Trojan Horse – Part I: Snow
My thanks to CLS for allowing me to use the Black Shadow, and for the very best of advice.
This story is set not long after 'The League Against Voldemort.'
Disclaimer: just about everything in this is the property of J K Rowling.
~
Remus pulled his chair closer to the fire. This weather was very unusual, almost a fortnight of continuous snow and freezing temperatures. Even in north Wales under the shadow of Mt Snowdon, there was rarely more than a few days of snow all winter. But now it was piled high around the walls of his house and blocked the door. Was it simply freak weather, or something different? He didn't know.
At least he could keep the fire going, whatever happened. And there was always water. But as for food – it had been a week and a half since the roads to the shops were passable, and his larder was almost completely empty. How were all the families in the village coping, he wondered.
He glanced again at the moon table, as if it might have changed since he last looked at it five minutes ago, and bit his lip. There was no way he could do anything save transform in the house. At least the snow meant that he wouldn't be able to go anywhere. He began to warm his hands and toast the last of his bread in the flames.
As he watched the fire, he thought of Sirius. After the inquiry, where Snape had testified to his innocence (as had Harry Potter and also his friends), Sirius had gone to try to get himself a place to live so that Harry could join him. Until the weather had turned bad, owls had flown thick and fast between Llyn Alwyn and wherever Sirius happened to be at the time. He was still determined to catch Pettigrew, but the rat had vanished. So, in fact, had Voldemort. Nobody had heard anything of him, and there had been no attacks since Pettigrew had escaped Sirius' clutches. It had been almost a month of calm, except for the weather.
He thought of the newspapers with their headlines that screamed, 'Sirius Black – Innocent?' The reporters had followed the story voraciously, and Sirius had been driven almost insane by the endless questions. Remus began to smile as he remembered what Sirius had finally done to get rid of them. It would be a long time before any other reporters came after him.
He could tell it was getting late, and he went to clear away anything breakable before the sun set. When he felt the beginnings of the transformation, he banked up the fire and then succumbed to the wolf.
~
Morning found him shivering and shaking on the floor. He pulled the blanket around himself and closed his eyes, exhausted. A few hours later he woke again, feeling a little better. He sat up and surveyed the damage. Not too bad, only a row of deep claw-marks on the wall and one of the chairs in pieces. He felt the bruises all over him that had not succeeded in teaching the werewolf that there was no use in fighting with a table. With arms goose-pimpled with cold he began to start a fire, steadying his breathing and trying to calm the shivers that ran over him.
When the fire was blazing in the grate, he sat huddled before it, and he set the kettle on to boil. The easy fire-spell had tired him, and he boiled water the Muggle way. He put a teabag he had only used once before in the mug and held it in both hands to warm them. Slowly he sipped it. Tea was better than nothing, at least.
There was a strange roaring sound outside. He frowned, wondering whether it might just be a product of his imagination. It grew louder and louder, and then fell silent. He stumbled up and went to the frosty window, but could see nothing but the whirling snow.
'Hey! Remus, you there?' a voice bellowed out in the snow, a wonderfully familiar voice. Remus grabbed the window-ledge as he staggered with amazement.
'Remus!'
He went to the door. Fortunately it opened inwards, and he pulled the blanket more closely around him as a blast of cold air whistled in.
'In here!' he called as loudly as he could. There were some strange sounds, and muffled curses, and then a dark form appeared against the snow.
'Remus, why'd you have to live in the middle of nowhere like this?' The figure picked his way over the snow and into the doorway. He pulled the black robes away from his face, and Sirius Black was grinning out at him.
'Sirius … what on earth are you here for?' he asked
'To get you. We reckoned you'd be in a bit of trouble out here on your own in all this snow, and I see we were right.' He slammed the door closed. 'You look terrible,' he said bluntly. 'What have you been doing?'
'Just sitting here at home,' Remus responded with wry grin. 'What about you?' He let go of the doorpost he was leaning on and began to usher Sirius into the sitting-room.
Sirius caught his arm. 'Are you ill?' he demanded, and tugged Remus to the armchair by the fire. The broken chair opposite caught his eye.
'No … I'm all right, honestly. It was the full moon last night, that's all.'
