Chapter Two
Alone in the busy station, Remus stared down the brick wall in front of him. He knew the properties of the magic that made up the portal meant to ferry magical famiilies onto the platform. He even knew how the magic was first installed, when it was first tested, and even most of the biography of the inventor herself. He knew, logically, that it would work. It was the practical application that was more daunting.
With a deep breath, he squared his small shoulders and ran forward, shutting his eyes as he neared the brick wall. A cold whoosh of wind shuddered over his frame and, in less than an instant, he was on the platform. With a rush of adrenaline, Remus grinned up at the scarlet train, resting on the tracks in front of him. This was it- the first step to the beginning of his new life.
After recovering his ticket from his coat pocket, Remus boarded, having a polite conversation with the conductor, who appreciated his timeliness. The train was magnificent, even more thrilling than the pictures in Hogwarts: a History. He took his time, strolling the cool, empty aisles and looking into the glass-door compartments. Toward the back of the train, nearest the snack trolley station, Remus chose to sit and store his trunk, adjusting it just so, and taking off his coat, setting it beside him in hopes to create the illusion that he was saving a seat for a friend. Opening up a book on magical creatures, Remus settled back onto the bench and began to wait out the hour.
After about twenty minutes, other students began to make their way on board. Chatter slowly rose, filling the aisle and compartments quickly. Families on the platform hugged their children and waved them off toward the train, some mothers fussing over collars and unkempt hair and younger siblings crying out of separation or jealousy. Soon, the hall was crowded with students, compartment doors sliding open and closed repeatedly. Very few had made it down to Remus's end of the train yet, but he knew they would in time.
Eventually, a small boy ambled his way to stare in through Remus's door. For a moment, he wondered if perhaps a younger student had snuck onto the train, but after the boy signaled to Remus whether it would be alright for him to join his compartment, he could see the telltale parchment of his Hogwarts letter clutched in his fist. Smiling encouragingly, he waved the boy inside.
Looking very relieved, the small boy, a least a head shorter than Remus, stumbled inside, a large, clunky trunk in tow. "Hi, sorry," he squeaked. "Are you a first year too?"
"Yeah," Remus replied, helping him situate his trunk on the rack beside his. "I'm Remus Lupin. Good to meet you."
The boy beamed a gap-toothed smile, thin mousy hair sticking to his sweaty forehead, "I'm Peter," he replied. "Uh, Pettigrew." He laughed nervously. "Do you suppose we'll be leaving soon?"
Remus reached for his pocket watch, a gift from his mother. "In exactly thirty-one minutes."
Peter's eyes opened wide, clearly impressed, "How do you know?"
"Oh I've read all about the train. They leave precisely at 11 O'clock, no matter what. It was in one of our textbooks, actually."
"You've already been doing your reading?" Peter marveled. "You'll make Ravenclaw for sure. Is that what house you want?"
Remus shrugged, "I do think being clever is important, but I'll let the hat decide. What house do you want?"
"I'll let the hat decide," Peter echoed him. "But being clever is very important."
The boys chatted and, after a while of conversation, Remus quickly learned that Peter was eager to agree with him. It wasn't unpleasant to have someone to talk to, but he did wish he could make the small, nervous boy more at ease. Any time he asked Peter a question, he would screw up his face and contemplate shiftily with his bright eyes and usually end up asking, "Well, what do you think?" in response.
A little before eleven, some older boys entered the compartment, but paid the two first years little mind. One of the prefects, a sallow-cheeked blonde boy with long, silky hair, raised an eyebrow in their direction when Peter got over-excited about the training lurching to a start exactly when Remus said it would, but other than that, they had uninterrupted freedom to talk and point rapturously at the scenery passing outside with no interruption.
When the trolley passed, Remus purchased enough snacks for him and Peter to share. Thanking him between almost every bite, Peter gladly partook of the pile of chocolate frogs and pumpkin pastries. About six hours into their journey, they changed into robes (Peter absolutely swimming in his), Remus settling down into the corner of the compartment to read while Peter fell asleep, snoring a bit as the train rattled and bumped.
As night began to fall, the train came to a stop. Hurriedly waking Peter, Remus pulled down his trunk, helping the bleary-eyed Peter do the same. They hurried as best they could down the aisle, trying hard not to be underfoot of all the larger students. Peter fell down twice and Remus, impatient as he was to reach the platform, helped him up and match his short-legged pace. Finally, they reached the steps down to the cement, where students swarmed and gathered, waiting for instruction. The stars shone brightly in the blue-black sky and the moon, fatter than Remus could be pleased with, shone brightly down on the pool of black-cloaked students.
A large, mountain of a man, Remus suspected a half-giant by build and stature, called out for the first years in a booming voice, swinging a lantern over the top of the crowd. Funneling their way toward him, Remus and Peter found themselves pushed into a group of students much nearer their height- or Remus's, anyway. From there, they shuffled into boats, a long-standing Hogwarts tradition, Remus knew, and were ferried across the enormous night-black lake.
Hogwarts castle rose up before them, an enormous brick mass of walls and towers. Warm light spilled through the hundreds of rounded windows, and even from across the lake, the scent of pine and welcome feast strong and inviting. Jitters began to bounce around Remus's stomach and, unlike poor Peter, whose eyes were shut and complexion pale, it wasn't from the slosh and jolt of the little rowboat. Inside those doors, he would be sorted into a house- a family. It would determine the next seven years for him. A small part of him wondered if the evil forced into his blood all those years ago would sway the hat- if it would disregard all his hard study and put him where he belonged in Slytherin House. Worse yet, what if it betrayed his wolfish secret in front of the school? Surely Dumbledore would have warned it not to, right? Or perhaps, knowing what he was, the hat wouldn't assign him to a house at all. Perhaps he would be sent home or to another wizarding school that could control his type.
When they reached the bank, Remus was nearly as pale as Peter, who promptly vomited in the nearby shrubbery. The large man patted him awkwardly on the shoulder with an enormous hand, nearly the size of Peter's entire back. Remus suspected that the patting, while clearly well-intended, only made the small boy vomit more violently.
"Best to get it o'er with now," he encouraged in a gruff voice.
After a quick head-count, Hagrid, the enormous man, led the knot of first-years up a winding path to the castle doors. No book could have prepared Remus for the enormity of the castle, the staircases leading, one after the other, high up into the brick interior. Everything about it was warm, welcoming, and wide. More than ever, Remus hoped he might stay.