Chapter 3 – The first week
Harry couldn't have been more relieved. He was a bit sorry that Draco was in another house, but Draco would be together with Susan Bones and Philip McKinnon, so he'd be just as well. He hardly took notice that another boy, Dean Thomas, and then Ron Weasley were also sorted into Gryffindor.
Along the table he heard chanting:
"We got the Potters! We got the Potters! We got the Potters!"
Hannah looked a bit annoyed, but she was very glad her brother had managed to join them all. There were the two stockier Weasley boys, which she now learned were called Fred and George, and they seemed to be very eager to have Harry in their house.
She already knew Parvati Patil and now she also learned to know the fourth Gryffindor girl this year, Lavender Brown. Harry sat on the other side of the table, next to Neville. As soon as the last child in their year was sorted, Harry saw that the old wizard who sat in the middle of the raised table stood up.
"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. I know that you are all hungry and tired, so I only say a few words: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"
He sat down and the food showed up on the table. Even though the first years knew that would happen, they were still baffled. They immediately filled their plates and began to eat. Hannah still found time to throw a few glances to the head table. There, nearer to the end on the side of her table sat Hagrid, who noticed her glance, looked up and gave her the thumbs up. In the centre sat Professor Dumbledore. She already knew him from his few visits at Gargle Hall. Next to him sat Professor McGonagall, who, according to Padfoot and Moony was more barking than biting if one got to know her. If not, then it was better to behave and hide well! The tiny wizard she recognised as Professor Flitwick. Both her fathers had spoken very fondly of him and held him in very high regard, as well as Professor Sprout and the school's nurse, Poppy Pomfrey. Hannah turned back to her food.
Harry took up her musings though. He knew that Sirius and Remus had both advised them to keep his mind occluded in front of Dumbledore. When he had asked why he should do that they had just said it was a very good exercise, because Dumbledore had the ugly habit of peering into everyone's mind he could reach. His glance moved further along the row of teachers. From the descriptions of his fathers he recognised Professors Flitwick and Sprout, then the nurse, Poppy Pomfrey. Then he got to the Professor he'd met in Diagon Alley, Professor Quirrell. And right next to Quirrell sat a man who looked more than sombre to Harry.
At the same time Harry began to muster the teacher, the man looked past Quirrell's idiotic turban and seemed to bore his eyes directly into Harry's. A sharp pain shot through Harry's forehead.
"Ouch!" he said, clapping his hand over his scar.
"What is it?" asked Percy near him.
"N… nothing."
Hannah looked across the table and saw Harry holding his scar. She knew very well that that wasn't nothing! She was determined to ask him about it later on when they reached their common room.
"Who's the teacher next to Professor Quirrell, Percy?" Harry asked.
"Oh, you already know Professor Quirrell? The dark one is the one you mean, I presume? That's Professor Snape, Harry. Teaches Potions, but actually doesn't want to. He's been after Quirrell's job for ages. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, knows Snape…"
Again, Harry and Hannah crossed glances across the table. They knew the name, of course, but neither Remus nor Sirius had mentioned he would be at Hogwarts as a teacher.
When at last all food and all the dishes had vanished from the tables, Dumbledore lifted himself from his big chair and waited for the Hall to fall silent.
"As usual I try to keep my announcements very short, but there are a few that are very important. First years, please note that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds and forbidden to all pupils. There is a reason why it's called the Forbidden Forest. A few of our older students would do well to remember that as well. Marauding in there will do no one any good!"
While Dumbledore's eyes flashed a twinkle in the direction of two Weasley boys the four Gargle Island children clearly understood the remark well and grinned right across their faces. Which, in turn, the Weasley twins noticed immediately.
"Mr. Filch has asked me also to remind everyone that no magic should be used between classes and in the corridors.
"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.
"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."
A few students laughed, but their laughter died down quickly.
"He's not serious?" Harry muttered to Percy.
"Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere – the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least."
Once more glances were exchanged across the table between the four children. But this time, Hermione and Neville were clearly included. Hermione mouthed 'Hagrid' to them all and Harry thought of the grubby little package, which Hagrid had dropped in his coat's pocket. He nodded.
To finish off the night they all sang the school song, everyone to their own little melody. The Hall reverberated of the many different tunes and tempi, to which everyone sang the words that came out of Dumbledore's wand.
The Gryffindor first years were led up to their house by Percy, the fifth year prefect. After the full meal everyone felt they had legs as heavy as lead, and they had to drag themselves up the staircases. The little ones barely registered the talking portraits in the frames along the way and that Percy led them through doorways that were hidden behind sliding panels or hanging tapestries. Up and up they went more staircases, it seemed endless to Hermione, who only wanted to see her bed anymore.
But eventually they arrived in a very long corridor. At the very end of it hung a huge portrait, which showed a very fat lady, dressed in a frilly pink silk dress.
"Password?" she asked in a bored tone.
"Caput Draconis," said Percy, and it sounded very pompous and important to Hermione.
The portrait swung out, revealing a round hole in the wall. Hermione sighed. She scrambled in with all the other first years. Neville needed a leg up and Harry and Hermione also had to help Hannah a bit. But they found themselves where they wanted to be! And it looked exactly as Remus and Sirius had described it, too! The room was big, but still cosy, full of overstuffed, squashy armchairs and sofas. Some tables were scattered around the room, with upholstered chairs. All the fabrics in the room were red.
"This is the common room. You girls will find your dorms at the top of the staircases to the left and you boys will find yours through that door on the right. The rooms are right at the top of the staircases. You will move down one floor each year."
Most of the children went up immediately. Harry, Hannah, Hermione and Neville just stayed back for a moment to say goodnight.
"Can we meet early tomorrow morning to go to breakfast? I think we have to discuss a few little things," Harry asked.
"Yes, if you boys manage to get up at six!" Hermione teased.
"That will be fine with me. Six thirty here in the common room?"
"Okay! Are you calling daddy and papa?" Hannah wanted to know.
"Will do! Let's go and see those dorms now! Goodnight!"
Harry and Neville climbed up and found that two beds next to each other were still free. Their trunks were already placed in front of them both, so they undressed and put their pyjamas on. During the meal they had already learned a bit something of Dean and Seamus. Dean came from a Muggle family and Seamus' parents were half and half. Harry thought about the other girls. Lavender's parents were also a Muggle and a witch, while Parvati came from an all-magical family. That meant that out of the nine students in his year and his house only three were pure-blood children. Hermione was first generation, Harry and Hannah were second generation, Dean didn't really know because he had grown up in a foster family, Lavender and Seamus were both from a mixed household.
