Kindred Spirits
by Tailkinker
This is a work of fan fiction based on the Harry Potter series and the Sailor Moon franchise created respectively by J.K. Rowling and Naoko Takeuchi. The characters and settings belong to their respective owners and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered as part of the official canon of either series.
Shadows and Revelations
Harry stared at the Marauder's Map, his brow furrowed. One fist clenched and unclenched repeatedly.
His plan to reveal Pettigrew to Professor Flitwick had come to nothing. It seemed that Professor Flitwick rarely entertained other staff members in his office or quarters. Most of the man's socialization was done in the Staff Room, or in Hogsmeade. The former was always too heavily populated for his plan to work, and the latter was out of range of the Map.
It had been nearly a week since Hallowe'en. While he and Hotaru had spent an enjoyable day in Hogsmeade, and the Hallowe'en Feast was as much fun as ever, the rest of the evening had been pure madness. Sirius Black had broken into the castle, and made his way to the Gryffindor Tower, where he had attacked the portrait of the Fat Lady. Professor Dumbledore had ordered all students to spend the night in the Great Hall.
He heaved a frustrated sigh, and scowled down at Professor Flitwick's label. His was the only set of footprints within his bedroom. Harry didn't have a watch, but the bell for curfew had already sounded, so he figured it was late; if he'd seen anybody else's name in Professor Flitwick's bedroom at this hour, he'd have felt mortified.
He picked up his wand, intending to blank the Map, but then spotted something else that had his complete attention.
Peter Pettigrew's name. Just outside the Gryffindor common room.
Harry glanced around the bedroom. The silence of the dormitory room was broken only by Ron's quiet snoring, and Seamus occasionally muttering something in his sleep. Harry slipped out of his bed, opened his trunk, and withdrew his father's Invisibility Cloak. Throwing it over his head, he quietly padded down the stairs.
The common room was bathed in moonlight, the furniture casting elongated, distorted shadows. A single seventh-year student was asleep at a study table, her long black hair spilling over three open books. Harry made his way over to the door, and quietly opened it.
There was nobody outside.
Harry stifled a curse, and pulled off his cloak. Pettigrew's name was now further down the corridor on the Map, and moving away. Harry looked up, but could see nobody down the corridor.
Perhaps Pettigrew has a way of turning invisible as well, he mused.
He allowed the door to close, causing the new guardian portrait—a batty knight named Sir Cadogan—to mumble a half-asleep challenge. Harry ignored the insane knight, and moved down the corridor, trying to balance speed and stealth.
The full moon's light fell softly through the windows along the corridor, illuminating the passage. Dust particles danced in the moonlight, stirred by the faintest of breezes. Harry had no difficulty seeing, but still no person was visible. His eyes fell to the map again. Sure enough, Pettigrew's name continued to recede down the passage.
The corridor opened up into the central stair well. Four massive staircases spiraled down into darkness, the next set of landings barely visible in the gloom. Harry glanced at his map, but this part was difficult to make out. Pettigrew's dot was definitely moving along one of the staircases, but Harry couldn't tell if they were moving up or down.
Well, up from here only led to the Divination and Astronomy towers; Harry decided that he should move down. He started down one of the staircases, descending into the darkness. He paused at the landing, but Pettigrew was still in the stair well; he continued down to the next landing. Pettigrew was moving laterally again; Harry slipped through the doorway and started down the hall.
He could barely read the map in the thick shadows; there were no windows in this hallway. Harry drew his wand, and whispered "Lumos." The light from the wand was nearly swallowed in the darkness. He examined the map, and cursed; he'd lost Pettigrew's trace.
"Who's there?"
Harry froze; he knew that voice. Mr Filch, the cantankerous caretaker. He couldn't afford to speak again; he screamed Nox! inside his head, while willing the light to go out. Thankfully it did, but he could hear Mr Filch approaching. The glow of the man's lantern, dim as it was around the corner, was obvious now that Harry's wand was extinguished.
Harry glanced around quickly, and spotted a door. He reached out and tried it, but it was locked. Mr Filch's footsteps were growing louder; nearly panicking, Harry pointed his wand at the door and thought, Alohamora!
The door clicked open. Harry quickly moved inside, then eased the door shut and reset the lock.
The sound of footsteps paused, and the door handle moved slightly.
"Good. Best you be locked, tonight of all nights."
The footsteps began moving away, and Harry sighed in relief. He pulled out the Marauder's Map, and lit his wand again with a whispered "Lumos".
The Map showed Argus Filch moving away at a slow walk, but it also showed another name, nearly directly behind Harry. Remus Lupin.
Harry turned, allowing his wandlight to play across the shadows of the classroom. The light fell upon a large, furry form. Harry's breath caught in his throat as he realized that he was looking at a massive wolf.
The wolf didn't move, just stared at Harry with what looked like sadness in its eyes. Harry glanced down at the Marauder's Map; it insisted that the wolf was, in fact, Professor Lupin.
"You're a werewolf," Harry breathed.
The wolf lay its head down on its front paws.
