A/n: Wow, this is a really late update. I am so sorry, but I am back in business! There are about maybe 5-6 or less chapters left in this book, and then I can move on to the second one. I do plan on making a whole series and I think you're, whoever is reading this, are going to like it. And please keep in mind that Simon and his friends are a little naive and don't know a lot. Alright, so here you go, enjoy, and please review! please.
Chapter 11: It's Out There
Potter was in his office, pacing and re-reading the dark wizard file on Shade, when the door to his office opened up to reveal McIntyre.
"Sir, the Unspeakable you wanted to see has some free time and can see you now," He informed his superior.
Potter nodded. "Send him in," he said. McIntyre gave a nod and left the doorway only to appear a minute later with a wizened wizard following him. He was six foot tall, with white hair, pale blue eyes, and dressed in silver robes.
"Head Auror Potter," the Unspeakable wizard greeted with a nod.
"Unspeakable Amon," Harry greeted, and waved at the chairs. "Please, have a seat." Amon gave a nod and took a seat.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Amon asked, intertwining his hands and placing them on his lap, looking stoic and expressionless.
"Well, I hope that you can enlighten me on something that hasn't been heard of since probably thousands of years," Potter spoke, placing his hands on his desk. Amon raised an eyebrow in interest and waited for Harry to continue. "What do you know of the Dark Creatures that call themselves the Lycans?"
Amon's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Lycans," he repeated. Harry nodded. "They are known to be very dangerous creatures, cousins to the Werewolf. History has stated that a Man who had contracted the Lycan curse, with great will power and determination, they could control themselves in their beast state. Lycans are also more fierce looking than the average werewolf, more beastly. They were larger, stronger, faster; better."
"And I assume that Lycans only contract this curse by being bitten?" Harry asked.
Amon gave a nod. "Most were," he replied. "Others were born into it."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean if a Lycan man or woman were to reproduce, no matter if their partner were a Lycan or not," Amon began to explain. "Then the offspring would already have the curse, but it wouldn't really effect the child until he were old enough, to the magical core's standards, to begin to change. Which would be around eleven or twelve. Also, to begin their transforming, the Lycan parent and offspring must look into one another's eyes, so the parent may have the ability to control his offspring through the bloodline connection."
"Is there another way to become a Lycan without being born into it or bitten?" Harry asked, feeling worried for a certain eleven year old boy.
"Yes," Amon replied with a nod. "By how the first Lycan was created. With a very powerful and painful ritual. But one could only become a Lycan if they were already a werewolf. Why the sudden interest Auror Potter? Not thinking about becoming a Lycan?"
Potter shook his head. "No," he said with a chuckle. "I have been informed that a known Werewolf leader has contracted the Lycan curse."
"Impossible," Amon spoke. "The Lycans all died out or were killed off. And to preform the ritual, one would need to sacrifice a young wolf child on a blood moon with the dagger of Kronos."
"Kronos?" Harry repeated.
Amon nodded. "It was rumored that a Greek werewolf by the name of Kronos was the very first Lycan," he explained. "He went to great lengths to become the most fiercest Werewolf in history."
"He succeeded."
"Yes, and more," Amon said, looking down.
"How was he defeated?" Harry curiously asked.
"His three sons," Amon answered. "Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon, all great wizards of their time, went up against their own father to stop his reign of terror. Two of the brothers died, and the youngest, Poseidon survived. But all three sons have had children, and their lines have survived through many years and I believe has lasted to today,." Harry raised and inquired eyebrow, and waited for Amon to continue. "And if I'm not mistaken, the youngest of the line of Poseidon should be at Hogwarts, his first year."
"Do you know the name of this boy?" Harry asked in a serious tone. Amon calmly nodded. "Name him."
"Simon Perseus Ares."
"Simon!" Hugo shouted. "Watch out!"
Simon instantly rolled out of the way on the snow covered ground as a snowball flew over him. At this moment, Simon was having one of the best times ever with Alice, Hugo and all his family. They were having a large snowball fight with three different teams. Simon, Alice, Hugo,Lily, and Roxanne(Daughter of Uncle George) were on a team together as the youngest; Teddy(Harry's Godson) led the oldest team with James, Fred, Victoire(daughter of Uncle Bill), Louis(son of Uncle Bill), and August Longbottom; and the third team was the in-between consisting of Annie and her sister Molly(Daughters of Uncle Percy), Dominique(Daughter of Uncle Bill), Rose, Albus, and his best friends Scorpius.
