Chapter 190: Why Was Your Boggart a Corpse?
Dylan clicked his tongue. Meanwhile, the students who were already facing the Boggart, thanks to Lupin's detailed explanation, saw their fears transform.
The mummy's bandages turned into colorful stripes, with its severed leg dancing a joyful tambourine jig in mid-air. The Banshee's long hair exploded, its eyes vacant, looking like a fluffy dandelion.
Whenever the Boggart transformed into a student's fear, those who could overcome their dread used the Riddikulus spell to change the Boggart's form into something comical.
When it was Neville's turn, Dylan gently touched his trembling hand and lowered his voice.
"If it's Professor Snape, imagine him doing the conga." Perhaps it was Dylan's comfort that worked, or perhaps Neville imagined the stern-faced Professor Snape performing a comical dance.
Neville couldn't hold back a chuckle, which eased his tension. He took a deep breath and stepped forward.
However, when Neville faced the Boggart, it didn't turn into Professor Snape as he had imagined. Instead, it instantly transformed into a Dementor.
The rotting claws and the chilling aura seeping from beneath the grey, hooded robe instantly turned Neville's face ashen. His wand-holding hand trembled violently.
This isn't what Dylan said...
Dylan looked up at the ceiling. —He hadn't foreseen the form Neville's Boggart would take. Perhaps it was described in the original plot, but his memory was hazy. He hadn't seen these scenes of them facing the Boggart in any previous prophecies either.
"Riddikulus!"
"Riddikulus!"
Neville chanted the spell three times. On his fourth attempt, as he gritted his teeth and squeezed out the incantation, the spell finally took effect. The Dementor before him suddenly twisted into a pretzel-like shape, as if a Full-Body-Bind Curse had been cast, its body contorting in mid-air.
Its rotting black robes coiled into a massive black spiral, and with a muffled thump, it crashed to the ground. —The Dementor had turned into a comical bundle of rags, with two crooked ears dangling from its crumpled top.
It looked like a tattered sack on a broomstick. Neville breathed a sigh of relief. After receiving Lupin's praise, he quickly scurried back to the line.
"Mr. Hawkwood, it's your turn, please step forward." Lupin looked at the list, calling the next student, which happened to be Dylan. As Dylan passed Neville, he patted his shoulder, then walked up to Lupin.
The Boggart had just been turned into a rag by Neville. When facing Dylan, it seemed somewhat hesitant. Unlike when facing other students, it didn't instantly transform into another form. Instead, it lingered for a while before a surge of black mist billowed, taking on a twisted shape. Everyone looked.
—It was a monster pieced together from tree trunks. Dark brown viscous fluid oozed from the folds of its bark, and half-severed vines hung from its twisted limbs. The most terrifying part was its face.
Purple-black flowers sprouted from its hollow eye sockets, and thorny stems entwined around its rotting lips. Each petal oozed a foul-smelling sap. Students in the back rows gasped in unison upon seeing the deformed monster; some even instinctively took half a step back.
Dylan intentionally tensed his shoulders, eyes slightly widened. "Riddikulus!" Dylan raised his wand. As the spell left his lips, the monster lying on the ground suddenly convulsed violently.
Its bark peeled away, blooming into colorful balloons. Its flower stems untangled, turning into bright pink ribbons. The next second, the entire monster crashed down, transforming into an inflatable tree puppet wearing a crooked hat. It bounced around with the airflow.
Its rubber-like branches and leaves even made strange puffing sounds, looking quite comical.
Lupin was slightly stunned.
What was that thing just now? Logically, a Boggart usually only materializes previously experienced fears. But that monster, woven from plants and death, clearly surpassed his understanding.
Could it have been something the boy conjured up in his imagination?
After a slight pause, Lupin simply gave a deep look at Dylan, whose expression was normal, then cleared his throat and called the next student forward.
By the time Dylan returned, Ron had already faced the Boggart ahead of them in line. Seeing Dylan return, he stepped forward and stood beside him. "Just now, that..." Ron thought and thought, unable to describe it. He bared his teeth. "Heavens, I can't even describe it! What was that thing?"
Dylan casually replied, "It must be something I saw in a dream. It doesn't exist—so of course, I don't know what it was."
Ron was suspicious. "Really?"
Hermione, who had already practiced, rolled her eyes. "Why would Dylan need to lie to you? And that thing was far too strange; it clearly could only be some bizarre creature from a dream!"
"I've never seen it in any book!"
Ron shrunk his neck. "I was just asking, why so loud..."
Just then, after several more students faced the Boggart, it was finally Harry's turn. Dylan looked up, only to see that just as Harry was about to face the Boggart, Lupin suddenly intervened. He transformed the Boggart, which was about to shift form, into a pink pig. Or rather, a balloon. And it was leaking air.
Pfft—
Once the air had fully leaked out, the balloon became a deflated pink pig. Lupin tapped it with his wand again. Dylan sensed that he was about to completely destroy this Boggart.
Suddenly, he stepped forward, precisely intercepting Lupin's spell with his wand. The two streams of magic collided, sparking in the air, then vanished. The surrounding students were stunned. The previously boisterous room instantly fell silent.
The leaking Boggart, which had been trembling, was now frozen. Its wrinkled pink rubber skin no longer dissipated, maintaining its shriveled and twisted appearance, sticky and spread out on the stone floor. It did not explode into smoke from the students' laughter.
Lupin raised an eyebrow. This young wizard... His magical strength is actually comparable to an adult wizard? Lupin stared at Dylan. The latter smiled slightly. "Professor, everyone has already practiced. It seems you don't intend to keep it, so—could I have it?"
