Douglas had not arranged this start-of-term Defense Against Dark Magic exam for every class.
Only the fourth and fifth years had to take it, which left some of the overachievers in other years, who had guessed there would be an exam and prepared ahead of time, feeling rather disgruntled.
When the second-year Gryffindors entered the classroom, they found that the desks and chairs had been moved to the sides, and a chest stood in the middle of the room.
Douglas clapped his hands and said:
"Just hand your holiday homework to Miss Granger in a moment. Today, we'll be learning how to deal with Boggarts...
Children, put your hands down. Judging by your previous grades, I trust you're already familiar with Boggarts, so we won't be doing questions today.
Now, let's practice pronouncing the incantation together. Oh, Mr. Longbottom, don't be so quick to draw your wand... Let's practice the pronunciation without wands first...
The Boggart-Banishing Spell is very simple. Repeat after me: Riddikulus!"
Neville Longbottom scratched his head awkwardly and put his wand away again. He had actually earned an Exceeds Expectations in Defense Against Dark Magic on last term's final exam, which had delighted his grandmother.
That was why he wanted to do well in Defense Against Dark Magic.
Under Douglas's guidance, the students practiced pronouncing the incantation over and over.
Once Douglas felt that they all had the pronunciation right, he praised them:
"Excellent work, everyone! But remember, correct pronunciation alone isn't enough. You also need strong willpower as you cast the spell...
Now, everyone outside. We'll do this one at a time."
Hermione suddenly raised her hand and asked:
"Professor, I remember the textbook saying that the more people there are, the easier a Boggart is to deal with, because it doesn't know what to turn