Happy Hallowe'en! For anyone in later time zones, happy Hallowe'en for tomorrow! Anyone who doesn't celebrate Hallowe'en, have a great weekend.

Six years later, and so far, I'd lived a very lonely life, as my parents did not allow me to be with any other children because they feared that I might've let it slip that I was a werewolf, or would end up hurting them.

For the last six years, once a month on the full moon I would have to stay in a locked room with many spells around it for a full twenty-four hours. While in my werewolf form, I ended up hurting myself quite a lot as I felt the need to kill someone.

As I grew up, my werewolf form grew as well, and I'd grown more stronger over the years. I felt very sorry for my parents, having to hide me and constant spells over the room I would go to, and always feeling like they were in danger every month.

Anyway, the day before my eleventh birthday was absolutely amazing. The day started out with my parents and I baking my birthday cake together, and my parents were arguing over the muggle versus wizard way to make a cake, which was quite entertaining, when there was a knock on the door.

"Wait by the fire," Dad said to me, and he and Mum walked to the front door.

I walked to the living room and sat down next to the fire, trying to listen to what was going on.

"Professor Dumbledore!" came Dad's voice. "What a pleasant surprise!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Professor," said Mum.

"Yes, may I come in?" came an old sounding voice from an man.

"Er — as much as we'd love to chat, we're a bit busy…" Dad said nervously.

"No, really, your son is almost eleven?" the old man, who I assumed to be Professor Dumbledore, asked.

"Yes, but, we really don't think it's a good idea…" Mum started, but then I heard a cracking noise and then there was a man standing beside me.

He was old, with long silver hair and a long silver beard. His bright blue eyes sparkled through his half-moon spectacles. He wore purple robes and a pointy, purple wizard's hat.

"Hello there, Remus," he said in a jolly tone.

"Hi," I said shyly.

"Now, how about we play a game of poker? Oh, how the muggles love that game," he said, smiling at me.

"OK," I said, trusting this kind old man instantly. I assumed this was Professor Dumbledore, who was just talking to my parents.

A deck of cards appeared out of thin air into his hand and he started dealing them out to both of us.

"Dumbledore!" my parents came into the room. "We've already told you—"

Dumbledore put his hand up. "This boy deserves the chance for an education. He could be a great wizard! Stop holding him back!"

"Yes, but Professor, he's a—"

"I know what he is, Lyall," Dumbledore said calmly, picking up his hand of cards and swapping one of his cards out.

"For goodness sake, Dumbledore," Mum snatched the cards of both of us. "We don't think it's a good idea for him to go to Hogwarts because he could be a danger to the other students, and then if they found out the truth he'd get bullied and stigmatised, and… pleaseDumbledore, you have to understand."

"I do understand," Dumbledore said, smiling. "So, we have a solution."

"Yes?" Dad prompted, crossing his arms.

"We have built a shack, specially for Remus, enforced with protective spells, where he can go on the full moon," Dumbledore said. "This can be reached through an underground tunnel, which can be entered under tree we have planted called the Whomping Willow.

"The Whomping Willow will attack any other student who goes near it — Remus will need to learn a spell to slip past the crazy branches and get in. There is also a knot in the roots he can press."

"Won't the branches hurt Remus?" Mum asked.

"Not if he's careful and knows how to do the spell," said Dumbledore, looking at me. "Remus is a smart boy. I'm sure he can do this. But I agree with you — his condition should remain a secret to the other students.

"So, Mr Remus John Lupin, would you want to come to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" Dumbledore asked.

"Y-yes! Of course!" I said happily.

"Lyall? Hope? As parents, do you give consent for your son to attend Hogwarts… with these new arrangements?" Dumbledore asked.

My parents exchanged looks.

"Yes. Yes we do," Dad said.

"Great. Well, I'll see you on September 1st, Remus," said Dumbledore, then he disapparated.

I turned to my parents and I wasn't able to keep the huge smile off my face.

"So… I can… go to… HOGWARTS!?" I cried.

"Yes — if Dumbledore says he can keep you and others safe, then yes," Dad said, smiling back at me.

"Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!" I screamed out in joy. "And there'll be other kids! And… I can make friends! OH MY GOSH! YES!"

