Remus finally came out of hiding in his room. It had been a week since the full moon, but he felt defeated. the cycle never ended. The night he'd transform painfully into a monster would pass, then three weeks reprieve, and the full moon was back. It was a vicious cycle, and Remus was stuck. The worst of it wasn't even the transforming. It was living with people who couldn't even look at you without flinching. It was living with people who feared you for something you couldn't control.
He had no sooner come out of his room unto the main room, when he caught his mother's eye and saw the fear behind the smile. Today was different though. Remus hadn't come out to see his mother. He had heard voices, and come to see to whom they belonged.
Thats when he saw the old man. He had white hair, and a beard grander than Remus had ever seen. When Remus looked at the old man's twinkling electric blue gaze, he saw no flicker of fear. "Ah," the old man said as Remus entered the room, "you must be Remus Lupin. Just the boy I was hoping to see."
Remus didn't know why, but he found himself backing away from the kind old man. "What do you want." His voice came out stronger than he would have liked, and he found himself voicing his fears. "Come to see what a real werewolf looks like, have you?" He accused.
The old man didn't respond, he just looked at remus with an air of patience that he had never encountered before.
Remus felt the tears coming, and blinked rapidly to help contain them. "Is the real thing as horrifying as you thought?!" He spat the words at the old man with bitter force. Then he questions burst from him. "Why don't you speak?! Why don't you wince?! Why are you here?!"
The old man finally spoke, "I'm not afraid of you, Remus. I wish to invite you to my school." His voice was soft, gentle, and calm.
"School?" Remus felt his eyes dart from his mothers face to the old man's. 'They want to send me away...' "A school for people like me?"
"Exactly." The old man replied. "For people like you, for witches and wizards your age."
Remus couldn't speak for a few moments, ' 'A school for witches and wizards' The old man had said, not a school for werewolves...' He just stared at the old man. Then, "A school of magic. Like where my parent went?"
"As a matter of fact, it is exactly where your father and I went." Remus heard his mother speak for the first time since he'd entered. "Remus, meet Albus Dumbledore, the new headmaster at Hogwarts school. He has arranged for you to go to Hogwarts."
"You wouldn't want me there." Remus said at once. 'I could hurt someone...'
"Why is that?" the headmaster asked mildly. "Are you a bad student?"
"No." Remus was caught off guard by this, Dumbledore. 'He acts as if I'm just another boy. Like I'm normal…' "I'm a werewolf, hasn't anyone told you that. I'm dangerous."
"Ah, Remus." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled mysteriously. "I would never doubt for a second that you are dangerous. I have, however arranged for you to come to Hogwarts. It won't be risk free, mind you." He looked quite serious now. "If we aren't careful, you could seriously hurt one of the other students. I have complete faith that you will act responsibly, and so don't fear that will happen."
Remus felt the all too present panic strengthen, "I can't choose who is hurt!" His voice had grown high, panicky. "How are you going to keep them safe, he other students, how will you keep them safe from me?!"
Dumbledore explained the plan to Remus, and he listened carefully, weighing every word. It was a heavy plan, full of risk and could go seriously wrong, and yet he felt light with every word the headmaster uttered. It could work. He could live an almost normal life.