CHAPTER TWO
THE JOURNEY TO HOGWARTS
Remus woke early the next morning and dressed in the early morning sun. He picked up his wand and tucked it inside his jacket. He headed downstairs for breakfast, almost forgetting to put on his watch. When he got into the kitchen he found his parents up and awake. A Full English Breakfast awaited him on the table.
"Morning dear." Said his mother, as the kettle started singing to announce the water was boiled.
"Hurry now son," said his dad, "eat up that food and we'll make our way to King's Cross in about an hour."
Remus sat down and began wolfing down his food, still minus any toast. His father was reading The Daily Prophet, the wizarding world's newspaper. The front-page story read:
ALASTOR MOODY TO TEACH AT HOGWARTS
LUDICROUS old dingbat Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has allowed a new teacher to overtake the previous Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, Quentin Trimble. The new teacher is current Ministry Auror Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody.
The newly acquired nickname 'Mad-Eye' has been awarded to Moody after his eye was severely wounded and had to be removed after a battle with a particularly dangerous dark magician (who shall remain nameless for Ministry reasons). He has had his real eye replaced with a suspicious enchanted eye. Moody is a maniac and is never to be trusted, especially as a teacher. Writes Rita Skeeter, newest edition to the Daily Prophet team.
"Well that's a worry." Said Remus. His father turned the paper over and read the article aloud.
"Don't worry about that son." Said his father after he had finished reading. "I know Alastor; he's all right really, if a little strange... Dumbledore's the best judge of character I know, he wouldn't let a lunatic teach young children. That new reporter, Rita Skeeter, she'll write anything to get on the front page."
Remus examined the picture of a rather odd man who didn't seem too old. He had one brown eye and a blue eye that seemed considerably larger than the other (Remus guessed that the blue eye was the false one). The man was moving around inside the picture frame, battling with a faceless creature dressed in dark robes. The caption underneath the picture read: Mad-Eye's epic match with the Dementors of Azkaban. (Archive photo.) Remus looked at the dark figure and saw Moody flinch every inch closer it got. Suddenly, Moody shot a white wispy spirit from the end of his wand. This was unmistakeably a patronus, and a strong one at that. The wisp was now clearer, it looked like a large rhinoceros without a horn.
Remus finished his breakfast and hurriedly brought his trunk downstairs. His father was already at the door with his 'muggle-styled' fleece and black jeans. Remus's father had gained three-hundred-and-seventy-two percent in Muggle Studies when he was at Hogwarts, so he knew a fair bit about their habits and how they dressed. His mother, however, was another case. She decided not to come after she had attempted to go out into muggle London wearing an orange woolly jumper and green cycling shorts.
Remus and his father carried the trunk together out into Diagon Alley and through the Leaky Cauldron into the centre of London. His father hailed a cab and they got to King's Cross at ten to eleven. They put the trunk onto a cart and made their way to platforms 9 and 10.
His father held the trolley firm at the wall between the platforms. He gave it an almighty push and it disappeared into the wall. Remus and his father leant against the wall and slid through. They met the trolley out on the hidden Platform 9&¾. Before them was the bright red steam engine of the Hogwarts Express.
"Wait dad!" Said Remus loudly over the noise of the crowd. "We've forgotten Artemis's cage!" Remus was frantic, his owl would never speak to him again if he had forgotten his cage!
His father pulled a tiny silver cage from his pocket. "Engorgio!" With a flick of his wand it grew to full size before them. "You may have forgotten," said his father, "but I didn't! Now be good and we'll see you at Christmas!"
Remus thanked his father as he hauled his luggage onto the train. He carried on down the train, looking for Sirius. Somewhere in the middle he found him. But he was not alone. Snape was towering over him and Sirius looked a little worried. As he got closer, Remus could hear Snape's threats.
"Don't expect me to be nice just because you're in Cara's good books Black. She can't stop me." He almost spat out the words in a rage.
"Oh push off Snape." Remus said, entering the compartment. Sirius seemed to regain some courage now that he had some company. Remus sat down opposite Sirius. Snape was already in his uniform. He stormed from the compartment, glaring back at Remus before he left.
"Remus! My saviour mate!" Said Sirius, offering him a piece of Droobs Best Blowing Gum. Remus took it and the two boys began to talk.
"So, what've you done now?" Remus asked. He had never seen Snape that angry before, not even when Sirius had pinched his bottle of Wormwood the day before.
