CHAPTER 26

June's Return

"Oi, James?"

"What?" James turned around from where Sprite was showing him a new pair of mittens in one of Diagon Alley's cloak shops.

"Is that Remus over there?" Sirius pointed at a taller boy with browning and grayish hair who was laughing with a girl outside of the wand shop.

"Yeah, I think so." James took a closer look. "Well, he got bigger, didn't he?"

"And his hair got darker," Sirius laughed. "Just to think he was that little shaking kid in first year. He looked like a kicked puppy, didn't he?"

"Hey! Remus!" James shouted, and Remus turned toward them. He grinned and ran to meet them.

"You!" he said, punching James on the shoulder and nodding at Sirius. "How are you two doing?"

"Pretty well," Sirius said. "Looking at wands, are you?"

"My last one broke," Remus said. "Care to join me? That's Elise over there. She's going into fifth year this year. Shopping for her new robes. Just became a prefect."

Elise smiled and waved at the three boys.

"Sure, we'll come along," Sirius said, smiling back, and he followed Remus and James to Ollivander's wand shop.

The room was musty and smelled of old things that none of them could recognize. Out of the darkness and shelves upon shelves of boxes came an old man with pale eyes shaped like moons. He smiled at the three boys and walked out of the mist.

"I've been waiting to see you again," he said to Sirius, "I thought that that wand was wrong for you. Of course, the wand chooses the wizard and it is hardly ever wrong, but in your case, Mr. Black-"

"I don't need a new wand," Sirius said, pointing to Remus. "He's the one."

Ollivander looked over his small glasses that were balancing atop his long nose. "Ah, Mr. Remus Lupin. Am I right? I remember every wand I've ever sold."

Remus nodded.

"I could hardly recognize you," Ollivander said. "Beechwood, seven inches, dragon heartstring, am I correct? Very good for defensive attacks, if I say so myself. Yes. You've lost it, I'm assuming?"

"No, it broke," Remus said quietly. "I was wondering if I could get it replaced."

"Of course, of course," Ollivander said. "But, as you know, no two wands are alike, I'm afraid. It will take a while to become acquainted with your new one and its powers. Let us try this one."

He had been rummaging through the shelves, and as he said it he brought out a black wand. "Unicorn hair, oak wood, thirteen inches. Give it a try."

Remus took it from him and swished it. There was a light that filled the room, and then died away. A warmth touched his hand, and Ollivander smiled.

"First try!" Ollivander said. "I knew that this would work for you. Yes, yes. Only someone of a brave and loyal heart could truthfully hold it in their hands. Unicorn hair is very pure in spirit. That is why I believed it wouldn't work for you, Mr. Black," he said, looking toward Sirius now. "Your wand also holds unicorn hair, am I right?"

"Yes," Sirius said.

"I believe it came from the same creature as this one." Ollivander pointed at Remus's wand and smiled. "Very curious."

"Every time I've come in here, he says that," James whispered to Sirius and Remus as Ollivander went to ring up the wand. "And if you ask him what's curious, he goes on and on for about ten minutes about the wonders of wands and the magic they hold. I swear, the man's been locked up a little too long in this place. Hasn't had enough contact with normal people."

Remus tried to hold a laugh back as he walked to the register to pay for his wand.

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"Three more days until school then," Sirius said, taking a lick of his ice cream cone as they sat outside the Leaky Cauldron. Elise had joined them for a treat as they waited for Mr. and Mrs. Potter to arrive.

"Yeah," Remus sighed. "How's the transfiguration homework going?"

"Not too well," James said. "We've been trying all summer, but it just isn't working. Still stuck on question two."

Remus nodded. Elise had no idea what they were talking about.

"So, Elise," Sirius said. "You like Quidditch?"

"Not really," she said.

Sirius's face dropped. All right, so she wasn't as perfect as he had taken her to be.

The three days passed quickly, and the boys found themselves back on the train with Peter at their side, making their way to Hogwarts. Back into the horseless carriages and then into the Great Hall, where the Sorting Hat was being set on the stool.

"Look!" James said, hitting Sirius. Sirius followed his gaze to the High Table and gasped.

Professor June had returned. And he didn't look too happy about it.

"He --- Remus said he was leaving!" Sirius said.

Just then, the doors to the Hall opened wide, and the first years marched behind Professor McGonagall to the Sorting Hat.

"Fresh meat," James sneered.

The Hat opened its mouth, took a breath, and began to sing its newest song.

Sirius felt his stomach grumble. He wanted to try the transformation again tonight.

