Lunch was spent trying his best to look like he didn't want any company, keeping his nose deep in a book as he ate. It seemed to work as nobody bothered him at all, not even the students that sat near him. At twelve-thirty he had finished eating and snapped the book shut, figuring he might as well head off to the next class. Another ghost led him down into the dungeons and, after thanking her, Remus sat on a bench across from the Potions classroom to wait. He pulled Magical Drafts and Potions out to read some more before class started.
A few minutes later someone else came by and sat on a nearby bench. Remus glanced up, seeing a Slytherin sitting there. The Slytherin also had his book out, his very large nose practically touching the pages with as low as his head was bent. Remus returned to his own reading.
A couple minutes later he heard heavy footsteps approach. "Ah! What do we have here? Very eager students, I see." Professor Slughorn was a very rotund man with a huge mustache. He gleefully pat his large stomach as he surveyed Remus and the Slytherin. "Well, come on in then."
Both students followed Slughorn and Remus found himself in a dungeon room that immediately assaulted his nose with all the scents going around. He sneezed once before sitting at a table, far away from the Slytherin. The teacher talked as he bustled about, getting ready for the class, to the point of Remus debating whether he should start taking notes already or not. Soon the rest of the class started showing up and there were just enough tables and seats for everyone to share four to a table, so Remus found himself sitting precariously on the edge of his seat with Evans next to him, and two girls beside her.
"Welcome, welcome! I am Professor Slughorn, your Potions teacher. Potions are quite an immeasurably useful thing to know, can do just about anything with them providing you've got a good understanding of the magical properties of ingredients!" He took roll call and then clapped his hands together, rubbing them excitedly. "Before we begin our first potion... can anyone tell me what it is?" He waved his hand at a cauldron in front of him. "Ah, Mr..... Snape, was it?"
The other boy who had showed up early lowered his hand. "Cure for boils, Professor."
"Good, good. Point to Slytherin! Get everything out and we'll get right into it. Partner up for this one, class."
Evans turned to Remus. "Want to be partners?" she asked. Not really. However, he had to have a partner so he nodded.
"Now, the cure for boils is... a rather basic, beginning potion. Nevertheless, if done incorrectly it can cause boils, or other issues, so do mind yourselves as you do your work." He waved his wand and a piece of chalk began writing instructions on the board. "One of the number one rules for Potions is follow instructions explicitly! No going off what's written in the book, that's how you cause problems. Now, let's go!"
Evans peered at the instructions closely. "Shall I get the water, or do you want to?"
"I can," Remus mumbled, getting out of his seat. He took the cauldron and went to the back of the room, standing in one of the lines at the spouts. The cauldron was rather heavy already and he wasn't sure how he'd carry it back. It didn't help that he was one of the smallest students in the room, certainly the smallest boy. The line shuffled forward and soon Remus added the hopefully correct amount of water. It was very heavy now and he struggled with getting it back to the table. He heard several students snickering loudly at the sight of him hardly able to carry the cauldron. He was carrying it by its handle and it kept banging into him, water sloshing, causing difficulty since it was big and he was small. He considered just setting it down and picking it up with his arms around it... but then he'd probably dent the metal if he used his full strength and he couldn't do that, so he just continued struggling along until—
Suddenly someone came up next to him and grabbed the handle, picking the cauldron up. Remus looked up in surprise, seeing Black. "Heyo," he said, taking the cauldron over to sit in front of Evans. "If you're in need of muscles again just..." he flexed his arms, "Let me know." He winked at both of them and swept back to sit with Potter.
"What a twit," Evans said as she worked on crushing the snake fangs into powder. "We'll need the onions sliced next." Remus froze at that then slowly got the pungeous onion out from the ingredient kit. He could already smell the onion wafting around from other tables and knew it was going to bad when he started on this one. "All right, there?" Evans asked when she noticed her partner not moving.
No. "Yes." He took in a deep breath and began peeling and slicing the onion. It didn't take long for his eyes to start watering, his nose to start itching, and the smell to be horrifyingly overwhelming. He began gagging a bit, wiping his eyes off on his sleeve. He could hardly breathe and almost felt blinded. He heard Evans say something about adding the onions and he scooped up a handful and dumped them in, knowing he was supposed to measure exactly instead of guessing but not caring. "Just... er... moment." He turned and hurried to the back of the room to wash his hands off, trying to get rid of the smell. He felt like he might vomit. The assault on his nose was one of the worst things he ever experienced. Just get through it. He sucked in some fresh air then returned to the seat. The mixture was boiling away, and looked a little... yellow.
"Is it supposed to be that color?" Evans asked, flipping around in the book. "I think it's supposed to be a bit greener."
Remus peered into the cauldron then jerked back, covering his nose. "It looks... greenish."
Evans frowned but began adding the dried nettles while Remus measured out the flobberworm mucus. The potion did turn greenish after that, a little too green compared to the book. "I don't understand what we're doing wrong... should we ask the professor?" Evans glanced at Remus who shrugged, finding the smell to be getting worse. "Professor!" she raised her hand and Slughorn came over. "I think it's too green."
