The students of all four houses entered their Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom to find no desks and only a wardrobe at the front of the class. It was shaking violently.

Most of the students jumped in shock as Lupin suddenly called out loudly from a back corner of the class. He was enveloped in darkness before stepping forward:

"Intriguing isn't it? Would anyone like to venture a guess as to what's inside?"

"That's a boggart isn't it?" Lavender called out.

"Very good, Ms. Brown. Now can anyone tell me what a Boggart looks like?" Lupin asked the class as he moved towards the front slowly.

"No one knows" Hermione spoke out: "They take the shape of whatever a person fears the most. That's what makes them so-"

"So terrifying, yes yes yes Ms Granger. Well done ten points to Gryffindor for the pair of you girls" Lupin smiled at Hermione and Lavender. Hermione heard:

Well done my beautiful genius

She smiled at her boyfriend. She loved when he popped in and gave her compliments like that. Lupin continued:

"Luckily, a very simple charm exists to repel a boggart. Let's practice it now. Without wands, please."

Riddikulus

Riddikulus the class copied.

"Mr. L/N you didn't speak?" Lupin asked with puzzlement, looking at Y/N.

"My wandless Magic is too strong sir. Last time I followed a teacher's instruction to wandlessly cast a charm I cut half of Flitwick's moustache off."

The class giggled, even some of the Slytherins.

"Well I'd like to keep mine so just try when you get to the front, ok." Lupin smiled at his student before continuing:

"So much for the easy part. You see the incantation alone is not enough. What really finishes a boggart is laughter. You need to force it to assume a shape you find truly amusing. Let me explain with a demonstration... Neville, would you join me, please?"

Neville gulped and nodded and moved forward slowly before hearing in his head:

You've got this Nev

Neville looked at Y/N, momentarily surprised, before Y/N looked at Neville with a fierce glare, nodding slowly. Neville looked back, this time with more determination and nodded, stepping forward.

Hermione looked up at her boyfriend with a knowing gaze and whispered:

"You really are sweet, you know that?"

Y/N looked down at her.

"Don't know what you're talking about, love."

"Mmhhm" Hermione giggled before looking forward again.

"Neville, what frightens you most of all?" The Professor asked gently, aware of the nervous disposition of his student.

"Prof- Professor Snape" Neville stammered back.

"Yes frightens all." Lupin chuckled back as the rest of the class, minus Y/N and Hermione, laughed.

"I understand you live with your grandmother"

"Yes but I don't want that boggart to turn into her either" The class laughed again, Y/N chuckling this time.

Lupin whispered into Neville's ear and opened the cupboard.

A hand appeared on the doorframe before Professor Snape came out of the cupboard, glaring at Neville with his most menacing scowl. Neville nervously raised his wand:

Riddikulus

The boggart Snape was now wearing a faded green dress, with a huge red handbag and matching hat and scarf of what appeared to be dead ferret. Everyone except Y/N and Hermione laughed as Lupin started some old time upbeat music.

The class each lined up for a turn.

Ron was first. The boggart turned into a giant spider.

Riddikulus

It was now sliding everywhere on roller skates.

Parvati got to the front.

A giant snake.

Riddikulus

A giant jack in the box.

Dean Thomas

A mummy

Riddikulus

A hand now slid along the floor.

Hermione stepped to the front of the line, Y/N right behind her. She gasped as the boggart turned into Y/N topless, with Katie on his arm, in very revealing lingerie. It seemed pretty obvious to everyone what they had been doing. Boggart Y/N sneered at Hermione as it spoke:

"I don't love you. I've never loved you. Breaking up with Katie for you was a big mistake. She did things for me you never have. Every day I think about dumping you to go back to her!"

The boggart grinned as tears welled in Hermione's eyes. There were gasps from her classmates behind her. Y/N placed his hands on her shoulders from behind lovingly and whispered in her ear:

"It's not real 'Mione. I'm right here and I love you with all my heart!"

