Harry loved his teachers. This was the first year that had ever happened.
Issy Quinn had liked Harry from the beginning. At first, she felt sorry for him, but quickly, after seeing him prove himself over and over, she realized he was exceptional, especially for his situation.
She had seen Dudley, seen how he behaved and how he had no repercussions for his bullying tendencies.
She had heard about how his parents died when he was a baby. How he and his sisters had been dropped off at their aunt's house. How their punishment was being locked in their rooms with no food.
She had also seen Harry's work, how he was good in math and English, and she had seen a little of Lauren's work when she had asked Remus, and how she was absolutely amazing as well.
Remus Lupin had, of course, known about Harry since the beginning. He had been with them on Harry's first Christmas and when he was born. He knew, of course, that James and Lily were two of the smartest witches and wizards of their year, so he had been expecting that Harry and his sisters would be amazing as well. He of course didn't get to teach Samantha, but he had Harry and Lauren, both exceptionally talented and smart.
Remus had only two problems.
First off, he was a werewolf. He missed at least a day every month, most of the time more. Family issues were good for covering it in the beginning, but after telling the principal that he was visiting his dying mother on a Tuesday and Wednesday for the fifth time, he was pretty sure she was suspicious of something. He hadn't wanted to use magic at this strictly no-magic job, however, he was pretty sure he had to, just to avoid suspicion.
His second problem was that Harry was going to start Hogwarts in a few months and Lauren in a year and a half. They were bound to learn about their father at that point, and his friendships, and realize he was one of their father's best friends. Or, though this was less likely, they'd run into him at some point.
Now, maybe that wouldn't turn out so terribly. Maybe they wouldn't learn about their parents, maybe they wouldn't care. Maybe they wouldn't be mad at him, if they did learn about their parents, because they'd realize that not telling them was his only option. But they'd be teenagers, and Remus of all people knew that no teenagers think logically. That was a lot of maybes, though, and Remus had to figure out how to make sure he wasn't remembered. However much that might hurt in the end, he knew it was what was best.
He made plans. At the end of year ceremony, he'd get the Dursley's, Harry, and Lauren alone so he could use magic to wipe their memories of him. It was no good just wiping Harry's and Lauren's memories, because the Dursley's would still remember him and could bring him up, so he had to wipe all of their memories of him.
He also needed to figure out how to get them alone. He could figure that out later, though, he still had four months left until he had to wipe everyone's memories.
Harry, of course, noticed Mr. Lupin was acting strangely. He was always gone once a month, and he seemed to have a strange... well, knowledge, of Harry. Harry was pretty sure he had never mentioned that his sister's name was Samantha, yet Mr. Lupin seemed to know it was. He reminded himself, however, that Mr. Lupin was also one of Lauren's teachers, and she could've mentioned it to him.
He did thoroughly enjoy Mr. Lupin's classes, though. He was engaging and fun, and seemed to care deeply about all of his students. The fact that there were so few of them in the class helped as well, because he had more one on one time with each of the students.
Miss Quinn, however, had overheard him during that time the first day where he told Audrey everything, so he knew just how much she knew about him. He also liked how she didn't think of him like his other teachers did.
The other teachers Harry'd had were all okay. Most of them had heard of that time Harry had accidentally turned his teacher's wig blue (he still wasn't sure how he did that), and were slightly scared of him. Miss Quinn, however, had only been at the school for one year, and as far as Harry knew, she had no idea about the blue wig situation.
He thought maybe, just maybe, this year would go by without any weird, inexplicable things happening around him, but he was sadly proven wrong.
"Harry, where'd you get your glasses? A dumpster?" Piers Polkiss shouted at Harry as he read under a tree. The rest of Dudley's gang laughed.
"Harry, hey, Harry, what're your parents like? Oh, wait, they're dead!" Dudley taunted.
"What about your sister? Oh, yeah, she ran away because you suck so much!" Dennis yelled.
Harry felt his blood boil. The gang of boys were quickly advancing to him, and Harry sprung up, keeping hold of his book in one hand.
They chased him, and Harry ran down the only place he could, an alleyway next to the cafeteria. He had only meant to jump behind the dumpsters, but he felt a sudden, strong burst of wind and the next thing he knew, he was sitting on the roof of the school.
Samantha was sitting doing a Potions essay in the Common Room when she overheard Fred and George planning a few pranks.
"So, we were thinking that, since the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes are so boring, we'd possibly spice them up just a bit, by, you know, bewitching quills to fly at Professor Cemp, making a few things look like Vampires and werewolves, that kinda thing" Fred was explaining to Elias, Connor, Damon, and Max.
Samantha raised her eyebrows. This was much more interesting than her Potions essay. "May I partake in this?" she asked the twins.