"Oh, well… I-er… Sort-of slipped a couple of fizzing whizzbees into a can of coke he was holding this morning. He was staying at the Leaky Cauldron too."
"How many is a couple Sirius?" Remus inquired.
"…Almost a full pack…"
Remus knew only too well that fizzing whizzbees were sherbet sweets that made you float above the ground. But a whole packet of them…
"What happened?" Remus asked eagerly.
"It was classic! I got a picture with my camera!" Sirius pulled a photograph from his pocket. "It's only a muggle polaroid, but it's still pretty funny!" He showed Remus a picture of Snape foating twenty feet up in the air and a crowd of wizards trying to get him down.
Remus and Sirius were still laughing their heads off when another person entered the compartment. He was only a bit taller than Sirius, but much thinner with short black hair that didn't seem to want to lie flat. He wore glasses and had brown eyes.
"James! Excellent to see you old boy!" Sirius put on a posh accent and took James by the hand and shook it furiously.
"Sirius old bean! How are you doing?" James answered in the same sort of tone. "And who is this, dear fellow?" He was looking at Remus.
"Oh Remus old boy! Come here and meet young Mr. Potter!" Sirius beckoned him.
"Ah yes! Remus! Simply delighted to meet you!" James introduced himself. "I am James Potter and it really is marvellous to meet you!" He put his hand out.
Remus took his hand and shook it. Then, with a big grin, he said: "James! How do you do?" He too had picked up on the posh tone. The boys laughed.
James put his voice back to normal. "You're gonna fit right in here Remus. Is that Droobs Gum Sirius?" Sirius passed James some gum as they all sat down and began talking. Sirius explained what had happened to Snape. James too was in hysterics when he saw the picture.
The three boys starting joking as the train sped on through countless fields. The train had left London miles back. James was interested to hear about Remus and Remus wanted to hear more about James and Sirius's explorations in the muggle world. They exchanged stories for almost half an hour when another person entered their compartment.
It was a small boy with short mousy hair. He was already wearing his school robes. He seemed quite flustered.
"E-excuse m-me..." He began.
"Yes?" Remus replied. "Can we help you?"
"I-I've lost m-my pet c-cat. I w-wondered if you guys h-had seen him?" The boy replied.
"Sorry... Haven't seen anything at all mate." Sirius replied.
The boy was about to speak again when two girls came to the door of the compartment. Remus recognised one of them, it was Cara. The other girl had orange-brown hair and bright green eyes. Cara was holding a tiny black furball. Remus guessed it was the boy's cat.
"Peter! We've found him!" Shouted the other girl.
"Oh!" The boy shouted. "Brilliant! Thanks girls! You g-girls are lifesavers! My mum'd kill me if I l-lost Charlie, he's brand n-new!"
Cara glanced around the room and her eyes fixed on Remus. "Again?" She said.
"We've gotta stop meeting like this." Remus answered with a smile.
Cara laughed and led Peter and the other girl away. James leaned across to the other two boys and said: "She was gorgeous wasn't she?"
"Which one?" Sirius replied. "Cara, the other girl or Peter?"
At the last name they all burst out laughing.
"Or was it the cat James?" Sirius added. They all laughed again. They were still in hysterical laughter when another farmiliar face entered the compartment, though this one was less welcome.
"Simple things please simple minds I suppose." Said Malfoy, in his usual rather whining voice.
"I wouldn't say that Malfoy." Remus immediately replied. "You're a simple thing, and I'm not pleased at all..."
Sirius and James couldn't stop laughing. Malfoy stared into Remus's eyes and Remus stared right back. Suddenly a hand appeared from around the corner and Malfoy was dragged out of the way. Cara appeared again.
"Can't keep bloody track of you! Go on, Severus wants you pest!" Cara shouted after him. Malfoy set off down the corridor. Cara took the only available seat, next to Remus, and began talking to James:
"Don't you know that girl I was with then James? Because I heard what you said when we left the compartment."
"Do you have bloody radar or something?" James asked her, blushing a little, he didn't seem very forward around girls.
"Anyway," Cara continued, "Her name is Lily whether you care or not…" With that Cara left the compartment again.
"Bet you feel a bit stupid eh?" Sirius said calmly, holding back a clear erruption of laughter. James pushed him into the window, literally.
Sirus just laughed it off and started throwing Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans at him (the nasty flavours of course). They started throwing them at the window. Remus threw one quite casually and it splatted against the window almost instantly. Sirius and James stopped.
