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Ron Weasley wasn't nervous. Why should he be? He'd actually put his entire effort and skill behind something for once, preparing for the Dumbledore's Army qualification final. He'd never worked so hard and so seriously on anything before.

Perhaps that's why he was pacing outside the Room of Requirement. If he failed now, after honestly trying, that would prove what he'd suspected all along: that he wasn't worthy to be a wizard. At least before he could always blame his failures on not trying hard enough.

Harry had decided to lead the school group, Dumbledore's Army, to teach willing students practical skills against the dark arts, but he couldn't always be available to teach the lessons. Thus, Hermione had suggested promoting a few other members, namely herself, Ron, Luna Lovegood, and Neville Longbottom. Rather than randomly promote these students, she suggested a qualifying exam, and now, the four of them were waiting outside for the three trials that Harry had devised.

Ron already knew one of the trials, as Harry had relied on his old friend to acquire a boggart. He'd had to go to Hagrid for help in finding one, since the school boggart was under lock and key, but he'd succeeded, the evil shapeshifter locked away in a box for the final trial. He'd been practicing "Riddikulus!" ever since he learned that advance information, but he still had no idea what the first two trials would be.

Hermione grinned. "Nervous?" she asked her red-headed companion.

"No," he lied, gripping his wand so tightly his knuckles were white.

She just shrugged. "Harry said he'd pick challenges that were important but doable. I'm sure you'll be fine."

Neville took a deep breath. "But what about me?"

Luna was as chipper as ever. "You're better than you think you are."

Neville just gulped.

The door to the Room of Requirement opened and Harry Potter emerged, smiling at his four proteges. "Come on, come on, or someone will ask what you're doing there."

The kids all ushered themselves inside, and Ron finally got a look at this incarnation of the Room of Requirement. There were two pedestals in the large open area, as well as a row of four chairs facing a wide set of iron double doors. A room with another room inside it! That must be where the boggart was, Ron, decided, since one pedestal contained a large block of stone, as well as a line of three more stones on the ground below, and the other showed what appeared to be a cheap gas station figurine of a wizard riding a unicorn. Well, not _that_cheap, since it was carved from stone and about two feet tall to the tip of the unicorn's horn.

Harry said, "Congratulations on being chosen as officers for the DA. I have every reason to believe that the three challenges before you will be met with all the skill I've come to expect from you." He looked each person over, though his gaze lingered on Ron and Hermione.

Luna spoke up, "It's our pleasure, Harry."

Neville nodded in agreement.

Hermione was too busy looking at the pedestals - she didn't want to fail. The bushy-haired busy body said, "The Reductor Curse, the Caster of Amyu, and...well, I suppose I can't know what's behind door number 3."

Ron could understand why she thought the first challenge was Reducto, as shattering solid objects was one of the most important curses he'd taught them, but he'd never heard of a "Caster of Amyu".

Harry smiled. "I wasn't sure you'd recognize this one. I put a few hints through to Dumbledore and he lent me this. I wish there were more artifacts like it - the statue itself will duel you! So for trial one, you must destroy the stone, then for trial two, defend against the statue and counter with your choice curse. Except_Reducto._ I want to get this back to Dumbledore in one piece. The third challenge is still a secret..." he added, glancing meaningfully at Ron.

Harry had trained them well, and each student quickly destroyed their stone, shattering the block into a thousand little pieces. The real challenge came with trial two. Hermione chose to face the Caster of Amyu first, easily using a Shield charm to deflect the statue's own Disarming Charm back at it. If the statue had been a real wizard, he'd have been disarmed. Hermione said, "No need to counter, but I can if you want."

Harry just grinned. "No need."

Neville's shield went up a little too late, and the statue's Stupefy_bounced harmlessly off the metal doors, and he returned with a_Stupefy of his own, but he was too slow. The statue expertly shielded the boy's spell so that it fizzled in a searing flash of light. "Good job, Neville," Harry said positively.

"I...I passed?" he asked, stunned.

"Not as flashy as Hermione, but you had the statue at a stand-still. That's more than good enough. I didn't do any better when I tried it."

Neville's face split with a huge grin and a loud sigh.

Ron went next standing in front of the statue with his wand ready. I can do this! he thought, preparing his_Protego_. But with all eyes on him, he started to get nervous. "Is it going -" he started to say, right when the statue boomed out its Stupefy.

Words failing him, Ron did what came naturally - he ducked. He slid onto his butt as the flash of light struck the wall behind him, barely managing to keep his wand up and pointed at the statue. Frantic, he said the first spell that popped into his head, which was, of course, the last spell he'd heard. _"Stupefy!"_he yelped, and his own bolt curse struck the statue in the tip of the unicorn's horn. Just barely on target.

Luna clapped, "Great move!"

Harry stood stunned, then said, "Well played, Ron. You remembered what I said about the most forgotten defense: dodging."

Ron smiled stupidly, though he'd done no such thing. He got up, panting for breath.

Luna was a bit more practiced in her response, shielding the expelliarmus before returning with "Anteoculatia!"

