Chapter Five - Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Remus was in his compartment watching the cow fields whip by. His stomach kept fluttering excitedly, not knowing where this train was taking him. He was also very antsy because of the kiss he just shared between Alanze.

'Kiss?' He squirmed uneasily in his seat. 'No, it wasn't a kiss. It was just a simple good-bye between two friends.' And besides, he was still too young to call it a kiss.

Until his compartment door flew open, and two boys entered. They both were dark-haired. The first one had slightly lighter hair than the other, and had very mischievous chocolate brown eyes and a bemused expression. The second boy looked very glum about something with his jet-black messy hair, glasses, and brownish-gray eyes.

"Look what you did brilliance… this compartment hardly is empty," cried the boy with glasses.

"What's the matter, Jimbo? It's not like he's a seventh year." Replied the first boy, with the mischievous eyes. "What year are you in, kid?"

"First," Remus replied, watching the boys curiously.

"I told you, Jimbo. He's young blood. Let's go introduce ourselves."

"Fine then." Replied the second, with a sneer. He turned and actually whapped his companion rather roughly on the shoulder. "And if you call me Jimbo one more time… I'm going to hex you into next year!"

The boys both came over to Remus and sat across from him in the row of seats. Remus was still goggling at them oddly. Both boys seemed to know each other rather well.

"I'm Sirius Black," said the boy with the mischievous eyes. "Pre-Hogwarts Resident Trouble Maker. And this is my friend James Potter. He's my sidekick."

"I am not your sidekick." Replied the boy Sirius had called James, still looking quite annoyed. "I started the Pre-Hogwarts Resident Trouble Making Agency anyway. So you should be my sidekick."

"But what fun is that? I like to boss you around. Its much more fun that way!" Sirius exclaimed, a perfected look of sadness on his face. "You're ruining my life James!"

"Isn't that my job?" asked the boy James, grinning just as mischievously as Sirius. "Sorry, we were rude, weren't we? We forgot to ask you your name," he addressed Remus.

"My name is Remus Lupin," answered Remus. "You're both first years too, aren't you?"

"No, we're fifth years who didn't have any growth spurts yet because we skipped out on all our vegetables." Sirius replied, rolling his eyes. Remus was caught up in the middle of trying to decide whether to laugh or look frightened. "And we came in here so we can smash your brains in and then use them for our potions experiments."

Remus' eyes got wide, but it was something about the way the boy spoke that made him doubt Sirius. Remus was never one to be exposed to sarcasm. His mother usually looked down upon that type of crude linguistics. Seeing the confused look on Remus' face, James abruptly shoved his friend into the aisle. He had an almost disturbing and wacky-looking grin on his face.

"Don't believe Sirius. He's just mad that his mother wouldn't stop scolding and yelling at him when we got on the train," James apologized, watching as Sirius gathered himself up off of the floor. "And yes, we're just first years."

"If all those older girls weren't giggling at me, I wouldn't have minded," Sirius replied, defending himself as he sat staring at the sheep in the fields the train was whipping past. "I'm used to her yelling to me about Slytherin… but she didn't have to do it in public. Honestly... my mother's an overprotective psycho."

Remus laughed. Those two boys seemed very funny in both their separate ways, and from what he could tell they all had seemed to get along almost perfectly. It was almost annoying, and Remus felt a pang of jealousy because he left his only friend back at Mainland Place.

"Soo," James started after a while, "Are you into jokes, Remus?"

Remus blinked at him. "Well, not really. I do enjoy a good few once they're told to me… but my Dad doesn't allow me to buy Zonko's products."

"No Zonko's products?" Sirius said staring at him in awe. "H-h-how do you survive?"

"I live in a Muggle neighborhood." Remus explained shortly, eying them both carefully. Just the day before his mother gave him a lecture on keeping his status at an ultimate low. She didn't want others to know much about their family and how they lived.

"My parents don't have a lot of money and my house in Mainland's Place came cheap." Remus kept his thoughts as brief as possible. "Plus… we can't do too much Magic in a place full of Muggles. So I never had Zonko's products before. I've been in the store though, a few times."

"Oh." James said sheepishly, glancing away. Remus could tell he was uncomfortable about hearing of Remus' conditions. They both were surprised as Sirius bounded up to the racks and began digging through his trunk, and gathering handfuls of some strange things Remus had never seen before.

"Here, Remus." He told the sandy-haired boy, "These are official Zonko's products, used by the Pre-Hogwarts Resident Trouble Making Agency. Welcome to our club."

"Sirius!" James yelled at his best friend, snatching the products out of Sirius' hands. "That's my job. I, unlike you, am the President."

