"So, what now?" Dean asked, storing his wand in his pocket as they left Ollivander's shop. After what seemed like hours, but what was in actuality only about twenty minutes, the wand had ceased in its attempts to dissuade the stubborn man from claiming it. They had paid the old wand-maker, Dean had been delighted at the weight still left in their bag, and departed the store shortly after. Sam looked at his brother questioningly and Dean spread his arms wide, "Look man, I didn't read the damn books. You're the nerd here so, I don't know, be nerdy."

"Dude, do you really think I know much more than you do about this place?" Sam asked incredulously, despite the fact that he took point in leading them through Diagon Alley. "I read the books, that's it."

"Well, I didn't." Dean said flatly. "So, until we get an idea of how things work here, you are the go to. The Guide said that she sent Cas to some place called Hogmeade, right? How do we get there?"

"Uh, well, there is a train that students take to get to Hogwarts. If memory serves, it isn't too far from here… at least I don't think it is. It never seems far in a book."

"Okay, any idea who we can ask?" Dean asked, determination in his eyes now that they had an idea of where they were going. "Maybe that red-haired lady? You know who she is, and she apparently knows us."

"Ah, forgive me, are you the Winchesters?" A tired-but-kind voice asked them, belonging to a gaunt-faced younger man in robes that had clearly seen better days.

Dean glanced to Sam and saw the familiar look of recognition that had appeared when he had seen Molly Weasley. "Yeah, that's us." Dean said, smiling coldly.

The newcomer extended a hand and smiled tiredly. "Remus Lupin. Sam, you and I will be working together this upcoming year at Hogwarts." Dean immediately found himself being drawn to this Lupin fellow, though he wasn't sure why. He had clearly been through a lot, his eyes filled with wisdom well beyond his years. Eyes like Dean's own, and Sam's. He took the proffered hand and Lupin shook once, firmly, and then quickly released it. "You two looked a bit lost, is this your first time in Diagon Alley?"

"Yeah, uh, sorry." Sam said, recovering quickly when Dean sidled over to him and prepared an elbow to drive into his little brother's ribs. He had to get better at meeting the people he knew only in books, otherwise things would begin to be said about him. "Actually, we were looking for Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Got a bit turned around, I guess."

"Not a problem." Lupin said, coughing into his hand as he reached into his pocket with the other and withdrew a pocket watch. "You are welcome to come along with me, if you'd like. The train will be departing in about half an hour, which gives us just enough time to get there and get situated." Lupin began to cough again, much rougher this time, so much so that he dropped his pocket watch and braced his hands on his knees to keep from falling over.

"Dude, you alright?" Dean asked worriedly, plucking the pocket watch off the ground and handing it to Lupin once he regained enough composure to stand straight again.

Lupin smiled appreciatively and settled the pocket watch into his robes once again. "Thank you. I am fine, just somewhat out of sorts. Last night was the full moon, you see."

"Oh." Dean, who had never once so much as glanced at a Harry Potter book, instantly made the connection between the full moon and the gaunt, haggard man before him. "You're a werewolf?"

"An unfortunate condition." Lupin admitted, keeping his voice low as a passerby overheard them and glared disgustedly at Lupin, stopping where he stood. "One that not many people seem to be… shall we say 'amicable' to."

"You got some kind of problem, pal?" Dean asked coldly, returning the glare that the random passerby was directing at Lupin. The wizard seemed surprised at Dean's animosity and opened his mouth to say so but Dean cut him off. "If you say so much as a word, I will come over there and stick your wand where the sun don't shine. Get walking."

The bystander did just that, glancing over his shoulder worriedly in case Dean had decided to make good on his promise. He turned back to Lupin and saw that the man was looking at him and Sam strangely. "Professor, something wrong?" Sam asked worriedly, accustomed to Dean's antics.

"No, not at all." Remus said finally, picking up a small suitcase he had placed at his feet to shake Dean's hand. "Forgive me once more, I am… not accustomed to people not batting an eye when they hear about my condition. Please, both of you, we are colleagues; call me Remus."

"Ah, screw them." Dean said, waving a hand airily. "A friend of ours is a werewolf, people are just dicks."

Sam nodded and then said, "Anyways, you said that we had to get going to the train?" He said, steering the conversation away from any potential questions about Garth or anything like that.

"Ah, yes, we should get going." Remus agreed, starting down the stone path in the exact opposite direction Sam and Dean had been moving. "I suppose it is good fortune for us to meet one another. Sam, I hope that you won't mind comparing lesson ideas on the train? I understand you are taking the later-year students. With their two former Defense Against the Dark Arts professors having been… incapacitated their education has been stunted at best. I had thought to go to the basics with the younger students, grindylows and what not. Perhaps a boggart for the third years, depending on how quickly they move through their studies. What about yourself?"

"Uh, well, I had thought to play it by ear." Sam said uncertainly, clapping his hands against his robes. He thought furiously back to the books, attempting to remember any and all creatures that Lupin had not covered in his class. "Maybe dementors-." He stopped when Lupin made a noise of disgust and looked at him curiously.

Lupin smiled apologetically and shook his head. "That was not a sound of annoyance at your lesson idea, Sam." He assured him. He paused and looked at the two. "You two recently got here, correct? Been paying much attention to the local news?"

"No, not really." Dean said honestly, stepping carefully around a small child that was chewing something and breathing fire. "Something happen we should know about?"

