Congrats on deciding to take this class! I hope you'll find the lessons interesting!

In this class, you'll learn about a bunch of different dangerous creatures. First up is the boggart.

The boggart is a well-known Northern English folklore. It is described as a shape-shifting spirit that, while normally invisible, can 'transform' itself into a human, an animal, a skeleton, or even a demon. Most boggarts, like the one Professor Lupin has in a closet at Hogwarts (to teach students how to defend against it), take pleasure in scaring people. Some are merely mischief-seekers, resembling the poltergeist, because of their efforts to disrupt an orderly house/place. According to tradition, you know a boggart is around when doors slam mysteriously, candles suddenly go out, something disappears, and mysterious noises echo through the house. Other boggarts of a more vicious nature lurk on dark roadsides and frighten lost and lonely travelers, sometimes causing injury or even death.

The boggart is the relative, some might say "evil twin" of the much more friendlier brownie. Brownies appear in English folktales as household helpers who take great responsibility for the homes in which they live in and bring good luck to the homeowner and inhabitants. They clean up messes, complete unfinished chores, make bread, harvest grain, herd sheep, sew, and repair broken tools. In return for their labor, they are entitled each evening to a bowl of milk or cream and a piece of cake. Any offer of a greater reward is taken as an insult. Brownies are easily offended and angered. When this occurs, a boggart may appear and take the place of the brownie.

Household boggarts are said to dark, hairy, and ugly, with very large hands and feet. To complete this look, they dress in rags. In the past centuries, when a house was thought to be infested with a boggart, the owner went to great lengths to make sure he got rid of it. But boggarts were stubborn and sometimes families were forced to move. Sometimes that didn't even work...

One story tells of a farmer who was so fed up with the destruction of caused by a boggart that he packed up his family and belongings and headed for a new home. Just as he passed into his yard, a surprised neighbor asked if he was moving away. Before he could answer, a voice from deep within his suitcases said happily, "Yes, we're leaving!" The farmer and his family sadly turned around and went back into their house, realizing that there was no escaping this boggart.