I just picked up something weird.. Ok you know how in the third book Lupin said no one knows what a boggart looks like because it changes into the thing they fear the most? Well in the fifth book Molly asks moody to use his eye to look in the cabinet to check if it contains a boggart and he says it does.

So does that mean Moody knows what a boggart looks like or did it change into his worst fear?

I think that the boggart has to have changed into Moody's worst fear. Say that his worst fear is a Death Eater (okay... this probably isn't the case, as Moody was the best Auror of all time, but just go with me on this one). It's highly unlikely that there's a Death Eater holed up in the Blacks' writing desk or cabinet, whatever it was, so Moody would probably figure that it's just a boggart.

I know that in "Prisoner of Azkaban" Lupin says that the boggart changes shape when it faces a person, but I think that if you just happen to be looking at the boggart through several floors, ceilings, and a wooden desk using your magical eye, you'd still see what you fear the most. Think about it. Even if a Muggle cannot see a dementor, its very presence still makes the Muggle re-live his/her worst memories. Even if a boggart is not facing you, the fact that you can see it (regardless of how you can see it) makes you see your worst fears. Maybe that was a poor comparison, but I think that certain Dark creatures probably have powers over your mind like that.

I know that the argument for Moody knowing what a boggart looks like is that his eye has very unique powers and perhaps the powers of the boggart are not so adaptable -- maybe the boggart really does have to be face-to-face with its "victim" to change its shape. There's a compelling argument there, too. We probably never will learn the answer, but it's fun to speculate...

Yeah i thought it would turn into his worst fear but decided to see if anyone else had other ideas...thanks!

Oh, I don't know...I think that the eye must have some kind of magical properties which allows it to see the boggart as it truly is...the fact that it wasn't explained properly might have just been an oversight on JKR's part (as much as we all love her, she's admitted herself that she's not infallible). I mean, why didn't Molly just ask Lupin to take a look? He's supposed to be an expert in DADA, he'd have been able to cope with anything that was in the desk just fine...as I'm sure Sirius or Snape or Arthur would have been able to. Maybe she was saving it for Moody because she knew that he could identify it without having to face it himself.

I personally think that you'd have to be in the room with the boggart - there were loads of kids in the DADA room when Lupin was trying to teach them and the boggart changed as it was faced with each kid - wouldn't it have to be in the same room in order to see into that person's head to find out what his/her worst fear was?

I was thinking that it might have been a bit more esoteric than that - you know, that someone who has no fears at all (impossible, I know) would look at the boggart and see it as it truly is while Harry, for example, would see the Dementor - but that can't be true because what the person who's facing the boggart sees, everyone else can see too, so it's not just in a person's head. So, for me anyway, I would have that the boggart would have to be facing you in the same room.

Anywho, it's a mythical creature so I guess whatever theory anyone can come up with is just as likely as another!!

Personally, I always thought that a person had to be facing the boggart in order for it to take the form of what that person fears most. That would mean that Moody sees the real shape of a boggart, not what he fears. However, you would think that Moody might have told people what a boggart looks like, so Lupin would have said that *someone* knows that a boggart looks like such-and-such. Then again, Moody might not think it's important to let everyone know what a boggart looks like...However, I think that he does know.

This thread kind of reminds me of the Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. The reason why you always carry a towel with you is that when you see a certain kind of monster, you wrap the towel around your eyes. The monster assumes that since you can't see it, then it can't see you -- so it leaves.

How does the Boggart know that Mad-eye is looking at it?

Good explanation, realbullet, that's sort of what I was trying to say. The boggart wouldn't know that Moody was looking at it unless the boggart could see Moody looking at it. Unless boggarts also have magical eyes that can tell when other people's magical eyes are looking at them...the boggart would have no way of knowing that Moody happened to be seeing it at that particular moment. Therefore, Moody probably sees the true form of the boggart instead of his worst fear when he looks into the writing desk.

How Can A Boggart Reveal Your Worst Fear...

I Think A Boggart Has A Natural Abilty At Leggimens And Can Do It From Any Distance As Long As The Victim Can See It. The Same Might Hold True For Dementors Revealing A Bad Memory.

