A boggart in the form of a dementor.
- "So the boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears."
- — Professor Lupin[src]
A boggart is a shape-shifting creature that takes on the form of the viewer's worst fear. When facing a boggart, it is best to have someone else along, to try to confuse it.
The charm that repels a boggart is: Riddikulus. The Riddikulus charm requires a strong mind and good concentration. The incantation and wand movement alone will not affect a boggart. The correct way to perform the charm is to push past the fear, and concentrate on something that will make the boggart look amusing. The thing that finishes a boggart is laughter.
Hiding Places
Boggarts are particularly fond of inhabiting certain places that are dark, such as in wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, and the cupbords under sinks and desks. On at least one occasion, a boggart was found hiding in a grandfather clock.
A boggart in the form of Professor Snape, after Neville casts the Riddikulus Charm.
The Boggart in the Wardrobe
- "That suggests that what you fear most of all is - fear. Very wise, Harry."
- — Professor Lupin to Harry Potter[src]
Harry Potter first encountered a boggart in 1993 in a Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson taught by Professor Lupin. Professor Lupin took the class to the staffroom, where a boggart had moved into a wardrobe, the previous afternoon. After explaining what they would need to do, Professor Lupin let the class, starting with Neville Longbottom, perform the Riddikulus charm on the boggart. When the boggart went towards Harry, Lupin drew the boggart's attention, causing it to turn into a silvery-white orb, then had Neville finish it off.
Later, Professor Lupin explained that the reason he didn't let Harry face the boggart, was that he thought Harry's boggart would turn into Lord Voldemort, and he didn't want to panic the students.
Harry Potter's boggart is actually in the form of a Dementor.
The Patronus
In the same school year, Harry Potter encountered a boggart again, when Professor Lupin found one lurking inside Argus Filch's filing cabinet. Lupin used the boggart as a subsitute for a real dementor, to teach Harry how to perform the patronus charm.
In between the private lessons, Professor Lupin kept the boggart in a cabinet under the desk, in his office.
The Third Task
On the June 24th, 1994, Harry Potter came across a boggart in the third task of the Triwizard Tournament. When he first encountered it, Harry thought the boggart was actually a dementor. Harry realized that it was actually a boggart, when he tried to use the patronus charm against it. Instead of driving it away, Harry's patronus caused the boggart to fall back, tripping over the hem of it's robes.
The Woes of Mrs. Weasley
Before the beginning of the 1995 Hogwarts school year, Harry Potter once again encountered a boggart. While cleaning up the drawing room of number 12, Grimmauld Place, Molly Weasley came across what she though was a boggart, in a locked cabinet of a writing desk. She decided to wait for Alastor Moody to confirm it was a boggart, before opening the cabinet.
After escaping from the party being held in celebration of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger becoming prefect, Harry heard sobbing comming from the drawing room. When he looked inside, Harry saw Molly Weasley cowering against a dark wall, and the body of Ron Weasley sprawled on the floor. After Molly tried the riddikulus charm, Ron's body turned into the body of Bill Weasley, with his eyes wide open and empty. Molly's next attempt turned Bill's body into Arthur Weasley, with blood running down his face. The next attempts turned the boggart into Fred Weasley and George Weasley, Percy Weasley, and Harry.
Harry shouted to Mrs. Weasley that she should leave, causing Remus Lupin and Sirius Black to run into the room, followed by Mad-Eye Moody. Lupin quickly figured out what had happened, and made the boggart turn from Harry's dead body to a silvery orb, then with a wave of his wand, made the orb vanish in a puff of smoke.
Character's boggarts
| Person | Fear | Riddikulus | Film changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albus Dumbledore | The corpse of his sister Ariana Dumbledore[1] | ||
| Seamus Finnigan | A banshee | She lost her voice | |
| Hermione Granger | Failure | ||
| Neville Longbottom | Severus Snape | Snape was wearing Neville's grandmother's clothes | |
| Remus Lupin | Full moon | A cockroach | |
| Harry Potter | A Dementor | Smoke/uses Patronus | |
| Parvati Patil | A mummy | It tripped over its bandages | A giant cobra that turned into a jack-in-the-box. |
| Tom Marvolo Riddle | His own dead body | ||
| Dean Thomas | A hand that moves by itself | Caught in a mousetrap | |
| Molly Weasley | Dead family/friends | N/A (was too shocked to cast it) | |
| Ron Weasley | Giant spider (or any spider for that matter) | No legs | The spider is given roller skates |