Harry waited for the other boys to close their bed curtains and go to sleep. He nudged Neville and the two climbed into Neville's bed, where Harry cast the silencing charm Remus had taught him a few days before.
"Most important charm you learn early on, for sleeping in a dorm where at least one person will snore is a real pain!" Remus had told him with a twinkle in his eyes.
Harry thought there was something speaking for that charm when he heard the noise Ron made as soon as he was asleep. Neville grinned along with him. Harry pulled out Sirius' two-way mirror and called his daddy's name.
"Sirius Black!"
"Hey, buddy! How did you do?"
"We're fine, daddy, Hannah, Hermione, Neville and I are all in Gryffindor. Draco is in Hufflepuff and he looked really happy. I think he has a crush on Susan…"
Sirius grinned.
"Well done!!! I'm so happy for you guys!"
"But you forgot to mention how many staircases we have to walk up to get there, daddy! It's endless to get up here."
"Yes, well, everything has a downside. Did anything strange happen?"
"Why do you ask? Do you expect something? Because it seems that there is a corridor that has been declared out of bounds. Dumbledore's words were: out of bounds for everyone who does not want to die a painful death."
Sirius sighed. He just nodded and said:
"Don't occupy yourselves too much with it, Harry. It's that dreaded Philosopher's Stone, which Dumbledore is supposed to guard at Hogwarts. I have warned him against it, but he is sure it will be safe."
"Ah, the thing Hagrid got from Gringotts?"
"Yes. This information is, of course, strictly classified, so don't go around talking about it."
"I won't. Just Hannah and Hermione. Do you know of any place where we could talk without being overheard?"
"I do, but unfortunately they're a bit difficult to find. If only I could retrieve the Marauder's Map! It would be dead easy to point them out then. You might ask one of the house-elves in the kitchens. I dare you to find those in the next days. Asking others is allowed if you dare."
Harry and Neville laughed and were quickly ready to respond to that dare. It would be fun to explore this huge castle and Sirius didn't want to tell them much, because he thought it would spoil a lot of their fun.
"Sirius, there was another thing. There's a teacher here, Snape, and he looked at me tonight, straight into my eyes and then I had a huge shot of pain in my scar! And he only looked past Quirrell at me, but it seemed like he really hated me."
"Severus Snape. Watch out for him. I don't know how he teaches, but I have heard rumours from others who left Hogwarts in the past years that he is extremely unfair. – Harry, if he does anything at all to disqualify you or if you feel that he's unfair, collect such incidents and we'll contact first Dumbledore and then the school governors, because he has no right to mistreat you just because you're James Potter's son. The same goes for Hannah, but I'm pretty sure he'll try to single you out."
Harry's heart sank. He knew that potions was an important subject.
"I'll let you know. And then there's something else. Do with it what you want, but Hannah and I thought it very odd. One of our classmates, Ron Weasley, has a pet rat, that's a common garden rat, but it was already a pet for them for about ten years! It looks fairly ugly, almost bald in patches, at least on its head… I don't know why, but both, Hannah and I thought it a strange thing."
Sirius' eyes widened. They had never managed to find Peter Pettigrew and a rat that lived for more than its usual three to four years sounded suspicious indeed. He suggested:
"Harry, you two have a camera; try to take a shot of Ron with his rat. We'll quickly know whether it's him or not. And we'll be able to reveal him, if it is Pettigrew."
"Will do, daddy. I really have to go to sleep now, daddy, I'm really tired."
"That's fine, sweetie, thanks for calling us still. Remus and I are very proud of you all. I'll let Emma and Dan know and you might want to send an owl to your Gran, Neville!"
"I will, Sirius!"
"Goodnight then, and sleep well! Have a great start tomorrow morning!"
"Thanks, daddy. Goodnight to you and papa as well!"
Harry returned to his own bed and cast the silencing charm again. He made sure his alarm-clock was inside of the boundary of the charm and went to sleep as soon as he felt the pillow under his head. But he had a very strange dream of a turban, which looked like Quirrell's, telling him to transfer to Slytherin at once. Harry didn't want to go and the turban grew heavier and heavier. Nott turned up and laughed at him as he struggled with the turban. And then Nott turned into the hook-nosed teacher, Snape, whose laugh became high and cold – there was a burst of green light and Harry woke for a moment, shaking and dizzy.
He rolled over and fell asleep again. He didn't remember the dream anymore, but he didn't feel well rested.
He got up on time though and joined Neville quietly in the bathroom, where both went through their morning routine, before they got dressed and added their robes over their usual clothes. Harry didn't bother with his unruly hair, just combed it through and let it go wherever it wanted.
He met Hannah and Hermione in the common room. He asked politely how they had spent their first night in their dorm.
"Great! Such wonderful, cosy beds! I've learned to love four-posters at your house, but these are a category of their own, aren't they?" said Hermione.
"Yeah, they are, I thought so, too. We told Sirius last night, he'll tell your parents where you've landed, Hermione, but if you want to send them a letter, just look for Hedwig."
She held up a letter and grinned. He grinned, too.
"Should have known! Anyway, Sirius told us why the third-floor corridor is off limits, but I can't tell you here where too many walls have ears."
They started on their long journey back down to the Great Hall. On the way Harry told them what Sirius had said about everything except the third-floor thing. Since it was very early they hardly encountered anyone. But just as they puzzled about the tapestry they had to cross, there was a noise behind them. Hermione turned around and saw the Weasley twins coming after them.
"Crikey, you guys are up early!" one of them wheezed.
"Good morning," Hermione said.
"Morning all! We wanted to ask you something…"
"… last night at the feast all four of you grinned widely when Dumbledore mentioned the Forbidden Forest. We were sure it was meant for us, but then you looked like you felt concerned…"
Hermione grinned again. Hannah smiled and said:
"Well, the marauding comment was definitely directed at us. Our dad and our two fathers were infamous as the Marauders, you know."
Fred and George were both speechless! They hadn't expected anything like that.
"You mean, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs were relations of yours?"
