Chapter Four
"I think I can guess what you were all thinking when you arrived with the train yesterday," said professor McGonagall, gazing out over the class with her usual stern expression. "Something along the lines of 'How nice it will be to have a year of easy studying before we start preparing for our NEWTS!' " Hermione blushed as Ron nudged her, feeling as if professor McGonagall could see straight into her head. "This is wrong. We have a lot to do this year. You are all very behind on the Animation spells – turning dead matter into living. I recall your Third year's examinations, turning a kettle into a tortoise – we were up to here in steaming tortoises, if I remember correctly. Not to mention some of the things we had to endure during the OWLS – mushrooms and flamingos and whatnot. This has all around been your greatest weakness, and that goes for all of you – yes, even miss Granger. And that's why – but I haven't said anything yet!" she exclaimed, as the class groaned to a man.
"Permission to speak, professor?" asked Seamus, putting his hand in the air. "Were you by any chance going to say 'And that's why we're going to have extra homework on Animation spells'?"
McGonagall allowed herself a smile, fleeting but amused. "It seems you know me well by now. Well, I was going to say that we are waiting with the Animation spells until we have looked deeper into their opposite, the process of turning living matter into dead. But of course, if you think that's a bad idea..." The rest of her words were drowned in the loud cheer from the class. McGonagall nodded, eyes showing a beady sparkle of amusement.
"I'll take that as a 'no', then," she continued. "However, this does not mean that I will tolerate you slacking off. I expect you to work hard, and work much. You have two very trying years in front of you, two years in which you will have to prove your skill as witches or wizards..." And from there it was a normal Transfiguration lesson. Normal, at least, until they had put away their newly transfigured cushions (Neville's still with obvious feline characteristics, like trying to scratch anyone who came too close and meowing) and were getting ready to leave.
"Potter! To me, please." McGonagall was sitting by her desk, beckoning for him to come forward. Perplexed, Harry looked at his friends.
"What have I done now?"
"Oh come on, she's not going to bite you," sighed Hermione, grabbing his sleeve and walking up to their professor, who then merely handed Harry a piece of paper. On it was written a date and a time. He looked at it in bewilderment.
"What is this, professor?"
"The time for your first additional Potions lesson. I expect you to be on time."
"But, professor!" Harry looked ready to explode. "I can't – I mean, I've had Occlumency sessions with Sn– with professor Snape all summer, we'll just kill each – "
"I'm aware of the enmity between you and professor Snape," interrupted McGonagall, "and believe me, normally I would not let that stand as an excuse. But if you recall, I made a promise this spring to tutor you in whatever you needed and I intend to keep that promise. And it seems to me that in this case you could do with a change of teacher, just to get a new... perspective on things. Professor Snape has agreed to accept you into his class if you improve over the next month. You did have an 'E' on your OWL, God knows how you managed, so you should just have to improve the practical part, which I've noticed is the one you have most trouble with. I have to prepare you, however, that if you do get accepted you will have to work extremely hard to prove your worth, since you'll be there on a grant, and you should only do this if you are still dead set on becoming an Auror."
"Well..." Harry had suddenly deflated. "Yes, of course." He seemed to come to his senses again, and looked up at McGonagall with a true, happy smile. "Thank you! Thank you so much."
"You're welcome, Potter." Professor McGonagall's strict expression softened for a moment as she looked at him. "Glad to see you're looking better."
"Man, I want to be teacher's pet too," grumbled Ron good-naturedly as they left the classroom. "And what have you been doing to get promises like that? I could do with some extra counselling too, I barely scraped an A in Potions... 'Course I won't be taking it, but still..."
"She promised to help me become an Auror no matter what when I had Career Advice, but I thought it was just to get back at Umbridge," Harry explained, still wearing a goofy grin. "Man, she is the best! I love Minerva McGonagall!"
"Well, she has 'er good points, that's true," rumbled a voice behind them, "and of course there's a certain charm about 'er, but yeh might find the age difference a problem."
They all spun around (Harry red-faced) to be greeted by Hagrid, his beady eyes twinkling.
"Hagrid!" exclaimed Hermione happily. "You were allowed to come back!"