'Oh, I am stupid. Should have remembered.' Sirius squatted before the fire, and gave a sigh of relief. 'Getting here was the coldest flight I've ever made, I can tell you. But we'll be going back in a moment or two.' He brushed the melting snow from his padded leather jacket.
'Back where?'
'Hogwarts. The place I was looking at is completely snowed in, and Dumbledore invited me to stay until the snow began to melt. He said I should come get you.'
'How did you get here?'
'On the Shadow, of course. Hagrid had it in a shed somewhere.'
Remus smiled warmly, remembering rides long ago on Sirius' flying motorcycle, which he called the Black Shadow.
'I might have known. But I never knew what had happened to it.'
'I gave it to Hagrid, and he took pretty good care of it. But God knows what kind of state it'll be in after flying through all this snow.' Sirius glanced out the window. 'Trelawney said it will be getting heavier tonight. Of course, her weather forecasting isn't much different from the Muggles', but she could almost be right about this. We'd better get going. What do you need?'
Remus stood up and began to sort out a handful of possessions into a satchel.
'Better put on something warm,' advised Sirius. 'It's a long flight.'
'This is all I've got.'
Sirius glanced at the shabby, worn robes without speaking. He hesitated, and then began to work a Summoning spell. When he had produced one of his own flying cloaks, he tossed it to Remus casually.
'Lose the cloak you had last time I saw you, did you?'
'I gave it away.'
'Oh, Remus. Who was it?'
'A pair of urchins in London,' said Remus, a little embarrassed, holding the cloak as if not sure what to do with it.
Sirius clapped him on the shoulder. 'You'll never change. Now come on. If you can give all your stuff away, you can accept things from me.' He did up the cloak across Remus' shoulders. 'Come on, have you got everything?'
'Yes.'
With Sirius' arm still draped across his shoulders, they went to the door. Remus left it unlocked.
'Aren't you going to lock up?'
'If anyone gets here through the snow, which is pretty unlikely, they'll need somewhere to shelter. And there isn't anything to steal anyway.'
They pulled themselves through the snow to the dark half-buried shape of Sirius' motorcycle. While Remus stood shivering, Sirius began to scrape the snow off it and start up the engine. Even in the cold it worked perfectly, and Sirius leapt across it.
'Get behind me and hold on!' he shouted.
Remus had ridden the Shadow before, a long time ago, and he was prepared for the sudden kick into the air. They flew into the freezing world of whirling snow.
Finally they reached Hogwarts. Sirius brought the Shadow down, rather bumpily, just outside the main entrance. The snow was ever deeper here than in Gwynedd, and the Shadow sank so far that they could barely get off. Remus was shivering violently and felt light-headed.
'You get inside, I've just got to put the Shadow somewhere safe,' shouted Sirius above the roar of the wind and the Shadow's engine.
Remus managed a nod and stumbled through the snow to the door. Inside, he collapsed into a chair. He put his head between his knees for a while, his entire body shaking with cold. When at length he looked up, he saw that he was not alone. The fleeting look of concern on the face of the man before him vanished so quickly he wondered if he'd imagined it.
'Well, Lupin, you've seen fit to come back, have you?' Severus Snape scowled. 'You look like something the cat brought in.'
'Hello, Se-Severus,' Remus managed through still-chattering teeth. He could feel the hostility like a physical blow.
Snape towered over him, and for a moment Remus knew how Snape's students must feel when they were being told off. But Snape said nothing.
The door swung open and a blast of cold air came in, followed by Sirius. Abruptly, Snape turned and left. Remus watched him go with a puzzled face.
'Was that Snape?' Sirius asked, striding over.
'Yes.'
Sirius gave a scowl, and Remus idly thought how much like Snape's it was. 'He's been impossible. I've been staying here almost a week now, and every time he sees me he's either unbearably rude, or he ignores me utterly.' He shook his head, sending a shower of half-melted snow onto Remus' face. 'I've tried to be civil to him, but he just makes me so angry.'
Remus wiped the snow off and nodded. Snape had been hounded by the newspaper men almost as much as Sirius after the inquiry, and Remus could well imagine that the frustrated journalists who described Sirius and Snape as 'childhood friends' would have irritated him as much as they had Sirius.
'Good afternoon. Who's this you've brought, Sirius?' A woman entered, her navy robes lending her authority. Both Sirius and Remus looked at her as she approached.
