Remus Lupin
"You don't belong here."
"You're less than human."
"Nobody cares about you."
The voices echo as I go through the painful transformation, just like every month. I am not myself, I can't control what I do. Fear. Pain. Anger. Blood. Darkness. Something's gone wrong this time, I can feel it. As I turn back into a human and come back to my senses, I gape, horror and guilt washing over me… My three best friends, the few people that know my biggest secret and accept me for who I am are on the floor, covered in blood, dead because of me. It's all my fault.
I gasp loudly and wrench myself from my bed, feeling around me and realising it was only a nightmare. My biggest nightmare… Still breathing fast, drenched in sweat, I look around me and see Peter sleeping peacefully in his bed, snoring gently. James told me Sirius was off somewhere, being depressed about the fight they were in. When he's like that, it's best to leave him alone. I look at my watch, it's 6:45, there's no use going back back to sleep. I get in the shower and let all my worries disappear as the scalding hot water drips on my body. I sigh, my worst nightmare could become real on Friday, when it's full moon. I make my way down to the common room, hoping I can read a book while James, Sirius and Peter wake up. I frown when I see Sirius sleeping like the dead on the sofa, next to the fireplace. I shake him awake and say:
"Sirius? Why are you here?"
He groans and shakes himself awake as I watch, confused. If Padfoot was as drunk as Prongs said he was, why was he lying comfortably on the couch covered in a cozy blanket. I knew Sirius well enough that he wouldn't have made it there, he would have passed out on the floor…
"Oh man, what happened?" asks Sirius groggily
"According to James, you got into a fight with the Slytherins and then you disappeared and got drunk." I informed him
"Oh right…" he mumbles
"And you smell awful so I suggest you take a shower before we go to Charms class." I joked, trying to interpret his reaction towards the memory of the fight
"Those bastards! How could they do that?" he hisses, bolting from the couch
I stopped him anxiously, scared that he was going to do something that would get himself expelled or even thrown in Azkaban. To be honest, he looks like he could kill them without regretting it for one second.
"Padfoot, stop! You can't do this, you'll get yourself expelled. I know what they did was horrible, but we can get them back some other way…" I gasp frantically, blocking the portrait door as he tried to force himself out. Almost as fast as he had started his fit, he flopped back on the sofa, rubbing his head in exhaustion.
"We'll get them back alright. It'll be horrible. They'll wish they had never come across us." he says darkly, rage in his eyes
His words left me uneasy but I force them out of my mind as I order him away to take a much-needed shower.
I walked in the Great Hall with James, Peter and Sirius. I breathe in the heavenly smells of the waffles, they're my favorite breakfast food. I'm about to help myself to a large plate when we see a large group of Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs arguing loudly, all pointing at a piece of paper I couldn't see well.
"Shouldn't you break them up?" I ask James, smirking
"Why?" he replies, confused, his eyes searching for his girlfriend, Elizabeth Fawley a.k.a "The Claw". Sirius rolls his eyes and says smirking just like me:
"Because you're Head Boy!"
At that we all laugh, seeing his horrified reaction.
"Why can't you do that Moony? You're a Prefect!" he cringes, looking at the crowd
"Nonsense, they'll listen to you!" laughs Sirius
It's true that James and Sirius have fanclubs of their own (those poor girls) and are well respected. However, should James go tell them to stop, he would get laughed for he's a pranker and loves breaking rules… Seeing him actually dock points and give detentions would leave people shocked. People respect me too, and I guess I have more authority but I want to see how our new Head Boy will handle this situation.
"Everybody, calm down! What's going on?" a perplexed voice rings
Looks like our Head Girl Lily Evans beat James to the job. She was a prefect, like me, so you can say she has a lot of experience. She's good at following rules, but she knows how to have fun every once in awhile too… We've been friends for a couple of years now, and she never changes: she's more stubborn than anyone in Hogwarts. She marches up to the group and demands to see the paper they're all talking about. I'm expecting to be an ugly picture of a Slytherin or some other immature prank, and expect Lily to dock points and throw it away. However, it doesn't go that way. Not at all. I get confused when I see that the paper is the Daily Prophet… As Lily scans it, frowning, she goes white and her mouth falls open in shock. I glance at James, Sirius and Peter, they're weirded out too. Is the picture that ugly?
"Lily what's wrong?" I ask, worrying, is she ok?
The crowd gives her a few satisfied looks, they know she won't get them in trouble.
"Alright, this is taking too long, give me the sodding article!" Sirius growls impatiently, snatching the article away from her, reading it as fast as he can, James and I reading over his shoulder.
Mr. Lestrange, a professor at Hogwarts, a Death Eater?
