Do I really need to say this again? J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. If you recognise anything from any movie, TV show, book or whatever else, it's probably because it is from them. If you want my 'full' warning, you can check out either 'Dormant Power' or 'Beginning of the End'.
If you've read both those fics, then you know how my version of it ends…but how did it begin? Again, only some names are mine, everything else is not! I've based this from the Marauders perspective so…well you'll know the story when something happens to a certain someone, even though I don't write about it in this one! Also check out 'The Apprentice', it has some info you won't find in my other two stories (wink, wink!).
And here is the first explanation of one of Trent's 'secrets' that he told Remus about in Apprentice; vis-à-vis, how did they end up in their defence classroom?
Suppose I should warn you; Remus gets a bit hairier than normal for a period in it (thank you to the HP Lexicon which gave me the hiccups from laughing too much for about three hours after reading those same words!).
Chapter 7 – Some Things Are Best Forgotten
"Sorry guys," Peter said as James, Sirius, Remus and himself made their way to the Great Hall the next morning for breakfast.
Remus sighed, "Don't worry about it, Peter. Besides, it could've been worse."
Sirius looked astonished, "Exactly what're you on about, Moony! That map was mainly your work! You did nearly all the charms on it, remember! How could it have been worse?!"
Remus managed a weak smile and replied, "I'm aware that I did the charms, Padfoot. But, he did give us the cloak back. Besides, McGonagall or Tuero could've found us instead."
James nodded as the doors to the hall approached, "Good point. I hadn't thought of that. Oh well, let's see how old Snivellus is going this morning."
Sirius grinned, "One of your better ideas, Prongs."
Remus pushed open the door before gesturing for his friends to enter the hall.
They settled down at their usual spots and waited for the Slytherins to arrive. When they did, all the chatter in the hall abruptly ceased as the first Slytherin students made their way to their table. Instead of the normal robes, every single one of them were wearing maroon robes which flashed 'Gryffindor Forever' across their backs in large gold letters.
Needless to say, most eyes then turned to the four Gryffindors, and while Remus and Peter were able to keep straight faces, James and Sirius could not, and had taken to clutching their sides in laughter. They briefly heard Professor McGonagall say for the two of them to meet in her office during lunch, but then laughed even harder when Severus made his entrance.
Not only was he wearing the same robes, but his hair had been charmed a shocking shade of hot pink. He shot a scowl towards James and Sirius, but it wasn't just these two who found this sight hilarious. Soon most of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were joining the Gyrffindors in laughing.
"You two really need to figure out how to keep a straight face."
"Why? Come on, Wormtail, even McGonagall would have to agree that he looks better this way!" Sirius exclaimed after everyone had calmed down sufficiently.
"You know, he's got a point there, Peter," Remus mused, a smile playing on his lips.
"That is most definitely a pensieve moment," James agreed before they all settled down for breakfast.
"Except for the fact that you don't have a pensieve, Prongs," Sirius grinned.
"Fine, how about a Patronus moment then?" James replied with a shrug.
"Actually, that wouldn't work either. A Patronus needs to be…"
"Nice going Prongs. Now you've got him in 'Professor Lupin' mode!" Peter moaned, while Sirius rolled his eyes.
They knew Remus wouldn't stop talking about this for a while, so they tried their best to look very interested in everything he was saying.
"I'm afraid I will be taking twenty points off you for that little stunt you played this morning."
"It was worth it, just to see Snivellus' face," James whispered and Sirius grinned at him.
"Make that twenty points EACH!"
"Oho, now that's more like it!" Sirius grinned.
"FIFTY POINTS EACH!"
Both teens gulped at this and James could almost see fire coming from McGonagall's nostrils the more she raised her voice. "Well, maybe we'll just keep our fat mouths shut then."
"That would be wise, very wise, Potter. Now get out of my office," she replied, eyes narrowed and her voice dangerously low. The two young wizards grappled each other for a moment, trying to vacate the room first.
The next full moon quickly arrived, and as usual, Remus was led to the familiar site of the Whomping Willow. He hated having to do this every month, but knew after this year he would not have the protection the Shack provided. Even though he knew his three friends were silently following him, under James' invisibility cloak, he still felt so very alone. As he was led into the room, he looked around and closed his eyes as he remembered all the times he had transformed here.
He remembered his screams, desperate pleas for the pain to stop. He remembered two years ago, how ecstatic he was when his friends finally perfected their animagus transformations. He also remembered the feeling of numbness after he'd found out that Sirius had sent Snape to follow him. It took a Remus a long time to forgive Sirius for that, and even then, he still was disappointed that his best friend had betrayed his secret. He was brought from his thoughts when he heard a knock at the door.
