Chapter 142

New and Unimproved

Remus had completely forgotten about James' warning about the ministries desire to intricate their teachers until he walked into Arithmancy class in the next period. A middle-aged man with thick glasses sat in a chair next to the teacher's desk a clipboard in hand

"Which one's the teacher, they both look just as nerdy." Sirius laughed nudging him in the ribs.

"Oh, hah ha. Don't forget you're in this class now too. That makes you just as nerdy as the rest of us." Remus whispered back, and Sirius' pouting was his only response.

Leading Sirius to his usual seat Remus watched the ministry worker suspiciously. It made him nervous being so close to one, what if they discovered his secret. Would Dumbledore get sacked for enrolling a werewolf? Ther was no doubt he'd be expelled. Would his friends be okay if he got expelled? Or would they kill themselves trying to become animagi for a friend they could no longer help?

"It was entirely stressful and Moony knew he wasn't going to get much out this lesson.

"Can you take notes this period, even though you're behind?" Remus asked he was almost desperate. He wouldn't have asked otherwise. It was Sirius' first class and he wasn't likely to understand much of what was being said, but Moony wasn't likely to be able to pay attention with that ministry worker distracting the werewolf every time he moved.

"I dunno, I might write too slowly," Sirius mocked at first but noticing the look on Remus' face changed his tone. "Yeah, sure. I'll be fine. What's up?"

"I'm halfway towards panicking ever time he so much as looks in my direction, I'm gonna be worthless," Remus muttered under his breath pretending he wasn't watching them, man.

Sirius looked up and then back down. "I don't get it, do you know him or something?"

"If he finds out about me I'm screwed. Dumbledore will get sacked and I'll be kicked out, do you think they'd take my wand?" Remus said to quickly.

"Not if you use it on them," he joked but sighed at the look Remus gave him. "He won't be able to tell, Moony. You look fine, they're only a few days till the new moon, you're not even pale." Despite Sirius' frustration at his perceived paranoia, he kept his voice low in consideration for his friend's nerves. "Besides he's inspecting the teacher not you."

Remus felt only marginally reassured and Sirius could clearly see that as he heaved a heavy sigh and stood. "Switch me seats, I'm larger than you, despite you being taller, so you won't be as noticeable."

Remus was surprised by the consideration, he'd expected more exasperation from the pup. He jumped at the chance to hide but wasn't convinced it would help him concentrate anymore and he made sure to warn Sirius, but Padfoot just shrugged it off.

Hiding behind his bigger built friend he found just enough concentration to ensure Sirius stayed between him and the ministry worker at all time, regardless of how Sirius or said ministry worker moved, but there was little left for the actual lesson. He didn't learn a thing, despite the class remaining blissfully interrupted by the outsider.

He still half ran out of the classroom the moment the bell rang, leaving a very amused puppy behind.

"Moony, for someone who can lie better than anyone, you've got a horrible poker face." Sirius laughed when he caught up with the werewolf.

"The stakes were a little too high this time," Remus replied solemnly as they climbed into a shortcut leading them to the seventh floor. "Did you get the notes?"

"Uh, I did my best," Sirius said handing over a notebook Remus didn't even think he bothered to carry with him. The more scholarly Marauder examined the notes that looked less like notes and more like a poorly detailed transcript of the entire lesson with little notes such as "What?" "Confusing," and "This sounds like it could be awesome if I understood any of it."

Remus found himself chuckling under his breath as he read some of Sirius' ruder comments. "You know notes are supposed to be like short bullet points or something, not rewriting everything the teacher says, right?"

"I didn't know what was important!" Sirius defended shrugging and bringing out a laugh from the werewolf. "I didn't know Arithmancy was a form of divination." he sounded genuinely confused, "I thought it was supposed to be more, I dunno, logical."

"It is logical. Arithmancy is predicting the future through numerical values. It's one of the most logical branches of magic there is." Remus explained as Sirius lead they're way across the castle.

"It's fortune telling. I just dropped one fortune telling class for another one," He argued opening another portrait door only for them to walk down the hall and climb under a statue.

"Yeah, but this one isn't as flimsy and silly. No 'inner eyes' and sweaty palms. It's scientific."

"There's nothing scientific about fortune telling."

Remus continued to attempt to convince his friend as they made the rest of the journey to the room of requirement, though the pup remained unconvinced.