"Well you were taking too long!" Sirius replied a little too sweetly. "Give Remus a Filibuster's Firework so he can set it off for the inauguration."

James grumbled under his breath, but happily gave Remus a firework. Remus glanced at it uncertainly, but hurriedly took out his wand and lit it. He was surprised that the spell worked. He had only spent twelve hours reading all of his spell books and studying the concept of magic. His fingers felt his wand humming as the firework lit and went sparking about his compartment.

"Congratulations!" Sirius cheered, as the dodged the sparks shooting over his head. "You're one of us!"

"That's not entirely a good thing," James teased. "Sirius can be a little psycho sometimes."

Remus laughed. "Well, just don't murder me in my sleep, and I won't hold anything to you."

James and Sirius looked at each other, puzzled, before bursting into timely laughter.

"That's fine. It's a deal, Remus," said the boy Sirius. He absentmindedly lit another firecracker, and it sparked around their compartment giving off red and violet sparks.

A silence passed their compartment as Remus noticed the setting sun. He hadn't realized that the morning and afternoon has passed so swiftly. Why was the ride to Hogwarts so long?

"We're aiming for Gryffindor," James started suddenly, breaking the silence besides the constant crackling of the fireworks. "Are you?"

"Definitely." Remus replied sheepishly "My dad was a Gryffindor, mum was a Ravenclaw. Dad's pure, Mum's half-and-half."

He had been debating on bringing the subject of Wizarding Blood up to these boys - he had only known them for a few hours… and first impressions weren't always what they had seemed.

"Both of my parents were in Gryffindor. They're both pure." James said bluntly. "We don't give a rat's bum about all of that prejudice, though. You're still a wizard, aren't you?" he added to Remus' worried look.

"Yes. What were your parents, Sirius?" Remus asked timidly, and then quieted at the look that James had just given to him.

"Slytherins, but who cares? I don't speak of them much. I'd do anything to defy them, and if that means getting sorted into Gryffindor… so be it." Sirius grumbled, and left the subject alone for the rest of the train ride.

Conversation slowly died as they made their way slowly to their new school. As the train slowed down, the three stuffed their robes over their heads and prepared to disembark. They climbed onto the chilly platform, confused.

"Where do we go now?" asked James, stating the obvious. A lot of the first years stood, looking around anxiously peered over at him. Sirius, to James' left, shrugged. As Remus stood beside his new friends, he realized how much shorter he was compared to them. He honestly wished for a growth spurt of his own.

"I have absolutely positively no flying ferrets of a clue," responded Sirius, looking as anxious as Remus felt. Remus felt himself laughing quietly, but gazed around just as scared as the next kid.

"OIY! HEY!" called a loud feminine voice. They didn't know whom exactly it was calling to them, but the remaining first years standing on the platform looked in the direction of the voice calling them.

"HEY!" screamed someone, "Over here! You kids! The minis!"

James was the first person to take a step in the voice's direction. Remus and Sirius followed suit, and then the other first years decided to follow.

"Thanks kid," said the voice, once all the first years got into her view. "It's my first day here and the regular guy who's supposed to be picking you guys up is busy doing something for Dumbledore and -"

"Gwendolyn?" Remus scoffed; taken aback by the person he saw standing in the shadows. It looked like the Healer he knew and remembered - but it just couldn't be... could it?

She ignored him. "Okay, you first years follow me," said the woman, leading them to a shore of the lake where several boats were cast nearby the shore. "There will be four to a boat. I didn't introduce myself properly did I? I guess you minis can call me Madam Jaccobs."

Remus gazed at Madam Jaccobs as if she was Gwendolyn, but in the dim light he just couldn't tell. He climbed into a spare boat after Sirius, James, and some girl that they didn't know.

"Heya," Sirius greeted the girl cheerfully, but then was taken aback when she turned around to face him. His cheerful smile turned into quite an ugly sneer. "Hi," he started again "-Narcissa."

The boats started to move as the girl he called Narcissa sneered back in return as she responded, "Hello cousin Sirius. I was -er- hoping to see you here at Hogwarts. How's my dear old Auntie?"

"Cynical and senile. As usual." Sirius said simply, waving the comment aside as if it were nothing. "How are your sisters?"

Narcissa narrowed her eyes at him. Clearly, she had a deep loathing for both the sisters Sirius were referring to.

"Just dandy," Narcissa replied, starting slightly as the boats came upon landing on the other side of the lake. She took no time to get out of the one the three boys were in, and join Madam Jaccobs rallying the first years towards the landing of the great castle.

"What was that all about?" Remus asked, climbing out after Narcissa. He gave James a hands-up as he and Sirius climbed out the small boat last. "She's really your cousin? She looks nothing like you."

