Harry Potter and the Angel of Justice

Chapter Twenty-Five

- Paved With Good Intentions

"Remember, just the middle desk. Jump it over the next row of them," said Mars.

"Right," said Harry nervously. He pointed his wand at the row of three desks.

Mars returned to the lab to check on the other students.

For three lessons now Harry had been trying to learn the Displacement Charm, without success. Not so much as a single globe had shot out of his wand when he said the incantation. Harry remembered Hermione telling him that it was a very difficult charm to cast, and virtually impossible to control. Right now Harry would settle for no control at all. He just wanted something to happen when he cast the spell.

"Displacio!" cried Harry, and he got his wish.

Red globes flew in all directions from his wand. The middle desk took off into the air, propelled by the globes; however, the two desks beside it also took off. In fact, every desk in the room, including the ones Hermione and Padma were sitting at, started bouncing off of ceiling, walls and floor.

The girls screamed when their desks became airborne, but nimbly slipped out of them and crawled under the work table - which thankfully did not follow the desks' example.

"Harry, stop it!" shrieked Hermione from under the table.

"I'm not doing anything now. They're on their - ouch!" said Harry as one of the desks hit him in the side.

Mars heard the commotion; he reentered the classroom, waved his wand and cried "Evanesco!" The desks all vanished immediately.

"Harry, you managed to cast the spell! That's great," Mars beamed.

"Oh, yes, just superb," said Hermione sarcastically as she stood up.

"Absolutely fabulous," said Padma mockingly. Hermione helped Padma to her feet. Padma scowled. "What do you do for an encore, toss all the fish out of the lake?"

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Hermione and Padma packed their bags and left without speaking to Harry. The rest of the class spilled in from the lab; a few students asked Harry about the missing desks. He ignored them and started packing his own bag.

"Did you manage the spell this time?" asked Ron.

"Yeah, all the desks in the room went bonkers - including the one with Hermione in it," answered Harry.

Ron frowned. "I'd wondered why she left without us."

"Harry, come up here, would you?" Mars called from his desk.

Harry threw his bag over his shoulder; he and Ron walked to the front of the classroom.

After Mars said goodbye to the last lingering students, he turned to Ron and Harry. "Harry, I need you to do me a favor this week."

"Of course; what is it?"

"I'd like you to substitute for me in my second year classes. I'm a bit busy, so it would help out a lot if you taught the Slytherin/Hufflepuff class Wednesday after lunch, and the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw class Thursday before lunch."

Harry smiled. If Mars was letting him teach the second years, that must mean that he was happy with the job Harry had done with the first years.

"Sure, I'll do it, Mars. What's the lesson?" asked Harry.

"Here's the lesson plan, and a few instructions to guide you," said Mars, handing a scroll to Harry.

They said goodbye to Mars and walked to the courtyard for break.

"What's the lesson, Harry?" asked Ron.

Harry unrolled the scroll. "Dealing with boggarts. He has one for each class to practice on."

"Boggarts?" said Ron with a fond look on his face. "I remember that lesson with Professor Lupin. One of the best we've ever had."

Harry remembered that lesson with Lupin. Boggarts were nasty little creatures that preferred to live in confined spaces. What made them interesting was their unique defense mechanism. The boggart sensed what its confronter feared most and transformed itself into that image. Ron, of course, feared spiders, so his boggart turned into a giant spider; Hermione's greatest fear was being told that she had failed all of her classes.

Professor Lupin had not let Harry face the boggart in class because he had assumed that Harry's worst fear was Lord Voldemort, and he hadn't want to upset his class by having the Dark Lord pop in during a lesson. Harry wondered if Mars had asked him to teach the classes because Mars was worried about something similar happening.

Ron appeared to be thinking along the same lines. "You know, Harry, I was just wondering what Mars would see if he confronted a boggart. I mean, what could scare a wizard like him? Certainly not a spider or a dementor. He's not even afraid of Voldemort."

"Maybe one of those Malsumis things would show up? I think that's why he wants me to teach the class. It's probably not a good idea to show a bunch of second years something that would rate as Mars' greatest fear," said Harry.

Ron nodded in agreement, but Harry suspected he was up to something from his scheming expression.

Wednesday after lunch, Harry looked over the two queues of second year students as he approached the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Both the Slytherin and Hufflepuff students stared at Harry with interest as he let them inside. While he had not made friends with these Slytherins yet, Harry was sure that Mars' influence over the past year would make them easier to deal with.

