Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

The Choir and Their Toads Sing ‘Double Trouble’

Chapter 5 – The Dementors, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

A Snippet Review

Double, double toil and trouble

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble

Double, double toil and trouble

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble

Something wicked this way comes!

Listen to and enjoy the full track before reading further –

The choir welcomes one all – freshers, seasoned magicians and viewers – to another year at Hogwarts, promising more magic and double trouble.

Quipping, the song teases dark twists, fire that may rise and burn, old cauldrons that bubble a recipe for unfolding mysteries which may or may not favour you.

And while memorising the incantation, that sways and enchants and bothers and relieves and tickles, you find and hold your wand with a firm grip, looking straight searchingly, more lost than before yet ready… ready for ‘something wicked this way comes…’

The toad croaks to our delight, amusement and excitement. The choir scatters, and we meet Dumbledore, behind the podium, he is sure to make an announcement. Excitement multiplies!

Double appointments, Professor R. J Lupin (Defence against the Dark Arts) and Rubeus Hagrid (Care of Magical Creatures) are greeted warmly, by some who know, and some who don’t, the entire truth.

Clap-clap-clap, tersely, goes Professor Snape (Potions), his sallow face looking sick.

Cheers-cheers but wait here comes the trouble.

Finally, on a more disquieting note, at the request of the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts will, until further notice, play host to the Dementors of Azkaban…
… Dementors are vicious creatures, they will not distinguish between the one they hunt and the one who gets in their way… it’s not in the nature of a dementor to be forgiving…
Albus Dumbledore

**Dementors at Hogwarts.**
**[A still from the film; Source – harrypotterfanzone]**

Excitement multiplies? Yes, but fear seeps in now, what the choir hinted at appeared to be harmless, the dementors are not. Fear of not hiding away, but of facing it, of hearing those screams again troubled Harry.

Oh, wait, the cauldron is bubbling again, “adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting, lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing”, the incantation hasn’t changed all these years, let the fire rather show you the way.

And Harry listens carefully to the headmaster’s closing remarks…

But you know, happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.
Albus Dumbledore

The book and film. [Source – Wikipedia]

Composed and conducted by John Williams, the choir performs ‘Song of the Witches’ from Macbeth by Shakespeare.

Must listen to the fantastic extended version –

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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 7 – The Boggart in the Wardrobe

Posted on June 10, 2018 by Jagriti Rumi Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Riddikulus Ridiculous The Boggart in the Wardrobe

It was the Defence Against the Dark Arts class and Professor Remus Lupin had plans to teach us about the Boggart as there was one inside the wardrobe kept right in front of us. The Boggart sounded eager to meet us.

The Wardrobe with the Boggart inside.

‘Can anybody tell me what a Boggart looks like’, asked Professor Lupin and of course, there was one who knew the answer, Hermione, she said, ‘no one knows, Boggarts are shapeshifters, they take the shape of whatever particular person fears the most, that’s what makes them so…’, ‘so terrifying, yes, yes’, Professor Lupin finished Hermione’s sentence and added, ‘luckily, a very simple charm exists to repel a Boggart… let us practice it now… ah, without wands please… after me, ridiculous.’ We all spoke, ‘ridiculous.’ ‘Very good, little louder, very clear, listen – riddiKulus.’ Except Malfoy and his sidekicks, we all repeated the spell, ‘riddiKulous.’

The class ended before I could try.

Though I didn’t get a chance to face the Boggart in that particular class because when Potter… nevertheless, till date ‘riddikulus’ stays to be one of my favourite spells. I miss those days…

At the Harry Potter exhibition.

A Boggart, present in many English folklore as a notorious spirit inhibiting the house or the field, is portrayed wonderfully in the Harry Potter series. It takes the shape of what we fear the most, which is quite troubling a thought, but we can overpower it by using the spell riddikulus i.e. by imagining a completely ridiculous shape and forcing the Boggart to be that.

This is truly a fabulous spell, big thanks to J. K Rowling for it.

In our Muggle (non-magic) life, we face Boggarts daily, stubborn Boggarts (bosses, elders, bullies and we ourselves) who aren’t shapeshifters; we give them a grand horrible shape in our mind and then look for places to hide. But we can make the trouble look ridiculous, we can laugh at it, at least from inside, and who knows after a few days, months, years, these troubles actually look ridiculous to us. Like our childhood worries, that bad score in a test, that upcoming Parents’ Meet, those nail-biting worries now look ridiculous.

Professor Lupin faces the Boggart and it takes the shape of the full moon.

Also, Boggarts aren’t very intelligent, all they try is to scare the one they face, like the Boggart took shape of the full moon when Professor Lupin came in front of it, without thinking that being moon won’t stop Lupin from saying the spell (one doesn’t become a werewolf just in seconds).

So, just like Boggarts our worries are also not that intelligent, if we calm down and think properly, an answer, a way-out immediately pops-up in front of us and all we are left is with the execution bit.

Riddikulus!

It is true that in non-magic world problems attack in umpteenth ways and maybe every time this spell might not work, but there is no harm in trying, all we have to do is stay calm as we face the troubling Boggart and say RIDDIKULUS!

Watch the Boggart scene from the Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban film here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doxxfXqpKYA

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