They were all at the Potters on Christmas eve having one of the best times of their lives. Though Simon and his team were pretty much in last place, pretty much getting pummeled with snowballs when they were in sight. Simon quickly rolled back towards his and his team's wall of snow they had built to protect themselves.
"You guys are pros at this game," Simon commented, settling up to Alice as snowballs flew over their wall.
"We pretty much do this every Christmas time," Lily spoke as Hugo peeked over the wall where a snowball pelted him in the face.
"Or whenever the ground is covered in snow," Roxanne added laughing at Hugo.
Simon nodded. "Okay, I say we run out throwing as many snowballs as we can," he suggested. "They can't all hit us, whoever is not distracted by the other teams. I'm sure we can get someone."
"Who do you think we should go for?" Hugo asked.
"Let's go for the oldest," Simon replied with a smirk. "I haven't seen Teddy get hit yet and we should bombard him."
"He is the best at this game," Roxanne praised. "How can you be sure that we'll get him?"
"Have a little faith, Roxy," Simon replied with a smile and patted her shoulder. Roxanne blushed and nodded. "We'll just run out there, go towards Teddy, and take as many hits if you can. If you can't, you can back out and I won't think of you guys any less, alright?" His team all nodded. "Alright, get ready!" Simon commanded as they all armed themselves with a few snowballs each. "Now!" He shouted and all five young ones ran out from behind their wall of snow, instantly being pelted by a snowball here or there.
They all gave battle cries as they ran towards the oldest team which went unnoticed by Teddy. "Attack the pups!" the older boy shouted, pointing out Simon and his team. Teddy's team all turned their sights on Simon's team and began to hurl snowballs towards them. Roxanne went down first, curling up in the snow to protect her body, which caused Lily to trip over her and into the snow. Hugo was next as he was being pelted from both teams, throwing him down and continued to cover him in snow. And then there were two.
"Simon, maybe we should forget about this," Alice suggested as she was struck by a snowball in the shoulder. "It's a difficult mission!"
"No, I am not giving up!" Simon said, getting closer to Teddy while clutching one snowball. Soon, Alice was knocked down by more snowballs, while Simon was still running, not feeling the snowballs hit his person. He wanted to do this, it was a priority at the moment, to hit Teddy with a snowball at least once. It had to be done, and he was going to do it. And then, no one noticed as Simon's eyes glowed blue, and he began to speed up and dodge more snowballs.
That's when Teddy noticed Simon's change in actions. He watched the eleven year old easily dodging snowballs. He threw his own towards Simon, who instantly caught it, ran up towards Teddy, and jumped up. Teddy had been distracted by Simon's change in smell, his eyes, and when he smiled, his teeth had grown into fangs; when a snowball hit him directly in the face.
Simon fell and rolled onto the ground, and jumped up in triumph. Teddy's and Albus's team were all in awe as well as Simon who began to celebrated. Simon began to stand up straight, but fell to his knee when his ribs moved and cracked. He groaned and grabbed his abdomen.
"Simon, are you alright?" Alice asked as she, Teddy, and a few others gathered around him.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Simon replied through his teeth. Struggling through his pain, he stood up and began to get away from the others. "I just need some air," he said, running away from the others.
"Just needs some air?" Fred repeated. "Oi, what's he talking about? He's already outside!" Hugo watched Simon running away, and then ran after him.
"Simon! Simon, wait up!" he shouted, following his best friend.
"I'm going to see what's up," Teddy spoke and followed Hugo as the rest of the group began talking among themselves and walking back towards the house.
Simon grabbed his abdomen that was moving, changing, and feel like it was breaking. He ran out the safe house of Potters and down the block towards the library, struggling up the steps, and stopping to lean on a pillar, breathing heavily and still in a bit of pain. He was confused. Why was he turning during the day, when it wasn't a full moon? He let out a groan, or what he thought it was, when it was actually a growl.