The One Flaw Is That Occlumens Wouldn't Help Against A Boggart Or A Dementor.

Wow, i never thought about all this before...I especially liked the Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy comparison (I really need to reread that some day).

Well, Boggarts are shape-shifters, right? This means that it must take the shape of whatever the witch/wizard (I don't think Muggles can see it!) fears most. Thusly, either the Boggart must have the preknowledge of each wizard's fear or they must "see" into the person to find out their fear and make it into a visible form.

The first idea is highly unlikely due to the number of wizards being born and dieing everyday, so there is no way a Boggart can keep track of all that. Thusly, the Boggart must "See" into the person. Notice when the Boggart first appears, it comes as a silvery mist-like object. This must be the time when it sees. Since everyone is unaware of what is happening next, it catched the "victim" unawares.

So now the question is how does it "see" into the witch/wizard.

hey i never thought of that, i still hink it would change into moodys fear though..hmmm im confuzzled

Maybe Moody just saw the silvery vapor of a Boggart in the process of "seeing" an individual

I agree with the ones that say the boggart has to be loking at the person to know which is her/his worst fear. I don´t think it is able to know that Moody is looking at him in that precise moment, so I believe Moody does know what the boggart looks like.

I know, I know, she saw McGonagall on the exam (book). But, guys, do you think so smart girl like Hermione could be afraid FAVORITE TEACHER??? I don't think so...

I don't think she was afraid of McGonagall in and of herself. She was afraid of what McGonagall said. McGonagall said that Hermione had failed everything. So, she's afraid of failure?


(I think this topic should be under books rather than movies...)

Exactly, Monerz.

This topic is going to die pretty quickly and I'm a bit miffed by the profusion of boggart/patronus threads that have sprung up since I made the mistake of allowing the Lupin's Patronus thread to drift off topic.

So, I'm changing this to a general discussion thread about every character's boggart.

That's all patronus/boggart aspects covered and I'm not going to be allowing anymore new ones because there are already loads about individual characters and they're going to start clogging the boards if we allow a seperate thread for all of them.

I've also just moved it to a more appropriate forum.

I think that Snape's Boggart is his father.

What I think Dumbledore's boggart is a ....DEad Harry!! I know it just occurred to me and is probably a dumb idea, but still. Anyway, let me know what you think of that?

Hmm. I think I would have to read the books more closely when Dumbledore is in a scene to figure out what he could possibly be afraid of.

Why do you say Snape's boggart will be his father?

I think SiriusLupin could probably be right. Snape's boggart is his father. In chapter 26 'Seen and Unforeseen', Harry glimpse a memory of Snape's childhood.

I agree about Snapes change.

What do you guys think Voldemort's boggart is gonna be.

I bet it will be the grim reaper or something.

I just had another thought. I bet you that a lot of death eaters' boggart is ...Dun Dun Duh...VOLDEMORT!

Ok, that doesn't really make sense and its 2:08 AM, but I'm posting it anyway

It's 2 AM there??!! You really need to go to bed, mate! Or you'll be like this before long! (just kidding... ) I used to stay up until later than 2 AM too usually...

But anywayyy...

Aah... interesting thought about what Voldemort's boggart might be eh? Now what would the most fearless wizard of the century afraid of? His followers wearing T-shirt that says 'I love Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived and You Suck for Believing Otherwise'?

Or something more realistic like an image of himself lying dead on the ground... he's been trying every possible way to stay immortal. He might fear that he failed... like he almost thought he was when he tried to killed Harry when he was a baby...

But it's possible that all the DE's boggart is their master himself. Obeying him out of fear, they seems...

What do you think Dumbledore's greatest fear is?

Do you think its something ridiculous like socks in the the mirror of Erised (assuming that was true) Or do you think its something else?

I'm of the mind that Dumbledore's worst fear is all of the World bowing down to Voldemort and NOT a dead Harry. I hate to say this, but I believe that Dumbledore ultimately needs Harry primarily to defeat Voldemort, and although he loves Harry, Dumbledore WOULD sacrifice Harry's life to destroy Voldemort. Any thoughts?