Sirius laughed harshly as he could to be eleven, and ripped a few branches off a bush as they climbed large marble stairs in the rear of the whole group. He didn't answer Remus, and taking that as a sign, Remus decided to leave the subject alone.

"Okay, kids. You guys will have to wait in this compartment until Professor McGonagall comes to fetch you. She's getting the sorting and the feast ready. I reckon the rest of the school has arrived by now," Madam Jaccobs paused, listening to the rustling of chatter in a room next-door. "I'll be leaving you all here."

A few boys in the back of the group groaned. "Will we ever see you again?" asked a dirty-blonde haired boy. Madam Jaccobs smiled very prettily in the torchlight, and laughed like a well-tuned harp. Remus knew he recognized her, but he was too nervous to act on his suspicions.

"Yes. I'm Assistant Healer here. Maybe you'll see me in the hospital wing sometime this year," answered Madam Jaccobs.

"Gwendolyn," Remus called again, and many people looked at him, including Madam Jaccobs. She didn't respond, and once the heads of the others were turned and they were distracted, the Healer smiled and wiggled her nose slightly. Remus responded in a friendly grin.

"You know her?" Sirius asked amazingly, prodding James in the ribs to tell him to stop staring at the new Healer. James chuckled, and shrugged.

"Yes, she -" Remus was going to explain but caught his breath. He didn't want to tell him about what he was - would they still consider being his friends then? However, he didn't have too much time to brood on the subject when they were introduced to Professor McGonagall.

"May I have your attention please?" called the strict woman, and even though she towered over all of the first years, some still chattered among themselves nervously. She cleared her throat once, and grew impatient when still less than half the room was doing something else with themselves. It was until a final nerve broke and McGonagall barked at them.

"PLEASE BE QUIET AND LISTEN OR YOU ALL WILL GET DETENTION FOR THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!"

"Bloody hell!" Sirius muttered amazingly to James as the trio stood, wide-eyed, gaping at Professor McGonagall. "Want to play a prank on this one, eh? She'll be a good target!" he repeated in the same tone, his idiotic grin appearing on his face again.

The first years piled into one line at McGonagall's orders, and followed her into the Great Hall. Remus felt a gigantic lump in his throat as he felt the rest of the watching him. He stood separated from his friends, and behind a tiny auburn-haired girl whom he didn't know.

"When I call your name, you will advance forward and place the Sorting Hat onto your head. You shall wait until it calls out your house before then advancing to your proper table. Abon, Jeffery!"

"Hufflepuff!"

There was only one surname with 'A'. After it McGonagall called out, "Black, Narcissa!"

Wearing an expression that didn't suit her at all and full of fake cheerfulness, Narcissa walked up and sat under the hat for nearly a few seconds until it declared her, "SLYTHERIN!"

A very tall but pretty girl with dark brown hair stood at the Slytherin table, clapping loudly for Narcissa. The small blonde girl flushed pink and stormed pass the Ravenclaw Table, avoiding the clapping of an older girl sitting on the end of the table. She watched Narcissa pass through dark sapphire eyes, but said nothing.

"Well done, sister." The older student loudly, clapping Narcissa on the shoulder. A glimmering prefect badge glared on her shoulder, as she too, glared over at the Ravenclaw table. "Welcome to the family pride of Slytherin. You, unlike Andy made it into a respectable place."

"Black, Sirius."

Remus and James watched their friend walk up, and the girl at the Slytherin table rose to her feet again. Sirius watched her terrifyingly, before his eyes disappeared under the hat.

He sat, moving nervously and occasionally shifting his position on the stool. James didn't understand what was wrong - who sat under the hat that long? Nearly seven minutes later as Sirius fought an inward battle with the hat - his house was announced.

"Gryffindor!"

"Traitor!" yelled the same girl from the Slytherin Table. "Have you no honor in Toujours Pur, the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black! You defy our family like so?"

"Bella, shove it." Sirius barked, sitting at the Gryffindor Table, which for some odd reason was clapping rather loudly for him. "Sit down, cousin, and stop making a scene."

The girl Sirius called 'Bella' had flushed, and sat across from her blonde sister, Narcissa. Constantly, she threw looks of mortal peril at Sirius, who wasn't paying any mind to her. He was too busy in worrying whether his friends were going to join him at Gryffindor.

"Evans, Lily!"

A red-head, possibly even smaller than the girl Remus seemed to be standing in back of, sat on the stool and placed the hat on her head. It was so big; it covered her whole face and neck. Seconds later, she was declared, "GRYFFINDOR!" and the list moved on.

