Starlight and Moonlight 3

Starlight and Moonlight

A Harry Potter Fan Fiction Piece

By Megaella Ballanche-Viewlard

Part Three: Revelations

Note: With the exception of the Sinagtalas and a number of characters ranging from ickle firsties to Hogwarts alumini/alumnae who will be cropping up, all characters are the property of JK Rowling/Bloomsbury/Scholastic – not mine. I'm not worthy…

"You met that gorgeous Professor Sinagtala when McGonagall asked you to stop by last week?"

"Yep. Severus introduced me; she was one of his students some years ago."

"And you didn't even bother to tell me?"

"Seems that way, yes."

"I thought you were my best friend!" Sirius wailed as he, Remus, and the older Gryffindor students left the Great Hall after the Welcoming Feast. Absently, he added, "Come to think of it, you're the only one left, too!"

"I know", Remus replied simply, not even bothering to crack the faintest hint of a smile. "Anyway, I thought you wouldn't be interested."

The Gryffindors who trailed behind the two professors sniggered wickedly at that. It was a major fib coming from Remus when it was common knowledge that anything involving beautiful women was bound to grab Sirius Black's attention. However, a slight look from their Head of House silenced them.

As they neared the corridor leading to Gryffindor Tower, Sirius bade them all good night as his own office-quarters were but a few steps away.

"I do wish you'd take me along the next time someone invites you any place, Moony", he grumbled to Remus. "Who knows? I might get lucky. Good night then, y'all."

"Of course, Padfoot." Remus nodded his way and waved goodbye. The mild tone in his voice more than irritated Sirius who groaned in exasperation as he walked off. "Good night."

The Gryffindors clustered around Remus, all of them waiting with bated breath for Sirius to disappear into the darkness of the hall. At last, they heard a door open, then slam shut. All at once, they erupted into a frenzy of babbling, excitedly making comments on the stunning new teacher and how she seemed to favor the frail-bodied Remus over Sirius's bad-boy good looks.

"Jeez, sir!", Dean exclaimed. "She seems to like you!"

"A lot!", Seamus sighed enviously.

"I'm afraid you've all got it quite wrong." Remus had an oddly guarded expression on his thin face that sat somewhat inappropriately with the wistful smile on his lips. "What Professor Sinagtala did was a defense mechanism."

"A what?", they chorused in incredulous unison.

"The girls would understand", he said in an offhand manner. "It's what they do when they feel that someone undesirable's bugging them. In this case, Professor Sinagtala must have felt that Padfoot was getting a tad too friendly before they'd even been introduced. So she used me as a sort of shield to block him out of her way."

"You mean, you were just a decoy?" Ron was shaken by the mere idea. He shook his head in disbelief. "Bummer!"

"Now: I want you all to say no more about what happened this evening." Somewhat paternally, he turned to face them with an admonition as they stopped before the portrait of the Fat Lady. "That's all over now. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Professor Lupin", the entire lot chorused, feeling more than a little chastened by the sternness of his admonition. Harry, however, looked at Remus skeptically. Much as his godfather had been able to keep secrets before, what happened early that evening seemed to have bothered him more than he cared to let on.

"Oh, you're here, then", the Fat Lady greeted them sleepily. "Password?"

"Mahô-tsukai", Remus replied. The portrait swung forward to let them in. Remus allowed his students to haul each other in first and did so until Harry and Ron helped the last person – in this case, as usual, Neville – over the high threshold of the portrait hole. He would've clambered up himself if Harry and Ron hadn't hauled him up and over. "Oh, thank you."

"Wasn't that Japanese?", Harry asked as the three of them closed the portrait hole for the night. He remembered the language from the texts on fighting yôko and kôrime Remus had translated for that year's DADA syllabus for the sixth-year classes. Sometimes, he uttered the words aloud whenever he felt that there was something wrong or lacking in the translation.

