Chapter 9: Rivalry Is In the Blood, Part 1

(Or, Teddy Starts Hogwarts)

September 1, 2009:

Rolling his eyes, 11-year-old Teddy allowed his step-godmother to give him sentimental, wishy-washy kisses and mindlessly agreed to the constant admonitions to 'be good!'.

"All right, all right, leave some face, please," Teddy finally said, ducking away from what must've been the hundredth kiss.

"Have a good term, Teddy," Harry said, giving him a quick hug.

"Aren't you going to tell me to behave myself?" Teddy asked suspiciously, looking at Harry.

"Oh, hell no, I know better," Harry laughed, dodging Ginny's swipe at him easily. "Five minutes, you'd best get on the train."

"Can't I go with Teddy? I'm a big boy!" Jay whined, tugging at his mother's jeans.

"You can go with Teddy in another five years," Ginny replied with a smile, ruffling his messy black hair and waving back at Teddy as he climbed onto the train.

"God, it only seems like yesterday..." Harry muttered, resettling Lily on one hip. "He's not seriously 11?" he asked Ginny hopefully. "He's still only a baby, right?"

Ginny laughed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Harry, he is eleven. It has been that long."

"It's not fair..." Harry muttered again as the train began to pull out. "I feel old."

"Hey, do you mind if we sit in here?" came the query of a boy about Teddy's age, with tangled brown hair and a spot of dirt smudged across his cheek. His family clearly hadn't fully regained its financial footing, since his clothes were obviously second-hand and in desperate need of some mending. The second one didn't seem much better off: straw-coloured hair limp against his head and in serious need of a trim, his clothes mended but still worn.

"Yeah, sure, go ahead," Teddy replied, gesturing at the empty bench across from him. "I'm Teddy. Teddy Lupin," he added.

"Marcus Dylan, pleased to meet you," the first boy said, "and this is Jesse Korbin, he's my neighbour. So are you Mug – wait, you said Lupin?"

"Yeah," Teddy said uneasily, waiting for the inevitable...

"Obviously you're not Muggleborn, then," Marcus finished instead. "Lupin's a wizarding name. You related to the Lupins at the Battle of Hogwarts?"

"Yeah, I'm their son," Teddy said, a slight smile on his face.

"Gosh, you must know Harry Potter, then, he fought there too – "

Teddy rolled his eyes. Finally, somebody who didn't know his relation to Harry Potter. Clearly either Muggleborn or Muggle-raised. "He's my godfather. I live with him, most of the time, any way. So where do you come from?"

"Well, we live in Cheswick. I think Cheswick's exclusively Muggle, but my grandparents say that they reckon there might be some wizarding families in the area..."

"Well, I know there's at least one," Teddy offered, "seeing as we live in Cheswick. Well, not really in Cheswick, we're about ten miles out from the town..."

"Oh, is it your family that lives in the house down Old Miller's Lane?" Jesse asked curiously.

"I guess, I don't actually know what the road's called," Teddy shrugged. "We just call it the Potter-Lupin house when we need to get to it by Floo."

"Floo?" Jesse and Marcus asked. "What's Floo?"

"Floo?" Teddy asked with a frown. "You don't know what Floo is? How do you know all this stuff about wizarding names and battles and stuff and you don't know what Floo is?"

"Well, my grandparents are Muggles," Marcus said. "My parents were both Muggleborns, but they died when I was four. My grandparents still kept some magic stuff around... one of them was a bunch of Daily Prophets from that first week after the final battle. I saw the Lupin in there, so I figured it must've been a wizard. Hey, Grandpa told me about one way my parents used to get around was in the fireplace. Is that Floo?"

"In the fireplace?" Jesse asked incredulously. "You're fibbing! People don't travel through fireplaces!"

"Sure we do," Teddy replied. "It's not particularly fun, I actually prefer flying places, but it's a hell of a lot quicker."

"Are you actually allowed to talk like that at your house?" Marcus asked warily. "I'd have gotten my mouth washed out with soap if I'd said stuff like that."

"I think Ginny's given up," Teddy said with a laugh. "I picked it up from Harry, he's an Auror and he's got the mouth to go with it. I don't dare talk like that around Grandmum."

"An Auror?" Jesse questioned. "What's an Auror?"

"Well, basically, he chases Dark wizards. Most of them are Death-Eaters, from the war, you see. He's quite good at it, he's only had one escape and he's reasonably certain that one was mortally wounded. He's actually head of the Aurors Office at the Ministry now, Kingsley promoted him two years ago after Robards retired..."

"So sort of a cop?" Marcus said.

"A cop? Harry don't cop out of anything!"

"Well, no, cop as in police," Jesse said.