"Simon!" Hugo called, running up to his friend.
"Hugo, what the heck are you doing here!" Simon growled out, his voice in a lower tone. "Get the heck outta here!" Hugo stopped a few steps away from his friend and stared in shock.
"Are you changing? Now!?" he hissed. Simon grinded his teeth and nodded.
"Hugo, leave now!" Simon repeated, falling to his knees. "And go get Mr. Potter or your dad!"
"Is everything okay?" a voice said from behind Hugo who snapped around to see it was Teddy.
"Everything's okay!" Hugo nearly yelled nervously, blocking Simon from Teddy's view. "Nothing to see here."
And then, it hit Teddy like a bolt of lightning as his eyes widened. "Are you serious!?" he hissed, running up and pushing Hugo out of the way to see a changing Simon. "I knew you smelled familiar, though a little different."
"What do you mean?" Hugo asked.
"Eric Strauss," Teddy named. "He was a werewolf, and I could tell by his scent, and Simon's scent is a bit similar, yet still totally different."
"Scent?" Hugo said confusedly.
"Yes, scent," Teddy said, as Simon's claws grew out and his hair grew a little longer. "My father was a werewolf and I inherited his heightened senses, luckily i didn't inherit his curse - "
"Guys!" Simon lowly growled as he turned to glare with his glowing blue eyes at Hugo and Teddy. "We have a huge problem here! I am changing in the middle of the day!"
"Hugo, go get me Godfather! Tell him to find me at my parents." Teddy ordered. Hugo nodded and quickly ran off while Teddy ran up to Simon and put his arm around his shoulders. "Come on," he said and began to lead the young Gryffindor.
"Where are we going?" Simon grounded out.
"I'm gonna introduce you to my parents," Teddy answered, quickly leading Simon somewhere.
"But I thought Hugo said they were dead," Simon replied, and then groaned, grasping Teddy's wrist tightly. Teddy hissed, but let it happen.
"They are," he said. A minute later, Teddy led Simon into an empty graveyard, leading him deeper inside. Simon examined the graveyard with his bright blue eyes, understanding what Teddy meant about introducing his parents. And soon, they stopped by a large tombstone with two names. Teddy let go of Simon who fell to his knees and walked around the tombstone and pulled out his wand, just in case. "Meet my parents," he said.
Falling to his hands, Simon looked up at the names carved onto the tombstone.
Here lies
Remus J. Lupin Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin
Beloved Father and Friend Beloved Mother and Daughter
Even at the worst of times, comes the greatest strength.
"Why did you really bring me here?" Simon grounded out.
"Look at the last thing written on the tombstone," Teddy spoke. Simon looked at the last sentence. "Even at the worst of times, comes the greatest strength," the older boy read.
Simon didn't really understand at the first. It was a confusing line, but then he realized that at the moment was a horrible time, maybe the worst. And it was up to him to use his strength. Out of the worst of times, comes the greatest strength, he thought over and over in his head. Simon looked at his hands, feeling everything growing and changing. But he was not going to let it happen. He was not going to turn into this monster, not now. He concentrated, grinding his teeth. Suddenly, his clawed hands began to revert back into his normal hands. He could feel his teeth shrinking back, and his ribs shrinking and popping back in place, which was a little more painful. And soon enough, he was back to a normal kid, breathing heavily. He looked up at Teddy who smiled and gave a nod.
"Teddy!" someone shouted. Teddy turned to see Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley running over to them with Hugo in tow. The ran up to the gravestones Teddy and Simon were at, stopping to see Simon was normal but on his hands and knees.
"What's going on?" Mr. Weasley asked as Mr. Potter ran over to Simon to check on him.
"Simon was changing," Teddy answered as Mr. Potter was helping Simon up to his feet.
"Now, in the middle of the day?" Mr. Weasley asked, holding his son back. Simon nodded, still breathing heavily, struggling to his feet.
He looked at Potter. "I don't know what or how it happened," he said. "It kind of just did."
"But you didn't change fully," Potter said in confusion. "How'd you change back?" he asked.
"Out of the worst of times, comes the greatest strength," Simon spoke, leaning his head back and looked up into the sky. Potter slowly glanced over to the Lupins' headstone, seeing what Simon had spoken, written on the tombstone, and smiling.
