DADA for Muggles [Wednesday September 16, period 5]

[lycanthromoony.livejournal.com]

When the students filed into the classroom today, they'd find the desks pushed to the sides of the room again, and a wardrobe at the front of the classroom. No, Edmund, not for you. Remus stood beside it, wand actually out and arms crossed for once.


"So, for the half of you who didn't visit us in our office hours," Sirius began dryly, "today you will be facing a boggart." He pointed his wand at the wardrobe. "No one knows what one looks like in its natural state because when it is released, it takes on the form of your worst fear."

"Generally," Remus added, "in an accessible, tangible form. A spider, a ghoul, a clown for some of you -- the boggart will take what frightens you, and feed off of your fear. Today's lesson isn't about scaring you for our amusement. It's to help you face fear in its rawest form."

Sirius's eyes twinkled in rare good humor. "And if it helps, put a hat on it. Laughter is the way to defeat a boggart. So before Professor Lupin opens the wardrobe, take a few moments to take what you fear and make it look absolutely ridiculous. Because many of you are Muggles, and those of you who are magical might not be magical in the way that works against creatures in our world, Professor Lupin will be reciting the incantation that goes along with the laughter."

"But," Remus added, "as it is not my fear, but yours, it will fall to you to envision the way to make the frightening thing as absurd as possible. While I will say the incantation and my wand will work, it is up to you to make the spell work. This exercise is not about magic, and whether or whether not you can perform it. It's not even about boggarts, really."

Sirius nodded. "That said, we understand that this is an unusual school full of students from a variety of living situations. As such, we have also provided an alternative lesson for those of you who don't wish to confront your fears in a public forum."

Remus just looked over at him, all but rolling his eyes. "...yes, yes we have. Professor Black was inspired."

Sirius barked out a laugh. "A particularly inspired student at Professor Lupin's last school imagined his boggart wearing his grandmother's hat. It was a beautiful hat, with a stuffed vulture on it. So those of you who have spoken with us already will get to be haberdashers for the hour and design beautiful hats." He grinned. "They will go to an excellent cause."

Snape would love them. Really.

"...yes. However," Remus added, "I'd still like you to try to have constructive discussions while you're, er, making hats!" Oh, Remus.

To his credit, Sirius didn't laugh aloud at that, though the look he shot his friend was full of fond exasperation. "I'm sure we will," he said, nodding. "Potential hat-makers, follow me, please." He headed to the rear of the classroom, where tables were filled with a variety of hat making materials.

"And non-hatmakers, up here," Remus said, waiting until the...haberdashers were with Sirius before murmuring a charm and casting a wall between the two halves of the room, lest the boggart catch sight of the unintended students.

[co-written with the darling siriuslyscarred! waaaait for OCD, IT IS UP. ETA: and for the radio squirrels -- it's fine to say Remus chatted with George after class, but content is NFB pls.]

Comments

Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[lycanthromoony.livejournal.com]

When the students looked ready, Remus checked them for any signs of backing out, then murmured an incantation, and the wardrobe swung open.

The boggart saw him first; it immediately swirled into a floating, white orb before Remus snapped his wand and said, "Riddikulus!" The orb popped like a balloon, and he said, "Quick, there's not much time before it'll take another form. Each of you step forward in turn."

[here's how this works: have your character tag in with what the boggart would turn into for them, and mod it like I did up there. I'll have Remus pop in to riddikulus at the thing, at which time your ping gets to be the old Snape-in-a-funny hat, or whatever. If you have any questions, shoot me an email or ping me on IM at BunchofFHChars omg.]

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[lovemykilt]

Priestly swallowed and figured he'd be better off facing his fear right off the bat. He stepped forward.

The boggart took one look at him and transformed into Dick Cheney.

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[lycanthromoony.livejournal.com]

Remus, being from fifteen years prior, had no idea who the rather fearsome old man was. "Now make him funny, Priestly! Picture it!"

And he snapped his wand, barking out, "Riddikulus!"

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

After Priestly, Dinah stepped forward, still not sure what it would turn into... and then it turned into herself. "What?"

And then the other her vamped out.



"Aaaah!"

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[lycanthromoony.livejournal.com]

"Keep calm, Dinah!" Remus called. "Make her look absurd in your mind's eye!"

He waved his wand and called, "Riddikulus!"

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[heartflames.livejournal.com]

Eleanor didn't know what she feared, having already faced down her stepfamily. She could only hope it wasn't too bad.

The figure that emerged was wrapped in a cloak, hood drawn low to keep the face in shadow. It was the very same cloak Alison had worn once, the one Eleanor suspected she used for major ritual workings.

Suddenly, the hood drew back revealing the face of Eleanor herself.

She shrieked.

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[lycanthromoony.livejournal.com]

"Don't panic, Eleanor!" Remus called, shaking his head. "Make her look ridiculous in your head, remember? It's only pretend."

He flicked his wand at the boggart. "Riddikulus!"

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[thatsamilkshake]

The problem with Francine is she didn't tend to be afraid of things - even though zombies kind of gave her the PTSD creeps now, she wasn't frightened of them so much as the idea of being one again. She wasn't frightened of harpies, she was scared of getting eaten by one. So she really wasn't sure what would show up when she stepped forward; could a boggart turn into a fear of people you loved getting killed?

No, but it could turn into you. Standing on a stage in a puddle of robe wearing nothing but underwear and a sick, shocked O of surprise.

"ACK!"

....Most people probably didn't leap toward the boggart, did they. But maybe if she got between it and the rest of the class.........

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[lycanthromoony.livejournal.com]

Well.

"Francine, you can't fight it that way!" Remus called, very much wanting to just...drink, frankly. "Just picture her in a way that makes you, er, laugh." Poor girl.

