A/N: Here comes the next chapter. Hope you enjoy. I borrowed Anu's name and the title for this chapter from The Lord of the Rings, fyi. It's the name of Aragorn's sword after it was reforged from the remains of Narsil (actually it's spelled Andúril and not Anduríl but who cares, right?).
Chapter 5 – Anduríl
Professor McGonagall's study was small and simple furnished. Apart from a large fireplace there was only her desk, her chair – which looked rather uncomfortable – and two straight-backed wooden armchairs she'd pulled out from a corner and placed in front of the desk for the two boys to sit on – which definitely were uncomfortable. A high window showed the inky black night sky. There were no pictures or paintings on the walls or on her desk.
Sirius sat on his chair indifferently, taking in every detail of the room with mild interest. He glanced at the sick looking boy next to him – Lupin. The name sounded vaguely familiar.
Professor McGonagall placed the puppy on top of her desk and watched it for a moment. It was a pretty dog with triangular ears and very soft, storm-grey fur. Its electric blue eyes were fixed on Sirius and it looked as if it had just peed on its master's new carpet, knowing exactly what a bad thing that was to do. Sirius gave it a very small smile to reassure it which was caught immediately by Professor McGonagall.
"What's so funny, Mr Black?" she snapped.
"I didn't-"
She held out her hand to silence him and pulled out her wand. She gave it a small flick in the direction of a filing cabinet which stood at the wall behind his back – Sirius hadn't noticed it until now. The bottom drawer creaked open and with a lot of papery rustling a piece of heavy, yellowish parchment came soaring out. For a moment it hovered in mid-air before it threw itself on Sirius's lap. He picked it up curiously and looked at it. It was a Hogwarts list of requirements, just like the one he'd received last summer attached to his letter of admittance to Hogwarts.
"I believe you are capable of reading, Mr Black?" Professor McGonagall said curtly. "Be so kind and read the last paragraph for me, will you?" she flicked her wand again and the last few lines of the letter started to highlight themselves.
Sirius frowned at her and then started to read the marked piece, "…students may also bring an owl or a toad or a cat-"
"Well done, Mr Black. So you can read" she said softly. "Perhaps you can explain to me why you brought a dog to school, then?"
"I…didn't think-"
"Clearly."
"Err, Professor? How come there are no dogs allowed at school?" the Lupin-kid piped up in a small voice. Sirius looked at him in mild surprise. That was none of his business, so why would he get involved? Lupin avoided eye-contact with either him or Professor McGonagall but kept his gaze fixed on the puppy on the desk instead. His cheeks displayed a vivid red.
Professor McGonagall turned on him, "Because it's a school-rule, for one! It is not for a student – especially a first-year – to decide which rules will be obeyed and which ignored!"
"I can see that. But why is it a rule anyway? What is the big difference between a cat and a dog for example?" Lupin said, finally screwing up his courage and facing McGonagall's furious glare.
"…apart from the obvious, I mean" he added hastily, his blush spreading to his ears.
She just stared at him wordlessly for a moment before she said, "Every animal allowed in this school serves a certain purpose and that's why they are permitted. An owl for example is an essential means of communication for every student. That's why we even provide school-owls so that even those who haven't got an owl themselves are able to stay in touch with their families at home. Toads are often used in Transfiguration or Potions and are therefore very useful, if not very aesthetic to the eye."
"And what about cats? What are they good for?" Sirius argued hotly.
"A cat, Mr Black" McGonagall said icily, "comforts its owner, keeps its owner's house vermin-free and provides entertainment. And it is a very intelligent, beautiful and sensitive creature. And it is fluffy" she added the last bit defiantly and almost to herself. "And dogs, they are loud and rough and smelly and dirty and good for nothing. I won't have them in this school. It's against the rules and that's final!"
Sirius got up wordlessly and picked his puppy up. It immediately started licking his face. He sat back down and said – with the slightest hint of despair, "What shall I do now?"
"You send it back home, of course. The Hogwarts-Express already left for London but you can use my fireplace. There you go, have some Floo powder" she pulled a handsome silver box with an engraved fire-breathing dragon on it out of a drawer of her desk and placed it in front of Sirius. "I'm sure your mother will take care of your dog for you while you are at school."
"Care?! Professor McGonagall, with all due respect, I barely managed to survive my mother's care! Please don't make me send her my dog…"
Professor McGonagall's fierce expression softened considerably and she adopted an almost pitying look, "How is Walburga? I haven't seen her in quite a while…"
Sirius bit his lip and lowered his gaze. He pressed his puppy tightly to his chest. "Please, Professor" he whispered pleadingly.
She heaved a sigh. "Well, alright. But you will have to stick to certain rules, the both of you" she finally gave in. "Your dog will keep to your dormitory during your lessons. You will make sure that it is house-trained immediately. It is not allowed inside the Great Hall, especially during mealtime. And by no means will I tolerate it distracting you from your studies. Is that clear?"
"Crystal clear!" Sirius said earnestly.
"Off you go, then" she said, waving her hand dismissively. "You will find your dormitory on the seventh floor behind the portrait of the Fat Lady. Ask the other portraits on your way for directions. The password to Gryffindor-Tower is 'Better to light your wand than to curse the darkness'."
"That's clever" Sirius noted and got up. He looked at Lupin to see if he was coming but the boy just sat there, staring at his shoes.
"You don't have to wait for Mr Lupin. Good night, Mr Black."
Sirius took the hint but before he shut the door behind him he pocked his head back inside to say, "Thank you, Professor."
