The Little Wolf

Remus Lupin looked in the mirror and ran his fingers over the scratches that scarred his face. Those scars would always be there, marking him - as would the bite mark on his side. Scars left by a werewolf never healed. Remus, now nearly eleven years old, remembered the night he received those wounds in all too vivid clarity. It'd happened just before his fifth birthday…

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Hope Lupin put her son to bed and kissed him goodnight as usual. She closed the window in his room to keep out the draft, but left his bedroom door open a crack so that a sliver of light from the hallway was let in, and he drifted off to sleep.

Little Remus was woken up later by a strange scratching sound, and a chill in the air. He sat up in his bed rubbing his eyes and looked towards the window which was open; that was strange because mummy always closed the window before she left. Then he gasped as a big black shape moved into the thin beam of light that came from the crack in the door. Remus saw a gleam of sharp teeth as the creature opened its mouth in a silent snarl, almost a smile of anticipation.

At first the little boy had thought that it might be just a boggart that had found its way into his room, maybe hidden under his bed, and was now trying to scare him. But then the creature lunged at him with a vicious, blood chilling growl, and Remus knew that it was no boggart. His screams as the mad animal's teeth tore into his flesh brought his father running to his room with his wand drawn.

A loud bang and a flash of light filled the room as his father's curse blasted the rabid beast back so hard that it cracked the wall where the creature's body hit it. In an instant, the creature was on its feet and out the same window that it had entered through, moving far faster than seemed natural for an animal that size.

Remus's cries drew his father away from any thoughts of pursuing the beast. He turned to his son at the same time that his wife came running frantically screaming for her baby boy.

Remus knew agonizing pain and fear as his parents bundled him up and rushed him to hospital. Lyall Lupin knew that the healers could treat his wounds, save his son's life, but they could not save him from the curse that his son had been infected with, for Lyall had recognized the creature that had attacked his son for what it was the moment he saw it - a werewolf.

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Remus shuddered, thinking back on that night, the pain and fear returning in memory to claw at him. The scars from the wounds the werewolf had left on him would never fade. The bite could be hidden by his clothes, but the scratches on his face would always be visible for everyone to see. And he would always have to lie if people asked how he got them.

He didn't like lying. But he'd gotten used to it.

For nearly six years Remus had lived with the curse, turning into a wolf as rabid and bloodthirsty as the one that had attacked him every month during the nights of the full moon.

In the beginning, his parents had tried all manner of treatments for lycanthropy, but the sad truth was that there were none that were actually effective. His parents took drastic measures to protect him and to conceal Remus's condition - moving to a new village or town whenever their neighbours began to notice any strange behaviour; forbidding him to play with other children. His father placed him in a locked room during the full moon, using Protection Spells and Silencing Charms to contain him, but as Remus got older his wolf was getting stronger…

He knew that his parents worried that eventually they wouldn't be able to keep him contained when he transformed, and they all dreaded thinking about what would happen if, or more likely when he got out.

Remus knew that his parents loved him, even though he scared them - He was scared of himself. His parents had tried to do everything they could for him when he was bitten; they still did. He was lucky to have them.

A sharp knock on the front door brought Remus out of his thoughts. Who could that be? He poked his head out of his room to see his mother and father looking to the door with some trepidation. They'd only been living in this house a few weeks; they didn't know their neighbours, and his father certainly wasn't expecting anyone from work.

Another knock came, and Remus's father quickly gestured for him to hide back in his room. He usually stayed out of sight if for some reason people came to call. It was just easier for him not to be seen; fewer questions were asked.

Behind the closed door of his room, Remus listened as his parents answered the door. He could not hear exactly what was being said, but his father's voice sounded strained, and Remus knew that whoever their mysterious visitor was had his father worried. Pressing his ear to the door, Remus heard his father trying to get the other man to leave, not wanting to let him in the house, but apparently their visitor would not be dissuaded.

Was this what they'd dreaded? Had someone found out about Remus's condition and come to take him away, to lock him up as an uncontrolled werewolf? Remus cowered in his room as he tried to listen to what was happening. He heard his own name mentioned, and then his father raising his voice.

"I'll not let you, or anyone else, take my son Dumbledore!"

Dumbledore? But that couldn't be right, could it? Dumbledore was in their house?!

Remus opened his door just a sliver to see into the next room. It was Dumbledore. Remus had seen his picture in books, in the Dailey Prophet, on chocolate frog cards... Albus Dumbledore - the greatest sorcerer in the world, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry - was in his house, talking to his parents. Talking about him!

But why was he here? Had he come to take Remus away to lock him up?

Remus listened, hidden from sight, as Dumbledore spoke calmly to the distressed parents in front of him. Dumbledore told the couple that he knew of how their son had been attacked by a werewolf by the name of Fenrir Greyback. Remus listened in shock – he'd never had any clue about who had attacked him that night. He'd always assumed that the wolf that'd attacked him had been out of control; knowing what it felt like to lose himself when he transformed, Remus had even felt sorry for him. But Dumbledore explained to his parents how spies that he'd planted among the Dark creatures had heard Greyback had boasted of his actions.

As his parents (and Remus hidden behind his door) absorbed this information, Dumbledore said, "Perhaps it would be best if your son joined us."

And then Dumbledore looked up towards the door where Remus was hidden; piercing blue eyes looked right at him. Lyall Lupin looked like he wanted to move to block the door, to keep his son hidden from view, still apprehensive and unsure of what Dumbledore could possibly want with him.

But his wife rested a gentle hand on his arm. She called to their son, "Remus, sweetheart, there's someone here to see you."

Remus, taking courage from his mother's gentle voice, swallowed his fear and opened the door.

"Remus, this is Professor Dumbledore," Hope said as her son stepped out into the family room.

Walking cautiously into the room Remus caught Dumbledore's eye and got the distinct impression that Dumbledore knew he'd been trying to listen in the whole time. Remus stood in front of Dumbledore trying not to shake with nerves.

Dumbledore simply smiled kindly and asked, "Would you like to go to school Remus?"

Remus ducked his head and fought back tears. He knew that it was impossible for him to go off to school at Hogwarts. He was too dangerous.

Though Remus showed the usual signs of magic for someone his age, his parents had not been expecting the usual Hogwarts acceptance letter that came to most young witches and wizards when they were eleven, not since he'd been bitten. What school would admit a werewolf; let something so dangerous around other students? That's why his father had begun teaching him at home. (His mother was a muggle; she didn't have magic herself, but she encouraged him to learn).

When he did not receive an answer, Dumbledore sat down with the Lupin family and explained his plan for young Remus to attend school; the measures he'd already taken since learning about the boy's condition to keep him safe - and to keep everyone else safe from him.

When he was finished, Dumbledore once again asked, "Would you like to go to school Remus?"

Was it possible that he really could go to Hogwarts?

Remus looked first to his mother then to his father sitting on either side of him. Both were staring at Dumbledore with expressions filled with mingled awe and hope - hope that their son would be able to have a normal life after all, at least partly.

And Remus Lupin, his young heart filled to bursting with that same hope, looked at Dumbledore and said quite clearly, "Yes sir. I want to go to school."

"Good lad," Dumbledore said cheerfully.