"Not until September, silly," my mum said, shaking her head but laughing. I think Dumbledore had taken a huge weight off their shoulders, so they were both in such a joyful mood.

The moon was almost full, but nothing could of possibly upset me. I was going to Hogwarts. Sure, maybe not for another six months — but I was going to Hogwarts. I was going to make friends… who didn't need to know I was a werewolf and I wouldn't have to hide away in my house every single day anymore. I was happier than I'd ever felt in my entire life.

My happiness hadn't faded in the slightest over the rest of the year since Dumbledore had come to our house bearing the great news. Months later, when there was less than a month left until I got to board the Hogwarts Express and make friends, my parents made an exciting announcement.

"I made my first friend at Diagon Alley," Dad told me at breakfast this morning. "On August 2nd, which is why we're going to go there today."

I practically jumped for joy. "We're going to Diagon Alley?! Do you think I could make a friend there today, too?"

"Well, I personally think August 2nd is a lucky day," Dad said. "I met your mother on that day as well. Different year, of course."

"Oh my gosh I cannot wait!" I cried out.

"Well finish your chores quickly, then we can go!" Mum said.

I shovelled down the rest of my breakfast, got dressed, did my chores in record time, then we were all standing in front of the fireplace.

Dad handed me some floo powder, and off we went. I arrived at the Diagon Alley fireplace, covered in soot and looking absolutely ridiculous, but I couldn't care less.

Mum came out after me and started fussing over the dust in my hair.

"Mum, it's fine," I groaned.

Dad came out of the fireplace then led us through the busy street.

It was full of adult witches and wizards, who were all wearing colourful robes and pointy hats, older Hogwarts students wearing their Hogwarts robes accompanied by their parents, and nervous first-years like me with their families.

There were many fancy shops across the street, containing things like the Hogwarts uniform, Quidditch merchandise, wands, books, pets, and things I didn't even know the purpose of.

"Which shop will we go to first?" I asked excitedly.

"We're not going to the shops yet," said Dad. "First, we're going to the bank."

The bank turned out to be run by goblins.

"Er… goblins?" Mum said nervously, pulling me closer to her.

But I wasn't scared of them at all. Being a creature other than human myself, I tended to not judge other magical creatures because of what they were.

We got to the front desk and Dad spoke to the goblin sitting there, "We would like to access the Lupin vault, please."

The goblins then led us to a carriage which looked similar to one on a roller coaster. I remember Dad had talked about Gringotts unusual methods to get to your vault, but I'd never seen it myself, as usually kids don't go banks. We climbed onto the cart, and it started moving with a sudden jolt.

It went up and down, upside down, and loopdelooped. My parents both looked sick, but I was quite enjoying it.

We eventually stopped at one of the vaults and climbed out. The goblin unlocked the massive door with the key Dad had handed him.

My parents walked in, and the goblin and I waited outside. The goblin was looking at my information paper, then stepped towards me, and said in a low voice, "Don't try stealing anything."

"I-I won't," I stammered, taken aback from this.

"Better not. I know what you are. Says right here," he said, tapping the paper. "Your kind are worthless and dangerous. So don't even think about stealing from us."

I felt my face heating up slightly, but thankfully my parents came out at that moment, their pockets filled with money.

I spent the rest of the day obsessing over how many other things could have the detail that I'm a werewolf on it, thinking as we walked into each shop, they'll know, they'll know, they'll know.

At the bookstore, Flourish and Blotts, I was looking around at other books for some background reading, when a boy about my age approached me.

"Hi," he said slowly. He had mousy brown hair, watery blue eyes, was very short and was a bit chubby. "My parents were just talking with yours, and they said I should talk to you."

A rush of excitement came through me like an electric shot and my fear of the shop knowing what I was faded away.

"Cool!"

"Yeah, so you're uh… Remus, right?" he said, still speaking at an almost annoyingly slow pace. I nodded. "I'm… Peter."

"It's nice to meet you," I said. "Are you going into first year?"

"Yes."

"Cool, same," I smiled.

"Do you know much about Hogwarts?" he asked.

"Well, I know the basics, but my dad wants most of it to be a surprise for me," I told him. "How about you?"

