Scene Eleven
Remus opened his eyes with a start, having been roused from his sleep by a reoccurring vibration on his arm. Eyes still groggy from sleep and his mind still numb from dreaming, Remus lifted his left arm to see what was the matter and was surprised to see the wristwatch alternately glowing on and off. With his other arm he pushed in the knob on the side which caused the vibrations to cease and the glowing face went back to show the current time of half seven. His mind gradually regained function and Remus realised that he was not in his own bed back home. He sat up and studied the maroon tapestries that isolated himself from his surroundings. Gryffindor, he thought and his mind ran through all of the events from last night that brought him to that exact spot of sleeping in a shared room boys named James, Sirius, and Peter
Remus began to feel a nice sense of excitement at the prospect of going to classes this morning. Remembering that the Gryffindor prefect told the first years that breakfast began at eight and their head of house, Deputy Headmistress McGonagall would be handing out schedules. Remus slid himself from underneath his covers. Still in isolation from the safety of his drawn curtains, Remus made his bed as quiet as possible and peeked out in the room. The candles in the room had extinguished but morning sunlight flooded the room. Remus craned his neck and saw that Sirius had his bed curtains drawn shut as well. Hearing no sounds except for heavy breathing, Remus felt it was safe to slip out in the open. Feeling silly with only his boxers on, Remus slipped on his folded trousers that he wore yesterday and belted them to his waist. Looking around to make sure that James's curtains were still drawn shut around his bed, Remus managed to rip his shirt over his head quietly. He felt vulnerable with his torso bear, revealing a long history of pale scars. He silently pulled open a drawer and pulled a short sleeve shirt on, feeling foolish for pre-emptively taking his nightshirt off without having another shirt near by. James could have easily seen his bare back and possibly ask about the scars from his past transformations—and how would he have been able to answer? Remus unfolded his cloak from last night and put it on, placing his wand in the inner chest pocket for safekeeping. He looked around for his trainers and remembered that Sirius had thrown them from James's bed last night during their late night discussion. Remus crept on the cool stone floor around his bed until he found the pair and slipped them on. He had only wasted a few minutes getting dressed quickly and didn't want to risk the possibility of waking up his dorm mates as he prepared to go to class.
Remus looked around the circular room and grasped that there was no washroom for them to use; he hadn't noticed it missing last night when he entered the room. Remembering that there was not one located in the common room down in the main section of the Gryffindor common room he predicted that one was bound to be located somewhere in the boy's dormitory. Remus tiptoed out of the room and closed the door softly behind him as he stood on the landing outside of their room. He remembered there was not one two levels down in the base of the boys' dormitory and decided to follow the spiral staircase upward.
He passed the fourth level dormitory and heard the deep laughter of older boys. He couldn't hear any bits of the conversation but the laughter and giggling from whatever was going on in that room crept underneath the doorframe. Remus slowed down on his way upward, reading the sign that read 'Seventh Years.' On the fifth landing there was no doorframe but rather just a stone arch that led into the washroom. Remus was happy to see that no one else was in it, which allowed him time to explore it without feeling self-conscious of his presence in this unknown territory. He wasn't sure which was scarier: if he slept one whole night at the legendary Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry or that he was exploring Gryffindor territory before the start of class.
In the spacious washroom, a line of porcelain sinks were place on one stone wall with mirrors framed by bronze fixtures over each one. Opposite of this were individual stalls next to a half dozen urinals in the corner. The bathroom was split into different rooms by another wall with a larger arch that acted as an opening. Remus crept through this, confident to quench his curiosity because he was alone. In this section of the washroom was the showering area with a similar layout as the previous section. Instead of stalls were larger stalls for showering, complete with a selection of soaps and shampoos inside each stall. Sinks lined one wall and closets with an array of different coloured plush towels that were the softest Remus had ever felt. Next to the closets of towels were small bins with an assortment of basic razors and shaving creams. He rummaged through them for no reason, just interested in being able to have access to one even though he was in no need to shave like his father. The strangest thing about the washrooms, Remus suddenly thought, was that they were square in shape even though everything else in the tower was circular. He could imagine this part of the tower suddenly being square and wondered why it was charmed to be a different shape. He wandered over to the windows and looked down at the higher view of the castle grounds, seeing the six rings of the school's Quidditch quad in the distance. He walked past the laundry chute and the empty metal rubbish bins back into the first part of the washroom, satisfied in beginning his journey of knowing where everything was.