Mr. Rodolphus Lestrange has been teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts for a year, having arrived later in the last school year. Yesterday (September 12 1977) Lestrange was caught by Barty Crouch Senior next to the Fawley household, setting the Dark Mark in the sky. He was accompanied by two unknown Death Eaters who disapparated on the spot when Barty Crouch came in to check on the family. "I believe that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his followers [they call themselves Death Eaters] were trying to recruit that night, for the Fawley family is pureblood. From what we found in the house, it looks like they refused and got murdered. Everyone is in danger now, not only the muggle-borns, the purebloods are being forced to join. We must take extra safety measures, and for this reason I believe that Aurors should be allowed to use the Unforgivable Curses when trying to catch a death eater. This is for our own safety" Barty Crouch says, demanding a change of law. Wizards at the ministry have mixed feelings about this change, it may not happen after all. Cassandra Fawley (nee Abbott) and her husband Marc Fawley were found murdered in their living room, the murder was done with Rodolphus Lestrange's wand. Marc Fawley was a hard-working man who worked in the Department of Intoxicating Substances, and Cassandra Fawley was a kind, sweet woman who was a Healer at St. Mungo's. We shall miss them greatly. Lestrange pleads not guilty even though all the evidence is pointing towards him. Barty Crouch and many others demand a life sentence in Azkaban for this cruelty. It looks like Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, made a big mistake in appointing Mr. Lestrange as a teacher… He could have gotten other students to join, therefore enlarging the growing army of Death Eaters. Can we trust Dumbledore's judgement? An investigation is going on for the professors at Hogwarts, they are being questioned and their offices are being searched. How safe is Hogwarts is these times of war?
More on page 3
I gape as I read and re-read the article, not believing what I see. The DADA professor is a death eater? James's girlfriend Elizabeth's family got murdered? Barty Crouch says Aurors should use Unforgivable Curses in order to catch the Death Eater? How big is this war going to get? Is my family in danger? All these question buzz around in my head, I sit down, trying to absorb all this information. Sirius is like me, he looks shocked. James reads the article fast, horror growing on his face, then dashes off to the Ravenclaw dormitory. I know that he's going to comfort his girlfriend, she must be in a really bad place right now. Poor her, I shouldn't have called her "The Claw". Everyone starts arguing again. Lily's face is like stone, revealing no emotion. She runs off with Alice Prewett, presumably to tell her friends this shocking news.
"So who's gonna be the DADA teacher now?" Sirius asks, frowning
"No idea, but they'll find one, we can't not have Defense in our NEWT year!" I say, wondering who Dumbledore's going to pick.
"Yeah, how would we be able to get our jobs?" Peter says
I feel a twinge of regret as he says this. Everybody else is free to pick whatever job they want, so long as they work hard, but I can't because I'm a werewolf. No one will want to hire a werewolf, I'm lucky to even go to school. I'd like to be a teacher but I doubt that dream will ever come true…
James sees my face and pats my back reassuringly.
"Don't worry, Moony, I'm sure you'll get a job, no one will resist someone as hardworking as you." he soothes
"Yeah right, they'll just be worried I'd bite their head off." I say sarcastically
"Cheer up, Moony, think about something else. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Sirius says
"I don't think this is supposed to be a day to be happy." I say morosely, gesturing at the gray sky, the somber or miserable faces, the quiet arguments.
"How's Elizabeth, by the way?" I ask James
"Pretty badly. I skived off a few classes this morning to stay with her, but now I think she just wants to be alone. I'll go and see her after dinner and get comfort food from the kitchens with a few blankets." James informs
"And the Boyfriend of the Year Award goes too…" mutters Sirius
"Aw, come on, you know we can't do the prank today. Besides, her parents got murdered, how would you feel?" James asks rhetorically
"Nothing at all." Sirius says, but he accepts James's point of view
"I hope there won't be more attacks. Good thing my parents went into hiding." James shivers. His family is quite famous for being all pureblood, so being on our side, they went into hiding about a month ago.
"I don't think my family needs to do that, my dad's a pureblood but my mum's a muggle-born." I say, hoping it's true
"Anyway, I think I should go see Evans and tell her it wasn't me." James announces, rising from his chair in the common room.
"Good luck." I say, because he'll need it. Lily's too stubborn to change her mind. However she might be more appeased today, after hearing about the attacks. Everyone's too depressed to have a shouting match, or even an argument… It's actually been a long time since they've actually talked alone. After the summer of Fifth Year, he had grown up. He wasn't pining after Lily Evans anymore and quit annoying her and being arrogant and cocky. I think happened between them that summer but he hasn't said anything about it. I know Lily knows about it too, but she won't tell either… Anyway, when they got into Sixth Year, there were a few arguments here and there, but mostly they stopped speaking to each other. I guess he got over her, though after 4 years of asking her out, that's hard to believe. But now he's got a girlfriend, so I guess he doesn't love her anymore. I guess Lily's relieved… I watch as James walks confidently to the library. As soon as he's gone, Sirius and pulls out the Invisibility Cloak and motions for me to get under it with him. I frown, where does he want to go?
"Come on Moony, we can't miss this." he says
I roll my eyes, he wants to spy on James and Lily's conversation! Whatever, I'd like to see it too. I just hope James doesn't catch us.
"Fine." I say, shaking my head in amusement as I get under the cloak with him.
We dash off to the library, eager to see the outcome.