"He's not a werewolf Ted," Roy said with finality a week later as the boys gathered in a corner of the library. Ted had been maintaining his idea of Clair being a werewolf for a while now but slowly doubt was creeping in as time wore on. For starters, the brothers were quite disbelieving of the fact.
"Surely if there was a werewolf at Hogwarts your dad would have said something. He's a teacher. He'd know," Vic had pointed out at first.
It was also very difficult to keep track of Clair at all. Being a first year, Teddy never saw him in class. Being a Hufflepuff, Teddy never saw him during meal times or in the common rooms. Clair was never in the library, on the grounds or even wandering the hallways.
In fact, according to the Map, Clair was only ever in two places: The Hufflepuff common rooms by the kitchens, and, slightly more unsettling, in Professor Heartfilia's class.
In fact, that was where Clair was now as Teddy told his two best friends more about his suspicions. Not about Clair being a werewolf anymore but more about Clair in general.
"Either way, I talked to TK when you first mentioned it," Roy said, having supposedly done more research than Ted had, "He says he sees Clair every day and he's never once been sick. Pomfrey doesn't even know who Clair is and the Wolfsbane stash Snape keeps in his office has stayed the same. Snape's only brewing for one werewolf and I'm sure the rest of the school knows which one that is."
He's just naturally pale and creepy," Vic finished with a shrug.
Teddy in turn sighed.
"Fine. Clair's not a werewolf. But there's still something weird about him. All this time I've never seen him in class."
"Maybe he's some genius that he doesn't have to go to class," Vic said and Teddy gave him a disbelieving look.
"Why don't you just ask TK?" Roy asked and Ted shrugged.
"I dunno. Won't he find it weird that we're constantly asking questions about his friend? Things could get messy."
"Never know unless you try."
"And speak of the devil here he is now," Vic suddenly said excitedly, "Oi TK!"
Several people gave the boys glares for being so loud in the library and Roy quickly shushed his brother.
Ted turned around and spotted the boy with Kari waving back at Vic and approaching the table.
"Hey guys what's up?" TK asked when the kids got there, depositing some of their books onto the table.
"Where's Clair?" Teddy asked casually and TK shrugged.
"Clair's doing some work for Professor Heartfilia. Why?"
"Oh nothing. We just see him hanging around with you pretty often," Vic said with a grin as Roy hastily changed the topic while motioning for the other two to sit down.
"Homework?"
TK and Kari nodded with a rather depressing sighs as they stared down at his books," Yeah. With Christmas coming up all the teachers want to just throw their assignments at us."
"Trust me we know what it's like," Teddy said with an added eye roll and Kari gave him a smile.
"Speaking of Christmas what're you guys going to do over the break? It's just a few weeks away. Excited?" Vic said, throwing an arm around TK's shoulders.
"We'll probably be staying here for Christmas," Kari said in her gentle voice, "Travis has O. so he wants to stay and study." TK nodded, "Yeah and my mom's out of the country again so I figured I'd stay here with Matt."
"Aww sticking with your bros to keep them company. Cute," Vic said with a laugh as Kari blushed.
"Well it's not much of a Christmas if you spend it alone," She mumbled, embarrassed.
"Well I'm sure your brothers would really appreciate it," Roy said and Teddy nodded in agreement.
"Well enough of that. Come on or we'll be late for dinner!" Vic said, standing up and collecting all the books off the table.
"TK and I will check these out. You guys head on over to the Hall," Vic said, waving with his free arm as he lead Teddy over to the check out.
Teddy waved back as the two rounded a corner and stood up to leave as well before a gently tug on his sleeve diverted his attention back to the other first year at the table.
"What's up Kari?" he asked as Roy finished packing up.
"Um. Well. I've noticed you've been asking TK a lot of questions about Clair," Kari stammered nervously and Teddy and Roy shot each other quick glances across the table.
"I'm not offended by it or anything," Kari hastily said, letting go of Teddy's sleeve.
"It's just that. Well. I thought you should know. There's something weird about him. You should be careful..." Kari trailed off awkwardly.
"And why's that?" Roy asked hesitantly as Teddy failed to reply in his confusion.
"Well. I just thought you should know but he's really...off...he doesn't seem to talk to anyone but TK. He eats with us and hangs out with us on the grounds but I've never once seen him go to class or do homework or-or..." Kari gave Ted a hesitant look.
"Or what?" Teddy prodded gently, curiosity getting the better of him.
