Okay… it took a bit longer then expected (let's just say that I am a bit chaotic when it comes to me and technology and having multiple types of your third chapter standing on your computer) Huge thanks to LEAD, the editor of this piece who managed to create a bit of order in me about the sending of the right piece to her….. and also thanks because, she edited again :P
I will be flying of to Egypt next week, so I hope that I will update before that: If I'm not, you will have to wait for a while (I'll be back in 10 days, but then school starts:S:S)
And I still don't own Harry Potter: (insert cursing here)!
When Remus awoke the next morning, he couldn't remember the last time he had slept so well. His hair and clothes were a bit messy, but he could live with that, seeing as they weren't new clothes anyway.
He got dressed in other, even shabbier robes and walked toward the desk he had in his chamber. There, he started to plan the lessons for the first, seventh and fifth years. The books for all of the classes were standing neatly in a row, on a shelf above his desk, and he looked through them to plan the day. For the first years he would have this morning, he decided that he would give up an essay where they could explain to him who they were and what they knew about his subject, and expected from it. It would also be their first lesson in the magic school, so a bit of practical magic would be nice. Leaning a bit back on his chair, he thought of his own first lesson.
It had been Transfiguration with McGonagall. They'd had to change a Lucifer match into a needle. No one had succeeded, except James, who had shone from pride. Once he had changed two of the matches, he started to lose interest in class, and used the needles to poke a red-headed girl's arm.
Remus smiled and shook his head; he really needed to get this done. The seventh years were the easiest; he would test them on what they'd learned their sixth year, and then he would use this year to revise everything they'd had before.
Then, for the fifth years after lunch, he would ask them what they had learned so far, and what there strongest and weakest points were: he would let them write it in class, and then he would plan his lessons around the topics they failed in the most.
He had it planned out in about ten minutes, and sat happily backwards . . . Then, knowing that it was still early, he decided that he could maybe also plan the lessons for the other years.
He would have to give the sixth years their first lesson in non-verbal spells: difficult, but always nice to see them turning red and looking as if they were trying to eliminate something very large from their system. He noticed that the book for the second years was full of defensive spells, and he decided that his first lessons would be about the infamous Expelliarmus and some nice little tricks such as the Bat-Bogey Hex. They might have some fun with those; his schoolmates certainly had. Then the fourth years . . . hmm . . . he recalled from his own school time that they would also be doing some defensive spells, but with a more serious note added to it. Explaining the Unforgivables . . . and maybe some info about Dementors wouldn't hurt . . .
That left him with the third years . . . He looked through the two books the third years had. The more interesting book was about magical creatures; the spell book was among the dullest he'd ever read. Remus decided that he would start with the creature book, and then see how far he would get. He turned a few pages and saw that the last chapter was about werewolves . . . a pang of pain shot through his mind . . . well, he would deal with that one later . . .
But how was he supposed to catch all those living Dark Creatures? He had a mental image of himself with a butterfly-net, trying to catch a Dementor, but laughed and shook it quickly away. He would find a solution for the third years later; first it was time for some breakfast.
Remus stood up, and walked to the Great Hall. When he went through one of the secret passage ways, he stepped naturally over a trick stair, then looked back and grinned. The trick step had been placed there when he was in school. To be more precise: James had thought that it would be fun to invent a trick stair. It had been one of his many ideas to get Lily. However Lily had not, as James had expected, been immensely grateful to him for helping her out of the step. She had seen right through him, had asked him which kind of spell he had used to make the stair suddenly disappear, and then had walked away.
Remus arrived in the Great Hall and sat at the same seat he had taken last evening. McGonagall was already sitting at his left, and smiled at him when he arrived. He smiled back, and then took some of the bacon that was in front of him. Just when he was about to take a bite of his toast, he saw that the blond kid . . . Malfoy, was it? . . . was pretending to faint. Just then, Harry walked into the Great Hall. He heard Minerva sighing and saw that she was looking at exactly the same things.
