Chaos and Order - A Multiverse Fanfic-Chapter 982: Boggarts at Hogwarts

The rest of the Divination Class went smoothly, with all the original storyline events playing out as they were supposed to.

However, Black had lost all interest in Trelawney and her class, the humorous smile he carried on his face refusing to return. Her words had stung him so much that he even refused to use an Echo to put up an act anymore.

Of course, everyone else but Black had found Trelawney’s words ridiculous, as they knew Black’s parents were still alive and well, turning the entire matter comedic.

Hermione and Daphne weren’t among those students, though.

They already disliked the Divination Class. As the class kept going on, with Trelawney making one ridiculous statement after another, they began losing the little curiosity they had about it, too.

It was especially so for Hermione.

After her request for a Time Turner had been denied, she was allowed to choose two electives like everyone else. She and Daphne had already chosen Care of Magical Creatures as their first elective. Now, they were attending the first lectures of other elective subjects to choose one of them by the end of the week.

Divination was one of their first such classes, and, from the blankness they kept noticing on Black’s face, they knew it would also be their last.

The class ended as per the original timeline, with Trelawney seeing the Grim in Harry’s teacup.

"Let’s end here for today," Trelawney said. "Oh, dear..."

As the students began packing up their things in utter silence after hearing the matter of Harry’s destined death, Neville walked toward the Professor as she called out to him.

"You will be hearing from your Grandmother soon," Trelawney said casually. "Make sure you ask her how she is, alright?"

Neville’s entire face paled.

Open-mouthed, he walked out of the class, even forgetting to return his teacup.

"What rubbish!" Hermione hissed as the rest of the class stepped down the ladder. "If I knew we would be studying guesswork, I could have just..."

She couldn’t finish her sentence, as she ran right into Black.

Before she could howl in anger, though, she was pushed back as the mass of students collectively backed up.

"What’s going on?!" Hermione hissed.

She climbed back on the ladder and gasped.

From the ladder, a corridor led to the outside, where the students were supposed to take further stairs that coiled all the way down to leave the tower.

Now, there was an old woman standing just before that opening.

And, in front of her, on the ground, lying on his back, was Neville Longbottom, crawling backwards.

"How dare you?!" the old witch, richly dressed in fur and feathers, hissed, pointing at Neville. "How dare you not give your Nan a kiss, you naughty boy?!"

Neville whined even more, his entire face twisting in fear.

The old woman stepped forward, carrying a nasty grin on her wrinkled face.

Hermione and Daphne exchanged a glance and instantly knew they were thinking the same thing.

"It’s a Boggart, Neville!" Hermione shouted from the back. "Stop backing up, you all. Stand in front of her together!"

That didn’t help at all.

None of the children dared to step forward or even approach Neville. Not after the strange, grim Divination Class they had just attended.

"You must be punished..." the old witch said, taking out her Wand. "Oh, you need to be punished hard..."

"..." Neville made a funny noise, and even the strength to crawl back abandoned him.

The students stepped back even more, forcing even Daphne to step up the ladder.

It was then that the two girls noticed something very odd.

Among the students, Draco, Harry, and Ron weren’t stepping back. But none of them were stepping forward, either. It was obvious that they didn’t want the Boggart to take the form of their worst fear for even a second, letting all students see what it was.

However, Black... who was far behind them... was still walking forward, still carrying the same blankness on his face, with his head down.

Slowly, as the Boggart-witch lifted her wand high to cast a Spell, Black walked past Draco, Harry, and Ron and stood next to Neville.

Hermione and Daphne sighed.

Then, their sighs got stuck in their throats as Black didn’t pause there and... kept going on, now appearing between Neville and the Boggart.

A silence fell over the entire class.

It was as much in fear of what form the Boggart would take as it was in curiosity.

The old witch with a raised hand, wielding a wand, kept staring at Black as he walked right up to her and came to a halt.

Then, slowly, Black lifted his head and looked at the Boggart.

What the Boggart saw in Black’s dark eyes would become one of Hogwarts’ greatest mysteries for years to come.

What wouldn’t be a mystery was what happened next.

The old witch put her hand down, instead of instantly taking another form. She turned around and walked away, sliding her feet over the floor very fast. There was a cabinet right before the threshold where the corridor opened to the stairs outside, embedded into the wall. She opened that cabinet and, without looking back, climbed into it oddly and shut it closed.

Silence.

Black kept going, putting his head down, as if the Boggart hadn’t dared to stand in front of him at all.

Suddenly, Trelawney’s head poked down the trapdoor in the ceiling.

"Oh... you all are still here..." she drawled queasily. "I forgot to inform you that students are not supposed to loiter in the School alone because of the Boggarts’ infestation. Always walk in pairs of two or more. Also, I think there’s a Boggart in the cabinet ahead. Be mindful of it."

Then, hurriedly, she closed the trapdoor on the students’ stunned faces.

With bated breaths and a story to tell, all the students went to their respective classes after leaving the North Tower, the Gryffindors heading toward the Transfiguration Class.

By the time Professor McGonagall’s class on Animagi, wizards who could assume animals’ forms at will, ended on an unenthusiastic note — and by the time the group of Draco, Black, Harry, and Ron had reached the Great Hall for lunch in relative silence —

— the matter of Black scaring a Boggart back to the cabinet had spread throughout the School!

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