"Riddikulus!"

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

When it was his turn, Alex took a few subtle, quiet breaths to get himself calmed down and prepare for whatever was about to pop up before him. He knew he could have sat it out and made a hat but that would be a defeat in his warped mind.

The boggart's form changed and Alex came face to face with a looming, completely shadowed figure standing behind a crumbling gravestone. It was vague but Alex knew immediately what it was. It was his fear after all.

He didn't say anything but his posture tightened, his hands tightened into fists and he pushed all those roiling feelings down, determined just to get through this.

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[lycanthromoony.livejournal.com]

"All right, Alex," Remus called, watching him carefully. "Make it absurd in your head. It's not real."

He flicked his wand with a, "Riddikulus!"

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[likethegun]

Sam had spent enough time thinking about the assignment that he felt fairly prepared to face some kind of scary clown as he stepped forward.

But when the boggart turned into his dad, complete with sickening yellow eyes, all that preparation disappeared, and Sam froze in place.

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[lycanthromoony.livejournal.com]

Remus didn't know John, so he wasn't sure exactly what had happened. But he did know he needed to snap Sam out of it.

"Sam, focus," he called. "I need you to focus, and make it something funny in your head. Focus, Sam!"

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[wantstobehuman.livejournal.com]

George had considered begging out of this; truly, he had. But he'd decided in the end that going through with it was probably, in the long run, easier.

It was easy to explain being afraid of a werewolf, after all, and much harder to explain why you wanted to avoid the boggart in the first place. So he stepped up at his turn, waiting for the bestial snarls. Instead, he found himself facing himself.

The George standing before him grinned, baring his teeth, but the smile didn't reach his eyes; instead, they were half-blank, and what there remained of emotion in them was feral, dark, animal -- and there was a smear of blood across his cheek, another, and another, on his hands. It wasn't quite human, anymore, what George saw in front of him. It was a werewolf, through and through, because that's what George feared most: giving in. Liking it. Letting the werewolf take over, because it felt so good.

"No-" he tried, before his voice caught in his throat and he could speak no more. He backed away, one step, then another. George tried to focus on the assignment, tried to gather up the threads that had fallen away from him in his fear of what he could become, but mostly he stared, slack-jawed, at the boggart.

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[lycanthromoony.livejournal.com]

Remus, as well, was not doing well with this particular boggart, but did his best to cover his immediate shock. "Imagine it to be absurd, George," he said, dismissing the shaking from his voice. "Ridikulus!"

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[inthereflexes.livejournal.com]

Jack walked up, all false bravado and brow sweat. What would be his biggest fear?

The boggart looked at Jack and transformed into a tall, dark figure shrouded in a cloak blowing in the invisible wind, scythe in one hand.

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[lycanthromoony.livejournal.com]

"All right, Jack, make it something funny in your head!" Remus called before snapping his wand with a, "Riddikulus!"

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Getting to her turn had done nothing to make Effy feel any more at ease with this, and she was still steeling herself for whatever showed up.

She wasn't at all scared by the traditional 'under the bed' type monsters, and wasn't entirely sure where it was going to go from there. Already watched what she thought was her biggest fear, and it could hardly turn into Tony getting hit by a bus, could it?

To most, what it did turn into was completely innocuous. Just a teenage guy with a self-satisfied smirk. But to Effy, a sharp reminder of a night she did very well repressing, and she immediately froze. Hadn't been expecting that one.

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[lycanthromoony.livejournal.com]

"Effy," Remus said, watching her. "Effy, I need you to focus. It's not real. It's only pretend." He didn't understand what was happening there, not at all, but it didn't matter. "Make it something funny in your head. Okay?"

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[oops-mbad.livejournal.com]

Diana took a breath and got ready to face her biggest fear. The boggart turned into a giant, floppy pink bunny dressed up in Hello Kitty gear. Diana let out a very loud shriek and took a few steps back.

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[lycanthromoony.livejournal.com]

Remus kind of stared for a long moment, wondering if she'd misunderstood the assignment.

The shriek indicated no, she'd gotten it, but. Still.

"All right, then," he said crisply, "do something to it in your mind to make you laugh, Diana!" He snapped his wand at the creature.

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[youcantfollow.livejournal.com]

Finally, Griffin stepped up for his turn. He took a deep breath, unsure what he was about to see, but hoping it wouldn't be anything too completely scarring.

It might not come as a shock to the professor that the boggart spotted Griff and turned into a nasty vampire with blood dripping down its chin. The boy gulped and tried to remember what he'd seen others do.

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[lycanthromoony.livejournal.com]

"Try to make it funny, Griff!" he called, snapping his wand again. "Picture it as something silly! Riddikulus!"

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

Edmund stood ready when it was his turn. He had an inkling of some of the things he might see. The boggart became a tall, pale woman dressed in fur. The White Witch. But it was more than that - it wasn't just the woman that Edmund feared. It was what she could bring down upon them.

He turned a little pale, but stood his ground.

Re: Face the Boggart! [DADA 9/16]

[heromaniac]

Momoko stepped forward. She still wasn't sure what this boggart thing would turn into, so she really had no plan on what to do when she needed it to look silly. She ran again through the list of things she was afraid of, but they were all... not things. And as for monsters, well, she could transform into Blossom and defeat them, which really didn't make them much in the way of fearsome objects...

The boggart caught sight of her and Momoko blinked as it changed shape. Oh, no, Him? Wait, it was a fake, right? And they'd sealed Him! But Him was a powerful demon; what if it was really real?

She backed up a step and reached for her compact, sweat appearing on her brow. Yes, she was afraid - the last battle had cost all three of her team dearly - but she had a duty, and if this was really Him, she needed to fight. Even if she was alone here.