Remus smiled as he realised his friends waiting for him outside. Why didn't they come in? Remus was very insecure about what he had to go through. His family had never been terribly well off, and since the transformations rip his clothes, he nearly always transformed whilst naked. He didn't want his friends to see the numerous scars that littered his body, and had pleaded with them to always wait outside the room until he had transformed. Remus had been asked by them which transformation hurt more, and he had answered instantly; changing back. The initial transformation into the wolf hurt plenty, but then having to go through it again a handful of hours later was pure torture.
He then grimaced as he felt the all too familiar sensation building within him. A sharp stabbing pain initiated from his left upper arm where he had been infected. Remus suddenly went rigid, his eyes changing from brown to yellow while his pupils dilated. He felt his limbs start to shake. He felt his bones splinter and snap, before the excruciating agony of them reforming in different positions. He tried his best to not make a sound but the pain was too much. Remus closed his eyes and screamed, his voice echoing throughout the small room.
Remus didn't know how much time had passed, but when he next opened his mouth to speak, a small howl escaped from his lips instead. Moony heard a knock, followed by a whine. He opened his eyes and looked over at the door, which was nudged open and a large black dog stood beyond the threshold.
Moony began to relax as he spotted his 'pack'. Padfoot then nodded his head towards the door, while Wormtail perched himself on top of Prongs' head. The four of them set off, with Wormtail scurrying outside to press the knot on the tree to stop it from smashing into them. The little rat then returned to his position between the antlers of Prongs and they set off towards the Forbidden Forest.
Prongs led the way back towards the castle, leading Padfoot with Moony bringing up the rear. Wormtail had abandoned his previous location on the stag's head, as Prongs used his antlers to clear their path of vegetation. It was Padfoot who had the honour of transporting Wormtail around. They were still quite some distance from the edge when Moony suddenly stopped. The others didn't notice until they heard him howl, then he raced past Prongs who turned to the others with a somewhat confused look on his face. Padfoot nodded and they both took off after their friend, leaving Wormtail doing his best to hold onto Padfoot's black fur.
They reached the edge of the forest and skidded to a stop with what they saw. There stood Moony, and with him was someone dressed in black. Prongs realised why Moony had run off; he could sense this person's presence. He was about to run over to protect them from being attacked by Moony, but found he didn't need to. He, along with Padfoot and Wormtail, watched in utter amazement as the werewolf slowly relaxed and lay down. Somehow, this person had not only prevented their friend from attacking them, but they'd also managed to get him to go to sleep. The person then silently levitated the young werewolf back towards the Whomping Willow, leaving Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail no choice but to follow them.
Both Moony and the mysterious person vanished from sight, going down the passage beneath the tree. Prongs trotted over to Padfoot and nodded once. Padfoot lowered his head, and Wormtail scuttled off. Suddenly, the animals were replaced with the three young wizards, each sharing thoroughly confused looks.
"Er, what just happened? Who was that?"
"I have no idea, Prongs. We'll find out soon enough though. They won't stay with Moony all night, will they?"
Peter shook his head, "No, there's no point, Padfoot. I mean as far as I could tell, Remus was asleep. I didn't think it was possible to tame a werewolf, unless you're animagi like we are."
The three of them waited in silence and eventually a figure was seen emerging from beneath the tree. They looked over and spotted the students and made their way over to them. As the person drew nearer, James let out a gasp as he spotted a glint coming from the persons face. He only knew one other person who wore glasses…and dressed in black…the Auror, Trent Fuller.
As Trent reached the shocked students he let out a hollow laugh, "I guess I'm not the only one who has secrets, am I. If you want to know what I did, I suggest the four of you meet me tomorrow night outside your Defence classroom..."
"I'm not sure if he can come tomorrow," Peter interrupted with a look over to the tree.
Trent nodded. "Very well, the night after that then. Is nine o'clock ok?"
The three students nodded in agreement before watching Trent walk back to the castle gates.
"Right, so how are we going to get there without running into anyone else?" Sirius asked James who was lounging by the fire.
James shook his head. "No idea, we'll just have to chance it. It's half-past eight though so we may as well head down."
"Head down where? You should consider studying, you three. I know Remus has been," Lily said as she came into the common room.
"Oh, we were actually going to make a start on that. Remus said he was going to ask that Auror more about the Patronus charm, so we decided that we'd go with him. After all, safety in numbers and all that. Besides, he's still not feeling too flash after two nights ago, are you Moony?" Peter lied.
Remus looked at his blond-haired friend with a hint of confusion but nodded, "Yeah, that's right. I saw him a few days ago and he told us to meet him tonight at nine. So that's where we're heading."
Lily nodded, "Alright then. Don't stay up too late though. You're all still tired from your last adventure I'd imagine."
"Thanks Lily. We hopefully won't be too long," James replied.
