Chapter Five: A Furry Little Problem Solved

Despite having had a whole day to settle back into life at Hogwarts, Monday morning still came as a great shock to the system for the four boys and - after ignoring their alarm clocks until the sun was glaring forcefully through their window, informing them they were late - they faced a mad, manic dash to get ready in time for breakfast. Peter couldn't find his underwear, James was wearing Sirius's socks, Sirius's wand was missing and was eventually recovered lurking inside Remus's hat and Remus left the dormitory with his robes on backwards, and had to hastily stop off at the boys' loos to turn them round.

By the time they reached the Great Hall (Remus still checking and double checking that the label was now firmly at the back of his robes) they found they were the last ones to arrive (even the first years, who got lost every time they left the common room, had beaten them), they had missed the owl post and Big Macca was checking her watch, her lips very thin. Her nostrils flared when they entered and - meekly - they slunk their way towards Gryffindor table and sat down near Lily and her friends.

'Has anyone come up with any good ideas of what to call it?' Petra Linehan was asking her friends, who all shook their heads. They had plates of fried tomatoes and cups of coffee - but did not seem to be very interested in their breakfast. An unopened letter lay beside Mandy Thomas's hand, totally disregarded.

'It has to be something catchy,' Mary McDonald said, sagely, 'something that will make the girls want to read it.'

Mandy wrinkled her nose. 'Is "Jackie" catchy? How did they come up with that anyway?'

'They had a big, long list of girl's names and chose it from that,' Lily told her. 'I think it must have been a very common muggle name back when it first started.'

'So maybe we should give ours a witchy name?' Mary said, 'but something punchy- more punchy than "Jackie".'

Petra stared at her. 'What in Merlin's name is a "witchy name"?'

'Merlin,' Mary said without hesitation.

'Minerva,' Lily added, as Professor McGonagall swept past, handing out timetables.

'Rowena.'

'Helga.'

'Pomona.'

'Bettina.'

'Alright - alright,' Petra held up her hand to stop the flow of names flying at her from the two muggle borns. 'You've proven your point. I accept that some names are more "witchy" than others.'

'And we need to choose a good one if we want to get girls excited,' Mary said.

They boys all looked at each other, utterly baffled as to what they were talking about, and then shrugged and helped themselves to porridge and kippers.

'Glad to see you four gentlemen decided to join us,' a dry voice said from behind them. They all jumped and turned - Big Macca was standing there, a pile of new timetables in her hand.

'It was a slow start this morning, Professor,' James said. 'Shock to the system and all - tomorrow will be better.'

'Well - we'll see,' and, with another flare of her nostrils, she handed them a piece of parchment each. 'Third year timetables, see that you're not late to your first lesson of the year.'

They all nodded, she made a 'hmmph' sound with her nose and walked away, and then they bent their heads over the parchment to compare schedules.

'Our lessons are shorter,' Remus said. 'Only forty five minutes per period instead of an hour.'

'And break is later,' Peter pointed out.

'And they've knocked fifteen minutes off lunch!' James sounded wildly indignant about this turn of events.

But Sirius only shrugged, 'it's so they can fit in all our extra lessons - look: We've got 8 periods a week which are brand new subjects, they had to fit them in somehow.' He scanned the timetable, 'no new ones today though.'

'And we don't have to start and end the week with double potions, this year,' Remus said in relief (last year's timetable had been too much to bear some weeks). 'Things are looking up already.'

The bell for first lesson rang, the benches in the Great Hall were all scraped back and - en masse - the student body got to its feet and started filing towards their first class of the day. Rather pleased to be starting with Defence Against the Dark Arts (if a little disappointed not to be beginning with a new subject) the boys abandoned their half eaten bowls of porridge and made their way up to the fourth floor.

When they reached the Defence classroom, they found the third year Ravenclaws also waiting.

Lily and the others had already joined up with Sandy Lewis and the Ravenclaw girls and were huddled in a group, eagerly discussing The Kneazles latest song (of course they were!).

'I wouldn't say it was the best yet,' Tulip Khan was saying. 'I like "Hard Spell to Learn" best.'

