Year 1: Part 3

Wednesday, September 1st 1971

Having spent the rest of the summer holidays pouring over his school books, memorising every property of his potion's ingredients and struggling to understand the theory behind all the spells, Remus still felt nervous when he arrived at King's Cross Station. He was certain that all the other children would know more than him and that he would stick out as the class idiot. His knowledge of the wizarding world was, after all, a little rusty, since his mother knew next to nothing about magic and Uncle Ez, as a muggle-born, was a little uncertain about the sort of things a young wizard would be expected to know.

"You'll be fine," Ezra said, squeezing Remus' shoulders. "They'll be plenty of muggle-borns who will be even more out of their depths than you are. Just relax."

His mother smiled at him. She had managed to get the day off work to see him off. She smoothed back his hair and gave his forehead a kiss.

"Go on then," she said, pushing him towards the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. "I can't follow."
Remus took a deep breath and Ezra gave his shoulders another squeeze. Then, stealing one last glance at his mother and godfather, he closed his eyes, grimaced and walked forwards.

When he opened them he found himself in front of a scarlet steam engine, the words Hogwarts Express emblazoned on its side. He looked behind him. He could no longer see his mother or uncle. Instead there was a wrought-iron archway with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it. He allowed himself a brief smile.

This was it! he thought. I'm passed the point of no return. His breath caught in his throat. I'm going to be a wizard!

He felt something smash into him and he toppled forwards over his trolley.

"Watch it!" an angry voice yelled at him and he turned to see a tall boy with long blonde hair and piercing grey eyes staring at him. A shiny green badge with the words 'prefect' written in silver upon it sat proudly on the boy's chest.

"S-sorry," Remus stammered.

The prefect's eyes slid over Remus' second-hand robes and he sneered. Suddenly he was joined by a rather attractive blonde girl with pale blue eyes. She stared at Remus and wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"What is the world coming to?" she asked the prefect, "When someone so obviously inferior like him gets into Hogwarts?"

A fourth figure hurled himself through the barrier, crashing into the prefect.

"What the…? Lucius!"

The new boy picked himself up off the floor and brushed his robes down angrily. Remus felt a jolt of recognition. It was the boy he had met a Madam Malkin's.

"It's not Lucius' fault, cousin" the girl said. "It's this idiot here."

She indicated towards Remus who blushed furiously. The black-haired boy looked at him and he frowned in thought.

"Lupin?" he asked and grinned when Remus nodded.

"It's alright, Cissy. He's a friend of mine," the boy told the girl.

"A friend?" the prefect said incredulously.

"That's right," the younger boy said, smiling politely and, without further ado, he tucked his arm in Remus' and led him towards the train.

"Sorry about that," he apologised. "Lucius is a right git. Can't think what my cousin Cissy sees in him. Mind you, she's a bit, you know, herself."
"Thank you, um… Sirius, right?"

The boy grinned. "Good memory," said appraisingly. "Let's pick a compartment right at the end of the train, away from the prefect carriage. That way we shouldn't run into Lucius again."

The two of them were struggling to get their trunks onto the train when a hand shot out to help them.

"Need a hand?" a boy with messy black hair and glasses asked.

Sirius looked at him and grinned. "If you wouldn't mind," he accepted politely with a small mock bow, nearly dropping his trunk on his foot.

Together the three of them finally managed to lift the heavy trunks onto some luggage racks in the nearest compartment to the back of the train.

"I'm James," the messy haired boy said, sticking out his hand. "First-year," he added.

"Sirius," Sirius replied, shaking the proffered limb. "And this is… what's your first name again?"

"Remus."

"A pleasure," James said, shaking his hand enthusiastically.

There was a loud bang outside the compartment and the three boys poked their heads out just in time to see three other boys cornering a smaller, mousey-haired boy with watery eyes who was cowering near the front of the carriage.

"Look at you," one of the bullies was saying. "You squib. You're pathetic!" He spat on the floor in front of the boy who was now trembling in fear. The other two bullies were drawing their wands.

"What do you say to us opening your trunk and having a little rummage," one of them sneered.

"We could show the rest of the school what a squib wears for underwear," said the third.

"Hey!" James said, striding forwards, eyes flashing as he glared at the bullies. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Hey, look squib! You've got yourself a protector," the first bully mocked. "Not that it'll do you much good." He lifted his wand. "Loco…"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Rabastan" Sirius growled from behind James. Remus stood next to him, nervously biting his lip.

"Black!" the boy called Rabastan said, aghast. "You're not standing up for this… this filth are you?" he asked indicating at the watery-eyed boy who was crouched behind James' leg.

"Get lost, Lestrange," Sirius yawned. "Rosier, Avery." He inclined his head towards the other two bullies. His smile did not quite reach his eyes.

The bullies looked at each other. Then they looked at the four boys opposite them. Remus could almost see the cogs working in their brains as they realised it was now four against three. The boy called Rabastan grimaced at Sirius, then turned and left, taking the other two boys with him.

"Thank you, thank you," their victim said gratefully, scrambling to his feet.