She just nodded curtly. "Oh, and Mr Black, make sure to dress properly for your first lesson tomorrow" she said with a very pointed look at his Slytherin-green robes.
He forced a smile and let the door swing shut. His last glance of the room was Lupin who had turned around in his chair and looked at him with a strange, lost expression.
Remus stifled a huge yawn. He'd been with Professor McGonagall for almost two hours and it had gotten very late. He dragged his feet along the seventh floor corridor in search of the portrait of the Fat Lady. According to the portrait of a skinny wizard with a braided beard in a pink ballet dress, it had to be around the next corner. At this late hour, the only light came from the moon which shone through the few windows that lined the corridor. He turned the corner and stumbled over something big on the ground which gave a startled cry.
"Watch where you're going" it howled and got up from the floor to grab him by the scruff of the neck.
In the dim light Remus would have had difficulties to identify the speaker, but thankfully he had an excellent sense of hearing.
"Sirius? What were you doing on the floor?"
"I thought I'd get some sleep. The floor is really comfortable here; you should give it a try some time" he grumbled sarcastically. "The Fat Lady won't let me inside the common room."
"Only Gryffindor-students are allowed inside. I told you so before. You can spend the whole night here for all I care" a shrill voice from behind Sirius cried indignantly and Remus realised that he'd finally found the portrait he'd been looking for.
"I-AM-A-GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius yelled. "I told you the password, didn't I? Now, how would I know that if I wasn't a bloody Gryffindor?"
"Do you think I'm blind? Or stupid, maybe? Don't you think I know a Slytherin when I see one?"
Remus could feel the boy next to him stiffen and he grabbed him by the arm to prevent him from doing anything stupid. "There has been a misunderstanding, Ma'am" he tried to calm the enraged painting. "Sirius Black here has been sorted into Gryffindor tonight. I vouch for him."
"And who are you? I've never seen you before."
"My name is Remus Lupin, Ma'am. This is my first year at Hogwarts" he said quietly.
"Then what are you doing up so late? There is strict curfew for students, especially first-years! Off to bed with you!"
"We'd like to but you refuse to let us in!" Sirius howled.
"Holy Hippogriff! I forgot the password!" Remus squeaked, clapping his hands to his mouth. The Fat Lady and Sirius snorted in exasperation.
At that moment the Portrait of the Fat Lady swung open with a small, indignant cry from her and Remus thought that she must have given in finally when James suddenly poked his head out of a small opening in the wall that appeared right behind the painting.
"There you are! Pete and I started to worry when you guys didn't show up and we decided to come looking for you. Where in Merlin's name have you been? Did you realise that there is a curfew for students? Teachers and Prefects are out patrolling the corridors to see if someone sneaks out of bed. You could have gotten yourselves in really big trouble" he said, grabbing Remus and Sirius by the arm and dragging them inside the Gryffindor common room. It was empty apart from Peter Pettigrew, James's old school-friend, who sat on a massive red armchair in front of a dying fire which bathed the room in an eerie, flickering light.
"S-sorry" Remus managed to get out between two huge yawns. "Do you know where our beds are? I'm tired to death."
"Yeah, follow me. Pete and I already made ourselves comfortable" he led the way up a spiral staircase and held the door open for the other boys. The dormitory was a circular room with four large four-poster beds, two of which already showed signs of heavy usage – the covers were ruffled, candy-wrappers were strewn over them and a large teddy-bear with a pink bow around its neck had its paw stuck under the mattress of the bed closest to Remus.
Instinctively he made for the one bed yet untouched that had no window next to it. He threw off his shoes and climbed under the covers without bothering to undress. He tried to pull his blanket over his shoulders when he realised a slight resistance and sat up to find Sirius's puppy there, curled up into a very small and very fluffy ball.
"Sirius! Your dog is on my bed!" he whined sleepily.
"What does that have to do with me?" he got for an answer.
"Make it get off!"
"Do it yourself."
"It's your dog! Give it some kind of command or something."
"Anu, get off the grumpy git's bed or he'll never shut up."
The dog glanced up when it heard its name, yawned hugely which made its tiny pointed teeth visible and curled up again.
"Anu? What a stupid name is that?" James butted in, busy plucking the candy wrappers off his covers.
"It's short for Anduríl. And what kind of a stupid name is 'Potter'? Makes me wanting to go looking for the loo" Sirius retorted.
"It's very pretty, Sirius" Peter said, not clarifying whether he meant the name or the dog itself and probably meaning both. He moved closer to Remus's bed to pet Anu. "Where did you get it? Oh, and it's so tiny! How old is it?"
"Got her from a friend last April. They told me she must be about 28 years old now."
"So you're a girl then" Peter crooned affectionately, feeding Anu the leg of a left-over chocolate frog.
"28 years?!" Remus cried in disbelief. "More like 28 days, don't you think?"
"No, no I'm actually pretty sure my friend said 28 years when he gave her to me" Sirius said in mock thoughtfulness.
"But how is that possible? Dogs don't live so long. And they don't stay so small for so long" he picked up the dog to examine it more closely, ignoring its attempts to lick his forehead and Peter's longing expression. "Just look at its – her – paws. They're huge! I've read many books about dogs because I've always wanted to have one. They all say that the size of a dog's paws match its actual body-size. So according to that Anu will be a giant one day- urgh!" he stopped there because Anu had finally managed to get close enough to his face to lick his mouth.
"You do realise that you are lying in a bed in a magic-school, do you? For your own sake, don't go speculating about the realms of possibility…"
