Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I own any part of his magical world.
Deviated World
Chapter XII
Remus sent a sidelong glance towards Tonks. He was amazed at how well she could just blend in or stand out in a room. At the moment, to everyone except him, she blended in perfectly; none of his third year students even realized she was there. He wished he could say the same about Snape, who loomed in the back of the classroom, sticking out like a sore thumb. Remus had a feeling that Snape was not going to have a kind word to say on the evaluation no matter what he did.
"Today we are going to study Inferi. These are disputably put under the category of 'dark creatures.' Can anyone tell me what they are and why this categorization is disputable?" said Remus, ignoring Snape's lingering glare and Tonk's addictive presence.
To no one's surprise the first and only hand in the air was that of Hermione's, although Remus was slightly surprised that any of the third years knew. "Yes, Miss Granger?"
"An Inferius is a reanimated corpse that can be controlled by dark magic," said Hermione promptly. "Their categorization can be disputed because they in essence, are not alive, hence not really creatures any longer."
"Yes, very good Miss Granger, ten points for Gryffindor," said Remus. He wondered if she had been doing research about the last war since their conversation on the train. He wouldn't be surprised if she had.
"So they are like zombies?" asked Dean Thomas eagerly. Remus saw Snape cringe at this description. He knew that Snape was itching to dig into Dean for such a question. Remus just smiled slightly.
"In a sense. Actually, zombies in Muggle films were based off the legends of Inferi attacks in 1782. The wizard Archibald the Tyrant set them upon the masses, bidding them to eat whomever they came across." Several students winced at this story. "But, Inferi are much different than the stereotypical zombie. They are created by a witch or wizard using extremely complicated dark arts. They are only slightly more than puppets of their creator. They do 'fear' one thing and one thing only. Can anyone tell me what that is?"
Again, Hermione's hand was the only one up. "Fire," she said confidently.
"Yes, and that is why today we are going to practice conjuring fire; enough to fight of Inferi," continued Remus.
Remus thought that the lesson went pretty well. He had set up an area for them to practice in and there weren't any mishaps. Most of the students were not at a level in which they could produce much fire anyway. Afterwards, Remus gave them a quick but stern lecture, warning the third years that they must be responsible with the defense methods they were learning and only use them in defense situations. On that note, he dismissed the class.
Snape and Tonks were waiting for him in the back of the class. Snape had a very disapproving look upon his face. Remus did not know what look was on Tonks' face because he was avoiding looking at her.
"Teaching third years about Inferi, Lupin? I doubt the Ministry would approve," sneered Snape.
"I would think that the Ministry would want students to have a good and thorough education," said Remus.
"I thought it was a wicked lesson," said Tonks. "I wish my Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had been so thorough."
Remus smiled. "Thank you."
"I see that you have not started the unit on werewolves yet," said Snape, checking his syllabus.
"No, I haven't. We just started on human and humanoid creatures. Werewolves will not be covered until next month."
"I see," said Snape stiffly. "And these papers. You gave this one a seven out of ten. I would say it only deserves a two."
Tonks grabbed the paper. "I don't know what you're talking about Snape. I think it was graded too hard if anything. You seem to be one hell of a professor, Mr. Lupin."
Remus felt like a schoolboy again as he tried to suppress a blush. Tonks praise meant a lot to him, although he did not wish to admit it.
"Miss Tonks, I think your opinion is hardly relevant here. I have nearly fourteen years of teaching experience. As for you, you have none, and were hardly a satisfactory student while you were here."
"If you say so," said Tonks with a cheeky grin, infuriating Snape even more. Remus stepped in before any more unpleasentries could be exchanged between the two.
"If you two will excuse me, I must prepare for my next class. I am assuming that you will both be present for it?"
"Yes. You have seventh years next, correct?" said Tonks.
"Correct."
"I do hope that your performance in you next class is better than your last," said Snape. "This is the last of your classes I will be attending, seeing that I have my own classes to teach. Although, it is from my experience, while teaching your classes when you were sick, that your students were dreadfully behind in fundamental areas of their defense education."
"I am afraid that I do not quite know what you mean Severus," said Remus pleasantly, feeling fairly sure that Snape was lying.
"You have a class to start. I hardly think this is the time to get into it," Snape sneered. Remus grinned; Snape could not even make anything up.
"Of course, of course. I do hope that my next class meets you expectations."
Whether or not Snape approved of his next class, Remus knew not, but his was sure that it went very well, seeing that Snape could not even come up with a half-witted insult about it. Remus was quite pleased, especially when he saw how much Tonks had enjoyed the lesson.