"Mr. Potter never seems to have it easy here," she said to him when he looked at her.
"How come?"
"Well, partly, because being famous for vanishing something as a one-year-old is never easy to cope with – he can't remember doing what he is so famous for. And two, Mr. Potter has a real enemy in Mr. Malfoy. They never make it easy for each other."
Lupin saw even from this distance that Harry and his friends were now sitting next to two identical figures with also red hair, who looked a bit older than the trio, and apparently were making Harry's clenched fist a bit more relaxed.
"And have you planned your lessons yet, Remus?" Professor Sprout – er, Pomona – suddenly asked.
Remus turned around and answered, "Yes, I have – I think that I have it almost done. I'm only having a bit of trouble with the planning for the third years."
"How come?" asked Minerva.
"Well, I would like to do some Dark Creatures with them . . . Kappas, Red Caps . . . But it's a bit hard to get those . . ."
Sprout nodded, and Minerva said:
"I happen to know a dealer in that business and I think you do as well, Remus. His name is Mundungus Fletcher."
Of course Remus knew him; Minerva knew that. Mundugus had served the Order during the War. He immediately got a mental image of Mundugus, standing in a shabby alley, selling grindylows . . .
"And while you try to contact him about getting some creatures, you can start with a boggart. There happens to be one that has moved into my closet this summer."
"That would be a terrific first lesson. Thank you." he replied.
"Yes, I would think so too. But I think you will agree with me when I say that I don't want any students in my personal chambers. So if you don't mind, you can move it to another, more suitable place."
Remus smile broadened at so much generosity.
"Oh, I know an excellent place for it, Remus," Pomona said suddenly. "There's an old wardrobe in the staffroom that no one really uses. You can put it in there!"
"Thank you both. I will certainly do that." He smiled at both the women next to him and received another rare smile from McGonagall. Relieved, he started to eat his bacon.
His first day had pretty well, Remus had to admit. The first years, were, as was to be expected, a bit scared and excited in their first lesson, but he just gave them a simple spell to try: the Patrificus Totalus. A few of the students were a bit disappointed that magic wasn't as easy as they had thought, but when he just asked them to write a short essay for homework, they were very relieved and Remus knew that he had made a good impression on them.
The fifth year Ravenclaws seemed to admire his teaching and were also not a problem, and apart from one incident with a seventh year Slytherin who was pretty rude before that, the day went by without any problems.
At dinner, he heard about the catastrophe of Hagrid's first day, and he felt sorry for the groundskeeper. He knew that Hagrid could teach a lot to these students, but would have a hard time keeping them in line. Hagrid had once spotted him and his friends sneaking into the Forest when they were fourth years; he had followed them, and if it hadn't been for Hagrid, Remus would have been maimed by the herd of centaurs. He wanted to help Hagrid, but the giant seemed to have taken refuge elsewhere; he was nowhere to be seen.
After dinner, he went to see his beloved library and took some books. Nothing had changed: the books were in the same, neat order, and the Librarian was still watching him closely, apparently not forgetting that at a winter day in his third year when his friends had thought that it would be funny to lean against a bookshelf so that all the rest toppled over like dominoes.
He walked over McGonagall's study, and while he waited for her to open the door, he recalled the time he had stood here under a certain cloak, trying to prevent Minerva from leaving while the others pulled a prank.
Not a few hours later, he had also stood here under a certain cloak, hearing from the inside of the office a lot of yelling directed at his friends.
McGonagall opened the door and said with a bit of a stern look she always seemed to have, "Remus! Come in please." She let him walk by and looked at the large box he had in his hands.
"I suppose that that is to carry the boggart in it?" When he nodded, she proceeded, "Good. Do you want to get started, or would you like a ginger newt first?"
He shook his head. Minerva might be his colleague now, but it still felt strange to be here without receiving some severe punishment after which he would leave. And ginger newts were still cookies that reminded him that he had done something bad and was being warned not to repeat his actions.
