The Harry Potter franchise features numerous magical creatures, and one of the most interesting is boggarts. Boggarts first appear in the Harry Potter franchise in the third novel, and thus, the third movie, of the series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The creature is used for a lesson at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Following that introduction to the creature, boggarts also appear later in the franchise, taking up residence in old homes, or appearing in some of the videogames as challenges to move past.
The Harry Potter franchise spans seven novels, eight movies, two spin-off movies, several games, and a stage show. Most of those introduce new magical creatures in each chapter of the franchise. Unlike most magical creatures in the franchise, no one knows the true form of a boggart because it transforms as soon as someone sees it.
What Is A Boggart?
A boggart is a supernatural creature that’s true form is completely unknown despite attempts to study it in the wizarding world. That’s because boggarts are shapeshifters. As soon as they encounter another being, they shift into something or someone else for that person to see. Boggarts take on the guise of whatever that person most fears.
That fear can be a concrete one, like turning into a person that causes a deep-seated fear in someone. It can also turn into something that represents a more abstract fear. If someone fears commitment, for example, the boggart might turn into someone proposing marriage. Some wizards and witches might not realize they’ve even come upon a boggart because their fear of whatever form the boggart takes is so strong. If a wizard or witch is intentionally going after a boggart, it’s best to do it with a partner or team, so that the multiple fears can confuse the creature.
What Was Harry’s Boggart?
When Harry Potter faces off against a boggart for the first time, it is in his Defense Against The Dark Arts classroom. Students learn a spell that is meant to repel a boggart, Ridikulus. Harry’s boggart turns into a dementor, another creature he encounters for the first time only shortly before his first interaction with the boggart.
Dementors are the guards of Azkaban Prison. They are soulless beings that quite literally absorb the life and light from someone. Dementors cause intense feelings of fear, bringing the darkest memories of their target to life. They even suck the soul from someone, turning them into the shell of a human being. Only a patronus, the embodiment of good and light, can protect a witch or wizard from a dementor.
It’s suggested that Harry’s deepest fear being a dementor means that he really is afraid of fear itself. That makes sense for someone so brave and who faces so many challenges in his life head-on. Harry impulsively takes on tasks that might be too big for him. He never appears afraid of failing but is more afraid of giving into his fears or letting the darkness win. Harry Potter wants to be someone that others can count on, someone who is a force for good, so being afraid of the fear and darkness within is perfectly in character for him, even if his first experience of a boggart turning into a terrifying dementor surprised him.
What Shapes Did Boggarts Take For Others?
Because former Marauder Remus Lupin uses a boggart to teach a lesson in a Defense Against The Dark Arts class, several of Harry Potter’s classmates have their biggest fears revealed in front of everyone. For Ron Weasely, for example, that fear is spiders, though he’s never particularly secretive about that in the Harry Potter books or movies. Neville Longbottom’s boggart takes the form of Professor Snape, which makes sense given the ridicule he faces at the hands of the Potions Master who doesn’t believe that Neville is smart enough to pass his class.
Some of the more interesting boggarts in the franchise, however, are the more abstract. Remus Lupin fears the full moon, so the class sees a white orb when the boggart is in his path. Lupin doesn’t actually fear the moon, but what the moon represents for him. He’s afraid of the danger he presents to others as the result of turning into a werewolf on the nights of the full moon.
Throughout the books, movies, and video games of the franchise, there are occasions to see the boggarts of others as well. Hermione Granger’s boggart is Hogwarts teacher Professor McGonagall telling her she’s failed all of her tests. As a child, Hermione is a perfectionist who is always striving to be the best. Knowledge is where she finds comfort, so her fear of failure can consume her. Molly Weasely sees the dead bodies of each of her children when she encounters a boggart. Since the Wizarding World is on the verge of war as most of her children are coming of age, that is a perfectly understandable fear for her to have as well.
While some characters in the Harry Potter franchise likely know exactly what to expect when they encounter a boggart, for others, their deepest fear might surprise them, just as it did for Harry.