Chapter 4
Remus had to admit, his first day teaching at Hogwarts had been very nerve-wracking. But he seemed to make a good impression on his first lot of students. They seemed to be awed with the creatures he brought in, and since today was a practical lesson, they were even more excited to be using their wands instead of taking endless notes. Remus had to admit, his first day was successful. However, he did find it slightly awkward to be in a different position in Hogwarts than he had been when he had last been there. He wouldn't have ever thought that he'd end up being a teacher.
The next day, as Remus was eating breakfast, the owl post came and a newspaper dropped down beside Remus' breakfast. Remus buttered his toast, but as he was raising it to his mouth, he froze.
SIRIUS BLACK SPOTTED?
All thoughts of breakfast flew out of Remus' head as he read the article over and over. The article had basically said that Sirius Black had been spotted by a muggle, not too far off from Hogsmeade. She had called the Ministry but by the time somebody got there, he had disappeared.
Remus breathed a slight sigh. But he frowned. 'Why should I feel relieved? I should be hoping he'd be brought back to justice as soon as possible.' Remus thought. He shook his relieved thought away and continued eating breakfast. He wouldn't be able to concentrate on his lessons if he didn't eat something.
Remus rushed down the hallways to his class after lunch. He was late because he had gone to see Albus, and they had discussed getting Wolfsbane Potion for Remus. Severus had –reluctantly- agreed to prepare the potion; however, it was a month's preparation. So Remus would have to use the Shrieking Shack until then. Remus had agreed and was now headed towards his class.
As he entered, he smiled at his students and placed his tatty briefcase on his desk. He then turned to face his 3rd Year Class.
"Good Afternoon. Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today's will be a practical lesson. You will only need you wands." His students looked at his curiously as they put their books in their bags warily. He had managed to get that reaction from all his classes. But then, he had heard the rumour of this class being left to deal with a class full of Pixies, without any knowledge of getting rid of them.
"Right then, if you'd follow me." He said and took his class away from the usual classroom. He lead them down several corridors until he found an old 'friend' down the corridor, up to his no good tricks as usual. Peeves the Poltergeist, stood floating in the corridor, stuffing a keyhole with chewing gum. As Peeves saw them approached he grinned as evil grin. He then saw, Remus, and vague look of remembrance showed on his Poltergeist face.
"Loony, loopy Lupin! Loony, loopy Lupin! Loony, loopy Lupin! Loon…" Peeves chanted. Remus smiled, the Poltergeist had always greeted him like that at school. In the end, even James and Sirius had ended up chanting like that, just to annoy him when he studied too much. He heard a few gasps from his students. They all knew Peeves was rude and unmanageable, but even he would show respect to teachers. But what they didn't know, was that he, James, Sirius and Peter had actually been allies and enemies with this certain Poltergeist.
"I'd take that gum out of the keyhole, if I were you, Peeves. Mr Filch won't be able to get in to his brooms." Remus said calmly. He got a reply that he'd expected from Peeves; a loud wet raspberry. Remus sighed and pulled out his wand.
"This is a useful little spell. Please watch closely." He told them over his shoulder. He pointed his want to the poltergeist.
"Waddiwasi."
The wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole like a bullet. It flew right up to Peeves' left nostril. The prank playing poltergeist spluttered as he floated down the corridor, silently cursing the teacher.
"Cool sir!" Dean said in utter amazement.
"Thank you Dean," Remus smiled, "Shall we proceed then?" And with that, he led the 3rd year class down to the staff room. He opened the door to see Professor Snape sitting on one of the many armchairs. He looked up as the class entered. The shared an old glare, letting some of their past school rivalry show, until Snape's face sneered. Remus just shook his head and started to close the door.
"Leave it open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this." He got to his feet and in a few strides was at the doorway. Lupin stood his ground at the door, waiting for Snape to leave until, Snape turned to face him, staring directly into his amber eyes.
"Possibly, no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear." He snarled. Remus raised his brow, almost challengingly.