He walked to a chamber McGonagall pointed at, and opened the closet with a flick of his wand.
The boggart came out, and with a crack, it changed into a full moon. He repressed a sigh; after all those years, even the shape of the boggart hadn't changed.
"Ridikkulus!" he yelled, and he managed to not to expend too much energy vanishing the boggart. The only thing he wanted was to get the thing into the box.
That didn't seem to be a problem; Remus managed, without much trouble, to force the boggart into the box.
"Well done! I see that you still know your way with a wand!" Minerva said from behind him as he quickly closed the lid of the box. He smiled politely and excused himself, bringing the now thumping box quickly back to the staff room.
When he received the third year Gryffindors the next day after lunch, he saw when he entered that they had already taken their seats and that their books were on the table.
He placed his briefcase on his desk and smiled warmly.
"Good afternoon. Would you please put all your books back in your bags? Today's will be a practical lesson. You will only need your wands."
The class obeyed him and looked curiously. Remus took a charmed paper out of his briefcase. When a student sat down, the paper showed a labeled chair. He noticed that a boy, sitting on the place labeled 'Seamus Finnegan,' was saying softly: "As long as it isn't be pixies, I'm happy." He waited politely until everybody had packed their bags again, thinking about a certain paper with the same spell. It had been confiscated by Filch. He really ought to try to get it back . . .
"Right then," he heard himself say. "If you'd follow me."
He walked out of the classroom, and the students followed him through the hallways, to the staffroom. When he turned around a corner, there was Peeves, hanging upside down, and stuffing a keyhole full with gum.
Forgetting that he was now a teacher, a devilish grin spread across his face. Peeves could be a terrific help with pranks, but he'd also been a favorite test subject for the Marauders . . . after Snape, of course. Naturally this wasn't something the poltergeist appreciated.
He walked closer. When he was two feet away, Peeves noticed him.
"Loony Loopy Lupin. Loony Loopy Lupin," he suddenly began to sing. At the sound of his last name, Remus remembered that he was now a teacher, and had a whole bunch of students behind him. He smiled at Peeves, and asked in his most polite tone:
"I'd take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you, Peeves. Mr. Filch won't be able to get in to his brooms." The students were watching him and Peeves as if they were at a tennis-match. If only they knew that we taught Peeves the trick with the gum . . . Peeves looked surprised, then blew a loud raspberry.
Lupin turned around to the class. This was actually a great opportunity to gain some respect. He knew exactly what he was going to do.
"This is a useful little spell," he told the class. "Please watch closely. Waddiwasi!"
The gum exploded out of the keyhole, catching Peeves in the face, who zoomed away spewing curses.
"Cool, sir!" said the boy who had seated himself next to Seamus.
"Thank you, Dean," Remus said, after peeking at the paper in his pocket. "Shall we proceed?"
He saw that the kids were less noisy and were looking at him in awe. He smiled more. This was definitely his day.
"Inside, please," he asked, when they arrived to the staff room.
He had anticipated a similar scene; there before him was Snape, lounging in the corner of the staffroom. Yesterday, he had put up a sign on the notice-board that he would use this hour for his class with the boggart. However, he knew, since his conversation with Snape the night of his arrival, that Snape would try to annoy him as much as possible. There was a nasty sneer around his mouth that confirmed Remus' suspicion.
"Leave it open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this."
He stood up and walked past them, When he was at the door, he turned around and said, "Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advice you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear."
Remus saw that one boy, who was standing not too far from Harry, turned scarlet and that Harry himself looked angry. Apperently, Remus thought, Harry and Snape aren't a good combination either. He decided that he would handle it in a polite teacher-way.
"I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation and I'm sure he will perform it admirably."
Snape's lip curled, but instead of another sneer, he snapped the door shut.
Snape, zero, Lupin, one, the voice in his head cheered.
