Durmstrang, Year 4
Writing School, Round 2
Paragraphing
[sound] laughter
Word Count: 968 (+10%)
When Theodore "Teddy" Lupin applied to Hogwarts to teach, no one was surprised. For all that the young man was a Hufflepuff to his core, his thirst to understand the world around him and share his knowledge was unparalleled.
"I suppose you'll be taking on the Transfiguration slot, eh Ted?" his more distant family members would ask knowingly when his acceptance was formally announced. It made sense, after all. Since McGonagall left the post, the position had had almost as hard a time as Defence Against the Dark Arts had had in Harry Potter's day. Also, who could possibly be better to teach Transfiguration than a Metamorphmagus?
Apparently, anyone. With an enthusiastic laugh that always reminded people of his mum, Teddy would answer those family members thusly:
"Do you ask a fish to teach you to swim? I'm great at Transfiguration, but my ability to explain the hows and whys to others just isn't there. Anyone in my class would flunk miserably under my tutelage, and Headmistress McGonagall knows that. I've been accepted to teach—" Here, the young man would pause dramatically, and anyone who actually knew him would roll their eyes in exasperation.
If his best friend, Carlos Santiago, was in the room, this would be his cue to join in the antics.
"DADA! What else would Teddy Lupin, son of the great Remus and Tonks Lupin and godson of Harry Potter teach?"
Put like that, all those who foolishly judged a book by its cover, or in this case, his blue hair, could only accede the point. What else indeed?
If Minerva expected Teddy Lupin to fulfill the role of DADA professor quietly and with appreciation for the centuries of tradition that had dictated student/teacher interactions before him, she was meowing up the wrong tree. This was made clear at the first faculty meeting.
Hogwarts' newest professor had a question. A valid question, perhaps, but not one that people asked.
"Why are we allowing so much division within our halls? I've read Hogwarts, A History. It seems like every hundred years or so, some maniac rises up from our halls, and using one form of manipulation or another, he brings a ready-made army with him from his Housemates to wreak destruction on the land—." He began before Minerva interrupted.
"—Surely, you exaggerate, Professor Lupin."
Teddy's laugh more closely resembled his father's at his most sarcastic than the happy tones of his mother.
"I wish I was, Headmistress. But, if you look between the lines at people in authority whose actions were decidedly morally corrupt but went unhindered for a decade or more, I'm understating things. I used a metric where a person had to demonstrate abuse of power for at least a decade unchecked in such a way that it would be noted in history, and showing a powerbase that would have began in Hogwarts. That I could find any to fit such a stringent bill, would be noteworthy. I found fifteen with nine who either out and out did or had the potential to become as much of a problem as Voldemort had they not been stopped in time.
"So here is my question. What are we going to do about it? I, for one, don't like that this fine school has such a trend and don't fancy giving my kids or grandkids another Dark Lord to worry about if I can do something about it."
Minerva raised her eyebrow while the likes of Neville Longbottom, her Herbology instructor, slowly applauded.
"I'm guessing you have some sort of plan to counteract this phenomenon, Professor Lupin?"
The resulting grin was all Remus during his days as a Marauder.
"Oh, don't look at me like that, Headmistress. My ideas aren't that ridiculous. I'm hardly going to suggest tearing down the house system or something as dramatic as that. No, all I want is for us to offer each year their own common room. This would give students a greater opportunity to interact with each other, and some of the teachers could cycle through each room to ensure proper behavior, help with homework, things of that nature. What do you say?"
Somehow, Minerva wasn't even surprised when the charismatic young man got unanimous approval from his fellows.
It was within this framework that Teddy Lupin became Hogwarts most beloved teacher. Whether he was teaching first years games from the Muggle (or Wizard) world in the name of unity or teaching seventh years how to perform the Patronus charm after hours, Professor Lupin was always ready to help. The man allowed (harmless) pranks to be pulled against him in the class with nothing more than a chuckle, and everyone adored him.
Indeed, before the school let out for Winter Hols, the man had become as recognizable for his bright laughter as he had for his shocking head of blue hair.
Some would say his laughter saved his career.
After the holidays, things began to change. Teddy, who had previously been a picture of health, began to become fatigued easily. He also started to miss some classes, much to the horror of his students.
After three months of this, Teddy decided that the students deserved to know what was going on and made an announcement over dinner.
"As some of you may know, my father was a werewolf. It was believed that the curse passed over me. We now know that it was only dormant for a time. I am now a full-fledged werewolf." Teddy paused, waiting for some reaction.
"So what, Prof?"
"Some would say that makes me a monster."
"You, a monster? Naw. Your laughter gives you away. No monster could have a laugh as nice as yours!" a red-head exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Who's with me?"
Minerva was not surprised at all when a unanimous decision was reached.
