His eyes stung again, an uncomfortable tightness near the back of his throat due to his frustration and helplessness over the situation.
He was supposed to be nobody! That was the entire reasoning why he didn't get to ride Buckbeak! And now, and now because Draco was so bloody stupid...
"Master, are you-" Lutain silenced himself when Adrian stood stiffly and glared. He knew his skin was pale, his eyes bruised and sunken. His limbs shook from the effort of standing after such an event. His heart thumped loudly in his chest and every exhale felt the slightest bit sour.
"I can take yeh to the-" Hagrid cut off as Adrian pointed his wand at his arm and casted a healing spell to close the gash. It stung, itching painfully as the blood clotted and scabbed something ugly. He was thankful he knew this spell after all of the dueling and curses he had experienced.
The class was silent, Skylar looking horrified and taken aback.
Everyone was looking at him. He was just...he just wanted to not have attention on him, and then this...
"Er- class dismissed." Hagrid added, looking quite faint. His large hands fumbled around each other- he looked quite horrified with how the events had progressed.
Adrian felt like crying, he couldn't tell if it was from anger or frustration.
The first Quidditch match was Slytherin vs Gryffindor. Draco didn't shut up about it, boasting about his practice sessions, the state of the uniforms, and the unparalleled speed he could achieve. Adrian spent the time sleeping in his bed, drawing the covers to his chin to try and relax his mind through the stress he had been putting it under. It was almost painful, at times his paranoia and stress over simply attending classes was enough to make him retreat to his room.
The Animagus transformation potion, the upkeep for the occlumency walls, not only that but it seemed that the newest Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher had taken a personal liking in him.
(It was nice in a strange way, he hadn't ever gotten favoritism from anyone except Hagrid, but considering how that lesson went… Then again, Adrian found all of the attention ridiculously annoying. He'd take a Hippogriff claw again anyday.)
He was drawing attention from Dumbledore, and it would only be a matter of time before he was interrogated on who his father was. Thank Merlin his name was Selwyn and not Riddle.
The first practical defence class with Professor Lupin, Adrian knew it would be different. The class was not split with other houses, a wise decision because in the earlier years it led to more cross-house attacking then actual learning.
"No books today," Professor Lupin smiled kindly, "Only your wands, today will be practical only."
Daphne exchanged surprised looks with Adrian. Not many teachers would forgo books entirely.
"If you would all follow me," Professor Lupin smiled and guided them out of the classroom and down a deserted corridor into the teacher's staff room.
The massive wardrobe stood out clearly in the otherwise bare space.
"Now then," Professor Lupin started, beckoning for everyone to enter the room. They spread out, clinging to the external walls and as far as possible from the wardrobe, which wobbled suspiciously.
"There is a boggart in there." Lupin announced calmly, almost proudly as he secured the hallway door behind them.
Trapping them. In with a boggart.
Adrian paled and mentally cursed the fact he left Lutain in the dungeons.
"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces. Wardrobes, the gap under beds, the cupboards under sinks. This one moved in a few days ago, I asked the headmaster and staff to leave it to give you all some practice. So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a boggart?"
'Don't forget the cupboard under stairs,' Adrian scathingly thought, already setting himself in a bitter mood.
Eyes of his yearmates instantly fell on Adrian.
'Wonderful.'
"Oh? Seems like you're the one everyone looks to for help." Professor Lupin smiled politely, nodding to the uncomfortable Adrian, "Would you like to give it a shot?"
"Adrian knows every ruddy magical creature" Pansy, shut your bloody mouth- "What they look like or how to find it. He's a walking textbook."
Lupin looked similarly alarmed and impressed. He smiled, tilting his head slightly as he leant against a nearby table. He beckoned with one hand politely for Adrian to take the stage.
"It's a shape-shifter." Adrian muttered. "It takes the shape of what the closest person fears the most, or what will incapacitate us best."
"Well done," Lupin confirmed with explanation, gazing over the other students to take notice of the atmosphere. "So the boggart is currently waiting and has not assumed a form. He does not know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when it is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears. This means, that we must use our advantage of numbers."
Pansy looked squeamish.
"The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires a certain force of mind. You see, the thing that finishes a boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find funny. The charm is...Riddikulus!"
Everyone repeated it with varying levels of confidence.
What did Adrian fear the most, what could be plausibly pass off the best? In this situation, anything could compromise him.
....
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