"Moony, Padfoot and Prongs, yes. Wormtail stopped being their friend when he betrayed my parents. It's his fault they died and it's also his fault I have this," Harry said and pointed at his scar.
"But how do you two know about them?" Hermione asked.
"Since you guys are up so early we can make a tiny detour to an empty classroom and we'll show you something. I'm Fred, by the way, you already know we're Weasleys."
"And I'm George. Come through here!"
Inside the classroom, Fred cast a privacy spell and George unrolled an empty piece of parchment. Harry and Neville looked up and thought about Sirius' comment from the night before. Hermione and Hannah looked with disgust on the grubby parchment.
"This will help you around this castle. We can share it if you want. It's the secret to the success we have. Hardly any teacher ever catches us at our mischief."
"You're putting us on!" exclaimed Hannah.
"You think so? Well, then look at this!" Fred said.
He touched the parchment with his wand and said:
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Lines appeared on the parchment, in green ink, and in curly words, that read:
Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present: THE MARAUDER'S MAP.
Harry couldn't believe it. Just the night before Sirius had mentioned this very item. Lines showed up on the map and crisscrossed all over the parchment. Hermione gasped, when she recognised names showing up on the map and held her hand on her mouth.
"Yep – it shows all of Hogwarts. What the Marauders could map at least, we found some stuff that isn't on the map. But see here? Gryffindor common room and up here would be your dorm, Harry…"
As they all looked at the dormitory, where three names were still very stationary, namely Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan and Ron Weasley, Harry's breath stuck, but he wasn't the only one with a breathing difficulty.
"Who is this Peter Pettigrew fellow?" asked George.
"That would be Wormtail, George. Can I borrow this parchment, please? It belonged to my daddy and papa, they were the ones who actually made it. I hope we can get it back later from them, but right now he needs to come and collect this person," Harry said and pulled out a mirror from his pocket.
"Sirius Black!" he said quietly.
"Harry! Good morning, sweetie, what's up?"
"Remember when you mentioned a Marauder's Map yesterday?"
"Yes, I do. Don't try to find it, it's locked into one of Filch's filing cabinet. Marked Confiscated and Highly Dangerous or something."
Fred and George nodded eagerly, when they heard that.
"Too late, daddy, someone's already done the deed," Harry said with a grin.
"No! Really? Who are these talented young ones?"
"Here, Fred and George Weasley. But before I let you talk to them I need to tell you that we've just looked at the parchment and in our dorm the name Peter Pettigrew has shown up. Hannah and I had the right hunch."
Sirius' swearing was so colourful that even Fred and George hardly believed their ears. He told them to sit still and not move away.
"We'll just watch out the rat doesn't go anywhere, dad."
"That's fine, but do it without talking. I bet he'd be capable of escaping again if you even mutter one word. None of you can do the stunning curse, can you?"
"I can," said Fred.
"I can do it, too," said George. "We're third years."
"Okay, then you're allowed to stun him. Is this Ron Weasley your brother?"
"Yes. But what is it with the rat? Scabbers is ages old! He's dead harmless."
"He is an Animagus by the name of Peter Pettigrew. The man who is responsible for the death of Harry and Hannah's parents. He nearly framed me for his crime."
"Ouch! We'll stun him right now."
It wasn't what the children had expected on their very first day at Hogwarts. They went back up the staircases and to Gryffindor tower. They tiptoed into the dorm and found the rat still sleeping on Ron's bed. Ron had just stood up. Without any further ado Fred stunned the rat. Ron came out of the bath like a fuse and shouted:
"What the heck are you doing with Scabbers? You can't play a prank on him, mum said so!"
"Only that's not a prank, Ron. We're waiting for Harry's dad to come over and then you'll see," George said.
He took the stunned rat and carried it downstairs. They looked at the map again and now the name of Peter Pettigrew showed up in the common room, right next to them.
"You're right! It must be Scabbers!"
They waited for half an hour and then the portrait door opened, and Albus Dumbledore entered the room with Sirius Black and two Aurors behind him.
"Good morning, children. Sirius has told me a very interesting story about a pet rat that is supposed to be an Animagus?" Dumbledore said.
Fred held up the stunned rat. Dumbledore mustered it for a moment, then he turned to Sirius and asked:
"Do you think that's him?"
"He does look like Wormtail, but of course that's a few years ago… we'll have to use the revealing spell. If it really is a rat and not Pettigrew then nothing will happen."
"Go ahead then."
Sirius pointed his wand and a flash of blue-white light flew out of it, hitting and engulfing the rat. Fred dropped it, but it was just as well, as out of the rat, a man shot up and fell right back to the floor, because he was stunned. Both Aurors gasped. Sirius wasn't so surprised, he'd seen this before after all. But he did look very satisfied.
"That is undoubtedly Peter Pettigrew. So we finally caught him," he said.
"And we've allowed this piece of dirt to play the faithful pet at our house!" George shouted, disgusted.
This brought Percy on the plan, who stopped short, when he recognised the strangers in the tower. But then he noticed Dumbledore with them.
"What is the meaning of this?" he asked pompously.
"That, dear perfect prefect brother of ours, was once your pet, Scabbers. Turns out there's a criminal on the run hiding behind the innocent façade…" George said maliciously.
"What?" Percy didn't believe one word.
"Yes, unfortunately that's true. You have been used for ten years by this man to keep him hidden," Sirius explained.
Percy sat down, flabbergasted. Ron came storming down the stairs, angry that the twins had run off with his pet. He cried:
"Where's Scabbers?"
Percy pointed to the stunned man.
"Apparently that is Scabbers, Ron," he said.
"What?"
Once again they had to explain quickly. Sirius stepped up to Ron and asked him softly:
"Since I am responsible for the loss of your pet, would you like me to offer you another one, Ron?"
Ron looked up. He wasn't too attached to the rat yet, so the prospect of getting another pet sounded quite nice.
"Please? But maybe not a rat…"
"What would you like then? A cat or an owl? I know that toads aren't exactly popular these days."
Ron's eyes lit up. He would have loved an owl of his own.
"May I have an owl, sir?"
"You may. I'll see to it that you get a nice little owl, okay?"
"Thank you, sir!"
Dumbledore watched as the Aurors took Pettigrew out of the common room. He followed them out of the common room. Sirius quickly smiled at Harry and Hannah and wished them a good start.