"My parents are the same — want to keep most of it a surprise," he said.

"I'm hoping to buy some extra books to get more knowledge on the history of the school," I told him. "There's so many options, I wish I could get them all!"

"Oh, you're a reader?" he asked. I noticed that he was eyeing my old, second-hand clothes and the thick scars than ran across my face.

"Yeah," I said.

"Cool, well, maybe we should be friends? Seeing as we'll be at Hogwarts together?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure," I said happily. Then Peter's parents came telling him it was time to go.

"Well, see you at Hogwarts, Re-R-"

"Remus."

"Yes… see you!" He then followed his parents out of the bookshop.

"Oh, did you make a friend, Remus?" Mum cried out, hugging me.

"Did you accidentally say anything about… you know," Dad said nervously.

"No, Dad," I whispered, rolling my eyes. "I'm not five! I'm well aware of the consequences of letting that slip now!"

"OK… we've got your books, so lets continue shopping now," Mum said, changing the subject quickly.

"Wait, can I get some other books to learn more about the history of Hogwarts? And just… books in general! Like, the train ride is very long, I'm going to need entertainment!"

"Well, about that…" Mum said, glancing at Dad. "We… we don't think we can get you any other books, sorry…"

"Why not?" I asked. "I thought you encouraged reading?"

"We do, son…" Dad said. "It's just… well, we have to move. Again."

"Oh. When?"

"Before the next full moon… and no one really wants to buy this house, but the neighbours are getting suspicious, and…" Dad's voice was strained."

"These ones must be smart," I sighed. "It's only been two months. I'm sorry, though."

"It's not your fault, son! It's just… because of this, we're running low on money and we need to try and buy a new house, so we can't spend too much money in Diagon Alley…"

"OK! It's fine, really. It's my fault we always have to move, anyway," I said quickly.

"Honey! It's not your fault!" Mum said. "We're going to stay with Nana and Pops for a bit until our old house sells and we can afford a new one."

"O-OK," I stammered. "OK."

"Alright, let's go get your wand!" Dad grinned, trying to get off the topic of our hopeless financial situation.

I couldn't help but feel guilty and helpless — our family was never rich, but before I was bitten, we weren't exactly poor either. We always knew we would have a safe roof over our heads every night, and food in our mouths three times a day.

But ever since I was bitten, my parents threw all their money away for possible cures, something to help, but nothing seemed to work. Then they'd spent an awful lot of money on moving houses and struggling to sell houses that we were almost to the point of poverty.

Thankfully, my Nana and Pops, Dad's parents, were very sympathetic for us, and would offer their house for us to stay whenever we were in need. Sure, maybe my parents had to sleep on the couch and I would be in a sleeping bag on the floor, but it was better than sleeping on the street.

Plus, my Nana and Pops were the best grandparents in the whole wide world. My Nana was the definition of cool: she a chocolate addiction, and whenever she saw me she would give me some chocolate, and when I say some, I mean a ridiculous amount that ended up ruining my teeth. My Pops was quite the opposite. He was seventy-two and looked over a hundred. He was a very intelligent man, who never talked much, but when he did he spoke very slowly due to his age. He was a very talented artist, and drew almost twenty-four/seven. So although I was upset about not having a house again, I was excited to see them.

The last shop we went to was Ollivander's wand shop, and when we arrived we were greeted by a middle-aged man.

"Remus John Lupin," he said with a huge, creepy smile. "Lyall's son?"

"Er — yes," I said nervously.

"Alright… alright… I think I know the perfect wand for you, and if its not, then my name is not Garrick Ollivander." Before I could respond, he was grabbing one of the many rectangular boxes that was around the whole shop, and was opening it. Inside the box, there was a wand, which Mr Ollivander handed to me.

"I believe this wand was made for you, because it was made for someone of high intelligence, yet they do not realise their own intelligence, and instead hide away from others," he said, sounding spooky. Then his voice dropped to a whisper. "And I can see that in you, Mr Lupin…"

"OK!" he said, returning to his normal volume. "Cypress wood, unicorn hair core, 10 ¼ inches. Give it a wave."

