Defence Against the Dark Arts - Practicing Riddikulus

Before class, I found Shaun (a sixth year Gryffindor) and a fourth year Ravenclaw talking in the staircase. We were talking about previous Dark Arts classes, and how we never really knew what to expect. When it was time to get to class, Shaun and I realized that we didn't have our hats or our robes, so we ran up to the seventh floor, headed to our dorms and got what we needed, then raced to the third floor and up the Dark Arts tower. We arrived just on time and were quite proud of ourselves as the door locked behind us. 

Tonight, we were told that we would be practicing the Riddikulus charm. This was a charm that would be used against boggarts. I was a little nervous, but joined the line on the left side of the room, my wand held out. I knew the wand movement and the effect it was supposed to have, but I hadn't practiced it ever, and knew that it was a third level spell. But I would do my best and practice like everyone else. 

After we practiced the wand movement on our own, we then stood in line and waited for our turn to face the dummy on the boxes that Professor Vikander had set out. It was impressive to watch the older students master the spell, but we first years gave it our best. Even though the spells we casted were unsuccessful, we could learn a lot from the older students. 

Shaun continued to help me throughout the class. I asked him what happened if we didn't know what our boggart was. He said that deep down everyone knew, it just had to be discovered. I knew my father's was a clown, but I wasn't really sure what I most feared. Even though I failed at the spell, I moved to the back of the line and watched everyone else. 

When class was over, the professor said that next week, we would learn other spells that we could use to defend ourselves from a boggart. I was eager to learn what those were and headed back to the Gryffindor common room to learn more about the spell we had practiced tonight.