Finals are coming up and I am procrastinating (because of course)

Harry jumped back as the wardrobe gave a shake.

"Nothing to worry about," said Remus calmly. "There's a Boggart in there."

Nothing to worry about? Harry eyed the wardrobe warily.

"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," Remus continued. "Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks- I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice.

"So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a Boggart?"

Hermione put up her hand.

"It's a shape-shifter," she said. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."

"Couldn't have put it better myself," said Remus, and Hermione glowed. "So the Boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a Boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears.

"This means," said Remus, choosing to ignore Neville's small sputter of terror, "that we have a huge advantage over the Boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?"

Harry opened his mouth to answer, then gritted his teeth as Hermione raised her hand again, so quickly she nearly slapped him in the face. "Do you mind?" he hissed.

Hermione lowered her arm, embarrassed.

"Because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be," Harry said in response to the question.

"Precisely," said Remus. "It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a Boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a Boggart make that very mistake- tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening."

Harry had his own doubts. What if a Boggart turned into a combination that was even more frightening than the individual things?

'The charm that repels a Boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a Boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing.

"We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please... riddikulus!"

"Riddikulus!" said the class together.

"This class is ridiculous," Harry heard someone mutter.

Remus ignored the rude comment and went on to demonstrate with Neville, who made Boggart-Snape suddenly have Neville's grandmother's clothes.

While waiting for his turn, Harry wondered what his greatest fear was. He first thought of Voldemort, but that didn't make too much sense considering that he couldn't remember his first encounter as a baby and second year was with the teenage version of him. Then the Dementor... Harry shivered. Now that he could believe would be his Boggart. Everything was so cold, so dark... so like his cupboard. No, Harry couldn't go. He refused to.

But unfortunately, the end of class had not come by the time it was his turn. "Harry!" Remus called.

Harry stepped forward. Behind him, he could hear the whispered words of "You-Know-Who" and "green lights." Neither appeared. Instead, the Boggart shifted into what looked like a harmless white door. The whispers grew confused; was the Boggart weakening? Was that why it was acting like this?

With his back to the students, Harry's face, which had paled slightly, was not visible to them. With a shaky hand raised, he chanted, "Riddikulus!" Instead of turning into something funny, the Boggart shifted into a large, dark cloaked figure...

Remus suddenly swept forward protectively in front of Harry. The Boggart changed into a silvery-white orb. Remus said, "Riddikulus!" in an almost lazy voice, and the Boggart exploded into a thousand tiny wisps of smoke before vanishing altogether.

"Excellent!" cried Remus as the class broke into applause. "Well done, everyone... Let me see... five points for every person to tackle the Boggart... five each to Hermione and Harry. Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson. Homework, kindly read the chapter on Boggarts and summarize it for me... to be handed in on Monday. That will be all."

Harry hardly heard him. He was still staring at the spot where the orb had been.

"Harry?" Remus' voice came from behind gently. "Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine."

He staggered back and all but bolted out of the room.

Remus frowned after him, then turned back to the wardrobe. What had frightened him so much like that?

Harry was very quiet after that. No one could understand what the big deal was. Some thought that maybe the door was symbolic, which was probably the closest thing to the truth than some of the other guesses. One was that Harry had some sort of accident with a door, which was ludicrous, yet somewhat amusing.

He jumped slightly as a hand touched his shoulder and turned to see Fred watching him with concern. "You okay, Harry?"

"Yeah, I think so," Harry said distractedly.

Thankfully, Fred did not press the matter. Then again, he was more aware of Harry's home life than the rest of the wizarding world, as was George. "You know," he said lightly, "I still haven't forgotten our deal."

"Oh, that." Harry looked at him. "You still up for it?"

"Hell, yeah. You up for a flying lesson on a broom?"

"Hell, no. But I'm still doing it."

"That's the spirit! Come on, let's go ask Hagrid if we can borrow Buckbeak for Saturday."

What would your Boggart be? Mine would probably be the dark. Not so much the dark itself, but what it can represent