Slughorn squinted at the bubbling liquid. "What have you just added? The mucus? Yes, it should be a subtler shade of green. That's an indication you've added too much of the mucus and I believe too much onion."
Evans glanced at Remus who began rubbing the back of his head, a slight blush rising in his cheeks. "Is there a way to fix it?"
"An overly enthusiastic amount of either ingredient shan't hurt it too much, just make sure the rest of the ingredients are added properly." He waddled off to another table while Remus mumbled apologies. He hadn't really paid as much attention when adding the mucus as he should have because he didn't want to be too close to the potion.
Just get through it, he thought again as he began stewing the horned slugs in a smaller cauldron to the side. The rest of the potion making went a little better, though that was probably because Remus let Evans add most the ingredients while he just prepared them as well as stirred. Using their partnership like that seemed to work well and Remus actually felt glad Slughorn had made them pair up. If he had done this on his own, it would have ended really bad.
At the end of class Slughorn wandered around and examined each potion, doling out grades and even awarding two Slytherins with five points each for making 'the most perfect brew of this potion I've ever seen from a first-year' according to the teacher (one of them, Snape, looked as smug as Remus had been after Transfiguration). When Slughorn got to Remus and Evans he gave a frown and gave them decent grades, certainly not great. He assigned an essay for everyone to finish by next Thursday, and dismissed class.
"I—I didn't mean to—to—" Remus tried to speak, tried to apologize as he and Evans left class.
"It's all right," she promised, giving him a pleasant smile. "At least it wasn't as bad as Nettle and Struthers... I admit, I rather enjoyed the class. It's a lot like baking. My sister and I used to bake all the—ouch!" she yelped, being knocked into Remus as Potter and Black went running by, laughing. "Goodness, do they have to run everywhere?" Remus pulled his bag up over his shoulder and turned to go. "Wait! Do you want to come to the library with me? I guess I should say find the library. I heard it's massive so it shouldn't be too difficult." She looked at him with rather anxious eyes.
Remus bit his lip. He wanted to go to the library, knowing it'd be the location he'd be spending most his time in during school, except... one, he had a meeting to attend, and two... Can't make friends. "S—sorry, can't. I, er, have to—to—the hospital wing," he stammered out.
"Oh! Are you okay?"
Shoot. "Erm, y—yes. Sort of. Er. S—sorry." He turned and fled out of the dungeons as fast as he could, going almost as fast as Potter and Black had been going though he at least had the presence of mind to make sure he wasn't crashing into anyone. However as he dashed up a flight of stairs he tripped over his own feet and fell down, banging his chin. There were several students who saw him do this and began snickering. Only one of them approached Remus to make sure he was all right, and Remus muttered incoherently before brushing past the older student and continuing on his search for the hospital wing. He clutched his bleeding chin until he felt it heal up, then he did the best he could to wipe the blood away. There was still quite a bit on his face and plenty on his vest by the time he got to the wing.
There were great big double doors and he wasn't sure whether to knock or just go in, but as he waited the doors opened and two older students came through (one of them glancing at the blood all over Remus). He ducked his head and went through the door. McGonagall was waiting along with a young, plump woman; they both turned as the first-year came towards them.
"Hello, Mr. Lupin," McGonagall said, straightening up. "I'd like you to meet Madame Pomfrey. I think, perhaps, it would be wise to go to your office for this discussion?"
Pomfrey led the way into a side room full of healing books and some rather squashy armchairs. Pomfrey took a seat while Remus plucked at the bottom of his vest and then jumped when McGonagall pulled her wand out. "It's all right, I'm just going to clean your clothes up." She waved her wand and the blood disappeared out of his vest as well as the sleeve of his robe. Pomfrey handed Remus a damp towel to clean up the blood from his face. "What happened?"
"J—just—tripped," he managed to say.
McGonagall sat down and indicated the other chair so finally he sat down, though remained on the edge of the seat, scared of what was going to be said. It shouldn't be too bad, they're letting me come here so it should be fine.
"I thought we might discuss what to expect during the full moons, and if you have any questions of course..." She folded her hands in her lap and gazed at Remus over her glasses, much like she had earlier in the day. "I presume you either have a lunascope or subscribe to moon charts?"
He looked down at his trembling hands. "M—moon charts, ma'am. I d—do them myself."
McGonagall raised her eyebrows. "That won't taught until the end of your fourth-year."
"My p—parents learned and—and th—they taught me ages ago." He didn't want to sound like he was bragging but finding out his fellow students wouldn't be starting that until they were fourteen made him feel incredibly pleased, and he'd been able to do them since he was—
"How long have you been doing them?"
He managed to look up into her face. "S—since I w-was six. F—five years." Then the pride seized hold of him. "I h—haven't ma—made any mistakes s—since I was seven."
She and Pomfrey both looked very impressed and Remus bowed his head again so he could smile a little bit. "So the next full moon and the entire phase that will be affecting you...?" McGonagall asked.