A group of three fifth year boys walked in only in boxers and t-shirts. When they saw Remus they stopped their chattering and one of the elder boys smirked at him dressed in his uniform. Remus quickly bypassed them and walked through the archway back to the safety in his own dormitory but not fast enough for him not to hear one remark on how short the first-years seemed to be this year. Remus bounded down the stone steps until he was at his own landing and creaked open the wooden door to his room.
He should have expected the other boys to be awake or at least in the process of waking, but he was still surprised to see both James and Sirius standing beside their individual beds. James was in the process of tying a tie around his collar but was failing, Sirius was tying the laces on his shoes, Peter was still sound asleep. Both James and Sirius stopped what they were doing to look at him as he entered the room.
"Good morning, mate," James said, his voice cracking slightly from sleep.
"I figured you were asleep in your bed or something," noted Sirius. Remus looked to his bed and how his tapestries were still drawn shut.
"Where'd you go?" James inquired, giving up on his tie and throwing it into his open trunk.
"I found the washroom—"
"Blimey, where is it then?" James asked suddenly, his eyes slightly wider than before.
"The fifth floor, I believe," Remus said with his eyes looking at the stone ceiling as he thought over what landing it was on.
"Fifth floor," James ran past Remus, muttering the phrase under his breath as he thrust open the door. They could hear his frantic footsteps echo in the stairwell as he raced to the fifth floor until the dorm room's door slammed shut. Remus, still standing near the doorway, looked at Sirius.
"What's the guy's name?" Sirius asked as he stood up from the floor and motioned his head in the direction of Peter's bed.
"Peter," Remus answered, hoping that Sirius remembered his own name.
"Huh, yeah, that sound's right." Sirius grabbed his wand from his desk and walked with Remus to his bed. "I'm thinking about sending him a jinx to wake him up—nothing too bad, don't worry," Sirius added as Remus flashed him an unfiltered look of surprise. Remus turned his back to Sirius as he started to pack for his classes in a used dragon skin leather messenger bag. He didn't like or approve of Sirius being mean to someone who had done nothing wrong and for picking on someone who clearly was an easy target. He heard Sirius start to say the beginning of the promised jinx and Remus made the quick decision to drop the two books he was holding.
Peter shot up from bed and looked around crazily, "I'm so sorry," Remus apologised, sending a pleading look to Sirius and Peter hoping to get the intended results of making Sirius believe he was sorry for messing up his joke and for Peter to think that he was sorry for waking him up in such a brash fashion.
"I feel so much better now," everyone turned his attention to James entering the dorm, smiling contently to himself. He saw everyone standing near Peter's bed and stopped, "What I miss?" he asked innocently.
"I was just about to wake Peter up for class," Sirius answered honestly, sending a grin to Peter who had left his bed and was in the process of changing shirts and robes.
"That's a good idea, does anyone know what time it is?" James asked, beginning to pack his rucksack with quills and ink bottles.
Remus looked to his watch when no one else answered, "It just turned eight sharp," he answered from across the room.
"Shall we all go to breakfast together?" James asked the group. Remus nodded along, figuring that it was better than going alone, as Sirius and Peter audibly answered. "Is everyone ready?" Remus nodded again as everyone answered an affirmation. Remus slung his bag across his shoulders and followed Sirius and James out of the door with Peter following him. In single file fashion they clopped down the staircase to the common room where a few students were sitting around talking. James held the portrait open for everyone as they filed out of the hidden entrance out onto the seventh floor of Hogwarts.
"Does anyone particularly know where the Great Hall is again?" Sirius asked when no one made a move after they were all out. Remus stared around to find that they had no older students to follow.
"All I know is that we go down all those bloody stairs and hope that they don't move," James announced when no one answered Sirius's question.
"No," Sirius groaned, "Don't mention stairs to me. Are my legs the only ones that are hurting because of last night?"
"Don't be such a nancy. C'mon everyone," James took over the leadership position again. "We know that it is downstairs somewhere so let's go," Remus stuck his hands in his robe pockets and followed Sirius and James out of the seventh floor entrance. He walked in step with Peter as they made their way down the stone staircases, which were thankfully motionless. From Remus's watch they had fifty minutes until nine o'clock, he felt confident in the group's leisurely pace for them to receive their schedules and still make it on time to their first class. Remus smiled to himself as he anticipated going through his first day's schedule. He had looked through all of his school books and found something worthwhile in each one; this was the real reason that he wanted to go to Hogwarts so badly, to learn past the simple wand work he picked up from home and to become as accomplished as his father.
Deep in his own thoughts as they traversed down the staircases, Remus didn't hear Sirius call out his and Peter's name. Remus broke his stride and slowed to a halt on a step and looked over his shoulder, surprised to see that James and Sirius weren't in front of him, but rather standing on the first floor's landing.
