* * *

            PROFESSOR LUPIN WASN'T THERE WHEN ELARA ARRIVED AT THE FIRST DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS LESSON. everyone sat down, took out their books, quills, and parchment, and were talking when he finally entered the room. lupin smiled vaguely and placed his tatty old briefcase on the teacher's desk. he was as shabby as ever but looked healthier than he had on the train, as though he had had a few square meals. 

            "good afternoon," he said. "would you please put all your books back in your bags. today'swill be a practical lesson. you will need only your wands."

            a few curious looks were exchanged as the class put away their books. they had never had a practical defense against the dark arts class before, unless you counted the memorable class last year when their old teacher had brought a cageful of pixies to class and set them loose.

             "right then," said professor lupin, when everyone was ready. "if you'd follow me."

             puzzled but interested, the class got to its feet and followed professor lupin out of the classroom. he led them along the deserted corridor and around a corner, where the first thing they saw was peeves the poltergeist, who was floating upside down in midair and stuffing the nearest keyhole with chewing gum.

            peeves didn't look up until professor lupin was two feet away; then he wiggled his curly-toed feet and broke into song.

             "loony, loopy lupin," peeves sang. "loony, loopy lupin, loony, loopy lupin —"

            rude and unmanageable as he almost always was, peeves usually showed some respect toward the teachers. everyone looked quickly at professor lupin to see how he would take this; to their surprise, he was still smiling.

             "i'd take that gum out of the keyhole if i were you, peeves," he said pleasantly. "mr. filch won't be able to get in to his brooms."

            filch was the hogwarts caretaker, a bad-tempered, failed wizard who waged a constant war against the students and, indeed, peeves. however, peeves paid no attention to professor lupin's words, except to blow a loud wet raspberry.

             professor lupin gave a small sigh and took out his wand.

             "this is a useful little spell," he told the class over his shoulder. "please watch closely."

             he raised the wand to shoulder height, said, "waddiwasi!" and pointed it at peeves.

            with the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole and straight down peeves's left nostril; he whirled upright and zoomed away, cursing.

             "cool, sir!" said dean thomas in amazement.

             "thank you, dean," said professor lupin, putting his wand away again. "shall we proceed?"

             they set off again, the class looking at shabby professor lupin with increased respect. he led them down a second corridor and stopped, right outside the staffroom door.

             "inside, please," said professor lupin, opening it and standing back.

            the staffroom, a long, paneled room full of old, mismatched chairs, was empty except for one teacher. professor snape was sitting in a low armchair, and he looked around as the class filed in. his eyes were glittering and there was a nasty sneer playing around his mouth. 

            as professor lupin came in and made to close the door behind him, snape said, "leave it open, lupin. i'd rather not witness this." he got to his feet and strode past the class, his black robes billowing behind him. at the doorway he turned on his heel and said, "possibly no one's warned you, lupin, but this class contains neville longbottom. i would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. not unless miss granger is hissing instructions in his ear."

             neville went scarlet. elara glared at snape; it was bad enough that he bullied neville in his own classes, let alone doing it in front of other teachers.

             professor lupin had raised his eyebrows.

            "i was hoping that neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation," he said, "and i am sure he will perform it admirably."

             neville's face went, if possible, even redder. snape's lip curled, but he left, shutting the door with a snap.

            "now, then," said professor lupin, beckoning the class toward the end of the room, where there was nothing but an old wardrobe where the teachers kept their spare robes. as professor lupin went to stand next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall.

            "nothing to worry about," said professor lupin calmly because a few people had jumped backward in alarm. "there's a boggart in there."

            most people, including elara, felt that this was something to worry about. neville gave professor lupina look of pure terror, and seamus finnigan eyed the now rattling doorknob apprehensively.

            "boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," said professor lupin. "wardrobes, the gap beneath beds,the cupboards under sinks — i've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. this one moved in yesterday afternoon, and i asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice.

             "so, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a boggart?"

            hermione put up her hand.

             "it's a shape-shifter," she said. "kind of like metamorphagi, but instead of changing its appearance to be anything, it'll take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."

            most of the class side-eyed elara -- by now they had all learned she was a metamorphagus.

            "couldn't have put it better myself," said professor lupin, and hermione glowed. "so the boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. he does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but when i let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us mostfears.

            "this means," said professor lupin, choosing to ignore neville's small sputter of terror, "that we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. have you spotted it, harry?"

            elara assumed trying to answer a question with hermione next to him, bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet with her hand in the air, was very off-putting, but harry had a go.

             "er — because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?"

             "precisely," said professor lupin, and hermione put her hand down, looking a little disappointed. "it's always best to have company when you're dealing with a boggart. he becomes confused. which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? i once saw a boggart make that very mistake — tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. not remotely frightening.

             "the charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. you see, the thing that really finishes a boggart is laughter. what you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing.

             "we will practice the charm without wands first. after me, please... riddikulus!" 

             "riddikulus!" said the class together.

            "good," said professor lupin. "very good. but that was the easy part, i'm afraid. you see, the word alone is not enough. and this is where you come in, neville."

              the wardrobe shook again, though not as much as neville, who walked forward as though he were heading for the gallows.

            "right, neville," said professor lupin. "first things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"

             neville's lips moved, but no noise came out.