Suddenly he remembered that Neville looked very familiar, and he realized with a pang that he must be the son of Frank and Alice. That meant that Snape had not only said it to humiliate Neville, but also to remind Remus of the evil in Sirius' family, to which his old friend had apparently succumbed; Sirius' cousin Bellatrix had tortured the Longbottoms into insanity.
He turned to walk past the class and toward the old wardrobe. There was still one mystery no one (now) but he and Sirius knew. Ought he to tell the ministry . . . ? He shook his head. That wasn't possible. He would then have to make it public that he was a werewolf, and that he had abused the trust of the one person who had never let him down: Albus Dumbledore. He realized that he could never do that, and without thinking more about it, he started the class.
"Now then." The wardrobe wobbled a bit, and he saw a few students stiffen, and move a bit back.
"Nothing to worry about," he said calmly. "There is a boggart in there."
Neville thought a bit differently about that, Remus saw. The boy was giving him a look of pure terror. He wasn't the only one, either; there were several students looking at their teacher as though he had just grown an extra head. Remus just continued calmly.
"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces. Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboard under the sinks – I once met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock." His mind wandered for a few moments back to the only time he had been at Sirius' house, where there was a clock which had stopped telling time, as a boggart had taken up residence inside. Quickly he switched back to the class. "This one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the Headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third-years some practice. So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a Boggart?"
Hermione's hand shot up like a rocket, and Lupin allowed her to answer.
To his surprise, she had apparently eaten the book they were to use in class; she gave the precise definition.
"It's a shape-shifter. It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."
He saw the class looking half-annoyed, and half admiring. This seemed to be something she did with every question, so Remus reminded himself that he would have to try another student later.
"Couldn't have put it better myself. So the boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let hem out, he will immediately become whatever of us most fears."
Remus heard a frightened noise from Neville, but chose to ignore it.
"This means, that we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?"
Harry was looking a bit surprised that Remus had chosen him, and was definitely annoyed that Hermione was nearly bursting out with the answer.
"Er- because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?"
"Precisely," Remus said, and he saw that Hermione was actually disappointed that harry knew the answer.
"It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse, or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a boggart make that very mistake – tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening." A few people smiled, and Remus knew that the little lie about him being there when such a thing occurred wouldn't be bad. If he told them that his best friend the mass-murder and his other best friend who'd been blown to bits by the first were the people afraid of corpses and slugs, and that his other best friend, the-father-of-the-boy-standing-in-front-of-him was the one who'd actually seen the boggart, it would quite ruin the moment. He continued his lesson.
"The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes of a boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing. We will practice the charm without wands first. After me please….. ridikulus!"
The class obeyed him "Ridikulus!"
"Good, very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is where you come in, Neville."
The boy he had just addressed came a bit forward, but looked frightened to death. Remus hoped that this would work properly, because he knew that Snape would find a way to hear about Neville's presentation.
"Right Neville, first things first: What would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"
There was a very faint whisper audible to Lupin, who stood next to him, but he saw from the class that they hadn't heard a word. That was all in one moment, because then, he heard the same voice cheering: Lupin, two, Snape, zero!
"Didn't catch that, Neville," he pretended cheerfully, while he thought about how he was going to handle this. He suddenly connected the dots: If Snape wanted him to realize what kind of impact Bellatrix had had on this boy's life, he would give Snape exactly what he wanted.
"Professor Snape," Neville repeated in a slightly louder.
The class was laughing, and Remus saw a rare grin on the face of the boy, who had been so frightened before.
"Professor Snape . . . Hmmm . . . Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?"
"Er-yes," came the nervous reply, "But- I don't want the Boggart to turn into her, either."
"No, no, you misunderstand me," said Remus, smiling. The plan in his head became clearer and clearer. "I wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?"
Glad to know the answer, but a bit surprised, Neville started to tell.
