I'm in the middle of reading the third book right now, and I got thinking a bit about boggarts. In the book all of the fears that the boggart is confronted with are quite easy to imitate, but what if your biggest fear was something abstract or otherwise troublesome?

Let's say someone was very afraid of a feeling, like love. Would the boggart try to take the shape of love? And then another issue, right now my biggest fear is that I might be pregnant. Would the boggart take the form of my pregnant self? I wouldn't be scared at all of that, as I would know that it's just the boggart, not me. Would it somehow 'merge' with me to make myself appear pregnant?

I don't know, do you have any theories?

I had always wondered that!! I think that if your biggest fear was something abstract like love, it would probably take form of something depicting you being in love. It wouldn't show a big giant heart or anything. If your biggest fear is you being pregnant, I can definitely say that the boggart you would see is a pregnant you. I don't think it would merge with you, it would probably just be like watching yourself on TV (without the screen of course!)

But if I wasn't afraid of the boggart, wouldn't it try to make me scared somehow? It seems strange that the boggart could only turn into your biggest fear, when that fear is impossible to turn into. Perhaps it would find something else to scare me with?

Well, maybe a Boggart can go insideand imitate the feeling you fear the most. That is probably unlikely. So, I agree with ladylila705 that it shows you a scenario with you in love. Of course, I never gave it much thought because my fear is spiders (and Acromantulas)

I think you are right by saying it would try and make you scared. The idea of it turning into your fear is a defense mechanism designed to protect itself from being destroyed (by the ridikulus charm) so if your biggest fear isnt something that makes you freak out and lose your head, like you being pregnant for instance, it would turn into something that would freak you out. So, say you are scared of being pregnant, but your second biggest fear is giant snakes, it would turn into the snakes because it knows that would alarm you much more.

Now, this next part is me doing a bit of guesswork, tell me if you agree or disagree with me on this point. Perhaps the boggart doesnt ever turn into you in another form, because you would obviously know its not real. Let me explain this better...We all know Lupin sees the moon when a boggart comes out, but his real fear is what the full moon does to him, not the moon itself. So, his fear is actually himself as a werewolf, but if him in werewolf form came out of the chest than he would immediately know its not real. See what I mean? Like if your biggest fear was dying, I dont think a dead body of yourself would pop out. What do you guys think?

Yeah, I think it would probably try to freak you out and turn into something you had trouble distinguishing from reality. Thus it could not turn into yourself no. (And if it would turn into my fear of pregnancy it would probably turn into a positive pregnancy-test?) Because, even if it does not turn into the thing you fear, it turns into something that makes you remember that thing and thus something that makes you scared. Makes sense to me:P

I think that the boggart would show a replica of yourself pregnant, and you would look really sick and awful. Even though you know you're not actually pregnant at the time, the image would still make you terribly worried about it. It doesn't necessarily make you believe it, just afraid.

With love, I believe it the boggart would transform into someone you might fall in love with, only for them to turn into an awful monster afterward, if you're afraid of love.

A boggart is designed to turn into your greatest fears, whether you believe them or not isn't in the power of the boggart.

Maybe the Boggart would transform into something you associate with your fear, for instance, I see love as a pink misty kind of thing (naive, I know, but it's how I see it in my minds eye). So, if you fear pregnancy you would see a boyfriend or husband if you associate him with pregnancy. Like, if I feared love, then I'd see the pink mist because I would know what it's meant to symbolise in my mid's eye... Feel free to disagree...

i agree with joey ravenclaw
your boggart may be yourself pregnant, wearing a wedding dress, or with a guy that can clearly show you two are in love.