"I haven't spoken with Professor Wilkinson myself, but I've heard quite a few evaluations of him from my colleagues."
Lupin smiled gently. "He truly was an excellent professor. I can't promise I'll do better than he did, but I will certainly do everything in my power to teach you as much as possible.
"Last school year you learned how to protect yourselves and practiced simple, basic offensive spells. That's very good, and it will make my teaching much easier. This year, I will teach you how to apply those spells to drive back dark creatures that may pose real danger."
"All right then, everyone, follow me."
With that, Lupin strode down from the platform, opened the classroom door, and gestured for them to come along. Brimming with curiosity, the students trailed after him, walking through the corridor, turning a corner, and arriving at the staff lounge on the same floor.
"Go on in," Lupin said, pushing the door open.
The students filed inside. Neville, who entered first, gave a violent shudder and nearly tripped flat onto the floor.
Someone was already in the room.
And it was the one person he feared most.
Severus Snape.
Snape sat in an armchair, a newspaper spread before him. When he saw Lupin leading the class inside, he let out a cold, ambiguous sneer.
"Professor, your office is in the dungeons. Why are you in the second floor lounge?" Tom asked, walking over with a puzzled expression.
"I was just discussing those dreadful exam results with Professor McGonagall. She still refused my request for corporal punishment. Really quite…"
As he spoke, Snape's gaze swept slowly across the Gryffindors one by one. Ron and Neville were so unnerved that they instinctively ducked behind Harry.
Just as Lupin was about to close the door, Snape rose leisurely to his feet.
"Don't close it, Lupin."
He glided past the students, stopping beside Lupin. "Spare my eyes the contamination. This class will give you plenty of headaches. Especially Neville Longbottom. I suggest you don't harbor any expectations of him."
Lupin raised his eyebrows. "What a coincidence. I was just hoping Neville would help me with the demonstration. I believe he can do it."
Snape's face darkened. "Then you have only yourself to blame." With that, he strode out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him.
Lupin appeared entirely unaffected. He directed the students to form two lines, then walked toward a wardrobe standing at the far end of the lounge. As he approached, the wardrobe suddenly began to shake violently, slamming against the wall with heavy thuds.
"Don't worry," Lupin reassured them as a few students let out startled screams. "There's nothing truly dangerous inside. It's a Boggart."
"A Boggart likes dark, enclosed spaces," Lupin explained with a smile. "I captured this one last week and asked Professor Dumbledore to have the other professors leave it alone so we could use it for a practical lesson."
"So, who can tell me what a Boggart is?"
Hermione's hand shot into the air. "It's a shape-shifting dark creature. It turns into whatever it thinks will frighten us most."
"A perfect and precise explanation."
Lupin awarded Gryffindor two points, then tapped the wardrobe lightly with his wand. The wardrobe, which had just gone still, began to tremble violently again.
"So right now, the Boggart inside has no definite form. It doesn't yet know what the people outside fear. That's one of the magical world's unresolved mysteries. No one has ever truly seen a Boggart's original shape."
"Then… in your opinion, what is the best way to deal with a Boggart?"
"Er…" Harry ventured cautiously. "Have several people stand in front of it at once, so it doesn't know what it should turn into?"
"Very sharp intuition, Harry." Lupin's praise made Harry beam. "That's right. It's best to face a Boggart in a group. It becomes confused and ends up transforming into something ridiculous rather than frightening."
"But when you're alone, you need to defeat it with a spell. Repeat after me… Riddikulus!"
"Riddikulus!" the entire class shouted in unison.
"Excellent," Lupin said. He demonstrated a movement resembling a golfer's swing. "Remember to flick your wand like this, while thinking of something amusing. Now, let's give it a try."
"Neville, you're up."
Neville's lips trembled. He desperately wanted to refuse, but under Lupin's steady insistence, he stepped forward.
Lupin was just about to offer some guidance when he suddenly felt a gaze land on him, so intense it felt almost tangible.
He looked up and found Tom watching him calmly.
For reasons he couldn't explain, Lupin felt the temperature in the warm lounge drop sharply. A faint chill crept into the air. He pulled his shabby robes tighter around himself.
"Go on, Neville. Just follow the method I told you. Say the spell, and you'll succeed."
Neville nodded nervously and turned to face the wardrobe.
Only then did that heavy, tangible gaze fade, becoming faint and elusive once more.
People were always double-faced creatures, bound by stance and allegiance. Right and wrong were often the least meaningful things in the world.
Tom's relationship with Snape was complicated. They were teacher and student, yet also partners in certain transactions, tied together by shared interests. However one calculated it, Lupin was still the outsider between them.
Tom would never allow Lupin to humiliate Snape in front of so many students.
At least Lupin had enough awareness to sense the warning. If he had been oblivious, Tom would have had no choice but to challenge a professor again. As for the consequences… well, wasn't Dumbledore there to smooth things over? It would hardly concern him.
After signaling the others to step back, Lupin raised his wand and pointed it at the wardrobe.
"I'll count to three."