CHAPTER TWO

Harry didn't think he'd have to adjust to Hogwarts, but the past transformed the school into a mix of familiarity and strangeness. For one thing, there was a bigger student population, and the corridors were more crowded than he was used to, not to mention how there were two professors to a subject, and he'd accidentally walked into Professor Flitwick's classroom when he was supposed to be in Professor Inchaunt's classroom for charms. He at least still had McGonagall for transfiguration, and he was reassured to see that she looked the same like always, and taught the same lessons.

Harry was fortunate in that he'd left his time on October 31st, and arrived in the past on September 24th, so nearly three-quarters of his schoolwork were pulled from his memory of doing it before. The only classes where he had to work to learn new material was Potions, with Professor Ochem who taught different potions than Snape, and Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Care of Magical Creatures, taught by Professor Kettleburn, was a repeat of what Hagrid had exposed them to. Today, for instance, Kettleburn had decided that the sixth years were knowledgeable enough to be exposed to hippogriffs. Instead of the many hippogriffs Hagrid had got in his third year, Kettleburn only had three hippogriffs. Harry stared at the creatures, and was reminded of Buckbeak, and the Sirius in his time, and a lump rose in his throat.

"All right, class," said Kettleburn. "Partner up in twos. One looks them in the eye, and mind, back away immediately if they don't bow! While the other partner stands ready to stun them should they get out of hand."

Harry hurried over to Lupin, who was one of the only people he knew in the class. "Want to be partners?"

Lupin turned to him, a vague expression in his eyes. "Sure."

They were one of the first in the queue.

Lupin said, "Right, let me get into posi—"

But before he'd finished the sentence, Harry had bowed, and was stroking the hippogriff's feathers, inhaling the familiar warm, musty scent. The hippogriff made a crooning noise of contentment. Harry hugged the hippogriff, and felt some of his homesickness melt away.

Lupin blinked. "Well, that was easier than I thought."

"All right, now you try," said Harry, not bothering to stop petting the hippogriff.

Lupin bowed. It took longer for the hippogriff to return the bow. Lupin approached, then stopped, and eyed the animal with uncertainty. He looked from the sharp beak to the wicked looking talons, and then to Harry who was scratching the wing joint. Lupin drew closer, and patted the flank, before snatching his hand away.

"They're really not as dangerous as everyone makes them out to be," said Harry. He thought of Malfoy. "They're only vicious when you don't show them proper respect."

"Oh," said Lupin, and looking relieved, he walked closer, and stroked the hippogriff's other side.

The hippogriff crooned, and settled its wings, causing Lupin to step back.

"I think he wants to be ridden. I shouldn't like to be trapped in a paddock all day," said Harry, thinking of Buckbeak, and Sirius regretting his inability to exercise him.

Harry climbed on top of the hippogriff, minding he didn't pull any feathers. He looked down at Lupin, who was staring at him with a shocked face. He held out his hand, and said, "Want to come?"

"Er, I don't think there's enough room. He might not be able to take both of our weights," said Lupin, eyeing the hippogriff with fascination.

"He can take up to three people," said Harry, vaguely surprised at Lupin's reticence. His Lupin, in between his jobs for the Order, exercised Buckbeak.

Lupin gave Harry a skeptical look. "I'll take your word for it. I don't think we're supposed to ride them, though."

"Kettleburn didn't tell us not to. Ha—my old professor let us ride them in my third year," said Harry.

"I suppose if you rode one in your third year, they can't be too bad," said Lupin, grasped his hand, and climbed on behind him.

Once the hippogriff lurched off the ground, Harry felt a fit of nostalgia. His third year, he'd been too scared to properly appreciate the ride, and later on he'd been too worried over Sirius and it was dark. He circled Hogwarts, and landed back at the paddock.

"That was…something," said Lupin.

"You can let go now," said Harry, for the first time noticing his own constricted breathing from Lupin's tight grip around his waist.

"Right," said Lupin, not even twitching.

"What were you thinking?!" shouted Kettleburn, running towards them from across the paddock. "Get off at once, before it—" The hippogriff lurched up in alarm. "Stupefy!"

Harry and Lupin tumbled to the ground, off the collapsed animal. Harry was the first to get to his feet. "What did you do that for?"

Kettleburn gave him an astonished look. "What did I—he was about to attack!"

"Only because you rushed up to him," said Harry, getting a new understanding of what Hagrid went through.

Kettleburn looked taken aback, before his face darkened. "You should not have ridden him." His eyes slid from Harry to Lupin. "They're dangerous creatures, if you had been paying attention, you would have known that they're to be treated with the utmost respect, not treated like harmless ponies!"

"I did," said Harry. "He bowed to me."

"That doesn't mean that you can just ride them!" said Kettleburn, ignoring Harry's comment, and glaring at Lupin. "You're lucky you weren't hurt."