"Wow… Do that again Remus." James said.
"Do what?" Remus replied.
"Throw a bean so it does that." Sirius answered. "It was incredible!"
Remus didn't quite understand what was so incredible about splatting a bean against a window. But, for some reason the two other boys couldn't do it. Remus threw another bean with ease at the window. This one splatted so hard it was almost flat.
"Whoa! You must be damn strong Remus! That looked like there was no effort involved!" Sirius seemed astounded. James couldn't speak. Remus was still rather confused.
"Maybe it's just luck." James said, finally coming to his senses again. "How about an arm-wrestle Remus?" He asked rather casually.
"Okay then…" Remus replied after a few seconds. "Only if you're sure though…" He added, half-joking.
James smiled and put his arm onto Sirius's trunk. Remus did the same and they locked hands.
"Three, two, one, go!" Sirius shouted.
Remus couldn't even feel James pushing, but James looked like he was putting a lot of strength into this match. Remus pushed his arm down with impeccable ease. He couldn't understand why though, Remus had never considered himself strong in any way at all. James, puffing and panting, nursed his hand.
"No harm done Remus…" James announced. "Are you sure you haven't been going to the gym since you were say, two?!"
"Quite sure thanks James." Remus told him, again, half-joking.
Sirius tried an arm-wrestle with Remus. The same thing happened, if a little faster, Sirius didn't seem quite as strong as James. Both the boys were in awe of Remus's so-called 'incredible strength'. Remus still wasn't quite sure why.
"I know what it is!" Sirius said suddenly after a comfortable moment of silent wonder. "A strengthening charm or a potion! That's gotta be it! Right?"
Remus shook his head, smiling. "Don't be daft," he told him, "even if I could perform or brew something that powerful, I wouldn't be able to use it anyway. That's underage wizardry and I'd've been out of Hogwarts before I'd even been in!"
Sirius and James nodded in agreement. The old witch with the snack trolley had appeared at the door.
"Well lads? What'll it be?" She asked.
Remus was the first to reach into his pocket, he bought a chocolate frog and some coconut-ice. James and Sirius each had loads of money with them, much more than Remus did, and they bought masses of frogs and beans. Just as the witch with the trolley was about to move on, Cara appeared at the door again, this time somewhat out of breath.
"Ch-chocolate frog... please!" She was finally able to say. She emptied the pocket of her light-blue jacket to reveal a single sickle and a few bronze knuts. Remus had a sad suspicion that was all the money she had with her. As she got her change and ran back down the corridor Remus got to his feet.
"Where're you off to?" Sirius asked inquisitively.
"Going down to fetch my robes, it won't be too long before we arrive now..." He told them as he left. It was true. What had seemed to be just a few minutes had turned to several hours. A gentle darkness descended on the countryside as the Hogwarts Express sped past it.
As Remus arrived at the luggage racks he found Cara reaching for her trunk from a high shelf. Meeting her eye, he smiled and reached for it himself. He lifted it down and she seemed amazed for some reason.
"You must be bloody strong!" She told him, "It took my brother and me ten minutes to get that onto the trolley!"
"So how were you going to lift it down then?" He asked, wondering if she was joking.
"It's a tough old trunk, I was just going to let it drop down and leave it there afterwards..."
She was blushing a little. Remus moved towards his own trunk on another shelf further back.
"Give me a shout when you need it putting back up then!" He called as he turned a corner to reach his own trunk.
Remus found his own trunk on the very bottom shelf. He opened it up and pulled out the robes he had set on the top. Switching his jumpers over (as he had put his school trousers on that morning) and pulling on his plain black cloak Remus. discovered a letter that had been placed on top of his hat.
He opened it and read with great curiosity:
Dear Remus,
I thought it best not to let you know until now, but I'll be teaching Transfiguration at Hogwarts this year.
Hope you make Gryffindor,
Professor Mc Gonagall!
Remus was shocked. Minerva McGonagall was a second cousin on his father's side. He remembered her visiting Flourish and Blotts many a time. He smiled to himself. "At least there'll be one friendly face at Hogwarts then.." He thought.
He put the letter back into his trunk and closed it up again. He could hear someone calling him from around the corner. He smiled and headed back to Cara.
"All done?" He questioned, noticing she had changed her clothes too.