Remus nodded his approval. "Yes", he said with a smile and a pat on the bespectacled boy's shoulder. "It's one of the terms used to describe wizards, of course. Literally, it means magic user." He winked conspiratorially. "Unless all of you get too stunned just staring at her, I'm sure Professor Sinagtala will explain it to you in depth." He looked around at the sixth and seventh-years all still bumming around the common room, warming themselves by the fire that burned brightly in the grate. "It's getting late", he advised them. "Classes all start tomorrow and I want everyone to get a good start. Please get to bed now, all of you."

One by one, or in twos and threes, the students slung their folded cloaks over arms or shoulders and began trudging up to their dormitories.

"Nighty-night, sir."

"G'night, sir!"

"Pleasant dreams!"

"Don't let the bedbugs bite – "

" – and hope that there aren't any boggarts under your bed!"

The all laughed as a smiling Remus waved them all up the stairs.

Harry, however, had stayed behind. He sat in the armchair closest to the fire, eyes seemingly lost in thought.

"Harry, go get some sleep", Remus admonished him as he came to stand behind the boy's chair. "It's been a long day."

"I will in a bit, Uncle Moony", Harry replied, calling Remus by his nickname. "Good night."

Remus reached around the chair to wrap his godson in a fatherly hug before going up the stairs to his own chambers, yawning as he trudged wearily up the steps.

Harry studied him as he went up the spiraling staircase that led to the upper reaches of the Tower. Other than Dumbledore, Remus had been the first person who had served to act as a father figure to Harry. At the time, of course, they had all thought that Harry's godfather was a standard-issue convicted magical murderer (as opposed to Marauder which was what he, Harry's dad, Remus, and some – er – traitor had been years ago) moldering in Azkaban. In fact, Harry never told either Remus or Sirius that he'd often imagined that it was the former who was his godfather since he was always looking out for Harry's best interests while the latter – despite the fact that he'd also risked his own neck for the boy any number of times – was more like the bachelor uncle who was forever getting into scrapes. Indeed, Harry often wondered why his mother and father hadn't considered getting Remus instead of Sirius to stand at his christening – then he remembered the beast Remus became once every month. At the time Harry was born, the Wolfsbane Potion had not yet been discovered. That fact alone made Harry shudder at what could have happened if he was growing up in the same house with Remus during a full moon. The youth shook his head, seriously wondering what might have been if circumstances were different.

"Uncle Moony", he now called up to the lone figure sleepily stumbling up the staircase.

Remus stopped and leaned over the railing to get a good look at him. "Yes, Harry?"

"Could I, well…" Harry knew that Remus was exhausted from the trip and needed sleep now that the full moon was but a week away. But something nagged at him that demanded an immediate answer. "Could I please ask you something?"

Sensing that all was not well with his godson, Remus started back down the stair to take the armchair beside Harry's.

"What is it?", he asked, violet eyes gleaming with concern through the flickering light of the fire. "Is anything the matter?"

"Not really", Harry replied uncomfortably. But, "Sirius isn't really mad at you, is he?"

Upon hearing this, Remus suddenly burst into a peal of relieved laughter. "Not really", he replied, chuckling at the idea. "Ron would probably feel the same way with you if you met a very pretty girl and didn't bother to tell him."

The next question, however, caught him off guard. "You like Professor Sinagtala, don't you?"

Remus seemed to freeze where he sat and was silent for a few minutes before managing a rueful giggle. "Er…" How was he to explain to Harry that… Impatient with himself, he scratched the back of his head, looking rather clueless as he did.

"Well?", Harry pressed on.

"You've got it all wrong, I'm afraid."

"And why? Don't tell me it's another diversionary tactic, Uncle Moony."

"It isn't that, Harry." Remus's eyes narrowed at his godson and he chose his words carefully so as not to startle him into yelling and waking up everyone in the Tower. Harry's eyes were as round as saucers when Remus told him what Snape had said about Amihan Sinagtala. "Severus doesn't think she was serious", he was now telling Harry, "but he didn't see the look in her eyes."

"She does have the weirdest eyes, doesn't she?"