'It was so good of them to dedicate it to all the new muggleborns though,' Lily gushed. 'You can't underestimate what that means to those of us who keep being told to "go home".'

Sandy and Mary nodded along with her words.

Meanwhile the boys stared rather suspiciously at their own Ravenclaw counterparts. They had never had much to do with the boys of the other houses (unless they were hexing them), preferring to keep in their own tight knit little group.

'Why are we with them?' Peter hissed in a not so subtle stage whisper.

'More subjects - less time, they're doubling us up,' Sirius told him.

'And knocking fifteen minutes from lunch!' (James - it seemed - was not going to be getting over this injustice any time soon.)

The door opened, the students fell quiet, and Professor Tenebris - as wizened and wrinkled as ever - grinned out at them. 'No need to come in today, we're not staying. Follow me, follow me…' and she walked out of the classroom and headed down the corridor. Casting bemused glances at each other, the class followed on behind.

She led them down a set of hidden stairs, pulled back a tapestry of Winifred the Winsome brushing her hair and continued down the stone passage that was directly behind it. They were now in a part of the castle none of them had ever visited before. Not even the boys - in all their poking around in first year - had come across this hallway (and Remus could not decide if he was pleased to have found somewhere new, or annoyed they had missed it in the first place).

Eventually, Tenebris stopped by a heavy, wooden door. 'This is the old armoury,' she told them. 'Not much need for it now - but Hogwarts was built as a castle for a reason, built to withstand a siege - and so we have an armoury. Dusty and disused as it may be - this is where we are headed.'

She pushed the door open and they all crammed inside, staring around curiously at the brutal looking weapons: swords and maces, and clubs with six inch spikes embedded in their shaft, were hanging from the walls - glistening menacingly in the torch light. There were a couple of suits of rusted armour lined up along the far wall, as well - standing there patiently, as if awaiting the signal to go to battle.

'All inside, all inside,' Tenebris said cheerfully. 'Come on - squish up - make room - now… can everyone see?'

They all nodded… Over by the far wall, the middle suit of armour began to shake and rattle, as if of its own accord. Some of the students jumped. Lily sighed, 'oh - it's not Peeves in there, is it?'

But Remus was eyeing the suit of armour with suspicion - a suspicion that he thought was probably proven right when Professor Tenebris said: 'Mr. Lupin - I expect you, out of everyone, has a good idea of what is currently lurking inside that rather gaudy helmet?'

'Is it a boggart, Professor?'

She beamed at him. 'And can you tell everyone here what a boggart is exactly?'

'Well - it's a sort of spirit - an apparition which is able to change its form. It hides in dark, enclosed spaces- wardrobes, the gap under the bed - a suit of armour…' he nodded at the trembling armour in front of him, 'until a wizard happens along - most muggles can't see them, you know - and then it manifests as something the wizard is afraid of. It feeds on fear, you see. They're mostly harmless - quite sad really - but if one manages to hit upon the right fear it can leave an otherwise competent wizard totally paralysed.'

'Excellent,' Tenebris beamed even wider. 'Five points to Gryffindor.'

Lily had stuck her hand in the air. 'Professor Tenebris?' she asked, 'how does the boggart know what a wizard will be afraid of?'

'Good question … would our resident boggart expert like to answer that one?'

Remus flushed - while James and Sirius rolled their eyes at him. 'It reads your mind,' he told Lily. 'It skims it to find out what you are scared of. But if you know what you are doing, then you can manipulate the form it will take.'

Professor Tenebris had started to frown, 'How so?' she asked.

'Because it is your mind it's reading. If you think of your actual worst fear then that is what it will show you, and if you're not prepared then that is what it will find. But if you concentrate - and think of something that scares you just enough to fool the boggart but not so much you can't fight it, think about it really hard, then that is the fear the boggart will find and that's the form it will take.'

Tenebris looked thoughtful for a moment, and then her face split into a broad grin - making her look more wrinkled than ever. 'Well - that's definitely ten points to Gryffindor for teaching this old dog a new trick! I never knew that … though I am more a vampire expert than an apparition one … You'll be taking my job from under me, Mr. Lupin - it should be you up here teaching this lesson.'

