Remus had Defense Against the Dark Arts first on Monday. He was both excited and nervous to meet the new teacher: he'd talked with Puttle the Prefect earlier that day, and Puttle had told Remus that the new professor was a very interesting man indeed. "I haven't had a class with him yet, of course," said Puttle, "but I met him in the corridor while doing Prefect rounds. He's... well, he's unique."

Remus and his friends arrived in the classroom first in the hopes to find good seat, but it seemed that everybody else had the same idea. Alas, Remus found himself at a Marauder-less desk for the third year in a row, because the largest remaining group of seats was a group of three, and Remus couldn't bear making Peter sit alone.

Evans sat next to Remus again while he sulked in the front. "It's tradition," she said. "Oh, don't look so surprised that I sat here, Lupin. I don't hate you. We're just not best mates."

Remus nodded and smiled. Usually, when Evans talked to him, it was a lecture about the bad behavior of Remus' friends. But he sort of liked her… when they weren't talking about James and Sirius' bad points, that was.

"Where's the new professor, by the way?" asked Evans. "Disillusioned like Questus was at the start of first year?"

A knot formed in Remus' stomach. "He might be, I suppose."

"Questus died recently, didn't he?" said Evans. "It was in the Prophet. What do you think about that, hm?"

"Er… it's very sad," Remus managed.

"I know I should feel sad about it, since we knew him, but I don't. Isn't that weird? I mean, I never really liked him, but I didn't want him to die… still, I can't make myself feel as bad for it as I should. He was kinda awful, wasn't he? And I didn't know him that well. My friend Rosalyn thinks he was an undercover Death Eater."

"I liked Professor Questus," said Remus quietly.

"You like everybody, Remus. Oh, and there was also a massacre. People were talking about it, but I think you'd gone home early. Why did you go home early?"

The knot grew bigger. "Ah… my mum. She wasn't feeling well. Dumbledore gave me permission to stay at home for the rest of the year, seeing as we really weren't doing anything in classes…." Remus hadn't used the "ill mother" excuse in a while, now that his friends knew the truth, and using it again felt so odd that he nearly laughed aloud.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is she okay?"

"Fine." Remus usually enjoyed talking to Evans, but now he felt emotionally drained. He pulled a book out of his bag and began to read. It worked like a charm: Evans turned to her other friends and started gossiping about the new professor. Remus' eyes skimmed the words in his books, but he wasn't reading.

It was another two minutes before the door slammed open. The walls shook. The windows rattled in their sockets. Several students whimpered.

Remus' head snapped around to face the man who had entered. The first thing that Remus noticed was the man's robes. They were a plain shade of brown, and they reminded Remus' of Professor Questus' favorite robes. The next thing that Remus noticed was the man's scowl. That reminded Remus a bit of Professor Questus, too. The third thing that Remus noticed was the man's red hair, which reminded him slightly of Evans' (but it was darker) and his beard. The fourth thing that Remus noticed was the large dog that the man was holding. It seemed to be a type of pit bull, and it looked extremely friendly—its tongue was lolling out as its tail wagged so violently that it constantly slammed against the man's side in a manner that seemed to be painful—and also sort of sleepy, like it would drift off any moment. The dog did not remind him of Professor Questus one bit.

But still… the man looked familiar.

"Morning," the man barked. Remus wasn't quite sure how he had managed to make a simple greeting sound so much like a threat. "Professor Andrew Dilley, that's my name! Your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, as well as a former curse-breaker." He pointed towards Evans. 'You! Stand up!" he shouted. Evans stood up so quickly that she nearly fell over.

Professor Dilley walked a bit closer to Evans and narrowed his eyes. "There's a curse in the air," he scowled. "Are you cursed?"

Evans shook her head mutely, terrified. Remus scooted further away from Evans. If the man really could sniff out curses somehow, he was probably picking up Remus and not Evans.

Dilley, fortunately, did not look at Remus. "Hrm. Watch out for suspicious-looking objects." Professor Dilley set the pit bull down. "This is Max," he said, gesturing towards the dog. "He's more of a professor than I am, ha-ha!" Remus cringed. Even this man's laugh was violent and over-excited. "There's a rumor going around that there's a curse on the DADA position. Well, I'm gonna break it!" He slammed his hand against the table, and most of the class flinched.

"How?" asked a Ravenclaw.

"There's got to be something around here keeping it alive! And, whatever that thing is... I'll destroy it! Whatever happens to me—mark my words—I will be your teacher for two consecutive years. Got it?"

"What if you die, Professor?" asked Evans uncomfortably. "That's what happened to our first-year professor."

"He died a full year after he quit, though," said Remus, unable to resist himself. "He wasn't even Defense professor anymore. The curse didn't kill him… if there even is a curse…."