"I know, but I never really…" Since they met, Starlight's eyes had been a constant source of annoyance for Remus. He'd read about women with eyes like hers somewhere, probably one of his journals from the time he and his father were in Asia. There was a name for them, but he could not remember just what. All he could remember was that the entire lot of them were certainly more powerful than the average. That explained how easy it was for Starlight to have so nearly aced everything Hogwarts could throw her way. How can I describe those eyes?, he thought, lips pursed into a thin, brooding line.

"They reminded me of those on a tiger I once saw at the zoo", Harry murmured; he was suitably impressed and more than a little intimidated by those eyes himself. "Ron says they're more like owl's eyes or even…" He gulped as he looked candidly into Remus's face. "Wolf's eyes", he managed to stammer. "Do you think she might be a…" He dared not say it much as he knew that his godfather now freely admitted the truth about what he was. The idea that another teacher might be one bothered him, nevertheless.

"She isn't, that I can assure you", Remus comforted him, squeezing the hand that lay on the arm of his chair. "If she were, she'd be just like me: rather frail, hair prematurely turning gray, torn clothes darned. Don't worry, Harry; Professor Sinagtala is not a werewolf." Between him and his godson, though, Remus deduced a horrific possibility. "But I do have reason to believe she's an Animagus."

As the days passed, there was no doubt that Professor Sinagtala knew her stuff and made sure her students did the same.

After the droning lectures of Professor Binns, Starlight's classes were a refreshing change. She made the history classes for the younger students enjoyable by way of simulation spells that took them to where the action was during a given period and by letting them do their own research and dramatizations in the classroom. Simulation spells were also her favorite method with the older students in her Cultural Magic classes, but she preferred a hands-on approach to let them experience the magic of other nations first hand.

Though Professor Black's Transfiguration classes were very interesting (and funny as Sirius was almost always kidding around), the only subject that could give Professor Sinagtala's classes a run for their money was Professor Lupin's Defense Against the Dark Arts class. The very idea that a werewolf – a creature long associated with the Dark Arts – taught the subject very well was always a major draw, though it did scare the first and second-years silly during the first few days as they feared that their teacher might suddenly grow more hair and fangs and gobble them up wholesale when they weren't looking.

"You'll learn that I'm a perfectly harmless little fellow unless the full moon rolls up", Remus had drawled in a self-deprecating fashion to a trembling class of first-year Ravenclaws and Gryffindors. "You'll know when I'm a werewolf because I'll be out for the day just to make sure that I don't hurt any of you." When they still stared at him apprehensively, he simply resorted to the expedient of conjuring up a hailstorm that scattered Chocolate Frogs over his students' desks. Needless to say that they soon warmed up to him and lessons continued smoothly after that.

Remus had never been one for the "by-the-book" approach most of the previous DADA teachers had advocated both before him and after him.

For the older students, Remus's Advanced DADA classes sometimes overlapped with the topics discussed in Starlight's Cultural Magic classes. For example: Starlight would lecture on the aswangsç that haunted Capiz in the Visayas Region of the Philippines as part of a more extensive lecture on the magical fauna of the region but it would be Remus who would tell the students that the best way to get rid of an aswang was to find the lower region of its body, top it with a rather incendiary seasoning that consisted of finely chopped red capsicums, vinegar, and lots of garlic. It would burn the aswang up when it came back to reclaim its lower half. Normal spells simply wouldn't get rid of it, obviously. Remus also playfully suggested that they could use the leftover seasoning to flavor an otherwise insipid meal. At first, they thought he was kidding but recanted their doubts when they saw Starlight at a meal, flavoring a rather bland stew with that self-same mixture.

Thus, before classes had even been going on for a week, the Great Hall was filled with spirited comparisons of the two subjects and the professors who handled them. Given the often loud and enthusiastic remarks roared in the process by those in the two opposing camps, it was a wonder that Remus and Starlight both turned deaf ears and blind eyes to the whole din.

Remus was, of course, too busy worrying about the approaching full moon to listen to whatever was being said by his students about his subject as opposed to someone else's. Starlight, on the other hand, was working on something that only Professor Snape seemed to know about as he was always handing her certain potion ingredients.