The four of them got up, Remus having no choice but to grab a quill and a piece of parchment, and headed off to meet with Trent. The others had told Remus what had happened, and he was just as intrigued as they were. Since they no longer had the map, they had to rely on luck that no one saw them. It held and they found themselves outside their Defence classroom with ten minutes to spare.
They soon saw Trent approaching, and he nodded at them as they made their way into the empty classroom. Trent locked the door and put up a silencing charm before turning to face the four students.
He sighed. "Ok, what do you want to know?"
They all spoke at once, so Trent held up a hand to quieten them down. "One at a time, please. How about we go in alphabetical order? Sirius, your question first."
Sirius nodded. "Did you deliberately follow us?"
"No. Under the order of your Headmaster, we are now required to patrol the grounds at night. Two nights ago was my turn to do that. Remus?" Trent said, as he looked at Sirius before his eyes moved across to the young werewolf.
"Did…did you know…that…that that was me?" he whispered.
"Yes, I did. Peter, your question?" he said, which got him four astounded looks before Peter recovered enough to speak.
"Did…did Dumbledore tell you about Remus?" he asked
Trent shook his head, "No, I figured it out after I saw you three waiting for me," he replied before looking at James.
James looked up at Trent and asked his question, "How did you manage to not be attacked?"
Trent smiled and nodded. "Ah, I was wondering who would ask me that. Very well, you might like to take a seat, this could take a while" he answered.
The four boys nodded and sat down before eagerly awaiting Trent's story. He took a deep breath and grinned at them, "I didn't know you four could be this attentive. Sorry Remus, I've heard that you are, but not the other three."
Sirius and James made to reply, but Trent continued, "Alright, tell me what you know about the relationship between a werewolf and animals."
"We don't attack them. We only attack humans," Remus replied.
"Close, what's your second guess?"
"What do you mean? He's right isn't he? They don't attack other animals," Sirius answered.
Trent shook his head, "No, you're wrong. Werewolves do attack animals, for two reasons. The first is if they feel threatened. The second is if they are from a different pack, and want to challenge the alpha. With me so far?"
They nodded, and Peter spoke up "But, there are no other werewolves here…are there?"
"No, quite correct, Remus is the only one, otherwise you'd be together with them. Let me ask you this, Remus. When these three first decided to go with you, did you attack them?"
Remus hung his head in shame and slowly nodded. He remembered the feeling of dread as he attacked his three best friends that night two years ago. He remembered trying in vain to stop himself, and how relieved he was when Padfoot and Prongs managed to restrain him.
"Do you know why you did?"
Remus looked up and shook his head, "I just thought it was because I was used to being alone."
"Precisely. You have never been part of a pack before, and therefore felt threatened by your friends' presence. Am I correct in assuming that you are the alpha?"
Again Remus nodded.
"That is one of the reasons why you haven't attacked them since…"
"But you haven't said how you weren't attacked," James interrupted, getting the feeling that Trent was skirting the issue.
Trent politely smiled back, "I'm getting to that, James. You will see in a moment. Now, before I was cut off, I just told you one of the reasons why you don't attack your friends. By all rights though, you should always attack them."
"WHAT! Why?" Remus asked, feeling quite confused.
"Because of what they are, Remus," Trent calmly replied. "You see, you know that they're not really animals, you know that they're humans, and therefore you should attack them. Do you know why you don't?"
The four friends shared a blank look at each other, and shook their heads. They had never thought about it before. James suddenly snapped his head up, "Hang on. How do you know that we're animagi? No one except for us four know that!"
"I'm not an Auror for nothing. I saw three animals, four including Remus. When I got back, you three were standing there. What else could I presume?"
James nodded, and Sirius was about to speak, but Trent cut him off, "Don't worry, Sirius. I'm not planning on telling anyone about it. I think it's an incredible achievement. When did you perfect it, and how long did it take?"
"We started late in our second year, after we found out about Remus' condition. It took us until fifth year before we could transform though," Sirius answered.
Trent just shook his head, "Amazing. You were fifteen when you did this? That is very impressive. But I'm getting off track. As I said before, while you know that they're not really animals, your wolf form does not. Can I correctly assume that Remus doesn't allow you to watch him transform?"
Again the four of them nodded, not quite understanding where Trent was going with this. "Alright. Now Remus, how difficult is it for you to keep your mind after you've transformed?"
"Impossible," he dully replied.
"Can you figure it out yet?" Trent asked, a hint of a smile on his face.
A dawning of realisation crept over Remus' face. He looked up at Trent and slowly nodded.
"Good, care to enlighten your friends?" Trent asked, gesturing to the blank looks James, Sirius and Peter had on their faces.
