Professor Lupin's class was, if possible, even more intense in the second term. He was teaching the same subject – Dark Creatures – to all years with a passion that was impossible to ignore, and more than a little bit infectious.
Tonks didn't know why she was surprised by his wealth of knowledge on the subject. He had grown up in a part of the world where Dark Creatures were as common as garden gnomes, of course he would know everything about them. But sometimes she had to wonder just how he knew some of the things he told them. Like the fact that a sphinx will roll over and giggle if you tickle it under the chin, or that centaurs are almost always allergic to peanuts.
The week they focused on vampires was probably the most challenging period of Tonks's life up to that point. Not only was Professor Lupin teaching them some incredibly complicated physical and magical defense techniques – he was also challenging everything they had ever been told about vampires and what they were like. A few days in, a question and answer session became especially heated when Daphne Podmore implied that vampires were evil, and therefore deserved to be persecuted.
"Imagine for a second," Professor Lupin said, pacing at the front of the classroom as late February rain pounded against the window outside. "Imagine that you're the child of a vampire. Over 75% of vampire offspring inherit the condition, so chances are, you're a vampire too. Through no fault of your own, you have a condition that makes everyone else hate and fear you. The government registers you as a Dark Creature, and puts a brand on your arm for everyone to see. You stop growing after the age of seventeen, and you stay seventeen for the rest of your immortal life. You're harassed in the street, you're not allowed to go to school, get a job, get married, even walk into a pub. And all the time you have this disease inside you, telling you to drink other people's blood. You don't want to do it, you know it's wrong, but you don't have the money or the means to buy blood substitutes to feed yourself. You're starving, all of your options have been taken away from you, and the people who throw rocks at you in the street are the very people you could eat for dinner. What do people expect? If our actions drive desperate people to do desperate things, we can't then turn around and blame them for it!"
"But not all vampires are as innocent as that!" Tonks surprised herself by interjecting. "Some of them really are evil! Look at Sveinn Nyström!"
A collective shiver went through the classroom. Sveinn Nyström was an infamous, ancient vampire who was reportedly responsible for more than a thousand murders over the past three centuries. He was the elusive subject of many terrifying stories that drunk teenage boys told around bonfires in order to get the girls to snuggle close in fear. Tonks felt a little silly bringing his name up in class, and half expected Professor Lupin to laugh at her, but instead his face darkened abruptly and he turned away, standing with his back to them and his hands on his hips. His head was bowed and his shoulders were tense, and Tonks suddenly felt a stab of worry. Had she hurt him, somehow? What was wrong?
After a long moment, Professor Lupin ran a hand down his face and turned back around, looking suddenly weary.
"You're quite right, Miss Tonks," he said softly, but she felt no amount of pride in the victory. "There are indeed some truly evil vampires in the world. But there are some truly evil humans as well. Imagine what it would be like if we judged all humans based on the actions of Voldemort and the Death Eaters. You cannot judge a group. Anyone who judges by the group is a peewit. You take people one at a time. And vampires – despite what the Ministry desperately wants you to believe – are indeed people."
He leaned back against his desk, running his hand down his face once more.
"I'm not saying that you shouldn't be on your guard when you encounter a vampire," he continued. "You should always be on your guard when you meet a Dark Creature, because they are capable of hurting you. But all of you are now capable of harming others too. You're well trained in dangerous physical and magical combat techniques. Does that mean you're going to go out and start attacking people? Does that mean you want to hurt anyone? No. But it does mean that if somebody attacked you, you would know exactly how to incapacitate them. Why is it any different for Dark Creatures? A large proportion of the Dark Creatures in Azkaban are there because they defended themselves and their families when humans attacked them, and the humans got hurt. The Ministry sides with the humans, and the Dark Creatures are sent to Azkaban for life."
Stunned, incredulous silence greeted his words. The students were staring at their professor in horror. Finally, Dennis Arthur asked, "Is that true, sir? How do you know that?"
His voice was shaking with the injustice of it all. Professor Lupin sighed deeply, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I know that because a lot of the people the Ministry sent to Azkaban are my friends. People I knew from Bulgaria who returned to Britain to try and find a better life."
He shifted against his desk, looking slightly uncomfortable with over twenty flabbergasted teenagers staring at him. He continued, and for the first time ever, he avoided eye contact with them, his gaze fixed resolutely on the floor.
"They were good people. They just wanted to live peaceful lives with the resources they needed to control their condition. If vampires and werewolves could get jobs, they would be able to buy blood substitutes and wolfsbane. If humans stopped wasting so much time fearing and persecuting them, then research could be done to increase the effectiveness of those potions, and perhaps even find cures. We could solve the problem, instead of exacerbating it."