"You'd better be off if you want to have enough time for your breakfast, dears! You have proven an excellent sense of detection, both of you! Well done, Harry and Hannah! He won't be running free any longer."
"Thanks, daddy!" Hannah said.
Ron followed them out of the common room to go down to the Great Hall for breakfast. The twins also went with them and asked Sirius:
"Sir, may we ask you something?"
"Of course, boys! Congratulations, by the way, for tricking Filch!"
"Which of the Marauders are you?"
Sirius laughed, quickly transformed into the dog and when he came back he said:
"Padfoot! At your service!"
Fred and George beamed. The Marauders were their heroes and they hoped to have at least as good a reputation when they left Hogwarts.
"We know now that Wormtail was Pettigrew, but who are the other two?"
"Prongs was James Potter, Harry and Hannah's dad. Moony is Remus Lupin, my life partner. We have brought Harry and Hannah up so far."
"Weren't they in Canada for the first few years?"
"That was a ruse so the press would leave them alone. They were actually with Remus and me. But now I have to go, the headmaster is already getting a bit impatient. I suppose he wants some answers. Let me quickly make you a copy of this…"
Sirius used a very complicated duplication spell, gave the boys the copy and took the original Marauder's Map along.
"This should work just as well!" he said with a little wink and turned to follow Dumbledore to his office.
Harry grinned.
"Great, now there are two of them around. I bet Sirius will give me the other one back."
"Until then we can always share this one here…" Fred said with a grin.
They all sat down at the Gryffindor table to enjoy a good breakfast. They received their time-tables and studied them. George threw a glance at them and explained to them how to find the classrooms. He also told them to watch out for Filch, whom all children absolutely hated. The only one they hated more, if that was even possible, was Mrs Norris, Filch's old fleabag of a cat.
"No one knows the secret passages as well as Filch does. Well, maybe we do as well, because we've found most of them."
"How does one get to the kitchens?" Hannah asked.
"Easy!" said Fred. "You just go down the corridor in the direction of the Hufflepuff house and at some point a staircase goes down to the left. Follow that until you get to a painting with a huge plate of fruit. Tickle the pear on it and a door will show. That's the entrance to the kitchens. The house-elves are fantastic! They're always friendly and helpful and if you're kind to them they'll do everything for you. They just follow orders when you're not kind, but be nice to them and note the difference! We're always polite and friendly, and they do everything for us. They are our best helpers for some pranks we've played."
"Remus and Sirius said they had helped them, too. I don't really like it that they are slaves, but it seems like they don't even want to be freed! I know our Kisty would rather be killed than set free."
While they started to eat, Hermione remarked:
"I can't believe that we already had an adventure before we even had the first class!"
Hannah grinned and looked at her time-table, then she screeched:
"Which is Herbology, by the way, and we have to go out to Greenhouse One. We still have to run up to get our books! Eat faster, guys!"
They had to run down the many staircases, out of the main entrance door and to the greenhouse to reach it in time. Parvati and Lavender, who had left just a bit before them, reached the greenhouse at the same time. Dean, Ron and Seamus were all too late. Some Hufflepuffs were late as well. Draco was already there and grinned at the Gargle crowd.
"Hi! Did you sleep well?"
"Great, and you?" Hannah asked back.
"Just fine. It's nice and peaceful in the Hufflepuff house. Couldn't have got into a better house. I have four other boys in the dorm, but the nicest seem to be Justin and Ernie. There's one boy, Zacharias Smith, who thinks it's an honour for Hufflepuff to have a Malfoy. I just rolled my eyes when I heard him say that," Draco told them quickly, before the dumpy little witch, who was their professor, started the lesson.
Her name was Professor Pomona Sprout, and she made a cheerful and easygoing impression. Her teaching method reminded Harry, Hermione, Hannah and Neville of Remus' way of instructing them. They loved the fact that they were allowed to talk to each other while they worked on the plants. As long as they paid attention to the actual teaching, Professor Sprout didn't mind that a bit. They worked in pairs, Neville joined Hannah, Harry and Hermione worked together. On the next table over Draco had paired up with Susan Bones. On the next table over Draco had paired up with Susan Bones. After the lesson she greeted the Gargle children and they also greeted her friend Hannah Abbott.
The morning continued with a Charms lesson, which they shared with the Ravenclaws. Professor Flitwick probably surpassed even Professor Sprout's cheerfulness and they all found him adorable. He was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. He took the register at the start of the lesson and when he reached Harry's name he squeaked excitedly and toppled out of sight. But once he started his lesson for good they quickly learned that he was a no-nonsense teacher who would be demanding enough in his subject. Upon leaving the class, Hannah remarked:
"You know, that was quite a bit of homework he gave us, but I'm sure I'll love doing homework for him, he's a love, isn't he?"
"I agree. Looks like Remus is very much a good mixture of him and Professor Sprout, don't you think?" Hermione confirmed.
"Yes, you're actually right! We'll have to ask him whether he modelled his teaching after them," Harry said.
The most boring lesson was definitely History of Magic. It was taught by the only ghost on the teaching staff and he sounded like a ghost when he droned on about the goblin uprisings of 1213 and 1471. It was fairly easy to mix up dates and names like Emeric the Evil and Uric the Oddball.
It was time for lunch and even Hermione said:
"Now I know why Remus kept teaching us History! How much more interesting was that with him? This Professor Binns is going to make everyone hate it. Even I almost fell asleep."
"Ron did! I've heard him snoring," Neville said.
"Yeah, but he wasn't the only one. I think nearly every Slytherin was sleeping and the Hufflepuffs weren't much better. Dean definitely drooled on his parchment."
"We probably expected too much," Hannah mused.
"We certainly did. That's because we've had an excellent teacher," Hermione commented dryly.
They ladled food on their plates and started to eat. While they ate they continued to talk about the lessons in the morning. Ron sat close to them and moaned:
"Do you have to spoil the good food with conversations about the lessons? I for one have enough of them while they last!"
"You're welcome to sit further away if it disturbs you, Ron, we've been here before you came. You're equally welcome to take part, you know," Harry replied
"Papa would be so proud of you now," Hannah remarked with a twinkle.
