Ad Infinitum (Remus Lupin X Reader)

XIV • Amplitudo Sui Morbi

XIV • Amplitudo Sui Morbi • The Extent of His Illness

I opened the door to Professor Lupin's classroom slowly, flicking the lights on. It looked empty without him inside, and my stomach flipped when the reality hit that I would be teaching alone for the entire day.

I read over his lesson plans for a final time before the students began to arrive. I greeted them as they came through the door, my excitement growing.

"Where's Professor Lupin?"

"Goodmorning to you too, Ron," I said and watched him go red bemusedly. "Take a seat and I'll explain once everyone's arrived."

"Sorry, Miss Y/L/N," he muttered, blushing.

"You're fine, Ron," I said and smiled, watching as he rubbed the back of his neck and took a seat beside Hermione.

I waited for a couple of minutes until the steady stream of students slowed to a few every few seconds.

"Ron, Hermione, do you know where Harry is?" I asked as I took attendance.

"Oliver just pulled him aside in the hallway," Ron said. "He's stressed about the match that's coming up."

"Alright. Well, if he isn't here in a few minutes, we'll set the dogs on his trail. How are you all today?"

The class murmured their responses.

"Since you all seem so eager to begin," I said and leaned against my desk, "I'll explain what's going on today. Professor Lupin is out, so I'll be taking over for the day. We are going to keep moving with the curriculum, which means we're starting with Hinkypunks. Unfortunately, we don't have an actual Hinkypunk with us today. Professor Lupin will be bringing one once he returns. So-"

"Sorry I'm late, Professor Lupin, I-"

"Close but not quite."

"Miss Y/L/N, sorry," he said. "Oliver just pulled-"

"You're fine, Harry, you can take a seat. As I was just telling the rest of the class, Professor Lupin is out for today but we're going to keep moving in the curriculum. I'll take your homework before we begin."

I collected the homework and returned to the front of the room, dropping the pile of papers onto my desk. I sat on my desk. "Is anyone familiar with the Hinkypunk?" A few hands raised. "Good. If you'll take out your books and flip to page seventy-two."

I waited for the students to pull out their books.

"On the right side of the page, you'll see a picture the Hinkypunk. A few things that should stand out: first, you'll notice that they are relatively small creatures; second, they have no apparent facial features."

"It looks like a cloud," one of the students commented.

"Yes, it does. The Hinkypunk appears to be made of a sort of smoke, as we can see. You'll notice that it only has one leg, which actually gives the Hinkypunk a very distinct gait, which is often described as a hobble."

"It's kind of cute," another student said.

"Which is why the Hinkypunk can be so dangerous," I said and pushed myself off my desk. "Notice in the picture the lantern that it carries. The Hinkypunk actually uses a lantern to lure travelers away from paths with the lantern light. Lavender, if you were walking in the woods and you saw light or a lantern, what would you do?"

"I would probably go to it because it would look like a person would be around."

"Exactly. So, after the traveler is lost, the Hinkypunk then uses its fancy little lantern here to propel fireballs at the unlucky traveler who thought he was going to find a buddy on the trail.