The Thing Not to Do in Hogwarts
A HariPo oneshot
by mew-tsubaki
Note: The Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not me. I love writing the next-gen, but I've only had the chance to write two of these OCs once before. I'm happy to write them again, as part of my head-canon. -w- Read, review, and enjoy!
- ^-^3
So, here he was at last. Teddy Lupin had made it to Hogwarts. He'd survived the train ride, found some good company on the carriage in the form of a half-Croatian boy and a half-Japanese girl, and he'd been Sorted. Yes. With pride, he could write back to Uncle Harry and say that he'd become a Gryffindor—just like him, just like his dad, and just like most of his loved ones. Grandma Meda wouldn't mind; she'd said any House would've been fine, but Teddy understood that she really meant he could pick only between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Teddy had decided on Gryffindor partially because he felt more drawn to it…and it might make life a little easier, knowing that Neville was his Head of House.
But life was not going to be a walk through the park.
He'd heard a few whispers from the older students, those who recognized his surname. And at breakfast on the first day of classes, he'd already caught a few curious looks from those watching his hair. He couldn't really help that; his hair normally stayed turquoise without a thought, though it would switch colors and waver if he got nervous.
Still, it didn't help that one of his Housemates, Harry Conrads (because there just had to be several Harrys in Teddy's year, it was to be expected), kept snickering and pointing at him. Even when the boys had turned in to the dormitory for the night, Teddy had heard Harry Conrads mumbling to another of their roommates and snickering throughout the whole night. Worst of all, Conrads and the other boy kept their voices low enough so that Teddy could hear them but couldn't make out their exact words. It kept Teddy up the whole night.
He didn't have a single reassuring thought to carry him to breakfast. But what's the alternative? Teddy wondered glumly as he pushed the food on his plate around. He glanced at the Hufflepuff table, where Reiya Hanami sat with several other giggling girls. He hadn't seen Reiya giggle when he'd met her on the train and he didn't quite get the feeling that she preferred giggling to outright laughing, but it still would've been nice to be in a House where he knew someone.
Teddy turned and looked at the other House he would've liked to be in, because Shrad Movis was there with the other Ravenclaws. Shrad was just as cool as Teddy had initially thought on the Hogwarts Express, because he wasn't one of those eagles who had a book to read with every meal. Instead, Shrad reminded Teddy a bit of Luna's husband, Rolf, who had always come across to him as a Gryffindor accidentally Sorted into Ravenclaw.
As if Shrad had heard the comment aloud, he looked over his shoulder and grinned before Teddy could turn and pretend he hadn't been staring. They had a couple of classes together and one with Reiya, Teddy had learned already, but that wasn't the same as being in Gryffindor together.
Which is probably just as well, Teddy thought as the day meandered on and he had Potions with Slughorn, Herbology with Neville, and Charms with Flitwick. I've been known to be a handful for Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny at times, especially when playing with Vic or James. And Gryffindor's definitely the House of pranksters. He smiled at that, thinking of George and his shop, and of all the stories Uncle Harry and Molly and Arthur had told him about the Marauders.
He continued to smile as he heard Uncle Harry's voice in his head for the third time that day as he went to lunch, repeating the story of Remus and Sirius getting on each other's nerves prior to the reconstitution of the Order when Sirius was living at Remus' place. They'd always gotten on well, Uncle Harry had told Teddy. Apparently Teddy's mum had said the same thing of his father and Sirius.
After lunch, Teddy went to Transfiguration, where he quieted his smile to a tiny grin. McGonagall liked all his lot, but she'd briefly retired and then returned to working at Hogwarts (just to teach their kids, Uncle Ron liked to joke), so Teddy knew to step lightly around her.
That was easier said than done with Conrads sitting behind him.
"Oi! Oi, Wolf Boy!"
At once, Teddy's skin heated up and went cold. He's just poking fun at your name, Ted, the Metamorphmagus told himself. He focused on the lock of hair in front of his eyes, and on keeping it turquoise.
"Oi, you! Lupin! Do you turn into a regular wolf?"
The Ravenclaws and their fellow lions began whispering, and a few of them turned their way. Teddy could feel several pairs of eyes on him, and he tried not to blush as badly Percy could when teased by George and Uncle Ron.
"Or do you turn as vulgarly blue as your hair? I bet the other werewolves don't like you for that."
"What do we do if someone teases us?" Aunt Hermione had asked Teddy once after he and Victoire had gotten into a fight two years ago over some dumb toy. Aunt Hermione had bored holes into him with that stare of hers. "Well, Teddy?"
"We don't hit," he'd said.
"Correct. Or bite," she'd added with a look to Victoire. Vic only had shrugged. "We use our words."
But as sensible as that advice was, Teddy wanted nothing more than to sock Harry Conrads right in the conk.
Instead, Teddy stared forward, wishing Headmistress McGonagall would show up to her class and teach them already.
"Got nothing to say, Lupin? Wolf got your tongue?" Conrads added. Teddy could just hear the sneer in his voice.
"Just that you don't deserve to share my godfather's first name, Conrads," Teddy replied. When the class went "ooh" and Conrads shut up for a moment, Teddy felt quite pleased with himself. Aunt Hermione would be proud. Uncle Harry would've grinned and tried not to laugh.
Conrads scoffed. "Better to have the name of some washed-out hero," he said, and Teddy cringed at the hateful description of his godfather, "than to be the spawn of a werewolf. And a Metamorphmagus. You're just all kinds of crazy, aren't you, Lupin?"
