Such joy I had not felt in a long time. It was a pure feeling of bliss, as if my entire life were about to change for the better. I felt hope flicker in my heart. I couldn't help but love this man, Dumbledore, even though I never met him, he gave me a chance.

I met with Professor Dumbledore for the first time that morning. I will never forget it. We had flooed to his office, and I was in awe when I stepped out of the huge fireplace into the amazing circular room. I took in everything at once, drinking the scene like water. I longed to go over and examine the in numerous objects on various shelves and desks, all emitting clouds of various coloured smoke. On a perch at his side sat a bird of brilliant red and gold plumage. It looked me in the eye when I walked in, and I recognized it as a phoenix. My respect for Dumbledore increased, if possible, to an even greater extent; only the wisest and most pure could befriend phoenixes.

Professor Dumbledore himself was dressed in robes of deep navy blue, his silvery beard reflecting the light streaming through a window near his desk. He was a wizard. There was no other way to describe him. He sat in his chair so serenely, his eyes telling that his brilliant mind was miles away. He greeted my parents and smiled warmly at me.

"I am Professor Albus Dumbledore," he said with a smile and twinkle in his eyes, "And you must be Remus Lupin." I nodded.

"I am aware of what happened to you Remus, as a matter of fact, your father informed me shortly after you were bitten." He looked at me seriously over the top of his half-moon spectacles.

I became dimly aware of the portraits in the room, which I took to be sleeping listening in on our conversation intently. One in particular, a portrait of an old man staring fixedly at me, caught my eye. The plaque under the portrait read Armando Dippet. I instantly understood why he had been he who was staring at me unblinkingly; it was he who had been so intent on keeping me out of Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore seemed to have read my thoughts because he said "I understand that Professor Dippet was against your admittance to Hogwarts, but I feel, I mean, I know that we can make accommodations for you…no child should be refused a place at Hogwarts if they show magical ability."

He winked at me, while Professor Dippet in the portrait huffed.

"Would you care for some lemon drops?" he asked me serenely. I shook my head, my reverence for Professor Dumbledore growing with every passing second.

He talked with my parents for a while, discussing my condition, all the while including me in the conversation. In the end, we decided on a course of action on the nights of my transformations. I was to go to Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, and she would lead me out onto the grounds towards the whomping willow tree that was to be planted on the entrance of a tunnel leading to a house in Hogsmeade, the neighbouring town, where I could transform away from the other children.

I could hardy believe my ears. I was so very happy. It was as if all my wildest dreams came true. Still dazed, I flooed back home with my parents. Stepping out of the fireplace, my mum scooped me up in a grand hug, and spun around in a circle. I was surprised to see she was crying and smiling. She put me back on the ground, and wiped the tears out of her eyes. My dad was smiling ear to ear.

"Let's go out and celebrate!" he said.

We went out for supper and tea in London that night and my parents took me to the Muggle cinema. It was wonderful. As I went to bed that night, I couldn't help but feel that my life was perfect.

One Saturday morning after school ended, I awoke and went to my window to misty grey skies. Although many people hated the rain, I didn't mind it. Today was the day that my parents were going to bring me to Diagon Alley to buy my supplies for Hogwarts; nothing was going to bring me down. I scrambled into my clothes, and headed downstairs to a quick breakfast.

My parents seemed just as excited as I did. My dad was grinning into his morning paper, and my mum was beaming over the toast. I couldn't help but grin.

As soon as we finished eating breakfast, I helped my mum to clean up the dishes. We headed to the fireplace intending to floo into The Leakey Cauldron. As I stepped into the dimly lit pub, I brushed the soot and ash off my clothing. My mum looked at me with a grin.

She said, "Ah, I remember, you don't like floo, do you?"

"It doesn't matter," I responded, still grinning. Nothing was going to upset me today.

We stepped out behind the pub into the courtyard. I looked up at the grey sky, but noticed that the clouds were breaking and in some places, feeble sunlight was showing through. My dad took out his wand and tapped the right bricks, opening the archway to Diagon Alley.

After a quick stop at Gringotts Wizarding Bank, we headed out onto the cobblestone streets to get my supplies. Although I had been there before, Diagon Alley always impressed me. The large number of unusual shops and restaurants always caught my attention, as did the people chattering under the large and colourful umbrellas. I loved observing people and learning about them.