"I had thought that if we took the proper precautions, there wouldn't be much harm to it," said Lupin, at nearly the same time Harry said, "You never said we couldn't—"

"Twenty points from Gryffindor!" shouted Kettleburn. "And detention!" He then turned to Lupin. "You were a prefect last year. You should know better!"

"Yes, Professor," said Lupin, looking resigned.

"Wait, what?" said Harry, indignant at the unfairness. "Look, give me detention, I was the one who had the idea. But there's no need to punish Pr—Lupin, he tried to talk me out of it, he didn't want to go in the first place."

"Report to the groundskeeper at eight tonight," said Kettleburn, turning away.

After class, walking back towards the castle where they had the same Defense class, Harry said, "Look, I'm sorry for getting you into trouble. I didn't know Kettleburn would react that way." He shook his head. "Guess I was too used to my old professor—he'd have been delighted."

Lupin shrugged. "S'alright."

"You really didn't deserve it," said Harry, getting incensed.

"I appreciate how you tried to talk Kettleburn out of it, but trust me when I say that I've lost even more house points, for even flimsier reasons," said Lupin, smiling as if at a private joke. "You'll find that out the more you're around. See you at detention, Harris," said Lupin, and went to take a seat next to Wormtail, with James and Sirius.

0000

Once Remus sat down, James said, "We heard what just happened. Never knew you had it in you."

Before anyone could say anything, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor walked in.

With the war on, anyone who was good at DADA was fighting on the front lines, and the students were left with a pool of injured aurors and random volunteers. No one knew what to expect when walking into class. One day, they were taught by a retired Auror who spent the entire class telling the most blood-curdling stories, the next by a witch who drilled them on protection spells, another by a ministry official who told them what to do if they found the Dark Mark over their house, then by a wizard who had them spend the entire time reading from their textbooks. Today they had a curse breaker from Gringott's who had them all hard at working learning to detect curses.

After class let out, Sirius said to Remus, "That was a pretty prank you pulled off, Moony, and in front of a professor! Wish I'd thought of it myself."

Remus looked at Sirius blankly. "What prank?"

"That's Moony, always the modest one," said James, flanking him between Sirius.

"A hippogriff. Wow," said Peter, darting between James and Sirius. "I'd have been scared out of my mind." He then said, in an eager voice, "What was it like?"

"What are you talking about?" said Remus, confused.

"The ride on the hippogriff," Sirius said. "Tell us."

"Later on," said James, looking at his watch. "Tell us in the Great Hall. We'll be late for classes."

Remus sat in Arithmancy, staring blindly at his parchment, trying to figure out what his friends were talking about, and why people kept passing him congratulatory notes about hippogriffs. There was something about Care of Magical Creatures, and the new boy, Harris…

"So how was it?" said a voice by his ear.

Remus blinked, and looked up to see Gideon Prewett, a Hufflepuff sixth year, leaning on his desk. He looked down to find a half-filled parchment with shoddy Arithmancy notes. "Er, the lecture was one of the more dry ones."

"No," said Prewett, rolling his eyes. "I heard from Eugene about Kettleburn and the hippogriff, while I was in Charms class."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Remus had a case of déjà vu. James and Sirius had asked him something similar.

"Fine. Be that way," said Prewett, and left with a huff.

He got more of the same from Sirius and James in the Great Hall over dinner. By the end, they'd stopped speaking to him, not believing his denials, while Peter kept interrogating him for details all the way to the Common Room, until Remus pointedly got out his books, and told him he needed to study.

Remus finished his Transfiguration homework, and was frowning at his Care of Magical Creatures textbook, feeling like he'd forgotten something, something important.

"Oi, Moony," said James, looking up from the prank he'd been planning with Sirius. "Don't get too lost in your books that you forget your detention."

"I do?" said Remus, jerking his head up. "For what?"

James and Sirius exchanged glances. James said, "For the ride on the hippogriff."

"I told you, I don't know what you're referring to," said Remus, at the end of his patience.

"You really don't remember, do you?" said Sirius, with an uncharacteristic solemnity.

"What?"

"The whole school is talking about it," said Peter. "You and…" he shook his head, as if clearing it, "You rode a hippogriff, and Kettleburn docked you points, and gave you detention."

"Why would I do something I know I'd get caught for?" said Remus, put out. "That's more like something Padfoot would do, maybe even Prongs, here."

Sirius cursed. "Whoever tampered with your memory is going to wish he'd never been born," said Sirius, a dark look on his face, starting to get up, when James placed a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"Worry about that later. Right now, we need to find out when Moony has detention, keep him out of more trouble." James stood up, and surveyed the common room. "Then Padfoot, Wormtail, and I will look in the library, research memory charms, and anything else that would alter someone's behavior."

They scattered.

Peter was the first to find out. "You've got it with Hagrid, at eight."

"Thanks, Wormtail," said Remus. "What day?"

"Er, today," said Peter.

The clock read fifteen minutes past eight. Remus ran all the way from the tower to the grounds.