Harry walked over to the lab door and opened it. He saw that, in addition to the normal training equipment, two crates had now been placed on the floor along the back wall. They both moved and rattled ominously.

"That ought to scare them a bit," thought Harry, smiling. He picked up one of the crates and carried it back to his desk. He slammed the crate onto it, hoping to annoy the boggart into rattling the crate some more. It worked: the crate shook so much that it nearly waddled off the desk. The students gasped, and most leaned back in their chairs.

"Boggarts," said Harry dramatically, "know your deepest, darkest fear. When you face a boggart, that fear appears before you, because the boggart can take any form it needs to frighten you away."

The class seemed interested, but apprehensive.

Harry explained that the key to defeating a boggart was laughter. He told the students to think of what they feared most, and then think of what would make it humorous. To help the class understand, he related the story of Neville facing the boggart in his third year class. Even the Slytherins laughed at his description of Snape wearing Neville's grandmother's dress and hand bag.

Harry explained that a boggart was often confused when facing many foes because it could not choose which form to assume, so it was always best to face one with a friend. Lastly, Harry warned his students that when he confronted a boggart, he always saw a dementor, so they should be prepared to see one today.

The students performed very well against the boggart, each and every one of them successfully casting the spell and turning their worst fear into a joke. The lesson hit only one snag: just before Harry finished off the boggart, it turned into a dementor, which caused Rose Zeller to lose her head completely and run screaming across the room. Once he had calmed Rose down, Harry congratulated the students and dismissed them early. They chatted excitedly about the lesson as they trailed out, and left Harry with the feeling that he may have made a few friends today.

"How'd the lesson go, Harry?" a voice asked.

Harry looked up and was surprised to Ron squeezing in past the departing students.

"Quite well, actually. Are you checking up on me, Mr. Prefect?" Harry smiled.

Ron wrinkled his nose. He asked offhandedly, "Did the boggart survive the lesson?"

Harry was taken aback. Why would Ron ask that? "No, the laughter and my last spell finished it off. Why?"

"Well," said Ron, fidgeting nervously. "I suppose I'd have to tell you sometime. I was hoping one of your boggarts would survive because I think it would make a great joke."

"A joke? Ron, boggarts can cause real mayhem. Remember your mum last year?" said Harry seriously.

"I don't want to pull this on one of our mates, Harry. I'm talking about Malfoy."

"Malfoy!" said Harry. "Now, that's different."

Ron smiled at him.

"Okay, tomorrow I'll force the boggart back into his crate before the students' laughing can finish it off. But we need to keep this to ourselves. Don't tell Hermione; she'd be furious with us, even if it is Malfoy that we're scaring," said Harry, as they left for Gryffindor Tower.

"Too right about that," agreed Ron.

Harry spent the rest of the day smiling whenever he anticipated the terrified look on Malfoy's face.

At the end of Thursday's lesson, Harry was nervous about crating the boggart: he didn't want to seem too worried about its survival. However, he was able to successfully force it back into its box without arousing his students' suspicions. When Harry dismissed the class, Ron was waiting outside and pushed his way in against the outgoing traffic. He saw the shaking crate and grinned evilly.

"Excellent!" he exclaimed, picking up the container. "C'mon, Harry; I'll explain the plan while we take this thing to its hiding place."

Ron told Harry about the prefects meeting scheduled for later that night in the Great Hall. Malfoy would have to walk through the dungeons' entrance on his way to the meeting. Ron pointed to a ledge above the entrance that looked just large enough to set the boggart's crate sideways.

"We'll get down here early and put the crate up there with the top facing out. Then we wait for Malfoy on that staircase over there," said Ron, pointing across the entrance hall. "Once he gets near the crate, we cast Alohomora and it opens up, dropping the boggart right in front of him."

"That's brilliant, Ron! We'll skive off right after he wets himself. He'll never know it was us," said Harry, grinning.

"This should be a perfect hiding place meanwhile," said Ron, carrying the crate to a broom cupboard. "Filch rarely uses it."

Ron put the crate in the cupboard and closed the door. He took out his wand and said "'Colloportus!' and the door sealed itself with an odd squelching noise.

"He's a squib, so he shouldn't be able to get past that," said Ron.