"Well . . . Always the same hat. A tall one with a stuffed vulture on top. And a long dress . . . Green, normally . . . and sometimes a fox-fur scarf."
The class started laughing.
"And a handbag?" Remus prompted. He wanted this to be good.
"A big red one," Neville answered.
"Right then," he heard himself say. The class turned a bit more silent again. "Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind's eye?"
"Yes," he heard Neville say in a bewildered tone.
"When the boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape. And you will raise your wand and cry 'Ridikulus!' and concentrate hard on your grandmother's clothes. If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into that vulture-topped hat, that green dress, that big red handbag."
The class started to laugh and Remus saw that the boggart was moving more violently in the wardrobe. He turned to the class; he had almost forgotten something.
"If Neville is successful, the boggart is likely to turn his attention to each of us in turn. I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most and imagine how you might force it to look comical . . ."
The students went quiet and Remus saw them each thinking hard. He tapped the paper, charmed in such a way that every child was carrying a name-label on the paper, which now also showed the exact location of the students. It had always been a handy little spell . . . He let his mind wander to how he could prevent the students from harming anyone in the following minutes. Remus looked at each of them. Ron had his eyes closed tightly and was whispering faintly; Seamus was staring at the ceiling. Lavender was looking at her own hands, Neville was staring a bit uncertainly at his fellow classmates. Remus knew that Neville probably found it a little bit unfair that the rest of the class didn't have to say their greatest fear in front of the class. Hermione was looking at her shoes and Parvati was inspecting her wand while she mumbled softly. Harry was staring out of the window . . .
Harry . . . what would his greatest fear be? Remus wondered. The boy had been through enough, but didn't seem very easily frightened. Perhaps it's Voldemort…
Before he could think any further he saw that most of the students were looking at him again, and were, apparently done with thinking.
"Everybody ready?" he asked. In his mind, he was still trying to find out how he could prevent Harry from showing his boggart. Voldemort caused full-blown panic among adult wizards; in a classroom it would be worse.
"Neville, we're going to back away. Let you have a clear field, all right?"
His mind was racing and to have a bit more control in the next situation, he said, " I'll call the next person forward . . . Everyone back now, so Neville can get a clear shot --"
The class moved away until they all stood with their backs against the opposite wall of the staffroom.
"On the count of three, Neville," he told the boy who was now standing alone in the middle of the room. Remus pointed his wand at the wardrobe.
"One -- " he saw that Harry stood somewhere along the line. "Two --" as long as he didn't tell him to, the boy probably wouldn't move. "Three!-now!" he told Neville, and his mind became completely focused on Neville and the boggart. The door of the wardrobe burst open and there stood Snape, sneer and all. Remus saw the boy stiffen and back away. The boggart came closer to Neville, who now stood as though he were made out of stone. For a moment, Remus thought that this was going very wrong, and that the boy would collapse at any second . . . and then he heard him squeak:
"R-r-ridikulus!"
The familiar whip-crack noise came and Snape tripped over his own robe. But wait -- the robe had suddenly changed to a green, lace-trimmed dress, while he also wore a hat, and carried a large crimson handbag. The class laughed their eyes out and Lupin saw the Snape looking confused.
"Parvati! Forward!"
The girl against the wall moved determinedly, while Neville joined his classmates. Remus watched Snape turn on her, and with the same whip-cracking noise, a bandaged and blood-stained mummy stood before them.
"Ridikulus!" Parvati shouted, and the mummy fell over his own bandages, his head rolling away. As he called the next student, it struck him that Parvati must have seen far too many Muggle cartoons as a child.
"Seamus!" he roared.
Seamus walked towards the boggart, and with a crack, the mummy suddenly changed into a banshee . . . She started to make an unearthly sound, but with a shout of "Ridikulus!" from Seamus, the banshee had lost her voice.
Crack, the boggart turned into a rat, crack, a rattlesnake, crack, it became an eyeball.