"No problem," James said. "I'm James. This is Sirius and that's Remus."

"Peter. It's my first year at Hogwarts."
"Ours too," Sirius said. "What did they want with you?"

Peter shifted uncomfortably from foot-to-foot. "I told them that my mum's a muggle-born witch and my dad's a squib," he mumbled. "They seemed to take offence."

"What's a squib?" Remus asked.

"A non-magical person in a long-line of witches and wizards. Most muggle-born witches and wizards have squib ancestors if you look really hard. They tend to marry into the muggle population," Sirius answered. "A lot of people look down on them."
"We're not like that, though" James assured Peter as the train began to move. "Why don't you come and sit with us?"

The four of them dragged Peter's trunk into their compartment. It was no longer empty. A red-haired girl sat next to the window, staring out onto the platform which was gradually moving away. She ignored the boys when they entered. Remus though her shoulders were a little hunched and every now and then she gave a little sniff, as though she had been crying. Remus was unsure whether he ought to say anything to her. Maybe she was simply homesick and wanted to be left alone. He could understand that. He felt a little bit like that himself. As the other boys chose their seats, he rummaged through his trunk for a book to read.

"Ah," said Sirius. "I thought you might be a bookworm. You looked like the nerdy type. No offense. Got nothing against nerds. Generally useful people to have around, actually."

Remus smiled, assuring the boy that no offense had been taken. He was actually secretly pleased. He had never been called "useful" or complimented in any other way by children his own age before.

"I'm a prankster, myself," Sirius was saying.

"Really?" James said. "So am I! I once played this trick on… I think it was my great-aunt. Anyway, she was staying over at our house and she was really annoying me. Telling me how I should behave, you know," he put on a high-pitched croaky voice, "Stand up straight, young man. Walk properly – don't drag your feet!" Sirius grinned.

"My mother's like that," he admitted. "What did you do?"

He and Peter leaned in eagerly as James continued. Even Remus found himself peeking over the top of his book to listen.

"Well," James said, clearly enjoying the attention. "Great-aunt Nora used to take these afternoon naps in a rocking chair in the Orangery. Snored like an elephant." The other three boys were rewarded with another impersonation and Sirius snorted with laughter. "Anyway," James continued. "I managed to get my hands on my dad's shaving foam and…"

"You didn't?" Sirius said, grinning so hard Remus thought his face would split. James gave him a conspirator's wink.

"Had her mouth wide open she did, snoring away," he continued, giving another impression. Peter tittered. "Deserved everything she got."

Sirius roared with laughter and James was grinning just as widely as Sirius had been. Just then a boy with black greasy hair entered the compartment. He ignored them all and as such went ignored. Instead he squeezed passed Sirius to sit opposite the red-headed girl. He seemed to know her and Remus was glad. He no longer had to worry about comforting her.

"This is it!" the boy was saying, exhilaration in his voice. "We're off to Hogwarts! You'd better be in Slytherin."
"Slytherin?"

James had heard and had paused in his narrative to look at the greasy-haired boy with disgust.

"Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" he asked Sirius, who had stopped laughing.

"My whole family has been in Slytherin," he said, glumly.

"Blimey," James said, shocked, "and I thought you seemed alright!"

Now Sirius grinned.

"Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

James raised an invisible sword.

"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!" he chanted. "Like my dad."

The greasy-haired boy gave a small, disparaging noise. James turned on him.

"Got a problem with that?"

"No," the other said, sneering. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy…"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" Sirius interrupted. James roared with laughter and Remus bit his lip. He knew neither side was in the right; both were insulting the other. He decided to stay out of it. If the insults progressed to physical violence he might step in.

The girl next to Remus stood up. She was glaring at James and Sirius.

"Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment."

"Ooooo…"

"See ya, Snivellus!"

The compartment door slammed shut. Remus quietly let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't wanted to argue with his new-found friends, or anyone else for that matter.

"Idiot," James said angrily. "Doesn't he know Slytherin is full of evil, twisted…" he stopped and glanced at Sirius. "No offence," he said, apologetically.

"None taken," Sirius said lightly, leaning back in his seat. "I'm not particularly fond of my family. In fact, I'll tell you about a trick I once played on my mother. It involved, amongst other things: a long-handled feather duster, a dead bird and a mangy, stray cat. And, the best part of it was, I didn't get the blame. She thought it was my younger brother. He was grounded for a month!"

Remus remembered the woman and younger boy who had accompanied Sirius into Madam Malkin's. They must have been his mother and brother. He thought Sirius must have been terribly brave to play a trick on her. She had seemed like the scary sort. But then again, maybe that was why he had played the trick on her in the first place: to get his own back.

He picked up his book again and settled back into his seat. Then, with half his concentration still on James and Sirius, who continued to swap stories about various pranks, he flicked to his bookmarked page and began to read.

XXX

At about half past twelve there was a clattering outside in the corridor and the compartment door slid back. A dimpled woman smiled at them.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?"