"Are you stupid or just dumb?" barked Dilley, and Remus liked him even less. "Of course there's a curse! It can't all just be coincidence! But you're right: the curse didn't kill him. The curse itself kills no one, because it can't change fate. But I don't know anything about it—besides that—and that's why I'm going to research it!"

Another student tentatively raised his hand. "My older brother told me that a Defense teacher died about six years ago. They found him in the Dark Forest. Well… what was left of him. My brother thinks that he was eaten by a werewolf."

Remus watched Dilley's face. Surely he'd been alerted that one of his third-year students was a werewolf. Surely he would have a reaction of some sort. But Dilley only rolled his eyes. "There are no werewolves in the Dark Forest."

"I saw a werewolf in the Dark Forest once," blurted Sirius.

Remus suppressed a groan.

"So did I!" said James.

"And me!" said Peter.

Remus could feel his friends' eyes on him, but he didn't say a word. "It was probably just a bunny rabbit, you scared little chickens," said Dilley.

Suddenly, Remus liked him a little bit.

"Anyway. Everybody take out a piece of parchment. Quickly, now. I don't have all day!" He threw an eraser at the blackboard, and everybody took their parchment out at record-breaking speeds. "Now," said Dilley, "Defense Against the Dark Arts this year will specialize in curses—after all, that's what I'm good at. Typically, third year does magical creatures, but I refuse to teach magical creatures. No one needs to know about magical creatures! Just stay away from anything large and non-human! It's as easy as that."

Remus was non-human, but he wasn't large (during the daytime, at least), so he supposed he'd be okay. He was more than a little glad that he wouldn't have to sit through another werewolf lesson.

"We'll focus on duelling, too. Duelling Club on Tuesdays, held by me and Professor Flitwick. The most promising curse-breakers will join a separate club—name's still in progress, but you'll basically be my assistants. We're going to break every single curse in Hogwarts, starting with the Defense post! All in favor, say AYE!"

"AYE!" shouted James and Sirius, clearly enjoying Dilley's enthusiasm.

"Good! I like you two!" Dilley threw a piece of parchment at James, who caught it and grinned widely. Remus thought that the gesture might have been affectionate, but he couldn't really tell. "Homework today is to read chapter one of your Practical Defense textbook. Write an essay about what you learned. Twelve inches of parchment. We'll go over it tomorrow. Okay, class dismissed."

"But class has only just started," protested a student.

"Yeah, but I have nothing left to teach. Class dismissed! Except for you." He pointed directly at Remus, and Remus flinched a little.

"Er, me?"

"Yes, you. You know what happened to the first Defense teacher, yes?"

Remus closed his eyes. "Yes, sir."

"Good! You'll stay. I'll ask you questions. Every little bit helps! Now GET OUT OF MY CLASSROOM!"

Students scattered: some were quivering in fear, and some were openly giggling. Remus noticed that James and Sirius were laughing so hard that they were practically clinging to each other to keep from falling over. Dilley watched them go, arms crossed and bushy eyebrows furrowed.

As the students trickled out, one by one, Remus warily eyed the dog (who was asleep in the corner of the classroom). About thirty seconds after the classroom had cleared, Dilley was still staring, eyebrows still intently furrowed.

"Er, Professor?" Remus asked quietly.

"Shhh!" hissed Dilley. "Be quiet. I'm listening to Max."

Remus, perplexed, fell silent. He didn't hear the dog say a thing, and his senses were rather good.

Two full minutes passed, and Remus was becoming terribly uncomfortable. "Max says you're that kid," Dilley finally said. "That kid Dumbledore said something about. That Lupin kid, eh?"

"What?" Remus was terribly, terribly alarmed. "I… did Max say that? The dog?! I didn't hear him say that! How did he know?"

"He's a very clever dog. Anyway, Dumbledore says that he wanted to speak to us together. So tell me what happened to the first-year Defense professor as quickly as you can, and then we'll go down there directly. Go on." Dilley pulled out a notepad and quill.

"Er…" said Remus. At least Dilley didn't seem to be uncomfortable by the fact that he surely already knew that Remus was a werewolf. "I mean… there was… he…."

"Why'd he leave?"

"He'd been sacked from the Auror department about a year prior, but they re-hired him just as the school year was ending."

"So he took that job instead of remaining a teacher? Why?"

"He didn't like being a teacher." Remus thought that he might cry all over again, remembering Questus' constant complaints about his students, so he bit his lip and looked out the window.

"And then where did he go?"

"Ministry."

"And he died on the job?"

"No… he was cursed by something—don't know what—and then he had to quit, because he wasn't quite fit for combat anymore. He moved to a secluded area… by a town… on the top of a hill. I'm not sure how much I can tell you..."

