The Wonderful Boggart

"Let’s get one thing straight!"

Before dancing, Adam raised one finger for emphasis:

"I’m only doing this once. If there’s any more dancing in the future, I’m not doing it!"

"There’ll be more?!"

Klon was startled, then remembered that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them contained a total of seventy-five magical creatures. His face immediately turned green:

"Don’t tell me we have to learn seventy-five dances?"

"How could that be? Not every magical creature can be approached by dancing."

Uther immediately retorted:

"And for those less dangerous magical creatures, we can safely approach them as long as we learn our Charms well."

"Oh, that’s a relief…"

Klon sighed in relief, and Uther looked at Adam.

"Fine, I agree!"

The others agreed as well. In any case, Adam had to dance today!

Adam nodded in satisfaction, then raised his hands and started twisting~

Ay yi ya yi ya~

Watching the four of them grin wantonly, Adam felt utterly unmoved inside.

Laugh while you can. What was the Scorpiontail dance compared to that? Next time you learn the Erumpent mating dance, I’ll film every last one of you!

When they returned to the common room, they had just wanted to share the bizarre things they had learned in class when they discovered that the common room was already lively—Professor Lupin had just taught them, and he had brought a Boggart for them to deal with during class.

Naturally, everyone had seen what the others feared.

"Ha ha ha ha—did you know? Cedric’s Boggart was actually cold cilantro salad with houttuynia!"

"What do you know? That smell is genuinely terrifying!"

Cedric showed no embarrassment whatsoever, his face flushed as he retorted:

"At least it’s better than your durian tangyuan! Durian tangyuan is delicious!"

"Listen to yourself! Durian is terrifying enough already. Is durian tangyuan even fit for human consumption? Even trolls would shake their heads after smelling it!"

"Eh? I admit the second half of that was right, but durian is obviously innocent! It’s so sweet and delicious~"

"Is no one afraid of matcha-wasabi bubblegum?"

"Ugh—just hearing that name makes me nauseous. Where did you even eat something that bizarre?"

"The Weasley twins sell it. I thought it tasted all right?"

"Hiss… you must have been starving to eat something like that."

Listening as the topic in the common room drifted from Boggarts all the way to food preferences, Adam scratched his head. Everyone’s Boggarts turning into such strange things probably had nothing to do with him… right… maybe?

"Boggarts? Looks like this Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is finally interesting!"

Bernard’s eyes lit up.

His knowledge of the Wizarding World was always unusually deep in the strangest areas, and something like a Boggart had clearly sparked his immense curiosity.

"Want to guess what your Boggarts might be?"

"Hmm… I’m not really a picky eater. Anything’s fine."

Klon stroked his chin and thought for a long while but still could not think of any food he feared.

"A Boggart turns into something you’re afraid of, not food you’re afraid of! You can’t form such a strange stereotype just because the Boggarts of the people discussing this most enthusiastically were all food!"

Adam shook Klon by the shoulders.

"Oh, then… maybe a Puffskein?"

The moment Klon finished speaking, he was met with the astonished looks of the others.

"Why are you all looking at me like that…"

"Hmm, it’s nothing. I just didn’t expect you to be afraid of magical creatures."

Eugene paused.

"And a Puffskein at that…"

As a popular pet among children, Puffskeins looked completely harmless.

Adam stroked his chin.

"I thought it would be Sadako."

"…Sadako is scary too, but I’m more afraid of Puffskeins."

After struggling with it for a moment, Klon confirmed:

"You wouldn’t understand that kind of fear."

Remembering that experience, Klon wore an expression of unbearable memories:

"You’ll never know how much psychological trauma a four-year-old can suffer from being surrounded by a group of Puffskeins, all of them stretching out their long, thin tongues and poking them into his nostrils."

"Hiss—"

Everyone sucked in a sharp breath:

"I can kind of imagine it…"

"No, you can’t imagine it at all."

Klon looked utterly dead inside, then turned to them.

"What about you? What do you think your Boggarts would be?"

"I don’t know. I don’t think there’s anything I’m particularly afraid of."

Eugene thought for a long time, then shook his head.

"For me… probably a wasabi-filled tangyuan in assorted tangyuan."

Bernard looked at Adam.

"That really is an utterly vicious flavor."

"Ahem, the House-elves made those. I only told them to put every ingredient they could find in the kitchen into the tangyuan. I don’t know anything else…"

Adam guiltily looked away.

"I…"

Uther paused halfway through speaking.

"Probably something I encountered during the holidays…"

Even Uther was not quite sure what it was. Perhaps it was his brain’s self-protection mechanism, but that memory had already grown somewhat hazy in his mind. He did not know which part of it had been the most frightening to him.

"I’m not really sure what my Boggart would be either."

Adam’s words slightly dispersed the somewhat stagnant atmosphere. He scratched his head.

"What could there be that I’d be afraid of…"

If he had not obtained the Book of Sealing, perhaps his Boggart would have been Voldemort. But as the saying went, fear came from insufficient firepower. Voldemort was no longer enough to make him feel afraid.

Carrying curiosity about his own Boggart, Adam arrived at their Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

"Good afternoon~"

With a faint smile, Professor Lupin softly greeted every student before him. He wore that somewhat shabby robe.

"No matter how you found out, you should all know what today’s lesson is about—yes, we’re going to learn how to deal with Boggarts."

When his gaze landed on Adam, Professor Lupin suddenly felt a spasm in his stomach for some reason. That terrifying taste he had experienced some time ago abruptly flooded back into his mind.

Hiss…

Professor Lupin pondered for a moment, recalling that Professor Dumbledore had told him the desserts sold by this student were very delicious. It seemed his body was reminding him that he needed the comfort of something sweet.

Casting aside that sudden thought, Professor Lupin walked to the cabinet at the front of the classroom, patted it, and continued:

"Most of you should already know a little about Boggarts, but as your professor, I still need to explain—Boggarts are non-beings that like dark, enclosed spaces: wardrobes, beneath beds, cupboards under sinks…"

After less than ten minutes of explanation, Professor Lupin began teaching them the spell for dealing with Boggarts:

"Riddikulus!"

Professor Lupin led them through several rounds of practice, then intended to have them begin practical training immediately. The spell itself was not difficult; the difficult part was casting it while facing a Boggart.

"Remember, what truly finishes a Boggart off is laughter. What you need to do is not merely recite the spell stiffly, but force it to become an image you find hilarious."

Raising his wand, Professor Lupin reminded them once more.

With a gentle flick of his wand, the cabinet door handle was slowly pulled open—

Eugene, standing at the very front, looked at the plate of fish inside the cabinet as a question mark slowly appeared above his head.