The third student to face the challenge was Seamus Finnigan. Douglas gave him some extra reassurance beforehand—after all, Seamus had a well-earned reputation for accidentally blowing things up in class. He'd once managed to blast a Grindylow's arm off with nothing but a simple Severing Charm. If he somehow managed to make this Boggart explode, Douglas would have to take the rest of the students on a castle-wide adventure to find a new one.
As the trunk creaked open, a ghostly woman with hair trailing along the floor slithered out. Her face was a skeletal mask, glowing an eerie green. The moment she opened her mouth, a chilling, otherworldly shriek echoed through the empty classroom.
The piercing wail made Douglas's scalp tingle.
Worse still, as the ghost screamed, Seamus let out a terrified yelp of his own.
Seamus, however, didn't disappoint. He raised his wand and shouted, "Riddikulus!"
Suddenly, the ghost clutched her own throat and let out a hoarse, grating croak. With a pop!, she transformed into a mouse frantically chasing its own tail. Another pop!—the mouse became a rattlesnake, coiling and hissing.
Douglas quickly intervened, flicking his wand so the Boggart-snake slithered rapidly back into the trunk. He wasn't about to risk Seamus's next "transformation" being a full-blown explosion.
"Excellent work, Mr. Finnigan! Congratulations—you've passed the challenge."
When Ron entered, the Boggart morphed into a monstrous, six-foot-tall, hairy spider, advancing on him with menacing intent.
Ron froze in terror. For a moment, he forgot he was a wizard at all—he simply turned and bolted for the far side of the classroom.
It wasn't until he caught Douglas's unimpressed glare from the corner that he seemed to remember where he was. He raised his wand, his hands trembling, and stammered, "Riddikulus!"
But nerves got the better of him. The Boggart flickered into a teddy bear, only to slowly morph back into a spider.
Ron went even paler.
Seeing the spider closing in, Douglas stepped in, sending the Boggart back into the trunk with a swift wave of his wand.
He crossed the room and helped Ron up from where he'd collapsed, panting on the floor, and offered him a piece of chocolate.
"Here, have some chocolate. It'll help settle your nerves. Don't beat yourself up—just stay calm next time, and you'll cast a brilliant spell."
Ron nodded weakly and shuffled out of the classroom.
Next up was Harry.
Seeing Ron's shaken state, Harry felt a wave of uncertainty. He hadn't quite decided how to handle the Boggart if it became Voldemort—because, yes, Harry knew his worst fear was Voldemort.
Douglas was equally curious. This was a year earlier than in the original timeline; Harry hadn't even encountered Dementors yet.
As soon as the trunk opened, a ghastly, terrifying face floated out. It was chalk-white, with glowing red eyes and nostrils as thin as a snake's slits.
The disembodied face hung in the air, hissing in a cold, dreadful voice, "Harry Potter!"
Harry clenched his jaw, his own eyes blazing as he stared down the face.
He glanced at Douglas, who was calmly watching from the corner, completely unfazed by the legendary Dark Lord's appearance. That steadiness gave Harry a sudden surge of courage. He turned back, brandished his wand, and shouted, "Riddikulus!"
Instantly, a thin, stubby snake's body sprouted beneath Voldemort's face.
Thud!
Voldemort's enormous head crashed to the floor, the tiny snake body unable to support its weight. His face—round, bald, and shiny as a boiled egg—dragged helplessly across the ground, scraping and squirming as the little snake body wriggled forward. Voldemort's face was literally being dragged along the floor.
Harry burst out laughing, doubled over with mirth.
Douglas couldn't help but clap and cheer.
Time ticked by, and at last, only one student remained: Hermione Granger.
Douglas would never have guessed—he'd been laughing at Neville's Snape earlier—that Hermione's greatest fear would turn out to be… himself. He watched, stunned, as a second version of himself stepped out of the trunk, scowling at Hermione.
"Miss Granger, due to your poor grades, I'm stripping you of your Class Representative badge…"
"You've broken too many school rules. You're expelled…"
Hermione immediately broke down, covering her face and sobbing. Douglas's mouth twitched. Was he really that terrifying? Did he just make her cry by showing up?
Neville hadn't cried when Snape appeared, after all.
Two minutes dragged by as the Boggart-Douglas kept scolding Hermione and her wails only grew louder. She kept repeating, "I'm sorry, Professor Holmes, I'm sorry…"
Douglas glanced at the door—thank goodness he'd put up a Silencing Charm, or the whole castle would think he'd done something dreadful to the girl.
Finally, with a sigh, Douglas waved his wand. The Boggart version of himself broke into a dazzling smile, strutted toward the trunk like a peacock showing off, and closed the lid behind him.
Douglas walked over to comfort Hermione.
"Ahem, Miss Granger—honestly, you don't need to worry. I promise that'll never happen in real life."
He barely finished before Hermione's sobs grew even louder.
Douglas was at a loss. He was good with people, but he had absolutely no idea how to handle a crying student—especially not in this situation. Reasoning wouldn't help, and as her professor, he couldn't comfort her the way he might a peer. Anything more would seem inappropriate.
He couldn't just… give her candy, could he?
Awkwardly, Douglas pulled out a piece of chocolate and handed it over. "If you're feeling down, chocolate always helps!"
Whether she wanted it or not, he pressed it into Hermione's hand.
It was only then that Douglas noticed how flushed Hermione's face was. Something felt off.
Hermione stared at the chocolate for a moment, then, seeing her professor watching, blurted, "Thank you, Professor!" She jumped up and dashed from the classroom.
Watching her go, Douglas suddenly realized he might have been played. Hermione had truly been frightened at first, but afterward, it was probably embarrassment—her greatest fear had just appeared in front of the very person she feared. Crying was the only way to hide her mortification.
Douglas chuckled to himself. Glancing at the clock and seeing a few minutes left, he called the rest of the students back in and assigned homework.
But when he overheard them all discussing their greatest fears, he could only sigh in exasperation. He'd tried so hard to respect their privacy, but they immediately shared everything with each other.
He even caught Neville—upon learning that several students hadn't passed—boasting about his triumph over Snape, earning the envy and admiration of his classmates.
Even Harry wanted another go, just to see if he could get his Boggart to become Snape and make him crawl on the floor, too.
What could Douglas say? He could only silently wish them all good luck.
News of the second and third years' Boggart battles spread like wildfire, and soon the castle was abuzz with talk of how best to prank the people they feared most.
Since the Boggart was the final challenge in the fourth-year practical exam, Ron and Ginny worked hard to coax George and Fred into revealing that their greatest fear was actually their mum.
Ron was thrilled, thinking he finally had something to hold over his brothers and could blackmail them into buying him treats.
But George and Fred just laughed it off.
"Poor little brother, we didn't make Mum drunk or turn her into a spider!"
"No, no, we gave her a fabulous new outfit—she looked delighted."
"And so were we, obviously…"
Ron grumbled to Harry, "I swear they're not telling the truth… I'm going to catch them out somehow. Maybe then I'll finally get over my fear of spiders!"
Harry patted his friend's shoulder in silent sympathy.
Ron's fear of spiders, after all, came from George and Fred turning his favorite teddy bear into a spider when he was little.
So ever since Defence Against the Dark Arts, Ron had been plotting to prank the twins with their own worst fear—maybe then, he thought, he'd finally be free of his phobia.
But honestly, Harry thought, only Professor Holmes might be able to pull off a prank on the Weasley twins.
With that thought, he patted Ron's shoulder again.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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