CHAPTER 5: First Class

James opened his eyes in the morning to the sight of the drapes of his four-poster bed in the Gryffindor dormitory that he shared with Sirius, Peter and Remus. He grinned as he stretched and sat up. His first proper day at Hogwarts. Today he would be attending classes and learning all about magic and he couldn't wait.

The room was arranged with two beds on each side of the room. James's bed was on the right hand side next to the door with Sirius next to him by the window. Peter was opposite Sirius, also next to the window with Remus next to him nearest the bathroom. Each of them had their curtains pulled over; concealing them from sight but from the soft breathing and silence in the room James knew that he was the only one awake. Smirking, he stood up as quietly as he could and tip toed around the room, opening all of the curtains of his friend's beds. Sirius looked so strange sleeping. Awake he looked so powerful but asleep he looked so harmless. Peter looked very wimpy asleep, curling up into a little ball and he kept twitching his nose. Remus looked frankly quite worrying asleep. With his pale complexion and thin hair falling about his face he looked almost fragile and James nearly had second thoughts about his plan, but nevertheless got back on his own bed, stood up and leaped onto Sirius's bed.

'WAKE UP SIRIUS! WAKE UP!' he yelled, jumping up and down. He proceeded to do the same to Peter and Remus in turn, though not as roughly to the latter and round and round until they had all woken up.

'Blimey, James, could you not have just set an alarm for us like any normal person?' Sirius yawned, pulling himself into an upright position and stretching.

'Yeah, did you have to wake us up like that?' Peter asked, rubbing his back from when he had leaped out of bed in fright and landed on the ground.

'It's not my fault you fell out of bed, Pete. And what would be the fun in an alarm? I'm surprised you even asked that, Sirius,' he responded.

Remus sat up in bed and looked at his friends. James was standing in the middle of the room, completely wide-awake and practically bouncing up and down in excitement for the day ahead. Sirius's hair was sticking up in all directions and Peter was sitting on the floor, looking tired and confused as if he was trying to figure out he had got there. It was still hard for Remus to believe that he was really here, in the Gryffindor dormitory, in Hogwarts School, with friends. He grinned and jumped out of bed to stand by James, all tiredness gone. Still, he wasn't going to let the black haired boy get away with waking him up in such a way. He winked at Sirius and tipped his head in the direction of James's bed and smiled. Sirius grinned back. Remus pushed James as hard as he could into the bed and Sirius wrapped him up in the curtains and sheets and they all stood back and watch the boy flail about in a vain attempt to untangle himself.

'Remus! Sirius! Get me out of here! Peter, help!'

Laughing, the three boys stepped forward and helped James escape from the labyrinth of material.

'Come on, guys, we're going to be late for breakfast if we don't get a move on,' James grinned, unperturbed by what had just happened.

Then James, Sirius and Peter all turned and began to get changed in the room. Remus bit his lip and looked around nervously. He opened his trunk, pulled out his robes and retreated to the bathroom to get changed in private. As the door closed the other three boys looked up at each other and shrugged, confused.

Inside the bathroom, Remus began to get changed, pulling his clothes on slowly wincing slightly as they went over his wounds from the last full moon. Werewolf wounds were cursed and could never heal up properly, the proof being in the countless scars all over the small boy's body. A werewolf bit Remus when he was merely four years old and seven years of turning into the beast once a month had taken its toll and left its fair share of injuries as the wolf attacked itself because of the lack of food. Each month, Remus would be locked up in his basement and chained to the floor so that when he transformed he couldn't get loose. Although he knew it was a necessity, Remus still didn't like it. He got changed in the bathroom in silence. If his roommates found out about his lycanthropy they wouldn't want to be friends with him anymore. They would be afraid of him and the monster he was and if they saw all of his scars there would be questions. Questions that he wouldn't know how to answer and he couldn't let that happen. It has to be secret. No one can know.

The four boys sat in the Great Hall eating breakfast. A loud rumbling noise was heard and several screeches as a huge flock of owls swooped into the hall to deliver mail. All four of the boys received letters, which they opened eagerly, except Sirius, who started at his with a look of deepest loathing. It was bright red and starting to smoke slightly.

'Is that a Howler?' James said incredulously. 'Blimey, Sirius, it's only the first day! What could you possibly have done to deserve a Howler already?'

'Oh, I've got a pretty good idea,' Sirius replied, glancing down at his Gryffindor tie.

