Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments): Assignment 8

Care of Magical Creatures: Mooncalves

Task #1: Write about something happening during a full moon.

Warning: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Beta: Aya

Lupus et Vindictae

The full moon rises slowly behind the window of Lupin Cottage, bathing the village in a white glow. Hope Lupin looks at it, a slightly frightened look on her face. She might not possess the gift of magic, but she knows what the full moon brings.

Werewolves.

Hope knows what werewolves are, the danger they pose to everyone, Muggle or wizard, on the full moon. It is times like this that Hope makes sure that her four-year-old son, Remus, is safely tucked in bed. She doesn't doubt that the werewolves will come for Remus; her husband Lyall has been making some thinly veiled insults, directed at all werewolves, for quite a few months. Hope doesn't really agree with him; yes, werewolves are dangerous on full moons, but on any other day, they're just harmless humans with a special disease (most of them, anyway. Hope knows that some are particularly feral and are not quite harmless, even on normal days). Most werewolves don't become what they are willingly; they are bitten by out-of-control werewolves on full moons, and become a fully-fledged monster once a month because of that attack. It isn't their fault.

Hope glances out of the window and shivers. She forcefully turns her gaze back to her book, and reminds herself that even if any werewolves are in the woods near their neighbourhood (which is unlikely, given that they are living in a Muggle neighbourhood, and werewolves prefer to go for wizards) Lyall had warded Lupin Cottage so that any uninvited guests couldn't come in.

"Mum?"

Hope nearly jumps out of her skin in surprise. Once she's realised that it's only Remus, she calms down a little, laughing at herself for thinking that it is a werewolf. There is only one person who calls her 'Mum' and that person is certainly not a werewolf.

"Rem, darling, you scared me. What are you doing out of bed?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Why?" Hope asks.

"I...I keep having nightmares." Remus stutters out.

"About what, darling?"

Remus hesitates for a moment, but he cannot resist the sound of his mother's voice. "There's this man. He has yellow teeth and long hair. I was under him. He said, 'this is payback'."

Hope freezes for a second. No. It cannot be. Perhaps Remus managed to get his hands on a book mentioning werewolves and is having nightmares about being bitten by one as a result. She really needs to take those away from his bookshelves.

"Mum?"

Hope realises that she has been silent for so long that Remus is now looking worried and concerned. "Sorry, Rem. Just blacked out for a second."

"Mum...what was that?"

"Oh, me blacking out? That just happens randomly when I'm lost in thought—"

"No, Mum. The man in my nightmare."

Hope doesn't say anything for a second. She swallows, and forces out, "It's nothing, Rem, darling."

Remus nods, unconvinced. "I guess so, Mum."

That night, when Remus is sure that his parents are in bed, he throws off his blankets.

It's like he's being driven by some invisible force. His brain is not in control of his body. He walks out the door, past his parents' bedroom, down the staircase, and out the door.

Mum said not to go out.

She said it's dangerous.

Don't listen, a voice in his mind said. There's nothing dangerous out here. Look! The full moon's beautiful, don't you think so? It's lovely. The trees look particularly nice. It's all safe, don't worry.

One step forward. Two steps forward. Three steps. Four steps. Five steps.

Remus keeps walking and walking, until he cannot see the dark windows of Lupin Cottage or any of the houses surrounding it. He shivers. He's only wearing his pajamas, and it's cold out here.

Go, the voice in his head that is not his urges.

It is then that Remus realises where he is.

The woods.

They had looked dark and scary in the daylight, but in the night they looked downright frightening. Like ghosts are in there, ready to pop out any second and—

You're thinking too much, the voice chided.

Remus plucks up his courage, and takes one step closer. He is directly to the right of the first tree now. The woods look deeper than ever now. And scarier.

For a second, he can see glowing yellow eyes peering through the darkness, straight at him. Remus's eyes widen in surprise, and he shivers. Those are the exact same eyes that appear in his nightmares every night now.

You're just imagining it.

Yes, that must be it. He had been imagining those eyes just then. They aren't real. It's just a trick of the eyes.

He walks forward on wobbly legs. Every step he takes, Remus feels like he'll melt into a pile of jelly. He knows that this isn't natural because he's walked many times before and he'd never felt like this.

Deeper and deeper he goes into the woods, until he is completely surrounded by darkness, unable to see even the faintest shimmer of light. He panics then, truly panics. He's going to die, and he's going to die because he didn't listen to Mum.

You're not going to die.

How do you know? Remus thinks back desperately, forgetting, in the heat of the moment, that he does not know who this voice belongs to. That should have been his first sign of danger. Having a bodiless voice in your head telling you to go into the deep, dark woods on the full moon should make alarm bells go off in your head.

Unfortunately, Remus is only four years old, and he doesn't know what the full moon brings.

His lack of knowledge of that crucial piece of information will be his downfall.

Remus walks further into the woods, guided by that voice. He doesn't know where he is going: one foot goes in front of the other, again and again, and when Remus considers going back to the safety of home, his feet pick up the pace.

It's really, really dark here. And cold. It's like an iceberg. Remus misses the warmth of his blankets. He wants to go back, to Mum, to Dad, to home.

But still, he walks forwards. He'd like to say that he does it fearlessly, but nothing could be farther from the truth.

And then, suddenly, something pounces.

Remus shrieks loudly, scrambling back as quickly as his legs allow. His hands are splayed in front of him, and he closes his eyes in a desperate attempt to block everything out.

Someone—or something—growls, and Remus shivers.

Then white-hot pain ripples through him, and he shouts out loud. Something slashes his torso, leaving a red trail of blood that flows down Remus's legs, and down to the ground, spilling into the ground, sinking into it. The ground soaks up his blood, turning slightly red. Remus feels like vomiting, sickened by the view, and he feels bile rise up in his throat.

Something bites his shoulder, leaving the distinct indents of teeth on it. Remus yelps and immediately brings his hand up to rub at it, but something—someone—was holding him back.

Blood sprays all over the mossy ground, shining like a red river. Blood continues to pour out of Remus, slipping down his body and onto the ground.

"This is payback."