"You could say that." Lupin said lightly, stepping into an alley and tapping a brick with his wand. The bricks began to fall away into nothingness, revealing a tunnel leading to the main street of the non-wizarding world. After the three stepped through the bricks began to reemerge from the ground and stack themselves back up. Dean stopped in his tracks and watched the reassembly happen, fascinated. Lupin seemed to sense this and turned around, clearing his through loudly. "Dean, I hate to tear you away from a good piece of magic but we are running a bit behind schedule and the Hogwarts Express is never late. I fear we would have to take some other means of transport should we miss our train, and I despise traveling the Floo Network. This cough could make me mispronounce my destination and land me somewhere quite unsavory."

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry." Dean said, jogging to catch up to them. "Just… kinda cool."

"Oh, I am in complete agreeance with you. A reassembly, vanishing, and conjuring spell acting in complete harmony is a difficult bit of magic to accomplish by anyone's standards." Lupin agreed. "Not many wizards are up to the task. Now, I was telling your brother of the newest information about the happenings in this part of the world, are you interested?"

"Yeah, sure." Dean said, happy to move on from his little side trip. "Haven't been here before."

"Really?" Lupin asked, surprised. "I thought I remember reading something about you coming here to research a potential new species of banshee that was terrorizing a village a few miles up the road?"

"Well, yeah." Dean blustered, smiling a bit too hard. "But I didn't, you know, come here. I was busy with work and stuff."

"A man dedicated to his profession, I respect that." Lupin said, nodding. "As I was saying, a very dangerous criminal by the name of Sirius Black has recently escaped Azkaban prison, have you heard of that?"

"High security prison for the most dangerous wizards and witches you guys have, yeah I've heard of it." Sam nodded. He wasn't sure how well known Azkaban was or if he had even heard of it, but beings that he was apparently some manner of Auror it only made sense that he would have. "Haven't heard of this Sirius Black guy though."

"It does not surprise me that you haven't." Lupin said gravely. "From what I understand you were having your own issues at the time with some sort of dark uprising. Sirius Black is a killer. Convicted of murdering a wizard by the name of Peter Pettigrew and several others with a blast charm. Terrible, truly."

"And this guy managed to spring himself?" Dean asked disbelievingly. "What, were the guards taking a break or something?"

"No one has ever managed to escape from Azkaban." Lupin said uncomfortably. "How he did it is a mystery, even to the guards. Which brings me to the next item I wanted to inform you about." Lupin had led them into a train station by this time, threading his way easily through the masses of people desperate to get to their trains. Sam and Dean, who were considerably larger than the gaunt man, followed him as well as they could. They remained barely within earshot of him, just able to discern what he was saying.

"Because of the danger that Black poses, the Ministry of Magic here has decided that their students deserve the best attention and protection available to them." Lupin said, speaking a bit louder in order for himself to be heard above the humdrum of the train station. "So, despite Dumbledore's wishes, they have sent a small amount of dementors to guard Hogwarts in the events that Sirius Black tries to get into the school and attempt to harm any of the students."

They ended up in front of a large brick pillar and Lupin nodded at the two before slipping through the bricks as though they were not there at all. Dean looked immediately to Sam, demanding some sort of explanation from him. The larger brother shrugged his shoulders and said, "Apparently you just walk through. That's what the books say to do."

"Really? That's it?" Dean asked, annoyed. "Real helpful."

"Hey, you could have read the books too." Sam snapped, taking a step forward and reaching out to touch the brick wall. It appeared to be solid to his touch and he shook his head. "If this doesn't work, we are going to smash our heads pretty hard."

"Wait, what?" Dean asked.

"In the books, Molly Weasley said that the best thing to do was to run through if it was your first time." Sam admitted, readying himself for a run. He patted Dean on the shoulder and began to sprint. He braced himself with his arms in case the wall didn't allow him through, but it appeared to be a moot point. Going through the wall felt like going through a waterfall and he staggered to a stop, beholding the magnificence that was King's Cross Platform Nine and Three Quarters. He turned to see if Dean made it through and was promptly knocked off his feet by a luggage laden trolley with a familiar white snowy owl in a cage on top. "Oh, sorry!" The younger boy said fretfully, moving to offer Sam his arm. "I didn't see you there, I was looking for my friends see."

"Yeah, it's fine." Sam said, getting to his feet with the help of the little boy though he didn't do much. He did a double take when he saw the kid, fighting the urge to glance up at the lightning-bolt shaped scar he knew would be on his forehead beneath a mop of unkempt hair. "No harm done. Nice owl, by the way."

A moment later, just as the boy was about to respond, Dean came barreling through the entrance only to trip over the cart and go sailing in the air to a skidding stop. "Ugh, oh man, what just happened?" He groaned, rolling to his feet and shaking his head to clear it. "And where the hell am I?"

"Platform Nine and Three Quarters…" Harry said slowly, looking worriedly to Sam. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine." Dean said dismissively, looking over the train now and nodding.

"Sam! Dean!" Lupin called, beckoning them over from where he stood by the train.

"Gotta go." Sam said, nodding a goodbye to Harry.

They hurried to Lupin and the professor looked around them to where Harry was now rearranging his things on his cart, courtesy of Dean dislodging them with his fall. "Are you two alright?" Lupin asked, apparently having seen their ordeal. "Who was that?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Dean said dismissively. "And I don't know, probably just some kid."

Lupin appeared unconvinced but nodded all the same. "Come on," He said, opening a door to the train and stepping inside. "Let's get ourselves a cabin before the students take them all. It would be quite a trip if we were forced to stand the whole way."