"Couldn't well keep me out, could they?" grinned Hagrid. "Not when I have so much teh show yeh. Ready fer yer first lesson?" He looked expectantly at them, oblivious to the apprehensive glances the three students shared.
"Depends on what we're doing," said Hermione finally, cautiously. Hagrid beamed.
"Somethin' really interestin', I can promise yeh that. Well come on, I can't be late fer my first lesson! Besides, they'll be gettin' restless by now." He led the way, large and cheerful, and they followed slowly, hoping against hope that Hagrid had, this time, chosen something "interesting" that was at least non-lethal.
"Something really interesting," muttered Ron quietly. "Now why doesn't that excite me?"
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"My name is Remus Lupin and I am a werewolf."
Hermione stared. Ron stared. Harry stared. Whatever they had expected for their first Care of Magical Creatures lesson, it sure wasn't this. The rest of their class looked just as astonished – even Malfoy didn't seem to be able to come up with a snide remark. Hagrid, meanwhile, was grinning from ear to ear (this was quite a distance), and Lupin looked his normal mild, polite self.
"I guess you are feeling very surprised about this," he smiled, sitting down on a conveniently placed bench and motioning for them to do the same. Hagrid had transformed the patch by his cottage into a kind of classroom, with benches standing in a rough circle and a low table in the middle. Hermione, Ron and Harry sat down, and others followed their example, some rather hesitantly. "I understand you. And I also understand if some of you may be feeling uncomfortable. If so, I won't mind if you leave. I have no doubt that this would be a most constructive lesson for you as well, but I will not force you to participate. So if you want to leave, please do so now."
There was some embarrassed squirming until Neville, eyes cast down, turned and walked back towards the school buildings. Parvati followed, and also one Slytherin boy and two of Pansy Parkinson's friends. None of them said anything, although one of the last mentioned girls threw Lupin a rather dirty look before she left. Harry was looking black, and Hermione had to step on his foot and frown sternly at him before he stopped glaring after Neville and Parvati.
"Well then." Lupin gazed around the circle, his eyes coming to rest on Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, who had remained standing behind the benches. He raised his eyebrows. "You don't want to join us?"
"I think I'll stand, thanks," sneered Malfoy, and this time Ron actually had to grab Harry's arm to hinder him from jumping at Malfoy right there.
"Alright." Lupin, on the other hand, did not seem in the least bit bothered. "I'll start by telling you the reason I am here now. You all know quite well that I resigned from the school when it became known that I am a werewolf. This is because being a werewolf today is not something accepted by the wizarding community, and there are not many parents who would feel completely secure if I was teaching you. However, Professor Dumbledore has allowed me back for a short period of time, to teach you about me and my likes. About werewolves. Because the Headmaster feels, you understand, that in these times it is important to recognize all of the Dark creatures and know how to protect yourselves from them." He took a deep breath, looking around the circle at each of their faces in turn. Some met his gaze, but some looked away, and out of those a few looked distinctly uncomfortable.
"So." Lupin smiled again, a disarming smile. "This first lesson I'll tell you some basic facts about werewolves that you need to know. Next lesson we'll go through the theory of recognizing werewolves, and at the next full moon you'll be trying it practically. You will not, of course, come near me, but you will from a distance learn to discern between me and mundane wolves. You will have Hagrid with you and I regularly drink the Wolfsbane Potion which lets me keep my mind during transformation, so you will be perfectly safe. Later on we'll be moving on to protection and banishment."
"Wait a minute." Malfoy was staring at Lupin with an incredulous smile on his face. "Banishment? You're saying you'll teach us how to kill you?"
"Yes," said Lupin calmly. "Werewolves are counted to the Dark creatures, and for your magical education to be complete you need to know protection against all of the Dark arts. Of course, werewolves are dangerous when we don't take the Wolfsbane Potion or other precautions. And speaking from a personal point of view, which most werewolves share with me – if the situation should arise that I was about to bite anyone," a look of pain passed quickly across his face, "I would rather have you kill me than let that happen."