That was it. Teddy turned around and gave Conrads what he thought was his best glare yet.
But Conrads just sneered. "Why'd you stop with a look? Aren't you going to scratch me with your claws?"
"Conrads, shut up, you bloody git," Shrad said from across the aisle. Teddy could hear his chair scraping on the floor as he stood.
"No," Conrads replied. "Parents didn't want their kids to be taught by a werewolf before, so their kids shouldn't have to go to school with one now either."
"Shut up, you—!" Teddy froze, fumbling for the right words.
"Or what?" Conrads raised one slimy, inky eyebrow as a taunt.
So Teddy said the worst thing he could think of: "Shut up, you little Voldemort wannabe!"
The class gasped. Even Conrads was stunned into silence, and his tanned skin paled.
Teddy thought he'd won…but then footsteps approached his desk, and McGonagall loomed over him. "Ted Remus Lupin," she said very sharply, "do not ever say such a thing to someone ever again! To make myself very clear to all of you here, Mr. Lupin will be spending dinner serving detention with me. Do you hear me?"
"Y-Yes, Professor McGonagall," Teddy squeaked.
"Very well." The withered witch suddenly didn't seem so old as she strode to the front of the room and began her lecture.
As the class trudged on slowly, Teddy barely heard a word of what she said, and he couldn't concentrate. It wasn't as though he'd sworn. "Voldemort" was just a name…wasn't it? Uncle Harry had told him that constantly. And what was it that Aunt Hermione said? "Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself"? Surely Teddy hadn't done anything so severe…because it was just a name, right?
After class, Teddy waited for the others to pour out before he approached McGonagall's desk. McGonagall looked at him over the rims of her glasses. "Yes, Mr. Lupin?"
"I…" His mouth went dry. Would it do him any good to defend himself and say he'd been raised not to fear that name? "Conrads was making fun of my parents. He said I'm just like them. That I'm crazy." He hated how weak his voice sounded.
McGonagall turned quiet for a full minute. "Your parents were not crazy, Mr. Lupin, and neither are you. But that doesn't mean that you can call someone 'Vol…demort' as if it's nothing." She sighed. "Even after all this time, I still find the name hard to say. And you were not the only person to lose loved ones in the war," she reminded him.
From behind him, someone cleared his throat, and Shrad came up to McGonagall's desk. "Excuse me, professor."
"May I help you, Mr. Movis?"
Shrad glanced at Teddy and then focused on the witch. "I think you heard wrong."
Teddy gawked at him. He'd heard stories of telling McGonagall she was wrong. They weren't pretty. But he was too stunned by Shrad to interrupt.
McGonagall seemed amused. "What did you hear, then, Mr. Movis?"
"Ted here didn't say that name you think you heard, professor. He…" Shrad cleared his throat again. His yellow-brown eyes twinkled. "He called Harry Conrads a 'bowl of wart wannabe.'"
It was a terrible excuse, but even Teddy could understand how saying "bowl of wart" fast sounded a fair bit like "Voldemort."
"A 'bowl of wart'?" McGonagall echoed.
"Yes, headmistress."
"Does anyone else think I misheard Mr. Lupin?"
Shrad nodded and turned, motioning someone else to enter the classroom. Reiya ran up to McGonagall's desk and stood between the two boys. "Sorry, professor, but I heard it, too. Ted said 'bowl of wart' clear as crystal."
McGonagall smiled gently now, which frightened Teddy more than her temper did. She went back to marking up her notes. "Is that so? Well, then, I'm afraid I judged you too quickly, Mr. Lupin. My apologies, and you will not serve detention."
"Thank you very much, professor," Teddy rushed, and the three students waited for her to motion them to leave.
Once they were near the door and after Teddy had exchanged grateful looks with both Shrad and Reiya, McGonagall cleared her throat. "If you did, in fact, hear me, Miss Hanami, then I will pray that you do not skip whatever class you'd been in to join the Gryffindor–Ravenclaw Transfiguration block again."
Even in the dim lighting, Teddy could see Reiya pink and Shrad roll his eyes. But he waited to laugh until they were far down the corridor. "Thanks, guys," Teddy said.
"No problem," Shrad said. "Conrads is a jerk anyway. Just because his dad plays for the Cannons, he's full of himself." He glanced at Reiya and frowned. "But I shouldn't have flagged you down when you passed by and asked you to help me get Teddy out of trouble," he said to her.
"Are you joking? I should've just taken some Ravenclaw girl's cloak, but you were short on time." Reiya seemed pleased with herself, despite the obvious Hufflepuff hole in their plan.
Teddy laughed again, still in disbelief that the fast friends he'd made on the train had turned out to be so much more. School rules mattered, as they'd just learned, but perhaps House boundaries didn't…
- ^-^3
Okay, kind of dumb, but I wanted to see Teddy make friends… :3 Shrad and Reiya come from my old fic, Night Flying, because the three friends are Aurors together, but I got to thinking about them more and what they would've been like when they were younger. Harry Conrads' parents are from some other oneshots, too, but that's nothing important, though *spoiler* he'd eventually become friends with this trio. I think my fav part of this was McGonagall, though, acting as though her hearing had failed her…but letting them know she knew what they were doing because Reiya wasn't even in that class. XD How Dumbledore of Minerva!
Well, thanks for reading, and please review!
-mew-tsubaki :]