Neville and Hermione laughed. They were willing and ready to change the subject, not only to please Ron. But Ron remained to be rather unpleasant. When he saw Draco pass by he said to Dean:
"I can't believe that this git got himself landed in Hufflepuff! A Malfoy in Hufflepuff, can you believe it? My dad says his parents are still in Azkaban…"
"And?" Hannah asked aggressively.
"Well, you can imagine how he'll turn out with parents in Azkaban. They were big with You-Know-Who, you know."
"No, I don't know, who is You-Know-Who?"
Knowing full well how most wizarding folk in Britain never said the name Voldemort out loud she repeated the question and saw how Ron's face turned red and redder. Then she said:
"Oh, you mean VOLDEMORT? Well, they were, but that's hardly Draco's fault, now is it? After all he was just a year old when they got thrown into prison. It was my dad, by the way, who nailed them down. If he hadn't worked as he did they would have gotten off claiming they were under Imperius."
"What's Imperius?" asked Parvati, while Ron snapped for air next to her and sputtered about Hannah speaking out the "name".
"An Unforgivable curse. There are three of them. Imperius is the one that puts other people under complete control of the caster of the curse. The victim can't help doing what the caster wants. Not that the Malfoys needed to be forced to join Voldemort. Daddy knows them well enough, Mrs Malfoy is one of his cousins," explained Hannah.
It was at that moment that she and her Gargle school friends noticed how much more they had learned than their classmates. Neither Remus nor Sirius thought anything much of hiding realities from the children. They thought if they spared the children any knowledge about the realities in the world, then their parents would have died for nothing. So they had always talked about politics at the table and when the children started to ask questions these questions were answered. Hannah, Harry, Neville and Hermione always knew how to keep facts from fiction. There was a time for both, but Remus didn't think much of mixing the two.
"Would you stop saying the name? Say You-Know-Who!" Ron almost screeched.
"No, Ron, I won't. Being afraid of the name only gives him more power and makes you even more afraid. Lord Voldemort is a powerful wizard, but he has that power because the wizards and witches in Britain allowed him to have it. Remus and Sirius have always used his name, which isn't even his real name, he had to fabricate himself a title," said Hermione determinedly.
"She's right, Ron. There's nothing wrong in saying his name, you know? What do you fear anyway, that Voldemort will come back and kill you?" Harry added. "What kind of a Gryffindor are you anyway? We're supposed to have courage!"
From his place at the teachers' table Dumbledore had overheard the entire conversation. These children didn't know what caused the fear of saying Lord Voldemort's name. He remembered when the name was jinxed, when everyone who actually said it aloud had to expect a Death Eater apparating in and torturing or killing him or her. It had scared most witches and wizards to death. Many Aurors and some daring people like Sirius, Remus, James and Lily Potter didn't have any scruples saying the name and deliberately waiting for an attack. They were ready to reply such attacks and had caught quite a few of the Death Eaters this way.
Dumbledore tried to reach Harry's mind, but found himself immediately blocked. Harry turned his head to Dumbledore and stared at him, obviously furious. Dumbledore was shocked. Was this child a natural Occlumens? He tried to reach Hannah, then Neville, then Hermione, but all four of them coldly left him standing in the rain. To his annoyance he learned that obviously Remus had taught the children to be armed.
Before Harry went to his afternoon class, double Transfiguration, he called Remus on the mirror.
"Harry! That's already the second time today, what's going on?" Remus asked, worried.
"Nothing much. But at lunch, Professor Dumbledore tried to use Legilimency on me, and when he couldn't get in my head he tried Hannah, Neville and Hermione! I thought you would want to know. I'm sure he now knows that we learned Occlumency."
Remus sighed. He had expected it, which was why he wanted his children armed. Their abilities had been educated from day one at their school, and after six years they were all four routined in keeping their mental shields in place.
"Well, he's probably learned now that there's no entering you against your will."
"He didn't look very pleased about that, papa. Why would he want to check out my memories?"
"It would take too long to explain that here, Harry. Can I book the question for the Christmas vacation? We'll have time for a nice long talk about these things then."
"Okay, papa. I have to go now! We have Transfiguration now. Bye!"
"Bye, sweetie, have fun!"
Harry ran off and found the others in the corridor where the Transfiguration classroom was. Professor McGonagall let them inside and greeted them. They were together with the Hufflepuffs again. Harry had been quite right when he thought that this professor was not one to cross. She was even more no-nonsense than Professor Flitwick and gave them a stern talking-to as soon as they had sat down.
"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn here at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."
Harry was aware of that. It was Sirius' favourite subject and he loved to transfigure anything that got under his wand. Sirius kept saying the most important ingredient for good transfiguration was a healthy portion of imagination paired with a good sense of logic. When they were given the lecture and the job to transfigure a match into a needle Harry remembered that and found it quite true. He knew that he did have the healthy portion of imagination, so he probably lacked the logic part. Hermione on the other hand sat there at the end of the table with a smug face and a nearly perfect needle in front of her. Professor McGonagall gave her one of her rare smiles and awarded her a point for Gryffindor.
They were all fascinated when they climbed the Astronomy Tower on Wednesday at midnight to be taught about the stars. Professor Sinistra taught them the subject and she made it interesting and fun.
All first years were waiting for their first lesson in Defence against the Dark Arts, but it turned out to be a bit of a joke. Professor Quirrell seemed to be afraid to utter even a word about his subjects and stuttered through the lesson, all the while smelling funny from under his turban. At dinner the Weasley twins told Harry and Hermione that they thought it was filled with garlic, like his classroom, because he was afraid of a vampire he had encountered in Romania.
"Well, he's a bit of a joke, really," Hermione claimed.
"Yeah, we know he is. But he makes the subject an easy one," Fred replied with a grin.
"That won't exactly teach you how to defend yourself though."
"Personally I don't think you can actually learn that here. You'll have to do that work yourself," said George wisely.
"But it would be so much easier to learn that in class. We could learn from each other," Hermione insisted.
"Afraid, that's not going to happen with this teacher."
On Friday morning at breakfast Harry saw Hedwig flying down and carrying a letter for him. He opened it and deciphered the scrawl that invited him and his friends over for tea at Hagrid's hut down in the grounds. They had a free afternoon on Friday, so Harry dutifully sent Hedwig back with a note that he, Hannah, Hermione and Neville would come down to him in the afternoon.
