The next chapter will be posted on Monday. Will be away all weekend.
Demelza and Amy came to see me in the hospital wing the next morning. They had a bit of trouble getting past Madam Pomfrey at the doors though.
"No, absolutely not, she will be discharged at midday, you can see her then!" Pomfrey told them.
It was 10am to be fair to her.
"Oh come on, it's Saturday, what's the big deal? We would rather spend this time with her then spend the next 2 hours doing nothing!" Demelza replied.
"This is my final word!"
"Is it really?"
"No, in that case, perhaps not- oh very well then" she said exasperatedly. "You're lucky I have a sweet tooth!"
A sweet tooth? What had Demelza done to change her mind?
They rushed in and sat down on either side, fist bumping me in the process.
"What's with the desperation guys?" I said, laughing. "As Pomfrey said, I'm getting out of here in two hours!"
"Mate, we were worried sick about you!" Demelza said
"Yeah, we couldn't work out what was going on after you didn't come back to the common room after dinner. And then it was after hours, so we could hardly go out in the corridors to tell a teacher. When we heard you were in the hospital wing this morning we came straight here after breakfast!" added Amy
"Speaking of that, how did you get past Pomfrey in the end?" I asked
Demelza giggled
"Offered her a pan au chocolate. She loves those. Have you seen the way she munches them down?"
I gave her a weird look.
"No mate, I don't tend to pay close attention to the way the staff eat"
"Whatever. Look, can you just tell us what happened last night?"
I told them all that I was allowed to, in that we had encountered Sirius Black last night, and he had been briefly captured, but escaped once again. I told them that Sirius had stunned us as well as Snape, when we attempted to bring him to the castle, and that was how he had gotten away. I had to act frustrated and disappointed with this, and for a while I was afraid that Demelza and Amy would see through it, but thankfully their responses meant that they evidently hadn't.
"Black got away after being under our noses for a third time?! He's taking the piss at this point!" said Demelza
"Yeah, he's really messing with us now" said Amy "How big must his ego become every time he slips out of our grasp?"
We spent the rest of the time talking about Quidditch, and excitedly discussed the upcoming World Cup. Amy of course had prime seats for the final as well as all of England's games, courtesy of Ludo. Demelza and I were incredibly jealous, despite Amy's assurances that she'd tried really hard to get us tickets too.
"Well, fingers crossed my dad can get some tickets from work, he usually can" I said, actually crossing my fingers at that moment.
"Do you think he'll be able to get me any, or will it be family only?" Demelza asked.
"I'm not sure. I'll put a word in for you but can't promise anything. Ask your dad too though, he works alongside mine"
"True, let's just hope for the best"
At lunch, which was held in a much quieter Great Hall due to it being a Hogsmeade weekend, Magda approached me.
"Ginny! What happened to you last night? Are you ok? I heard you were in the hospital wing!"
"Calm down Magda, I'm fine! I was just stunned, that's all!"
And I told her everything I had told Demelza and Amy
Her response was pretty similar, and then she dropped a bombshell on me.
"Professor Lupin is resigning"
I spat out the piece of chicken I was eating.
"What?! Why?"
Magda looked at me quizzically
"Isn't it obvious? Oh wait you weren't at breakfast were you? He's a werewolf! Snape said it"
"So?"
Magda raised an eyebrow
"Isn't me just saying "he's a werewolf" enough?"
I stood up.
"I'm going to see him. He's a great teacher, he can't leave!"
It turned out Harry had had the same idea, as I bumped into him in the corridor leading to Lupin's office. We simply nodded at each other, neither of us needing to explain what we were doing.
Lupin's office door was open. He had already packed most of his things. The Grindylow's empty tank stood next to his battered old suitcase, which was open and nearly full. Lupin was bending over something on his desk, and only looked up when Harry knocked on the door.
'I saw you coming,' said Lupin, smiling. He pointed to the parchment he had been poring over. It was the Marauder's Map.
'I just saw Hagrid,' said Harry. 'And he said you'd resigned"
"Yeah, Magda told me the same thing. It's not true is it?" I said, sitting down on a corner of his desk.
'I'm afraid it is,' said Lupin.
He started opening his desk drawers and taking out the contents.
'Why?' said Harry. 'The Ministry of Magic don't think you were helping Sirius, do they?'
'No. Professor Dumbledore managed to convince Fudge that I was trying to save your lives.' He sighed. 'That was the final straw for Severus. I think the loss of the Order of Merlin hit him hard. So he – er – accidentally let slip that I am a werewolf this morning at breakfast.'
'You're not leaving just because of that!' said Harry
"Yeah, it's not your fault you have this condition! You're not dangerous as a human, and barely so as a wolf when you take that potion!" I added
Lupin smiled wryly.
'This time tomorrow, the owls will start arriving from parents – they will not want a werewolf teaching their children. And after last night, I see their point. I could have bitten any of you …that must never happen again.'
He carried on emptying his drawers.
Then he said, 'From what the Headmaster told me this morning, you saved a lot of lives last night, Harry. If I'm proud of anything, it's how much you've learned. Tell me about your Patronus.'
'How d'you know about that?' said Harry, distracted.
'What else could have driven the Dementors back?'
Harry told Lupin what had happened. When he'd finished, Lupin was smiling again.
'Yes, your father was always a stag when he transformed,' he said. 'You guessed right … that's why we called him Prongs"
"Brilliant" I said
Lupin threw his last few books into his case, closed the desk drawers and turned to look at us. He hesitated, then held out the Marauders Map.
'I am no longer your teacher, so I don't feel guilty about giving you this back as well. It's no use to me, and I daresay you two, Ron and Hermione will find uses for it.'
Harry took the map and grinned.
'You told me Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs would've wanted to lure me out of school …you said they'd have thought it was funny.'
'And so we would have done,' said Lupin, now reaching down to close his case. 'I have no hesitation in saying that James would have been highly disappointed if his son had never found any of the secret passages out of the castle.'
There was a knock on the door. Harry hastily stuffed the Marauder's Map into his pocket. It was Professor Dumbledore. He didn't look surprised to see us there.
'Your carriage is at the gates, Remus,' he said.
'Thank you, Headmaster.'
Lupin picked up his old suitcase and the empty Grindylow tank.
'Well – goodbye, Harry, Ginny' he said, smiling. 'It has been a real pleasure teaching you. I feel sure we'll meet again some time. Headmaster, there is no need to see me to the gates, I can manage …'
I had the impression that Lupin wanted to leave as quickly as possible.
'Goodbye, then, Remus,' said Dumbledore soberly. Lupin shifted the Grindylow tank slightly so that he and Dumbledore could shake hands.
"Oh and one more thing" he said. "Congratulations, you two, on getting together"
"How did you know-" Harry started, but Lupin gave a pointed glance at Dumbledore.
Of course. Dumbledore knew everything.
With a final nod to us, and a swift smile, Lupin left the office.
"Miss Weasley, I must ask that you wait outside. I would like a private word with Harry" said Dumbledore
I blew Harry a kiss
"Why did you do that, it'll only be a few minutes, surely?" Harry said
"Oh it's just been a while, might as well do it again" I said
Harry looked slightly confused, but smiled all the same.
Dumbledore looked more firmly at me, then at the door.
"As you wish, Headmaster" I said rather formally, then I followed his instruction.