Remus flushed even deeper - and he heard Sirius tut. (Despite being top in every other class they took, Sirius and James had always been very jealous of Remus being the best at Defence; it was - in their opinion - by far the most important and exciting branch of magic there was, and being top in Charms class just did not compare.)

'Now, as frightening as a boggart may seem, they are quite easy to combat,' Tenebris told the class. 'But it does require force of will. They feed on fear but are themselves afraid of laughter. Once it has assumed the form of what scares you, it is up to the witch or wizard to force it to change form into something they find amusing. The incantation to force that change is quite simple … Mr. Lupin?'

'Riddikulus.'

'Quite correct - Riddikulus - let's practice that … very good …and, as you say it, your imagination goes into overdrive forcing the boggart to look funny. Oh - I don't know - let's say you were afraid of tigers… you would turn it into a tiny tabby cat all tied up in a ball of string.'

The class all tittered, some of the girls made "aww" sounds.

The suit of armour rattled all the harder, shaking and clanking so much it looked like it might fall over.

The class fell quiet, looking alarmed. Tenebris nodded. 'See - the laughter hurt it. Now - following on from Mr. Lupin's excellent advice on the matter…' (Remus stared at his toes and hoped for the ground to swallow him whole - even the Ravenclaws were starting to stare at him) 'we will now take some time to think about what we fear. Not our deepest, darkest fears just … spiders, dragons, that sort of thing. And then think about how you can make it funny …I'll give you a minute.'

There was a flurry of panic around the room, and then students started closing their eyes and scrunching up their faces as they tried to think of something that scared them - and how to laugh at it. Peter darted a rather nervous glance in the direction of Sirius, who was himself looking rather haughty and withdrawn - his grey eyes clouded over, as he contemplated this conundrum. James had his eyes squeezed tight shut and was muttering 'hit her over the head with a broomstick'... Remus had no idea what that was about.

He closed his own eyes then, to ponder his own particular problem. When the boggart saw him, it would turn into the full moon - which was fine when it was just him and his dad, it would be fine if it was just him and Sirius and the others - but in front of the girls and all the Ravenclaws … he did not want the rest of them, half of them total strangers, asking questions. Which meant that he needed to turn the boggart into a centaur … but a boggart was much harder to fight when he was having to wrestle to keep it in any shape other than the full moon. He had lost control the last time he had tried.

He grit his teeth and thought "centaur" very firmly to himself - imagining Bane standing above him, eight feet tall with his rather wild hair and beard and angry, black eyes. But the moon kept edging into his thoughts. "No - centaur". But there was no denying that he felt a tug of fear in his stomach at the thought of the moon that was wholly absent when he thought of Bane …not unless he remembered that awful moment when the centaur had told his friends what he was … and he thought that was the end of everything.

A sudden, horrible thought struck him. What if his Boggart Bane did the same thing? What if it told everyone he was a werewolf - right here in the middle of the lesson? The tug of fear turned into a tidal wave of molten panic … oh, Merlin - that was definitely what the boggart would find now - because that was what he was thinking about. Centaur into donkey - and make it quick he told himself… but the fear wasn't sticking and his real fears were front and centre and just waiting to be found.

'Alright then chaps, everyone ready?' Tenebris asked.

Remus's eyes flew open. He wasn't ready! He wondered if he could ask if he could just sit this one out …but what would that look like after the Professor had made such a fuss about him being an expert? And nobody else seemed to have any qualms - they were all nodding grimly, gripping their wands and pushing their sleeves up.

'Alright - Miss Khan, step forward …do you remember the incantation?'

'Yes.' Her voice was small and high pitched, but her face was determined.

'When I open the visor it will fly out, the first thing it will see is you - it will become what you fear - are you ready?'

'Yes,' her voice was faint, barely above a whisper now.

'On the count of three then - one, two, three - Aperto!' She pointed her wand at the helmet, some sparks flew out of the tip and the visor sprang open. There was a rushing, roaring sound and then a thud as something hit the floor, and suddenly a giant asp reared up above Tulip's head, undulating and hissing - its forked tongue flicking in and out, its venomous fangs bared.

For just a moment, Tulip froze. And then: 'Riddikulus!' there was a flash, and the asp's fangs had been replaced with wine gums.