Harry was bothered quite plainly by what was going on between Professors Sinagtala and Snape in light of what Remus had told him. Though Snape had loosened up on the Gryffindors, he'd clammed up rather severely when Harry dared to ask what Professor Sinagtala was up to.

"Don't go borrowing trouble, Potter", Snape had sneered while shooing the sixth-year Gryffindors out of the Potions lab one morning. "Starlight knows what she's doing; I'm just loaning her a few essentials is all."

"Starlight?" Everyone stared his way, faces blank with bewilderment.

"It's her nickname!" Snape furiously threw them out of the lab and roared to the fourth-year Hufflepuffs to get a move on.

"Cool nickname", the guys all sighed.

"Suits her", the girls agreed.

Harry, however, was not one to be cowed into submission by cute nicknames, particularly where his family (well, his de facto one, anyway) was concerned. He'd been orphaned once already and was not about to let it happen again if he could help it.

"You seem worried, Potter." Starlight noticed that the boy seemed distracted in class and was quick to investigate. "Aren't you feeling well? Perhaps you should go see Madam Pomfrey."

"Huh?" Abashed by having been singled out for being glassy-eyed, Harry immediately snapped to attention in his seat so as not to pique her curiosity. The last thing he needed was having Starlight herself in the way. "I'm perfectly fine, ma'am", he assured her. "Do go on; that last bit about neko-onna was very interesting."

Starlight's sixth-years had begun their study of the magical creatures of Asia and were currently discussing a most unusual type of Animagus called a neko-onna which literally translated as "cat-women". Their teacher gave them a passing-fair description of the neko-onna, then went on to discuss the fox-demons and ice-demons Remus had been reviewing over the summer, the badger-like tanuki – a thievish demon who could be bribed with noodles, thunder demons, and such monstrosities that gave them all chills that wouldn't go away until their DADA class.

When class ended for that day, Harry was about to leave the room with Ron and Hermione when:

"Potter, I'd like a word with you, please."

Hesitantly, Harry lingered in the doorway as he waited for Professor Sinagtala to speak. She motioned for him to come back in and have a seat. He obeyed, but his stomach was turning flip-flops. His thoughts raced about his mind in a worried frenzy.

Starlight closed the door and stood over Harry's desk. "I understand you're Professor Lupin's ward", she said. "Is it true?"

"Pretty much so, ma'am", Harry replied. Why is she asking me that? "Actually, Professor Black is my foster-father and Professor Lupin's my godfather."

"Someone told me that both of them were great friends of your parents, Potter."

"Yes, they were. They all grew up here at Hogwarts."

There was a mysterious glint in Starlight's amber eyes and only then did Harry realize what Remus had said about her that night when they had talked about her. …I do have reason to believe she's an Animagus. Harry half-bolted from his seat when he finally made the connection. "You!", he cried. "You're a…"

"Don't say it, Potter." Starlight managed a rueful smile. "I take it Professor Lupin hinted to you about it." When an ashen-faced Harry nodded, she sat down at the desk beside his. "Your godfather is apparently more complicated than I thought", she murmured thoughtfully. "I've studied werewolves extensively since I left Hogwarts and your godfather doesn't seem to fall in any category of werewolf behavior."

"It's probably because he was a very small boy when he was bitten", Harry replied quietly, remembering that awful summer night towards the end of his third year when the secrets of the past were revealed. "The fact that his mum and dad probably did everything that they could to cure him could've made a difference."

He studied Starlight who had gone quiet as she listened to him. Like always, her expression was unreadable.

"You don't mind living with a werewolf at all?" she suddenly asked him.

"Not really", Harry replied uncomfortably. Sirius had taught him a thing or two about transforming into the stag his father had been in order to keep Remus company on the nights he changed form. The fact that everyone in their household was a beast on those nights was a constant source of comfort for Remus who felt lonely and alienated whenever the form of the beast within him took over his appearance. The memories of those awful summer nights when the three of them would watch the accursed lunar orb in their backyard lay heavy on Harry's soul.