'Aren't you going to open it?' asked Peter.

'Suppose I have to, don't I?'

Suddenly the screech of Walburga Black rung throughout the Great Hall, projected to twice its normal volume causing Peter to yelp and fall out of his chair in shock, James's mouth to hang open and Remus to quickly cover his ears. Sirius just sat and glared at the letter with as straight a face as he could muster despite the rage that was pulsing through his veins.

'SIRIUS ORION BLACK! HOW DARE YOU?! A GRYFFINDOR?! I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WAS GOING TO DIE OF SHAME WHEN WE HEARD! YES, I CAN SEE YOU KNOW, FRATERNISING WITH HALF BLOODS AND MUDBLOODS AND EVERY OTHER KIND OF FILTH AND SCUM! YOU'VE DISGRACED THE NAME OF THE MOST NOBLE AND ANCIENT HOUSE OF BLACK! DOESN'T THAT NAME MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU?! I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN YOU WERE GOING TO BE NOTHING BUT A DISAPPOINTMENT! - '

Walburga Black continued in this way for almost five complete minutes until she finally finished with a loud scream and the Howler burst into flames and was gone.

A stunned silence echoed around the Great Hall, broken by the Slytherins jeering and laughing at Sirius, whose hands were now shaking in rage.

'I, um, I take it that was your mother,' James said, stunned.

'Unfortunately,' Sirius hissed through gritted teeth.

Remus reached forward and swept the ashes off the table and away from Sirius who just continued to stare at them with such anger in his eyes that Remus was waiting for the ashes to be set on fire all over again.

'Thanks, Remus,' Sirius whispered.

'It's okay. It can't be easy having a mother like that. Was it her that gave you the bruise on your eye?'

'Yeah, yeah it was. Charming woman,' Sirius said with as much contempt in his voice as he could possibly get. 'Not that it matters. I'm away from them all now.'

Immediately brightening up at this thought, Sirius grabbed the closest food to him, which was sausages, and began to throw them down, grinning. At this moment sheets of paper in the form of timetables began to fly around the room.

'Ok, so Transfiguration first,' Sirius read out, having gotten his timetable first as was the alphabetical order. The rest of the boys nodded.

'Any idea where the classroom is?' Remus asked.

'Not a clue,' James replied, receiving his own timetable.

'Should we leave now then, in case we get lost,' Peter suggested, ogling his own timetable as if it were written in a foreign language.

'Suppose we'd better. I wouldn't want to see McGonagall mad. Well, not on the first day, at least,' Sirius agreed, winking.

The four boys stood up and headed out of the Great Hall with their bags slung over their shoulders and set off, although they didn't know it, in the completely wrong direction.

The door of the Transfiguration classroom opened with a BANG and James, Sirius, Peter and Remus toppled through it onto the floor.

'Well, thank you for joining us gentlemen,' Professor McGonagall said, looking down on the four boys currently trapped in a tangle of limbs on the ground.

'Sorry, Professor, we got lost,' Remus replied, standing up and dusting himself off.

'Then perhaps a map?' the Professor suggested, glaring at the four boys. Her gaze softened and she sighed. 'Take a seat,' she instructed, pointing at four vacant seats in the back corner.

'Oh, Mr Lupin, Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office,' Professor McGonagall said, peering over at the boy who was already deep in conversation with the other three latecomers.

Remus looked up at her in confusion, a nervous feeling fluttering in his stomach. Sirius, James and Peter stared at him in amazement and confusion. He had done nothing wrong, why was he being summoned to the headmaster's office, of all places? After a shared worried glance from his friends, Remus stood up and walked to the front of the class. Professor McGonagall handed him a note with the password to Dumbledore's office and a hurriedly drawn map, and he left the classroom.

'Sugar Quill?' Remus said.

A large gargoyle leapt out of the way to reveal a spiral staircase that the small boy began to ascend. A large door was at the top of it, which Remus knocked nervously.

'Ah, Mr Lupin! Come in, come in,' Professor Dumbledore said, cheerful as ever. Remus entered the large room and looked around. It was amazing. All of the headmasters's magical possessions had their own place and looked magnificent. Remus felt various eyes watching him and turned to see portraits of all of the old headmasters of Hogwarts smiling down at him except one, who seemed to be glaring. This headmaster had the label 'Phineas Nigellus Black'. Remus wondered if he was any relation to Sirius and made a mental note to ask him later. Approaching the headmaster's desk, where Dumbledore was waiting for him, Remus noticed a most magnificent bird perched beside what looked like a Sneakoscope. The bird had an outstanding plumage of red and gold and long tail feathers.

