#239 - Chapter 239 Let me protect the image of Professor Snape!

On Thursday afternoon, Harry and his friends arrived at the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom early.

Lupin was sitting behind the teacher's desk, with an old, constantly shaking wardrobe next to him.

Harry smiled and took the initiative to greet him: "Professor Lupin, are you adapting well to teaching life at Hogwarts?"

Lupin had a gentle smile on his face as he said to Harry, "To be honest, it's a bit more tiring than I imagined."

"When I was a student, we only had one long class a week for each subject. Now that I'm a professor, I've realized that twelve long classes a week is really not easy."

"Thinking about it now, I was really quite ignorant back then. Professor McGonagall was so tired, and we were always causing her trouble."

Hermione asked, "Professor, why have all the desks and chairs in the classroom been put away? How are we going to have class today?"

"Oh, today's class is a practical lesson on dealing with dark creatures. As for the specifics, let me keep you in suspense for a bit."

While they were chatting, more and more students came into the classroom. Seeing this, Harry and his friends stood aside, waiting for the bell to ring.

"Today, we are going to learn about a very interesting dark creature," Lupin said, standing in front of the podium. "Everyone, put away your textbooks and prepare your wands."

Dark creature?

In that shaking cabinet?

The young wizards took out their wands one after another, looking at Lupin with excitement.

This was a practical class, which was much more interesting than simply learning knowledge from textbooks.

He looked around the classroom and said slowly, "There is a Boggart inside the old wardrobe."

He walked towards the old wardrobe and gently patted the door: "This kind of creature likes dark, confined spaces, such as old wardrobes, cupboards under sinks, and so on."

"So, who can tell me, what does a Boggart actually look like?"

Hermione immediately raised her hand and said, "No one knows what a Boggart looks like, Professor. It is a shapeshifting creature that always turns into what people fear most."

"Very good," Lupin praised. "So no one can know what a Boggart looks like when it is alone."

"Professor, I have a question." Harry raised his hand high.

"Now that magical cameras have been invented, if we put a camera in the cabinet, can we observe what the Boggart looks like when it is alone?"

Hearing this, the students were shocked and began to whisper to each other, discussing the feasibility of this method.

Ron nudged Harry with his elbow: "Harry, you have such a big imagination, how did you come up with this idea?"

"To be honest, I can't judge whether the camera can capture the Boggart's appearance when it is alone," Lupin frowned slightly. "Harry, your idea is very good."

"Alchemy changes life. We can do an experiment later, maybe we can really solve this age-old mystery."

"Now let's get back to the topic of Boggarts." Lupin raised his voice a little, drawing the little wizards' attention back.

"When dealing with Boggarts, it is best to be in groups, so that the Boggart will not be able to figure out what to turn into."

Lupin continued to explain in a calm voice: "In addition, the Boggart's power comes from fear, but fortunately, it also has a weakness—laughter."

"To deal with a Boggart, we need to make it look ridiculous. In the face of laughter, its power will be broken."

"The spell we are going to use is 'Riddikulus', and the pronunciation must be clear."

After the students repeated it twice, Lupin pointed to the cabinet.

"In a moment, I will let the Boggart out. Each of you will have a chance to face it, but don't be afraid. The key is to use your imagination to turn it into something you can laugh at."

After saying that, Lupin waved his wand, and the lock on the cabinet fell off.

He motioned for the first student to come forward: "Alright, Neville, why don't you start?"

Neville's face turned pale instantly. Under Lupin's encouraging gaze, he walked tremblingly to the center of the classroom.

Lupin gently patted Neville on the shoulder and said gently, "Neville, what are you most afraid of?"

Neville lowered his head and said in an almost inaudible voice, "Professor Snape."

Hearing this, the students burst into laughter.

Harry also laughed, he understood why Neville was afraid of Professor Snape.

In Potions class, Neville had always been in a group with Seamus. The combination of the Explosion Prince and the Oblivion Master was incredibly powerful, and they often caused accidents that affected the entire class.

Whenever this happened, Professor Snape's face would be extremely dark. Later, he simply stood directly behind them, personally supervising them to brew potions.

Over time, it was not surprising that Neville was most afraid of Professor Snape.

"I see..." Lupin said kindly, "Why don't you imagine Professor Snape wearing your grandmother's clothes? Wouldn't that be much more fun?"

Hearing this, the students burst into laughter.

Harry didn't laugh, he felt extremely awkward.

Professor Snape was one of the professors he respected the most. Making the Boggart turn into Professor Snape wearing women's clothing didn't seem appropriate at all.

If he really did that, Harry could guarantee that Professor Snape would become the laughing stock of the students for the next two weeks.

He absolutely would not allow this to happen!

Seeing that Neville was already standing in front of the cabinet door, trembling, Harry quickly shouted, "Neville, I have a better idea."

"You can imagine Professor Snape constantly praising you."

At this moment, the door of the cabinet opened, and a blurry black shadow immediately窜了出来, twisting and turning into the appearance of Professor Snape, with a gloomy face, staring coldly at Neville.

Neville gasped and shouted, "Riddikulus!"

A wonderful thing happened. Professor Snape's face showed a bright smile that everyone had never seen before, and he danced and praised Neville.

"Well done, Longbottom, you are the smartest student I have ever seen. Ten points to Gryffindor."

The students burst into laughter. They had never seen Professor Snape with such rich facial expressions.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

That's great, Neville listened to his suggestion.

As long as it wasn't Professor Snape in women's clothing.

Otherwise, Neville would definitely be targeted by Professor Snape.

Professor Lupin is really something, how could he joke about Professor Snape!

"Very good, Neville!" Lupin smiled contentedly, as if he didn't take this little episode to heart at all.

"Everyone, line up, one by one."

Under Lupin's encouragement, the students came to face the Boggart one by one, facing their fears.

Under the effect of the spell, the Boggart sometimes turned into a mummy tripped by its own bandages;

Sometimes it turned into a giant spider wearing roller skates,

The young wizards used their imagination to turn the Boggart into various interesting appearances.

When it was Harry's turn, the Boggart changed its form, and finally, the figure of a Dementor appeared in front of him.

A cold feeling struck, and Harry suddenly felt a little short of breath.

Why a Dementor?

Shouldn't it be Voldemort?

The feeling of dizziness struck again, and Harry struggled to recite the spell.

Lupin stood aside, and seeing Harry swaying, he immediately flashed in front of him.

The Boggart changed again, turning into a silver-white ball.

"Riddikulus!" Lupin waved his wand, and the silver ball turned into a leaky balloon and went back into the cabinet in a puff of smoke.

"Alright, that's it for today's class," Lupin locked the cabinet door and arranged to the students, "Everyone did a great job."

"For homework, please read the chapter on Boggarts and write a short essay to be submitted next week."

The little wizards who hadn't had their turn cried out in agony, they also wanted to try it out.

There was no way, the bell rang, and they had to pack their bags and leave the classroom.

Everyone was very excited, constantly discussing the appearance of the Boggart's changes.

Harry walked at the end, feeling very depressed.

His resistance to Dementors was too poor, and he almost fainted in the face of a fake Dementor.

If it weren't for Professor Lupin, he would have made a fool of himself in front of everyone.

Harry secretly made up his mind.

Tomorrow night is the Duelling Club, and Professor Slughorn will teach everyone how to deal with Dementors.

In any case, he must master the Patronus Charm as soon as possible.

Now go to the library and check the information on the Patronus Charm.

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