The Last of the Four- Chapter 3
Fudge and Malice
By Lillian Evans
The next morning, Remus awoke feeling very well rested for the first time in days. He yawned, stretched and pulled apart the crimson hangings that surrounded his bed. The first thing he saw was the face of Peter staring at him.
"I've been up for hours. Breakfast is nearly over! We need to go! Classes start today!" Peter dragged the groggy Remus out of bed and thrust robes into his chest. Remus changed quickly, and allowed Peter to pull him down to the Great Hall. As soon as he smelled the bacon and eggs, he immediately piped up. He sat down at the Gryffindor table and smiled at Ashley when she passed him his new schedule.
"We have Defense Against the Dark Arts first. With Professor Fudge." She said as he took the schedule.
Lily looked up with a confused look on her face. "Isn't Fudge in the ministry?"
Ashley shrugged, so Peter answered:
"Yeah, but that's Cornelius," he said, " I think this is his sister or something. I saw her earlier at breakfast when you were still asleep. Oh, wow, we'd better go, we have class in 15 minutes."
Remus had barely eaten half of his food before he was pulled off his seat. He grabbed his bag and ran after Peter and Ashley. They chose seats in the front, so that they could be sure and hear their professor. They had just gotten into a big debate over which broomstick was better, the Comet series, or the Cleansweep series, when Professor Fudge walked in. She looked nothing like the pictures of her brother they had seen in the Daily Prophet. She was tall and thin with shoulder length auburn hair held back with a navy blue elastic band. Sirius whistled, and Remus rolled his eyes. Fudge heard the whistle and turned abruptly to look at Sirius, who's lips had frozen in their whistling position.
"You, boy, what is your name?" asked Professor Fudge in a voice that was neither sweet nor sour.
"Uh- Sirius Black, ma'am."
Remus sniggered; he knew Black was worried under the brave face he put on.
"Well, Mr. Black, I will have you know that I will not tolerate disrespect in my classroom. Do you understand?" Sirius nodded, his face still blank, "Good, then just to make sure you do, I think we'll take 5 points from Gryffindor. Now, is everyone ready to begin our lesson?"
Forty-five minutes later, Remus left the room feeling even happier than he had after his bacon and eggs. First of all, Fudge obviously didn't approve of Sirius and James' jokes, and second, she saw that Remus knew his stuff about fighting the dark arts. Needless to say, defense against the dark arts quickly became Remus' favorite class.
Their next class of the day was potions, and Remus wasn't looking forward to this class as much. The classroom was down in the dungeon, and according to the older students, Professor Malfoy was the meanest teacher in the school. Potions also happened to be their first lesson with the Slytherins, and for once Remus agreed with Sirius and James that this was not a good thing.
When they got to the room the Slytherins were already there, and Severus Snape, the greasy haired student Remus had caught sight of at the welcoming feast, was talking with what appeared to be their new teacher, a young- looking, blonde-haired wizard. When he heard the commotion, he looked up. When he saw the Gryffindor students, a sardonic grin appeared on his face.
"Well, it's about time you all got here."
"But, Professor, the late bell hasn't even rung yet!" Came the chorus of Gryffindor voices who had just entered.
"Do I look like I follow that bell schedule? I expect you to be down here five minutes before the bell each day. Since today is your first day, we'll let you off with only 50 points taken off, but you have been warned."
Remus scoffed at this news, but kept his mouth shut. He could tell this was one professor he didn't want to cross. Sirius, however, didn't have the sense to shut up. Or the ability, whichever it was, Remus couldn't tell, but it was too late, for Sirius had already begun his retort.
" Professor, Malfoy, was it? It really doesn't seem fair that you're taking points off of us before you've even set down your rules. I mean, I'm sure we'd arrive on time if we knew the penalty for tardiness."
"And, what is your name boy?" The grin had faded from their Professor's face, replacing itself with a look of malice.
