Stuart glanced at Nancy, cringed a bit under the old soldier's glare and briefly thought of denying his role in the supposed boggart that haunted Nancy's house, but he thought better of it and answered.
They all looked so authoritative when flicking their wands to dismiss boggarts, poltergeists and other pests.
One common one causing fright or dread was called in Yorkshire the boggart, in Scotland the bogle, and in England the bogey or bogeyman.
‘Many an old wood,’ Edwin Waugh claimed, ‘many a retired clough and running stream, many a lonely well and ancient building is still the reputed haunt of some old local sprite or boggart.’
During the festival, local residents and businesses will take part in a competition to decorate their homes, gardens and shop fronts with home made boggarts, wood spirits, elves, hobs and faeries.
So how do you tell if there are boggarts around?
Origin
Late 16th century: related to obsolete bog 'bugbear', boggle, and bogle.