It was lucky that they had the afternoon tea at Hagrid's to look forward to, because in the morning they had their first Potions lesson in the dungeons with Professor Snape. Hermione looked closer at the time-table and groaned:
"Oh no! We not only have DOUBLE-Potions, but guess with whom?"
"The Slytherins," Hannah guessed.
"Yup."
"And Snape is known to be very biased. He is head of their house and will favour the Slytherins at all times," Fred Weasley offered his wisdom.
"Why is that no surprise?" Harry asked.
"Because it's Snape," Hannah guessed.
Hannah and Harry had heard a few stories about the infamous Severus Snape over the years. They knew that their father and Snape had not exactly seen eye to eye, that James had saved Snape's life at one point and under what circumstances that had come to pass. They also knew that their father had been a bit of a bully before finally growing up and out of it.
It was therefore with a good amount of trepidation that the two children entered the dungeon classroom for the first time. By the end of the lesson Harry knew that Professor Snape didn't dislike him, he hated him.
Snape took the register, and like Flitwick, he paused at Hannah's and then at Harry's names.
"Ah, yes," he said softly, "Hannah and Harry Potter, our new – celebrities. 'Special' permit for the girl to start here early. We'll see if she's really up to it."
Theodore Nott and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape went on with the names. His eyes bore into each child as they answered his call. They were black like Hagrid's, but there was none of the warmth like Hagrid's in them. They were cold and empty and made Hermione think of dark tunnels.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began. He didn't need to speak louder than in a whisper to have the attention of the class.
His little speech ended with the offer to teach them to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death, but that he believed they were all dunderheads anyway. The class was silent and watched every move the teacher made.
"Potter!" he said suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
There was no reply, until Hannah asked:
"Sorry, sir, but WHICH Potter did you ask this question?"
Apparently this was not the right thing to say, because he immediately attacked her:
"Your obviously incompetent brother! I do have the habit of calling girls 'Miss'."
"I didn't reply because I didn't know either, sir. I know I've heard of infusions of wormwood, but I'm sorry I don't know what you get when you add asphodel. I am quite inclined to believe it is not first year syllabus though. What do I get?" Harry replied.
In the next moment he felt an attack on his mind so strong his shields almost faltered. But he managed to build up his wall fast enough, which angered Snape even more.
"Fame clearly isn't everything."
Snape ignored Hermione's hand.
"Let's try that again, Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
"That I know, sir. In the stomach of a goat. It is said to aid against most poisons. There is even a species of goats named bezoar goats. As far as I remember they are found on Crete."
The singling out and questioning went on:
"What's the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
"None, as those are the same plants, sir. They're also much liked as garden flowers under the name of aconite."
Snape didn't know what made him more furious, that Harry had replied to two of his three questions with the correct answer or that he had blocked his mental probing easily. But the worst was probably that he hadn't managed to sow fear into the child. Even though the answers had been given with a polite tone, Snape thought that the little Potters had come to Hogwarts with the same arrogance he had attributed to their biological father. He was furious that Harry knew what answers to give and that he had given them, even the one he didn't know, with self-esteem and aplomb made it only worse.
"Asphodel and wormwood are the main ingredients to a sleeping potion so strong it is known as the Draught of the Living Dead," he snapped, rushing back to the front of the class. "Ten points will be taken from Gryffindor for your cheek, Potter!"
"Excuse me, sir, but what cheek? Harry has been perfectly polite," Hermione dared to intervene.
"There will be no criticising of my decisions in this class, Miss Granger! Another five points from Gryffindor for your interference!"
Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors during the remainder of the class. He paired them up and ordered them to brew a simple potion to cure boils. While he swept around and criticised almost everyone except Theodore Nott, whom he seemed to like, Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus' cauldron down and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in peoples' shoes. Within seconds, the whole class stood on their chairs, while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.
"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with on wave of his wand.
"Take him up to the hospital wing," he spat at Seamus.
Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who worked next to Seamus and Neville.
"You – Potter! Why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost Gryffindor!"
This was so unfair, Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Ron kicked him behind their cauldron.
"Don't push it," he muttered. "I've heard Snape can turn very nasty."
"But I can't let him do that! I'll complain to Professor McGonagall about it," Harry said, when they left the classroom.
"This wasn't only biased for the Slytherins, this was completely incompetent teaching," said Hermione, indignant not only about the point loss. "He didn't even show us the techniques to prepare those ingredients! He didn't even explain the individual ingredients, just told us to do this. It's no wonder Neville has got it wrong. He's no idiot; he just didn't know how to treat those things."
"Cheer up," said Ron from behind. "Snape's always taking points off Fred and George. – Can I come and meet Hagrid with you guys?"
They made their way across the grounds in time to be at Hagrid's hut. When he let them inside he had to hold back his enormous boarhound by its collar. It only took two minutes for Fang to start licking the children's ears and hands. He was clearly not quite as fierce as he looked.
"This is Ron," Harry said, pointing at the Weasley boy.
"Ah, another Weasley, eh?" said Hagrid. "I spend half me life to chase yer twin brothers away from the Forest."
The children didn't particularly take to Hagrid's rock cakes, but they happily told him about their first week of classes. Harry and Hannah weren't the only ones who were glad that Hagrid called Filch that 'old git'.
Harry told Hagrid about Snape's lesson. Hagrid, like Ron, told Harry not to worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the students.
"But he really hates me – because of dad. I'm sure he really hates Hannah, too, but he singled me out."
"That was only because you look like dad and because you're the Boy-Who-Lived, not I," Hannah threw in. "But other than that I agree with Harry, Hagrid, that was a deliberate attack!"
"Oh, ye know about that?" Hagrid asked.
"Yeah, we do. Daddy and papa don't keep secrets from us unless they have to. We know they went to school together and didn't like each other," Harry said.
While he talked with Hagrid, Hannah and Hermione saw a cutting from the Daily Prophet:
"Gringotts Break-In Latest
Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 14th August, widely believed to be the work of dark wizards or witches unknown.
Gringotts' goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.
'But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you,' said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.
That wasn't news for Hermione and Hannah, but it confirmed that the Philosopher's Stone was now stored in Hogwarts and that it was in the third-floor corridor to the right.
In the evening, Harry approached his head of house, Professor McGonagall.
"Might I speak with you, Professor?" he asked politely.
"Of course, Potter, meet me at half past seven at my office, please," she answered.