"Remus was always a wise werewolf," Potter commented. "I should have remembered, and known that this could have helped you." Potter walked over to Simon and put a hand on his shoulder. "Come, we have some things to talk about." Simon nodded, and a few seconds later, he, Hugo, and Teddy were led back to the house.
Potter led Weasley, Hugo, and Simon into his study, and shut the door behind him. Weasley stood by the door while Potter leaned on his desk waving the two first years over to the two chairs in front of the desk. Hugo and Simon sat down.
"Tell me," Potter started, "What do you know about Werewolves?" he asked, crossing his arms.
Simon shrugged. "Just from what I've seen and movies and read in books," he answered. "The change under a full moon, and can be killed with silver. They become this uncontrollable monster."
"Well that's mostly right," Potter said with a small smile. "I thought that too when I was young, but actually, werewolves can be controlled today with a simple potion."
"Wolfsbane," Hugo instantly blurted.
"How do you know that ole son of mine?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"Er, I read dad," Hugo instantly answered, glancing back at his dad who burrowed his eyes at his son suspiciously. It wasn't exactly a lie.
"Hugo is correct," Mr. Potter continued, "A cursed man may use Wolfsbane to keep his state of mind intact during a transformation. But without it, the man is more of a wolf and a monster, and he usually will not remember anything he does when he's transformed into a werewolf. The power of the werewolf extends to human form, such as invulnerability to conventional injury due to their healing factor, super-human speed and strength and falling on their feet from high falls. Also aggressiveness and animalistic urges may be intensified and harder to control. Usually in these cases the abilities are diminished in their human form."
Simon gave a nod of understanding. "I know all this," he replied, "I put it all together after finding out what I did to Professor Longbottom and you."
"Yes, but you are technically not a werewolf," Potter suddenly said, shocking Hugo and Simon, whose eyes widened.
"What do you mean he's not a werewolf?" Hugo blurted out. "We saw him change, under a full moon. Isn't that what werewolves do?"
"Son, werewolves don't exactly change in the middle of the day," Mr. Weasley spoke up, placing a hand on his son's shoulder.
"Then if I'm not a werewolf," Simon started, looking back up at Potter. "Then what am I?"
"You're a Lycan," Mr. Potter simply answered. "Remember that to become a werewolf, one has to be bitten by said werewolf. However -"
"I was never bitten," Simon put in. He knew that already. But what was a Lycan?
"Yes, and a Lycan is another type of werewolf," Mr. Potter began to explain. "It's an ancient creature, that was believe to be extinct, but we were wrong," he said, waving over at Simon. "Lycans are better than werewolves in every way. They're larger, stronger, faster, and more beastly in every way. They also have a few powers of themselves."
"Like what?" Simon curiously asked.
"Well from what I'm told," Potter began, "Lycans heal almost instantly, their skin is almost impenetrable by most spells, and they can control lower class werewolves and Lycans, meaning that there can only be one Alpha Lycan."
"That's all cool yet scary and everything, but you said Lycans are ancient, right?" Hugo asked, not understanding something. "And Simon wasn't bitten, so how is it that he became one?"
But Simon somehow knew the answer. "My Parents?" he suddenly said, looking up at Potter with an inquisitive expression.
"It's what we didn't know until after you started changing," Mr. Potter explained. "It's said that getting bitten by a Lycan isn't the only way to become one. Lycan blood can be transferred into their offspring."
"So my parents were Lycans?" Simon sullenly asked.
"No, just your father was," Mr. Potter replied.
Anger began to boil as Simon remembered the first talk he had with Mr. Potter back when he discovered that he was wizard and when Potter had told him that he once knew Simon's parents. "You already knew this from the beginning didn't you?" Simon angrily asked. "And you could have told me about this!?"
"You have to understand, Simon," Mr. Potter eagerly began. "That I understood that your father was a werewolf, not a lycan. And werewolf offspring do not contract the actual curse. Maybe a few traits, but no curse."
Simon's anger began to dissolve when he heard this. "Sorry," he softly apologized.
"No need to apologize," Potter replied with a wave of his hand. "I should have told you about your father nonetheless." Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Enter," said Mr. Potter. The door opened to reveal Alice and Lily.
