The Lion and the Wolf

Year One

Chapter One

Lions and Badgers, Oh My

September 1st, 1991

Sunday

Nervousness. That was what he felt. All it could be was just nerves. This would be the first time away from his Uncle. After years with him, today was the day that he would finally go out into the world alone. Sure, it was in a controlled environment, but it was all new to him. How could he not be consumed by his nerves?

At least, that was the train of thought that the boy had. He wasn't such an oddity of a boy, though it did seem that his hair was completely unmanageable. The black color was rich and dark, but in the light it had a strange reddish hue to it that seemed out of place. But compared to the rest of the residents on the train, he just seemed to be an average little boy with average features, nothing was overly striking about him to the point he would have been perfectly described as forgettable.

That was until you got to the eyes. They were a brilliant shade of green that would easily put a forest to shame in its depth and vibrancy of color. But the boy knew that it was only temporary. His uncle told him so. Now that he was eleven, he would be going through some peculiar changes. Thanks to his age, he would be able to keep his secret and just hide the changes under the guise of sickness and puberty. But he knew that he was just under the surface. He could hear him, feel him. He knew him, and knew that he was always waiting in the shadows.

It was when he would make an appearance, his eyes would change. In the blink of an eye, his eyes changed from their deep green to a glowing amber. It was the only warning someone would have to know they were no longer dealing with the boy, but with him.

His uncle was the same way. He was told from a very young age exactly who, and what, his uncle was. What it was that lay beneath the surface of skin and conscience. He was told stories that before he finally accepted the life he had, the second skin would be kept under control but since the boy had come into his life, he had to accept it. For the boy's sake, since the boy would also grow to know. His uncle described it similarly to having a second personality, which the muggles would have diagnosed as dissociative identity disorder or schizophrenia. But it wasn't the same. He was the same person, he would never lose complete control, but he was like having a different side of himself. The opposite sides of coin, if one had to put a name on it.

His Uncle used to fight it when he was younger, trying to stave off the underlying beast with potions and drugs. But when the boy was orphaned, he had to change that. He passed along his sickness and now had to deal with the consequences. But as the years passed, they learned new things that were never recorded in books. They were not feral unless they denied the beast. Deny the beast and the beast would grow angry. Accept it, and you would have control at all times even when the beast was at its strongest. His uncle eventually figured this out and gave the boy a good piece of advice. "If you deny who you are, you will only destroy yourself. Accept it, and you shall live in peace."

But it had to be kept secret, at least for now. Wizards were never really warm to the idea of his kind. If the wrong person found out, he would be instantly arrested and thrown away. It was the law. He had never registered and neither did his uncle. Once an unregistered was found, depending on the length of time and age they had been unregistered, they could face a heavy financial penalty or locked away for good under the guise that they were "a danger to society". It was a load of trash, but it was the current reality in the wizarding world.

The boy lucked out, because his uncle knew the Headmaster to his new school. The old teacher had once given provision for his uncle, and was now doing the same. Of course the Headmaster needed to know, or else someone could possibly find out, or worse, get hurt. But the boy had learned to be careful. He needed to be. He had been taught for too many years and had played the mask of innocence for far too long. But his first test wasn't too far away.

He was currently siting in an empty compartment of a scarlet red train on the way to school, a wizarding school. He had been brought up in the muggle world, though his uncle made sure he received an adequate teaching on the going-ons of the magical world. He wasn't ignorant of what was there, he was just uncomfortable with it. He was too shy, too withdrawn to be able to handle leaving everything he knew behind for the next year. Sure, he could go and see his uncle on holidays, but he was virtually going alone.

He was staring out the window, watching a rowdy bunch of red heads pile giving their good-byes to whom could only be their parents. It was a bit loud outside with all the hustle and bustle of the crowded train station, but he had always been really good at hearing what he wanted to. It was one of his natural gifts. He only caught the tail end of the excitement from two twins saying something about "…even has the scar! Wonder if he remembers You-know-who". The mother became very stern, told the boys off, and then pushed them all to get on the train as the final whistle blew.

The boy just sighed, and turned away from the window. This was going to be a long year, and he knew it was most definitely be lonely. It had to be, or else someone might catch on. But his thoughts of loneliness were quickly shattered at the compartment door was quickly thrown open. It seemed the twins from the large group of red heads and a boy of similar age but ebony skin had decided that this would be their new place to ride to school. The boy just scooted closer to the window and hoped that they wouldn't notice him in all the excitement.