He did not see either Snape or Tonks again until dinner, although Remus had a sneaking suspicion that Tonks had been in his last class of the day. He narrowly avoided conversation with both of them. After dinner, he quickly escaped to his office.
Only having this day and the next left with the books he had borrowed from Borgin, Remus began to scour them for any more information about Horcruxes. To his exasperation, not long after there came a knock on his door. He got up and answered it almost unwillingly.
"Hello Harry," he said seeing the third year nervously standing outside his office. "What can I do for you this evening?"
"I was wondering if I could talk to you about class, Professor?" asked Harry.
"Of course. Do come in and have a seat, Harry," said Remus. "Now what about class?"
Harry took a seat in front of Remus's desk. "Well, as you have told me, I am not doing very well in your class…"
"James sent you, didn't he?" asked Remus.
"Yes."
"I suppose he didn't appreciate the books I gave you for Christmas?"
"No he didn't. How did you…"
" And he wants clarification on what I meant by you not living up to your potential in Defense Against the Dark Arts?"
"Yes, he has been acting strangely," said Harry quite uncomfortably.
"Understandably so. Harry, there are things that have been kept in the dark for a long time. Your father thinks he can just forget past events, not thinking that they have any bearing on the future. While I wish that he needn't worry about these things, I cannot overlook them," said Remus. He was far too aware of how James, while he heard of what happened in Remus's world, was quite submissive. He did not want to think that Voldemort could rise again, and as Remus had seen before, this was a very dangerous standpoint.
"I still don't understand what this has to do with me."
"Harry, I should not be the one to tell you this," sighed Remus. "But it seems that there are no other options. I would have liked to have waited until you were older, but the events that will come to pass will not wait for us. You see, Harry, there is a reason—" A knock came at the door, making Remus curse under his breath. "Come in," he said with a bit of irritation.
With the worst timing in the world, a nasty-looking Snape walked into his office. Remus smiled politely and greeted him. "What can I do for you this fine evening?"
"Potter, you are excused," sneered Snape, looking around.
"Harry, if you could just wait outside my office. I am sure this will not take—" started Remus.
"What have we here, Lupin?" came a greasy voice from by Remus's desk. Remus almost choked; he had forgotten about Borgin's books.
Remus turned carefully, marking Snape, who was fingering through the pages of Nox Illumina. "Those are some books I was using for research." Luckily, the book Snape was holding did not contain anything valuable.
"Research," mused Snape darkly. Snape continued, "I do wonder what kind of research you were conducting."
"Severus, I am rather busy at the moments and as you could see I was in the middle of a meeting with a student. So, I would appreciate it if you could get to your point."
"Are you aware Lupin that many of these books are Ministry declared dark arts books, that it is criminal to hold in your possession?"
"I was not aware of that," said Remus carefully. It was partially true. While he knew that they were generally confiscated from the general public, he was not aware that it was criminal to possess them.
"The things you are not aware of could fill countless volumes. For instance, for a lycanthrope having such objects, it is a double offense. And as an unofficial officer of the Ministry of Magic, I have the authority to arrest you here and now," said Snape with a sickening smile upon his face.
Before Remus could react, three members of Magical Law Enforcement entered his office. "Unless you intend to resist, you will go with these men right now," said Snape.
"I will go quietly," said Remus with a slight raise in his voice, fully aware that the officers did expect him to resist. He did not look at Harry. "But, I bear no guilt, unlike some in the room." He said this pointedly and he believed that Snape got it loud and clear. He then relinquished his wand to a muscular wizard with gray hair and a gray goatee.
"You can't take him!" yelled Harry's voice.
"Potter, go to your dormitory now!" barked Snape.
"Harry, do as Professor Snape asks," directed Remus as his hands were magically bound behind his back. Harry gave him one long look before doing what he was told. Remus was sure he was off to tell Ron and Hermione what had happened.
Tonks was standing outside the door. She did not meet his eyes as they passed. Remus could tell that she felt guilty. Either that or she had found out that he was a werewolf.
Remus was lead out of the castle and then outside of Hogwart's boundaries. He then had an unpleasant trip of side-along apparation with a Magical Law Enforcement officer whom he recalled from past events as Stan, the Knight Bus attendant.
And this is how Remus found himself to be locked in a small dingy cell in the basement of the Ministry of Magic.
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A/N: As always, thank you to everyone for reading with an extra special thank you for everyone for reviewing. I have some good and bad news. The good news is that I have the next three chapters written and am coming along on the one after those. The bad news is that they still need to be edited and I am not sure how well I like them yet, so they could all be scrapped.
---Perplexity