'Oh, Helen,' said Sirius. 'Remus, Helen Irwin is your replacement here. Helen, this is Remus Lupin.'
Helen smiled at him. 'So you're the wondrous Professor Lupin all the classes went on about. Every other second it's 'Professor Lupin says this' and 'Professor Lupin said that,' until I don't know whether I'm coming or going.' There was a twinkle in her eyes that made what she said less harsh.
'I'm sorry about that,' said Remus at once. 'I hope it doesn't bother you too much.'
'No, no, don't worry. I can see you taught them well.' She looked at Remus carefully. 'Are you all right?'
'I'm just a bit cold. It was a long flight here.' He wondered what else the students had told her about him.
'Well, why don't you come up to the staff-room and get warm?'
Remus stood up and they left the entrance hall. Minerva McGonagall appeared at the top of the stairs.
'Oh, you got here.' She looked from Sirius to Remus. 'Are you all right?' Remus' hand was gripping the rail, and he did not answer immediately. 'Remus?'
'Sorry … I'm fine.' He propelled himself up the rest of the staircase to prove it. Helen was watching him with raised eyebrows.
'Well, Albus said he'd like to speak to you, but he says there's no hurry.' Minerva gave Remus another hard look. 'You don't look that fine to me. When was the last time you had something to eat?'
Sirius opened his mouth, and closed it again. Remus' face became a little flushed. 'Yesterday,' he said defensively.
'What was it?' Minerva pressed him.
He hesitated. 'Some toast.'
Minerva gave a snort. 'No wonder. Come on, then, before you have an interrogation from Albus, come to my office and I'll get something a bit more substantial for you. I suppose you're hungry too, Sirius?' She looked at him with a severe expression, and Sirius laughed. Helen stared from one to the other, wide-eyed.
'Sounds good to me.' He caught Remus' arm. 'Come on. Why didn't you say, you idiot?'
Helen watched them vanish down the corridor.
~
Almost an hour later, feeling a good deal stronger, Remus was sitting with Dumbledore in his office.
'Well, and how was the flight here?' asked Dumbledore.
'Cold.' Remus' voice was a little too emphatic, and Dumbledore laughed. Then his face turned a little more serious.
'That's what I wanted to talk to you about, as a matter of fact. Why do you think we're having all this weather?'
Remus looked up in surprise. 'Well, the usual reason, I guess. Winds from across the North Sea from Siberia. Though I did hear that the Muggles are messing up the climate.'
With another smile, Dumbledore said, 'Global warming is generally used to mean an increase in temperatures, or so I've been led to believe. But it is difficult to tell with Muggles, bless them, they give things such strange names. I found out something only last week which is rather amusing. What would you suppose a Walkman is used for?'
Remus blinked, wondering if this was relevant to anything. But he was too used to Dumbledore's roundabout ways to bother attempting to change the subject.
'A Walk Man? No idea. Some kind of transportation?'
'They listen to music on it.' Dumbledore chuckled to himself. 'So you see that you can't believe the Muggle names for things. But I don't think they're responsible for the weather, global warming or not. Of course, you're right in a way, we're having strong winds from Siberia. But where are the winds coming from?'
'Sorry?'
'Where are the winds coming from? What's creating this sudden change in the weather patterns? The primroses should be coming up now, why do we have six feet of snow outside?'
Remus suddenly felt like a student faced with a question he didn't see the point of. 'I really don't know. What normally makes winds?'
Dumbledore didn't answer the question, nodding to himself. 'Normal wind patterns are slightly different. They don't centre around a strong magical field.'
'What? You mean …' Remus began to see what Dumbledore was getting at. 'Surely it's not Voldemort?'
'Good, I knew you'd work it out. Yes, Voldemort is responsible for these snows.'
'What - why would Voldemort want to freeze the country to death?' Remus' brow furrowed. 'I mean, it's affecting the Muggles worse than us. They haven't a clue how to cope.'
'I don't know what he plans. You'll have noticed, perhaps, that we haven't heard anything else from him since last month? And his supporters are starting to vanish unexpectedly. It's very strange indeed.' Dumbledore stroked his beard absently. 'There are several possibilities, none of them particularly pleasant.'