They hadn't covered werewolves yet in class. All Harry knew about them were what he'd heard from his classmates, and from Muggle culture. The full moon explained why Professor Lupin was in his transformed state. But Harry remembered hearing the fear in Draco Malfoy's voice when he mentioned werewolves. Professor Lupin's current form was large and exceptionally powerful looking, but he was just...lying there. He wasn't even growling.
Harry walked across the classroom, and sat down in front of the transformed professor.
"I'm guessing that you would rather nobody knew that you're a werewolf," he said. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."
The wolf heaved a sigh; Harry thought at first that it was one of relief. Then he realized that the professor was staring at the Map, and he could see the recognition in the wolf's eyes.
Harry laid the Map down between them. "It's a map of Hogwarts," he said. "It shows where everybody is."
The wolf reached out a paw—Harry realized that it was far more human-like than he expected a wolf to have. The professor folded one side of the map over on the other, revealing the title page.
Moony, Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail Present
The Marauder's Map
The wolf extended a single claw, and tapped the name Moony. Then pulled it back, and pointed at himself. His head tilted, as though inviting comment.
"You're Moony?" Harry blinked. "You're one of the people who made the Map?"
The wolf nodded. He then pointed at Harry, then tapped the name Prongs.
Harry shook his head. "Pretty sure I'm not Prongs."
The wolf pointed at him again, then raised his hand level with Harry's head. Then raised it again, higher, as though measuring. Then brought it down, as though cradling a baby. And Harry understood what he was saying.
"Prongs was my father." His eyes widened. "You knew my father?"
The wolf nodded again.
"Then maybe you can help me," said Harry. "I saw the name Peter Pettigrew on the map."
The wolf pulled his head back, looking confused. Then tapped the name Wormtail.
"Pettigrew was Wormtail?" At the wolf's nod, Harry said, "Then my father knew him, too. I'm guessing that Padfoot is Sirius Black."
Another nod.
"Okay. But the thing is, I saw Pettigrew here." He opened the map again, and tapped the corridor just outside the Gryffindor common room. "And Fred and George said that they saw him in our common room."
The wolf shook his head—not in negation, but in obvious confusion. Then froze, and then snarled. Harry jumped to his feet, shocked, his wand leaping to his hand as the professor flexed razor sharp talons, his hackles rising until his size seemed to double.
But the professor caught himself, and seemed to force himself to calm down. He stood—the were-wolf form appeared to be closer to bipedal than a normal wolf—and shuffled over to the teacher's desk. One paw dropped onto a stack of clothing, and he looked at Harry expectantly.
"You need to change back?" Harry glanced at the shuttered windows. "I'm guessing you can't until the moon sets."
Professor Lupin nodded.
"I'll wait until you do."
Harry awoke to a sound he hoped he'd never hear again; a wolf's agonized screams. He sat upright, shaking off sleep, his hand reaching for his wand.
Professor Lupin's body was bent almost double; Harry could hear the sounds of bones breaking. He forced himself to watch as the wolf's body was reshaped into that of a man, watched as the fur receded, leaving Professor Lupin once again human.
And naked. Harry turned to give the man privacy. After a few minutes, he heard Professor Lupin moving, heard the sound of cloth on skin.
"All right. I'm decent."
The professor's voice was raw and cracked. Harry turned, to see the professor's scarred face looking at him in concern.
"That door was locked, and magically enchanted a half a dozen ways. How did you get in?"
"Alohamora," said Harry.
"There's no way. Not even Severus would be so careless as to rely on only a mechanical lock." He strode over to the door, drawing his wand, and wordlessly cast some sort of charm on the door.
"Mechanical lock and colloportus. Between the two, that might have been enough to slow down a determined fifth year. I thought Severus put more charms on the door." He glanced back at Harry. "I'm sure you understand why I don't want anybody knowing about...my furry little problem?"
"I...Sorry, Sir, but I don't," admitted Harry. "But it's enough to know that you don't want it known."
"No, it's not," snapped Lupin. "Lycanthropy is a very infectious disease. If I'd bitten you, you'd be doomed to the same transformation every full moon." He sighed. "I can't exactly chide you for breaking into the den of a werewolf, however, if you didn't know that there was a werewolf on the other side. But back to the Map."
He walked over, and picked up the parchment from the floor. He flattened it on the nearest desk. It had gone blank overnight; he tapped his wand to it and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
The Map bloomed outward from the tip of his wand.
"Now, you are absolutely certain that you saw the name, Peter Pettigrew, on this map?"
"Yes, Sir."
"But Peter Pettigrew is dead," said the Professor.
"I don't think so, Sir," said Harry. "You see, Sirius Black never received a trial."
"Of course he did," said Lupin.
"No, Sir," said Harry. "Sorry. I asked my attorney to look into it."
Lupin frowned at him. "You did?"
"Yes, Sir. Ted Tonks. And he said that he couldn't find anything on Sirius Black except a record of arrest."
Lupin frowned. "But that makes no sense. How could he be sentenced to Azkaban without a trial?"
"There's no record of his sentencing, either."
"This is damned peculiar. All right, Harry. I think we need to look into this further." He winced. "After I see Poppy." He glanced at the map. "Nobody's in the hall. Get to your dorm." He tapped the Map with his wand again. "Mischief managed. Take this. But keep it safe. If you see Pettigrew on it again, come and get me immediately."