'Ah, I see you have met Fawkes. I trust you know what kind of creature he is?'

'Is he a phoenix, sir?' Remus asked, staring at the bird in awe.

'He is indeed! And pleasant as he may be, it is not because of him that I have summoned you here today. Please, take a seat,' Dumbledore said, pointing to the empty seat on the other side of his desk, which Remus took.

'Now, Mr Lupin, as I'm sure you are aware, the full moon is little under two weeks away and I wanted to explain to you what will happen when the time arrives for your transformation to take place. Madam Pomfrey!'

At this a kind looking woman entered and smiled at Remus before taking a seat next to Dumbledore.

'Mr Lupin, this is Madam Pomfrey, the school matron and nurse. On the night of the full moon, one hour before your transformation, you will go down to the Hospital Wing and meet Madam Pomfrey there. She will then take you out to the Whomping Willow.'

'I thought you said all students were forbidden from going near the tree, sir? You said so at the start of term feast,' Remus asked, at which Professor Dumbledore smiled.

'I'm glad you don't talk as much as your friends Mr Potter and Mr Black, as I'm sure they were paying no attention to my speech at all. But in response to your question, you are an exception to the rule, Mr Lupin. I promise you will not receive detention for going there with Madam Pomfrey,' Dumbledore smiled. 'There is a knot in the trunk of the tree which, when pressed, will freeze the branches temporarily, giving you enough time to enter the tunnel situated just by the roots. This tunnel will lead you to a large building near Hogsmeade called the Shrieking Shack where you will transform and be collected again in the morning.'

'Near Hogsmeade? What if I get loose? I could bite anyone!' Remus said, looking worried.

'I myself have put enchantments on the building to ensure that you will not be able to leave and no one else will be able to enter until the full moon has passed. You, and everyone else, will be completely safe,' the headmaster answered, smiling kindly.

A sudden realisation made Remus put his head in his hands and groaned, 'The Whomping Willow was planted for me, wasn't it?'

'Yes, for your protection and for those around you,' Madam Pomfrey said, speaking up for the first time. 'Now, if you will follow me, I will show you the way to the Hospital Wing so you will know how to get there when the time comes.'

She stood up to leave with another smile to Remus, who turned to Professor Dumbledore and said a quick 'Thank you sir' before following the nurse out of the office and down to the hospital.

'I can't believe Remus missed the whole of Transfiguration,' said Peter.

'Lucky him. That McGonagall can be a right battleaxe,' Sirius hissed.

'I got told that she was strict but honestly, she surely can't be serious about taking 10 points from us for having a bit of fun,' James huffed.

'Well, you were trying to transfigure each other instead of the match you were given-'

'SHUT IT, PETE!'

'Why, what's he done?'

James, Sirius and Peter jumped to hear the unexpected voice behind them. Remus looked at them with large, curious, slightly amused eyes.

'Why were you at Dumbledore's office, Remmy?' Sirius asked.

'Remmy?' Remus said, crinkling his nose. 'Don't call me that, my name is Remus.'

'It's called a nickname, Remmy. But that doesn't answer my question. What did Dumbledore want?'

'Just, um, I, that I, erm, that, my dad was attacked when he was working,' Remus improvised.

'Oh God, Rems, I'm sorry. He's an Auror, isn't he? Is he ok?' James asked with genuine concern in his voice.

'Yes, yes he is. But yes, he'll be fine. Professor Dumbledore just thought it best that I found out through him and not through someone else or the Daily Prophet.'

'Yeah, of course. Well, we brought your bag with us. But we'd better hurry up or else we'll be late for Potions,' Peter reminded them.

The four set of to their next class, chatting as if nothing had happened. Remus joined in, but he couldn't help but think that he had just lied to his friends and he felt awful about it, yet he knew that he would have to keep doing it. His whole life was a lie because he was a monster. A lying monster pretending to be someone else. Remus was a terrible liar and he knew it. How was he supposed to keep it up?

Safe in the thought that the full moon was a whole two weeks away, he pushed the thought to the back of his mind and walked onwards with his friends, ready for the rest of his first day of classes at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.