Ron and Harry looked carefully around the hall to make sure they hadn't been observed. Spotting no one, they left for the Great Hall in good spirits and with great anticipation. However, if they had looked up as well as around, the boys may not have left quite so happily.

After Transfiguration, the boys studied with Hermione and Ginny until supper. They chatted innocently with Hermione and Ginny as they ate. When they had finished their meal, Ron grabbed Harry by the arm and said, "We need to see Mars. He wanted to ask you how the classes went, remember?"

"He did?" replied Harry "I don't - ouch," Ron stepped on his toe and looked at him fiercely.

"The boggart lesson, remember?" Ron gritted.

"Oh, right," Harry flushed.

"Ron, there's a prefect meeting tonight at - " Hermione began.

"I know when it is. Don't nag," Ron interrupted.

Hermione scowled grumpily and left for Gryffindor Tower.

The boys immediately made for the cupboard, but halfway there, a voice distracted them.

"Teach the students to hurt poor Peevsy, will you?" said the poltergeist crossly as he flew over Ron and Harry.

"What's he talking about?" asked Harry.

"I'm more worried about what he's carrying," said Ron, pointing up.

Harry focused on Peeves' baggage - the boggart crate was in his hands.

"Oh, yes, here is something that will scare the red wizard," Peeves cackled.

"Peeves, no!" shouted Harry as the poltergeist rounded the corner of the Defense Against the Dark Arts corridor. Harry and Ron exchanged horrified glances and then sped after him. The poltergeist was out of sight when the boys turned into the hallway; they sprinted down it at full speed. The hall ended in a T.

"Which way?" asked Ron, panting.

"I think he's looking for Mars," Harry gasped. "Towards his office," he suggested. They took off to the right.

Peeves managed to keep just ahead of them as they ran down the halls, always just zipping out of sight around the next corner. They finally stopped in a large open room near the North tower with an enormous statue of the Ravenclaw eagle. Peeves was nowhere in sight. They looked around the room as they caught their breath.

"If he's looking for Mars, why did he head this way?" asked Ron.

"I'm not sure. I know Mars gets along with Trelawney; maybe he came up to see her?" answered Harry, panting.

They heard cackling from the corridor on their left; quickly, they ran down it. They went up a staircase and around two more left turns, up another flight of stairs, through several rooms, and then into a large room with a balcony on one end. The balcony overlooked the room with the statue of the Ravenclaw eagle. Peeves was hovering in the room below, next to a doorway, with the crate in his hands. Harry could see Mars approaching from a connecting hallway; he started to yell a warning, but Mars screamed first - Peeves had dumped the boggart out of the crate in front of the corridor, just a dozen feet ahead of Mars.

"NO!" yelled Mars, staggering backwards.

"IT SHALL NOT BE!" he thundered. "I don't care how often you haunt me, or how clear you appear, you WILL NOT HAPPEN!"

Harry looked at the boggart to see what form it had taken. No monster or demon stood there, just a nightmare of the worst kind. Hermione's body was stretched out on the floor. She was motionless, and her skin had a sick green tint to it. Foam surrounded her lips, and in her hand was a potion beaker; even from the balcony Harry could read the label: Manticore poison. Harry froze; feelings of fear, shock, bewilderment, and unbearable sadness crushed him. He could do nothing but watch.

Mars wiped tears from his eyes and took a step toward the boggart.

"Away with you, vision! I shall pay any price to thwart you. Do you hear me? THIS GIRL SHALL LIVE!" Mars shook his fights angrily.

For the second time, Harry witnessed Mars in a full-blown rage. The Texan's eyes were alight with sparks; tiny lightning bolts flashed all around him. Harry's hair stood up on end, and his skin broke out in goose bumps. A sudden wind whipped through the large room, and Harry shivered involuntarily as the temperature plummeted. He felt Ron shaking in fear next to him.

Peeves let out a frightened cry that caught Mars' ear. The red wizard's head cocked, and he stepped into the room. Peeves hovered in the air, staring at Mars, looking as terrified as Harry felt.

"Peeves?" said Mars, confused and enraged. He looked down at Hermione's body. "A boggart?" he said quietly. Then he roared, "A BOGGART?" turning his head and his wand toward the poltergeist.

Peeves held out trembling hands and shook his head speechlessly.