"Town was witness protection. Was in the Prophet. I already knew that. Got burned up by Fiendfyre, didn't it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Why didn't he Apparate away?"

"He… had stopped using magic a couple of months prior."

"Why?"

Remus gave a halfhearted, one-shouldered shrug, because he really didn't know. Questus had given up magic for religious reasons, but it had all seemed rather irrational to Remus. He was sort of angry at Questus for going off and getting himself killed… if he had just brought his wand and used it… he was sure that any type of deity, benevolent or no, wouldn't mind magic in self-defense. Why had Professor Questus, who was usually so rational and cool-minded, made such an idiotic decision? Never mind morals! What about the people who actually wanted him around? They were precious few, yes, but that was no reason to throw caution to the wind.

In through his nose. Out through his mouth. Remus would not get this angry over the past, because there was no use changing it. It was done. Questus was gone. There was no reason to dwell on what could have been.

Dilley inspected Remus. "You were close to him, weren't you?"

"A bit," said Remus, vastly underplaying the situation.

"Hrm. Well, I'm sorry. Whatever curse befell him was probably one that I could have broken, given the chance!" Dilley shook his fist at the sky. "Curses: the bane of wizarding existence! Come along, then, we'll go find Dumbledore. Dunno what he wants to talk about, but he was adamant that you see him sometime today. This way, innit? I remember very little from my Hogwarts days."

Remus granted Dilley a short, confused nod and followed him down the corridors.

He wasn't sure what to think of the new DAD professor quite yet.

Dilley was a very fast walker, and it was less than ten minutes before Remus was sitting in a straight-backed, wooden chair in Dumbledore's office and holding a steaming mug of tea. "Remus," greeted Dumbledore. "Thank you so much for bringing him, Professor Dilley, though I thought I asked you to do so after class? If my memory serves, Defense Against the Dark Arts has not yet ended."

"Dismissed early," said Dilley. "There was nothing else to teach."

"Why did you want to talk to me directly after class?" asked Remus. "I'd miss Potions, wouldn't I?"

"I have asked that Professor Slughorn schedule his wolfsbane review for today," said Dumbledore, "and I called you after class on purpose. I do like the idea of your new teacher being able to meet you as a student before being told of your identity. John Questus told me himself that he couldn't tell which one you were until you introduced yourself, you know. I find it breaks stereotypes."

Remus was silent.

"But I did want to give Professor Dilley a chance to ask questions. Is there anything you want to know that will help you to be more comfortable around Remus, Professor?"

"Nope. I know curses like the back of my hand, remember? Pity I can't break yours, Lupin."

Remus squinted at Dilley. He'd thought that Dilley had looked familiar because he reminded Remus of Professor Questus… but no, Dilley wasn't a thing like Professor Questus. Why did he look familiar, then? "I've seen you before," said Remus. "I… I think… oh! Was your house was the one with the daisies?"

Dilley grinned. "Yeah. Was wondering when you'd figure it out. Your father is Lyall Lupin, eh?"

"Yes… we were desperate."

"You seemed more complacent than desperate at the time."

"I was tired."

"Fair enough."

Dumbledore held up a hand. "I pride myself in knowing exactly what is going on in most situations, but this is not one of them, I'm afraid. Would one of you be so kind as to explain?"

"Er," said Remus, "my father was set on finding a cure for lycanthropy when I was young, so we went to a couple different places. Professor Dilley was working as a curse-breaker at Gringotts… right, Professor?"

"That's the one!" said Dilley, pleased. "I was a fine one, too."

"Yes… so Dad took Mum and me to London to see if Professor Dilley could help, since he was a professional curse-breaker."

Dilley shrugged. "I couldn't do anything, obviously. There are some curses that you can't just destroy without destroying the host itself, and lycanthropy is one of them. I could get rid of your lycanthropy, sure, but I'd have to kill you first!" He laughed as if he'd just told a particularly funny joke (he hadn't).

Remus smiled weakly. "Right."

"Did your father take that for an answer?"

"Er, no."

"I didn't think so. Anyway. I have no questions. You could have just asked me earlier, Dumbledore. Lupin didn't need to be in the room."

"Remus is a very intelligent wizard who deserves to speak for himself as much as possible," said Dumbledore.

"Right, sure! Well, I'm going to go look for something to help me break this DADA curse. Ciao, Lupin! Dumbledore! Come along, Max!"

Max barked halfheartedly and trailed after Dilley. Remus waited until the both of them had left the classroom before shooting Dumbledore an incredulous look. "Professor Dilley said that Max told him my name."

"Max is a very clever dog, Remus."

