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Of course they had to face a boggart, of course.
While Harry wasn’t paranoid (okay, maybe a tiny bit,), after two eventful years in which he was in mortal danger at the very place he called home, and that was supposed to be the safest place in Britain, he wasn’t exactly keen on showing everyone his greatest fear, which transferred over to being his biggest weakness.
He naturally didn’t suspect professor Lupin (he was an amazing teacher!), but there were many others that he was wary of, like Snape, the git Malfoy, and… Well, the rest of the Slytherins.
Harry truly believed that all Slytherins were no good, and really, it was true… But for some reason one had made him think differently.
Tom Marvolo Riddle.
It’s something he doesn’t like to think about, he knows what Tom became, or will become, or whatever the tense is, and he knows Tom is the embodiment of evil, everything Harry hates and will always fight over and over again, both metaphorically and literally.
He can’t decide whether to blame himself or not, on one side, he should’ve known that journals that write back aren’t normal, not even in the magical world, on the other, he was raised by muggles! How was he supposed to know?
But that isn’t what really worries him, or left him feeling such guilt after he destroyed the diary.
Just… How can you kill someone, even if they’re nothing but a memory, even if they’re evil and have done horrible things, and not feel any guilt?
He felt guilt in his first year too, after he had disintegrated Quirrel, he had only been eleven, and it was his first year not being isolated by the Dursleys! His first year in which he had found friendship, mentors and felt as if he actually had value and wasn’t invisible.
He knew he wasn’t a bad person, it had been a moment of life or death, but after finding out how enjoyable life can be, taking it from another person just felt wrong.
But Tom had been another situation entirely.
He wasn’t just guilty because he had destroyed him, he was conscience-stricken because his feelings were more personal, the sadness he felt within didn't derive just from the fact that he had killed someone, he was grieving Tom, and the fact that left him feeling even worse was that if he could go back in time, he wouldn’t have saved him, but he would have always saved Ginny.
Was it because he loved Ginny more than he had loved Tom?
Absolutely not.
Harry had morals. He doesn’t know if he would have grieved more Ginny’s death or Tom’s, but he knows he would have felt more remorseful if he had let Ginny die.
There would have been more consequences, horrible ones.
But really, he can’t blame himself for having liked Tom, anyone would have liked him, really!
The important thing is that no one knows that Harry liked Tom, he doesn’t want a new rumor going around. ‘Harry Potter is converting to the Dark!?”
That and people might think he likes Voldemort, gross! He knows he shouldn’t but he considers Tom and Voldemort as two separate people.
While Harry meditated on all of this, he watches the other students’ boggarts, and laughs along the way.
Mummies, spiders, and even Snape? Maybe his fear won’t even be so bad after all, he might be afraid of something stupid, like… He can’t even guess, but he figures it will be a Dementor, or maybe something more personal, like losing his magic, or Ron and Hermione breaking their friendship with him… He hopes that never happens.
After a while, it’s his turn, and as always the students behind him watch curiously, probably thinking he will have Voldemort as his boggart, but he knows better.
Or maybe not… He thinks nervously as he eyes the ink dripping from the handle of the cabinet and beneath it that wasn't there before.
Raising his wand, he watched as Tom Riddle gracefully opened the doors without any hurry what so ever and with a smile that revealed two handsome dimples brushed his perfectly styled dark hair away from his mesmerizing eyes that-
…Okay, he got distracted. In his heart he felt a sorrow that he had never felt before, nostalgia mixed with grief, but also happiness, happiness he should not be feeling for re-seeing a young Dark Lord. He snapped out of his trance when Tom opened his mouth and spoke with those red lips that-
Merlin! He was down bad, and unfortunately Tom had noticed, his smile turning into a smirk.
"My, my, I never thought I would have the pleasure of seeing you again. What an interesting turn of events, I'm your worst fear, Harry?"
In the background, he could hear his classmates whispering, thank Merlin Ginny wasn't here.
He reluctantly spoke up, deciding to give a half truth.
"Of course not, you don't scare me at all in any way, why would I be afraid of you? You can't hurt me, or anyone else for the matter, not anymore."
The classes' whispers grew.
He rolled his eyes at their behavior. Do I really have to do this in front of everyone?
Tom chuckled and got closer.
"Oh really? Perhaps you're right, you aren't afraid of me, although..."
He tilted his head slightly. "You are hurt, and I know it's because of me, even though you're the one who caused me pain."
Harry paled, he did not want everyone to know he was a murderer, begrudgingly, he raised his wand, but Tom spoke again.
"Oh darling, do you really want to vanish me? Do you really want to murder me? Again?"
Some students gasped, and looked at Harry with wide eyes.
Professor Lupin was ready to intervene, but Harry, lost in the moment and very emotional, had put a hand up towards his professor and it was as if bursts of wind pushed the professor away from the two.
"No! I mean- I had to! You were going to kill Ginny-"
"But you loved me Harry, you loved me and you still do. You and I always talked, I helped you with homework and talked to you about the past, you tried to help me obtain a body and talked to me about the present."
He took a step forward,
"We talked about our similarities, both orphans, both Parseltongues, both raised by muggles- but it's apparent now that amongst all our traits, you choose to focus on our little differences. You choose to focus on the fact that you are the Boy-Who-Lived, and instead of making your own decisions, you mindlessly follow Dumbledore and don't look at me, don't look at Tom Marvolo Riddle, but only see-"
He took Harry's wrist and with his wand traced the letters of his name, that moved around until obtaining...
"-I AM LORD VOLDEMORT."
Professor Lupin in that moment managed to finally move past the blowing wind, and quickly Riddikulus'd his boggart, which had turned into a full moon.
Harry was heaving and afraid to turn around, but also just terrorized in general, he didn't want to see his friends' reactions.
He was disappointed in himself.
"Oh Merlin..." he said, exasperated, and sighed.
What was his fear anyway? It had seemed all his fears put into one.
Reluctantly, he turned around.