggory came. Wendy was quite confused, but she remembered that Cedric would come to be the very first death, and she would have to see it happen. The room was quiet and observant, everyone wondering why Wendy would be afraid of a Hufflepuff buy, when a flash of green came to Cedric's surprised face. Knowing the future, knowing the truth. And she had to do the hardest thing to do in face of it—do nothing. She shook her head, convinced that she will do her best to save the boy. A bit hesitantly she repeated the spell, "riddikulus."

But again the Boggart just came to be the face of Sirius Black. Unlike the mugshots in the journals of him those past few weeks, in this image of Sirius he looked at peace. Smiling, even. Wendy glanced at her professor, a part of her curious of how he would react and partly because she was getting a bit tiresome of the Boggart not becoming anything funny.

Lupin was incredulously looking at his old friend, he should have expected one of his students to be scared of the infamous traitor who escaped Azkaban; but he was not ready to see him in such a good form. Happy, even.