"That's what Professor Dilley said." Remus took another sip of tea. It was still scalding. "I'm afraid of dogs," he commented. "But only a bit. Mostly their claws."

"Do you want me to ask Professor Dilley to keep Max out of the classroom?"

Remus processed what he had just confessed to Dumbledore with a jolt. Why had he said that? "Erm, no. I don't know why I told you, actually. There's nothing I want to be done about it. I just wanted to… say it out loud, for some reason. It slipped out."

"Ah, I see. Rest assured that you may talk to me whenever you'd like, Remus. Things must be different without John Questus around. I'm aware that he was usually your listening ear."

Remus nodded, tears threatening to fall once again. "I'm doing okay, though," he managed.

"I know. Would you like to talk about it?"

"No, thank you. I've done enough of that this summer, I think."

"I don't doubt it." Dumbledore offered Remus a biscuit, but Remus declined—the biscuits smelled entirely too chocolatey for Remus' taste. "There are two other things that I'd like to speak with you about," said Dumbledore. "The first is a summons from Professor Kettleburn to discuss the logistics of Care of Magical Creatures this year. He's aware that your lycanthropy will put you in a unique situation, and he'd like to work out the details directly after class lets out this afternoon—following your Transfiguration period, I believe. Would you be willing to meet with him outside Hagrid's hut today?"

"Of course, Professor."

"Good. I'm not entirely sure what he wants to do with you, but I'd wear boots if I were you. I'm told it can get muddy out there."

Remus looked down at his shoes. He didn't own boots. He only had two pairs of shoes—one for transformations, and one for daily wear. "Thanks for the tip," he said, not intending at all to follow it.

"I have one more request for you."

"Sure."

Professor Dumbledore made a contemplative humming noise. "Some of your teachers have come to me about how helpful you are in class. Did you know that?"

"No…?"

"Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick in particular are impressed by your concise and creative explanations of certain concepts to students who need a little extra help. Peter Pettigrew's test scores have improved immensely since his first year, and I heavily suspect that you have had something to do with that."

"Peter's brighter than he thinks he is."

Dumbledore smiled. "Comments like that are exactly why you're such a wonderful teacher. I was wondering if you would be willing to tutor a couple students this year. There are always a few younger students who need a bit of extra help here and there, and many of the students willing to tutor have graduated. If you'll agree to the task, I would love to put you on the list and arrange a few meetings with younger students."

Remus didn't respond for a few seconds. "You're joking, right?" he asked. "This is a joke?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "I believe you've been spending too much time around your friends, Remus. They might joke about such things, but I never would."

"Right, of course." Remus shook his head as if to clear it of the stupidity. Why would Dumbledore lie to him like that? "I… I'm glad you think that I'd be able to do that, but…"

"I know that you would be able to do it… and I do not mean to boast, but I am usually right."

"But I'm a bit busy, aren't I? What with three extra electives and… and full moons?"

"I think you can do it, but if you think it will be too stressful, then you are perfectly allowed to decline."

"I… I don't really trust myself to do a good job…"

Dumbledore smiled at Remus warmly and handed him a biscuit. Remus took it, but he had no plans to eat it. "Do you ever view tutoring Peter Pettigrew as a chore, Remus? Do you ever worry that you're doing it incorrectly?"

"No, of course not! And I don't really tutor him… we just… study things together and… well, I help him quite a bit, but it's not the same."

"I think that it is exactly the kind of thing that I want from you. They already have teachers. It is not your responsibility to bring them up to par on what they are learning in class. The only thing that I expect from you is to be an encouraging study partner and friend—exactly as you are doing to Peter. Think of it as a recreational activity rather than an added responsibility. And, of course, it'll look very good on a job application."

Remus needed that; he knew he did. He had a feeling he'd be applying for a lot of low-skill jobs in the future. Even so... "Do I have a choice?" he asked.

"Of course you do. I'm very sorry if I have made you feel differently. I shall, of course, support any decision that you make."

Remus took another sip of his tea while he thought it over.

He didn't need to think much.

"Yes," he said. "Absolutely. That would be wonderful."

"That is indeed what I thought you would say. Consider yourself signed up, and consider me very thankful."

Remus smiled and finished his tea.

He wasn't sure why he was so excited, but he was. It wasn't often that Remus got to be useful—got to be treated as a valued member of society—got to be himself around perfect strangers—and teach! Questus had always said that Remus was a good teacher.

Remus got the sudden urge to write to Professor Questus and tell him all about it, but he repressed it with a grimace. "Thank you for the opportunity, sir," he said, and then he went to find his friends. After all, they had Herbology next after Potions, and Sprout did not like it when they were late.

AN: Today on "letters and days of the week that have similar vibes".. Monday and B!