"Why, of course! Do whatever you can to annoy her, freak her out, make the class more interesting," said George.
"Great" Samantha agreed. "This should be fun, right, Max?"
"Definitely," Max said.
Connor looked apprehensive. "Are you guys sure that's a good idea?" He asked.
"Don't worry, it won't be anything too harmful, just a few small inconveniences, maybe switching our names, that might be fun..." Fred said.
"By the time we're done, Professor Cemp will believe that our names are Gred and Forge" George said.
"And that I'm Forge and he's Gred," said Fred.
"Nice," said Samantha, smirking. "What even happened to the old Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? Why's Cemp new?"
"Oh, he disappeared. No one has any idea what happened to him. After exams were over, and there were no more classes, the guy up and left, a few people saw it happen, he didn't respond when they asked why he was leaving," said Margot, who was just joining the group.
"Ooh, mysterious," Samantha said, raising her eyebrows and smiling.
"Very," Fred agreed.
"He was new before that, if I'm not mistaken," George added.
"Was he?" Leslie asked, finally looking up from her homework.
"Yeah. Before that it was a woman, Professor Ackers. She went to go live with her parents in France, they're old, needed to be watched," Margot told the crowd.
"Huh. So Hogwarts has some bad luck with Defense teachers, doesn't it?" reasoned Samantha.
"Definitely," Margot agreed.
"How much you wanna bet Cemp'll be outta here by the end of the year? Too much stress, maybe," Damon said.
"Oh, I'll give you five Galleons if she's still here," Samantha joked.
Damon raised his eyebrows. "Really? That might be nice..." he said, thinking about it. "Hold on, then if she leaves, I've got to pay you five Galleons!" he realized.
Samantha giggled. "I'll lower the price, I'm willing to go with one Galleon," she offered.
Damon considered it. "Fine. I'll agree on those terms. I pay you one Galleon if she leaves, and you pay me one Galleon if she stays," Max repeated.
"Yep," Samantha confirmed.
"Great. Now, if this betting pool is over, Samantha, you might want to be getting back to your Potions essay, it's not gonna write itself," Leslie said, pulling Samantha back to their original corner of the common room.
"Hm. I should really buy a self-writing Quill. Like, talk-to-writing type of thing," Samantha muttered, settling back down at the comfortable chair.
Harry sat in the principal's office, awaiting what he knew would be a terrible punishment. How was he supposed to explain how he had gotten onto the roof if he didn't even know himself? One minute, he'd been jumping to hide behind the dumpsters, and the next, he'd been looking down on Dudley's gang from the roof of the cafeteria.
"So, Mr. Potter, I assume you know why you have been called to my office today?" The principal, Mrs. Henington, asked, looking at Harry down her short, freckled nose.
Harry remained still and silent, so Mrs. Henington continued on.
"You were found on the top of the cafeteria roof just a few minutes ago. Is that right?" Mrs Henington asked him, although there was no reason to, seeing as they both knew very well that it had been Harry on the cafeteria roof.
Harry knew, however, silence would not get him far in this situation. "Mm-hm," Harry agreed quietly.
"Your aunt will be here in a few minutes. I'm sorry to say that your uncle couldn't make it, he had a work meeting, according to your aunt," Mrs. Henington said.
Harry had to hold back his smile. Aunt Petunia he could deal with. She was awful, yes, but Uncle Vernon was worse, with definite anger issues and a need for control. Aunt Petunia let others control her, unless, of course, it was Harry, who was her favorite person to boss around. Harry didn't think that saying he'd rather not have his Uncle here would help him much, so instead he just nodded and tried his best to do a disappointed expression.
After a few minutes of complete silence except for the scratch of Mrs. Henington's pen on paper, the office door opened and Petunia Dursley walked in.
"Ah, Mrs. Dursley, glad you could join us today," Mrs. Henington said, setting her papers to the side.
Aunt Petunia nodded in response, keeping her body stiff and her lips straight.
"So, as you may recall from our brief phone conversation, Harry was found on the school roof," said Mrs. Henington. Aunt Petunia nodded briskly again. "We are here to discuss his punishment. I was also planning to ask Harry a bit about why he decided hanging out on the school roof would be appropriate," Mrs. Henington said.
"Right," Aunt Petunia agreed. She hadn't looked at Harry once.
"Okay. So, Harry, why did you feel the need to be on the school's roof?" Mrs. Henington asked Harry, turning back to him, her hazel eyes peering harshly into his green ones.
"I- er... well, I was- was running from this... group of boys, and I was meaning to just jump behind the dumpsters to get away, but I guess somehow a gust of wind caught me or something, because I ended up on the roof," Harry told them. It was the truth.
