The Bagots Wood Boggart
The woods and forests around Uttoxeter are seething with Boggarts it would seem. Since the start of research for my book, I have had more sightings locally, most recently in Bramshall and Scounslow Green - although most areas have produced one over the years. Here’s a tale of an encounter that was told to me.
“I got a phone call that there were trespassers on my land one November night. It was indeed a spooky night with low fog and a full moon high above. It was damp and you could smell the earth strongly. I took my shotgun and went down the hill to a small dell surrounded by trees close to the main road. It was very still and you could hear everything, crunches of leaves and rustling in the tree tops. As I got to a bend in the path, I heard the regular crump of footsteps coming toward me. The hair on my neck stood on end. Then I saw it. It was a huge wolf-like creature, at least 6 feet at the shoulder, with a black shaggy mane - it drooled saliva and its red eyes turned me cold from head to foot. I gave it both barrels. But when I went to the spot there was nothing, but a burst of hollow laughter deep in the woods. "
Giant, terrifying black dogs are a very common form a Boggart takes for more information on other Boggart have a read of the link. https://bardofcumberland.com/boggarts/
Generally speaking, Boggarts assume the form of the thing you are most afraid of, it might be from your memories of films, or just a situation you fear and your imagination conjures up the images for the Boggart to work with and scare you and lap up the fear and terror it lives on. It is unusual to see a Boggart in its natural form before it shape shifts.