"You are a most unusual boy, Potter", Starlight told him soberly with a hint of admiration creeping into her voice. Harry noted that her manner was reminiscent of Headmistress McGonagall's: stern, rather severe, but always sincere. "You dared to beat Voldemort and won. You've consorted with all manner of wondrous folk." She managed a small smile that reminded Harry of how Remus was when they understood what he told them on that awful summer night not too long ago. "I'm sure your godfather must be very proud of you."

"Well, ma'am, he won't be very happy if I show up late for his class", Harry managed to laugh as he got up.

With a flick of her wrist, parchment and a quill appeared before Starlight and she quickly scribbled an excuse slip to be given to Remus:

Professor Lupin,

Please excuse Harry Potter for being late for his class with you. I had to ask him a few things regarding some class work.

Sincerely,

Professor Amihan Sinagtala

"I think that should take care of your – um – tardiness, Potter", Starlight smiled as she handed him the note. "Run along now; I've still got lots to do."

Still looking at her warily, Harry nodded in agreement and fled the room, trembling in every nerve.

It was a Friday, the day before the full moon.

At Hogwarts, the day had always been a half-holiday: class in the mornings and the whole afternoon free after dinner at noon.

On this particular Friday, Starlight looked glum as she marched to where the teacher's brooms were kept.

Draco Malfoy, one of the sixth-year Slytherins, had heard about her apparent dislike – well, hatred – of Professor Lupin. Young Malfoy had boldly volunteered to help Starlight make the DADA teacher's life a living hell. (Well, at least worse than what he was already going through with the unruly Slytherins!)

"Leave it to me, ma'am", he'd declared grandly. "I have lots of experience in doing just that."

Unfortunately for Draco, Professor Snape got wind of his plans and had been none too happy with either the silver-haired boy or the golden-eyed teacher. He gave them such a talking-to that Draco promptly fled and Starlight would've followed suit if she'd been made of weaker stuff.

Regular bunch of vipers, those young Slytherins!, Starlight thought grimly as she went down the halls. She'd tried to explain it off to Snape as a joke but he gave her a tongue-lashing that would've thrown lesser beings into Madam Pomfrey's for a week.

"Why must you keep on digging up the past?", Snape had thundered at her. "Are you trying to make yourself look like a martyr, Amihan Sinagtala? Saint Starlight, patroness of thwarted perfectionists?" It was fortunate that Snape had opted to knock some sense into her in his office. Starlight was sure she'd have died of shame if he'd done so in the staff room.

But I am neither a martyr nor am I bringing up the past, she thought, frowning. I'm just…

"Sinagtala? Amihan Sinagtala!" A breathless, dreamy-sounding voice exclaimed from behind her. Startled, Starlight turned to see a rail-thin witch clad in a sparkly dress with wire-framed glasses perched precariously on a long, pointy nose. She blanched when she saw that witch in the glittering gown: she remembered her only too well. "Dear, darling child! I knew you would return here to fulfill your destiny!"

Starlight screamed and kicked up her heels, speeding off in the opposite direction. In her panic, she collided into someone carrying an armload of books from the library. The impact knocked both of them to the floor. She apologized profusely even as the sudden move to help the other person up resulted in their hearing the tearing of a darned sleeve. Starlight blanched as she stared first at the torn sleeve, then at the flabbergasted Remus Lupin.

"It's okay", he assured her in his usual good-natured fashion. "It'll mend; don't fret about it." Wordlessly, Starlight helped him up and the two of them began to gather the books that had fallen because of the crash. "Who were you running away from?", he asked her.

"Hmm?" She stared at him blankly.

"You screamed", Remus explained. "Something – or someone – must've given you quite a fright."

"Oh." A crimson stain flooded over Starlight's face. "Professor Trelawney", she blurted out, her heart still pounding.