Mrs. Henington's nostrils flared. "Mr. Potter, wind does not simply catch one mid-jump and bring one onto the roof of the building," Mrs. Henington told him.
Harry shrugged. "Really, I'm not sure exactly how I ended up on the roof. One minute I was jumping to get behind dumpsters, and the next I was sitting on the roof," Harry told his Aunt and the principal. Once he realized how stupid this sounded, he added, "I know it sounds unbelievable, but trust me, Mrs. Henington, I'm telling the truth."
Mrs. Henington sighed, shutting her eyes in frustration. "Right. Well, Mr. Potter, I would like to commend you on your amazing cover-up story writing. Very well thought out. However, I can assure you there is no way you got onto that roof without meaning to, and I therefore must punish you," she told Harry.
Aunt Petunia had sat very still this whole time, although, unbeknownst to Harry, she knew exactly how he had ended up on that cafeteria roof. Knowing this, she therefore knew he shouldn't be punished for it. However, it had made her high hopes of his magic having possibly been squashed out of him drop, and she thought this was cause enough for punishment.
"Harry, if you could please step out of the room while your Aunt and I decide on a punishment..." Mrs. Henington trailed off, and Harry took this as his cue to wait outside.
He stood next to the door, trying to make out Mrs. Henington's and Aunt Petunia's faint words.
"Oh, no, I don't think that'll work," he heard Aunt Petunia say.
"Mrs. Dursley, I see your concerns, but..." Mrs. Henington said, but then her voice got quieter and Harry could hear it no more. Instead, he stood staring blankly at the floor.
"Oh, Harry, wasn't expecting to see you here," a voice called from above. Harry looked up and saw Mr. Lupin standing a few feet away from him.
"Hi, Mr. Lupin," Harry said quietly, staring down at his feet again. He suddenly felt ashamed, and he couldn't explain why. It was a strange feeling, as if he didn't want to disappoint Mr. Lupin, and it was then Harry realized just how much he cared what his teachers thought of him.
"What are you doing here, if I may ask?" Mr. Lupin questioned calmly.
Harry was quiet for a moment. He knew Mr. Lupin would probably hear about it from another teacher, so there was no use lying to him. He too, of course, would want to know how Harry ended up there, and Harry didn't know which was a better option, telling him the truth, which he was bound to think was a cover up, or telling him he had meant to end up on the roof.
He decided telling the truth was the best option. "I... was being chased by my cousin and his friends, and I ended up on the roof," explained Harry quietly.
Mr. Lupin raised his eyebrows curiously, although Harry did not see this, as he was studying his shoelaces. "How do you think you ended up on the roof? Did you mean to get there?" He asked Harry.
Harry shrugged. "I guess I jumped and the wind caught me mid-jump or something like that. I didn't really intend to be on the roof," Harry told Mr. Lupin, finally making eye contact with him.
"Oh?" He mused. "Are you waiting to see Mrs. Henington?"
"I'm waiting for her and my aunt to settle on a punishment," Harry replied, sighing.
"Mm," Mr. Lupin said thoughtfully.
There was silence for a moment, before Harry realized something was off. "Hold on, you're not gonna ask if I was lying about how I got onto the roof?" Harry asked his teacher.
Mr. Lupin met Harry's eyes, a soft smile playing on his lips. "No, Harry, I believe you," Mr. Lupin told him.
"Really?" Harry was taken aback. "That's a first," he muttered to himself as the door to Mrs. Henington's office opened.
"Ah, Remus, nice to see you... I'll be with you in a moment, I just need to sort out Mr. Potter's punishment..." Mrs. Henington said airily.
"About that," Mr. Lupin said, stepping closer to the door, and therefore, closer to Harry. "Harry here was just telling me about how it all happened, because I had asked him, and I was really thinking that he shouldn't be punished."
Everything seemed to freeze. Harry looked up at Mr. Lupin with a kind of amazed expression etched onto his face. Mrs. Henington looked taken aback. Aunt Petunia had pursed her lips even more than before.
It was Mrs. Henington that got over the shock first. "And why would you suggest such a thing, Remus? The boy was on the roof, there is no excuse for that," Mrs. Henington told him.
"Well, I'm sure Harry has told you he doesn't know how he got onto the roof-"
"There is no way anyone could accidentally end up on a roof," Aunt Petunia said stiffly.
"You and I both know there are many ways for someone to accidentally end up on the roof," Mr. Lupin said darkly to Aunt Petunia.
Harry looked curiously between Mr. Lupin and his aunt; Aunt Petunia seemed suddenly frightened of Mr. Lupin, who was wearing a curious look of someone who had recently outsmarted a person.
"You can't possibly believe what Mr. Potter has been telling you!" Mrs. Henington cried as if she hadn't heard what Lupin had just told Harry's aunt.