Again Remus nodded, before speaking, "Since the wolf takes over my mind completely, he recognises you as my pack. You always transform before me, so the wolf hasn't seen you in your human forms. Therefore he doesn't know that you're not really animals."
James, Sirius and Peter all nodded in understanding. The wolf thought they were animals, and that was why Moony never attacked them since accepting them as his pack.
Trent had a small smile on his face. "Very good. Now I expect you to be thinking why you didn't attack me. After all, you did sense me, or you wouldn't have come after me."
Remus nodded, and lowered his head in embarrassment. He dreaded the thought of attacking anyone, particularly after the Snape incident towards the end of his fifth year.
"First off, you have no need to feel bad. You were only doing what comes naturally. Besides, you didn't lay a paw on me. You are not a monster, Remus. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
Remus nodded, despite feeling tears starting to well up in his eyes.
Trent sighed but continued, "So, how did I manage to calm you down? Simple really, I talked to you."
"What? No you didn't, I couldn't hear your voice at all," Sirius answered.
"That would be because I was talking to his mind, Sirius. I am a telepath and could read his thoughts." Trent nearly snorted when he saw the four sets of eyes widen, "Don't worry. I certainly don't abuse that gift. I'm just telling you the truth. I spoke with the werewolf, and convinced him that I wasn't a threat. I told him that he must be feeling very tired, and to think about what would happen in the morning. I told him that he should get some sleep, and that he couldn't be expected to lead his pack if he kept tripping over his front paws."
Peter spoke up, "That was when we showed up. We saw Remus lie down. You then levitated him to the Whomping Willow," he then asked "how did you know to go there?"
"Ah yes, that. You remember me saying that I figured this out on my own, right?"
"You're not saying that someone told you, are you?" Remus asked, feeling rather hurt.
"No, no. I did figure it out. I confronted Dumbledore about the prospect of letting a werewolf wander around the grounds once a month. He then told me about the real purpose of that tree. That is how I knew to take you there."
"Oh, well, that's ok then," Remus said as he relaxed a little.
Trent then withdrew his wand and looked at the four students. "Now, I'm sorry about this, but I have to erase your memories about everything I've just told you, and what you saw that night."
"WHAT! Why?!" all four of them demanded at the same time.
"I have my own agenda, gentlemen. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just I can't afford me being a telepath being leaked through the school."
"But, we won't tell anyone! We haven't told a soul about Remus! And he hasn't told anyone about us being animagi either!" Sirius exclaimed.
"That's not the point, Sirius. Tell you what, you let me do this, and I'll answer any questions you may have after I memory charm you, regardless of topic. If you want, I can even give you additional training."
"You'd do that! Really?!" James said excitedly.
"Sure I would. In these times, I'd be only too glad to. What do you say?"
"What will you make us remember about what happened?" Remus asked.
"Simple, you will remember wandering around the forest, before heading back to the Shrieking Shack. You won't remember anything about me being there. As for your presence in this room, you will remember coming here for some additional training on the Patronus charm."
Remus nodded, then looked over at his friends. James and Peter looked to have already made their minds up, but Sirius was having doubts.
"How do we know that we can trust you? How do we know you won't totally obliviate us?" he asked.
"You can't. But I have kept your late night castle adventures to myself since I arrived here," Trent answered.
Four stunned looks greeted Trent who smiled in return. "Oh yes. I know that you four like to roam around the corridors. I still don't know how you manage to not get caught as often as you should, but then again you lot wouldn't be the pranksters you are if you did get caught in the act."
"You er, won't tell anyone…will you?" James asked.
"Of course not. I certainly wouldn't deny the next generation of pranksters their fun!"
"You…you're a prankster! Well that explains how you got us on Halloween! Why didn't you ever tell us?!" Sirius exclaimed.
Trent smiled back, "You never asked. But enough of that, I'll just have to tell you again after I do this…that is if you want me to."
"You mean you don't have to erase our memories at all?" Sirius asked hopefully.
"Oh no, I do. I just wanted to tell you the truth about it before I did. I also wanted to prepare you for when I do this. Not everyone gets told that they're about to be memory charmed."
Sirius eventually nodded his approval. After all, Trent had been honest with them about what had happened. And he was right, you normally don't get told in advance that you're about to lose some of your memories.
The next thing Sirius could remember was waking up in his Defence classroom. He looked around and saw his friends sitting next to him, all rubbing their eyes looking like they had been in a daze. He saw Trent sitting at the front desk, leaning back in the chair.
"I'm so glad you four managed to get here. You do know that not everyone can cast this charm, don't you?"
Sirius then remembered why they were here; Trent was going to give them additional lessons in how to cast the Patronus charm. Again, he briefly went over what he covered during the classes he took, before telling them to meet him at the Quidditch pitch on Saturday, after dinner.