Remus Lupin was nervous. His hands shook, his eyebrows twitched, and he couldn't seem to stay in his seat. Now, by character, Lupin wasn't a very nervous man. In fact, some might call him brave. He had certainly faced more frightening things than this, but for some reason, his being in the large hall frightened him very much indeed.

This wasn't his first time in the hall, (he'd been there many times before), so no onlooker could possibly have understood where the poor man's nerves were coming from. If they had to guess, they would say his clothes. A faded, patched, brown tweed coat that had seemed to seen many years, and a pair of brown trousers, a shade darker from the coat made up the man's appearance, making him seem scruffy, poor. The onlooker would simply conclude that Lupin was insecure, and distressed about his apparel. Others might say that it was Lupin himself that was causing his nerves. His skinny frame was covered in scars and scratches, some more recent than the rest, and he seemed years older than his age. He seemed to have been in many fights, or had a rather nasty cat at home. A man like that was bound to be nervous wherever he goes, so his shaking was no mystery.

But as said before, Remus Lupin was no coward, and surly not insecure. It was nothing at all about himself that troubled him, in fact, not even the hall. The cause for Remus Lupin's nerves were not of the hall, but rather, what was soon to be coming into it. Just the thought of what he would encounter in a few moments made him very nervous indeed.

Remus Lupin was beginning his first year of teaching at Hogwarts School or Witchcraft and Wizardry. Having attended there himself, he had jumped at the chance when a position opened up, the former teacher resigning for a reason he hadn't yet discovered. He had heard rumors, of course, (as it was impossible for a devoted reader of the paper such as himself not to,) about the 'cursed position' and such, but he wasn't a man for rumors, and strictly dismissed them. Although he had his doubts, he was thrilled when the letter came bearing his acceptance, and it was all a whirlwind from there.

He had been quite excited, until up to the very moment before the children were about to enter. The children, (over 500 of them he was told) were split into four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin, represented by the four long tables that ran down the length of the hall. He had been a Gryffindor boy himself, and had caused much grief and trouble during the years (most of which he was not proud of) and along with his friends had been a nuisance for the teachers. He hoped that his former experience would save him from students schemes, but somewhat expected to find himself a victim in the next few days.

His mouth went dry as the doors of the great hall began to creek open, the chattering of the students could now be heard. The other teachers seated at his table stiffened, their own chatter ceased as the students began to pour in. Lupin gulped. It was now truly his duty as a teacher to observe the children as they walked in, to make sure they didn't get into trouble. He severely doubted many would, as few students caused harm on the first day, and tried to straiten himself up as much as possible. For now many eyes were on him, and it didn't make him feel comfortable the least.

To distract himself, he kept his eyes trained on the crowd of bobbling students, looking for a certain child. Black hair, his mind thought, and soon located the individual.

The boy seemed to have been in his third year, his black locks stuck out at odd angles. He was the perfect copy of his father, someone Lupin had known, just like everyone described. He knew hidden under that hair and glasses was the famous scar he'd heard so much about. The boy was Harry Potter.

Lupin felt a pang of sadness while looking at the boy, for he were a perfect combination of his parents. Harry Potter was a good boy, as he had been told, and Lupin was to be looking forward to having him as a student.

He listened half-heartily as the first years were brought in and sorted, a fair amount to each house, and the headmaster began his speech. He could see that the students were very anxious for him to finish, for their long journey surly had made them hungry.

As the headmaster neared the end of his speech, he warned about the dangers of the forbidden forest (for the ones that couldn't tell from the name) and to stay away from the willow. Lupin shuddered at that, as he had spent some unpleasant times there, and the headmaster delivered the end of the speech. "I'd like to welcome Professor Remus J. Lupin, our new Defense the Darks arts Professor, and invite you to enjoy the feast!"

Lupin felt some pride at the words, he was a professor, and despite the curious eyes, turned his attention to his food. Tomorrow he'd get to meet these students, and hope that he'd made a good first impression. But today was his last day of peace, and he truly intended to enjoy it.

As the new professor began to dig into his meal, he failed to notice the shocked student sitting at the back of the Gryffindor table, staring at him with wide eyes. Even if he did happen to notice her, he would have never predicted how shocked she truly was. For the girl sitting at the table started at him for the rest of dinner, her eyes open, her mouth agape. For this girl was truly shocked indeed.