When Harry arrived at her office with Hannah, Hermione and Neville, who had been able to leave the hospital wing, Minerva McGonagall wondered what this would be about.
"Come in, children," she invited them kindly and offered them biscuits out of a tin. "What brings you to me?"
"We would like to file a complaint, Madam," Hermione said. They had decided she should be the one to speak.
"A complaint? Against what, if I may ask."
"Against Professor Snape. We have had our first lesson with him today and he tore right into Harry, asking him questions that are way above first year syllabus and when Harry answered two of those three questions correctly he deducted ten points from Gryffindor."
McGonagall's mouth was drawn to a line. She stood up, picked up a form and said:
"I accept your complaint. I must warn you though, that you are not the first ones to hand in a complaint, until now Professor Dumbledore has blocked any and all such complaints."
"Well, that's not all that happened. He ordered us to brew a potion, but he never explained how we should treat the ingredients, nor what their properties were and how they were used in potions. Neville hat to go to the hospital wing when his cauldron melted down and he was drenched in the potion," Hermione continued.
McGonagall noted the details and Harry spoke up for the first time.
"When I answered one of Professor Snape's questions he attacked me with Legilimency, Madam."
"What? – How do you know that?"
"Our papa expected that there could be mental attacks on me, so he taught us all in Occlumency. When he couldn't teach us anymore, daddy brought someone from the Ministry, who did the rest. When I have to build up my shield I know that I've been attacked, and it's almost like second nature. Professor Snape does it so brutally it's given me a headache!" Harry explained.
Also this information was noted down. McGonagall sighed, then she said:
"You might have to testify about that, if this is taken on. It is a heavy accusation you're making there, Potter, the use of Legilimency on others without their permission is strictly forbidden, so yours is a heavy charge, Potter."
"How would I have to testify, Professor?" Harry asked.
"To be sure the interrogators would probably ask for a Pensieve memory. And to assure that's not been tampered with they might ask for the use of Veritaserum. Which can't normally be used on minors like you, your guardians would have to consent."
"Can you even alter your memories?" Hermione asked.
"Not normally. You might be able to cloud them, but if it's in your own interest to have a proper memory scanned then you wouldn't do that by default. I'm not sure, but if memory serves me right there is a spell that allows the extraction of memories from the subconscious."
Harry understood and lightened up. He would be ready to let them take that memory.
"Did Remus mention any reason why he suspected mental attacks on you, Harry?" McGonagall asked.
"I know about a lot of things, of which papa and daddy think Professor Dumbledore wanted me not to know, but they give me a lot more credit, so they needed to help me to be able to protect those things. And they were more thinking about Professor Dumbledore actually, to try and probe around my brain and to find out exactly what they have told me. They were right as he's already tried to reach my mind."
McGonagall gasped.
"But in the back of their minds they might have thought it might help me when I had to face Professor Snape. I know they have not exactly been friends," Harry added.
Now she snorted.
"That's putting it very, very mildly. I am not sure who instigated it all, but especially your father and Severus Snape hated each other with a passion. And there is certainly no love lost between Severus and Sirius."
"And I bet he hates papa because papa is a werewolf," Hannah said.
"He does. I remember that he wouldn't let go and for six years tried to find out what Remus' secret was. He really followed them everywhere and I have to admit that more often than not I fully understood why they hated him so much. I did take their side more than once. But now I'll have to pass this to Albus first. He will block it and turn the complaint down, I suppose, like he's turned down every single complaint about Severus in the past ten years. How should we proceed then?"
"First we put daddy up to it…" said Hannah.
"And if that doesn't help we will ask daddy to inform the WEA and the school governors," said Harry.
"Very well. I shall see how he reacts on this."
But before McGonagall could even pass on the complaint, Harry was called to Dumbledore. He sighed and said:
"Well, I'd better face the music."
"We'll face it with you, Harry," said Hermione.
"Yes, I'm with Hermione on this. No way, we let you face that alone, dear brother."
"Thanks, guys!"
They went to the place they were shown and gave the password to get in. Once the moving staircase had delivered them on the top floor they entered. Dumbledore looked up surprised, but couldn't help that Harry had brought the two girls and Neville.
Dumbledore was a firm believer in the greater good. He was always ready to sacrifice an individual for the good of the community if it needed to be done. In his eyes Harry needed to be kept apart from everything and possibly also a little miserable, so that Dumbledore's sweet nature was accepted by the boy and he could manipulate the child to fulfil its destiny: which was to die for the good of everyone else. If Dumbledore had got his wish he would have separated Harry completely from any friends at the Dursleys. He was aware that the boy's treatment would probably have been a harsh one, but wouldn't he have been the more receptive for Dumbledore's goodness? As it was this young wizard and his entourage would be a formidable opponent when time came.
"Come in, sit down, please."
They took a seat. Immediately Harry felt a soft probing on his defences and built up his walls almost by instinct. He never let the headmaster stare directly into his eyes and the attack was abandoned immediately.
"Sadly I have had a complaint about your behaviour in class today, Harry."
"That's Mr. Potter to you, sir," said Harry. "And I bet it was one Professor Snape who complained."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Potter. Yes, that is right. I would like to hear your side of the story."
"MY side is that as soon as I had sat down in this classroom I was singled out because of my status, ridiculed and asked questions that went quite over anything a first year should have known – nota bene before he even started school."
"And when Harry answered two out of three questions perfectly correct he received a point deduction from Gryffindor for his 'cheek'. When I tried to mediate I was given another reduction for my 'interference'. Harry has been perfectly polite through this. Then we were set to brew a potion with not the slightest bit of information about ingredients and their treatment or the potion on the whole. When Neville made a mistake and had an accident that sent him to the hospital wing 'Professor' Snape rounded on Harry for trying to make Neville look bad so he would look better!" Hermione said.
"And what's worse is that he tried to ridicule and single Harry out. He pushed him with his provocations and only waited for Harry to slip up and talk back. As Hermione said, throughout the whole encounter Harry stayed perfectly polite," added Hannah.
"And finally he had the nerve to attack me with Legilimency, too. Had I not been prepared and built up my mental barrier he would have sent me to the hospital wing, too, with this attack," Harry whispered.
"Very well. I shall further investigate this confrontation. You may go."