Hermione closed her eyes and nodded, raising her wand:

Riddikulus

Boggart Y/N turns into a seal and Katie into a bouncy ball. The seal was trying to balance the ball but failed miserably. The class erupted in laughter as Hermione turned and barrelled into Y/N. He wrapped his arms around her in a massive hug and whispered reassuringly:

"I'm sorry it did that to you but it's not true and it's not real."

Y/N spoke lovingly as Hermione nodded, fighting back tears as she buried herself into his chest.

"Besides..." Y/N whispered into her ear: "...you're definitely the only one I want to do that with."

As Harry was stood directly behind Y/N, he heard his whisper and desperately tried to forget he did. Hermione laughed through her tears and lightly slapped Y/N's chest, giggling: "shut up dork."

She wiped her eyes as she walked to the back of the line, avoiding the gaze of all her classmates. God that was embarrassing she thought to herself.

"Y/N" Professor Lupin called as Y/N stepped forward. The rest of the class watched in intrigue- what exactly frightened Y/N?

The seal morphed into Hermione, laying dead on the floor. Her eyes were wide open but soulless, empty, devoid of life. They were staring right at Y/N. Suddenly a boggart Y/N weakly walked to her side and collapsed onto her corpse, crying:

"I couldn't save her. I couldn't protect her. I was too weak."

Y/N hesitated. Hermione's corpse suddenly twisted its head unnaturally, staring at Y/N before smiling sadistically and shapeshifting. It instantly turned into an exact copy of Y/N and smirked at him.

Y/N stood staring at his mirror image puzzled before chuckling:

"Right, so my biggest fear is myself?"

Boggart Y/N though wasn't impressed, staring at Y/N and answering coldly:

"We need to talk. And joke all you want smartarse but you can't lie to me. I know the truth!"

Lupin started to move forward, worried where this would go, but Y/N quickly raised a hand towards him.

"Don't interfere" Y/N said firmly. Remus sighed but stopped dead. Boggart Y/N started taunting again:

"See you're good at putting on an act, Y/N. Good at the facade. Showing everyone that you're a tough guy, that you're in charge. But see I know the truth, Y/N. I know how dead you feel inside. How worthless you feel. I know how you look into a mirror and hate what you see."

The class was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Y/N stood there, glaring at the boggart as he said in a quiet growl:

"Sorry pal, but it's not gonna work. You're not real."

"Sure I am. I'm you" the boggart grinned.

"I don't think so. See this is my world not yours. All I gotta do in snap my fingers and you go bye bye"

Y/N answered and snapped his thumb and middle finger, wandlessly and nonverbally casting Riddikulus. Nothing happened.

The boggart grinned as Y/N looked down at his hand puzzled. As he looked up the boggart chuckled:

"Hitting a little too close to home champ?"

"Y/N, I think I should-"

Lupin begin to gently speak before being cut off by Y/N snapping:

"Stay out of this, Remus!"

The boggart chuckled and spoke again: "I'm not going anywhere. Neither are you!"

The classroom door behind everyone suddenly slammed shot and locked causing several girls to scream and Neville to faint. Remus looked at the boggart bewildered, muttering "unbelievable."

Somehow by taking Y/N's form it was able to mirror his power, at least to some extent. Y/N just stared as the boggart continued:

"I mean you're walking to your death facing Voldemort and you won't lift a finger to stop it. Talk about low self esteem."

The boggert chuckled menacingly.

"Then again I guess it's not much of a life worth saving. After all you got nothing outside of Hermione. Dean and Penny pity you. To Dumbledore and Jacob you're nothing but a dumb soldier. A blunt instrument. Cannon fodder. You are nothing. Just as mindless and obedient as an attack dog. Jacob worshipped Dean when he was little. Loved him, doted on him. He tortured you. Remember all those long nights making you fight through the imperious and cruciatis curses. Think he would do that to Dean?"