But it wasn't Sirius who answered, although he began, instead it was Snape,
"His name is Sirius Black, Professor, and he wouldn't have come in on time even if he had known the rules."
Black opened his mouth to protest, but Malfoy cut him off, ("Very well then. You see, Mr. Black? You wouldn't have followed the rules even if you had known what they were, so I think we'll take another 25 points for lying to me, and oh, I think we'll make it 25 more for talking back. Now take your seat before I'm forced to take drastic measures."
James and Sirius sat down next to each other, and began talking in low whispers out of the corners of their mouths. Remus knew they were plotting revenge, but on Snape or Malfoy? Lily tugged on his shirtsleeve, and he followed her, Ashley and Peter over to two tables in the far corner of the room, the only seats left. He sat next to Peter, with Lily and Ashley in back of him. The rest of potions didn't go to well either and by the end of it Gryffindor had, thankfully, not lost any more points, but both James and Sirius were assigned detentions, and so, furious, they stormed off at the end of class. Remus didn't care, he had done quite well with the potion they were preparing, and hadn't gotten on the bad side of this new teacher. He wasn't exactly on the good side either, but he was definitely much better off than either James or Sirius, which didn't say much but was a start. He had also began to utterly loathe Snape.
The rest of the day went quite well. In transfiguration, Remus turned out a very nice needle from his matchstick, and earned back 10 of the 105 points Gryffindor had lost. After that came charms, in which Remus excelled. The levitating charm they were doing was easy, and Remus raised his feather before anyone else in the class, even James, who, despite being quite the troublemaker, had proven to be an excellent wizard.
Day by day, week by week, Remus' time at Hogwarts flew by. Before he knew it, the next full moon had crept up on him. The day before his transformation, Dumbledore called him into his office.
"I suspect you know why I've asked you to come here. I'm sure you are aware that the full moon is tomorrow, and I would like to go over the plans."
Remus nodded, and sat down in a chair Dumbledore gestured towards.
"You will miss all of your classes tomorrow, as I'm sure you are aware that the effects of your transfiguration can begin at any point during the day. Don't worry," Dumbledore added, when he saw the look on Remus' face, "I have told your teachers only as much as they need to know. After breakfast, you are to report to Madam Pomfrey. You will wait out the day there, and you will be fed lunch and dinner in the hospital wing. After you finish your dinner, Madam Pomfrey and I will lead you down to the Whomping Willow and through the tunnel to the shack. Madam Pomfrey will be back to get you in the morning, she will take you back to the hospital wing for another day, where you can recover. Feel free to do anything you like while you are in the shack, the furniture is at your disposal, but I must stress the fact that you may not, under any circumstance, leave the house. You must promise me that you WILL NOT LEAVE!"
"I promise, professor."
"Good, in that case, any further questions?"
"Just one. What should I tell my friends?"
Dumbledore chuckled, "I was wondering when that would come up. Tell them whatever you like, I'll leave that up to you, now, off to bed, you need your rest."
Remus left the office and walked slowly back to the tower all the way thinking about what he could tell Peter, Lily and Ashley.
********
A/N: Well, that's it for this chapter...Thank you to all of my wonderful reviewers... you guys rock! Oh, and also, I've posted this on my review board, but I think it needs to be said in the actual story...my sorting hat song from chapter 2 is my own creation, and I've created two others using the basic format, but changing the points of view to Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. I will include these later, and I'm planning to contact the author of a Slytherin song to ask if I can use it...I myself am actually a die hard Slytherin, and I absolutely loathe Gryffindors, so I'm weird like that, but I decided that since my characters were going to be put in Gryffindor in that particular sorting, I might as well start with that song...my apologies to all anti- Gryffindors like myself, you shall find your comeuppance!
Oh, and sorry sorry sorry, a million times sorry I took so long in posting! My grammar was all wrong, and I couldn't get a beta.finally one of my friends took on the job.thank you VieVie!!