"Tell you what Lee. He really is the Boy-who-lived. Has the scar right there on his forehead." The first twin said.

"Right-o brother," The second twin spoke. "He is currently sitting with our ickle brother Ronnie, at the back of the train. Weird though, that he was alone. No friends or nothing."

"Come off it George," the first twin responded. "You know that he was hidden away from the public. Had to keep him safe, didn't they?"

"I suppose that's right Fred. Well, good on him. Maybe he'll be a lion, and we can take him under our wing and turn him into a proper prankster."

"Um… Fred? George?"

"Yes Lee?" the twins responded in sync like they practiced it, which fascinated the small green eyed boy.

The dark skinned friend just laughed at their antics, but continued on. "While it's just atrociously interesting to listen to you gab on about some firstie, you have failed to notice that we have our very own firstie right here with us."

The twin's eyebrows shot up and looked over in the direction that Lee was pointing, near the window. They had completely overlooked the small dark haired boy when they came in. It was as if he hadn't existed at all in the first place.

"Well, well, well. I suppose you are right Lee. How rude of us to ignore our afternoon company. I'm Gred Weasley"

"And I'm Forge Weasley. And that over there is Lee Jordan."

Lee just laughed again. "Ignore them. It's just George and Fred." He said. "They are great pranksters and will do anything for a laugh."

The boy just nodded as he listened, uncomfortable with the attention he was given from the older students.

"Say, we have given you our names, who are you?"

"Oh, s-sorry. I'm Harry. Harry Potter."

"I don't recognize the name. You a muggleborn?"

Harry immediately got defensive about it, and the older boys could sense the tension right away.

"I don't mean to offend you. Were aren't some pure blood fanatics, just curious. Seeing if you needed any help navigating this big wide world we live in."

"N-no. I am half-blood. My Dad was a wizard and my mum was a witch."

"Was?" George caught.

"Um, yeah. They were murdered during the last war."

"You mean," Lee interrupted, "you are the son of the late great James and Lily Potter? I didn't even know they had a kid."

"Y-yeah. They went into hiding before I was born. I guess it just wasn't public knowledge."

"Wow. That's so cool," Fred said. "It's like you are this great wartime secret. That's even cooler than being the Boy-Who-Lived."

"Definitely," his twin added.

"Well Harrykins, consider yourself officially Weasley adopted. I think my brother will agree that instead of making the famous kid our protégé, you will be even better. As long as you don't end up in Slytherin of course."

"Actually Fred, we will do it especially if he is a slimy snake. At that point we will have an in!"

"Too right brother, too right."

"So what do you say Harry?" The boys said, again synchronizing their words as if practiced.

"I-I don't know. I'm n-not very much fun."

"Ah, look at him. All nervous and such. Such a twitchy little thing. No worries Harry. Your permission is just a formality. We'll help you along so you will have the best first year ever."

While Harry was still really uncomfortable with the attention, especially if he wanted to stay hidden, he couldn't help that he felt extremely relieved that someone wanted to possibly be friends. Though this was a weird way of doing things. He got so lost in that feeling that he almost missed the excitement in George's voice.

"Wicked Harry. Do that again!"

"Huh?" harry said, slightly confused.

"Your eyes. They went from that green to something completely different and then back. I almost missed it but it was super cool. Do it again!"

"I-I d-d-don't know what you're talking about…"

"Hmmm. Must have been a trick of the lights then. Oh well."

Harry couldn't believe that he got away with, but from the looks that the three older boys had, he really doubted they would let it drop. This was why he didn't get close. He wanted to get out so badly that if Harry didn't pay attention, he would let him loose. He just feel silent, ignored the boys, and stared out the window for the rest of the trip.

He had only been away from his uncle for an hour, and already he had already slipped.

He wasn't sure how he was going to keep it secret. How could one even do that?

How does one keep being a werewolf a secret?

Harry was relieved to finally have gotten off of the train. While the older boys kept trying to include him in conversation, he would just shake his head and stay quiet. He had been trying to deal hiding all over again. It went against everything his uncle taught him over the last few years, before telling him to hide his woflishness again.

His uncle realized one day that if one were to embrace their inner wolf, be proud of it and accept it, they wouldn't be so dangerous. Sure, they were born killing machines, but the viciousness of a werewolf would only reflect the viciousness of the man. Harry knew his wolf wasn't one who enjoyed fights, but was more of a protector and wanted to find a pack to project. Harry was loyal, so his wolf was loyal. He was kind, so his wolf was kind. But where Harry was passive and didn't want the attention, his wolf was strong and preened under recognition. Harry would be the one to help seek redemption for anyone, but the wolf was one who wasn't afraid to kill for the sake of his pack, whoever that ended up being.