Remus absorbed this news. Before he could ask, Dumbledore said, 'I won't trouble you with them at the moment. No doubt some will occur to you in time. It's a shame we can't use Severus any more, but there you go.'
After the inquiry, it could no longer be concealed that Snape was spying on the Dark Lord. Remus got the impression he was not altogether upset about being released from this work, though of course he had never said so outright.
'Is there anything you want me to do?' he asked.
Dumbledore smiled. 'You mean, did I drag you here just for League business? No, though I confess it might be helpful to have you around. No, there's nothing specific for you. Just keep your eyes open.' His eyes twinkled. 'I won't stop you if you want to talk to Harry and his friends, but I'm sure you'll understand that it would be better if you kept out of the way of the other students. Just to avoid any unpleasantness.'
'Okay.' Remus rose to go. 'Thank you, sir.'
'Oh, and Remus? Keep warm, and get some rest before you do anything. I don't want you down with pneumonia.'
With a small sigh, Remus went away, and found himself more willing to follow Dumbledore's advice than he would like to admit. He made his way through the passages to the room where Sirius had dumped his satchel, and lay on the bed. What was Voldemort planning? The question revolved around his mind. What was he trying to do? As he began to drift off into sleep, more and more fantastic answers to the question haunted his dreams.
~
He woke abruptly, and saw that it was night. Somehow he must have slept through supper, though Sirius had promised to bring him down. A glance at the clock showed him that it was just before midnight. He felt much less tired after sleeping all afternoon, and he lit a lamp. There was a note on the floor, which he picked up.
Didn't want to wake you, sorry you missed supper. See you in the morning. Sirius.
He smiled, for Sirius had signed it with a charm that made the ink flash different colours. He went out of his room quietly and down the corridor. But the lights were out in Sirius' room. Muffled footsteps made him turn around.
'Who's that?' he asked. He raised his wand, muttering, 'Lumos.' At the other end of the corridor he saw Professor Helen Irwin.
'Oh – it's you,' she said, coming into the circle of light cast by his wand. Her voice was a little taut. 'I – I was just going to the staff-room to get something.'
Remus wondered why she was making excuses like a student caught doing something forbidden.
'Working late, are you?' he said with a nod of understanding.
'Oh – yes.'
'It's harder work than students think, teaching,' he commented. 'I know I never realised how much we – they – do until I started.'
Helen nodded, smiling a little. 'Well, I'd better be off,' she said, and walked away. Remus glanced after her. He thought that if she was going to the staff-room, she was taking the long way around, but he said nothing. It was none of his business.
He returned to his room and stretched out under the blankets. With nothing better to do, he fell asleep again.
~
In the morning, there was a soft knock on his door. He opened his eyes. Through the window he could see the snow was still falling. The knock came again, and he sat up.
'Come in,' he said.
The door swung open, and he blinked. Was this some kind of elaborate joke?
'Sirius?' he said doubtfully.
Harry pulled off the Invisibility Cloak. A piece of parchment protruded from his pocket.
'Good morning, Professor Lupin,' he said. 'Did I wake you up?'
'Don't worry,' said Remus. 'I've slept long enough.' Harry reminded him painfully of his lost friend for a second, now that he was taller and broader of shoulder. 'Good morning. How did you know I was here?'
'The Map,' Harry explained. 'I was just looking at it last night, and I saw you on it. When did you come here?'
'Yesterday lunchtime.' Remus smiled. 'I was hoping to see you around. How are things going?'
'All right, I guess. The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is nowhere near as good as you. Hermione likes her, but she's a bit dull.'
As Harry talked about how his classes were going, Remus got out of bed and shaved.
'Sirius says the house is snowed in. I really can't believe that I'm going to live with him. He hasn't spoken to the Dursleys yet – they're snowed in as well – but he says that as soon as the snow melts he'll go.'
Remus smiled. He had heard a graphic tale of the Dursleys' wrongs from Sirius, and he thought he wouldn't like to be in their shoes when Sirius went to see them. As soon as the snow melts, he thought, and remembered what Dumbledore had told him yesterday.
'Were you snowed in?' asked Harry into the silence. 'Is that why you're here?'
'That's right.'
'Ron's really worried about his mum and dad, because they live in such an isolated place. I keep telling him they'll be fine, but the owls can't get through and Ginny keeps getting all worked up about it.'
