By the Light of the Moon
PART THREE
"Remus’s Story"
By RavenNat
"Perfectly understood, yes sir, Mr. Basil Zaine sir…" Remus muttered sarcastically under his breath, clutching his pass from Professor Zaine to Transfiguration. His fist shook in anger and the wolf’s voice whispered loudly in his head.
"Why didn’t you scream at him, threaten to bite him, just hurt him."
"Because he’s a professor!" Remus hissed under his breath. He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. The wolf was not going to get the better of him. He reached the Transfiguration room after wandering about for quite some time trying to find it. He pushed the door open and walked in confidently.
"Are you by any chance…Remus?" the young professor asked, "We’ve been waiting for you." Remus nodded and the Professor smiled. "I’m Professor McGonagall. Please be seated next to…" She paused, consulting a chart. "James Potter."
Remus took a seat next to James and whispered "Hi."
"Did you get lost?" asked James.
"Yeah…" Remus lied.
"Me too." said James. Remus glanced back up at Professor McGonagall who was fumbling with some papers.
"Sorry…this is only my first year teaching here at Hogwarts…" she mumbled. Then, putting on a stern face, she turned to the class and said, "Open your textbooks to page ten."
Remus pulled out his book and flipped it open.
"Remus," Professor McGonagall said, "We just discussed the importance of Transfiguration while you weren’t here. You may review that, as it is explained on the second page of your textbook."
Remus nodded again. He was glad to have at least one nice teacher, even if she tried to act a little strict. The class worked on transfiguring a match into a needle. Remus had little luck, as did the rest of the class. James, however, got it on his second try.
"Magnificent!" Professor McGonagall cried, "Look at this! My, my Mr. Potter. You have quite a talent for transfiguration!"
James blushed furiously as the class crowded around to see his needle. Professor McGonagall challenged him to turn it back to a match, and James did so effortlessly. Remus gave him a thumbs-up and James grinned.
"Have you ever studied transfiguration Mr. Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"No," James muttered, "I didn’t even look at my textbook before now…"
"Really?" she asked, amazed, "Quite talent…I’ll have to inform the headmaster."
"Please don’t." James said, going red in the face, "Really, it’s nothing."
Just as Professor McGonagall opened her mouth to protest, the bell rang. James gathered up his things and followed Remus out of the classroom.
"Wow." said Remus, "How did you do that?"
James shook his head. "I don’t know. I just said the spell…"
"Lucky you. My match still looks just like a match!" Remus said grinning. He followed James through the halls, searching for the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.
"It’s got to be around here somewhere!" James moaned. They finally heard voices from a room down the hall and stuck their heads in. Sure enough, they recognized Sirius and Peter sitting at two desks in the back. Remus and James entered and took seats as well.
"Hello my fellow marauders!" Sirius whispered.
"Marauders?" asked James.
"It means thieves, or sneaky people." Remus said.
"Thank you Mr. Webster’s." Sirius said sarcastically.
"But I’m not a thief!" Peter said warily.
"It’s just a nickname." James said grinning, "And I happen to like it."
"Why Marauders?" asked Remus curiously.
"Because, you are going to help me become the most infamous prankster Hogwarts will ever meet!" Sirius said, smiling almost evilly.
"You me pranksters. It’s plural Sirius!" James whispered enthusiastically.
"Pranksters…?" Remus asked, "Why would we want to get in trouble?"
"Remus, Remus, Remus," Sirius said, shaking his head, "We are going to be famous. Is getting in trouble all you can think about?"
"I’m in." James said confidently.
"Me too." Remus added.
"I guess that makes me the fourth Marauder." squeaked Peter.
"Students?" a voice said from the front of the classroom, "May I have your attention up here?"
Remus raised his head to see a middle aged professor with reddish-brown hair and sparkling hazel eyes. He was hoisting several tanks onto shelves around the room, each inhabited by an odd looking creature. A poster hung on the wall reading "Protect yourself- Study Defense Against the Dark Arts!"
"My name is Professor Alder," the man said, "And I will be your Defense teacher this year. We will be covering such topics as kappas, banshees, vampires, werewolves…"
Remus shuddered. Could he keep his calm during that lesson?
"…redcaps, boggarts, and a variety of other dark creatures. We will also study basic protection spells. Please open your books up to page six."
Remus flipped open his book and saw a page filled with illustrations of various animals, each one scarier then the next. Remus noticed a gruesome werewolf, it’s teeth glistening with blood. He coughed suddenly, almost out of surprise.
"You okay Remus?" whispered Sirius.
"Fine." he said casually, "Just an allergy." Remus played with the edge of the page, trying not to stare at the horrible picture.
"Look at that one!" he heard James say, "It’s so gross!"
"And the vampire…. and werewolf!" said Peter quivering.
Remus winced. This lesson couldn’t end soon enough.
"Mr. Lupin!" Professor Alder snapped, "Since you seem to be so interested in the page we are supposed to be on, can you tell me the characteristics of a red-cap?"
"A small, goblin-like creature that dwells in places of blood-shed. They can be vanquished with a simple venicus spell." Remus recited, almost monotonously
Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Go Remus!" he whispered.
Professor Alder looks surprised and then his face narrowed. "Alright then. Since you seem to be familiar with red-caps…what about vampires?"
"Vampires are humans infected with the vampire curse. It causes them to become inhuman, and have the urge to suck human blood. They can be distracted by the scent of garlic and killed by a stake through the heart."
"Very well, Mr. Lupin. How about werewolves?"
Remus swallowed, trying not to cry…or give himself away. He could feel the wolf’s rage building up inside him. He took a deep breath and said, "The werewolf is one of the only truly human dark creatures. On the night of the full moon, a human affected by the curse of the werewolf transforms into a monster. The transformations are incredibly painful for werewolves."
"And how do you kill a werewolf, Remus?" asked Professor Alder, deathly calm.
"A silver arrow." choked Remus.
"And what are some ways to hurt a werewolf?"
"Pure wolfsbane or silver objects."
"Thank you Mr. Lupin." said Professor Alder, "You are obviously very knowledgeable on the topic of dark creatures. Could you, perhaps tell the class how you know so much?"
"My mum taught me. I didn’t plan to attended Hogwarts, as I was supposed to move." lied Remus. Professor Alder shot Remus an angry look.
"Thank you. Now, for homework, please read pages seven to fifteen, titled ‘Introduction to Dark Creatures’. Class dismissed."
A/n: ooh. Isn’t Professor Alder SO mean? He is worse then Professor Zaine! Ick! Remus is having such a wonderful first day, huh? I had an odd day today too…not anything that would interest you all, but it was rather random. We saw a program on Yiddish folk music, and then we talked about fire hydrant bolts and why they are pentagons in Geometry…it was…an interesting sort of day. Oh, and a few things. Whoever reviewed and said Dumbledore was OOC when he called Remus "weak," I meant, sick, weak in that sense…I realized after the reason for the confusion, bad wording on my part. Here’s a few titles of good stories I’ve read, and you might want to check out in-between chapters:
End of the Tunnel, Nail a Pudding on the Wall, Sanctuary, Rom, and What Lies Beneath.
Please r/r! (I live on reviews, I accept flames…. but they need to include some constructive criticism!)