"Yup," she replied as Remus lifted the trunk clear over his head and back up onto the shelf. He heard her utter a short "wow" and he turned back to her, content that he had made a very good impression.
"Thanks a lot," she replied, "Lucius is weak as a kitten without magic!" She giggled as they moved back down the train. After a few minutes they came across a compartment where Snape and Malfoy were discussing quidditch tactics.
"Well, this is my compartment..." She said, not sounding exactly thrilled at the prospect of listening to them talk Bludgers and Snitches for another hour.
"You could come up to ours..." Remus said, realising he had said aloud his thoughts, "Even if James and Sirius are talking quidditch, I won't be."
Cara smiled widely, apparently happy that Snape and Malfoy hadn't noticed she was there at all. "Lead the way..." She said.
Remus did so and they headed down to a compartment that was now full of people. At first Remus thought there'd been an accident, but he soon realised that the crowd was aminly girls, and that Sirius and James were entertaining them. Cara didn't seem keen to watch. Remus noticed that the compartment opposite was now only occupied by Peter, the boy they had met earlier.
"C'mon," Remus said, taking her arm and leading into the other compartment. "You don't mind if we sit in here do you, Peter wasn't it?" He asked as they entered.
Peter seemed quite shocked that Remus knew his name. He stuttered a "N-not at all!" and they sat down opposite him.
"I'm Remus by the way, Remus Lupin." Remus shook his hand. Peter smiled widely.
"It's Pettigrew, Peter Pettigrew. I'm glad I've finally made another friend!" He exclaimed with delight.
"Oh well that's nice!" Cara replied jokingly, "I'm just invisible today aren't I?"
They laughed and joked as the entertainment raged in the compartment next door. Soon the scenery around them was pitch black and the train came to an abrupt but gentle stop.
"Here we are then!" Remus delightfully exclaimed as the three of them got up and pushed past the crowd and out through the door. The cool night air hit Remus's face as he helped Cara down onto the platform.
"Firs' years this way!" Came a call from somewhere at the end of the platform. Remus didn't take long to spot who was calling. He saw a very tall man with a great black beard and a large brown overcoat. He looked like a giant, or a half-giant at the least...
Sirius came up behind him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Shall we guys and girls?" He said, indicating to where James was already headed for the man...
THE JOURNEY TO HOGWARTS
Remus woke early the next morning and dressed in the early morning sun. He picked up his wand and tucked it inside his jacket. He headed downstairs for breakfast, almost forgetting to put on his watch. When he got into the kitchen he found his parents up and awake. A Full English Breakfast awaited him on the table.
"Morning dear." Said his mother, as the kettle started singing to announce the water was boiled.
"Hurry now son," said his dad, "eat up that food and we'll make our way to King's Cross in about an hour."
Remus sat down and began wolfing down his food, still minus any toast. His father was reading The Daily Prophet, the wizarding world's newspaper. The front-page story read:
ALASTOR MOODY TO TEACH AT HOGWARTS
LUDICROUS old dingbat Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has allowed a new teacher to overtake the previous Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, Quentin Trimble. The new teacher is current Ministry Auror Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody.
The newly acquired nickname 'Mad-Eye' has been awarded to Moody after his eye was severely wounded and had to be removed after a battle with a particularly dangerous dark magician (who shall remain nameless for Ministry reasons). He has had his real eye replaced with a suspicious enchanted eye. Moody is a maniac and is never to be trusted, especially as a teacher. Writes Rita Skeeter, newest edition to the Daily Prophet team.
"Well that's a worry." Said Remus. His father turned the paper over and read the article aloud.
"Don't worry about that son." Said his father after he had finished reading. "I know Alastor; he's all right really, if a little strange... Dumbledore's the best judge of character I know, he wouldn't let a lunatic teach young children. That new reporter, Rita Skeeter, she'll write anything to get on the front page."
Remus examined the picture of a rather odd man who didn't seem too old. He had one brown eye and a blue eye that seemed considerably larger than the other (Remus guessed that the blue eye was the false one). The man was moving around inside the picture frame, battling with a faceless creature dressed in dark robes. The caption underneath the picture read: Mad-Eye's epic match with the Dementors of Azkaban. (Archive photo.) Remus looked at the dark figure and saw Moody flinch every inch closer it got. Suddenly, Moody shot a white wispy spirit from the end of his wand. This was unmistakeably a patronus, and a strong one at that. The wisp was now clearer, it looked like a large rhinoceros without a horn.