'Very good, Miss Khan. Miss Thomas - forward.'

Mandy stepped forward, her face so set she looked like she had lockjaw. There was a loud crack and - where the snake had been licking its own jellyish teeth - there was now a giant crab, snapping pincers and scuttling side to side.

'Riddikulus!' The crab was suddenly upside down on its back, its legs and pincers flailing in the air.

'Mr. Ogden - your turn!' A round-faced Ravenclaw boy stepped forward. There was a crack and the crab became a tiger which turned into a kitten caught up in a ball of string.

'Maybe not much imagination used there, Mr. Ogden - still, never mind. Miss McDonald.'

Mary stepped forward (Remus was still very firmly thinking "centaur centaur centaur" to himself). There was a loud crack once again and, where there had been a kitten, there was now a large, slavering Alsatian. Mary yelped a bit, as it sprang towards her, but she held her nerve, yelled "Riddikulus" and - with a flash - it turned into a (very surprised looking) chihuahua. Everyone laughed (apart from Remus whose mind was still very firmly fixed on centaurs and not full moons) and she gratefully scuttled back.

Sirius stared at her, a look of incomprehension on his face. 'You're afraid of dogs?'

'Big, slobbery ones - yes. They could bite your face off.'

He shook his head in disgust. 'girls!'

By this time, Bettina had stepped forward and the boggart was now a vampire - which began to choke on garlic and then Crack! Petra was in front of the boggart and a dead body was shuffling towards her, arms outstretched, until she made its arms fall off and then Crack! The boggart was now a lethifold, slinking across the floor towards Theo Bibbins of Ravenclaw - until, with a cry of "Riddikulus" he glued it to the floorboards.

'Very good, very good! Mr. Black - step forward.'

Sirius stepped up, his face set - his eyes glinting (Remus barely paid attention - he was thinking of centaurs, but quiet ones that did not reveal terrible secrets in public places). There was a Crack! And the struggling lethifold became a small, very wizened house elf - with a snout like nose and bat ears (with a good deal of white hair sticking out of them), wearing a filthy towel around its waist.

Sirius's lip curled: "Riddikulus!" And the towel was replaced with a rather dapper suit and tie. The house elf looked down at itself, saw the clothes, and flung itself to the ground, screaming and crying and beating the floor with its tiny fists in distress and fury. Sirius let out a loud bark of laughter.

'A touch cruel, perhaps, Mr. Black - very well … Miss Gudgeon.'

Gwen Gudgeon took Sirius's place (he was looking very annoyed at having been called "cruel", though Remus was still too caught up panicking about centaurs to really notice) and the tantruming house elf was replaced with an eyeball rolling around on the floor (well - Gwen Gudgeon was Davey Gudgeon's sister, after all). The eyeball turned into a gobstopper and then it was James' turn.

The boggart turned into a witch, wearing official looking Quidditch robes and carrying a clipboard. 'I'm very sorry, Mr. Potter - but you just aren't good enough to play for the Falcons.' The witch boggart said. 'In fact, you're not very good at Quidditch at all…' and she began to laugh.

'Riddikulus!' A broomstick fell from the ceiling and hit the witch boggart a hard clunk on the head. And then Peter was stepping up, trembling and perspiring - but with his wand gamely gripped in his hand. There came the now familiar Crack! And then … Sirius was standing where the boggart had been. Only this Sirius towered almost to the ceiling, he cast a dark shadow across the room - and his eyes burned with rage and scorn.

A murmur of confusion ran through the class, and heads turned to check - but there was the real Sirius, standing by the window (his face was bright red but was quickly turning into his darkest glower). Meanwhile boggart Sirius loomed large over Peter, taller by far than its human counterpart - but with a scowl on its face deep enough to match the one worn by the real thing.

There was an outbreak of tittering among the girls. Sirius blushed even deeper and looked even angrier (James was staring on in surprise, his mouth a wide 'o', his head swivelled between the two of them like he was watching a tennis match) . Peter squeaked in fear (though whether at the boggart or actual Sirius, no one knew) but he raised his wand ready to cast the charm.