"Well. We've been at school for three months by now but not once have I seen Clair use any magic," Kari finished and Roy and Ted once again shot each other surprised looks.
"Have you talked to TK about it?" Roy asked when the silence began to stretch out too long.
"Well no," Kari admitted, "He and Clair seem to get along pretty well and I didn't want to break up their friendship for something so silly."
Ted had to admit she had a point.
"I just needed to tell someone," Kari continued sheepishly.
"Well thanks for telling us," Teddy said with an nod, "Don't worry about Clair. We'll look out for him."
"And we won't mention any of this to TK," Roy agreed.
Kari gave a relieved sigh as thanks.
"Now come on or we'll be late for dinner, the other two are gonna wonder what's taking us so long," Teddy said, leading Kari to the library exit.
"There you are Ted. What took so long?" Vic asked as Teddy said goodbye to Kari and Roy as they went to their respective places; Kari to the first years end of the Gryffindor table and Roy to the Slytherins.
"Long story. Remind me to tell you when we get to our room," Teddy said as he sat down.
Vic gave him a raised eyebrow.
"Let's just say that You Know Who isn't off the hook just yet," Ted said and Vic gave a shrug and let matters drop.
Dinner went smoothly as usual until there was a sharp tapping of a glass from the teacher's table signaling for everyone's attention.
Teddy and Vic looked up from their food to see Professors Bobo and Logan rising to give an announcement.
"All right. Everyone settle down for a minute. How's everyone enjoying the last few days of school?"
The majority of the students groaned loudly and Bobo grinned.
"I know. I know. We swamped you with a huge ton of assignments this year didn't we?" she shouted to the school.
An even louder groan of agreement.
"Right well. We figured since we're all so overworked we'd do something different for a change this Christmas," Proffesor Logan interrupted.
"Right. Logan and I were talking and we let's face it. We're bored of the usual Christmas traditions," Bobo continued.
"And don't you all want to get back at your horrible teachers for giving you so much homework?"
"So. In a week's time we'll be hosting a night game of Capture The Flag. Students against Teachers. If students win you all those participating get a 2% raise to your marks. If teachers win then. Oh, all you kids are gonna be doomed," Bobo said with a grin much to the splendid delight of all the students as a huge roar of approval filled the halls.
Teddy shook Vic slightly in his excitement.
"A 2% raise to all our subjects? That's awesome!" Ted shouted happily over the noise as they joined in on the racket.
After a while, a series of red and green sparks filled the room as Bobo and Logan tried to make order.
"I think that turned out pretty well," Logan said with a grin.
"Anyways. Safety is a priority but don't blame us if you accidentally go for a swim in the lake. Other rules and sign ups are with your respective prefects. Headmistress McGonagall and the prefects will be responsible for judging. Don't worry prefects. You'll get awarded for your work too," Bobo said.
"Now good night! Hope to see the lot of you next week!"
"Sign me up!" Vic said proudly as the rest of the hall filled with noise at the new Christmas event.
"Come on let's go find Matt. I can't wait till next week!"
Teddy laughed at his friend practically bolted out the Hall along with several others rushing to sign up.
He spotted Roy at the other end of the Hall who gave him a smirk and Teddy gave him a thumbs up in return. Roy always skipped Herbology and Astronomy so Teddy was sure he'd be entering just to save those marks from going down any further.
And then an idea came to Ted and he managed to spot his father talking to Croswell at the teacher's table.
Their eyes met and a wicked gleam showed in Ted's eye.
"You're going down Dad!" Teddy mouthed and a smug look passed over Remus' face.
"We'll see about that son."
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The rest of the week passed relatively quickly as the growing anticipation for the event and the huge demand of homework kept everyone busy.
More than half the school crowded into Dueling Club practice that week and several people had taken to dueling out in the grounds. Groups were formed amongst the students and tactics drawn up.
Teddy and his friends had also gotten swept up in the wave as well especially since Roy and Vic had abilities that the older students knew could be used to their advantage. Throughout it all, Teddy's thoughts of Clair or anyone else really had been pushed back to the back of his mind until finally, the last day of classes before the break ended and students crowded the Hogwarts grounds.
The prefects and teachers had done a pretty good job at preparing. A large row of stands had been erected for the students that would rather watch than fight.
Judging platforms were erected for the judges and lights had been charmed to magically light up the grounds although a majority of the field still remained cloaked in the night shadows.
"All right. Everyone knows how this works right?" Logan said, standing rather precariously on a broom above the field.
