CHAPTER 3
Dumbledore's Plan
"Sir?"
Dumbledore looked up from his desk through his half moon spectacles and smiled warmly at his guest. "Ah,young Remus. How are you?"
Remus edged his way through the door and into the Headmaster's office. It was gigantic --- enormous! On the walls and ceilings, there were hundreds of portraits of old and deceased Headmasters. On the floor there were large tables filled with different astronomical instruments. His father had owned some of them when he was little. Remus recognized one very clearly. He had destroyed it when Remus was five. It had been a regular temper tantrum, and he had smashed the glass orb without another thought. Remus had cried for days, trying to apologize for the terrible destruction he'd caused. His father had never bought another one.
"Come sit," Dumbledore said, motioning to a chair in front of his desk. "I would like to speak with you about your years here at Hogwarts."
Remus nodded and shuffled to the chair. He sat quietly, staring up at the old man in his pointed hat. He was so powerful, yet he looked so frail. How could one of the greatest wizards be this…old?
"Well, we have all been awaiting your arrival, Mr. Lupin," he said, pushing his papers aside and folding his hands. He was giving his most direct attention to him. No one had ever done that. Well, no, Remus had gotten attention; just not the kind that he wanted, "I am very pleased to welcome you to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, and this is Professor Sprout, and Professor Snorks."
Two dark figures stepped out from the shadows behind Dumbledore. Remus stared, wide eyed. He hadn't seen them when he had come in. There was the woman…Sprout, did he call her?...she was heavyset with frizzy and wild hair. The man was large and looked dangerous. His arms were bigger than Remus's waistline, and his hair was shaved clear off his head. He crossed his trunklike arms and stared at the shaking little boy in the chair. Yet he had a smile on his face.
"Professor Snorks teaches Arithmancy here," Dumbledore said, pointing at the large man, "and Professor Sprout is our Herbology expert. They will be accompanying you through the tunnels each month."
"Excuse me, Headmaster," Remus interrupted. He was shocked. What was he doing? This wasn't like him. "Erm…I don't quite know what you mean by 'tunnels'."
Dumbledore nodded and then gave a chuckle. "Ah, well, of course you wouldn't. I'm sorry, Mr. Lupin. Some times I trot ahead of myself. I have devised a certain ---precaution --- for your monthly transformation."
He stood and walked slowly to his window on the far left wall. The moon glistened in, and Remus felt fear tear at his heart. Yet the sight didn't bother Dumbledore at all.
"You must have heard me mention the Whomping Willow at the feast?" he said, looking out onto the grounds.
"Yes, sir," Remus said quietly. He was still staring at the moonlight. The moon. Oh, why did Dumbledore have to look at the moon? He knew in his heart the old headmaster was standing there with full purpose. He knew what frightened the little boy most.
"Well, we have planted this tree on our grounds for your purpose," Dumbledore felt the fear of the young student, and turned to look at him through his spectacles. "Every month, Professor Sprout and Professor Snorks will retrieve you from your common room. Professor Sprout will paralyze the Willow while you and Snorks stow off through a tunnel I have devised for you. At the end of this tunnel, there is a small shack that stands on a hill in Hogsmeade. It is boarded up and no one will be inside. After seeing that you are safe and secure, Professor Snorks will leave you for the night, and return to Hogwarts. In the morning, after your transformation, he will retrieve you and escort you to your next class. Does that sound reasonable?"
Remus nodded and then swallowed hard. "So…I'm going to be…alone?"
"Yes, I am sorry to say that you are," Dumbledore nodded, and then walked to him. "I do not know very much about these things, but I do know that you have no control over your actions as soon as you make the transformation. And I cannot endanger anyone's life. I wouldn't want anything riding upon your conscience." He drew closer. "This is for your protection as well, Remus. We still live in a world filled with doubts and fears. We wish for you to be safe from any harm that anyone would put on you. That is why I am going to ask you to not tell anyone outside of the staff about your condition, Remus. It is a cruel world out there, and I want to make sure that you have the best years of your life here at school. You understand, don't you?"