He looked around at the rows of thoughtful faces in front of him, still looking weary.
"Does that make sense?" he asked. A few people nodded slowly, but most were still lost in thought, letting his words roll around in their minds. He sighed, running his hand down his face for the third time. "I know it's a lot to think about, and I know that it's hard to let go of ideas that you've had your whole life. Believe me, I understand what it's like to be deeply afraid of something. I have met some truly terrifying Dark Creatures in my time."
He took a deep, shaking breath.
"In fact, the lovely Sveinn Nyström gave me these scars," he said, gesturing to the three parallel lines that ran from his left eye down his cheekbone, and under the collar of his shirt. His voice was strained, and Tonks was entirely certain that Nyström was anything but lovely. She heard horrified gasps echo around her at their professor's words.
"But the majority of the Dark Creatures I've met have been incredibly kind," he continued. "A family of vampires living in Estonia took me in for a few days last winter when I got stranded in a snowstorm. They saved my life, and I will always be immensely grateful to them."
He paused for a moment, letting his students digest all this information. It was really the first time he had opened up to them about anything to do with his personal life, and the small anecdotes were compelling, to say the least. After a moment, he continued.
"I guess what I'm trying to get across to you guys is this: you do need to know how to defend yourself from Dark Creatures. You need to know their strengths and weaknesses, because there are indeed some evil people out there. But you also need to understand where the majority of them are coming from. You need to understand why their motivation is quite often desperation, not a desire to hurt people. If you understand that, then you might be able to help solve the root of the problem, instead of just perpetuating the cycle of violence."
There was a long, contemplative silence. Then the bell rang, and the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws slowly began to pack their bags, still silent for the most part. Professor Lupin never assigned any homework in the traditional sense, had never even asked them to crack open a book. But he always managed to make them really think about something right before the end of class, so that the issue stuck in their minds over the next few days.
Normally, he held the door for them and wished them all well as they exited, but today he walked to the chair behind his desk and fell into it, running a hand through his unruly hair. Tonks took her time packing up, waiting until everyone else had left before approaching his desk.
"Professor Lupin?" she asked tentatively. He looked up.
"Can I help you, Tonks?" he asked. She shook her head.
"No, sir, I was just wondering… are you alright?"
He raised a surprised eyebrow, and she quickly continued.
"It's just… you seemed kind of upset when I mentioned…" She trailed off, not wanting to say Nyström's name again. "I just wanted to apologize. I didn't mean to upset you."
The young man's mouth quirked up in a half smile, and his eyes regained some of their twinkling warmth as he looked up at Tonks. He seemed touched by her concern, and she smiled back at him, mentally cursing herself as a swarm of butterflies attacked her stomach.
"It's alright, Tonks," he said, still slumped back in his chair wearily. "You just took me by surprise, that's all. I didn't think that Sveinn was well-known in Britain."
"He's just sort of a… a ghost story, sir."
Lupin gave a dry, humorless chuckle. "That's good, I guess. He's not just a ghost story in Bulgaria."
The haunted tone in his voice, and the way his eyes seemed to focus on something far away from the DADA classroom made Tonks morbidly curious, but she managed to stop herself from asking more questions. It didn't look as though Professor Lupin was in any mood to answer them.
"Okay, well, I'm glad you're okay," she said awkwardly, "I've gotta go to History of Magic now, catch up on my sleep."
She blushed when she realized she had said that aloud. But at least it broke Professor Lupin out of his stupor, as he laughed out loud at her faux pas.
"That bad, eh?" he asked, standing up and sticking his hands in his pockets as he smiled down at her.
"Yeah, well, it's been said that Professor Binns has the charisma of a flobberworm," she grumbled, feeling foolish.
"Guess I'm lucky in that respect," he said, starting to walk her to the door. At her curious look, he continued. "I never really went to school, at least in a formal sense. No boring lectures for me. My family taught me almost everything I know."
He held the door open for her, looking down at her with a smile that was tinged with sadness. As she looked up at him, her cousin's words from Christmas break echoed in her head. If you care about his feelings at all, you won't ask either…
"Then I'm sure your family must be very proud of you," she said, boldly resting a hand on his arm. His eyes met hers in an intense gaze, and her breath caught. She needed to get out of there before she did something silly.
"See you tonight at Auror practice," she said quickly, turning and practically tripping out the door. She glared back at him when she heard his soft chuckle, then hurried off to History of Magic. She was most definitely late, but she couldn't bring herself to care.