"Professor Trelawney?" She expected him to laugh. The eccentric Divination professor may have been an oddball but that wasn't reason enough to run away from her. Thankfully, Remus refrained from even cracking a smile. "I take it you had a major scare from her the last time you saw her?" When Starlight nodded mutely, he patted her hand. "Don't worry: nine times out of ten, her predictions turn out to be duds." The two of them got up and Remus hefted his heavy load in his thin arms. "I'd better get this done before tomorrow", he groaned, brow furrowing with worry. Still, he managed to smile at Starlight. "Don't worry about Professor Trelawney, Professor Sinagtala."

"I'll try not to", Starlight nodded sheepishly as he began to walk away. "Thanks." Turning on her heel, she sped to where the teachers' brooms were posthaste. She quickly grabbed her broom and would've run to the parapet they used for a launch pad if another broom hadn't caught her attention.

It was a beautiful broom: light, well crafted, and obviously not a commercially produced broomstick. How Starlight purred over that broom! Intricately carved white birch handle, very slender, the tail made with supple willow twigs bound with a silver band: lovely! The handle even had a pommel stone that took her breath away: it was a huge diamond, the type known in the wizarding world as a Pathsetter as it enabled the rider to find right way and automatically set its course should the driver dare to stray.

Simple but elegant, Starlight thought admiringly. Just the way Mom would like it. Just the way her sister Alapaap would've liked it, too, if… With a sad smile, she shook her head; poor Alapaap…

When she reached to touch the broom, a slight jolt of lightning kept her at arm's length. Ooh, an "owner's-touch-only" ward! Her amber eyes sparkled delightedly, obviously impressed. Too classy!

Whose broom it was, she had absolutely no idea. Reluctantly, she tore her eyes away from it and hopped onto her own broom. Her broom also looked different from everyone else's: the slender handle was wrapped in a colorful cover woven with an intricate tribal design from the northern reaches of her homeland. Instead of twigs, the tail of the broom consisted was made of a bunch of dried grass stalks combed until it resembled a flared shock of blond hair. The tail was attached to the handle by an elaborate series of stitches in colorful yarn that matched the colors on the handle. It even had a protective sleeve in the ikat fabric woven by the mountain tribes that lived near where she'd grown up. It was a pretty broom in its own fashion and even had a name: Lawin – eagle in its owner's native tongue.

She kicked off from the ground and was soon soaring through the autumn sky as she headed for Hogsmeade. Reaching into her pocket, she fished out the list of ingredients she'd jotted down the first thing that morning.

All for brewing tomorrow, she thought solemnly. Brewed, as directed, on the night of the full moon…

"What happened to your sleeve?", Snape demanded, jumping in shock when Remus entered the staff room with a torn sleeve and an armload of books.

"I had a little run in with Professor Sinagtala", Remus replied simply, fishing for a tiny sewing kit from his pocket. He put the books on a nearby table and doffed his torn outer robe. He sat down in his armchair and began to stitch placidly.

A run-in… Snape looked aghast. "What happened?", he cried, ready to take responsibility should any more damage be revealed.

"For Heaven's sake, Severus!" Remus looked at him in consternation. "She was running away from Professor Trelawney and accidentally crashed into me while I was coming out of the library", he explained. "It was an honest accident, nothing to worry about."

Heaving a sigh of relief, Snape sat down on his stiff, high-backed chair. For a moment there, I thought…

"Severus?"

"Eh, yes?"

"Would you know why she panicked when she saw Professor Trelawney?"

Snape's sallow face suddenly grew devoid of color and he looked profoundly sad. Hands clasped between his knees, he told Remus that it all happened when Starlight was in her sixth year at Hogwarts. At the time, the first of only two true predictions ever uttered by Sibyl Trelawney had been ominously intoned by the frowzy Divination professor in front of the girl, and it had concerned her – her and her twin sister.

"Starlight's a twin?", Remus exclaimed in surprise.

"Well, more like was a twin", Severus murmured glumly. "Alapaap Sinagtala died shortly before Christmas that year. Car accident. Very tragic." He looked out the nearby window where he could see the Slytherin team beginning Quidditch practice for the year. "Starlight's been trying to live out both their lives since."