I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I waved the wand around and warmth came through my whole body, then before i knew it, my parents were paying Mr Ollivander and we were leaving.

"Alright, well that's Diagon Alley for you!" Dad grinned. "Now lets go ho- well, lets go to Nana and Pop's." He grabbed our hands and we apparated.

I saw the familiar yellow brick house appear in front of us, and the three of us walked in.

"Remus!" my Nana spoke in her thick Scottish accent as she came rushing to greet us and embraced me. "I am so very proud of you! I cannot believe you are actually going to Hogwarts in a month! You're such a big boy!"

"There's… my… boy!" Pops gave me a huge, but slow hug when he realised we were there.

"Thank you for letting us stay again, Allai," Mum said to Nana.

"Not a problem at all dear! You know you are welcome here any time," Nana said. "Come on in, I've got some Firewhiskey for us."

"Oh, Allai, you shouldn't have!" Mum said sadly.

"No, no, honestly, we were gonna get some anyway. She turned to me. "Want some chocolate, Remus?"

I smiled and nodded enthusiastically as Nana handed me an entire block of chocolate.

"Thanks, Nana!" I grinned.

"Allai! Honestly, one day you're going to make his teeth fall out!" Mum grumbled.

"Maybe that's good," I said, taking the wrapping off the bar . "Then I can't bite anyone when the moon is full."

My Nana and Pops originally found out about my condition two years after I was bitten, when my parents first went broke and we had to live with them for four months straight. My parents couldn't keep it from them since it was, well, their house, and we needed somewhere for me to go at my time of month.

Mum, Nana, and I all walked into the living room to join Dad and Pops. Dad was looking out the window at the moon, which had just come out.

"Just a few days until full moon," he sighed. "Sorry, Mum and Dad."

"It's… fine…" Pops said. "The attic… is always… ready for him…"

"Well, dinner's almost ready," Nana smiled. "Remus, would you help me set the table?"

I nodded, popping a piece of chocolate into my mouth.

The two of us walked into the kitchen and I grabbed out the knives and forks.

"So… how are you feeling about Hogwarts?" she asked as I placed the cutlery at everyone's spots on the table.

"A bit nervous, but mostly excited," I said. "I'm really looking forward to making some friends, and learning magic, using my wand, exploring the castle, and well, everything!"

"Understandable," she said. "I remember feeling your excitement the first time I was going off to Hogwarts. And then the excitement when Lyall was going, and now the excitement that you'regoing! So, you'll come home for the Christmas, I suppose?"

"Yeah, of course!" I said, pouring water into our glasses. "I'm going to miss everyone so much!"

"Oh, and we'll miss you!" she smiled. "And you'll write? Not just to your parents, but to me and your grandfather, too?"

"Every day," I beamed.

She smiled back. "Alright, well… dinner's ready, can you go fetch the others?"

I had a nightmare that night.

It started with me being on the Hogwarts Express, and a bunch of people had made friends with me. All of a sudden, night fell and the full moon was out. I transformed into a werewolf and killed everyone on the Hogwarts Express.

Afterwards, Fenrir Greyback came up to me as I transformed back into a human.

"Well done," he said. "You've become the monster you've always been."

And then I was thrown to the floor and he was biting me again, and—

I woke up, gasping in terror of what I thought I'd just experienced. I was shaking and crying, and my hands were sweaty.

Mum seemed to be awake as well, she was looking down at me from the couch that she was sleeping on.

"You alright?" she whispered. "Did Greyback come back into your dreams?"

"Y-yeah," I stuttered, trying to take deep breaths.

"It's not real," she said to me. "I promise you it's not real, Remus. You are nota monster. You are a good person who just happens to have been bitten by a monster."

"O-OK," I said, doubting her words.

She seemed to be able to tell that I didn't believe her, because she said, "Remus. Repeat after me: 'I am not a monster. I am a good person.' Come on, breathe with me and say it."

I took in a deep, shaky breath. "I-I am not a m-monster. I am a g-good person."

"Good boy," she said, leaning down and kissing my head. "Do you think you can sleep?"

I nodded. "Thank you, Mum."

We both laid back down in our beds and tried to get to sleep, my mind trailing off to thinking about everyone at Hogwarts finding out my secret.