"It's confused!" Lupin shouted, who had thought suddenly of Mad-eye, upon seeing the eyeball rolling around on the floor. "We're getting there! Dean!" And Dean walked past Seamus to face the boggart.
Crack, the boggart changed into a hand. Apparently, Dean would get nightmares if he saw The Addams Family. Now that he thought about it: Remus hadn't seen that show anymore since he went to Hogwarts: Maybe it was really scary and he had just forgotten it.
"Ridikulus!" Dean shouted at the hand, and with another crack, the hand was suddenly trapped in a mousetrap.
"Excellent!" He said to his student and then to another one; " Ron, you next!"
Crack!
Remus heard some screams behind him, and he wouldn't be surprised if one of the girls had fainted. A giant spider came slowly toward Ron, his pincers clicking. How could Ron ever come up with something like that? His mind wandered. Ron seemed frozen, but just as Remus was about to intervene, the boy yelled: "Ridikulus!" and with another Crack, the eight legs seemed to disappear. It rolled and rolled, and Remus, looking at Ron's proud face instead of at the boggart, didn't notice soon enough that the thing was rolling past Parvati and towards Harry.
"Here!" He shouted just in time, and Remus moved quickly to Harry, who already had his wand raised high. With a crack, the boggart chose him, changing into a full moon. "Ridikulus!" he said, hoping that no one would make anything of it, and Crack, the boggart was at Neville's feet again, but now as a cockroach.
"Forward Neville, and finish him off!" he told the boy.
With a Crack, Snape was back, but not for long. Neville stepped forward, and shouted,
"Ridikulus!"
For a moment the vulture-stuffed hat and dress were back, but then Neville started laughing, and the boggart disappeared in wisps of smoke.
"Excellent!" Remus cried towards Neville, who was standing now proudly in the center of the room , while being applauded by his fellow students.
"Excellent, Neville. Well done, everyone. Let me see . . ..five points to Gryffindor for every person to tackle the boggart- ten for Neville because he did it twice--" Remus would like to see Gryffindor win the House Cup and this was a perfect way to help them to get there- "and five each to Hermione and Harry."
"But I didn't do anything," the boy interrupted. Harry sounded a bit disappointed.
"You and Hermione answered my questions correctly at the start of the class, Harry," he answered lightly. "Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson. Homework, kindly read the chapter on boggarts and summarize it for me. To be handed in on Monday. That will be all."
The class leaved, loudly discussing the lesson. Remus felt relieved that he didn't have another class this afternoon. He was exhausted, and felt stupid that he hadn't thought about Harry's boggart sooner. As he walked out of the room after replacing the chairs that had been knocked over by the giant spider, Professor Flitwick beamed at him.
Remus was about to close the door behind him, when suddenly he heard the high pitched voice of the tiny Professor saying, "I just saw your class and they were very enthusiastic. I suppose it went well, then?"
"Oh, yes, it went very well. Too well, actually," he mumbled as a reply.
Flitwick was looking at him questioningly and Remus said, to make it clear: "Neville Longbottom made his boggart disappear completely. I will have to find myself a new one before tomorrow morning, when I have the third year Ravenclaws."
Filius laughed.
"Well, then I will keep an eye open for you, Remus."
With that, Remus closed the door and turned around to walk back to his class. He almost bumped into Snape.
"I take it from the smile on your face that your class went well, even when I warned you that the Longbottom kid is a fool? Or did was his performance so abominable that you couldn't hold back your laughter in his presence?" The cold voice was filled with sarcasm and loathing.
But Remus had heard enough. Without saying anything, he smiled even more at Snape and walked past him. Knowing how the quickly the rumors spread in Hogwarts, Snape would find out soon enough exactly what had happened in the staffroom.
Okay a bit long, but I didn't find a perfect place to cut in two different chapters…
Please tell me what you liked and didn't like about this chapter, and especially the character of Remus: Do you have a different view about him? Share, and if I think you are right I will try to change him a bit….. in other words: review!