"I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation, and I am sure he will perform it admirably." A sly smile made its way onto Remus' face when he saw Snape's lip curl. Snape left with a slight slam of the door.
Remus turned to his class, who were looking expectantly at him. "Now then," he started. He walked towards a wardrobe at the end of the room, and his class followed. He stood next to it, but there was a sudden wobble and the wardrobe banged itself off the wall. A few of the pupils jumped back, startled at the wardrobe's behaviour.
"Nothing to worry about. There's a Boggart in there. His class gave him a look, as if he were crazy. Nothing worry about? He said it all with nonchalance! He noticed how Seamus Finnigan eyes the rattling doorknobs sceptically.
"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces. Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks – I once met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the Headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my 3rd years some practice. So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a Boggart?"
As quick as a lightning bolt, he saw the hand of Hermione Granger shoot up. 'She's a Lily in the making.' Remus thought to himself and indicated her to start.
"It's a shape-shifter. It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."
"Couldn't have put it better myself." He smiled. She glowed. 'Yep, she's definitely a Lily.' He thought to himself.
"So the Boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody know what a Boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears. This means, that we will have a huge advantage over the Boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?" Remus grinned inwardly. He had caught Harry off-guard. He had that confused look on his face whenever James was asked a question when he hadn't been paying attention. Adding to the hilarity was Hermione bobbing up and down, waving her hand, showing she knew the answer – all so very Lily-like!
"Err – because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?" Harry asked.
"Precisely."
And so the lesson on Boggarts went on. And as Remus had told Snape, Neville indeed was the first one to have a go at the Boggart. It was indeed amusing. The poor boy was frightened of Professor Snape. And then Remus had pursued on with the appearance of Neville's grandmother. Soon, stood in front of the wardrobe, ready to face off with the Boggart. With a crack, the Boggart appeared in the form of Professor Snape. Neville pointed his wand at the Boggart, still very frightened and uttered 'Riddikulus.' Soon, there was a Snape traipsing around in the cloths Neville's grandmother had worn. Everyone had never seen a funnier sight and had burst out in laughter.
After Neville's attempt, everyone was in queue to deal with the Boggart. There were things ranging from banshees, to mutated hands and mummies. Ron of course, had dealt with a spider. The spider-Boggart made its way to Harry. But Remus stopped Harry. Instead, the Boggart turned into a silvery white orb. Remus said the spell and then left Neville to deal with it. His self esteem seemed to be raised and he smiled as he saw the confident Neville take on the Boggart a second time.
Remus grinned as he saw everyone in the class looking satisfied. He awarded points to Harry and Hermione for answering his questions and the lesson was done.
***
Remus was glad that his lessons were becoming such a hit with the pupils. Except with maybe a few Slytherins. But then again, Snape was their head and he could slip anything out to them. He had avoided Snape these past few weeks. He could always be heard complaining about how hard the ingredients were to find and cursing the complexity of the potion. Remus hated the fact that he was now in Snape's debt.
But it was a full moon tonight, and that meant a cold painful night out in the Shrieking Shack. The potion was still not reading. Another month or so, and he wouldn't suffer as much and would be tamer as the wolf. But as the seconds ticked by, Remus' lycanthropy was starting to take a toll on him. He was feeling more tired, and could feel the pain start bubble from within him. He heard a knock on his office door and opened it. He saw Madam Pomfrey standing by, with a small smile.
"Hello Remus. Just like the good old days isn't it." She said as a greeting. He gave a small smile.
"It is." He replied and locked his door.
Together, the two of them made their way silently to the infamous Whomping Willow. The matron picked up a stick and skilfully prodded the knot at the base of the tree. On cue, the tree froze, showing a small entrance.
"Thank you Madam Pomfrey." Remus said gratefully. She smiled.
"You know the drill Remus. Come straight to me in the morning if you're injured. And you're staff now, call me Poppy." She called as he went through. With a last smile to her, he made his way down the old passageway.
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A/N: Hi! Sorry for the lack in updates! I know it's been ages, but I've been busy with school work! So, I hope you liked this chapter! Please review!