'Perhaps a touch personal, Mr. Pettigrew,' Professor Tenebris intervened before he could speak. 'Step aside. Mr. Stebbins - you're up.'

And, without doing anything to his boggart (and thus sparing Sirius the embarrassment of watching whatever Peter would do to him to make him ridiculous), Peter scuttled out of the way. He went to stand with James and Sirius, who cuffed him over the head. Peter squeaked again. 'Sorry!' But this did not seem to mollify Sirius.

Crack!

Remus tore his eyes away from his now squabbling friends to look at the new form the boggart had taken, now Ellis Stebbins was fighting it. The room was suddenly filled with a ferocious growling and snarling, which bounced off the suits of armour and reverberated around the room.

Some of the girls (Mary in the lead) screamed and rushed out of the way, their screams echoing and mingling with the snarls.

For one, heartstopping moment, Remus thought the boggart must have caught sight of him, skimmed his own mind and seen his truest, deepest fear while he stared, distracted, at the drama acting out between his friends. For boggart-Sirius had been replaced by a ravening, raging werewolf - with wild, yellow eyes, and sharp teeth and claws. Its fur was matted and dark, and specks of drool flew from between its curled lips every time it growled. It pounced and raged and snapped at the students … and Remus was sure it would only be a matter of seconds before it froze, shuddered and then shrank back into human form - revealing himself to the whole class…

He felt the panic sweep over him, and he knew he needed to get away from the boggart before things could get that far, he tensed - ready to run from the room … and that was when he saw Ellis Stebbins, frozen in horror - his wand raised but utterly useless.

And he understood … this was not his boggart. This was Ellis Stebbins' worst fear and this werewolf was not about to transform back into any human, least of all Remus. Relief flooded through him, leaving his legs feeling like jelly … but then right behind that came a tidal wave of shame and guilt; hot and sticky and making his heart sink. …

Ellis was glued to the spot, rooted to the floorboards and unable to fight. Half the class were pressed into the corners of the room, screaming - backing away as far as they could … And though they didn't know it, the thing they were backing away from was him, Remus. Ellis Stebbins' worst fear was Remus … just like Lyall Lupin's was.

And everyone could see what he was. Sirius and the others were getting a firsthand glimpse of his true nature - and they must be just as horrified as everyone else. They wouldn't want to talk to him, to be his friend, after this…They would never say that but … nothing could be the same now they had seen.

He didn't know how long he stood there, watching, listening to everyone scream in panic at his true form - whether it was one horrible second or three awful hours … he couldn't have said. But then Tenebris was stepping in, shouting to be heard over the growls and the yells. 'Alright alright - enough - Incutio! '

Sparks flew from the tip of her wand. The wolf boggart dissipated and became a swirling black cloud which flew at top speed back to the suit of armour - disappearing inside the helmet. The visor clanged shut, the suit of armour began to clank and rattle again … and the room went quiet.

Everyone was wide eyed, their faces pale and bloodless (even Professor Tenebris looked shaken). Remus stared down at his feet and tried not to cry. His eyes scratched from not blinking and he had to bite his lower lip to stop it from going all wobbly.

'Alright - we'll call it a day, there,' Tenebris said (her voice was still trembling). 'Homework - I want you to read and summarise the chapter on boggarts, for next lesson please. Class dismissed.'

The class filed out - silent at first, and still looking a little scared, but starting to whisper as they reached the door … whispering about the werewolf they had just seen up close and personal.

'Mr. Lupin, could I have a word?' Professor Tenebris asked, quietly - but firmly.

All he wanted was to get as far away from this room as possible … but he stayed behind, reluctantly. His friends left - and he wondered what they were saying about him now he was not there to hear it.

'That must have been a terrible shock for you, Remus,' Tenebris said.

'No more for me than anyone else.' His voice was dull, and he was still staring determinedly at his feet - not blinking.

'Now we both know that isn't true… I'm sorry that happened, Remus.'

'It's fine, Professor. I'm fine.'

'You don't have to pretend.'

'I'm not pretending! …Can I go?'

He was still looking down, examining his shoes …but he was aware of her giving him a searching look. He stood patiently still under her scrutiny. '...Yes,' she said eventually. And he nodded and walked away, his heart feeling very heavy.