P.S. While I realize this hard to believe from Dumbledore, I think it is true and its really a painful reality

I actually think that Dumbledore's worst fear probably is Voldemort taking over the world, but how would that manifest as a Boggart? They usually seem to be something a bit more substantial than that, like a person or an animal or something along those lines. I think that his Boggart probably would be a dead Harry, which would then lead on to his other fear becoming a reality.

I'd be more impressed by Dumbledore if he was equally willing to sacrifice his own life rather than bargaining with Harry's all the time, which is what he appears to be doing after reading that Changeling thing here the other day.

I agree. Dumbledore seems like he is constantly toying with Harry's life and keeping Harry in the dark.

she was never afraid of mcgonagle she was afraid when she that she faild her examn (i think that that could scare anyone).


swirlctw

well i think that he does know what a boggart looks like but i am not sure why he is not telling people mabey we will find out in the other books

No, Dumbledore wouldn't sacrifice Harry's life. He had the chance to kill Voldemort in OotP, but if he killed Voldemort, he would have killed Harry, too. And he didn't take that chance.

not to stray off hermione's boggart, but what do you think snape's boggart is??

sara, just to inform you in case you didn't notice, this topic was FORMERLY about Hermione's boggart, but to widen the scope of discussion, it's been changed to discuss boggarts in general.

So no, you won't be straying off-topic if you wanna discuss Snape's boggart...

I've read somewhere that there was a question asked to J.K. about what Dudley's boggart would be, or what he thought of when the Dementors attacked him and Harry. What do you think his boggart would be, or the other Durlseys', for that matter?

Vernon's would be coming home to find his lawn full of wizards and witches (like a garden party or summat) with the neighbors all around looking on in disgust.

Petunia's would be her home in a complete mess, dust and debris everywhere!! And possibly the same scenario as Vernon's too.

Dursley's would be a fridge full of nothing but veggies and other healthy food stuff...oooh and Harry becoming the "spoilt rotten son".

LMAO!!

What do y'all reckon?!

Haha, probably. I think that Uncle Vernon and Petunia's boggarts would be a neighbor pointing their finger at them, accusingly, calling them weird, they bring shame...something like that.

Dudley's might be himself wearing a tux and reciting the alphebet.

I agree with Alaule that Dumbledore is not willing to sacrifice Harry. I think he sympathises with Harry and does everything he can to protect him and not put too much on his shoulders.

But back to Boggarts, Voldemorts is difficult, cos his greatest fear is death, so how does he picture death? For him to fear it so much, he must be of the opinion that death is oblivion - nothing! How does a Boggart pull that one off? It would probably end up exploding just trying.

Dumbledores on the other hand? Now that is a very, very hard one. Is Dd greatest fear that Voldemort will reign? Or has he become so fond of Harry over the past 5 - 6 years that Harrys death would disturb him more? I think this will become an important issue in the next 2 books.

Only 2 weeks to go before we get some answers.

I wonder what Petunia's Boggart would be?

nah! hermione's not afraid of mcgonagall! she's afraid that mcgonagall will tell her he got a failing grade probably! but you know if i'm not mistaken hermione was afraid of having a a quiz or a test paper (whatever it is) but what is important is a paper with her score 9/10!
just a sort of remembering the last page of the chapter about boggart in the wardrobe! take care guys!

Oh... Hermione's boggart is the score in her test and not Professor McGonagall. It's just the boggart appeared to be Professor McGonagall but it doesn't mean that she's afraid as well with the professor. It could be anyone, as long as she failed or didn't perfect the exam. But I think, failing exam, showed by Professor McGonagall is something because Hermione is always been praised by her and it's not good to fail your favorite teacher (and vice versa).

As of Snape's boggart, I agree that it would be his father. He didn't have a nice childhood. But it could be also Voldemort because he (Voldemort)might come back to him and make him pay for betraying him.

Hmmm... for Petunia, I guess the whole wizarding world. I don't know how a boggart will represent it.