"Hi," Lily said as she entered first, followed by a shy Alice. "Is everything okay?" she asked. "We just learned from Teddy that Simon was here and feeling a little better."
"We were also wondering what happened?" Alice asked.
All eye were on Simon, who looked up, and opening his mouth, unsure of what to say. "Don't worry. Simon just had a very upset stomach that he took care of," Hugo suddenly answered for him. "I mean, of course, he did it in the woods to keep from stinking up the - "
"What my eager son is saying," Mr. Weasley interrupted, glancing at an innocent smiling Hugo, "Is that Simon had an upset stomach, but it went away. All that running around with a full stomach of food would do that to a boy."
"Oh," Alice and Lily said together, and then Alice continued, "If you're feeling better, I was wondering if you want to go do something," she suggested. "Like wizard's chess of something."
"Yeah sure," Simon replied with a nod. Alice and Lily turned and left the room with Hugo following out. Simon turned towards Potter. "Thank you for telling me this. But one more thing. There's a full moon on Christmas, where am I going for the night?"
"I'll be taking you to a small cabin outside of town, and then you'll be back before you even wake up," Mr. Potter answered with a smile. "No one will know you were even gone, well except us and Hugo." Simon nodded with his own smile, and then left to find his friends.
The next few days, Simon decided to keep everything simple and to not to try in over exert himself in something to keep him from changing in the middle of the day. He spent the days inside playing chess with Hugo or laughing at magical fairy tales with Lily. And soon, it the very early morning of Christmas Eve, and Simon was still sleeping, slightly moving his body and moaning softly as he was having a strange dream.
Simon was sitting in a field under the stars. He took a beep breathe of fresh air not caring how he got there, but he was just enjoying the fresh cool, night air. But it was then that things began to appear bad when he looked up into the New Full Blood Red Moon. He knew at once that he should not look at it, but once his eyes laid upon it, he couldn't stop staring. He stood up still staring at it. Suddenly, he groaned in pain and grabbed his abdomen as it felt on fire. He felt his ribs popping violently and changing. He clenched his teeth and growled in pain, falling onto his hands and knees.
Simon withered around on all fours. The pain was nothing he never felt before. It was excruciating. He let out another growl and then screamed in pain. He felt his shirt that he was wearing rip and tear and clenched his teeth. He opened his eyes and looked at his hands that were now changing into claws. He saw that the skin on his hands and arms were growing more hair than usual as well. Then, his face started changing, and it felt as it was stretching.
Simon's clothing ripped and tore more, falling from his body. And then, his claws were growing and his feet turned into wolf-like paws, and then finally, his eyes turned yellow. But then the pain was gone in an instant. Simon was no longer human. He was a beast. A beast that rose up to his feet, and then let out a loud and piercing howl at the blood red moon.
"Simon!" someone fiercely whispered, violently shaking his body. Simon shot up and snapped his eyes open. He was breathing heavily and drenched in sweat. He looked over to see Hugo standing over his guest bed, looking worried. He continued to look around to find that he was still in Hugo's room and not in a field somewhere under the full moon. And to make sure, Simon hopped out of the bed and ran over to the window. He looked up to the moon to see that it wasn't full at all. It was close, but still not full. It was still going to be tomorrow.
Sighing in relief, Simon leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. Hugo walked over to him, and kneeled in front of him. "Are you alright?" he asked.
Simon nodded. "Yeah," he answered, looking at Hugo. "Just a bad dream is all."
Hugo nodded and both boys sat in silence for what seemed like a few hours, both afraid of the same thing; that Simon was going to change. But they didn't know if a dream could trigger a transformation, but as they sat there and more time passed by, they began to realize that that idea was impossible and highly unlikely.
The sun had already risen when Rose entered the room. "Oh, you're already awake," she said, bewildered that they were awake. "Mum says breakfast is ready," she added and then left the room.
"We're going to do this tonight," Simon suddenly spoke, looking at the doorway where Rose had just occupied.
"Doing what?" Hugo asked, looking at Simon with confusion on his face.
"Talk to your sister," Simon reminded. "We're going to ask her what she knows about the Resurrection Stone." Hugo nodded, and soon the two were leaving the room to get some breakfast.