Remus finished his breakfast and hurriedly brought his trunk downstairs. His father was already at the door with his 'muggle-styled' fleece and black jeans. Remus's father had gained three-hundred-and-seventy-two percent in Muggle Studies when he was at Hogwarts, so he knew a fair bit about their habits and how they dressed. His mother, however, was another case. She decided not to come after she had attempted to go out into muggle London wearing an orange woolly jumper and green cycling shorts.
Remus and his father carried the trunk together out into Diagon Alley and through the Leaky Cauldron into the centre of London. His father hailed a cab and they got to King's Cross at ten to eleven. They put the trunk onto a cart and made their way to platforms 9 and 10.
His father held the trolley firm at the wall between the platforms. He gave it an almighty push and it disappeared into the wall. Remus and his father leant against the wall and slid through. They met the trolley out on the hidden Platform 9&¾. Before them was the bright red steam engine of the Hogwarts Express.
"Wait dad!" Said Remus loudly over the noise of the crowd. "We've forgotten Artemis's cage!" Remus was frantic, his owl would never speak to him again if he had forgotten his cage!
His father pulled a tiny silver cage from his pocket. "Engorgio!" With a flick of his wand it grew to full size before them. "You may have forgotten," said his father, "but I didn't! Now be good and we'll see you at Christmas!"
Remus thanked his father as he hauled his luggage onto the train. He carried on down the train, looking for Sirius. Somewhere in the middle he found him. But he was not alone. Snape was towering over him and Sirius looked a little worried. As he got closer, Remus could hear Snape's threats.
"Don't expect me to be nice just because you're in Cara's good books Black. She can't stop me." He almost spat out the words in a rage.
"Oh push off Snape." Remus said, entering the compartment. Sirius seemed to regain some courage now that he had some company. Remus sat down opposite Sirius. Snape was already in his uniform. He stormed from the compartment, glaring back at Remus before he left.
"Remus! My saviour mate!" Said Sirius, offering him a piece of Droobs Best Blowing Gum. Remus took it and the two boys began to talk.
"So, what've you done now?" Remus asked. He had never seen Snape that angry before, not even when Sirius had pinched his bottle of Wormwood the day before.
"Oh, well… I-er… Sort-of slipped a couple of fizzing whizzbees into a can of coke he was holding this morning. He was staying at the Leaky Cauldron too."
"How many is a couple Sirius?" Remus inquired.
"…Almost a full pack…"
Remus knew only too well that fizzing whizzbees were sherbet sweets that made you float above the ground. But a whole packet of them…
"What happened?" Remus asked eagerly.
"It was classic! I got a picture with my camera!" Sirius pulled a photograph from his pocket. "It's only a muggle polaroid, but it's still pretty funny!" He showed Remus a picture of Snape foating twenty feet up in the air and a crowd of wizards trying to get him down.
Remus and Sirius were still laughing their heads off when another person entered the compartment. He was only a bit taller than Sirius, but much thinner with short black hair that didn't seem to want to lie flat. He wore glasses and had brown eyes.
"James! Excellent to see you old boy!" Sirius put on a posh accent and took James by the hand and shook it furiously.
"Sirius old bean! How are you doing?" James answered in the same sort of tone. "And who is this, dear fellow?" He was looking at Remus.
"Oh Remus old boy! Come here and meet young Mr. Potter!" Sirius beckoned him.
"Ah yes! Remus! Simply delighted to meet you!" James introduced himself. "I am James Potter and it really is marvellous to meet you!" He put his hand out.
Remus took his hand and shook it. Then, with a big grin, he said: "James! How do you do?" He too had picked up on the posh tone. The boys laughed.
James put his voice back to normal. "You're gonna fit right in here Remus. Is that Droobs Gum Sirius?" Sirius passed James some gum as they all sat down and began talking. Sirius explained what had happened to Snape. James too was in hysterics when he saw the picture.
The three boys starting joking as the train sped on through countless fields. The train had left London miles back. James was interested to hear about Remus and Remus wanted to hear more about James and Sirius's explorations in the muggle world. They exchanged stories for almost half an hour when another person entered their compartment.
It was a small boy with short mousy hair. He was already wearing his school robes. He seemed quite flustered.
"E-excuse m-me..." He began.
"Yes?" Remus replied. "Can we help you?"
"I-I've lost m-my pet c-cat. I w-wondered if you guys h-had seen him?" The boy replied.