But when one accepted the wolf, it gave it a modicum of control outside the full moon as it gave a similar amount of control away during the moon. It was a balance that helped werewolves, and was better suited to reducing the danger of werewolf attacks than the Wolfsbane Potion. In the end, that potion just made everything worse, and destroyed the balance. Miss a month, and untold horrors would result. Harry knew this, but had to find the balance in control so that he could stay hidden, which was not easy to convince the wolf of since he liked the attention. This was going to be difficult.

If you make it difficult Harry, than it will be. But compromise with me, and all will be well.

Harry shook his head. This was not the time to have a conversation with the wolf.

I'm not just the wolf, I am you…. We can have a better balance if you just accept that.

Harry ignored the thoughts. He pushed through the crowds, hearing a giant of a man calling out to the first year students.

You are right, this is not the time or the place… But we will chat Harry… Ignoring me will only serve to hurt you and hurt others…

Fear gripped Harry. He didn't want harm to come to anyone, especially if they were nice like the Weasley's. He resolved to talk to the wolf later before bed, which the wolf just grinned with appreciation. But focusing on his surroundings, Harry found himself with a bunch of other first years, standing around on a dock with a bunch of boats tied up.

"A'right. Everyone in. No more than four to a boat." The half giant told them.

The braver ones, or maybe the ones who were just more excited, got in first, claiming boats for themselves. Harry reluctantly climbed into a boat after a posh looking blonde kid, and his two bookends of a friend. He sat down, only for the blonde to speak up with a sneer.

"No mudbloods aloud. You should mind your betters, and find somewhere else to sit."

Harry just raised an eyebrow, "Awfully presumptuous of you to think you know my blood status, which you are wrong. Interesting. But maybe you're right and I will find another boat. Find myself in worthy company and worth my time."

It wasn't until he climbed into a new boat, with a bushy haired girl and an Irish bloke, that Harry realized he didn't say that. That wasn't him at all. THAT was the wolf. He shuddered, and hoped that it was dark enough to hide his eye change. The blonde was someone who most definitely was not to be trusted with the little things, let alone something as big as his condition.

The girl on the boat immediately tried to start a conversation, something about being a "Granger" and her parent's being dentists. It was difficult to keep up with the girl as she just spewed as much information as she could. The other boy introduced himself as Seamus Finnegan, though he couldn't say much as the girl kept on going which was fine. It kept Harry from introducing himself, and definitely from making a fool of himself any further than he had already today.

Luckily though, the boat ride was rather short, and the girl didn't talk much as she was overwhelmed by the sight Hogwarts when they came around a bend in the lake. The castle was gorgeous as it was lit up from the inside, giving it a strange shape against the darkness of the sky. But even then it was still captivating. This was going to be their new home for the next seven years.

They all landed on shore without much fanfare, and the giant man that was leading brought them to a large entrance hall after a brisk walk across the grounds. On the left hand side of the Hall was a massive set of doors, closed it seemed but there was a large continual roar coming from within. Maybe, Harry thought, this was where all the rest of the students were. Possibly a dining hall of sorts? Maybe an auditorium?

Hagrid, which was the man's name he found out later, led them to a smaller door just between the large staircase and large doors that were hiding the rest of the student body. Hagrid knocked twice, only to find a stern looking woman, with a painfully tight bun and emerald green robes, opening the doors. She was introduced as Professor Minerva McGonagall, teacher of Transfiguration, Deputy Headmistress, and Head of Gryffindor House. She led them in and given the rundown of how the school worked. There were four different houses, into which they were to be sorted, that would be like their families for the next seven years. It was a permanent sorting, so they would need to learn to get along with their dorm mates no matter who they were or where they came from. Everything in the school, except for personal grades, revolved around these houses. Quidditch, classes, rules, and pretty much everything else. Harry knew all of this, talking with his uncle, so he tuned it out.

He observed all of the students around him, trying to figure out if anyone was going to be worth knowing. He saw a boy who looked a lot like the twins, as he was tall and had the flaming red hair. This must have been "Ronnie", though if the twins were prone to call him Harrykins, he doubted Ronnie was the boy's real name or even his nickname. He was standing next to a slightly chubby, though not overly so, sandy blonde haired boy. He had a great big smile on his face as "Ronnie" whispered something in his ear. Harry, despite his enhanced hearing, didn't care enough to listen closely. This boy, if what the twins were saying was true about their brother's sitting arrangements on the train, was going to be the Boy-who-lived.