…

He had Herbology next, with the Hufflepuffs. He arrived at the greenhouses after everyone else was already inside, murmured an apology to Professor Sprout and took his place beside his friends. Sirius was still glowering, Peter was still cringing but, by now, James had had time to process and thought it was the greatest joke in the world that Peter's deepest fear was Sirius.

'Well, what is it that really scares you the most, Pete? Is it how terrifyingly vain he is? Or the fact that he has seven toes on each foot?...'

He waited for Sirius to give his usual correction, but Sirius only glowered some more - and cuffed Peter around the back of the head again. James shrugged and continued. 'Are you afraid he's going to pin you down and bore you to death with the crossword? Because you just have to stand your ground and not join in…'

Remus ignored all three of them. He stared down miserably at his Puffapod plant and failed to listen to Professor Sprout telling them that the seeds of the Puffapod could make you dizzy, or that they would flower instantly if they came into contact with a solid surface. So, when - through the thick fog of his shame and self loathing - he opened up his pod, nearly passed out from instant dizziness and spilled the seeds everywhere, ending up surrounded by bright pink flowers which bloomed from nowhere (and which made him sneeze) he had no idea what had happened.

He was vaguely aware of Professor Sprout yelling at him, and docking points from Gryffindor - and of his friends staring at him in surprise. They had barely paid him any attention since he had arrived, preferring to snipe among themselves, and that was hardly surprising… They were all obviously choosing to ignore the giant, purple erumpment in the room which was Remus's being a monster, and the fact they no longer wanted to know him. That talk - when it came - would be painful and awkward and best not held in Herbology.

Professor Sprout handed him a sweeping brush and, still barely aware of what he was doing, he began to sweep up the mess he had caused.

'Remus,' he heard Sirius whisper, 'are you alright? What's wrong?' But Remus just shook his head and kept on sweeping, too embarrassed to look at him.

The bell for third year break went, and they all trailed back up to the castle, with muddy hands, intending to get a quick wash before Potions. James was still teasing, and his relentless cheeriness was starting to break through Sirius's glower - and he was just about beginning to see the funny side of his being Peter's worst fear (Pete was smiling along as well …but it was a rather queasy smile and didn't quite reach his eyes). Remus still said nothing, and just concentrated on the hot water and lathering up the soap and staring at the bubbles as he sluiced off the worst of the soil.

He melted a cauldron in Potions. An acid green soup (which was supposed to be a lemony yellow) bubbled over and spilled out across the floor, whilst the mangled, melted lump of pewter which had once been his cauldron hissed and smoked. He was vaguely aware of Professor Slughorn yelling at him, and of him losing even more points for Gryffindor. He was handed a mop and started to dab away at the pooling potion, trying to ignore the stares from the Slytherins. His friends were nudging each other and whispering by now… Normally they laughed at him when he melted a cauldron…but they were probably too disgusted with him to laugh. He tried not to listen in to what they said to each other, he didn't want to know what they thought - not yet. But he still caught a few snippets of hushed conversation.

'What is up with him?'

'He was fine this morning - wasn't he fine this morning?'

'Yeah, Pete - he was … Something must've happened between breakfast and Herbology…'

Remus flushed - and wondered why his friends were playing dumb - before going back to ignoring them. He kept his head down, tried not to think of the werewolf boggart and refused to make eye contact with anybody.

They tackled him at lunch time. 'Don't think I don't know what's up.' Remus looked up from where he had been listlessly pushing his beef casserole around his plate, to find Sirius rather sternly pointing his fork at him. 'You were fine until the end of Defence. All this moping … you can't fool me.'

'What is wrong with him?' James looked nonplussed.

Remus sighed.

'It was that Stebbins berk's boggart. That's what's got him all … depressed and world weary. He's feeling hard done to.'

'I am not feeling hard done to.'

'Then what are you feeling?'

'I…' he found he couldn't look at them and dropped his eyes back to his casserole. 'Everyone was screaming…'

'Well - yeah,' James said. 'A great, ruddy werewolf was rampaging through the room. Who wouldn't scream?'

'It was pretty scary,' Peter added.