Dumbledore's boggart is so hard. I think it would be reign of the dark or all of the members of the Order of the Phoenix will die.

hi, i just think that this would be a good topic to touch on ... what does voldemort see when he faces a boggart? i can only think of two things -

1) dumbledore - we all know that dumbledore was "the only on the ever feared"

2) seeing himself dieing, we know that his ambition is to cheat death. to see himself dieing would be a shock!

anyways peeps, let me hear what ya think!

He would see himself dead. An unknown body.
Did JKR answer this sometime? Seems like she did, but I could just be hallucinating.

Yes, I read that in an interview. JKR said that probably he would see himself dead.

sorry. chopped my own toe off!!!

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Jo said:
Voldemort's fear is death, ignominious death. I mean, he regards death itself as ignominious. He thinks that it's a shameful human weakness, as you know. His worst fear is death, but how would a boggart show that? I'm not too sure. I did think about that because I knew you were going to ask me that.

ES: A corpse?

JKR: That was my conclusion, that he would see himself dead.


the whole interview can be seen here

Death. I don't mean for this to sound short but there really isn't more to it then that. DD has said on many occasions that Voldemort doesn't understand that there are worse things then death.

but DD also said that LV never learned to love, maybe because he is afraid of it, or maybe because he thinks that if he loves he wouldn't be powerful any more. so i think voldemort could see one of these two things: death or love

Interesting thought, but I'm afraid that Sofie is right - JKR has categorically answered this one - he'd see his own dead body. Check out the Mugglenet interview for proof. That's it. End of discussion. Sorry to be blunt, but that's just the way it is. Gotta move on now, guys... There are other things to be debating about.

Dumbledore, with an army of aurors behind him lol

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i think he would see all of his horerux going and harry potter pointing a gun at him, after he has disarmed him... i think that would kill tom riddle, to die in a "muggle way"

he would see his own dead body, love, or harry, pointing his own wand at him, once all his horcruxes were gone. hey, maybe his wand is a horcrux? (just a theory)

i dont know....maybe a dementor?because in his past wa more sceary things i dont know....

Because he fears death so much I think he will see the GRIM.

Listen, guys - this question has been answered by JKR - he's see his own dead body. End of discussion.

This thread is only staying open because it's fun to play with ideas, but if all you're going to do is post one-liners that are not allowed on the forums, then we'll just lock it, okay? So find something more to say and talk about, or don't post anything at all please.

I think Jk has over-simplified her answer to this question.

We all know Mrs. Weasley saw a boggart take on the various forms of her families dead bodies because we were seeing her boggart, and that makes perfect sense. We are seeing what would terrify her most of all , that's what a boggart does right? She is looking at something she fears most.

Voldy is afraid of his own death more than anything else and I think we can all agree on this fact given HBP and all the Horcruxes he setup to try and prevent it. But if he were to face a boggart I honestly dont think his own dead body would be lying there.

We have to understand the reason Voldy fears death so much, and it's probably not dissimilar to our own.

Life is something we understand, something we have some control over, but death is the unknown. Most of us fear death because we do not know what lies beyond. We do not know if it is a path to another plane or consciousness, we do not know if there is something beyond death for sure, we do know if it is the end, but it is the thought that it is the end that drives our fears.

Voldy, who craves acknowlegement from his peers, who always seeks to be 'special', fears death because to him it is a loss of this identitiy, to him it makes him vulnerable again. He does not wish to take the path of death because he does not know what it holds, it could be that when you die you become part of the spirit world and lose your 'special' abilities, or it could be that when you die there is nothing beyond death. I think this is the most likely and frightening of all thoughts for someone like Voldy who doesn't believe in anything but his own power.

So if he were to face a boggart I cant imagine he would see his own body, that would not really make sense as you would be looking from a third persons point of view, and a boggart goes off your deepest, darkest fears which would surely be in the first person.

In which case I think it is most likely that Voldy would see oblivion in a boggart, and that being the case, you have to wonder what that would look like.

Ya at first I did think that he would see dumbledore, but surely he's not that afraid of a wizard. He's probably very afraid of dying, but DD always told him there were worse things than dying, so maybe he would see one of the 'worse things' whatever they are.