"Harry, can I speak to you for a moment." asked Professor Lupin as the lesson ended. The other students trooped out, Hermione and Ron casting glances at the teacher before moving to stand outside the door.
Lupin drew his wand and gestured at the walls, ceiling and floor, pale wisps of magic leaving the tip and impacting the stones surrounding them.
"Just an area silencing charm." he said reassuringly; "I'd like to ask you why your written work is downright awful, and so is half of your spellwork, yet sometimes when you don't think I can see, you'll perform the spells perfectly?"
Harry was taken aback, slowly replying;
"I don't know sir."
"James could never lie convincingly to me." Lupin commented; "Could we try again, even if it's not to Professor Lupin, but to Remus, one of your parents' friends."
"If you were one of their friends, why was I dumped with Petunia Dursley." Harry hissed, Lupin's manipulative comment hitting a sore spot.
"Petunia?" scowled Lupin; "You were dumped with that harpy? Dumbledore assured me you were well cared-for. Of course, Dumbledore assured me."
"What?" asked Harry, not expecting that.
"During the time your parents went into hiding, there had been a rumour that Voldemort had created a method of forcibly controlling werewolves, such as myself." Lupin admitted, looking at Harry for any sign of surprise or the expected revulsion and hatred.
"Sir, I've spent enough of my life hated for things I can't control. And you only turn into a rabid blood-thirsty monster once a month." Harry said dryly.
"Yes, well, your parents ordered me to go into hiding to make sure Voldemort couldn't control me. When I came out of hiding, James and Lily were dead, you had vanished and Dumbledore assured me you were fine. But he also erected wards which prevented any werewolves from coming close to you." grumbled Lupin; "I couldn't do anything. I could only go on the reassurances that you were fine, even sending people by proxy didn't work."
"God damn him!" Harry cursed; "Sir, one thing I've noticed, you've got magic, but you dress like you're a pauper."
"Very clever." Lupin replied with a smirk; "You're right. I made my life outside the magical world because werewolves are almost completely unemployable and hated here. I bought a couple of thousand pounds worth of broken antique furniture, repaired it with magic, sold it. I did that for about a year with antiques, cars and all sorts, I became pretty rich, but it wasn't the right thing. I was approached by MI5 who knew a bit of the magical world, they're Britain's security service. I'm on a year's leave to infiltrate Hogwarts and try and make contact with you, but I'm a commissioned officer in the Parachute Regiment, but like many others, I have the tan beret of the Special Air Service."
"Holy shit." said Harry; "Well Commander Bond, I think we'll have a marvellous friendship."
Lupin laughed and responded;
"Indeed Mister Leiter. But Bond was MI6, and a rather bad parody of it." he then sobered; "I've heard some disturbing rumours about your last few years here, come to my office for an hour after each day's lessons and I'll teach you a few things to keep you alive."
That first afternoon, Lupin began by teaching Harry some basic meditation and instructing him how to clear his mind of thought before making sure he knew how to fall. After that, for week after week except during his transformations, Harry underwent gruelling training at the man's hands.
Trying to clear your mind while fending off a constant shower of attacks wasn't easy. An expanded room gave him somewhere to run every day, putting miles in beyond the usual daily racing up and down the steep staircases of the castle to get to and from lessons. Hidden under his robes, the twelve-year old put on some serious muscle definition, which the werewolf thought was much-needed.
It came and the cost of a lot more food. Harry was eating massive meals daily and protein boosters as his taskmaster thrashed him through hours of training, neither caring that they'd ceased sticking to the hour-per-day. Lupin had even procured some blunted knives and begun teaching Harry how to wield one as he firmly believed that if you deprived a wizard of their wand, they were, for the most-part, entirely defenceless.
"Harry, don't let the moron go off." drawled a voice in the shadows of the courtyard as he and Hermione were about to see Sirius off with Buckbeak.
"Boss?" asked Harry, recognising the voice, greeting him as he'd come to call the man.
"I've got your Timeturner from about ten hours in the future." Remus commented, stepping out of the shadow; "Sirius you twit, I admit I FUBAR'ed getting Peter, but I'll get you a trial if it kills a number of people, none of them me or people I care about. I'm certain their names will be Fudge."
"Remus?"
"Trust him Sirius. Remus has done a lot for me this year." Harry ordered.
"Harry, you and Miss Granger really ought to head back to the hospital wing, I happen to know that Professor Snivellus is going to try and get you both expelled." Remus added; "I'll do a Jericho during the summer Harry."
He grinned, knowing of Operation Jericho from one of a number of books Remus had given him on modern warfare, including the Amiens prison raid. Breakout time.