Outside the broom cupboard, Hodge Blackthorn took a step forward, immediately feeling his shoes sink into the dust.
By the light of his wand, he could just make out an old wooden cabinet, its glass panes cloudy with grime and one panel cracked.
His footsteps seemed to stir the boggart within. The aged cabinet suddenly rattled. Far from alarmed, Hodge felt a thrill of excitement—this meant he was in the right place. He shut the door behind him, the light narrowing until it was just a beam emanating from the tip of his wand.
Hodge began to chant a spell, swiftly conjuring a bright blue flame.
With a sharp flick of his wand, the flame stretched into a long, thin line that soared upward, coiling into a spiral.
The broom cupboard brightened.
Hodge surveyed his surroundings. The space was dim and cramped, likely the smallest room he'd seen in the castle. Filthy buckets were haphazardly stacked, the topmost one draped with tattered rags. A few worn-out brooms slumped against the floor, looking utterly dilapidated.
The cabinet shook more violently.
Boggarts thrived in dark, confined spaces, especially neglected corners. Rarely opened cabinet doors, dusty attic crates, or the depths of a vanity's jewelry box—their presence was subtler than poltergeists or dementors, but that didn't make them harmless. They materialized when people were most vulnerable—often when alone—morphing into the embodiment of a wizard's deepest fears.
Dealing with a boggart required willpower. The Riddikulus charm was key, and having others around helped.
But right now, it was just Hodge. He stared at the rusted keyhole beneath the cabinet, then pointed his wand sharply. The door sprang open, and out leapt a grotesque, squat, greenish creature with a lumpy back.
A toad.
It opened its wide mouth, letting out a low, hoarse croak.
"Guh-guh—ribbit!"
Hodge nudged it away with his foot, unimpressed.
Clearly, Occlumency was another boggart's bane. Master that magic, and you could toy with it—say, by making it think you were terrified of a toad.
"Scourgify!"
With the spell's effect, the slime on the toad's back vanished.
Hodge grabbed the boggart's now-tiny form, inspecting it closely. The toad seemed bewildered, its bulging eyes wide, its croaks growing louder and more frantic.
After a moment, he tossed it aside, picturing a gaunt, sallow-skinned man in his mind.
Pop! Severus Snape replaced the toad, his face dour, black robes billowing lightly behind him. He took two steps forward, his chest nearly brushing Hodge's wand.
"Portico Constrictus!" (Doorway Binding, an original spell)
Hodge cast the spell, and Snape's face went blank. Ropes shot out from the cabinet, wrapping around him several times. An invisible force seemed to surge from within, yanking him back. The cabinet door slammed shut with a bang.
Hodge let out an impressed whistle.
He wasn't sure how this worked—Snape wasn't exactly tall, but he wasn't short either, so how did he get dragged into the cabinet? Curious, Hodge cast the Unlocking Charm again. This time, Quirrell emerged.
The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor looked as he always did: a peculiar purple turban wrapped around his head, face pale, expression nervous, words stumbling out.
"B-Blackthorn, M-Mr. Blackthorn," the boggart-Quirrell stammered, worse than the real Quirrell.
"Y-you haven't come to ask questions after class in a while. D-did I do something wrong? I miss our office tutoring sessions, chatting about all sorts of things… I-I know some magic, special magic…"
"What kind?" Hodge asked, intrigued by what this "Quirrell" might say.
"O-of course, Mayan magic and Aztec magic," Quirrell said, his face breaking into an ingratiating smile. "Y-you know, they studied astronomy and calendars deeply, and c-conducted divinations through the stars. In f-fact, they used blood sacrifices, with blood as a medium to commune with gods… s-so clever! And the Aztecs, the Aztecs had blood sacrifices too, on a grander scale. They believed human blood kept the sun moving. If you'd like to know—"
"That's all stuff I found myself," Hodge cut him off.
"I-is it?" Quirrell muttered, giving a nervous smile. "I-I assure you, I know more than you'd find in the library. You know why."
Quirrell raised a hand to unwind his turban.
"I-I had a great teacher, strict but brilliant. I'm willing to share…"
Hodge's eyes widened, his heart pounding uncontrollably. As Quirrell slowly turned, Hodge fought the urge to immediately use Occlumency.
Voldemort's face… what did Voldemort look like?
A blurry face, as if scalded by steaming heat, clung to the bald patch on the back of Quirrell's head. Its eyes glowed red. When it spoke, the flat, featureless face seemed to swell, straining to break free from Quirrell's skull, though it lacked the distinct clarity of, say, Snape's hooked nose.
"Hodge Blackthorn…" Voldemort whispered.
A chill seized Hodge's heart.
Non-corporeal beings like boggarts were born from human emotions and fed on them. Peeves was driven by an insatiable need for pranks and chaos; dementors consumed joy and sowed despair; boggarts thrived on unknown anxieties and fears—
"Riddikulus!" Hodge shouted, raising his wand.
Quirrell stumbled backward, his head smacking against a round knob on the cabinet door.
Hodge heard two yelps of pain.
He stepped back, and the image in his mind shifted again. Pop! Quirrell morphed into a dementor—or rather, a botched one. It looked like a cruel prank, less a dementor and more like someone draped in a black sheet to scare people, or simply a tattered cloak floating aimlessly.
Hodge had never seen a real dementor, only crude illustrations that lacked any menace.
This gave him new insight into the boggart's bizarre nature.
But he'd tested enough. It was time to wrap things up.
Pop! The ragged cloak reverted to the toad.
Hodge pulled a small square box from his robes, stuffed the toad inside, and snapped the lid shut. He rattled off a string of spells—Sealing Charm, Sticking Charm, Strengthening Charm, Anti-Slip Charm, Light-Blocking Charm, Silencing Charm, Waterproofing Charm…
The palm-sized wooden box trembled at first, then gradually stilled.
The boggart capture mission was a success.
————
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