"Yes, sir, I do," Remus said gloomily. Of course he wouldn't tell anyone about his condition. If it had been up to him, only Dumbledore would have known about it. He hated how the teachers stared at him.
"Yes, well, very good. I expect that your transformation for August is complete and through?" he said, walking back to his desk.
"Yes, sir," he said, shivering. Last Friday night he had spent cooped up in his room, clawing his bedpost and shredding his pillow.
"Very good, then. The full moon is expected to rise on the 27th of September. Have your oldest robes on and be ready to leave by six o' clock that evening. My two colleagues here will ask for you in the common room."
"Thank you, sir. I understand," he said, and then got up to leave. He wanted to go to bed. He was so tired that he wanted to fall asleep as soon as he arrived in the Tower.
"Professor Sprout will escort you to your dormitory," Dumbledore said warmly, and he smiled at Remus with understanding eyes. "And remember, young Remus. A monster exists only because we call him a monster."
Remus didn't quite understand what he was saying, but nodded all the same, and followed the wild haired lady out of the door and down the stairs.
The door opened, and Sirius, Peter, and James were caught facing a large room filled with five beds. A young boy was already sitting at the end of one of them, unpacking his things and examining his clothes.
His eyes darted towards the door as the three of them journeyed in.
"Oh…hello. You must be the other first years," he said, and stood up, his hand extended. "I'm Darryl. Pleased to meet you."
Peter looked nervously at Sirius and James and then extended his own hand. "Pleased to meet-"
"Yeah, whatever," Sirius said, looking around at the beds. Which one would be the best to grab? The one closest to the window, or the one closest to the door? Door sounded all right. He could sneak out without anyone hearing him.
He crossed the aisle to the bed and sank down in the mattress. James followed before taking the bed closest to Sirius. Peter withdrew his hand from Darryl and claimed the canopy neighboring James. There was still one bed empty, but the trunk that held the belongings had already arrived. James peered at it from across the room in the dark, and silently made out the name "R. J. LUPIN" engraved on the trunk.
"My brother made it to Slytherin," Darryl said, "It's funny. It seems like half of us Averys go here to Gryffindor, and then the other half to –"
"Lupin, eh?" James said, drawing closer to the trunk. "Isn't that that one freaky kid with the grayish hair?"
"I think so," Sirius said, rolling over. He was so awake, but he knew that his body was pleading for sleep. He fought to stay awake. "I remember seeing him in the Great Hall. The one that the professors were scared of?"
"Yeah," Peter interjected, but didn't say anything else. He withdrew back into the shadows.
Darryl looked disdainfully at the trio and went back to unpacking his clothes. "You know, just because someone is a bit different doesn't give you the right to speak of him like that."
James shot Darryl a look. Great. There was one of those do-gooders in their dorm. This would spoil all of their fun for sure. Sirius seemed to have the same idea, because he snorted and rolled over to his right side.
It was late when Remus entered the dormitory room. All of his roommates were asleep and snoring. He saw his trunk pulled up to the foot of the only empty bed. The bed was in the corner and seemed secluded from the others. Or maybe it was just his imagination. He looked at the faces of his roommates. The pale black haired boy from the boats, and what seemed to be his best friend, a boy with thick round glasses. And then Peter, who he had pulled out of the water. Some boy he didn't know slept silently with a sleeping mask over his eyes. Quietly, Remus tiptoed across the room and opened his trunk. On top of his clothes was a note placed neatly for him to read. It was from his father.
Remus smiled and looked outside the window. The moon wasn't visible from where he was, yet a foreboding shadow of a crazed tree stood just outside the school, swaying with the wind. That was the Whomping Willow. Remus sighed and lay down in his bed. He didn't have enough energy to change his clothes. He closed his eyes before taking in a deep breath.
It was only a quarter of an hour later that all inhabitants of the room were fast asleep.