"The rules are simple. Find the other team's flag and get it back to your side of the field. The team who does that or manages to knock out the rest of the other team wins. Everyone's been equipped with magic tracers so the judges will know exactly where you are. If you're hit with a spell you're out," Logan explained to a rather loud grumble by the students.
"That's not fair if you're just hit with one spell?" someone shouted.
"If it's any consolation if we're hit with a spell we're also out," Logan insisted before continuing, "Now. All tricks and spells are permitted within reason. You can use any inch of the Hogwarts grounds but use your best judgement. Nothing stupid. We want things safe here but if you do get injured or stuck, you or someone around you immediately send up red sparks and the prefects will come and collect you. Understood?"
There was a chorus of the affirmative from the crowd below.
"Right then!" Logan said, sitting down again on her broom and whisking off, "Start the countdown!" she called as magically, huge numbers were projected onto the field counting down from 20.
"Ready Remus?" Bobo whispered as they watched the countdown several paces away from the mass of students.
Remus looked up from his position crouched against a tree and blew on his hands to try to warm them up. Even though there was little snow this winter the temperature at night was still low enough to make him shiver.
"We are so going to lose this," he sighed between breaths and Bobo gave him a mock frown.
"Oh come now where's your Marauder spirit?" she teased.
"Hmm. I must have left it back in the castle next to a steaming cup of hot chocolate," Remus replied back with a grin.
"If you're cold don't worry. You'll warm right up once they start shooting hexes at you. You haven't taught them anything lethal have you?"
"I haven't. Goodness knows what Xavia's taught some of her old students though," Remus said with a wince only to catch a figure moving in the darkness and giving a bark of laughter.
"For the record I can't believe you two convinced Severus to take part in this."
Bobo gave him a wicked grin, "It took some bribing but we did it. Now, remember the plan?" she said as the countdown finally ended and student's feet could be heard pounding towards them.
"I thought the plan was to just run around wands ablazing," Remus said as he too got up and took out his wand.
"Hey don't make fun of the plan. We spent a lot of effort on that," Bobo said with a laugh and Remus grinned.
"More than the effort it took to get Severus to join us?"
"Definitely more. Severus is so easy to wind up you'd be surprised," came the sweet reply.
"Oh trust me I think I know. I've spent four decades doing it myself," Remus laughed as he and Bobo quickly took aim for the many lamps lighting up the field.
"Nox"
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The instant the countdown started, Teddy and his friends quickly split up.
"I'm gonna go on ahead," Vic said. He'd brought the omnioculars that he'd received at Christmas last year with him so no doubt he'd be able to help the lead force of students in locating the teachers and their flag.
Teddy and Roy on the other hand made a beeline for the edge of the Forbidden Forest where they were easily able to melt into the shadows.
Teddy quickly took out the Marauder's Map and had just said the incantation when suddenly all the lights in the field went out.
"I can't see a thing!" Teddy exclaimed and Roy used his fire magic to create a gentle flame burning in the palm of his hand.
"They took out the lights. That'll surely leave the students running around more," Roy said with a smirk.
"Yeah but now they won't be able to see us coming," Ted said with a smirk as he looked over his map.
There were so many students running around that the names were starting to mesh together on the Map.
"Everyone's chasing after Logan," he said, pointing to her dot that was busy leading a whole trail of other dots behind her. No doubt she'd not given up the broom and Teddy noticed that several students must have also Accio'd their brooms to them as they were gaining speed towards her.
Teddy watched for a while before refocusing his attention to the task at hand.
"Found him!" Teddy said proudly after a while, poking at a dot marked Remus Lupin by the Whomping Willow.
"Do you wanna split? I see Snape's closer by." Roy said, pointing to Snape's dot and Teddy gave a wicked grin.
"Great. Now I don't know whether to go after my dad or Snape," Teddy said with a laugh.
"Go after your dad. Snape would probably give you detention if anyone dared fire a spell at him," Roy said with a grin evident in his voice before he let his flame die off and the boys were plunged into darkness once more.
"Don't get lost," Roy said giving Ted a pat on the back as he silently slipped off.
"Mischief managed," Ted muttered before slipping the Map back into his cloak and heading in the opposite direction. He couldn't wait to take this opportunity to prank his father.
Teddy had almost reached the end of the Forest before the Map began to chime noisily in his pocket making him jump almost a foot in the air.
"Quiet down what's wrong with you?" Ted hissed, quickly opening it to get it to stop making the racket.
He quickly ran back into the safety of the Forest thicket before anyone saw him as he was deep in teacher territory by now.