During most of the day, Hugo and Simon hung around the house, secretly looking through books on werewolves. Simon was curious as to who knew about his secret curse. So when Mr. Potter was over for Eve dinner with his family, he asked the older man. Potter told him that only he and Mr. Weasley knew at the moment, with the exception of Hugo, Gabriel, Professor Longbottom, and Headmaster Orpheus. The rest of the night was pretty fun as all the kids were together in one room, hanging out and playing Christmas games unsupervised. Though Teddy was kind of the chaperone, but he was actually one of them.
And then, as everyone left as it got late, Simon, Hugo, and Rose were left alone in the room. And this was the perfect opportunity to ask what Rose knew about the Resurrection Stone. So, like they discussed, Simon and Hugo began to whisper fiercely to one another in a fake argument as Rose read a book. She rose her eyes up to their argument which had gotten louder.
"They are not!"
"They are too!"
"Are not!"
"Are too!"
"Alright," Rose intervened. "What are you two arguing about?"
"You remember that story you told us with the three brothers?" Simon asked. Rose nodded. "Hugo here believes that those items exsist in real life, but that impossible."
"No it's not," Hugo replied. "Our fairy tales are based on legend, and legends are stories that have happened in our ancient history."
"But there's no way," Simon skeptically replied as both boys glanced up at Rose who had a calculating expression on her face, looking inbetween Simon and Hugo.
After a few moments, she lamely spoke. "Hugo's right," she said, though Simon saw she wasn't looking at either of them and that she was fiddling with her fingers. She began to turn and leave the room.
"You're lying," Simon suddenly spoke, standing to his feet. Hugo froze in his spot as Rose turned towards the eleven year old. No one had ever called the thirteen year old a liar, and Hugo knew how ugly his sister could get.
"Excuse me?" Rose spoke, planting her feet and crossing her arms. "I am not lying," she said, this time looking into Simon's eyes, but he knew she was still lying.
"Yes you are," Simon calmly replied. "You know something about that story. You know it's real."
Rose scoffed. "The Tale of the Three Brothers is a fairy tale, Simon. That's it. Alright?" She then began to turn around.
"I know about the invisibility cloak," Simon spoke up, causing both Hugo and Rose to freeze and look towards him in stunned silence. "Lily told me about it a couple of days after you read me that story. I told her about the story and she told me about how Mr. Potter had handed down a cloak to James that made him completely invisible. Just like in the story. Father hands down his invisibility cloak to his son. She believes that the items in the story are real too. And you know they are don't you?"
Rose stared at Simon, clenching her teeth, and looked at her brother who stood up and stood next to his friend out of curiosity, wanting to hear the truth. "You're right, they are," she said. Simon and Hugo glanced at one another with small smiles. "But it's not like they're right there in some vault or locked away in a chest, no."
"What do you mean?" Hugo asked with his furrowed eyes. Simon had the same curious expression.
"Look, the invisibility cloak is accounted for," Rose began, hugging her book. "But the wand and the stone are lost. They have been lost since the last was. At the Battle of Hogwarts." Simon's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "And I've read all about it, but that's all that was mentioned about the wand and stone, that they were lost. Someone lost them."
"Who?" Simon asked.
Rose swallowed. "Uncle Harry," she answered, and then turned away, leaving a stunned Hugo and Simon.
The two boys walked over to their original spots by the fire and sat back down. "So, those items weren't lost were they," Simon finally said.
"What do you mean?" Hugo asked.
"Look at Mr. Potter," Simon said, turning to his friend. "He doesn't seem like the kind of person who loses things, is he?" Hugo nodded in agreement. "He told people he lost them to keep them hidden, I mean, he must have, knowing that these were dangerous items and that they needed to be secretly put away."
"But how can we be sure about this?" Hugo asked, scratching the back of his neck.
Simon shrugged. "I don't know," he answered. "But whoever is impersonating a teacher, is after this resurrection stone, and i bet that he knows that Mr. Potter may know where it is."
"So what do we do?" Hugo asked.
"We need to find the impersonator before," Simon spoke, and then darkly added, "before something happens to Mr. Potter."