Riddikulus

The Boggart-Banishing Spell, or Riddikulus, was the only known spell specific to Boggart encounters. Boggarts were strange beings in that their proper form was a mystery. They always took the form of the worst fear of the person standing before them. Boggarts were very dangerous as they would always materialize as a person’s biggest fears and make them suffer emotionally. 

Laughter was the only remedy to tackle a Boggart, as ridiculing it would eventually make it disappear. The person would no longer have the same emotional composition as they did when facing their deepest fears. The Riddikulus spell helped its caster to convert the Boggart into something funny, thereby rendering the Boggart’s ability to scare them undone. 

The Spell

The Boggart-Banishing Spell, also known as Riddikulus, was a method to render a Boggart useless through magic. Riddikulus was also the magic of this spell and was eponymously named after it. Besides visualizing something funny about one’s worst fear, the magic Riddikulus was the only essential requirement to ban the Boggart from scaring someone. This spell did not destroy the Boggart, as Boggarts were amortal. However, the Boggart would immediately vanish if this spell was successfully cast at it and probably appear at some other point in space. The object of the spell was to use humor or a humorous form of one’s fear and reduce the tension generated by the Boggart to make the Boggart powerless.

Appearances in the Harry Potter Universe

The first known appearance of this spell in the Harry Potter universe, chronologically speaking, is in the movie Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, when Professor Albus Dumbledore teaches students how to cast this spell when they encounter a Boggart at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Among these students were Newt Scamander and Leta Lestrange. Newt feared getting an office job, and he could cast the Riddikulus spell successfully and turn the office furniture into a dragon-like beast. Leta’s fear is mysterious, and only a white veil falling into the water is visible. However, she cannot cast the spell as fear haunts her deeply. The deeper meaning behind her fear is revealed at the movie’s climax.

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Professor Lupin conducts the third-year Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson involving a Boggart. He explains the spell Riddikulus to the third-year students and claims that the way to defeat a Boggart is through laughter. One by one, the third-year students face a Boggart, which immediately becomes their worst fear. 

Neville Longbottom stands in front of the Boggart, and it suddenly takes the form of Professor Snape, whom he is terrified of. He musters his courage, and the Boggart, in the form of Snape, eventually wears Neville’s grandmother’s clothes. The whole class laughs, and Boggart eventually vanishes. Several other students faced the Boggart as a part of the lesson. Ron’s Boggart turned into a giant spider, which he managed to subdue with the spell by imagining the spider without its legs. 

Several of Harry’s classmates, including Gryffindors like Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, and Parvati Patil, cast the Riddikulus spell on their Boggarts. Seamus’s Boggart had taken the form of a Banshee, which he managed to subdue by using Riddikulus and taking away its voice. Dean’s Boggart had turned into a loose hand, which he stopped by using the spell and imagining a giant mousetrap trapping it. 

When it came to Harry’s turn in the books, Professor Lupin stopped the Defence Against the Dark Arts class right before Harry’s turn. Later, he explains to Harry that he stopped the class because he feared that Harry’s Boggart would turn into Lord Voldemort.

In the movie series, Harry faces the Boggart, which turns into a Dementor. Professor Lupin suddenly covered Harry, and the Boggart turned into the moon, which later turned into a brief flash of white light when Professor Lupin used the Riddikulus spell. Since werewolves take their form on the full moon day, it is logical that they are afraid of the moon, which is how Hermione figured out that Professor Lupin is a werewolf. 

Although the Boggart-Banishing Spell is not used in this case, Professor Lupin uses a Boggart to teach Harry the Patronus charm. The Boggart transformed into a Dementor every time Harry faced it, which allowed him to cast the Patronus charm properly. The Boggart-Dementor would eventually be stumped by Harry’s Patronus charm, which, in his early attempts, was just a wisp of smoke. The Boggart also appears in the Defense Against the Dark Arts final exam.

A Boggart appears in the maze, which is a part of the third task of the Triwizard Tournament in which Harry takes part during the events of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Harry uses the Riddikulus spell to eliminate the Boggart, a Dementor.

A Boggart also appears in a wardrobe at Grimmauld Place when Molly Weasley cleans up the place during the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix events. Although Molly Weasley tried to banish the Boggart using the Riddikulus spell, she was unsuccessful in the long run. The Boggart kept turning into the corpses of her family members until Professor Lupin entered the room and suddenly stopped the Boggart with the Riddikulus spell.

Boggarts and Fear

Boggarts are not known to be dangerous in any way themselves. However, they do cause a lot of anxiety and fright when they transform into one’s worst fear in front of them. Boggarts are known to have an extraordinary effect on most people because despite knowing that what is in front of them is just a Boggart and not the source of their fear, they are delirious most of the time. This instance speaks to just how strong the emotion of fear is.

Fear is like a crumbling sensation when not controlled. When one faces fear, the emotion often leads to a loop or spiral clouded with doubt and more fear developing in the person. A Boggart brings out a similar effect in people, and despite there being no reason to fear something, as in the case of a Boggart or self-doubt in the mind, one tends to fear many things unnecessarily.

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