Harry said, "Well done, you four. There's only one more trial left, and it is hidden within that room. This time, you'll have to go one at a time. Inside there is a box, and inside that box are four medallions. Retrieve one and you pass. Don't tell anyone what you found inside or you'll ruin the test."

Once Harry determined that everyone understood, he excused himself and left the Room of Requirement entirely. He had another detention with Professor Umbridge.

Hermione said, "So, who is going first?"

Ron cast his eyes down, trying to make himself smaller. Luna just shrugged and said, "I'll -"

But Neville interrupted. "Let me just get it out of the way. Please?"

Luna nodded.

With a deep breath, the young boy bravely opened the metal doors, and disappeared inside them with a loud CLUNK.

With nothing better to do, the other three students took chairs and waited. Ron thought about warning them what was going to be inside, but he knew they could handle a boggart. Of course, the real question was whether they'd identify it as a fake quickly enough to use its only weakness. He could only wonder what Luna or Hermione's greatest fear was, but he knew what he'd be facing. In third year, he'd encountered his own personal hell, as the boggart took the form of an acromantula - a giant spider.

Yet when Neville finally returned, ten minutes later, he wasn't carrying a medallion. "I...failed..." he said simply, his hair dishevelled as he took his seat.

Luna said, "Oh, Neville..."

Ron could tell the poor boy was about to break down and cry, so he hopped up and said, "I'm next!" Without thinking twice, he rushed through the metal doors and locked himself inside with a CLUNK.

Neville couldn't muster a Riddikulus?_He'd faced a boggart before in Lupin's class, and it had taken the form of Professor Snape. Perhaps he had thought the final exam really _was Snape, though how he could think that Harry had brought the well-hated Potions teacher into this Ron couldn't understand. Wand high, he approached the box, just like the one he'd gotten from Hagrid. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward and flipped it open.

Ron hopped back, expecting any moment to see the giant spider he'd had to face before, but when the boggart emerged from the box, its form was quite different. Shadows seemed to coalesce from throughout the simple, barren room, until a form took shape, rearing up and glaring down at Ron with bright, smoking red eyes. It was a horse, but one of nightmares, made of the true black of nothingness.

A nightmare, he realized. He'd read about them in third year, but hadn't given them much thought since then. Or had he? He wouldn't have guessed them to be his greatest fear, though now that the huge horse was staring down at him and kicking its front legs, Ron was suitably terrified. "_R-riddikul -"_he stammered, holding his wand up defensively.

The horse whinnied, but the sound echoed like thunder through the small room, silencing the red-head before all four hooves lit up with molten fire. Light filled the space, only disappearing in the inky confines of the horse's body, giving Ron his first good glimpse at the nightmare's true form. Black muscles shimmered in the red glow, the enormous bulk of the rearing creature quite an impressive illusion. But Ron knew that the boggart wasn't real.

"Riddiku -" he tried again.

Before the spell could transform the boggart into some humorous image of a nightmare, perhaps a children's rocking chair, the great beast lashed forward with its hooves and struck Ron hard_in the hand, knocking his wand across the room. It _hurt, and he knew that the pain couldn't be an illusion. He'd already been afraid, but now he cowered beneath the boggart, far from the wand that could have saved him.

He could still beat it. The boggart's weakness was laughter - the spell just made laughing easier. But as the creature landed on all fours, looming above the boy, he found very little humor in the situation. He opened his mouth to laugh in the horse's face, but he only stammered wordlessly.

What he wouldn't give for one of the other students to come barging in and save him, but he knew that wouldn't happen. Neville had failed, and no one had heard a peep through the magically sound-proof doors. He had been gone for ten minutes, yet none of the three waiting outside even considered coming in to help, too nervous about their own upcoming test.

Hand still stinging from the blow, he cringed, waiting to be killed or knocked unconscious. What did a boggart do when it won? But instead of another powerful blow, the nightmare just let out a chilling roar of triumph, and its shadowy form starting to draw out from its body, engulfing the frightened teen. Tendrils of pure darkness wrapped around him, pulling his arms and legs this way and that before one rammed open his mouth and reached down his throat, cutting off all vain attempts to laugh.

Sputtering, Ron thrashed against the dark bonds that caressed him, feeling his entire body shifted and torn, pulled in all directions. His eyes bugged out and his tongue swelled, his hands cramping as his arms and legs were tugged and pulled in every direction. He couldn't even scream.

Then, as suddenly as the attack began, it ended. For a second, there was complete darkness, while Ron tried to squint to see something...anything. Then, the nightmare flared out again, flames engulfing its eyes and hooves again. But now, the eery red light didn't only vanish into nothingness where it met the nightmare - Ron looked down at himself only to see the same effect. Light warped and burned as it touched him, vanishing forever, and only by looking at his silhouette could Ron make out his new shape. He wasn't himself, not anymore. His chest was broad, his arms were long and laid out beneath him, and without warning, his hands burst into flame. But they weren't hands...

They were hooves.