The remainder of the class behind Y/N, with the exception of his friends, gasped and whispered in shock. Y/N had been tortured by his brother? They didn't have long to ponder it as the boggart continued:

"All you got is "watch out for Harry. Keep him safe, boy!" "You're expendable. Harry isn't!" You still hear Jacobs voice in your head don't you?"

Harry's eyes widened. What was the boggart talking abo-?

Harry stopped, his mind going back to the end of first year- the vault with Quirrell and Voldemort and Voldemort's words:

"Your protector failed you Harry!"

Was there more to his and Y/N's friendship than Harry was aware of?

At the same time as Harry's existential crisis, the classroom lights started dimming as Y/N got angrier. The boggart continued:

"All he ever did was torture you, train you. Boss you around. Tell you how much of an inconvenience you were. How weak you were. How long before Hermione realises the same huh? Why would the smartest most beautiful witch in the world want you? You're nothing but a dumb brute, a future serial killer."

"It's not true, Y/N" Hermione yelled through tears from the back of the room. "Don't listen to it, I love you."

The boggart laughed evilly:

"Truth is... you're already a serial killer, aren't you Y/N? How many is it now? 20? 25? After Azkaban I've lost count!"

More gasps were heard. Lots of rumours had spread about Y/N, about Azkaban. About what he'd done there. Was the boggart confirming the rumours?

It kept at him:

"Jacob knows who you are. Who you really are. A good soldier and nothing else. Your own mother didn't care if you lived or died why should-"

"Son of a bitch... Immedicabile" Y/N roared, a dark purple flash erupting from the wand that had descended into his hand. It struck the boggart in the chest, sending it flying backwards through the air and to the ground. It momentarily laid motionless before shooting up again, boggart Y/N's eyes pitch black as it sneered:

You can't escape me Y/N. They're all gonna die. And this... this is what you're going to become.

The eyes. The voice. Repressed memories broke through the walls Y/N had placed around them.

The Hole. This is what tortured him in the Hole- himself, but with black eyes and an unnatural voice. He was paralysed by fear, by the memories, the full memories of his torment in the Hole. He short circuited.

It was only for the briefest of moments. The smallest of time frames that his always rock solid Occlumency shields were down. But it was long enough.

Boggart Y/N briefly smirked before transforming again. The whole classroom seemed to transform, now having seemingly no shape, no walls, the space resembling an infinite mustardy-yellow cloud, lightning erupting as miles of chains littered in front of the students horizontally and vertically.

The students and even the teacher looked on in horror as a body floated towards them, spinning slowly in a counterclockwise spiral as it was impaled by two industrial meat hooks- one through the left flank and one through the right shoulder.

As the body got closer the class realised the person was alive... and it was Y/N.

Hermione covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes bulging as tears flowed down her cheeks at the gruesome bloody form of her boyfriend.

The visage of Y/N looked around in horror, unaware of the audience in front of him as he screamed in abject terror, the fear palpable in his voice:

"Hermione? Jacob? Dean? Somebody help me, please!... 'Mione?"

Riddikulus

Y/N cast the charm without emotion, the boggart turning into Lockhart, stumbling around in a pink tutu.

No one laughed. Y/N turned to be rushed by Hermione who engulfed him in an unbelievably tight hug. Y/N returned it, the two standing in the embrace before Y/N lifted his head and looked at Lupin, saying without emotion:

"I think I'm done for the day, Remus."

"Of course" the Professor said with a saddened tone, placing his hand on Y/N's shoulder and giving him a reassuring smile:

"Go get some fresh air with Hermione. I'll notify the rest of today's teachers.

Y/N nodded, both students leaving the classroom hand in hand. As they walked passed their classmates none would look at Y/N, all their collective gazes looking down at the ground.

The couple exited, and the traumatised students whispered to themselves about what had just happened, Remus turned to Harry and asked shakily:

"Harry, do you wish to have a turn?"

"Y...yes Professor" Harry nodded as his hands trembled.