Dumbledore stood. "Before we begin eating, I would like to welcome Professor June back for another term here at Hogwarts. However, as he has fallen into a bout of poor health, the healthier Professor Warthings" --- a smaller man with a top hat sitting to Professor June's right waved enthusiastically at the crowd --- "will be your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. June will hold the position of Ancient Runes."

June stood and Sirius noticed for the first time that his eyes were glazed over in a haze, and that he looked straight ahead of him as he bowed. Not at Dumbledore, not at the students --- just thin air.

"James, I think something's wrong with June," Sirius whispered, and pointed at the Professor's blank expression.

"Yeah," James replied. "You heard Dumbledore. He can't do his other job anymore."

June looked utterly depressed as he took his seat and felt around for his fork.

"You reckon he's blind?" Sirius said.

"Yes, I'm certain he is," Remus stepped in. "I overheard some of the teachers outside at Hogsmeade station. Voldemort or whoever was there that night, attacking him --- they blinded him so he couldn't see who killed his wife. They left him alive for some reason. They were planning on leaving him alive."

James felt that sick feeling in his stomach come back, and in his mind's eye he saw June patting the invisible Thestral in his classroom.

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"Now, let's try once more," Remus sighed as James took the floor for the hundredth time. "Picture a stag. Not a lion. Not a tiger. A stag."

James closed his eyes and sighed. The forest. He was back in the forest. Trees. Leaves. The forest.

He could see a fawn in the bushes, crouching down, staring at him. It twitched its ear and cocked its head. He feared James. Not in a human sort of way. But in a respectful way.

He pranced to the fawn and looked down upon him. He was a subject in his woods. Not in anyone else's woods, but his own woods.

He scraped his horns against a tree and continued on through the brush, to the river nearby.

"James! James, wake up!" he felt a cold hard slap on his cheek.

James opened his eyes. He was laying face up on the room floor, looking hazily at Sirius, Peter, and Remus, all leaning in above him.

"I --- I think I did it," James said. "Yeah --- I'm in the woods --- I-"

"You're not in the woods, mate," Sirius said, helping him up.

"I'm a stag."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you," Remus said, exasperated, and he went back to the bed where his book lay.

"I --- I'm a stag."

"No, James," Sirius said. "You're a human. You're a-"

"I'm a-"

Sirius slapped him again, and he shook his head. "Wha --- what happened?"

"Are you feeling all right, James?" Remus asked as Peter took a seat on his bed.

"Yeah," James said. "I think I did it," he said again, and he collapsed on his bed. The night turned to blackness, and he dozed off to sleep without another word.

"Maybe we shouldn't try to do this any longer," Remus said worriedly as they walked to Ancient Runes that next morning, "I mean, after what happened to James last night, and-"

"Are you kidding?" James said. "I'm perfectly fine. Just a little woozy, that's all. Did I mention that I'm a stag?"

"Yes, you've mentioned that you're a stag," Sirius growled. "You've been mentioning it ever since breakfast."

"Do you think he's all right?" Peter whispered to Remus.

"I don't know," Remus said. "I think that he may have done it a little too quickly. I've been reading that book, and it says that the first time always takes this long. But it doesn't say anything about James's symptoms. I don't know what happened to him."

"I can tell you one thing," Sirius said, as James strode into the room in front of them. "I'm pretty sure that he's a stag."

"You're late."

The four of them looked up at the teacher's desk, where June was sitting. He was holding a wooden cane. A small notch was moving up and down, as if talking to him. Listening closely, Sirius could hear it whisper to its master, "A taller boy with brown and gray hair. A fat pudgy boy with a bowl cut. A skinny boy with glasses and black hair. A taller boy with a pale complexion and longer black hair. All wearing Gryffindor robes."

"Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew, I presume," June said, still looking straight ahead. "Five points will be docked from Gryffindor each. Now take your seats."

They didn't argue, seeing that June had lost all friendliness in his face, and quickly sat in their assigned chairs.

"As I was saying before they interrupted me," June continued, as Narcissa shot Sirius a demeaning look, "While I am not your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, I am still much more capable in the mind than Warthing ever will find himself to be. This year, in addition to our regular lessons, we will focus on countercurses and Auror work. Dumbledore has given me permission to teach you the Unforgivable Curses. Not how to work them, not how to defend yourself against them. No, just what they are and what they do. For tomorrow, I would like you to write an essay about what you expect to learn from this class and how you will apply it to your lives after school. You have the rest of the hour to work on it. Continue."

