When Daphne explained what a Boggart was, Harry and Hermione knew why the other three had reacted so upon learning its presence within the wardrobes.
Harry might not know how the Boggart did it, but he knew one thing.
Between the five of them, the list of the things they feared was just too long.
How in the world would they get the key to the next room like this now?! Harry wondered, looking at others, and knew others were thinking the same.
"There must be something we can do against them, right?" Hermione asked.
Inwardly, she was already blaming herself for not having come across this term in the books so far. How could she have ever missed it?!
It was as amortal, non-being! They had a special section of their own!
"There's a spell," Daphne said, remembering the name. "Riddikulus. But it isn't just about wand movement and incantation, Darcie once told me. It requires lots of focus."
"Do you know the wand movement?" Harry asked, seeing some hope.
Daphne nodded.
"Then let's just try it," Harry suggested. "We will each try it on one Boggart, one by one. Whoever gets the spell right then would walk through the wardrobes, searching for the key. Yeah?"
The girls and Ron shared a look. This was all they could do now. There was no other choice.
"Wait a minute."
When they were just about to go on with it, Draco made them turn back.
"I also remember talking about it with Darcie," he told them, remembering the Boggart that had taken refuge in their cellar under the Manor. "Darcie joked that if…"
Draco frowned.
"If what?!" Harry urged.
The young Malfoy's cheeks gained a rosy color.
"She said if both me and Dobby (-our house-elf-) stood in front of it," Draco told them, "then the Boggart won't have any difficulty shifting between us fears. It would instantly take the form of… our disappointed father."
Harry's lips twitched.
Ron's ears went red as he tried to hold back a snigger.
Daphne almost facepalmed, imagining the look on Darcie's face when she said that.
Only Hermione's eyes had lit up, realizing where Draco had been going with it when he decided to share this embarrassing tale.
"That's right!" she squeaked. "Let's just open a wardrobe and stand together!"
But Harry, regaining his bearings, doubted it would work. "Wouldn't Professor Dumbledore have planned against it?"
Draco sneered. "You think so? I doubt any thief will be humble or weak enough to come with a party of their own, no? Coming alone is already a stretch. Do you even know how many Aurors are stationed at Hogwarts right now?"
They all looked at Draco.
"I never imagined I would say this," Harry mumbled, smiling. "But that was brilliant!"
Smiling, the children hurried to a wardrobe at random, forming a plan.
They would never leave the sight of the Boggart, they decided. And once they confirmed that there was no key within the wardrobe, they would simultaneously break eye contact, moving on to the next one.
"Ready?" Daphne asked, holding the handle. They nodded. Unseen to everyone, Hermione balled her fingers into fists, her eyes trembling.
Daphne twisted the handle and they backed up involuntarily.
The wardrobe opened with a bang!
It was dark within. However, in the very next instant, a squirming mass came hurling out, roaring.
As planned, the children stared dead at it, their pupils widening with anxiety.
The squirming mass churned, coiling unto itself.
Suddenly, it took the form of a full moon, coming out of the clouds.
Hermione's breath broke, her heart skipping a beat.
Before the moon could affect her, though, the Boggart squirmed again, taking the form of a giant skeleton dragon.
Harry and others instantly recognized it as the dragon from the Battle of Legends.
It was nowhere as big as the real dragon, because of the less space between the children and the wardrobe, perhaps. However, it looked incredibly real.
As if that wasn't enough, the dragon opened its mouth, growling, fire bubbling within its throat.
They felt the full brunt of the heat, but the children didn't dare take their eyes off it, wondering whose fear was it meanwhile.
And just as the dragon was about to vomit a pillar of fire at them, the Boggart transformed.
This time, it didn't take the form of one, but many people.
Even for the children, such a sight was mind-boggling.
Hagrid. Arlen Black. Ron. And even Draco.
The four stood, staring right back at the children with hideous, smiling expressions.
Then, one by one, they began disappearing, melting into thin air. Their memories momentarily stirred within the children's minds.
"No!" Harry let out a cry, his eyes going red. An enormous weight pressed on his chest, his stomach feeling like a pit.
However, in the very next moment, the Boggart transformed again.
Harry struggled to breathe, tears escaping the corners of his eyes. He didn't dare close them, lest the Boggart got a chance to stay in one form.
Ron and Draco held Harry up as they looked ahead.
Standing in front of them was an enormous spider, its mandibles clicking.
Click-Click-Click!!!
Ron's face went white, his mouth opening in horror.
Before the Spider could even take one step toward them, the Boggart transformed again. For the last time, hopefully.
Surprisingly, they saw the skeleton dragon again.
But this time, it had already fired the pillar of heat, and, standing at the end of it, was a girl — Darcie Malfoy.
The moment this strange sight appeared in front of them, they found the entire scene had distanced itself from them.
The Boggart was, of course, only a few feet away from them.
But the children, especially Draco, felt like it was happening hundreds of meters away from them.
Draco gritted his teeth, his scars itching.
It was then the Boggart transformed again, taking the form of a full moon.
To them, it seemed like hours had passed, but only a few moments had gone by.
Finally gaining her bearings, Daphne went around the transforming Boggart as the other four kept it busy, and looked into wardrobe.
"This one's empty!" she shouted.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco simultaneously closed their eyes.
The Boggart, finding none looking at it, threw itself to the much-liked confined space.
Daphne, who had also closed her eyes, felt the wardrobe stir, and immediately slammed the door shut.
Ron peeked through the gap of his eyelids. "It's gone," he said, sighing.
Opening their eyes, the children looked at each other, knowing which fear belonged to whom. No one said a thing and the silence lasted for a moment longer.
"Next one, then," Ron threw the words awkwardly.
With their hearts pounding in their chests, the children looked at the remaining wardrobes and hoped to find the key in the very next one.
…
Black walked between the rows of wardrobes.
The group of Gryffindors and Slytherins had left for the next room after obtaining the key in their fifth round. Sweat had drenched their backs and their fears had fatigued their minds before Black devoured that fear to ease their nerves a bit.
Only courage and persistence remained then, holding them up.
Black looked at the fifth wardrobe, which Daphne had left open after obtaining the key and smiled.
Sensing the gaze, the Boggart boomed out of the wardrobe.
It squirmed.
…
It squirmed again.
…
It squirmed again and again.
…
Yellow crystals danced in Black's eyes.
Suddenly, several yellow crystals materialized in the space around Black, engulfing every inch of space.
To the Boggart, everything disappeared.
A marbled, white floor appeared in its senses. The floor stretched in all directions endlessly. No matter where one looked, there was nothing but a white floor, like a solidified, frothing ocean.
For the amortal, non-being, who liked nothing but confined spaces, it was a nightmare!
The Boggart trembled against the fear that refused to vanish.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
Then, with a screeching boom, it exploded.
Black chuckled, knowing well that the Boggart was still there as it had no concept of death.
Still, to terrify a creature, who thrived on others' fears, brought some amusement to the Item.
"A mental battle leaves one exhausted," Black mumbled to himself, resuming the pace, "but… it's still better than a physical one."
He eyed the gap leading to the next room and —
— hoped none of the children would die there.
**************
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