Chapter Six

The day of the full moon was a day that Remus Lupin both dreaded and anticipated. Once again, he would have to take the wolfsbane potion. He would be again forced to transform into a large wolf. Again, the next day he would not be able to do anything but recuperate.

However, Lin had stayed with him and kept him company at his last transformation. No one had done that since his school days, and those were long gone. That same point was also a sore point. She was so much younger than him. She should not be spending time with an old werewolf, especially not during transformation.

Despite that, something kept nagging at the back of his mind. She seemed to be a normal seventh year NEWT student. Under that guise, there was something very odd about that girl. The way she spoke, never using contractions or slang, always speaking concisely and to the point, it was more than unusual for someone of her age. She seemed wise far beyond her years, more so than almost any of the Hogwarts staff. In all of his classes, she had gotten every single spell right the first time with absolutely no hesitation. Every paper was perfectly written and exactly correct. Even aside from all of that, there was something off about her. She was powerful. How much so, he dare not find out. He had heard the story from Flitwick of her creating a wandless wordless Patronus. In fact, she could probably take her DADA NEWT the very next day and get an O.

That same night, many of Lupin's questions would be answered. However, the answers would raise far more questions than he already had. His curiosity would be peaked, forcing him to search for an answer that he would not find except directly from the source.

ooooooooooo

That evening, Lin once again walked right into Lupin's office without knocking. She looked around but walked straight to the fire and sat down. "Come on over, Lupin. I have some things to tell you," she called into the seemingly empty room.

Seconds later, the wolf trotted over to her and laid down with his head on her lap again. Lin smiled before growing serious again. "I think it rather unfair that I know so much about you and your condition, yet you know nothing about me. I also suppose you've been rather curious as to what I am," she began.

Lin looked down at the werewolf and said, "Do not look so eager. I am not going to tell you everything. This is more of a nudge in the right direction to get you off my back," she said sternly to him.

Lupin let out a whine and lifted his head up to look her in the eye.

"Do not try that. It will not work. Now, settle down. You should be happy I am telling you anything at all," she said, taping his nose once. The werewolf obeyed, setting his head down once more on her leg.

Lin resumed her stroking and took a deep breath before she began. "As you have undoubtedly surmised, I am not human. I will not specify what exactly I am, and I doubt you will find any clues in the school library."

"You will remember that I have an O in your class. I have the same grade in every class. I have learned all of this before, but that would be unnecessary because I can remember things once I have heard them once. That means that it appears as though I get every spell, every potion, and every instruction right on the first try because I already know all of it. In the past, some teachers have been suspicious, but none delved so deeply nor behaved so persistently as you. You may assume from that knowledge that my lifespan is considerably greater than that of humans."

"The next part may come as slightly more of a shock. I have lived at Hogwarts for the past 87 years. At first, I took a few years to understand the language and customs before I posed as a student to learn magic. I already knew my form of magic, but to blend in I needed to use a wand."

"As you have noticed, most of the physical aspects of my race are similar to, if not identical, humans. You may think me small, but I am of a normal size for my race. The other differences in appearance will offer you the largest clues as to what I am. I will save that for a bit later. Undoubtedly, you will know what I am once you have seen them."

"Now, shall we see how far you have progressed with the Phantom of the Opera?" she asked, standing.

Lupin the wolf leapt up and sped over to the desk. There, sitting conspicuously at the centre, was the same copy of Gaston Leroux's horror novel. An aged, wrinkling bookmark had marked the place, significantly farther along than last time. She smiled seeing that and brought the book back over. From then on, the events of that night echoed those of the previous full moon.