Malfoy still smirked, but he didn't reply to what Lupin had said, merely stepped over the benches and sat down. Crabbe and Goyle followed suit immediately. Lupin smiled, and looked out over the class.
"The first thing you should know about werewolves," he said, and now he had the teacher's voice they all remembered so well, "is that we are ordinary people. There are many myths about us being savage or bloodthirsty even as humans, but I can assure you that this is not the case." There was some nervous laughter – it was hard to imagine anyone less bloodthirsty than Remus Lupin. "As you can see, I have no outstanding physical features that mark me as a werewolf either – my ears are perfectly rounded, my eyebrows are separate and I don't have fangs or excessive facial hair." As he spoke, Lupin pointed to the body part he was talking about, making some people giggle despite themselves. Pansy snorted with laughter as he opened his mouth to reveal straight, blunt teeth and nudged her friend, who did not laugh in reply. It was Rachel Nott, Hermione realized, and she was glaring angrily at Lupin.
Well, just leave if you don't like it! thought Hermione, feeling irritated at the girl's open hostility.
"So what you mean is, anyone we know could actually be a werewolf in disguise?" asked Malfoy, looking meaningfully at Crabbe and Goyle.
"Yes," Lupin replied. "Although werewolves are not very common on the Brittish Isles. Only one in maybe three or four hundred, I'd say, and out of those most are Muggles who do not know how to protect themselves."
"I still think we have one in the group," smirked Malfoy. Hermione knew that smirk – she tensed up, and so did Ron, because they both knew that if Malfoy said just one word wrong now Harry would fly at him. "And I think it is... Weasley." His eyes glinted maliciously as he looked at Harry, and Hermione groaned inwardly. This was Malfoy's ultimate weapon: insult Harry's friends. She reached for her wand, seeing that Harry was about to explode.
"With that hair? Never. A werefox, possibly."
The entire class halted, and gaped. For the one who had spoken was none other than Blaise Zabini, who said approximately seven words per month in class. He was sitting a bit apart from all the others, and had of course grabbed the bench closest to Hagrid's hut, which meant that he had something to lean against. Blaise always leaned, gracefully yet sexily. As it was now he didn't even seem to notice everybody's eyes on him, but sat as he always did, with a hat pulled down over his eyes, appearing to be asleep.
"Thank you for the contribution, Mr Zabini," said Lupin. "Take off your hat in class please." To everybody's astonishment, Blaise obliged. Pansy giggled suddenly, putting her hand over her mouth to hide it, and Ron looked as if he was on the verge of asking whether the other boy was sick. But Hermione was merely relieved to notice that the double shock of Blaise speaking and obeying a teacher had been enough to distract Harry and Malfoy from each other.
"I notice that you are using the word werewolf as if it is something ugly, a swearword almost, Mr Malfoy." Lupin put no accusation into his words, yet Malfoy glared at him as if he had been shouted at. "That is not uncommon and I won't condemn you for it. Yet that is what I'm trying to change. I would like to make you realize that we are no worse than other people. But of course, I understand that this is hard to accept."
"'Course it is, if your skull is six inches thick," said Harry, not bothering to keep his voice low. Lupin frowned.
"Watch your language, Mr Potter. Otherwise I will be forced to subtract points from your house, and I find that most unpleasant." Harry glared at his teacher in outrage, but Hermione felt that Lupin was completely right. This was something she had always liked about him – the way he was completely unbiased as a teacher, no matter what his personal opinion or preference was. And of course, he was one of the bravest people she knew. Walking back into a school you've left once before and starting to teach amongst kids who knew your deepest, darkest secret was not something everybody would be able to do.
"Lupin is so cool," she whispered quietly to Ron, who nodded, grinning.
"Incidentally, Miss Granger, although we don't retain anything of the wolf in our human shape, my hearing is still very acute." Lupin smiled briefly at her. "So don't whisper in my class please."
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Hi ho, I'm still on crutches, still bitter. It's raining today, too. (SULK.)
But thank you thank you for reviewing! Makes me happy.
So, anyway, tonight is the moment of truth! (i.e. the release of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.) So when you read this you might already have found out just how far off the mark I am. The tension is unbearable. :P
Ciao!
