"I would like you all to take a moment to think of the thing that scares you most," said Lupin, "and imagine how you might force it to look comical."
I looked at the floor. My greatest fear was by far my mother, Bellatrix; but how is one supposed to turn the person who has been using the Cruciatus Curse on them since they were five into something comical? Take away her wand, she still had the knife. Take away the knife, she could still slap me. Take away the use of her hands, she could still shout. Take away her voice, she would probably kick me or something. There was no way I would be able to do it.

"Everyone ready?" said Lupin, and I looked up in a panic, not wanting to ask for more time, because everyone else was nodding.
Everyone except Harry.
"Neville, we're going to back away," continued Lupin. "Let you have a clear field, alright? I'll call the next person forward... everyone back, now, so Neville can get a clear shot—"
We all retreated, backing up against the walls, leaving Neville standing alone by the wardrobe. He looked pale and frightened, but at the same time he was holding his wand ready, looking determined.

"On the count of three, Neville," said Professor Lupin, pointing his own wand at the doorknob on the wardrobe. "One — two — three — now!"
A jet of sparks flew from his wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open, and the Boggart came out.
"R-r-riddikulus!" squeaked Neville, pointing his wand at the Boggart, which had assumed the form of Snape. Suddenly, there was a loud crack, and the Snape Boggart was wearing a long, lace trimmed dress and a towering hat with a moth-eaten stuffed vulture on top, and a huge crimson handbag in his hand.

There was a collective roar of laughter from the rest of the class; I, myself, even let a small smile appear on my face. The Boggart hesitated, obviously confused, and Professor Lupin shouted, "Parvati! Forward!"
There was another crack, and the Boggart turned into a bloodstained mummy, which Parvati entangled in its own bandages, causing it to fall over and its head to roll off.

"Seamus!" yelled Professor Lupin, and Seamus ran forwards.
Crack! The Boggart turned into a banshee, which Seamus made lose her voice, then — crack! — it was a rat, which chased its tail in a circle, then — crack! — became a rattlesnake, which slithered and writhed, then — crack! — it became a single, bloody eyeball.

"It's confused!" shouted Lupin. "We're getting there! Dean!"
Dean walked quickly forwards.
Crack! The eyeball became a severed hand, which Dean caught in a mousetrap.
"Excellent! Ron, you next!"
Ron practically leapt forward.
Crack! The Boggart turned into a giant spider, at least six foot tall and covered in hair, and quite a few people screamed.
Ron froze for a moment, then bellowed, "Riddikulus!" and the spider's legs vanished, causing it to roll over and over, finally stopping at Harry's feet.
He raised his wand, ready, but Lupin suddenly ran forwards and shouted, "Here!"
Crack! The Boggart became a silvery-white orb. It looked like... the moon.
How odd.

I stood, thinking, not even paying attention to what was going on around me.
Lupin's always wearing shabby clothes, he looked terribly underfed on the train, it's like he doesn't have enough money to buy food or clothes. He's covered in scars, which Madam Pomfrey would surely have healed for him if she could, and his worst fear is the full moon, or at least that's what it looked like...
Suddenly, everything clicked in my head. My mouth formed a perfect 'O' of surprise as I realised — He's a werewolf!

I looked at Lupin, my face betraying my shock, as he said, "Homework, kindly read the chapter on Boggarts and summarise it for me... to be handed in on Monday. That will be all."
As we started to leave, Lupin said, "Ivory? Can I speak to you for a second?"
"See you at dinner, guys. Oh, and can you grab my stuff for me from the classroom please?" I said to Harry, Ron, and Hermione as I turned around and anxiously walked over to Professor Lupin.

"Ivory, what did you realise when you saw my Boggart?" he asked me once everyone had left.
"I... I realised..." I started uncertainly, looking at the floor. "I realised that..."
I bit my lip, trying to pluck up the courage to say it.
"I realised that you're a werewolf, sir," I finally said in a quiet voice, looking at Lupin to see what his reaction would be.
"And how did you work that out?"

"Well, firstly, when I met you on the train, you seemed like you hadn't had a decent meal for a while; and that, coupled with your robes, made me think you hadn't had a decently paying job for ages, which I linked to the fact that werewolves are generally shunned by most of the magical community when I realised your scars probably would have been healed magically if they could. Oh, and your Boggart is the full moon, sir. That was the thing that really gave it away."

Lupin looked at me, his eyebrows raised in shock.
"You noticed I hadn't eaten?" he asked incredulously.
I nodded. "I recognised the signs of hunger I see in myself, sir," I said quietly.
"And the scars?"
I slowly pulled my left sleeve up a little bit and revealed my hand; it was covered in scars from when Mother had been particularly angry at me one day. Lupin looked at me worriedly.

"Ivory—" he began, but then he stopped abruptly as McGonagall walked into the room.
I let my sleeve drop quickly, covering my hand again, and Professor Lupin said, "You may go now, Ivory. If you ever need to talk to someone, I will always be happy to listen."
I nodded, turned around, then walked out of the room and down to dinner, sitting between Hermione and Ginny, as usual.
"What was that about?" Harry asked from across the table.
"Oh, Lupin just wanted to see me with regard to the homework," I lied.
Harry nodded and carried on eating as I piled food onto my plate.

"Do any of you know the password to Dumbledore's office?" I asked, remembering I had to get permission from him to go and see my father every Sunday.
They all shook their heads, but Ron said, "It's usually a type of sweet, you could try guessing it."
"Hmm... the problem is that I only know chocolate frogs, so if it's not that then I'm stuck."

"Well, go to his office later and try that, and if it doesn't work, come back to the common room and get one of us to go with you and try to guess it," Hermione suggested.
"Good idea!" I said, smiling at her and grabbing a slice of pizza. "I think I'll wait until about quarter of an hour after dinner's finished, just to give Dumbledore enough time to get back.
They all nodded.

"What do you want to see him about, anyway?" asked Ginny.
"Oh, um... I just wanted to ask about... about Hogsmeade."
They didn't look convinced, but dropped the subject and started talking about quidditch instead. I tuned out their conversation, thinking about the new discovery I had made about Lupin with a small smile.