Remus nodded. 'Well, from what I've heard, most wizards can manage, because they can Apparate or use Floo Powder to get between places. They're sensible, Arthur and Molly, I'm sure they'll be fine.'
Harry nodded.
There was another soft scratch on the door. 'Oh, blast!' said Harry. Remus glanced at him.
'Dumbledore said it was all right for you to see me,' he said reassuringly as he went to open it.
'No, it's not that –' Harry began, and Remus opened the door.
'Harry, you've got to come down to breakfast,' said Hermione, who was standing there looking impatient. 'You're going to be late. Ron said you'd come here.' She smiled politely at Remus. 'Good morning, Professor Lupin.'
He returned the smile. 'How are you, Hermione? Getting on well?'
'Yes, thank you. Harry, we've got to go.'
'Come on, Hermione, nobody's going to care if we're ten minutes late for breakfast.'
Remus grinned. 'I don't want to get you into trouble. Off you go. I'm sure I'll see you both around, and Ron as well, I hope.'
Harry reluctantly left, with Hermione hastening in front of him. Remus went back to washing and dressing.
~
'Remus, Dumbledore's called a meeting of the League.' Remus looked up from his heap of papers. He had decided to make the most of his time at Hogwarts by using the library to find out all the things he had wanted to learn about but had never quite got around to doing before.
Sirius was looking impatient, and Remus closed the book and stood up.
'Why now, do you know?'
'Minerva didn't say. Just that I was to get you and come up to the office.'
'Well, we'll find out soon enough.'
The League was assembling in the round office at the top of the tower. Remus and Sirius went in to sit in their usual seats. Snape and Minerva were both there already; Arion and Hagrid were talking together at the far end of the table, and Simon McKinnon was sitting with them, looking as though he wanted to join in the conversation but couldn't think what to say.
Lady Irene de Beale and Miranda Goshawk came in together, and Dumbledore followed them. Behind him came Helen Irwin, who looked around nervously before sitting down in Lily's old chair opposite Sirius. Remus smiled encouragingly at her.
Dumbledore smiled around at them. 'Good afternoon, everyone. First of all, let me introduce our new member, Helen Irwin. For those of you who don't know her, she's our latest teacher for Defence Against the Dark Arts. And also Sirius; I'm very glad to see you back with us.'
Snape carefully kept his eyes straight ahead, looking at neither Dumbledore nor Sirius. Helen still seemed a little nervous.
'Now, you all will have noticed the unusual weather we've been having,' he began. Remus half-listened as Dumbledore explained about the snow being caused by Voldemort. He wondered how the Muggles were coping.
'So, we need to find out what Voldemort is planning,' Dumbledore concluded. 'Now, you will all be familiar with the details of Sirius' inquiry –' he nodded to Sirius absently '- so there's no need to go into it here. The only reason I've brought it up is because, due to the publicity surrounding the case, Severus here can no longer act as our spy. So we need an alternative way of finding out what's going on.'
At once, Sirius said, 'I'll do it. Seeing as it's my fault.'
Dumbledore smiled. 'How would you propose to go into the Stonehenge citadel? As a dog? After those newspaper reports, there can't be a wizard in the country who doesn't know that you're an Animagus.'
One of the things Sirius had been forced to explain to the tribunal was how he escaped from Azkaban, so the story of his being an Animagus was well known, though he had never told anyone why he had worked the spell in the first place, nor that James had been one as well. 'No, I had another idea,' continued Dumbledore. 'You're not far from the mark, Sirius, but it wasn't you I was thinking of.'
~
TO BE CONTINUED
Note: Right, well, in case you found my idea that a few feet of snow could throw the country into confusion a little unbelievable, here's an explanation. In England we don't get much snow. Where I live in the south-east, about an inch is enough to make them send us home early from school and generally make trouble. It's true. They get a bit more in the north and in Scotland, but rarely for very long or very much. About a foot at most, I think. Because we have so little snow, when it does snow, nobody knows how to handle a car on snowy roads, there are very few snowploughs and water pipes freeze up. It's generally a bit of a disaster. So if Voldemort wanted to cause problems, he could do worse than create endless snowfalls.
The next part is called Cat's Eye.
Blaise
9th March 2000