Chapter 60: 60: Boggart and the Stargazers
The passage was narrow and cramped, and the three of them walked in a line.
"Where are we going?"
Neville was getting more and more scared. If John hadn't been behind him, he would have wanted to go back.
"To a haunted house," John replied casually.
"A.. A haunted house?" Neville stopped in his tracks upon hearing that.
John patted his back, saying, "Don't worry, I'm here with you."
Neville wanted to say that even with John, it was still scary. Luna, in her sing-song voice, added, "There are ghosts in Hogwarts too, aren't there?"
Among the three, it seemed only Neville was scared, which made him hate his own cowardice.
Summoning his courage, Neville continued forward. Finally, they reached the end of the tunnel and entered a house.
It was a messy, gloomy room. The wallpaper was peeling, the floor was filthy, and all the furniture was broken as if it had been smashed. The windows were boarded up.
It looked exactly like the haunted house of his nightmares, with the torn wallpaper appearing as if something terrifying had shredded it.
The sight sent chills down their spines.
John noticed that Luna was walking closer to him. He forgot that with his Dragon enhancement, he didn't need light, but others did.
"Lumos."
The wand emitted a glow that provided a sense of security.
The house was dark and gloomy inside. Wanting to train Neville, John suggested, "Let's split up and look around."
Neville swallowed hard and, despite the eerie atmosphere of the house, mustered the courage to move forward.
John watched him go and then started to look around himself.
The house had been abandoned for a long time, but the remnants of the once luxurious furniture were still visible.
John pushed open a wooden door, which creaked due to years of disrepair.
Luna curiously walked in. Her eyes showed no fear, and this quirky girl, whom John had only met less than a day ago, already trusted him implicitly.
"This looks like a kitchen, and there's a tree outside."
Through the cracks in the boarded-up window, they could see the shadows of swaying trees outside.
People who were easily frightened probably wouldn't last long here.
"We need to find Neville Longbottom; he might be scared."
Luna always had a clear insight into people. John thought about it and agreed. For Neville, this place might indeed be too intimidating.
Turning to search for Neville, John hadn't found him yet when he heard Neville's fearful voice.
"Professor Snape, I didn't mean to."
"No need for explanations, Neville Longbottom. Because of you, Gryffindor has lost 100 points!"
Professor Snape's voice was cold and ruthless. The thought of Gryffindor losing 100 points because of him made Neville dread the reprimands from his classmates.
Terrified, he covered his head as Professor Snape stepped closer and closer.
Hearing this from outside, John sensed something was wrong. Even though Professor Snape enjoyed deducting points, he wouldn't deduct so many at once. Taking away 100 points from Gryffindor due to Neville was like telling the child to get bullied by his housemates.
He suddenly realized that this Professor Snape might be an impostor.
As the fake Snape tried to get closer to Neville, John kicked the door open.
"Stupefy!"
The red light hit the fake Professor Snape, sending him flying into a cabinet.
John pointed his wand at the figure, calmly demanding, "Who are you?"
"No, John, you'll be expelled for this!"
Neville couldn't imagine John attacking a professor, which made him even more frightened.
John, however, kept his eyes on the supposed Professor Snape.
As Snape saw John, his body transformed into a swirling mass of shadows. After a moment of spinning, a freshly baked Stargazy Pie fell to the ground, and the fake Professor Snape vanished.
"What is this?"
Not only was John confused, but Neville was also stunned.
Seeing the pie with four fish heads sticking out, John's face showed a look of discomfort.
The infamous British dish made him feel very uneasy.
"It can transform and likes dark places... Is this a Boggart?"
John recalled a magical creature.
"I remember Boggarts transform into what people fear. I can understand Neville being afraid of Professor Snape, but me fearing Stargazy Pie?"
After a moment of silence, John stared at the pie, suddenly remembering he was constantly using Occlumency.
Perhaps that's why the Boggart turned into a dish he found disgusting.
He was speechless.
Glancing at the cabinet, he noted that Boggarts liked to stay in dark, confined spaces.
'Fuck off!'
He walked over and kicked the Stargazy Pie back into the cabinet, then waved his wand to lock the cabinet shut.
"Neville, it's okay now. That was a Boggart. What were you thinking about just now? Why did it turn into Professor Snape?"
John's expression was peculiar. Although Neville's fear of Professor Snape wasn't a secret, thinking of Snape in such an environment showed just how scared he was.
Neville looked embarrassed and stammered, "I thought about losing points last year and then thought of Professor Snape waiting inside the room to dock points."
Well, it was understandable. In his first year, Neville had been docked points for notifying Harry, which had left him with a psychological shadow about losing points.
But the one who had docked the points was Professor McGonagall, so why did he think it would be Snape lying in wait?
John glanced at Luna. This girl didn't seem to understand the danger, only finding the Boggart interesting because it could turn into a fish pie.
"Alright, it seems today's adventure ends here."
The sky outside had darkened, and with a first-year present, John decided not to be a bad influence by leading a night tour.
The three of them retraced their steps through the tunnel. On the way out, Neville was almost hit by the Whomping Willow.
Quick as a flash, John pulled him back and then immobilized the tree again.
Once back in the castle, the three of them went their separate ways.
"Thank you, John. Today's adventure was really fun."
Luna was in a great mood, her ethereal voice sounding like she was singing.
"If you're interested, there are many interesting places in Hogwarts."
John waved goodbye to Luna, as he still needed to head to the Room of Requirement for training.
On his way to training, John thought about Neville.
"Maybe I can get Neville a better weapon."
This was, after all, the swordsmaster of Gryffindor, capable of slaying Horcruxes with a single stroke.
John felt that if a swordmaster didn't use a sword, what kind of swordmaster would that be?
He gathered some materials, not needing them to be too precise, just enough to roughly shape a sword.
With John's current alchemy level combined with Gryffindor's forging techniques, he could quickly finish making a sword.
Though much rougher than the Sword of Ironwick, it was a great training tool for Neville.
Early the next morning, John delivered the sword to Neville.
Neville was puzzled, and John said meaningfully, "What if, just maybe, you are actually a swordmaster?"
"Huh?"
Neville was stunned, unsure of what to say, but John encouraged him to learn swordsmanship well and strive to become an impressive swordmaster in the future.
Hermione was reading Lockhart's book, undeterred even after attending one of his classes. This made John somewhat admire her perseverance. The infatuation with her idol was truly formidable. Hopefully, she would soon see through Lockhart's facade.
After finishing breakfast, John headed to class, which was Potions with his head of house today. He didn't want to face Snape's death glare for being late.
"I've earned so many points, yet he still seems unfriendly," John thought, puzzled by Professor Snape's attitude.
Although he had gotten into a fight at the start of the term, it shouldn't have warranted such long-lasting resentment.
On his way, he encountered Malfoy. Malfoy boasted about how he would humiliate the Gryffindors on Saturday.
His father had sponsored the entire team with Nimbus 2001s, which were even more advanced than Harry Potter's Nimbus 2000.
As for the rest of the Gryffindor team's brooms, there was no comparison; Comets and Cleansweep Sevens were barely fit for sweeping floors.
Malfoy seemed to envision leading Slytherin to victory and winning the cup, which made John feel awkward.
He thought about telling Malfoy that with Harry around, that dream might be difficult to achieve.
After all, Harry was the protagonist.
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