I'm Off to see the Wizards

"Winter cloak?"

"Check."

"Dragon hide gloves?"

"Check."

"Pointed hat?"

"Check."

"Cauldron and brass scales?"

"Check and check."

"Tootsie the Turtle?"

"Mother."

Hope Lupin eyed her son incredulously. "I thought you did everything together, pumpkin? Remember when you stayed over at Aunt Heather's and we forgot to pack Tootsie? You wouldn't sleep until she called us from the restaurant to get him for you."

"I resent that." Remus muttered, ducking his head to hide his fire-truck red face. "I was just a child then."

"It was only last month, honey."

Remus sighed; this was true. But he couldn't let his mother know. She would only get that smug look on her face if he did. "Don't worry. I tucked him into the front pocket of my trunk."

Remus' father joined them then, clutching a white paper bag that emitted the most delicious scent. "I got you some chocolate croissants, Rem. Your favourite!"

"Thanks, Dad!"

Hope rolled her eyes. "You've got a little… something there."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Lyall said, brazenly grinning around the crumbs on his face.

All too soon, the ruby red train's whistle pierced through the air, indicating that it was ready to depart. After hugging his parents one last time, Remus grabbed his trunk and climbed onto the train.

"May I sit with you?"

Remus looked up from his battered copy of Hogwarts, A History to see a short boy with pleasant blue eyes and blond hair that screamed My-Mum-Did-This-Blame-Her.

(Remus could sympathize; he had the exact same haircut).

"Sure," he gestured to the empty seat across from him and the boy gratefully plopped down after storing his trunk on the shelf above.

"Thanks! My name is Peter Pettigrew."

"Remus Lupin."

"You're a first year too? I do hope so. I mean, not that being in any other year is bad or anything. It's just that we'd have plenty of things to talk about if you weren't. Plus you seem like a great bloke to be friends with. Unless you're in Slytherin in which case, please don't hurt me!"

"Calm down," laughed Remus, setting down his book to show that he was wandless and therefore nonthreatening. "I'm a first year too. But for all you know, I could be shooting for Slytherin." After noticing the freaked out look Peter was giving him, he added: "I'm not, by the way."

"It's cool if you want to be, though," Peter said quietly after a few minutes. "I don't mind. Just as long as you're not some wacko supremacist who treats people they think are 'lower' than them like dirt. I hate people like that."

Remus decided then and there that he wanted to be friends with Peter, no matter what house they ended up in. "Thanks Peter."

The gameskeeper, called Hagrid, had a cheerful disposition despite his intimidating stature, which relived the jittery children a lot. He led the first years along a narrow path that widened at the shore of a large lake.

Peter and Remus got into one of the many little boats floating in the water. A girl with red hair and a kind smile was already sitting there next to a boy with lanky black hair and piercing dark eyes. The redhead's mouth twisted to one side as she looked them over.

Remus decided to have some fun. "Are you checking me out?"

The blush on her face made it even greater. "No, no, no! I just thought for a second you looked like one of the boys we met on the train earlier. They – well, they were pretty rude to us because we said we wanted to be in Slytherin." The girl's companion didn't say anything, but he had a sour look on his face.

"It is pretty dark out, so I guess I can see how you mistaken us for them." Remus said. "And frankly, I don't care if you want to be in Slytherin. You guys seem pretty alright to me."

The girl shot him an appreciative smile, and they lapsed into companionable silence. Suddenly, cheers and whoops sounded from the boats in front of them, and the first years craned their necks to see what the fuss was about.

They had spotted Hogwarts.

The castle loomed before them in the night. The moon's light glinted off the myriad of windows around the towers, making it look breathtaking and haunting at the same time. It was all very impressive.

The boats drifted to a stop, and the children clambered out, walking nervously towards the imposing big doors. A woman in dark red robes and a tilted hat greeted them there, introducing herself as Professor McGonagall. Scrambling to form a line behind her, they followed her as she led them inside to a small room.

Once they were all in, Professor McGonagall began to explain about the four houses of Hogwarts, the house cup, and briefly about the rules. After that, she told them the ceremony would start in a few minutes, and to prepare themselves.

"This is so wicked!" Peter whispered excitedly, once the woman left.

"Isn't it?"

"How do you reckon they'll Sort us?"

Before Remus could answer, a bespectacled boy with a goofy smile appeared. "We've to go through an obstacle course." He interjected.

Remus' eyes bugged. An obstacle course? No one told him about an obstacle course! He hadn't prepared at all. What if he messed up? What if he preformed so terribly that they wouldn't know where to place him? What if Dumbledore realised he made a grave mistake in bringing Remus in and kicked him out?

"Really?" Peter asked, and Remus saw that he wasn't the only one petrified.

"Yeah." The boy shook his head like, can-you-believe-it? "My neighbours swore up and down that it's true." He flexed his scrawny arms. "I've been practicing for this bad boy since June. Can't you tell?"

The redheaded girl (Remus winced once he realized he hadn't gotten her name) snorted. "Don't hurt yourself."

A boy with bright grey eyes chuckled beside the goofy smile boy. "Don't worry! I still think you're great! You're so manly and strong and brave! Oh, James!" He pretended to swoon and James caught him.

"It's alright." James said to Remus and Peter, gesturing to the passed out boy. "I'm afraid this is just part of my charm. I admit, though, it does get a little tiring, but someone has to take this job."

"I feel so bad for you." Remus said wryly.

James shrugged.

"What can I say? It's a curse."

Professor McGonagall returned, announcing that it was time for the Sorting, and the first years followed the Head of Gryffindor as she led them to the Great Hall. Remus was buzzing with nerves as he fell back in pace with Peter. The blond shot him a shaky smile and Remus grinned back.

Obstacle course or not, Remus John Lupin was not a quitter. It didn't matter that he couldn't lift anything heavier than a few stones - or perhaps Tootsie, his stuffed animal (Remus preferred to leave that part out) - he was still going to try his best. Content with that thought, Remus searched through his pockets for said stuffed animal, hoping to get a quick handshake in before they entered the Great Hall. After seconds of fruitless searching, though, realization dawned onto him:

He had forgotten Tootsie in his trunk.