When McGonagall filed the complaint from Harry's side to Dumbledore he knew that he couldn't just sit this one out like all the others before. He tried to catch Minerva by saying:
"But I've spoken to Harry yesterday and he said nothing about this complaint!"
"He would have been ill advised to do so before it was filed, Albus. It's time you do something and either get rid of Snape altogether or get him to toe the line…"
"Minerva, you know he's here for…"
"… his own protection, bla bla bla – when will you finally learn that he doesn't need that protection anymore? He's a big boy, Albus, and he's thoroughly unhappy teaching here anyway. Why do you keep forcing him down the throat of the students? I won't drop the complaint this time. And not only because it came from Harry, but to me it's just the drop that lets the barrel run over! You won't be laughing the last once Sirius hears of this. The moment he takes it on to the school governors I'll bring forth all the complaints I already had, which haven't been followed and Snape is a goner."
Minerva stormed out of Albus' office and slammed the door. Fawkes jumped a little and sent an irritated trill, not after Minerva, but at Dumbledore. And then he flashed out of the office in a huff. At that moment Dumbledore knew he was in trouble. He thought about the hogwash Snape had told him about that lesson earlier on. He had expected altercations, but he hadn't expected Snape to act this immature.
The very next day he had a very irate Sirius Black stepping into his office. What was worse was that Sirius was talking in an icy cold, low voice when he approached the affair, which already started to give Dumbledore headaches.
"Albus, this is to inform you that I have filed Harry's complaint with the WEA and the school governors. I will not stand aside to let Snape throw all of his frustrations on my children; they have done nothing to earn such a treatment. If your pet Death Eater can't behave he'll be sacked. I cannot believe that you're filling my head with your sweet-talking rubbish about sacrificing Harry for the greater good, but you have no scruples to have three quarters of your students suffer under the miserable work of one teacher! When it comes to Snape your sense of the greater good seems to vanish completely. Either you tell me exactly why that is or I'll have him chased out of here by next week."
"That's entirely confidential between Severus and me, Sirius, and you know that. He's here for his protection. He has served the Light side more than you will ever know."
"Rubbish. He's served only one master and that's Severus Snape himself. He'll dump you in a moment if Voldemort comes back and promises him more power. He just had the feeling you belonged to the winning side. How can you stand there and defend a so called teacher, who never teaches? Did you know that there are hardly young people coming from Hogwarts who can brew proper potions? Have you not noticed how low the potions performances are on the whole since he 'teaches'? The ministry has been lacking good potions savants for a good long while already. Either he behaves, actually teaches, and not only the Slytherins, or he goes."
"Sirius, you're cruel…"
Sirius rolled his eyes.
"No, Dumbledore, you are! You tell me with hardly any emotion that Harry needs to die for the rest of us to be able to kill Voldemort, but protect a vicious, sadistic, cruel person so he can mistreat as many students as he likes and display the worst professional behaviour possible…"
"It was just the one time he tells off your foster son…"
"Tells off my foster son??? What about Snape falling over the children without giving them the slightest chance to prove themselves? What about encouraging them to learn instead of beating some bits and pieces into them? What about the fact that he had the nerve to attack Harry's mind in his first lesson? Had we not had the good idea to teach the children Occlumency from day one they went to school he might have severely hurt Harry. That's a criminal act, Dumbledore, a violation of his student's privacy and if we bring that to court you don't stand the point of a chance to save your pet. And what about all those complaints you must have received over the years? I don't know what *you* expect from the greasy git, but *I* expect him to bloody well teach his students and teach them all, not only a select few! I do have the means to have his classes monitored and get him sacked, even if you do not agree – unless I hear of definite improvement, Albus. And believe you me there will be parents up and down this country to sing my praise for this."
When he left the office Sirius noticed the absence of an old friend of his, and wondered where Fawkes was.
Probably a burning day or he's out having fun somewhere, Sirius thought. What he didn't expect was to find a familiar red-gold bird sitting on the perch at home that was usually occupied by his owl and Hedwig. Remus came into the room and said:
"Fawkes turned up this morning, love, and he doesn't seem to be inclined to leave for the moment…"
"Wow! And I just noticed your absence from a certain headmaster's office, Fawkes. I wonder if something is wrong."
"How did your conversation go?"
"I probably left him heartbroken, because I told him that unless the students confirmed definite improvement on Snape's teaching and behaviour, I'd have him sacked. It won't be difficult to have his classes monitored and I mean monitored undercover, he wouldn't be aware of it. Two or three classes would probably do to prove he's a few things, but definitely not a teacher. I'm still fuming that he had the nerve to use Legilimency on Harry and other students. How backhanded is that? And they're only small children, darn it! It's not like Harry walked in there as if he owned the place! At least I can't imagine that, and it wouldn't be like him at all."
"Harry is certainly a healthy boy with a healthy self-confidence, but I would never call him arrogant, love. He's been so kind to all children who were here over the years. He's extremely caring. He doesn't like that fame he has. I would call him modest, but not too modest," Remus summarised.
"That's it! But he has to live with Snape as his teacher and Snape abuses his position as a teacher. I ask you, what kind of cheap revenge on James is that? Ruining his children's educational experience, just because he can't get over some petty little grudge? If I tell that to the school governors they'll have him thrown out without further notice."
Remus sighed. He was inclined to wait for a moment to see what the next weeks brought. But he agreed that action should be taken if the man couldn't get his act together.
"Something else has come up, love, and this time it's something very positive. Some idiot has tried to invent a potion to 'eliminate' all werewolves, but he's created a potion that helps them instead. It's called the Wolfsbane potion, and it's supposed to help a werewolf to keep their minds through the transformation. The recipe is available through the Werewolf Support Unit – although they're certainly not going to advertise it, the idiots, not talking about Perry, but her superiors – and I've got it right here. Very complex, but I think I can make it for you, sweetheart."
"And this has been tested?" Remus asked.
"A good number of times. The people they actually wanted to kill with it, were very calm and hardly moved around in their transformed states."
Sirius dropped a parchment on the table. Remus took it, studied the text it contained and sighed:
"That would be impossible for me to brew! This looks incredibly difficult."
"I think it would keep me occupied for three or four hours every month, but I'd gladly brew it for you, love."
"That would be great – I think…"
"Then I'll make it. Anything to help you, Moony."
"I love you, Padfoot."
"I love you, too, Moony."