"Professor Trelawney predicted it?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Is that why Starlight hates her so much?"

"Partly. The other part of the prediction – the one concerning Starlight – has yet to come to pass."

"Do you know what it was?"

"No."

"I see…"

Remus was standing at the parapet when Starlight flew in, her broom laden with stuff she'd purchased at the Bizarre Bazaar in Hogsmeade.

"Nice broom", he commented as she lightly hopped off it. "Baguio, I take it?"

Starlight managed a wan smile and nodded. She seemed to balk when Remus helped carry her numerous bags off the broom, but she held her tongue nevertheless.

"Professor Snape told me about what happened to your sister", he said quietly so as not to startle her further. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be", she smiled. "It's been almost eight years and I've been making hay out of her notes ever since."

"Her notes?"

"Yeah. My sister was a Squib, but the two of us were working on a landmark study funded by the International Institute for Thaumaturgical Studies when we were sixteen." She lowered her voice as they entered the crowded halls of the main school. "It was about werewolves."

Remus nearly dropped the stuff he held at that.

"I, uh, see…" He looked very pale.

When Starlight looked at him, she frowned somewhat distastefully. "I don't suppose Professor Snape told you about that threat I made when I was fourteen?", she winced. When he nodded, she silently swore in her native tongue at her former teacher's propensity for sowing panic. Then, "I've grown up a lot since then, Professor Lupin. I talked to young Harry Potter about you a few days ago and he's told me how nice you actually are." Her eyebrows furrowed. "That's odd, considering that most of the subjects I've interviewed for the past few years were violent both as men and as wolves." The two of them ducked into an empty classroom to talk more seriously. When the door shut behind them, Starlight went on. "Potter told me about how you were very young when a lycanthrope first bit you and how everyone close to you tried everything to make you normal. Maybe that's what killed the impulse to be violent while you're human: people actually cared about you, so …"

Remus sat down and turned away. "What good can you do now?", he asked, fatigue putting a tart note in his voice. "Severus says that the closest thing to a cure is the current formula for Wolfsbane Potion and it can only suppress the more violent symptoms. It can't even kill the pain of the Change itself."

"I'm sorry about that."

"Don't be, it isn't…"

"Sorry if it's been pretty crude." Starlight was now pacing the room, briskly. "Alapaap died before we could do the experiment on analgesic herbs", she said. "Otherwise, it would've been incorporated into the formula currently in use." Remus couldn't believe what he was hearing, but he dared not interrupt. "My other sister Marilag and I have continued the work and we're making progress." She noted the calendar by the corner and began to flip it over. She smiled at Remus and it was a hopeful one, not like these tight or bewildered smiles she normally cast in his direction. "Keep your fingers crossed, Remus Lupin. If all goes well, you'll be a normal wizard before Christmas."

Remus was at a complete loss as to what to say.

Hall


Yôko – nine-tailed fox demons found in Japanese mythology. It is said that they can be distracted from attacking with offerings of inari-zushi: deep-fried bean curd pockets stuffed with vinegared rice.

Kôrime – sky-dwelling ice demons also found in Japanese mythology. Among these blue-countenanced, humanoid beings, the birth of twins is an ominous event as one twin will be a normal kôrime but the other will mutate and be born a fire-powered imp of destruction. (If you're an anime fan – and a major Yoshihiro Togashi otaku – you'd know what I'm talking about, hai?)

ç Aswangs – sometimes referred to as manananggals. Intrinsic to the southern portion of the Philippines, notably the Visayas Islands, these body-splitting creatures are characterized by unkempt appearances, huge bat's wings , and grotesque fangs. Only the upper half of the body can protect itself, leaving the lower half vulnerable to countermeasures involving spices that can burn them or holy water taken from a Catholic church. (Lots of those where they're from.) In the daytime, aswangs manifest themselves as ordinary – even good-looking – people. However, do keep an eye out for the lack of a furrow over the upper lip; it's a sure sign of an aswang.