Dylan withdrew his wand, his eyes sincere. "I want to further study its transfiguration mechanism. It can even transform into a Dementor. I'm very curious how its life exists and how it differs from Dementors." Dylan's lips curved. "But as you know, I can't go catch a Dementor to study."
Lupin lightly stroked his chin, his gaze resting on Dylan with a hint of scrutiny. "Although I've only just arrived at Hogwarts, I've already heard your name from many people—you are that genius wizard Dylan?"
Lupin's words made Dylan pause slightly. —Who gave him that awful and awkward nickname?
Dylan immediately denied it. "No, I just have a little talent, which has been recognized by other professors. As for 'genius wizard'—that description is too much; I don't agree with it."
Lupin: (.) This young man seems modest, but also not so modest? Is there a difference between "talented" and "genius"?
Lupin stiffened for a moment, then gave a dry chuckle. "Alright, if you wish to study it, I need you to ensure it won't be used to scare other students, and after your research, you must destroy it with laughter—can you promise me that?"
Dylan nodded. "Of course, I can swear it." —He wouldn't use it to scare his classmates. But scaring Coal, or Norbert, or even the Basilisk, and Voldemort, would be fine, right?
Oh, right, what would happen if a Boggart scared a Dementor? Would the Boggart turn into a Patronus? Dylan was curious.
Facing Dylan's sincere expression, Lupin recalled Dumbledore specifically emphasizing to him, when he was called to his office, that there was a particularly special young wizard in third year and asked him to pay special attention to him.
After a moment of silence, he nodded gently. "Then, this Boggart is yours—remember not to scare other students."
After all, Professor Flitwick had found it in the first place, and he had only borrowed it specifically as teaching material. Giving it away now made no difference. Moreover, a Boggart, fundamentally, was not aggressive.
Other than being able to startle people—or perhaps scare them half to death. But... wizards should always practice their courage. So, although Lupin instructed Dylan as such, in reality, he wouldn't mind even if Dylan used this Boggart to scare other students. How could one grow without experiencing some setbacks?
Dylan smiled and nodded. "Thank you very much for your generosity."
Dylan pretended to pull a box from his backpack, then twirled his wand, gathering the now wrinkled pink pig balloon into the box, casually holding it. Ron beside him stepped back a few paces in terror. Hermione glanced at Dylan.
"This guy..." No wonder he always had the upper hand in academics! Even though she had practiced the spell with this Boggart, she had never thought of catching it to study.
Is studying such a monster something a young wizard should be doing now? Is this right? Hermione's eyes darted rapidly. Suddenly, her previously bewildered mind found a clear goal.
She! Would follow in Dylan's footsteps! If she could keep up with Dylan! What else would she have to be confused about regarding the future? Whatever Dylan did, she could do too!
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Lupin clapped his hands, a smile on his face, looking at everyone. "I'm very pleased; today's lesson went quite smoothly. Almost no one failed the spell." Lupin's gaze retracted from Dylan, and he continued.
"Let me see—I think Gryffindor can have 10 points. This is both a reward for Miss Granger answering the question correctly and a reward for everyone successfully overcoming the Boggart."
Harry walked back in a daze. He hadn't even had a chance to see what his fear was. Professor Lupin had intervened and dealt with the Boggart for him. He didn't understand why. Why would Professor Lupin prevent him from facing the Boggart?
It was obvious that it couldn't possibly be because Professor Lupin had forgotten about him. How could that be? Clearly, Professor Lupin did it on purpose. But why would he intentionally do that?
The class ended. A group of students noisily exited the classroom. Hermione walked beside Dylan. "Your Boggart, I recognized it. Although it was scary—its face looked very much like Cedric."
Dylan looked at her, somewhat surprised. She could recognize that?
"What? Cedric?" Hermione hadn't deliberately lowered her voice, so Ron and Harry, who were beside her, also heard. Hermione nodded. "Anyone who knows Cedric would recognize him, so I don't need to hide it from you. Why would you be afraid of him? Or rather, how do you know him?"
Ron squeezed in. "Yeah, Dylan, how do you know Cedric? I'm not even close with him."
Looking at the curious faces before him, Dylan's lips twitched. He almost wanted to grab a big hammer and bonk them one by one. "Didn't I already say? I just dreamed it, dreamed it! Maybe I saw him one day, so I had that impression." Ron was clearly not satisfied with this answer.
However, facing Dylan's consistent explanation, he knew he couldn't get anything more out of Dylan, so he finally gave up. "That's amazing! I've never heard of such a thing before, dreaming of someone you don't even know—and he turned into a big monster!" Dylan's eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
Two more days passed. During this time, not only Hermione, but also others recognized Dylan's Boggart as looking very similar to Cedric. They usually couldn't find Dylan, who would disappear right after class.
So, they could only ask Harry and Ron. The result, of course, was Dylan's explanation. However, this gossip only circulated for a short time before students once again started talking about Sirius Black.
This afternoon, having dropped many of his elective classes, Dylan even had time to go to the library to read on a school day. Just then, however, Cedric suddenly walked up to him.
Dylan immediately saw some Quidditch pitch grass clippings clinging to the hem of Cedric's wizarding robes. Looking up, Dylan faced him. Cedric's Prefect badge on his chest glinted in the light.
The popular Hufflepuff, facing Dylan's confused expression, unusually showed some hesitation. He scanned the empty reading room with his golden-brown eyes, then lowered his voice and asked Dylan.
"Can we talk? About... the tree-man that Boggart turned into in Defense Against the Dark Arts class."
....
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