Not that Harry cared. His uncle explained things about the other boy off hand to help explain why his own parent's had been murdered, but there was never much detail other than he was able to stop Voldemort in some mysterious way as a baby. But he was never the focus, and Harry always thought that if he was a baby at the time, he surely wasn't going to be important now. If he was going to interact with him, it would be for him, not because of some mystery happening ten years ago. But if he was famous, he doubted he would get the chance to talk. Maybe it was better that way.

He was stirred from his thoughts as the stern professor led them through a different door than they came through, and came into a grand dining hall. There were four long tables filled with all sorts of students, though each one had banners over them, signaling to which house they belonged to. Harry was a bit intimidated by the number of students looking at him. Well, rationally, they were not looking at him but rather in his general direction since he was in the middle of a line of first years.

They were brought to the front, standing towards what could only be assumed as the staff table, as no students could be found sitting there. Professor McGonagall grabbed a stool and a very ratty old hat, placing them before an old man with brightly colored robes and an unnecessarily long white beard. The whole dining hall went silent, as though they were expecting something to happen, causing Harry to shuffle a little bit. A small yelp came out of the girl next to him, a small little Indian girl he thought, which in turn spooked him even further. This was of course at the fault of the hat, which came to life and started singing.

When the hat finished its lengthy tune about house values, Professor McGonagall directed them to come up when their name was called.

The first person he recognized was Finnegan, the Irish boy from the boat, who became a Gryffindor. He was followed by Granger, whose name ended up being Hermione, who also became a Gryffindor. When they reached a new name, Longbottom, the whole hall started buzzing.

"Is that him?"

"I think it is! It's the Boy-who-lived"

"I can't believe he is here."

The boy in question, a one Neville Longbottom, went up to the stool with a slight hesitation. Harry was correct in his assumption earlier in that the chubby blonde was who he thought he was. This particular time, the hat sat for some time until finally calling out…

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The hall exploded. The houses, minus the Slytherin house, all joined in the thunderous clapping and the twins could be heard singing, "We got Neville, We got Neville."

Longbottom looked relieved as he took his seat with the lions, and was replaced on the stool by the nasty blonde from the boat. Draco Malfoy was his name, and even before the hat touched his head Slytherin was proclaimed. It wasn't until after the Patil twins finished being sorted that Harry finally was called.

"Potter, Harry."

Unlike the whispers for Neville Longbottom, the hall was silent. The boy took a breath and calmly walked towards the hat. It was placed on his head as soon as he sat down.

"Ah, hello Mr. Potter. Interesting, there is two of you here. That will make this most difficult."

Harry started to panic. While he knew that the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, was allowing him to come to school, the hat knowing is completely different.

"Calm down Mr. Potter. Your secret is safe with me, as was Mr. Lupin's. No need to worry."

Listen to the hat Harry, the wolf responded trying to settle the boy down. It's going to be all right. Just breathe…

"Thank you, now let's get this going. You are very brave, but not reckless about it. You are smart, but do not crave knowledge for its own sake. You are cunning, but have no ambition. You are loyal and hardworking, but you do not trust easily. This is a very interesting puzzle Mr. Potter. You are a good mix of the four houses, but not a perfect fit for any. This is good. You will do well anywhere, but I think you need a neutral ground with no expectations for you to flourish to be YOU above all else. Better be….

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The Hufflepuff house clapped loudly, though Harry smiled when he heard the Weasley twins groan about "losing Potter". He made his way down to the table and sat down with the other freshly sorted first years to watch the rest of the sorting but with little interest. He was too consumed by what the Hat said. Was this truly a neutral ground where he could just be Harry? Could be a place where he could be accepted?

Food appeared before him once the sorting ending, and the hall exploded with chatter. New students introducing themselves, old ones catching up. The same was happening around Harry, as each student introduced themselves. There was Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Ernest or Ernie Macmillan, Megan Jones, Wayne Hopkins, and Harry last but not least. Harry let them all talk about themselves, and stayed out of the spot light. Right before they could interrogate the small werewolf, Dumbledore stood up, asking for their attention.

He gave out several announcements, such as forbidden items and an even more forbidden forest. But the peculiar part was about an entire corridor of the castle being forbidden. How could a school be a place to have an issue where a corridor would led to a painful death? Uncle Remus needed to know about this as soon as possible. It was just too strange.