"No, he's not really Magical Law Enforcement. They don't deal with petty things like magic in front of Muggles and misuse of magic at the Aurors' Office. The Aurors' Office used to be part of it, but when Kingsley overhauled the Ministry, he separated them. They deal more with the serious stuff like Death-Eaters and hate crimes."

"What's this Ministry you're talking about?" Jesse asked.

"Well, the Ministry for Magic, of course. You don't think our world operates without a government, do you?"

Their conversation was interrupted by the door sliding open and a couple of dark-haired boys starting to come in.

"Oh, no, can't go in here, Colm," one boy said haughtily, casting a glance around the compartment. "See the sort of filth in here? Mudbloods and half-breed's mutant whelps..." He smirked tauntingly at Teddy, who had gotten to his feet and drawn his wand. "What? Surprised that I know? I thought all our world knew that your father was filth and your mother a mutant and a disgrace..."

"My parents were heroes," Teddy said in a low, trembling voice. "I suggest you leave of your own accord before I make you leave."

"What are you going to do, savage me?" the boy replied. That seemed to be the final straw for Teddy.

"Stop it!" came a professor's howl as they elbowed their way through the students gathered in the corridor and hanging out of compartments to watch the fight. "Stop it, the both of you!"

Two rough hands yanked the two duelists apart, still straining to get back at it.

"You, go back to your compartment," the professor snapped at the dark-haired boy. "You, come with me. The rest of you get back in your compartments!"

They were halfway to the professors' compartment when Teddy realized which professor was dragging him.

"Neville, you didn't hear what he'd said!" Teddy protested, struggling against Neville's firm hand. "Neville, he deserved it!"

"You, shush," Neville said, sitting him down on a seat. "You gave him what he wanted. He was trying to get a rise out of you, and it worked."

"What was I supposed to do?" Teddy asked furiously. "He called my father filth! And he called my mother a mutant and a disgrace!"

Neville sighed, rubbing his forehead. "He wasn't the first and he won't be the last, Teddy. You have to learn to stop listening to them. Anybody who actually knew your father wouldn't be saying that. And your mother married him, so she was a hell of a lot smarter and better than any of that lot give her credit for. It's centuries of prejudice and fear speaking there."

"Well, I won't stand for it!" Teddy said angrily. "And I'll hex his brains straight out of his head if he tries that again!"

Neville sighed again. "You truly are Harry's godson. You listen to me, all right? Be careful. You do too much of that defending, and he's going to tell his family, who are going to get Umbridge on you."

"Harry won't let Umbridge near me," Teddy said confidently. "He'd do his nut."

"And I have no doubt about that," Neville agreed, "but still the same, don't give them a reason to call you a danger. Go on back to your compartment, then. We should be at school in a bit."

"What was that all about?" Marcus asked immediately, as Teddy slipped back inside.

Teddy sniffed. "Idiots."

"What was he talking about?" Jesse asked.

"Let's just say my lineage is a little unusual," Teddy muttered. When Marcus and Jesse both opened their mouths to ask again, he said, "My father was a werewolf. My mother was a Metamorphmagus."

"Why's that bad?" Jesse asked timidly.

"Well, most of the older wizards and witches, and a lot of the old pureblood families, hate werewolves. A lot of the ones around Harry's age and younger are better about it. My father taught most of them at Hogwarts one year, and some of them fought in the war with him."

"So does that mean you're a werewolf, then?" Marcus asked, a slight strangled tone in his voice.

"No," Teddy replied, looking at him warily. "Never had a hair of a symptom since the day I was born. Why?"

"My parents and my baby sister were killed by werewolves," Marcus said softly.

Teddy frowned at him as he remembered one difficult day at the Potter-Lupin house.

"Harry, can't we play outside for a while?" 4-year-old Teddy pleaded.

"Not today, Teddy, I'm sorry," Harry said apologetically. He had dark circles under his eyes, his face worn and drawn as he hung up his Auror's cloak. Harry had been out all night, after Kingsley's lynx had come running into the kitchen just when Teddy was about to go to bed. As Ginny had been shooing him off, he heard the lynx saying, in Kingsley's voice, "Greyback and his gang have attacked a family down in the village..."

"Please, Harry, can't we play outside?" Teddy asked again. "It's so nice out there..."

Harry sighed. "All right, Teddy, but stay inside the yard today."

"Ah, Mr Potter, just the man I wanted to see today!" came the pleasant voice of a woman as she entered the yard.

"What do you want, Umbridge?" Harry asked sharply, gesturing for Teddy to come to him.

"And just the boy I needed to find as well," Umbridge continued pleasantly. "As you have doubtlessly heard, Mr Potter, there was quite the gruesome werewolf attack in the village last night."

"I know, I was there to deal with the aftermath," Harry said tersely.

"And seeing as there's only one werewolf's name registered in Cheswick..."

"There are no werewolves registered in Cheswick," Harry said tightly, his grip tightening on Teddy. "The only one there was has been dead for four years, so I very much doubt he had anything to do with last night."

"As a matter of caution, the name of one Ted Remus Lupin, born April 3, 1998 in Cheswick, was added to the list. After all, he is the son of a known werewolf..."

"That's me," Teddy spoke up innocently. "But I'm not a werewolf. Don't you know you have to prove that you're a werewolf before you get put on the list? My dad was a werewolf, though. I'm named for him, you know, he's a hero."

"You're quite right, Teddy," Harry said affectionately, ruffling his hair. "I would leave, Umbridge, if I were you, and check your memos. We released the names of the attackers last night. Have you even seen the house?"

"Well, no, there are procedures to be followed – "

"Well, go take a look and tell me whether or not you think a single four-year-old could do that sort of damage. Goodbye, Umbridge."

"What's going on here?" Ginny asked as she Apparated in from practice. "What are you doing here?"

"Regardless, the Dangerous Creatures office wants him in to answer questions about last night."

"Goodbye, Umbridge," Harry repeated.

"That family's boy was hardly any older than Teddy!" he heard Harry hissing at Ginny that night as he pretended to fall asleep, his head in Harry's lap. "The poor kid got bitten and mauled half to death, baby got killed... The boy's in critical condition at St. Mungo's, I've spent half the night trying to calm his hysterical grandparents. They're Muggles, can't get in to see him, they can't understand half of what we're telling them ... I don't think they quite understand what's happened, they couldn't figure out why they needed to move out of the town once the boy is released from hospital..."

"What did Umbridge want?" Ginny asked softly. "I take it wasn't a social call?"

Teddy felt Harry's fingers begin combing through his hair lightly, his voice cold as ice and just as hard as he said, "She wanted Teddy. Doubtlessly wanted to 'dispose' of him as a dangerous creature, tried to pin the blame for the attack on him."

"Why's she going after Teddy? He's not even a werewolf, he's not on the Register."

"Apparently she added him as a 'precaution' since he's the son of a known werewolf. I was quite proud of him today, he told her off in that cute little way of his. 'Don't you know you have to prove you're a werewolf before you get put on the list?'"

Ginny laughed softly.

"Oh, was it your family that was killed?" Teddy asked. "I remember that, Harry was one of the Ministry wizards on the scene to sort through it." He looked at Marcus for a second. "I thought the kid was bitten."

"He was," Marcus replied softly, pulling the neck of his sweater down to reveal the old, ugly scar. "I'm a full-blown werewolf. The headmistress says they've had werewolf students before without any difficulties, so they can do it again."

"Probably going to use the Shrieking Shack, that's what they used when my dad was in school," Teddy said knowledgeably. "So do you know anything about Hogwarts?"

"Not a humongous lot," Marcus admitted. Jesse shook his head.

"I know that my parents' uniforms were all blue and bronze and there were ravens everywhere, but I can't imagine what for," Marcus said.

"Oh, your parents were Ravenclaws, that was their house," Teddy said. "There are four houses in Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. They're named after the four founders of the school – Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin. If there's a house you don't want to be in, it's Slytherin. Almost all the Dark wizards came from there... My family was mostly Gryffindor. My dad and Harry and Ginny and her family all were. My mum was a Hufflepuff..."

"How do they decide what house you go into?" Jesse interrupted curiously.

"There's a ceremony called 'the Sorting' right at the start-of-term feast tonight. Harry says we have to battle a mountain troll, but I think he's lying, because Ginny laughs way too hard when he says that. George – that's one of my uncles, well, step-uncle, really, he's Ginny's brother – says there's some sort of potion-swallowing, but I think he's lying as well... Charlie – that's another step-uncle – says we have to tackle dragons, but I'm pretty sure he's lying..."

"So really, you don't know," Marcus summarized.

"Not a clue. Can't be that bad, I mean, most of the class won't know anything about magic yet and they wouldn't sic trolls and dragons on first-years..."

"It's a hat. It's a manky old hat," Jesse said bluntly. "How in the world do you sorted by a hat?"

Both he and Marcus jumped back slightly when the Hat started howling some off-key song about camaraderie and not tickling sleeping dragons and lions and snakes and badgers. "It's singing," he hissed at Teddy. "How is it singing?"

"Why is it singing?" Marcus hissed from the other side of Teddy.

"I don't know, but Harry's going to get an owl tonight for telling me all these tales of trolls and dragons and battles," Teddy muttered.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward. "Aberdeen, Lauren!" she called out, and a nervous-looking brunette stepped forward. The hat sat upon her head for a few moments before announcing to the crowds,

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The table filled with scarlet-and-gold-clad students burst into cheers and raucously welcomed their newest member.

"Adamson, Cale!"... "HUFFLEPUFF!" The yellow-and-black-clad table burst into applause this time.

"Andrysiak, Zofia!"... "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Aron, Sagewood!"

Marcus leaned over to Teddy. "Shouldn't it be Aron Sagewood, not Sagewood Aron?"

"Nope, her name is Sagewood. Her dad works at the Aurors' Office with Harry," Teddy replied in a low voice. "Word to the wise, though? Call her Sage."

Sage was sent promptly to Ravenclaw, the blue-and-bronze table.

"Avery, Zankhana!" became the first Slytherin – the green-and-silver table conveniently placed across the hall from the Gryffindors.

"Ballester, Georgia!"... "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Blayney, Abigail!"... Ravenclaw.

"Burke, Lachlan!"... Slytherin.

"Yeah, see, all the Slytherins so far have all been the pureblood lot," Teddy said under his breath to Jesse and Marcus. "Avery and Burke were both sent to Azkaban for Death-Eater activity. Azkaban's the wizards' prison," he added in explanation.

"Cadwallader, Nanaly!"... Ravenclaw.

"Clisham, Macartan!"... Slytherin.

"Davis, Ignatius!" went into Hufflepuff, and then, "Dylan, Marcus!" was called.

Taking a deep breath, Marcus went up on the stage, pale. Teddy held his breath, hoping that Marcus would be put into Gryffindor: he quite liked this guy. Finally, the hat announced, "GRYFFINDOR!" and Marcus quickly dashed off the stage, apparently quite pleased to be out of the spotlight.

"Flint, Andrelle!" and "Gudgeon, Joselyn!" both went to Slytherin, followed by "Hallows, Morgandy!" to Gryffindor.

Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw both received one more student apiece, "Isaacson, Catrina!" and "Kallis, Osric!" before "Korbin, Jesse!" was announced. Jesse was sent to Gryffindor after much deliberation by the part of the 'manky old hat', and then finally, his name was called.

"Lupin, Ted!" The room seemed to fall silent and time seemed to stop, though Teddy was aware that it wasn't really possible for time to stop.

It was true, however, that the room had fallen silent: the name Lupin was well-known amongst this generation as two of the greatest heroes of the Dark Wars... after all, were their bodies not buried right here, on Hogwarts grounds at the right hand of the greatest wizard in their parents' lifetimes: Albus Dumbledore? Were their names not repeated every year at the memorial service? Were they not part of the posthumous awarding of the Order of Merlin, First Class, awarded by Minister Shacklebolt and Head Auror Potter to the members of the Order of the Phoenix, who had fought so long and so hard and lost so much?

"Oh, Merlin, they're all staring at me," Teddy muttered under his breath as he slipped up onto the stool.

"They'll tire of it in time, Lupin," McGonagall said back to him softly, dropping the hat onto his head.

"Ah, yes, young Mr Lupin... I remember your parents well, I do. They were particularly hard to place... Both brave souls, both gentle souls... You, however, are not as hard to place. It's clear where I should put you... GRYFFINDOR!"

"Did you have to yell so loudly?" Teddy muttered darkly as he flinched and McGonagall lifted the hat off his head, gently shooing him off towards the Gryffindor table.

There were three Hufflepuffs in quick sucession: "Markham, Kagan!", "Matas, Lindsay!" and "O'Neill, Tiffany!", followed by two Ravenclaws, "Parris, Waldorf!" and "Rider, Quillan!", and another Hufflepuff, "Rogers, Gabriel!"

The dark-haired boy who had riled Teddy so much on the train was the next one up: "Rosier, Hayden!" Obviously, the boy went straight to Slytherin. "Stackpole, Paige!" was sent to Ravenclaw, and then Gryffindor received its last students, "Tierney, Brianna!" and "Wanlosky, Kryton!".

It didn't take long for the last five students to be sorted: "Wilkes, Myrlene!" and "Yaxley, Sagittarius!" to Slytherin, "Yamovski, Halley!" and "Zellweger, Daeton!" to Hufflepuff, and "Yarwood, Maddexa!" to Ravenclaw.

At long last, it was finished and the blessed food appeared on the tables.

"Thank you, I am starving!" Kryton exclaimed, immediately piling his plate.

"Hear, hear!" Jesse agreed.

"So where are you from?" Kryton asked through a mouthful of chicken. "Sorry," he added after a moment, "my mother insists that I lack some sort of table manners."

The three other boys all laughed. "Nah, that's fine," Teddy said. "We're all from Cheswick, actually, discovered that on the train here. You?"

"Spinner's End," Kryton replied. "Known here and abroad as a place that rarely produces wizards. Apparently there's only been two in the entire history of the town. They're both dead, which doesn't bode well for me, really..."