"Where are you going?" James asked.
Remus looked around the staircase; his eyebrows furrowed in. "The Great Hall? This is only the first floor, we have to go to the ground floor to get to it."
James shook his head, "No, I don't think so. That's going to lead us to the basement or dungeons," he said in an objective tone. "I think it's definitely this way; I remember from last night."
Remus remembered from last night as well and knew that they climbed seven flights up, and this morning they had only climbed down six flights. He stood on the staircase, not moving next to Peter.
Perhaps James was expecting him to follow him without question for he turned to Sirius and asked him where he thought the Great Hall was.
"Look, man, I really don't know. You say it's on this floor, right?" James nodded, "And you think it's one below?" Remus nodded. "So let's check this floor out and if it turns out that it isn't the right one then we'll follow Remus's plan."
"Okay, fine" Remus answered flatly because he knew where the actual Great Hall was but didn't want to break away from the group. James brightened at his content and Remus faked a smile to make up from his dull tone and backtracked up the stairs to the landing. He readjusted his bag that had been another gift from his father and followed James's footsteps down the corridor. Remus did not know where James was leading them but he knew it wasn't in the direction of the Great Hall. There were no other signs of life except for the moving subjects in the picture frames. They passed through two arched hallways and turned left down a corridor that was lined with arched windows that overlooked the school's lake. Remembering his father's words of advice to belong on the group and allowing himself to be close to people Remus held his tongue from his livid thoughts. They had wasted ten minutes just exploring this well lit floor, which might come become useful if they had a class on the first floor, but they were due to receive their schedules.
"I don't remember seeing any of this," Peter said to James nervously.
"I hate to say this, too, but this looks like nothing that we saw last night on our way to the dormitory," Sirius mirrored Peter's concern. Remus smiled to himself for being right and mentally congratulated himself on knowing a little bit about the layout of the castle.
"That's just because we used a different staircase. Remember how the staircases moved? It's around here somewhere, we just need to find where we were last night." Remus frowned as James insisted on being right and continued down another corridor. He remained silent as he fell in line behind Peter and after awhile noticed a glistening on the stone floor. Remus stopped walking and looked down at the sheen on the floor, discovering that it was a thin layer of water. He caught up to Peter's coattails and noticed how the layer of water deepened the further they went.
James stopped in the middle of the hallway, lifting one foot off the floor, "Thirty points to Gryffindor for anyone who knows why there is a flood in this corridor."
"Because this is the way to the underground entrance to the lake?" Sirius answered as he began to stomp in the inches deep layer of water.
"I say we follow it and find out," James countered with excitement in his voice.
This was more than Remus was willing to take, it was one thing to follow James down the wrong floor, but it was another to be late to receiving their schedules and their morning class. Remus finally spoke up, "This is not the way to the Great Hall. I'm going to go back while I still have time and get my schedule." Sirius stopped stomping around at the start of his words; James and Peter turned back to look at him. Remus bit his lower lip anxiously, waiting for the others' reactions.
James breathed out a heavy sigh, kicking the pool of water. "I was just beginning to think the same thing." He moved his school bag from one shoulder to the other one and looked up to face Remus. "I'm sorry," he professed to Remus as he raised his hands up in a sign of surrender. "I really thought this was the way," he sent a half-smile to Remus. "At least we know that the Great Hall is definitely not on the first floor. Shall we try out the ground floor now?"
Remus nodded and looked to his watch to find that it was half eight. He looked up and was surprised to see that everyone was looking at him, expecting him to lead. "Uhm," he cleared his throat, "to the ground floor." He turned around on his heel and began to retrace their path and made it back to the grand staircase in less than five minutes; reworking their fifteen-minute detour caused by James in more than half the time.
Remus felt his nerves begin to tingle from his fingers to his arms as he led the group successfully down the ground floor where he saw a multitude of students from every house walking around. Already he recognised some of the portraits from last night and the large ceiling. The atmosphere on the first floor was stale and cold whereas the atmosphere here was dynamic and warm. Perhaps that was because Remus knew he was right in his direction skills, or perhaps it was caused by number of elder students clustered around the corridor leading to the huge oak doors to the Great Hall. Remus looked over his shoulder and felt a stab of guilt in being right because it meant that James was wrong. Remus had known this boy with the crazy messed hair for less than a day but he knew that he seemed to like being the confidently cool leader.