             "i didn't catch that, neville, sorry," said professor lupin cheerfully.

             neville looked around rather wildly, as though begging someone to help him, then said, in barely more than a whisper, "professor snape."

            nearly everyone laughed. elara clenched her fists slightly. nobody seemed to pick up that professor snape has been so cruel to children that he's a student's worst fear. neville grinned apologetically. professor lupin, however,looked thoughtful.

             "professor snape... hmmm... neville, i believe you live with your grandmother?"

            elara looked down, avoiding a glance from neville. after all, it was her mother's fault.

            "er — yes," said neville nervously. "but — i don't want the boggart to turn into her either."

             "no, no, you misunderstand me," said professor lupin, now smiling. "i wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?"

             neville looked startled, but said, "well... always the same hat. a tall one with a stuffed vulture on top. and a long dress... green, normally... and sometimes a fox-fur scarf."

             "and a handbag?" prompted professor lupin.

             "a big red one," said neville.

            "right then," said professor lupin. "can you picture those clothes very clearly, neville? can you see them in your mind's eye?"

             "yes," said neville uncertainty, plainly wondering what was coming next.

            "when the boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of professor snape," said lupin. "and you will raise your wand — thus — and cry 'riddikulus' —and concentrate hard on your grandmother's clothes. if all goes well, professor boggart snape will be forced into that vulture-topped hat, and that green dress, with that big red handbag."

             there was a great shout of laughter. the wardrobe wobbled more violently.

            "if neville is successful, the boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn," said professor lupin. "i would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical..."

             the room went quiet. elara thought... what scared her most in the world?

            her mind shifted over from heights, her mother, death eaters, you-know-who and an array of smaller things. the most prominent fear lingered on death eaters. all through her childhood, elara had night terrors of things death eaters had done.

            many late nights were spent crying. elara feared nothing more than having to become a death eater. there was not a single part of her soul -- not even the darker parts that thrived with temptation and power -- that wanted to follow down that path.

             "everyone ready?" said professor lupin.

            elara felt a lurch of fear. she wasn't ready. how could you make death eaters less frightening?elara didn't want to ask for more time; everyone else was nodding and rolling up their sleeves. 

            "neville, we're going to back away," said professor lupin. "let you have a clear field, all right? i'll call the next person forward... everyone back, now, so neville can get a clear shot —"

            they all retreated, backed against the walls, leaving neville alone beside the wardrobe. he looked pale and frightened, but he had pushed up the sleeves of his robes and was holding his wand ready.

            "on the count of three, neville," said professor lupin, who was pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "one — two — three —now!"

             a jet of sparks shot from the end of professor lupin's wand and hit the doorknob. the wardrobe burst open. hook-nosed and menacing, professor snape stepped out, his eyes flashing at neville.

             neville backed away, his wand up, mouthing wordlessly. snape was bearing down upon him,reaching inside his robes.

             "r — r — riddikulus! " squeaked neville.

            there was a noise like a whip crack. snape stumbled; he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag.

           there was a roar of laughter; the boggart paused, confused, and professor lupin shouted,"parvati! forward!"

            parvati walked forward, her face set. snape rounded on her. there was another crack, and where he had stood was a bloodstained, bandaged mummy; its sightless face was turned to parvati and it began to walk toward her very slowly, dragging its feet, its stiff arms rising —

             "riddikulus!" cried parvati.

            a bandage unraveled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off.

             "seamus!" roared professor lupin.

             seamus darted past parvati.

            crack! where the mummy had been was a woman with floor length black hair and a skeletal, green-tinged face — a banshee. she opened her mouth wide and an unearthly sound filled the room, a long, wailing shriek that made the hair on elara's hair stand on end — "riddikulus!"shouted seamus.

             the banshee made a rasping noise and clutched her throat; her voice was gone.

             crack! the banshee turned into a rat, which chased its tail in a circle, then — crack! -- became a rattlesnake, which slithered and writhed before —crack! — becoming a single, bloody eyeball.

             "it's confused!" shouted lupin. "we're getting there! elara!"

            elara took a hesitant step forward.

            crack! the eyeball took the unmistakable form of a death eater. dark, flowly robes covered the figure, and it's identity was concealed by the skull mask. 

            some cried out, some gasped, some stared in terror. there was a revelation amongst classmates: elara lestrange, the daughter of death eaters, was afraid of death eaters.

            this isn't real, elara screamed at herself, this isn't real.

           "riddikulus!" elara cried out. 

            the boggart death eater's robes became a pink poofy dress and it's curved pointed hat became a tiara with the pink soft stuff on the bottom.

            "dean, you next!" professor lupin said with a twinge of worry.

            elara zoned out, consumed in her own thoughts. she wasn't ready to face the boggart. she should've let someone else have a go. but even in the back of her mind, she knew it really wasn't just a death eater she was afraid of.

            she was afraid of what she could become. she was afraid of her potential future as a harbinger of pain and destruction. 

            some noticed elara's spaced look and her shaky legs. others were focused on professor lupin talking. elara only snapped out of her stupor when professor lupin called her name.

            "elara? could i have a few words with you?"

            talking excitedly, the class left the staffroom. elara stayed behind, fiddling with her hair. professor lupin seemed to want to wait before the last person was out. if he wanted to ask about what elara thought he was going to ask about; she was grateful.

            "you're afraid of death eaters?"

            "to be fair, i thought the boggart was going to do something with heights." elara lied smoothly. humor was always a backup.

           "you won't become one of them." professor lupin said levelly. 

            elara was taken by surprise. everyone always seemed to think she would.

            "i -- thank you."

* * *