-Love Lillian
Fudge and Malice
By Lillian Evans
The next morning, Remus awoke feeling very well rested for the first time in days. He yawned, stretched and pulled apart the crimson hangings that surrounded his bed. The first thing he saw was the face of Peter staring at him.
"I've been up for hours. Breakfast is nearly over! We need to go! Classes start today!" Peter dragged the groggy Remus out of bed and thrust robes into his chest. Remus changed quickly, and allowed Peter to pull him down to the Great Hall. As soon as he smelled the bacon and eggs, he immediately piped up. He sat down at the Gryffindor table and smiled at Ashley when she passed him his new schedule.
"We have Defense Against the Dark Arts first. With Professor Fudge." She said as he took the schedule.
Lily looked up with a confused look on her face. "Isn't Fudge in the ministry?"
Ashley shrugged, so Peter answered:
"Yeah, but that's Cornelius," he said, " I think this is his sister or something. I saw her earlier at breakfast when you were still asleep. Oh, wow, we'd better go, we have class in 15 minutes."
Remus had barely eaten half of his food before he was pulled off his seat. He grabbed his bag and ran after Peter and Ashley. They chose seats in the front, so that they could be sure and hear their professor. They had just gotten into a big debate over which broomstick was better, the Comet series, or the Cleansweep series, when Professor Fudge walked in. She looked nothing like the pictures of her brother they had seen in the Daily Prophet. She was tall and thin with shoulder length auburn hair held back with a navy blue elastic band. Sirius whistled, and Remus rolled his eyes. Fudge heard the whistle and turned abruptly to look at Sirius, who's lips had frozen in their whistling position.
"You, boy, what is your name?" asked Professor Fudge in a voice that was neither sweet nor sour.
"Uh- Sirius Black, ma'am."
Remus sniggered; he knew Black was worried under the brave face he put on.
"Well, Mr. Black, I will have you know that I will not tolerate disrespect in my classroom. Do you understand?" Sirius nodded, his face still blank, "Good, then just to make sure you do, I think we'll take 5 points from Gryffindor. Now, is everyone ready to begin our lesson?"
Forty-five minutes later, Remus left the room feeling even happier than he had after his bacon and eggs. First of all, Fudge obviously didn't approve of Sirius and James' jokes, and second, she saw that Remus knew his stuff about fighting the dark arts. Needless to say, defense against the dark arts quickly became Remus' favorite class.
Their next class of the day was potions, and Remus wasn't looking forward to this class as much. The classroom was down in the dungeon, and according to the older students, Professor Malfoy was the meanest teacher in the school. Potions also happened to be their first lesson with the Slytherins, and for once Remus agreed with Sirius and James that this was not a good thing.
When they got to the room the Slytherins were already there, and Severus Snape, the greasy haired student Remus had caught sight of at the welcoming feast, was talking with what appeared to be their new teacher, a young- looking, blonde-haired wizard. When he heard the commotion, he looked up. When he saw the Gryffindor students, a sardonic grin appeared on his face.
"Well, it's about time you all got here."
"But, Professor, the late bell hasn't even rung yet!" Came the chorus of Gryffindor voices who had just entered.
"Do I look like I follow that bell schedule? I expect you to be down here five minutes before the bell each day. Since today is your first day, we'll let you off with only 50 points taken off, but you have been warned."
Remus scoffed at this news, but kept his mouth shut. He could tell this was one professor he didn't want to cross. Sirius, however, didn't have the sense to shut up. Or the ability, whichever it was, Remus couldn't tell, but it was too late, for Sirius had already begun his retort.
" Professor, Malfoy, was it? It really doesn't seem fair that you're taking points off of us before you've even set down your rules. I mean, I'm sure we'd arrive on time if we knew the penalty for tardiness."
"And, what is your name boy?" The grin had faded from their Professor's face, replacing itself with a look of malice.