"Good going, mate," Sirius slapped the back of Remus's left shoulder as he walked past him in favour of the Gryffindor table laden with breakfast foods. Remus allowed Peter and James to walk past him as he held open the door and smiled at James, hoping that it would express his conflicted feelings of being right. The Great Hall seemed to be bigger this morning from last night because of everyone not being there as before. Remus followed James to the Gryffindor table and sat down near the back of the Great Hall away from the teachers' platform. He looked down at the food in front of him of different Danishes and a dozen differently cooked eggs and meats
As he alternatively nibbled on bread and ladled what turned out to be a kind of apple-flavoured oatmeal Remus looked around the Great Hall. Everyone seemed to know each other, he thought as he watched the groups of different students talk and eat together happily. He envied how at ease everyone older seemed to act and he wondered if he would be able to feel that way here at the school. The boys around him stayed quiet as they ate and Remus wasn't sure if it was because they were nervous about the first day of classes or because they didn't have a close group of friends that they felt like they could joke around with yet.
Remus froze with a piece of toast near his mouth as he watched Deputy Headmistress McGonagall make her way down the Gryffindor table, handing out schedules. With ease she recognised the students of her house and spent no time in handing out the different timetables to the clusters of students sitting sporadically up and down the long wooden table. In the matter of a few minutes the professor wearing another set of emerald cloaks matched with an emerald witches hat made her way to where Remus and other first year boys sat.
Professor McGonagall stopped near Peter and looked them all over, as if she was sizing them up and gathering their potential in one fatal sweep of a glance. She looked at the different leaves of parchment in her hands. "Mr Black," she called out in a sharp voice. She looked Sirius up and down as he stood and accepted the schedule. "Mr Lupin," she questioned the group with the raised brow. Remus dropped his toast and fumbled his hands with his cloth napkin before timidly raising his hand. He stood while placing the cloth on the tabletop and grabbed the scroll. Before he opened the scroll tied with ribbon that spelled out his full name he was surprised to see the deputy headmistress nod her head ever so slightly in his direction before calling out Peter's name. His head of house would have to know about his lycanthropy, he reminded himself. He looked up at the teacher who was now handing out a schedule to James. Nervousness stiffened his spine in front of the authority figure from not knowing if she had known about his secret yet. He probably wouldn't have begun to question the prospect until she had nodded to him and no one else whom he was sitting with. It also did not help that by titles alone, Remus knew that the woman worked directly with Headmaster Dumbledore. Remus stared down in his lap, playing with the ends of the ribbon with his fingers, ignoring the others.
He bit the inside of his cheek in fear of the prospect of one of his teachers knowing his condition as he slipped off the ribbon of his rolled schedule. His eyes devoured the list of his courses. In fine script listed his classes by day and time and he ran his finger down the page under his name until he saw his Wednesday classes. He smiled as he read that Herbology in Greenhouse One was his first class at nine. His mouth twitched into a frown as he laid down his timetable on the table to his right hand to push his cloak sleeve from his left arm to look at the time. By his watch he had fifteen minutes to get to class and he was happy that he packed all of his required reading in anticipation of not knowing how his schedule would read out.
"I've got Herbology as my first class," Peter announced to the group. All of the boys looked up from their isolation as Peter's pronouncement.
"We all do," Sirius said in an all-knowing tone. "We all have the same classes since we're all in the same house."
James rolled his scroll and retied it before he stuffed it in his inner chest pocket of his cloak. "Greenhouse One," he ruminated, "so we know we don't have to climb any stairs upwards," and smiled as if that knowledge was an accomplishment on his part. Remus forgot his uneaten food and picked up his parchment and placed it carefully in his cloak pocket.
"There is only fifteen minutes until it is scheduled to begin," Remus spoke as he tucked away his scroll in his pocket and standing.
"Wait, mate," James spoke out against his leaving. "I'll go as well," he stood and grabbed his school bag. "Anyone else going?"
Sirius was already grabbing his gear and Peter obediently pushed his remaining food in his mouth and stood to leave. "Let's see if we can find the greenhouse then," James said merrily with a grin send in Remus's direction. Just as before, Remus had not expected to be made leader of the group and stared mystified at the standing first year boys before realising they were waiting for him to make the move.
"Oh," he said rather dumbly out loud to himself before turning around and began to walk to the doors out of the Great Hall. James jogged up to his stride and wordlessly paced himself to match Remus's own. Remus sided a glance at James and wondered what his deal was; for as much as he seemed to enjoy leading, he didn't seem to mind it when Remus was put in the awkward position to act as tour guide. Remus followed the pathway caused by others leaving the castle interior outside and held open the front doors of the school for the other Gryffindor first-years.