Mars twirled his wand in a circle and shouted, "Macto Phasma!" A bright circle of light appeared, and from it shot a white beam that hit Peeves in the torso. The poltergeist screamed in horrible agony for several seconds and then was gone, totally disintegrated.

Mars then turned his powerful gaze onto the boggart. He zagged his wand around and cried "Deflagro!" The boggart burst violently into flames and was nothing but ashes within seconds.

The wind died down, and Harry's skin felt normal again. He could now breath properly; he did his best to make no noise as he gulped air. He and Ron backed quietly off of the balcony and into the room above. They had no wish to let the furious and grieving Mars know of their presence.

When the boys had reached the first staircase, they sat down. Neither said a word; they sat there for well over an hour. The implications of the awful scene played over and over through Harry's mind. Why was Mars' greatest fear the thought of Hermione killing herself? Harry knew Mars was a powerful seer, and judging by the way Mars had acted when he saw the boggart's form, Harry guessed that Mars must have seen Hermione's suicide previously in a vision. In fact, from his words, it seemed Mars' visions foretold the event as very likely. Hermione was the smartest girl Harry had ever met. What possibly could cause her to do something so stupid?

Eventually Harry realized that he and Ron had to return to Gryffindor Tower. He nudged his friend in the ribs and helped him to his feet.

"I guess you missed the prefect meeting," said Harry as they walked down the stairs.

Ron didn't even acknowledge Harry's comment. He simply kept walking, like a zombie.

Once they reached the Gryffindor Common room, Ron immediately headed for the boys' dormitory; however, Hermione spotted them first. She stood up from her armchair near the fireplace and yelled, "How could you've missed the meeting? I reminded you right after dinner!"

Ron turned towards her. Tears were rolling down his face. He said nothing, but walked up to her and hugged her tightly. Hermione looked flabbergasted. Ron leaned down, kissed her gently on the forehead, and let go of her. He walked straight up the staircase to his dormitory and entered it without saying a word.

"Harry," said Hermione, looking frightened. "What's wrong with him? What happened?"

The entire room stared at Harry as he tried to form a reply. He simply could not come up with an answer to her query. A few tears rolled down his own face at the memory of her lying dead in the North Tower. Harry quickly turned away from her. "We - we - I just can't, can't," he replied incoherently.

Ginny joined Hermione, now looking equally worried and confused.

Harry managed to say "Goodnight," and followed Ron's path up to their dorm. He didn't even notice if Ron was in bed before he laid down and drew his curtains. Harry was very grateful for his Occlumency lessons as he blanked his mind of painful memories and fell into slumber.

Ron woke Harry very early the next morning.

"We need to talk before Hermione gets up, but not here," said Ron.

Harry nodded sleepily. After a few minutes he was up and dressed, and the boys left their dormitory for the staircase. A few steps before the door to the common room, Ron held up his hand and Harry stopped.

"Mark Evans has been putting a sensor charm on one of the steps near the bottom of the staircase," explained Ron.

He pointed his wand down and said "Amitto!" A hissing sound came from the step, and a second later Harry heard a snap. Ron nodded and they finished their descent. Once in the Common Room, Ron called out, "Lily, are you there?"

The small bird flew up from behind them and landed on Ron's arm. He drew her close to his face.

"Are we alone in the Common Room?" he asked the woodpecker.

She nodded.

"Can you leave us to ourselves for ten minutes? Mars should understand that we need some privacy," said Ron.

She nodded again and flew off from his arm. She dove at the door to the girls' dormitory and then disappeared somehow underneath it.

"We have to ask Mars why his greatest fear is Hermione killing herself," said Ron.

"You sure you want to do that?" asked Harry. "He'll find out that the boggart was our fault."

"Harry, this is her life we're discussing. I don't care about getting in trouble."

"Neither do I, but Mars didn't just give Peeves detention, did he?" asked Harry.

"But we can't just sit back and hope it doesn't happen," stated Ron firmly.

"I agree, but remember Mars screaming that he wouldn't allow it to happen? I bet he's doing everything he can to stop it already," answered Harry.

"I guess you're right," said Ron gloomily. "But us keeping a close eye on her wouldn't hurt anything, would it?"

"No, it wouldn't. We should also get Ginny to help us. Hermione confides a lot in her," suggested Harry.

Ron agreed, and the boys headed down to an early breakfast.