Chapter 45: Boggarts, Blowups, and Brooms (Part Two)
Shiva was concerned. It was Halloween Feast so by the simple law of probability she'd be a little on edge throughout the day. Harry wasn't the only one who had noticed that things tended to fall apart on that day. Plus the fact that Harry was usually a little grim – for good reason yes, but still – on this day and she'd of course be watching out for him. To make her even more worried, Harry was...off...at the moment. He may be laughing and smiling but the smile didn't reach his eyes. And he was sticking very close to his friends and them to him. Not even a minute had gone by when one of them wasn't in physical contact with him which by itself was more than strange enough. Usually only she or Hermione could get away with that level of contact. He was even letting Luna bump up against him without flinching.
Shiva finally managed to catch his eye and raised her eyebrows a bit shooting him a questioning glance. Harry smiled gave a small shrug and turned back to chatting with his group. He did seem to perk up slightly though and it was at least enough for her to stop feeling like she needed to rush over there and interrogate him.
Remus Lupin leaned over from the seat beside her and spoke softly, "Good evening, Bathsheda."
"Evening, Remus," she replied.
"You seem a little on edge. Expecting trouble?" he asked with a bit of a half chuckle.
"It's Halloween. Two of the three years I've been teaching there's been a disaster today. I'm just staying on my toes in case it's three out of four," she said sighing.
"Ah. Yes, I can understand that sentiment then." He paused seeming to consider before coming to a decision. "If I may...You are more to young Harry Potter than a simple mentor, are you not?"
Shiva very deliberately took a bite of her food before fixing him with piercing glare. "Whatever I am to that boy is none of your concern, Professor Lupin."
"My apologies. I did not mean to accuse you of anything," Remus said shaking his head. "I just wished to inform you that there was...an incident in my class earlier."
Her mind ran a mile a minute. Harry hadn't been looking bad at breakfast or lunch and Defense was right before the Feast...'Shite.' She took a deep breath and centered herself before replying out loud, "What sort of incident?"
"A boggart was discovered the other day. I had decided it would make an excellent lesson for the holiday so many of my classes were working on dispelling the boggart," Remus explained as Shiva's stomach dropped. This was not going to be good at all. "Harry's class was doing fine with relatively normal fears until his group. I had heard some rumors about the past two years but I hadn't truly believed them until that point I think. One of his friends' boggart was a basilisk – thankfully the boy in question was able to hit it with a riddikulus quickly enough for it to change. Boggarts don't take on many of their form's abilities, but I do worry about what could have happened had it managed to gaze at someone. Another was a simple diary though judging by the looks on those five it was anything but simple. Hermione Granger's fear was someone close to her dead. I don't know who. The body was nearly unrecognizable for the abuse her fears had had it suffer. Harry's..." Remus paused. Had he been paying attention he would have noticed her hands clenched around the silverware and her teeth grinding together.
"Harry's boggart was you initially, Bathsheda," he said. That threw Shiva for a loop. Why would Harry be afraid of her? "It said several rather awful things to him. Mostly centered on you only having pretended to care for him and being in league with his uncle to make his suffering worse." Shiva was suddenly very thankful that the silverware was metal and not something weaker. There was far less likelihood of metal breaking under her grip. "He managed to cast the spell after Hermione shouted to him but...the boggart then switched into a version of her which also proceeded to verbally attack him. Harry collapsed right about the same time that each of his friends let loose an extremely powerful riddikulus. I admit, I have never seen a boggart simply...disintegrated before."
"And where were you during this episode, Professor Lupin?" she managed to growl.
Remus' eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. For the first time he focused fully on Shiva and noticed just how enraged she had become. He shifted back slightly before responding, "I was unprepared for such an episode especially from one so young. I've heard of existential boggarts from adults far older but never realized one could result from a child. I was fully expecting to see You-Know-Who – "
"Voldemort," she cut in, lip twitching.
Remus flinched but continued, "Yes. Him. When the boggart turned into you I was stunned and did not move to act until after his friends reacted."
"No wonder why the kid is freaking out. Do you have any idea how bad that could've been?"
"I was prepared for You-Know – "
"I don't give a rat's arse about Voldy you arsehole," she hissed. "I care about Harry. You have no idea the shite that boy has been through and to have him faced with a version of me telling him something like that? After the summer he just had? Do you even have a clue about the potential psychological damage you have done to my ward?"
Remus' mouth narrowed into a line. Ward? He hadn't been around much yet at Albus' suggestion but he was here now and he had a duty to James and Lily to watch out for Harry. "What do you mean your ward?"
Shiva full on snarled at him then. "What the bloody hell does it sound like?"
"You have no relation to him whatsoever. What possible reason do you have for attempting to claim custody of – "
"I may not be related by blood but that boy over there is as much my family as my mother and father are. I have been there far more than you, you sonofabitch!" Remus flinched back at the venom in her voice. "You were his parents' friend and you never did anything to contact him. No phone call. No letter. No visit. Nothing! You left him with his relatives – with those horrible excuses for human beings! How dare you say I have no reason for looking out for him when you so obviously didn't give a wiff yourself! I have been working my arse off since I first met that kid to help him out. Where were you for the past 12 years Remus Lupin?"
"How could you possibly know that?" Remus asked his eyes wide.
"The past two Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers have tried to kill Harry," she sneered. "Sirius Black just escaped recently. As I just said; I watch out for the kid. As soon as I found out who Dumbledore had hired to teach DADA this year I did my homework. I know all about you, Professor Lupin."
Remus could only stare into his plate of mostly untouched food. "Why did you not say anything earlier in that case?"
"I was curious to see how long it would take you before you approached him on your own. Obviously that isn't going to happen anytime soon!" She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "If you want to talk about Harry more then do it in my office later where I can scream at you as loud as I want first." Shiva turned back to her plate and speared the little potato resolving to ignore Remus Lupin for the rest of meal.
Remus for his part closed his eyes and sighed. He had a lot of apologizing to do it seemed.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone