Faced with Snape's highly abrasive attitude, Lupin simply offered a polite, mild smile. "If you wish to remain and observe the lesson, Severus, please feel free."
Snape didn't respond. He merely leaned back heavily against the worn upholstery of the sofa, a faint, almost imperceptible sneer playing at the corners of his mouth.
The students exchanged nervous, deeply uncomfortable glances.
Being subjected to Professor Snape's intense, highly judgmental stare was more than enough to make the vast majority of the student body feel incredibly uneasy.
Maurise, however, was the sole exception.
He was currently highly invested in observing the unfolding drama.
'What exactly is the historical grievance between Snape and Lupin?'
"Gather around, everyone! Step closer, please!"
Lupin clapped his hands together loudly, immediately drawing the students' attention away from the Potions Master. He walked toward the far end of the long staffroom.
Sitting in the corner was an old, heavy wooden wardrobe. The entire piece of furniture was shaking violently, banging loudly against the stone wall as if something massive were desperately trying to break out.
"Contained within is the subject of today's practical lesson," Lupin patted the rattling wooden door. "A Boggart."
'Ah. So that is what it is,' Maurise nodded in quiet understanding.
A Boggart was a highly peculiar, amortal shape-shifting entity. It possessed the unique ability to instantly transform into whatever the person standing closest to it feared most. Like Dementors, they actively fed on human fear and negative emotions.
However, unlike Dementors, Boggarts posed virtually no genuine physical or psychological threat.
"Step closer, do not be afraid. It is securely contained for the moment. You are in absolutely no danger," Lupin beckoned to the crowd with a warm, reassuring smile.
The students hesitantly shuffled forward, a mixture of eager excitement and genuine trepidation flashing across their faces.
Lupin proceeded to deliver a brief, comprehensive lecture detailing the exact nature and behavioral patterns of a Boggart. His explanation aligned perfectly with Maurise's own prior knowledge.
"It sounds incredibly terrifying," Neville whispered, unconsciously taking half a step backward.
"They possess virtually zero actual offensive capabilities. Do not worry yourself, Neville," Maurise reassured him softly.
Hearing that, Neville immediately relaxed, his shoulders dropping slightly.
Concluding his introductory lecture, Lupin's gaze swept slowly across the crowded room, finally landing squarely on Maurise, who was standing casually near the back.
"Mr. Black," Lupin called out gently. "Would you mind stepping forward to assist me with a brief demonstration?"
Maurise paused, slightly surprised by the sudden request.
Every single pair of eyes in the room instantly turned toward him, including Snape's dark, calculating stare from the sofa.
Maurise stepped to the front of the crowd. "Is there a specific reason you selected me, Professor?"
"I have been thoroughly briefed regarding your highly unique academic standing," Lupin smiled warmly, his eyes twinkling slightly. "The Headmaster and the faculty have granted you unprecedented academic privileges. You possess the authority to selectively attend lectures based entirely on your personal interests, completely bypass standard curriculum progression, and even outright skip specific classes without penalty. Is that correct?"
Maurise's expression remained perfectly smooth and entirely unbothered. He nodded calmly. "That is entirely accurate."
A wave of hushed, highly agitated murmurs instantly rippled through the classroom. The vast majority of the student body had absolutely no idea Maurise possessed such extraordinary privileges.
Hermione remained completely silent, having already learned of the arrangement from Professor McGonagall last year. Neville simply blinked, finding the situation entirely logical. After all, this was Maurise.
The rest of the students, however, were not so easily convinced.
While everyone acknowledged that Maurise's academic grades were flawless, that fact alone hardly justified granting a third-year student such blatant, unprecedented favoritism.
"How is that remotely fair?"
"How on earth did he manage to arrange that?!"
"I wish I could skip Potions..."
The jealous, questioning whispers spread rapidly through the crowd.
Maurise entirely ignored them.
Lupin also paid absolutely no mind to the rising chatter. He merely looked at Maurise with a gentle, encouraging expression. "If the Headmaster granted you such privileges, you must be exceptionally talented. Come now, let us see if you can successfully neutralize a Boggart on your first attempt."
He spoke incredibly casually, as if he were merely inviting Maurise to participate in a harmless parlor game.
"Very well," Maurise agreed smoothly.
He stepped directly in front of the violently shaking wardrobe and calmly raised his wand.
The entire room collectively held its breath in eager anticipation.
Maurise was fully aware of the standard counter-spell required to repel a Boggart. A simple Riddikulus charm would instantly strip the creature of its terrifying form and render it entirely harmless.
However, executing the standard curriculum was incredibly boring.
A Boggart was an entity born entirely from the concentrated essence of "fear." He happened to possess a highly advanced spell specifically designed to utterly eradicate negative emotional manifestations.
What spell was that?
The answer was glaringly obvious.
The Expecto Patronum charm.
However, before he eradicated the creature, Maurise was genuinely curious to discover what specific form his Boggart would assume.
"Ready yourself!"
Lupin gave his wand a sharp flick. The heavy lock on the wardrobe door clicked open, and the door swung wide.
The students instinctively scrambled backward.
However, absolutely nothing emerged. The interior of the wardrobe was completely empty. It was just a dark, dusty space.
Everyone froze in profound confusion.
"What exactly happened?" someone whispered loudly. "Where is the Boggart?"
Lupin's brow furrowed tightly. He stepped cautiously toward the wardrobe, peering into the dark interior, before quickly stepping back and slamming the door shut.
He turned to Maurise, a highly peculiar, almost concerned expression crossing his face. "Mr. Black... do you truly fear absolutely nothing?"
'Hmm?'
Maurise blinked in genuine surprise.
Then, he suddenly realized the logistical error.
His advanced Occlumency shields were currently operating at maximum capacity, forming an impenetrable mental fortress around his consciousness. The pathetic creature was completely incapable of breaching his defenses to read his fears.
"Ah, my apologies, Professor. I understand the issue now. Please give me a brief moment to adjust my mental state..." Maurise smoothly lowered his Occlumency shields, intentionally leaving a highly specific, controlled gap in his defenses. "Excellent. I am ready. Please, open it again."
Although Lupin looked profoundly confused by the bizarre request, he stepped aside and raised his wand a second time.
"Are you entirely certain you are ready?" he asked.
"I am."
Receiving the confirmation, Lupin flicked his wand again, throwing the wardrobe door open.
This time, the interior was not empty.
A swirling mass of thick black smoke erupted from the darkness, rapidly coalescing directly in front of Maurise, forming into... a grave?
A mound of freshly turned earth appeared on the wooden floorboards, topped with a pristine, brand-new marble headstone.
Carved into the polished stone in elegant, deep lettering were two simple lines:
Maurise Black.
A Life of Utter Mediocrity.
"What exactly does that mean?" Ron whispered to Harry. "Maurise's greatest fear is a literal grave?"
Maurise stared at the marble headstone, offering a slow, internal nod of profound validation.
'Exactly as I suspected.'
He wasn't surprised in the slightest.
A life of utter mediocrity. That was indeed the single concept he found truly terrifying.
His greatest fear wasn't a tangible, physical threat like a monster, a dark wizard, or even death itself.
His greatest fear was being ordinary.
On a separate academic note, Boggarts were truly fascinating creatures.
Even though Maurise had deliberately lowered his Occlumency shields, the entity had surgically extracted only the highly specific thoughts relating directly to his "fears," completely ignoring the vast, dangerous ocean of his other memories and classified knowledge.
'Such an incredibly polite, highly disciplined creature,' Maurise noted approvingly.
Lupin stared at the bizarre, highly conceptual Boggart, looking deeply thoughtful.
"Well then," Lupin addressed Maurise again. "Mr. Black, are you familiar with the specific incantation required to neutralize a Boggart?"
"I am," Maurise replied.
"Then please, demonstrate."
Lupin took a large step backward, giving the boy ample space.
Maurise raised his wand and spoke the incantation in a calm, perfectly level voice. "Expecto Patronum."
Simultaneously, sitting on the sofa near the door, Snape's lips curled into a highly satisfied, deeply malicious smirk.
He was intimately familiar with the sheer, terrifying magnitude of Maurise's Patronus Charm. After all, he had witnessed it firsthand.
A blinding torrent of pure, condensed silver light erupted from the tip of Maurise's wand like a physical tidal wave, transforming into a thick, glowing mist that completely flooded the entire staffroom in a matter of seconds.
Then, the radiant mist began to shift and condense.
One.
Two.
Three.
Dozens of brilliant silver ravens rapidly materialized from the blinding fog, ascending into the air and soaring majestically around the vaulted ceiling of the staffroom, their wings leaving trails of pure starlight.
The students were completely overwhelmed by the sheer sensory overload.
They had absolutely no idea what spell Maurise had just cast, but the presence of the silver ravens filled them with an overwhelming, profound sense of warmth, safety, and absolute comfort.
'This is definitely a good thing, right?'
As for the Boggart...
The terrified creature had long since abandoned its manifestation of the grave, retreating deep into the darkest corner of the wooden wardrobe, shaking so violently the entire piece of furniture threatened to splinter apart.
Utilizing a highly advanced Patronus Charm to repel a simple Boggart... what was the functional difference between that and utilizing a naval cannon to obliterate a mosquito?
A third-year student had just flawlessly executed a spell that the vast majority of fully qualified, adult wizards were entirely incapable of mastering.
Even though Lupin had already witnessed the boy cast the spell on the Hogwarts Express, he was still profoundly, utterly astounded by the sheer scale of the magic.
'Wait... is it actually possible to summon this many corporeal Patronuses simultaneously?'
At that exact moment, Snape suddenly stood up and strolled smoothly toward the front of the room.
"An excellent demonstration, Black," Snape drawled, his voice dripping with dark amusement. "But please, do reign in your magical output. We wouldn't want to completely overwhelm our highly fragile new Professor."
Maurise obediently lowered his wand, cutting the magical connection.
The massive flock of silver ravens did not vanish immediately. They completed one final, sweeping lap around the stunned classroom before slowly dissolving into a fine mist of starlight and fading completely into the air.
Absolute silence returned to the staffroom.