Remus, whose mother had given him a packed lunch consisting of beef and horseradish sandwiches, eyed the chocolate on the trolley. As James, Sirius and Peter made their own selections, Remus found his conscience warring with his addiction. He had found that chocolate revived him when he was feeling sleepy and calmed him down when he was nervous. He was anxious enough that it was his first day at school, but it was also coming up to the full moon and that tended to give him restless nights. Just as the trolley lady was about to leave, he came to a decision.

"Wow," James said, staring at the large pile of chocolate frogs located on Remus' lap and overflowing onto the empty seat beside him. "Do you like chocolate or do you like chocolate?"

"Um… I'm saving some for later," Remus mumbled pathetically, reaching for his trunk and trying to stuff his goodies into it."

The others laughed and Remus flinched. But it wasn't the malicious laugh the bullies at the muggle school had used. It was a warm, friendly laugh and Sirius leaned over to hit him good-naturedly on the back.

Remus blushed and smiled before opening a chocolate frog box, his beef sandwich already long forgotten.

XXX

"We must be nearly there," Sirius said. He stretched his arms and stood up, reaching inside his trunk. "Better put our robes on."

The boy pulled his muggle t-shirt off, revealing a sun-kissed, slightly toned chest. He then shrugged his black robes over his head.

Remus' stomach lurched. He thought about the self-inflicted scars that criss-crossed across his stomach, back, and arms. He couldn't change in here with the others watching. They would ask questions and then what would he say? Remus hated lying. He bit his lip nervously and slowly drew his robes out of his trunk.

"Er, I'm going to see if there's a toilet," he mumbled.

"There's one at the end of every carriage," James said helpfully, barely looking at Remus as he struggled to maintain his balance whilst pulling on a shoe. As Remus closed the compartment door behind him he heard James swear and then a crash as he fell over. Sirius' braking laughter followed him down the corridor.

He was just unlocking the bathroom door to return to his compartment when a disembodied voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately."

He reached his compartment just as the train began to slow and waited outside for the other three to come out. Then they hopped off the train and onto the platform. For once, Sirius and James were being quiet. In fact, thought Remus, they looked a little pale and nervous. Part of him felt comforted by the fact that he was not alone in feeling some trepidation at the prospect of joining Hogwarts, but another part was made even more nervous by the fact that these two, loud, confident boys were themselves anxious.

Remus looked around the platform, trying to work out where they were meant to go. The majority of students were heading towards the exit where some carriages were waiting. Attached to them were the strangest creatures Remus had ever seen.

They looked a little like horses, except a hundred times more terrifying. They had big, bony bodies and dragon-like heads. White, pupil-less eyes stared out at the chattering students, expressionless. One of them stretched out two large, black leathery wings and gave them a shake, dislodging a shower of early evening dew. But, what really frightened Remus, was the fangs that hung from their upper jaw and the translucent skin that was so thin he could see the bones beneath it.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"
Remus turned to see a large lantern bobbing over the heads of the students. Then he saw the man holding it and gasped.

He was gigantic. And, he thought, rather hairy. His hands were as big as dustbin lids and he wore a massive moleskin overcoat which looked rather lumpy, as though it had many pockets and, in these pockets, were many objects.

The four boys made their way cautiously towards him.

"Alrigh' there. No need to be afraid. C'mon follow me. Firs' years follow me!"

The gaggle of first years followed at a distance and, somehow, Remus found himself near the front of the crowd, closest to the scary giant-man. He bit his lip nervously as they were led down a steep, narrow path.

"Hogwarts is jus' round the bend here," the giant-man said. "You'll be able t' see it in a momen'."

The narrow path opened out suddenly on the edge of a large black lake. Reflected in it, under a bright moon, was a vast castle, sprawled over the top of a high mountain.

The giant-man pointed to a small fleet of boats.

"No more'n four to a boat!" he called.

"Come on," James whispered to the others, pulling Sirius to the one furthest from the giant-man. Remus and Peter followed. When they were all in the giant-man called "Forward!" and the boats lurched across the lake, the surface of which remained as smooth as glass.

Remus felt his stomach churn. He groaned.

"Shouldn't have eaten that many chocolate frogs," Sirius said, unsympathetically, before turning to look eagerly at the castle before them. The sudden movement caused the boat to rock and Remus felt his stomach churn again.

As they reached the cliffs, Remus was forced to lean over the side as he stomach rebelled. He sat upright again just as the giant-man called "Heads down!" Dizzy, it took Remus a second too long to work out what he was saying and the next he knew he was being attacked by strands of ivory. He ducked just in time to avoid a large stalactite that hung down lower than the rest. He felt its sharp end scrape the back of his head.

Remus was glad when they finally reached solid ground. He felt his body continue to sway as he stood on the shore. James and Sirius patted him on the back awkwardly and Peter watched from a distance as though terrified Remus would throw up again.

"You alrigh'?" the giant-man said with a look of concern on his huge features. Remus, not wanting to bring attention to himself, nodded dumbly.

"Well, if you're sure…" the giant-man said before leading the first years up a flight of stone steps to a huge oak door.

"Everyone here?" he asked.

Then he raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.