"Sorry... Haven't seen anything at all mate." Sirius replied.
The boy was about to speak again when two girls came to the door of the compartment. Remus recognised one of them, it was Cara. The other girl had orange-brown hair and bright green eyes. Cara was holding a tiny black furball. Remus guessed it was the boy's cat.
"Peter! We've found him!" Shouted the other girl.
"Oh!" The boy shouted. "Brilliant! Thanks girls! You g-girls are lifesavers! My mum'd kill me if I l-lost Charlie, he's brand n-new!"
Cara glanced around the room and her eyes fixed on Remus. "Again?" She said.
"We've gotta stop meeting like this." Remus answered with a smile.
Cara laughed and led Peter and the other girl away. James leaned across to the other two boys and said: "She was gorgeous wasn't she?"
"Which one?" Sirius replied. "Cara, the other girl or Peter?"
At the last name they all burst out laughing.
"Or was it the cat James?" Sirius added. They all laughed again. They were still in hysterical laughter when another farmiliar face entered the compartment, though this one was less welcome.
"Simple things please simple minds I suppose." Said Malfoy, in his usual rather whining voice.
"I wouldn't say that Malfoy." Remus immediately replied. "You're a simple thing, and I'm not pleased at all..."
Sirius and James couldn't stop laughing. Malfoy stared into Remus's eyes and Remus stared right back. Suddenly a hand appeared from around the corner and Malfoy was dragged out of the way. Cara appeared again.
"Can't keep bloody track of you! Go on, Severus wants you pest!" Cara shouted after him. Malfoy set off down the corridor. Cara took the only available seat, next to Remus, and began talking to James:
"Don't you know that girl I was with then James? Because I heard what you said when we left the compartment."
"Do you have bloody radar or something?" James asked her, blushing a little, he didn't seem very forward around girls.
"Anyway," Cara continued, "Her name is Lily whether you care or not…" With that Cara left the compartment again.
"Bet you feel a bit stupid eh?" Sirius said calmly, holding back a clear erruption of laughter. James pushed him into the window, literally.
Sirus just laughed it off and started throwing Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans at him (the nasty flavours of course). They started throwing them at the window. Remus threw one quite casually and it splatted against the window almost instantly. Sirius and James stopped.
"Wow… Do that again Remus." James said.
"Do what?" Remus replied.
"Throw a bean so it does that." Sirius answered. "It was incredible!"
Remus didn't quite understand what was so incredible about splatting a bean against a window. But, for some reason the two other boys couldn't do it. Remus threw another bean with ease at the window. This one splatted so hard it was almost flat.
"Whoa! You must be damn strong Remus! That looked like there was no effort involved!" Sirius seemed astounded. James couldn't speak. Remus was still rather confused.
"Maybe it's just luck." James said, finally coming to his senses again. "How about an arm-wrestle Remus?" He asked rather casually.
"Okay then…" Remus replied after a few seconds. "Only if you're sure though…" He added, half-joking.
James smiled and put his arm onto Sirius's trunk. Remus did the same and they locked hands.
"Three, two, one, go!" Sirius shouted.
Remus couldn't even feel James pushing, but James looked like he was putting a lot of strength into this match. Remus pushed his arm down with impeccable ease. He couldn't understand why though, Remus had never considered himself strong in any way at all. James, puffing and panting, nursed his hand.
"No harm done Remus…" James announced. "Are you sure you haven't been going to the gym since you were say, two?!"
"Quite sure thanks James." Remus told him, again, half-joking.
Sirius tried an arm-wrestle with Remus. The same thing happened, if a little faster, Sirius didn't seem quite as strong as James. Both the boys were in awe of Remus's so-called 'incredible strength'. Remus still wasn't quite sure why.
"I know what it is!" Sirius said suddenly after a comfortable moment of silent wonder. "A strengthening charm or a potion! That's gotta be it! Right?"
Remus shook his head, smiling. "Don't be daft," he told him, "even if I could perform or brew something that powerful, I wouldn't be able to use it anyway. That's underage wizardry and I'd've been out of Hogwarts before I'd even been in!"
Sirius and James nodded in agreement. The old witch with the snack trolley had appeared at the door.
"Well lads? What'll it be?" She asked.
Remus was the first to reach into his pocket, he bought a chocolate frog and some coconut-ice. James and Sirius each had loads of money with them, much more than Remus did, and they bought masses of frogs and beans. Just as the witch with the trolley was about to move on, Cara appeared at the door again, this time somewhat out of breath.