"I believe that Harry is telling the truth. He's a good kid, I doubt he would choose to be on the roof," Mr. Lupin told an awestruck Mrs. Henington and Aunt Petunia. "Besides, there's a simple way to know whether or not Harry is speaking the truth," Mr. Lupin calmly said.
"And what might that be?" Aunt Petunia questioned.
"Ask him," Mr. Lupin said simply. He turned to Harry. "Harry, are you telling the truth?" He asked Harry.
"Yeah," Harry mumbled, nodding slowly. He was in shock.
"Great, well, it's settled then. Harry ending up on the roof was an accident, and you therefore shouldn't punish him. I'm sure he'll never jump onto the roof again. 'A mistake repeated more than once is a decision. Choose'," Mr. Lupin smiled warmly.
Harry smiled softly back at him.
"Right. Well, then, Harry, with this recent... information... you shall not be punished for being on the school roof. If anyone finds you there one more time, there will be serious consequences, do you understand?" Mrs. Henington sternly told Harry.
"Yes, I understand, Ma'am," Harry said, still in disbelief of the last thirty minutes of his life.
"You can return to class..." Mrs. Henington checked the clock on her wall. "They should be just heading in," she told him, and without another word, Harry left Mrs. Henington's office, hoping it was the last time he'd be there.
Samantha sat in Defense against the dark arts, waiting for the signal. She, Max, Damon, and Connor had planned out their prank, and Samantha just needed time to do it.
She listened to Professor Cemp's soft, nervous voice talking about Vampires without ever uttering the word 'Vampire' while she watched Damon's feet.
A few moments later, he kicked his feet out from under him, and Samantha knew to get in position. She pulled out her wand and hid it in the arm of her robe while Damon, Max, Connor, and Elias stood up.
"And, well, they-," Professor Cemp said just as the four boys stood up. 'Y- yes, boys?"
"Professor Cemp, we were wondering-," Connor started, and then all four boys started talking loudly at the same time, all saying different things.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Samantha whispered, pointing at the ink bottle on Cemp's desk. It rose steadily into the air. She repeated this process a few times with different objects in the room until Professor Cemp finally got the boys under control and she could do it no more.
Connor, Damon, Max, and Elias all walked back to their seats, and Professor Cemp looked around the room, her mouth opened and her eyebrows pulled slightly together.
"Why- why are there... things... on the- the- well... floating?" She asked the students.
"Dark magic, maybe," Leslie suggested, shrugging.
Fear shot through Cemp's face, especially her light blue eyes. "Um, you guys can- can go e- early, we were d- done for today anyway..." Professor Cemp told the class while packing her stuff, and was out of the door before many of the students were. Samantha heard the faint crash of the objects as they fell when she left the room.
Samantha and Leslie made their way outside, where there was a light dusting of snow, and along with Damon, Max, Elias, Connor, Ellie, and Hudson, they had a snowball fight. It was a few minutes before Samantha noticed Bella sitting a few yards away, staring wistfully at them.
"Hand on, guys, I'm gonna get Bella," Samantha said, jogging in Bella's direction.
"Hey, wait!" Leslie called, running after her and grabbing Samantha's arm. "You're going to invite a Slytherin to play with us? Have you gone mad?" she asked.
"She's my friend. She's really nice, trust me," Samantha told Leslie, who reluctantly followed her to where Bella was seated with another girl next to her.
"Hey, Bella. I was wondering if you wanted to have a snowball fight with my friends and I," Samantha offered. "You can play too, if you want," Samantha added as an afterthought after realizing it would be rude to not include Bella's friend.
"Want to?" Bella asked her friend, a girl with short, fluffy brown hair that stuck out on top, brown eyes, and purple glasses with minuscule flowers on them.
"Sure," the friend agreed.
"Oh, Sam, this is Riley," Bella introduced.
"Hi, Riley, I'm Samantha," she told Riley.
"Hey, Samantha," Riley smiled.
"Oh, and this is my friend Leslie, and here," said Samantha as the rest of the group walked over. "Is Max, Damon, Ellie, Hudson, Connor, and Elias" she said, pointing to each of her friends in turn.
"Hi," Riley said, smiling nervously.
"Hey," Ellie, Damon, and Connor said at the same time.
"So, you guys are joining?" Max asked.
"Yep," Bella said proudly.
"Nice. Wanna be on the same team or no?" he asked.
"Don't care," Bella replied.
"Okay, Bella, you can be on Damon's team and Riley, you can be on Samantha's," Max instructed.
"We're so gonna win this," Samantha whispered to Riley as they walked to their side. Riley smiled weakly back.
"Three! Two! One! Goooo!" Max shouted, and the groups started pummeling each other with snowballs.