In just these three short days, Harry had lost count of how many times she'd wanted to let loose with profanity, but her excellent upbringing wouldn't allow such behavior, so she could only swallow her frustration bitterly.
The shock of becoming a girl during this period, combined with her malicious speculation about Snape's intentions, had temporarily made this ordeal more terrifying to Harry than even Voldemort.
Professor Snape, look what you've done!
And what was Snape's reaction as he sat in his armchair not far away?
Well, he had straightened up in his seat, his dark, penetrating gaze fixed intently on the scene unfolding before him.
This was double the entertainment.
"Er... never mind, I actually feel a bit sorry for Harry."
Hermione instinctively pulled out her magical camera to capture this "wonderful moment," but then reconsidered—Harry clearly saw this as her greatest fear, and Hermione's heart softened.
She handed the camera to Glenn.
"You take the pictures. I can't bring myself to do it. But Ginny and Professor Snape seem to want more photos... so I'll leave it to you."
Glenn: ?
Fine, then.
While Glenn was clicking away from his concealed position, Professor Lupin, standing not far from Harry, had frozen with a stiff expression.
Honestly, he truly hadn't anticipated this scenario.
He suddenly felt deeply sorry for Harry.
Harry no longer wanted to remain in front of everyone. Though she admittedly looked quite beautiful now, Harry still wanted to return to being her male self.
Hadn't she noticed how her former good friends had been looking at her strangely these past few days?!
"Riddikulus!"
Harry cried out with grief and indignation, pointing her wand directly at the "herself" before her. The sharp crack of a whip rang out once more.
Then the Boggart-transformed Harry... simply changed clothes.
Into a clown outfit.
Though admittedly, it was quite a fetching clown costume.
Harry: ?
Great, now I'm a clown.
Unable to bear watching anymore, Harry looked pleadingly toward Professor Lupin, who also didn't want to continue this exercise—Harry was the last student to participate anyway.
So Professor Lupin hurried toward Harry.
"Stop—that's enough. We're finished here."
He stepped in front of Harry, and the clown-costumed Harry vanished with a pop.
"What was that?"
Many people noticed something strange, pointing at the space in front of Professor Lupin. There, a silvery-white sphere hung suspended in midair, perfectly still and motionless.
"Riddikulus."
Professor Lupin immediately shouted this, then flicked his wand repeatedly, shoving the transforming silvery sphere back into the old wardrobe and sealing it shut.
"Excellent—everyone did wonderfully!"
At this point, Professor Lupin clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention back to himself before praising them:
"Honestly, I've never seen any group of third-year students at your age level handle Boggart practice as well as you all just did. Your spellcasting, composure, and willpower have truly opened my eyes and left me quite astonished."
"Every single student successfully cast Riddikulus. For this, I'm awarding twenty points each to Gryffindor and Slytherin!"
The young witches and wizards exchanged glances and cheered in unison.
Twenty points wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either. Most importantly, this feeling of being recognized was absolutely wonderful!
"Excellent, everyone was excellent. I dare say this was a fantastic lesson. Now for homework—please read the chapter about Boggarts in your textbook and write an essay to hand in next Monday. That's all."
"Class dismissed."
The entire class left the staff lounge chatting excitedly, with only poor Harry feeling unhappy. Physically and emotionally exhausted, she just wanted to go back and sleep properly.
Professor Lupin smiled as he walked behind the young witches and wizards. Before leaving, he glanced at Snape, saw that the latter had no intention of acknowledging him and was deep in thought about something, so he didn't court rejection and quietly closed the door.
"Click."
The sound of the wooden door closing was particularly obvious in the quiet staff lounge.
Then Snape stood up and walked toward the wardrobe containing the Boggart.
"How much longer do you intend to hide?"
His tone betrayed no emotion as he addressed the seemingly empty room.
The next moment, Glenn and Hermione's figures materialized from thin air, and Glenn turned his head toward Snape's direction.
More precisely, toward the space behind Snape.
The air rippled, and Dumbledore's figure also appeared in the staff lounge.
"Casting Confundus Charms on professors is hardly appropriate behavior."
Dumbledore walked slowly to Snape's side, smiling at Glenn.
Glenn remained noncommittal, but Hermione spoke up for him.
"Glenn simply didn't want to disrupt Professor Lupin's classroom order. If we had been called by name but refused to face the Boggart, Professor Lupin's lesson rhythm would have been thrown off."
"Boggart practice offers two main benefits."
The previously silent Glenn spoke up.
"First: Learning the basic method for dealing with Boggarts."
"Second: Recognizing what you truly fear in your heart."
"Boggarts are actually a kind of product of human emotion, surviving by feeding on emotions—in this respect, they share some similarities with Dementors."
"Similarly, the power that can repel them is positive human emotion—like laughter when happy. The Patronus Charm can accomplish the same thing."
"Hermione and I have both learned the Patronus Charm, so we had no need to participate in this most basic practice. Moreover, we've long since mastered Riddikulus."
"The other point is this: Hermione and I already know exactly what the most fearful things and scenes in our hearts look like. If we faced the Boggart unprepared, it would inevitably transform into what we fear most."
Hermione picked up Glenn's thread and continued:
"Even if it's just a false image, neither Glenn nor I want to see such scenes appear before us. Even now, I don't even want to imagine them."
"While the desire to protect others and fight for them is certainly admirable, we're actually not as strong as we imagine ourselves to be—not strong enough to risk our lives based on such conviction alone."
"So rather than that, it's better to truly consider the fear of losing those we want to protect. Only this way can we gain the real courage to face any hardship and sacrifice our lives to protect those we care about."
"Glenn and I have already done this, which is why we don't even want to think about it now, let alone have a Boggart simulate and present it before us."
"That's why I cast the Confundus Charm on Lupin."
Glenn added the final sentence, concluding their explanation of his and Hermione's actions.
After hearing this, Dumbledore's eyes became complex, while Snape's already dim black eyes lost even their last traces of light.
The four people standing here were actually all the same.
It's just that two of them had already experienced their deepest fears—fears that would never change—while the other two currently held fears that were merely "fears," and would remain only "fears" in the future.
Glenn and Hermione would risk their lives to ensure that these ethereal fears would forever remain nothing more than imaginary phantoms existing in the void.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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