The door opened for them easily, after all, this time it hardly felt hidden anymore.

"Yo, Prongs, Wormtail." Sirius greeted as the entered James just grunted an acknowledgement but Peter was on his feet immediately.

"They're back, can I go now?" he asked James. They hadn't been given history homework on their first day much to the chubby marauder's relief.

"Yeah sure, whatever." James waved him off still not looking away from the book and Remus' notes that were hovering in the air over his head. Remus wondered how he managed to study lying down on that comfy sofa without falling asleep.

"Where are you going?" Sirius asked looking at the rodent.

"Food, do you want anything?" Peter asked, invisibility cloak in his hands and looking anxious to leave. They gave him their orders for the house elves accepting that they probably weren't going all the way back down to the great hall for lunch. The kitchen was farther away, but the food could e grabbed to go, so they only needed to send one of them saving the rest of them loads of time.

It also gave Peter a way to help out that didn't involve anything complex and dangerous much to his relief.

Sirius threw himself onto a beanbag chair and opened his Arithmancy textbook. Remus summoned one next to the pup began to explain everything Sirius had missed.

And they stayed there all night sending Peter off for food or something from the dorm when needed. The Room even provided them with a loo fully stocked with showers and nice fluffy towels much to Sirius' relief.

Remus didn't even step out of the Come and Go Room once until their first class the next morning.

Just walking into the defence against the dark arts classroom was enough to tell Remus that something was wrong. Perhaps it was the removal of the portraits depicting violent death, or the fact that there were actual desks lined in in orderly fashion facing the blackboard that the werewolf had forgotten was even there, he wasn't sure, but something set off warning bells in his head.

Sirius and James seemed to sense it too as there was a note of unease in their voices as they talked their way to a row of desks near the back.

The room felt quiet, even with the chatter of students increasing as the room filled up. It couldn't have been the paintings as they'd always been silent, but something else. Something else he was used to hearing that he wasn't hearing now.

Professor Svalinn said nothing as the students piled into the room she just sat there at her desk. She looked as different as possible. Her messy hair was now more unkempt rather than the stylised mess it had been and it was now dark brown instead of the Snow White that was such a brilliant contrast with her dark skin and her clothes no longer emphasised that same contrast. A dull black cloak rather than the bright blue she'd had before. Her appearance was muted, almost sad. She had dark shadows under her eyes and he thought she might have lost weight.

"Turn to page ten in your books." She said waving her wand to slam the door shut. The class was full of whispers and confused looks. When Remus had seen that there was a textbook requirement for DADA he'd assumed they weren't going to end up using it, no doubt the rest of the class had thought the same. The whole time she'd taught last year she'd never once expected them to even open a textbook. The closest she'd come was requiring out of class reading because McGonagall had insisted she give them a written exam. She'd even been quite peeved by it.

Svallin didn't acknowledge the chatty class. "This year we are going to be covering dark creatures, from doxies to vampires. Essentially all the things that want to kill you out there." She gave them a weary smile that didn't fit her face. "Well, all but humans, of course."

The class laughed, but Remus couldn't find any humour in her features. Svalinn's voice held a hint of bitterness that hadn't been there last spring.

She continued to teach them about the classification of creatures and the requirements for them to be classified as dark. It was interesting, but it wasn't what they'd come to expect from the ex-auror's class. It wasn't going to help them survive this coming war, it wasn't going to keep their families safe, and it just wasn't all that useful in general. She even assigned homework leading to a lot of groaning and complaining from the students.

James complained about it the moment they were out of the classroom. "I liked her class before! I don't think I've learned so much in one semester."

"It's not like she can just bring dark and dangerous creatures to class and let us play with them." Remus defended, Professor Svalinn looked like she'd had a rough summer and he didn't want to be the jerk that kicks someone while they're down like that.

"That has nothing to do with it," Sirius added, he didn't look annoyed or even bored. There was a hint of anger that he appeared to be trying to hide. It confused Remus, the class hadn't been that bad.

"And how would you know?" Remus asked irritated by how badly his friends were taking this.

"Wasn't it obvious?" Sirius looked back at him but his expression didn't change.

"Just tell us already." James pipes in also looking annoyed by the pup.

"Trixy is gone." He said nothing else, but turned and continued to walk off to their temporary dorm on the seventh floor leaving Remus behind to realise exactly why the classroom had felt so quiet.