That's when he remembered the charm he had placed on the Map telling it to chime whenever someone went by Dumbledore's tomb.
Heart quickening, Teddy took out his wand.
"Lumos," he muttered as he quickly scanned the Map.
And low and behold. The name that appeared before him was none of than the one person Teddy suspected most:
Clarence Leonelli.
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"I knew it. That bastard!" Teddy said, stashing the Map back into his pocket as he made a dash for the tomb, the Capture the Flag game completely forgotten.
He met a few students on his way over but they more or less ignored him as he dashed past them.
Finally, reaching the edge of the Black Lake, panting for breath, Teddy ground to a halt. There weren't any students this far away from the main field and Teddy felt like this area of Hogwarts had dropped a good ten degrees in temperature as he cautiously made his way through the blanket of fog that had suddenly encased the area.
"What's with all this fog?"
It was a new moon tonight and the lack of light plus the fog made it damn near impossible for Teddy to see where he was going even with the light emanating from the tip of his wand.
"Clair!?" Teddy risked a shout. Squinting through the thicket of fog.
"I know you're there! Come on out!" Ted shouted yet again, wand raised.
He heard a rustle of leaves to his left and Teddy spun around but couldn't see anything but dark shadows twisting and circulating around him.
CRACK
Ted jumped and spun around towards the noise. It had definitely come from the direction of the tomb; loud and piercing.
Abandoning all caution he ran towards it, the spray from the lake made the rocks slippery and he slipped twice before finding a grassy patch to regain his footing on.
The tomb loomed in front of him and Teddy held his breath has he stared at what he could make of it through the fog and darkness. The tomb had been slit open right down the middle , half of it in a mess of rubble and the other caving into the darkness inside.
Teddy's horror was quickly directed into rage as he heard feet pounding behind him as the culprit no doubt made his escape.
Turning around, he fired a blast of red sparks into the air, illuminating the field he stood in.
A dark figure amongst the fog lit up from the added light and Teddy gave a cry of rage as he tackled the culprit from behind.
"Clair! You son of a bitch!"
A shout of surprise and rage was heard as Ted struggled to find purchase on the slippery rocks surrounding the outskirts of Dumbledore's final resting place.
A fist was slammed into Ted's face, much too strong to have been from some scrawny 11 year old and Ted was soon tasting blood from a split lip.
A knee into Ted's stomach had him doubling over, groping for his wand that he had dropped during the tackle.
The fog was too thick to see much of anything though and the search for his wand was quickly dropped as Ted was thrown onto his back, knocking the breath out of him.
"He's too strong!" Ted realized.
Unwilling to let go of his captor though, Ted fought back with fists and kicks until his hand grasped onto something and he pulled. Hard.
Whatever it was came loose much too easily to Ted's surprise and he overbalanced and slipped on the rocks, cracking his head on one and stunning him for a good few minutes.
As he lay there, watching the fog's shadows twist and fade around him he became aware of shouts from the distance and he noticed that his opponent had already fled.
He noticed whatever he'd grabbed onto was still in his hand and he blinked down at it. It was a sharp, thin tooth necklace and Teddy sucked in a breath when he noticed that there was writing carved into the side. It was the same sort of necklace he'd seen on the Muggle man that had invaded his home during the summer.
"Clair's part of this whole thing!"
And with a feeling of anger spilling through his throbbing head Ted finally closed his eyes and allowed himself to pass out.
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"I won' believe it Remus. Not Ted. Never Ted. E wouldn do some'in like tha'."
Teddy awoke with a groan as his head throbbed painfully.
"Eh look. Lad's wakin' up."
Ted opened his eyes to find himself in an immediately uncomfortable position in the Hospital Wing. Hagrid stood next the foot of his bed, Remus sitting on it as they talked. The Headmistress and Pomfrey, having been signalled over once they found Teddy had awoken, stood to his left and Teddy could make out Snape hovering a few feet behind them.
And Teddy bit back a gulp as they realizes all five grownups were staring at him.
"I'm in trouble aren't I?" Teddy squeaked, looking worriedly at his father.
Remus in turn sighed.
"How are you feeling Ted?" he asked instead as Teddy gently prodded his still aching head.
"Better..." he said slowly.
"Would you then care to tell us how we found you passed out in front of the old Headmaster's tomb that has been, rather unfortunately, split open and robbed?" Remus asked quietly and Teddy straighted in panic.