Throughout the lesson, as the quills and parchment rustled, the cane's notch would move again, and whisper to June.

"White haired boy in the second aisle is speaking flirtingly to a blonde young lady behind him. Seems to be infatuated."

"Mr. Malfoy, Miss Black, back to work," June barked, and the two of them jumped and bent down over their parchment.

"He's changed, that's for sure," Remus said as they walked out the door at the end of class.

"Wouldn't you if you lost your wife and home in one night?" Sirius huffed.

"He had lost his son before that, too," Remus said quietly.

"Huh? He had a son? I pity him," Sirius said. "How do you know?"

"His son was a werewolf," Remus said, even quieter. "That's why he liked me so much."

He didn't tell Sirius what June had said about him and James. He thought that it was probably for the best if he didn't.

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"My turn," Sirius said. "And if I come out of this saying that I'm a stag, hex me," he added to Remus as he stood in the middle of the room.

"All right, focus and imagine," Remus said. Sirius nodded and closed his eyes.

It was London. He was in London. A cobblestone street with streetlights hung from above, and he walked into the alleyway. He was waiting for something. For someone.

He had four legs. Black hair. Large eyes. Furry tail. He was a dog.

And then he saw who he was waiting for. They sat down outside of the alleyway. They had a suitcase with them.

He was a dog.

They looked at him. They saw him.

"Sirius!"

Someone was shaking him. He opened his eyes and saw Remus above him, looking sort of worried. James was still on the bed, trying to break out of his daze, and Peter was looking in horror at him.

"Are --- are you all right?" he asked.

"I'm a dog," Sirius said, smiling. "I did it. I'm a dog."

"Don't make me hex you," Remus said, helping him to his feet.

"I'm a dog."

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The teachers were loading them down with homework more than ever. Their excuse was that O.W.L.'s were approaching, and the students needed to start preparing.

"That isn't until next year!" Davey shouted out. Professor McGonagall ignored him and waved her hand. "The O.W.L.'s will determine your worth in the job force, and will also determine which classes you will take upon returning to Hogwarts in the sixth year. You can not take this too seriously."

Sirius didn't hear a word she said. James, who had returned to normality earlier that morning, poked him to keep him from drooling. The teacher that would most likely recognize the symptoms for Animagi was near, and that was the last thing they needed on top of everything else.

Professor Hall told them a funny story about her Kneazles. Then she assigned them to write an essay about Kneazles and the different kinds in England.

"She's useless, that one," James said to Remus as they walked out. "The only thing I've gotten out of her class is how to take care of Kneazles and where they're found."

The Care of Magical Creatures students were now studying flobberworms, and they had no homework. Flobberworms were especially boring, and it was a joke that if a teacher was teaching about them, they were close to getting sacked. James hoped that this would be true, since he loathed the teacher.

Professor Slughorn taught them an Aging potion, which, of course, both Severus and Evans perfected. Snape even added his own twist to the already complex spell, dashing in a bit of bat's feathers to make the aging take half the time to work. But, of course, as usual, Slughorn only praised Lily for her endeavors and acted as if Severus didn't exist. James took a bit of happiness from seeing Snivellus's face grow even more sallow than it usually was. What James didn't see was how sallow Lily's face grew when, after Potions let out, Severus decided to walk to lunch with Mulciber instead of her.

Then came Defense Against the Dark Arts. And finally their day was over with Ancient Runes.

"Why did we take this class over Divination?" Sirius grumbled as Remus led the way to June's classroom.

"Because you can actually do something with Runes," Remus said, "Trust me. It'll be worth it in the end."

Surprisingly enough, they made it on time. But June did not. After the bell had rung, he stepped into the classroom, holding his walking stick in his hand.

The stick whispered to him as he approached the desk, "Desk is a foot away. Chipped stone on the floor. Watch your step. Desk is in front of you. Chair is to your right. A little farther. Sit. Class is to the left of you. All are accounted for."

"Good afternoon, class," June said, not sounding like he was having a good afternoon at all.

"Good afternoon, Professor," they chimed.

No one thought that the class was fun anymore. They missed the sweet and sour teacher of last year. Now he had lost all good traits and was left with the bad.

"Take out your textbooks," June said, leafing through his belongings. "Read chapter four to yourself. I need a summary of every heading turned in by tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Are you mad?"

"Blonde girl, fourth row. Sitting next to a black haired boy," the stick whispered.

"Polly Longsfellow, you have detention," June barked, and he sat, his stick keeping the class under a close eye.