"Kipper, Joseph."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Longbottom, Frank!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Lupin, Remus!"

Remus stopped gazing off into the sea of endless students, and very shakily went over to McGonagall and sat on the stool. He saw Gwendolyn up at the staff table, and she gave him a reassuring smile before his view as cut off by darkness.

Hello, hello. It's another Lupin. The hat talked to Remus. He was so surprised he jumped.

Oh my, my, do we have surprises? Werewolf, are you? First one to ever come to Hogwarts. I see Dumbledore made special arrangements for you this year, and it's without a doubt. He doesn't want to skip out on a special case like you. You'll be an asset to him once you age, don't doubt that. But this isn't time for General Discussion, where shall I put you?

'Please sort me in anywhere but Slytherin.' Remus thought, anxiously.

Of course, Slytherin isn't for you. I never even considered it. Ravenclaw, yes. But not Slytherin. I see, however, along with your amazing amount of logic... there is constant bravery and loyalty to your friends. I know where to put you.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Remus beamed happily as the Hat dismissed him. He sat by Sirius and two seats down from that tiny Evans girl.

The list went on, up to the P's.

"Pettigrew, Peter!"

A boy stumbled, and knocked over the stool, landing headfirst in the bottom of McGonagall's grand robes. Amongst the laughter, McGonagall snapped the boy, Peter, out of her robes, stood up the stool and almost literally threw him upon it.

After ten minutes of waiting, Peter was declared, "GRYFFINDOR!".

"Potter, James!"

James sat down, and McGonagall immediately placed the hat upon his head. Seconds later, he was too declared "GRYFFINDOR!"

The three boys gave each other high-five's as they silently sat, as the sorting was sort-of finished up.

"Snape, Severus!"

Sirius snorted at the name. James rolled his eyes, and Remus looked at them.

"You know that greasy haired kid?" asked Remus.

"I know him. We grew up together. My mum and his mum were good mates. Unfortunately for us, I never liked him. Nor him me." Sirius tried to explain, shifting uneasily in his seat." Then my dad met James's parents at the Ministry and I was introduced to the Potters. I started gathering about with James more; I guess Severus' mom didn't like that... so they all got mad at my family and cut off relations. It didn't help much that without the Snape's my family had no more exchanges with the Malfoy clan - so Mum got mad at me and banished me to the seventh level of hell."

Remus laughed slightly, but he had a feeling that Sirius wasn't quite joking about what he had said. Severus Snape, a few seconds later was announced, "SLYTHERIN!" as the sorting was finished by a few more children at the end of the list. People clapped, as the Headmaster Dumbledore got to his feet. McGonagall cleared away the sorting hat and the stool.

"Without further ado, I bid you all a good year with our opening feast! Welcome all to Hogwarts!" Dumbledore spoke, and many of the older students whistled and cheered.

"Holy," James murmured, as he watched the table fill up with several different types of food. "I am dead. This is heaven. I -want- my halo."

Sirius had no hesitation into chowing down - he had been starving ever since the train ride. Remus grinned shyly around the table, before fixing himself a plate full of beef stroganoff and reaching for the pepper. His hand brushed the hand of a very pretty older girl, and immediately, he jumped and burrowed his left hand nervously in his lap.

"Oh," said the girl, surprised. "Here kid, d'you want this?" she added, handing him the pepper. James grinned from behind his mashed potatoes.

"Yes -" Remus said, and reached for the pepper she was handing to him with a very shaky hand. "Er- thank you."

The girl smiled, and she a piece of metal across her teeth. It reminded Remus highly of Alanze's old retainer - but this was Hogwarts. This girl certainly wasn't a Muggle, and was much prettier and older than Alanze. Wasn't she?

"What's your name kid?" asked the girl, going for the salt instead.

"Re-Remus. Remus Lupin." answered Remus shyly, blushing as he handed the girl the pepper back, "And yours?"

"Mackenzie Schuster." she said, nodding at Remus once, before going back to talk to her much older friends.

"Very smooth, Remie, no doubt you're a romantic. Pass the pepper?" Sirius teased, and Remus eyed the girl, Mackenzie, wearily before reaching for the pepper once more. As he handed the shaker to Sirius, Remus narrowed his eyes at the suspicious looking boy. James spoke to him with a mouth full of steak.

" 'magine 'Emus 'S a 'mooth 'pperator."