'Not as scary as Sirius, though - right, Pete?'

Sirius cuffed them both around the head, and then turned back to Remus. 'You know what transformed werewolves are like - better than anyone. Why are you so bothered that…'

'That everyone saw?' The words burst out from between his lips before he could stop them. 'That you saw? All of you … Why wouldn't I be bothered?'

'Why would you be?' Sirius sounded exasperated.

'Because …' He wanted to crawl under the table and hide. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want this conversation at all - but he certainly didn't want it here, in the Hall - with the other three all staring at him. 'Because that's what I am… what I really am.' His voice was the merest mumble, and the others had to lean forward to catch what he was saying. 'And now you've seen - now you know … you won't want to be friends with me after that. It's …I suppose it's OK, I wouldn't want to be friends with me either. I understand …'

'I understand that you're an idiot,' Sirius told him.

'A pretty big idiot,' Peter nodded.

'And that's coming from someone whose greatest fear is me …' He hesitated for a moment… and then cuffed Peter around the head again for good measure.

'Ow!'

'You deserve it… but you -' he was back to wagging a stern fork at Remus, 'are just being soft. We know what you are - we know what it means. And it doesn't make a difference, you hear? We don't care that you're a …well a…' He glanced around the Hall, not wanting to say it where someone might hear.

'We don't care that you have a furry little problem,' James intervened smoothly.

'Exactly that.'

'That's what you're saying now,' Remus muttered.

'That's what we're saying always.'

'When you've had time to think about it…'

'We'll still say the same.'

Peter was nodding along in agreement. James, however, was regarding Remus with narrowed eyes. Once Sirius was quiet, he leaned forward, resting his elbow on the table, and spoke so only the four of them could hear. 'Listen, Remus, mate - you're our friend - and that's all that matters. It doesn't make a difference to us what you get up to one night a month, or how many gits like Stebbins are afraid of what you are, or what the Minister for Magic herself has to say about you; you are our Moony - one of us, and we four stick together.'

'Always,' Sirius agreed.

But Remus only flushed miserably … They said that now, but once they had had time to think…

When the bell rang, he shouldered his bag and headed off to Transfiguration. He could hear the other three whispering about him again, but he tried his best to ignore it.

'What are we going to do?' Peter hissed.

'We need to find a way to cheer him up.'

'No,' Sirius corrected. 'We need to find a way to help him. To prove we mean what we say.'

They filed into the Transfiguration classroom and took their seats at the back. They were sharing these lessons with the Ravenclaws this year - and Remus took one look at Ellis Stebbins and slid down on his stool, so that he was so low in his seat only his forehead was showing. Sirius took one look at Ellis Stebbins and then stuck his middle finger up at him (Stebbins looked very confused).

'Alright, settle down, settle down,' Big Macca said, shutting the door (though they were already sitting in silence, if they were any more settled, they would be dead). 'Today we will be studying a very rare and difficult brand of Transfiguration, a skill known only to a few witches and wizards who are called "Animagi".' She flicked her wand towards the blackboard, and the word wrote itself up in chalk. Sirius narrowed his eyes. The word was familiar - but he couldn't quite place it.

No matter though, for Lily's hand was already in the air. 'What is an "Animagi", Professor McGonagall?'

'The singular is "Animagus" , Miss Evans. And the best way to explain is to…' There was a popping noise and then the Prof had vanished and, where she had been standing, there was now a rather stern looking tabby cat with markings around its eyes in the shape of square spectacles. The popping sound came again and Professor McGonagall dusted herself off.

There was a moment of startled silence, and then the class burst into applause. (Big Macca flushed and - to the keen and discerning eye - it appeared like she had to bite her lip to stop herself from smiling … This was the first time she had transformed in front of a class, and she was more than a little pleased that it was a hit.)

'As you can see,' she told them, as if nothing of any great consequence had just happened, 'an animagus is a witch or wizard who possesses the power to transform at will into an animal.'

Sirius's eyes had gone wide - and unlike McGonagall he was not able to stop the grin from spreading wide across his face. He nudged James hard in the ribs.

'Ow!'

'That's it!' he whispered. 'What we've been looking for - how to turn into animals. This is how we can help Remus!'