But it wasn't Sirius who answered, although he began, instead it was Snape,
"His name is Sirius Black, Professor, and he wouldn't have come in on time even if he had known the rules."
Black opened his mouth to protest, but Malfoy cut him off, ("Very well then. You see, Mr. Black? You wouldn't have followed the rules even if you had known what they were, so I think we'll take another 25 points for lying to me, and oh, I think we'll make it 25 more for talking back. Now take your seat before I'm forced to take drastic measures."
James and Sirius sat down next to each other, and began talking in low whispers out of the corners of their mouths. Remus knew they were plotting revenge, but on Snape or Malfoy? Lily tugged on his shirtsleeve, and he followed her, Ashley and Peter over to two tables in the far corner of the room, the only seats left. He sat next to Peter, with Lily and Ashley in back of him. The rest of potions didn't go to well either and by the end of it Gryffindor had, thankfully, not lost any more points, but both James and Sirius were assigned detentions, and so, furious, they stormed off at the end of class. Remus didn't care, he had done quite well with the potion they were preparing, and hadn't gotten on the bad side of this new teacher. He wasn't exactly on the good side either, but he was definitely much better off than either James or Sirius, which didn't say much but was a start. He had also began to utterly loathe Snape.
The rest of the day went quite well. In transfiguration, Remus turned out a very nice needle from his matchstick, and earned back 10 of the 105 points Gryffindor had lost. After that came charms, in which Remus excelled. The levitating charm they were doing was easy, and Remus raised his feather before anyone else in the class, even James, who, despite being quite the troublemaker, had proven to be an excellent wizard.
Day by day, week by week, Remus' time at Hogwarts flew by. Before he knew it, the next full moon had crept up on him. The day before his transformation, Dumbledore called him into his office.
"I suspect you know why I've asked you to come here. I'm sure you are aware that the full moon is tomorrow, and I would like to go over the plans."
Remus nodded, and sat down in a chair Dumbledore gestured towards.
"You will miss all of your classes tomorrow, as I'm sure you are aware that the effects of your transfiguration can begin at any point during the day. Don't worry," Dumbledore added, when he saw the look on Remus' face, "I have told your teachers only as much as they need to know. After breakfast, you are to report to Madam Pomfrey. You will wait out the day there, and you will be fed lunch and dinner in the hospital wing. After you finish your dinner, Madam Pomfrey and I will lead you down to the Whomping Willow and through the tunnel to the shack. Madam Pomfrey will be back to get you in the morning, she will take you back to the hospital wing for another day, where you can recover. Feel free to do anything you like while you are in the shack, the furniture is at your disposal, but I must stress the fact that you may not, under any circumstance, leave the house. You must promise me that you WILL NOT LEAVE!"
"I promise, professor."
"Good, in that case, any further questions?"
"Just one. What should I tell my friends?"
Dumbledore chuckled, "I was wondering when that would come up. Tell them whatever you like, I'll leave that up to you, now, off to bed, you need your rest."
Remus left the office and walked slowly back to the tower all the way thinking about what he could tell Peter, Lily and Ashley.
********
A/N: Well, that's it for this chapter...Thank you to all of my wonderful reviewers... you guys rock! Oh, and also, I've posted this on my review board, but I think it needs to be said in the actual story...my sorting hat song from chapter 2 is my own creation, and I've created two others using the basic format, but changing the points of view to Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. I will include these later, and I'm planning to contact the author of a Slytherin song to ask if I can use it...I myself am actually a die hard Slytherin, and I absolutely loathe Gryffindors, so I'm weird like that, but I decided that since my characters were going to be put in Gryffindor in that particular sorting, I might as well start with that song...my apologies to all anti- Gryffindors like myself, you shall find your comeuppance!
Oh, and sorry sorry sorry, a million times sorry I took so long in posting! My grammar was all wrong, and I couldn't get a beta.finally one of my friends took on the job.thank you VieVie!!
-Love Lillian