"Ch-chocolate frog... please!" She was finally able to say. She emptied the pocket of her light-blue jacket to reveal a single sickle and a few bronze knuts. Remus had a sad suspicion that was all the money she had with her. As she got her change and ran back down the corridor Remus got to his feet.
"Where're you off to?" Sirius asked inquisitively.
"Going down to fetch my robes, it won't be too long before we arrive now..." He told them as he left. It was true. What had seemed to be just a few minutes had turned to several hours. A gentle darkness descended on the countryside as the Hogwarts Express sped past it.
As Remus arrived at the luggage racks he found Cara reaching for her trunk from a high shelf. Meeting her eye, he smiled and reached for it himself. He lifted it down and she seemed amazed for some reason.
"You must be bloody strong!" She told him, "It took my brother and me ten minutes to get that onto the trolley!"
"So how were you going to lift it down then?" He asked, wondering if she was joking.
"It's a tough old trunk, I was just going to let it drop down and leave it there afterwards..."
She was blushing a little. Remus moved towards his own trunk on another shelf further back.
"Give me a shout when you need it putting back up then!" He called as he turned a corner to reach his own trunk.
Remus found his own trunk on the very bottom shelf. He opened it up and pulled out the robes he had set on the top. Switching his jumpers over (as he had put his school trousers on that morning) and pulling on his plain black cloak Remus. discovered a letter that had been placed on top of his hat.
He opened it and read with great curiosity:
Dear Remus,
I thought it best not to let you know until now, but I'll be teaching Transfiguration at Hogwarts this year.
Hope you make Gryffindor,
Professor Mc Gonagall!
Remus was shocked. Minerva McGonagall was a second cousin on his father's side. He remembered her visiting Flourish and Blotts many a time. He smiled to himself. "At least there'll be one friendly face at Hogwarts then.." He thought.
He put the letter back into his trunk and closed it up again. He could hear someone calling him from around the corner. He smiled and headed back to Cara.
"All done?" He questioned, noticing she had changed her clothes too.
"Yup," she replied as Remus lifted the trunk clear over his head and back up onto the shelf. He heard her utter a short "wow" and he turned back to her, content that he had made a very good impression.
"Thanks a lot," she replied, "Lucius is weak as a kitten without magic!" She giggled as they moved back down the train. After a few minutes they came across a compartment where Snape and Malfoy were discussing quidditch tactics.
"Well, this is my compartment..." She said, not sounding exactly thrilled at the prospect of listening to them talk Bludgers and Snitches for another hour.
"You could come up to ours..." Remus said, realising he had said aloud his thoughts, "Even if James and Sirius are talking quidditch, I won't be."
Cara smiled widely, apparently happy that Snape and Malfoy hadn't noticed she was there at all. "Lead the way..." She said.
Remus did so and they headed down to a compartment that was now full of people. At first Remus thought there'd been an accident, but he soon realised that the crowd was aminly girls, and that Sirius and James were entertaining them. Cara didn't seem keen to watch. Remus noticed that the compartment opposite was now only occupied by Peter, the boy they had met earlier.
"C'mon," Remus said, taking her arm and leading into the other compartment. "You don't mind if we sit in here do you, Peter wasn't it?" He asked as they entered.
Peter seemed quite shocked that Remus knew his name. He stuttered a "N-not at all!" and they sat down opposite him.
"I'm Remus by the way, Remus Lupin." Remus shook his hand. Peter smiled widely.
"It's Pettigrew, Peter Pettigrew. I'm glad I've finally made another friend!" He exclaimed with delight.
"Oh well that's nice!" Cara replied jokingly, "I'm just invisible today aren't I?"
They laughed and joked as the entertainment raged in the compartment next door. Soon the scenery around them was pitch black and the train came to an abrupt but gentle stop.
"Here we are then!" Remus delightfully exclaimed as the three of them got up and pushed past the crowd and out through the door. The cool night air hit Remus's face as he helped Cara down onto the platform.
"Firs' years this way!" Came a call from somewhere at the end of the platform. Remus didn't take long to spot who was calling. He saw a very tall man with a great black beard and a large brown overcoat. He looked like a giant, or a half-giant at the least...
Sirius came up behind him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Shall we guys and girls?" He said, indicating to where James was already headed for the man...