"S—Saturday night, Sunday night, and—and Monday night." He wished he knew how the full moon affected him like it did. Nobody really knew or understood the entire reasoning behind it. Technically there was only one point, one single point in the entire month, of the moon being properly full however that wasn't the only factor. If it was, he'd turn at that moment regardless of it being night or day. No. It had to do with something else, as well as it being night. If he could see the moon in the sky during the day it didn't do anything to him (thankfully). He just wished he knew what. Or why it was more than one night... if it was only one night, oh that'd be so much better. Instead it was usually three nights, occasionally two, occasionally four.
"And the one in October?" McGonagall asked.
"The th—third, the f-f-fourth, and—and the fifth," he managed to say, though really he didn't need a moon chart to know which days would drag him into the depths of hell. Pretty much at any given time he knew exactly which phase the moon was in. No... that wasn't quite right. The wolf knew. And if the wolf knew, he knew. "No—November f—first, second, and—and third." He opened his mouth to keep going until McGonagall held a hand up.
"Very good, Mr. Lupin. And very accurate. Now, on the first day of the phase you'll need to come here to the hospital wing so Madame Pomfrey can take you to your location. Please be here at least two hours before sunset, in case of any holdups. Whatever you say to your friends and fellow students we will back you up. If you wish to say you are ill, Madame Pomfrey will concur to that story. Now, on the days you'll be missing your exams you'll be allowed to take your exams at a later date. This includes all end-of-term exams, and end-of-year exams... and eventually the O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts. For those the Ministry sends examiners to oversee these tests so it may be a bit more difficult to arrange, but rest assured Albus and I will do everything in our power to make sure you'll be able to do any and all exams."
Remus felt a little dizzy at all of this, especially the casual way McGonagall talked about him being at the school in five to seven years time. She expects me to stay, he realized. She and Dumbledore both. They—they have faith that I'll still be here, that nobody will find out...! That thought made him feel warm and quite happy.
"On the day of the first phase of the moon you may, of course, attend any class up until the two hour pre-sunset mark, however you may also be excused if that is what you wish. On the day you return to the school if you feel up to it, you may come to classes. I understand, though, that those days are usually... tiring... So it will be entirely up to you. In addition, you may stay either here or your dorm, whichever you feel most comfortable doing.
"Any questions?"
A million questions swarmed his mind and it felt like a swamp trying to get through them all. Some of them seemed too stupid to bring up, others were just plain silly. "Wh—who all on th—the staff knows?"
"The Heads of Houses so Professors Sprout, Flitwick, and Slughorn, and also Professor Dedenne who teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts."
It felt bizarre to Remus that so many people knew his secret now. It was a side effect of the whole going-to-Hogwarts he hadn't expected, and it frightened him to the core. Including Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Pomfrey that meant seven people knew. Seven people who weren't his parents. Seven people who could betray him. Six, he thought, trusting Dumbledore completely. Then, Five.
He trusted McGonagall too.
"Where—will—will I be—be going?"
McGonagall shifted in her seat. "Albus has arranged everything. There has been an addition to the grounds, a tunnel that will take you into a house that has been built for you." Remus stared in disbelief. An entire house? he marveled. Not just a tiny room somewhere? They could have just given me the tunnel... They built me an entire house? "It is completely a house, and has many heavy protection spells on it. Nobody can get in except through the secret tunnel, and Albus has added a few extra spells that activate when the full moon rises. For instance, the door that goes into the house is more or less immovable once the moon rises. Not even your..." She pressed her lips thin. "Not even your altered form will be able to get through."
Now for his biggest question. "Wh—what—what do—do—what do—" The words refused to leave his mouth, feeling heavy on his tongue. He squirmed in his seat and tried again. "What—do—I—do—" It still wouldn't come out, and now both witches were giving him strange frowns. They probably think I'm crazy. He felt a touch crazy, and also like he might cry with how everything seemed to be going, with how hard it was to say a few simple words, with how they were looking at him. He took in a deep breath, curled his hands into fists and felt his stubby fingernails digging into his palms. "What... do... I... do... if... s—someone—if--guesses--if someone--"
"If someone finds out?" McGonagall asked gently. Remus nodded, biting his tongue now to stop the tears. "I suppose it all depends on who finds out and how they react. If they are someone we can... arrange things with so they don't tell..."
That hit him like a brick. Who wouldn't tell? Besides the staff, I mean. The entire world hates creatures like me. If they don't go running to the Ministry it probably means they just want to kill me themselves. "What if—they—w—want to—Ministry?"
"We shall deal with that if it happens," McGonagall said, sternly now.
Remus didn't need her to go on. He knew what would happen. The Ministry would find out and then there'd be four results. 1. He escaped with his parents to a different country. 2. The Ministry caught them before they escaped, put him on the registry, and let him stay with his parents. 3. The Ministry caught them, put him on the registry, and sent him to one of the 'reservations' they had made for werewolves.
Remus clenched his fists even tighter as the fourth result popped into his head, and the most likely.
Four, he thought miserably. The Ministry catches us... and takes me in for execution.