Hermione's Riddle

The Boggart in the Woods

Tom found himself unable to focus on his reading materials. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the refugees and that muggle they brought with them, and Her-Norris. He could not come up with an explanation as to why he was so bothered by the idea that her boyfriend could have given her the Invisibility Cloak. No, what he couldn't fathom was the idea that he was relieved to know that it was the one who felt like a brother to her who had given Norris the cloak.

He didn't understand these feelings that he was having. He would ask Norris but she was the topic of his thoughts, the reason for his feelings. No, he would have to ask Abraxas. That thought made him uncomfortable.

He closed his book in frustration, gathered curious stares from the few Slytherins that had stayed behind during break. Gathering up his belongings he headed for his room. He deposited everything onto his desk and left. Maybe a walk would help clear his mind?

He stormed out of the common room with his mind preoccupied. His footsteps echoed in the eerily vacant halls. Soon, wind begin to whip his face but he paid no mind to it.

Tom couldn't get the look Norris wore on her face when he used the cruciatus curse on her. He never used it on a girl before so he wasn't sure if that was the reason he felt the way he did.

Norris had looked unto him with steely brown eyes. He could see unshed tears welling up in her eyes, begging to be spilled. As her body writhed in pain, she neither cried out nor begged him to make the pain go away. When he had first used the curse on his followers, most had cried out from the pain. She did not.

Tom came to a sudden halt. She had the cruciatus curse used on her before! Of course, that was it! Tom's stomach knotted up with the realization.

What did this war cost Norris? He knew she had lost friends and family, those she called loved ones, but he had never come to the realization that she may have at one point been captured and tortured.

Tom visibly shuddered. Why was it that he could deal out pain to others with a flick of his wrist but become uneasy at the thought of others torturing? What was happening to him?

He shook away his unease and looked around at his surroundings. He had wandered into the Forbidden Forest.

Twigs snapped and cracked around him. The beat of hoofprints became more prominent as the ground shook. Whining and neighing filled the air. Tom's jaw raddled with thunderous noise. What was going on?

The trees before him bent out of shape with a cracking pop. Black, leathery bodies poured out of the trees. The Thestrals swerved around him with a cry of fear.

"Oof!" Norris?

Tom shoved through the writhing bodies around him. He pushed through and nearly fell onto the ground. In front of him laying on the ground on all fours was Norris.

"What happened?" asked Tom as he offered a hand to the fallen girl.

Norris slapped his hand away and stood up on her own. "I don't know. The Thestrals were fine one minute then freaking out the next." Tom felt a mixture of annoyance and amusement toward Norris. He was annoyed with her for refusing his help but also amused by the fact that she had so easily and rudely refused his help. He was finding emotions to be perplexing and very annoying.

A screeching hiss broke Tom out of his thoughts. "Boggart," breathed Tom and Norris at the same time.

"Run!" Norris took off running, leaving Tom behind. Boggarts were actually quite easy to get rid of but posed a problem with the fact that they could take on the shape of your greatest fear. Tom had no interest in facing his fear.