"Wait. I know that looks bad but it wasn't me!" Teddy said defensively, eyes wide.
Remus sighed again.
"No seriously. It wasn't me! I just- I just..." Ted trailed off, making quick glances to the adults around him before closing his eyes and giving a sigh. He couldn't really explain himself if he was going to continue keeping secrets. He spent a second debating about it before deciding to come clean. There was no way he wanted to be known for the one that broke into Dumbledore's tomb. The very thought made him shudder.
"Ok. Well there's this kid. His name's Clarence Leonelli and he's...well...kind of a creep," Ted admitted slowly, focusing on no one but his father.
"So I started following him thinking he was up to something. Then Hagrid told me that someone was breaking into the tomb so I figured they were looking for the Elder Wand which makes sense cuz we had people looking for the Invisibility Cloak in the summer time. Then tonight seemed like the best time someone would make a move on the tomb so I thought I'd try and catch the bad guy which I was pretty sure was Clair. I was trying to stop him Dad honest. I just...wanted to make you proud..." Teddy mumbled, having broken off his eye contact with his father and was now fidgeting with the hospital blanket draped over him.
Remus heaved a final sigh before daring to risk a glance at the Headmistress.
McGonagall met his eyes and motioned to the distraught Teddy as if saying "Do something already," before she and Poppy moved away from the bed, speaking with Snape in hushed whispers.
In an instant Remus had shifted up the length of the bed and crushed a surprised Teddy into a hug.
"I've always been proud of you," he whispered, "But you don't have to go playing the hero all the time. If something's wrong you have to tell me or a teacher understand?"
Teddy nodded against his father's chest.
There was an cough from behind them and the two Lupin's quickly separated.
McGonagall had approached them again, holding a long sheet of parchment that she had no doubt summoned from her office.
"Did you say you believed a Clarence Leonelli was the culprit?" she asked and Teddy nodded.
"Yeah. He was the one who told me the Elder Wand was in the tomb. He seems to know a lot about it and he's a real psycho," Ted said before realizing what he said and turning quickly to his father.
"Uh. I mean. Well. He's just acts really suspicious all the time," he corrected.
"There is no Clarence Leonelli on the student roster," McGonagall interrupted before Remus could reprimand his son and all eyes turned once again to her.
"And indeed I have never heard of the name," McGonagall had said as both Pomfrey and Hagrid seemed to screw up their faces in concentration.
"I get many students here over the weeks but no one with such a name," Pomfrey said and Hagrid nodded.
"What?!" Teddy said, turning again to his father who also shook his head in the negative. He too had never heard of the name.
"Snape's seen him," Teddy said, motioning the Potions teacher standing behind them all.
"That time I spilt my cauldron and you made me clean it up? We had a little uhh disagreement in your office and you found us remember?" Teddy asked, hoping his father wouldn't dwell too much on said "disagreement."
Snape frowned slightly in through before he nodded. "Yes, I remember the boy. Skinny, pale with bloodshot eyes and vibrant red lips. He did not give me a name however..." Snape paused, thinking as all the other occupants of the Hospital Wing stared at him. "Yet now that I think about it I don't believe I'd seen him before. He said he was in first year and at the time I had not acquainted myself with the large number of this year's first years so I didn't dwell on it. "
Well at least Snape was able to confirm such a boy existed.
"Well he says he's in Hufflepuff. He's a first year and he's friends with TK," Teddy spoke up, "That's Tomi... - uh- can't pronounce his last name. It's japanese." He finished lamely."He's also acquaintances with Kari King and I've seen him with Professor Heartfilia."
McGonagall frowned at the student roster list once more before vanishing it with a flick of her wrist.
"I will speak to Mr. Kadokawa, Ms King and Professor Hearfilia," she said."Severus, Remus, please let the rest of the staff know that we'll be having a quick meeting tomorrow morning before the break. Let them know that we have an illegal student at Hogwarts."
Snape and Lupin both nodded as Pomfrey got busy fussing over Teddy's head and the other teachers made towards the door until only Remus remained amongst them.
"So...I'm not in trouble?" Ted asked, nervously glancing at his father.
"No. I don't believe you are," Remus replied with a slight grin as his son took a rather nasty looking potion from Pomfrey.
"Well in that case. What happened to the event?" Teddy asked, curiosity getting the better of him as he leaned closer to his father.
Remus rolled his eyes.
"As expected Teddy. We got thoroughly annihilated," Remus said and Teddy's whoop of laughter soon resonated through the rest of the Hospital Wing.