"Shut up, Potter," snapped Remus, and James showered him and Sirius in pieces of steak and macaroni and cheese as he burst into laughter. They continued to eat their dinner, and had a field day while eating desert. All the food cleared away once the last person was done, and Headmaster Dumbledore got to his feet again.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," greeted the ancient man. "I really don't have much to say this year. I can sense great expectations from all of you. There is one thing that I must add, however. There has been a new tree planted on the edge of the Forbidden Forest on the school grounds. Don't bother going near it; its name is the Whomping Willow for a good reason. It will swing at anything, and or anybody that gets within its vine's length of touching. So, just to forewarn all of you students - don't go near the tree, and you won't spend half of your life in the Hospital Wing."

The students around the hall gazed at each other in amazement, but no one spoke a word. Finding what Dumbledore had said hilarious, however, Sirius burst into laughter. The tall girl at the Slytherin table shook her head sadly, as if Sirius' behavior was a reflection on her, as Dumbledore smiled despite the importance of the Whomping Willow.

"Now if you all will join me in singing the school song..." continued the wise enchanter, his beard bobbing up and down merrily as he spoke to his students, "So... pick your favorite tune and everyone... go!"

Remus followed Dumbledore's lyrics with his own tune, but didn't sing out loud. James and Sirius sung at the top of their lungs, to an upbeat song in which highly amused Mackenzie sitting nearby, and she began singing with them too.

Once everyone had finished singing, Dumbledore waved his wand and beamed at them all. "Have a good rest, students! Classes shall begin tomorrow, I must say. Prefects!"

A tall boy wearing half of his uniform and with strangely long red hair hopped up at the middle of the Gryffindor Table. "First years!" he called merrily, adjusting his glasses and grinning proudly, "First years, this way!"

The three boys got up, along with most of the other Gryffindor first years, following the boy. They followed in a single-file line, occasionally murmuring as they climbed what seemed like a million flights of stairs. Finally, they reached a portrait of a rather bulky woman wearing a pink dress and looking rather tired.

"Password?" she asked the Prefect, in-between a stifled yawn.

"Red licorice," answered the young man, and some of the girls giggled at him as he wiggled his nose at them slightly as the large woman nodded, and swung open to reveal a hole in the wall. The prefect led the way though, and the eleven Gryffindor first years piled around him in a room on the main floor which was empty.

"Yes... yes... welcome to the Gryffindor Common Room." he said, "My name is Arthur Weasley, and I'm a seventh year Prefect here. You will be presented maps tomorrow - so tell the little pimply boy next to you - the girl with the red hair? - to calm down before he explodes."

The boy that Arthur was referring to was the short mousy Peter Pettigrew. His eyes had been darting around the building anxiously, fearing getting lost in the building. He squeaked nervously, and jumped when he was being called on, but tried to relax as Arthur finished talking.

"Please try and be on your best behavior; each house is awarded points for things we do good and points are taken away for things that break school rules. Quidditch Season will be upcoming soon; but first years aren't allowed to play... so don't ask."

Sirius shut his mouth quickly.

"Anyway, the girls dormitories are up the stairs and to the right and the boys are the same on the left. Oh, and to the kid with the glasses and raised eyebrows, the girl's dorms are charmed so if you want to even try and sneak in, you'll get such a shock that the whole school will know about it. Trust me, I've tried...and I've learned my lesson."

James burst into untimely laughter, claiming innocence as Arthur looked at him, rolling his eyes before he left the first years to go up to their dorms. Their things had already been brought up to the room and arranged around a circular dorm. Peter seemed scared above everything else; mainly because, his four-poster bed was right near the doorway... either that or he was just frightened of sleeping right next to and in the same room as Sirius.

Remus nuzzled in his bed nearby the window in the back of the room. Out of the five beds, he didn't mind being in the middle. To his left were Sirius and Peter, and to his right a boy named Christopher then James. The candles went out automatically at ten-thirty, and the boys took turns changing into their bedclothes in a small bathroom that branched off near the back of the room.

"Hogwarts. Ahhhhh, it's easy street from this day, boys!" relaxed James, removing his glasses and sinking back into his many pillows. "G'night, all!"

"Good night." chimed the rest of the boys, and all was quiet for about fifteen minutes until...

CRASH!

"I didn't do it!" claimed the unlikely voice of what seemed to Remus as Sirius'.

There was a lot of commotion in the entire Gryffindor Common room as the firecracker fizzed its way around the 1st year's dormitories. Nearly a half-hour later when the bright yellow snake seemed to die down, Remus (still grinning like mad) settled back into his warm bed.

'I guess with people like these to room with, I'm going to have no problem feeling at home at Hogwarts.' Remus thought to himself, 'I don't think that with all the chaos that Sirius and James will be causing here… that they'll even miss me at all each month when I have to leave.'

And as if it were routine, a little voice in the back of his brain brought in it's two-sense... speaking the phrase that he had dreaded to even think about.

'Or at least... that's what I hope.'