But he was released to the dorms, after following the prefects, to do to bed before he could voice any concern. He was led out towards a small hallway next to the dining hall, which he found out was just called the Great Hall, and down a set of stairs. At the far end of the next hall was a rather large painting of fruit and across from that a dark alcove where some barrels were neatly stacked.

Harry watched intently when the prefect showed them all the combination of taps on the various barrels they needed to use to get into the Hufflepuff Common Room. The prefect also stressed the importance of timing and cadence, saying that the rhythm needed to be close to perfect or else they would face the consequences. Since it was not a password that could change like the other houses, there were extra security measures that would prohibit non-Hufflepuff students to get in.

Once inside, they were brought into a cozy room that instantly reminded Harry of a hobbit hole from the old books his uncle used to read to him. The room was earthy, light browns in the wood supports, various potted plants all around the common rom, and black and yellow furniture. When Harry first saw the combination of colors for his house back in the Great Hall he was mildly concerned but now that he saw it all work together, it didn't seem as garish as first supposed.

There in the middle of the room stood a stumpy little witch, grey hairs flying every which way, and a bit of dirt on her apron. She had a friendly smile that could calm the nerves of any student, and she had aura of trustfulness that had been known to bring in students who were in need of some help. Once all the students came in and took in the room, she finally addressed the first years.

"Welcome everyone. My name is Professor Pamona Sprout, teacher of Herbology here at Hogwarts, and Head of Hufflepuff House. I am excited to see you here in my house, and am delighted to see what the future holds for each and every single one of you."

"A few things you should be aware of. First, as your Head of House, I am always open to you outside of classroom hours. Should you need anything from tutoring to a listening friend, I am available to you all. Secondly, since this is your first year I shall be setting up monthly meetings with you individually for the first semester to help you digest this transition. This will be mandatory, but come January until the end of your school career, you are free to schedule such meetings on a continuing basis. Third, as soon as I am done, you shall be escorted to your various rooms. Earlier this year we had to remodel the dorms, and as such you are going to be getting a single room to house yourself and one roommate versus the previous sharing of one room for all of your year. You have been randomly assigned a roommate but they can be switched at any time upon approval."

"Lastly, during your stay here you shall be a representative of Hufflepuff House. That comes with a few expectations. Our values are hard work, patience, tolerance, loyalty, dedication, and most of all kindness. I encourage you all to find ways in which you personally embody these things. The only thing I one hundred percent do not approve of is bullying. If you are bullied at all, let me know immediately. If I find that someone here is a bully, I will find retribution. Our house already has an unfair reputation of being push overs in the same way that Slytherin has the unfair reputation of being evil. This is cause for us to be unified on all fronts, and confrontations and corrections should be done in private. Respect one another, for from here on out, we are family."

"Now, come collect your room assignments, and off to bed with you. I'm sure you have all had a long day."

They proceeded forward to be given their room assignments and make their way into the dorm rooms. Harry found himself paired up with Wayne Hopkins, who from dinner was shown to be quiet and reserved much like Harry was. Personally, Harry was glad that he got Wayne as Ernie seemed a bit stuck up and Justin was a bit too loud and boisterous for his taste.

He got to the room and opened the door and let Wayne in through first. Stepping in, he began his inspection. The room had that same comfortable feel that the common room did, but on a much smaller scale. There were two of everything; beds, desks, shelves, wardrobes. It was everything they needed. A bathroom was off to the side on the right, while the left contained a nice little reading nook with a lamp and a couple of cozy chairs.

Their trunks were already at the edge of a bed, placing Harry near the reading nook and Hopkins near the bathroom. He started to unpack his things but he was interrupted.

"Well, I suppose since we are going to be dorm mates from here on out, we should know each other a bit."

Harry turned from his trunk and found Hopkins standing at a comfortable distance, not too close to encroach on his personal space but not too fair that it made it look like he was afraid of Harry. He put out his to shake which Harry cautiously grasped.

"My name is Wayne Hopkins."

"Harry Potter"

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Potter. I must say, with as quiet as you were at dinner I am very pleased I am rooming with you rather than the other two boys."

Harry giggled, "Yeah, I agree. They were a bit much. And call me Harry."

Wayne nodded with his own smile creeping on his face. "Only if you call me Wayne."

"Now, Harry, let's get unpacked and get to bed. I am completely knackered. How about we go to breakfast tomorrow bit early, so we can explore the castle. Sound like an alright plan?"

"Sounds brilliant. Exploring the castle it is."

"Then I wish you a good night."

"Night Wayne."