Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Prisoner of Azkaban/Chapter 7
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Chapter 7 of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: The Boggart in the Wardrobe
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[edit] Synopsis
Draco Malfoy reappears on Thursday, midway through Professor Snape's Double Potions class, claiming his injury is still painful. He sits himself at Harry and Ron's bench, and Snape orders them to prepare Malfoy's ingredients for him. Malfoy taunts them with threats of Hagrid's imminent dismissal thanks to his father, Lucius, who apparently still has influence with the Ministry. Malfoy also contends that if he was Harry, he would want revenge on Sirius Black. Harry later asks Ron why he would want revenge against Black; Ron cannot answer. Meanwhile, Hermione helps Neville make his potion correctly, against Snape's orders; Snape penalizes Gryffindor five House points, because he assumes (correctly) that Hermione helped him.
As the Trio leave the dungeon, Hermione suddenly seems to disappear. Looking around, Ron sees her catching up while tucking something down her robe. Her bag splits, and Ron asks why she is carrying so many books, as there is nothing that afternoon except Defence Against the Dark Arts. She does not answer.
In Defence Against the Dark Arts, Professor Lupin tells the class to put their books away and bring out their wands. This will be a practical class. He leads them to the staff room, wherethey find Snape. When Snape, as he departs, snidely comments about Neville's undisciplined magic, Lupin replies that he hoped Neville would lead off the demonstration. Lupin explains that there is a Boggart in the wardrobe. No one knows what a Boggart looks like because it styles itself after a person's deepest fear. To repel it, it must be forced to change into a humorous shape by casting the Riddikulus charm. Neville's greatest fear is Snape. Lupin tells Neville to imagine the scary professor wearing his grandmother's clothing. Each student similarly comes up with their own fear and then pictures it as a funny image. Harry first thinks of Voldemort, but on further thought decides that his greatest fear is a Dementor; he wonders how can he make that funny. The wardrobe is opened and "Snape" emerges. Neville casts the spell that dresses Snape as his grandmother. Following Neville's success, each student takes a shot at the Boggart. As Harry goes to take his turn, Lupin steps in before the Boggart takes shape. It rapidly turns into a floating white orb, and Lupin forces it back to Neville, who spells it one last time, whereupon it vanishes. Class is dismissed. Harry wonders why he was prevented from repelling the Boggart, while Parvati is curious as to why Lupin fears crystal balls. Ron wants to know what Hermione's worst fear is, but she also did not have a chance at the Boggart.
[edit] Analysis
Professor Lupin's character is becoming more defined here. Understanding that students require respect, he shows that to them. Despite Snape's aspersions against Neville, Lupin has him lead off against the Boggart, and coaches him to where he has the confidence to perform the spell twice. This proves to be an important milestone in Neville Longbottom's development. To date, Neville has always felt that he was in the wrong place. He once remarked that his family believed he was, "almost a squib," in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and he himself fears he has no real magical abilities. Indeed, it does appear that he has little, if any, skill in Potions, and he is apparently just as lost in Divination as Harry and Ron. Lupin, by having him lead off the class against the Boggart and later having him finish the lesson, boosts his confidence. Additionally, the astute reader may note that Lupin uses the students' Christian names rather than their surnames, as is the British custom. While this could be seen as excessive familiarity, particularly in schools run on the English public-school model, in this context, it seems to change Lupin from a professor into a teacher.
The Boggart represents how everyone's fears are different. Curiously, it is not Voldemort that Harry fears most, but Dementors. It may be that Harry fears Dementors more because he has difficulty comprehending what the eerie creatures are and does not know how to react to them. Voldemort, although an evil and powerful enemy, is a human being (albeit a still disembodied one), and Harry can better understand his more predictable human traits. Dementors, in contrast, are dark, hideous creatures that are not entirely understood by wizards, are unpredictable, and apparently are difficult to keep under control; they also seem to show a particular interest in Harry, whose encounter with them left a deep emotional wound.
Note that Peeves is especially disrespectful towards Lupin when they meet in the hall. Peeves may know something about Lupin's earlier school years, and the song he sings ("Loony, loopy Lupin") may refer to Lupin's "furry little problem." Lupin's Boggart, a silvery orb, may provide a clue as to just what this problem is. However, Lupin demonstrates that he is able to hold his own against Peeves and, in the process, reinforces his students' admiration.
We also receive a few more insights into Snape's character, but we learn little that is new; he is wholly biased towards his own house, Slytherin, and seems to purposely belittle Gryffindors, especially Neville.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- What is a Boggart, and what form do they assume?
- Why does Lupin step in when it is Harry's turn to face the Boggart?
- Why does Lupin ask Neville Longbottom to be the first to confront the Boggart in class?
[edit] Further Study
- What could the shape of Lupin's Boggart mean?
- What might Draco mean when he says Harry should want revenge against Sirius Black?
- What could account for Hermione seeming to suddenly vanish and reappear as the Trio is leaving class?
- Why does Harry fear Dementors more than Voldemort?
- What shape might Hermione's Boggart assume?
[edit] Greater Picture
We will find out the reason for Draco's taunt at Christmas time. It is then that we will discover that Sirius Black is widely believed to be the one who betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort. While this belief will later be disproved, it has a certain consistency about it, and Harry will be driven by this belief for much of the rest of the book.
Hermione disappearing and reappearing is, of course, the work of the time-turner. Hermione is using it to attend more classes than would be physically possible. Hermione's bag splitting open is a nice distraction from the question of where Hermione was and how she had vanished and reappeared. Several times during this book, Hermione will similarly appear in places where she had not been mere moments before, and always there will be some distraction that will prevent us from wondering overmuch what had caused her appearance.
The confidence that Lupin instills in Neville sustains him through his next two years at Hogwarts, and Harry later builds upon it in Dumbledore's Army. It also allows Neville to join Harry in the Battle at the Department of Mysteries in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Without this initial success, Neville likely would have remained ineffectual, depressed, and useless, never discovering his strengths in Herbology, Charms, and Defence Against the Dark Arts.
Harry, as mentioned, is upset because Lupin did not allow him a chance at the Boggart. In the next chapter, Lupin explains that he had stepped in because he did not think that the class was prepared to face a simulacrum of Lord Voldemort. When Harry admits that he had thought of Voldemort first, but had quickly decided that it was Dementors of which he was more afraid, Lupin admits that he is impressed by Harry being more afraid of fear rather than an actual being. When fear is intangible and incomprehensible, it often becomes more terrifying.
Although Hermione also never had a chance at the Boggart in Lupin's class, it will be revealed later that her greatest fear is Professor McGonagall telling her that she failed all her classes.
It will be revealed later that the "silvery orb" that Lupin fears is not a crystal ball, but the full moon, which of course is connected to his being a werewolf. Parvati's mistake in believing it to be a crystal ball is wholly in character and a nice bit of misdirection on the part of the author; we will see later that Parvati has a significant aptitude for Divination, so likely is already predisposed to seeing things related to Divination.