Our first stop was Madam Malkin's, where we bought my school robes. My dad was making funny faces at me while Madam Malkin was measuring me for my robes, and my mum looked on the verge of "happy tears" as she called them.

Next we stopped at the Apothecary, where we stocked up on potions supplies. It was one of the most unusual shops I had ever seen.

After buying my cauldron, scales, quills, ink, and parchment, we headed to Flourish and Blots, the wizard book store. My eyes lit up as I saw the stacks of books. My dad groaned.

"Remus, this is going to be an 'in and out' sort of thing, we are not spending all day in a ruddy bookstore," he said.

I sighed. I could live in a bookstore…provided I had food. But I nodded. We purchased my school books, while I looked longingly at the shelves. My dad disappeared while we were on line to make our purchase, and re-appeared with arms filled with books.

"Here," he said handing them to me "I grabbed all your favourites."

I smiled. "Thanks dad." He grinned back, "Don't read them all tonight! This is for you to read at Hogwarts." His voice cracked a bit as he said the last word, and he grinned sheepishly at me. I hugged him.

Our last stop was going to be Ollivander's wand shop. But mum had to practically pry us away from Quality Quidditch Supplies. My dad winked at me and bent close to my ear where he whispered, "It's a shame first years can't have brooms, but for your next birthday, I'm going to buy you a broom."

"REALLY?!" I said excitedly. He nodded.

We finally reached Ollivander's. I looked into the dusty glass display case featuring a single wand lying on a cushion. I stepped into the dark shot. It took me a long time to get used the gloom. A single chair sat in the middle of the room. All the walls were cramped by towering shelves filled with boxes. My parents followed me into the room. My mum walked up to the counter, and called out "hello?" Mr. Ollivander popped out from the shadows between shelves, and responded, "Ah, Mrs. Lupin. It's been a while, I wager?"

He walked out towards us. "And Mr. Lupin, 9 inches, oak, dragon heartstring surprisingly springy?" My dad nodded with a smile on his face.

"And my dear Mrs. Lupin…ah yes, I remember, 8½ inches, unicorn hair, firm, ash?"

"You have a good memory Mr. Ollivander."

"I remember every wand I have even sold." His pale eyes turned to me. "Aha! Young Mr. Lupin. I wonder…Well, step up lad!"

I started, and quickly walked up to him. He took out a silver tape measure, and it began to measure the length of my arm the span of my hand, my height, the circumference of my head…

"Which is your wand arm?" he asked turning his back towards me, and heading off towards the shelves.

"Left" I called after him. The measuring tape took that particular opportunity to measure the width of my mouth. I looked at my parents helplessly as it began measuring my ears.

"Is this necessary?" I mouthed.

My parents shook with silent laughter.

Mr. Ollivander returned a thin box in his hand. "Cut that out," he said to the measuring tape that was trying to measure the width of my nostrils. It fell to the floor in a crumpled heap.

He took the wand out of the case, and handed it to me. "7 ½ inches, yew and unicorn hair...rather firm…give it a wave." I waved the wand about.

He took it out of my hands almost immediately.

"No…try this…Willow, wispy, and dragon heart string, 10 inches." I waved it again, only to have it taken away.

The pile of wands I tried grew steadily taller. Ollivander seemed to be enjoying himself. I was wondering what he was looking for. At the same time, I began to worry that the reason I was not finding the "perfect wand" was because I was a werewolf.

"Try this one," he said finally. "9 3/4 inches rowan, and phoenix feather, powerful wand." As I took it, I felt warmth fill my fingers and it spread up my arm. I brought the wand down, and a whoosh noise sounded accompanied by gold and silver sparks.

"Perfect," he said.

We paid for the wand and left. Chattering as we flooed back home, now weighed down with our parcels. We chattered on the way home.

That night I took my wand in my hands an examined it closely. The wood gleamed in the moonlight. I rest it on my bed-side table and fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow….today had been a splendid day. Splendid and tiring.

Again, sorry about the delay. My life has become surprisingly hectic. I am going to try to update more frequently, but I will try my best. I hope you liked this chapter. It was by far the hardest for me to write. Hope your holidays were wonderful, and Happy New Year to All.