Chapter 11.
Sorting & Marauders Mischief Begins.
"You know there's numerous magical dark creatures lurking in this Great Lake, don't you, Peter?"
Sirius stated enjoying the nervous reaction growing in Peter as he began aggressively chewing his fingernails.
James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black were all four floating smoothly together in a self-propelled boat as first year Hogwarts students across the lake to the castle.
It was the start of what would be some of the happiest years of their lives despite the First Wizarding War in full swing with He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named on the rise spreading terror far and wide.
"R-r-r-really? Like what?" Peter stuttered.
"Oh yes...like ferocious Mermaids, Selkies, vicious little water demons called Grindylows-" Sirius rattled off nonchalantly.
"Grindylows?!" Peter cried out turning quickly to Remus sitting next to him, "Merlin's Beard, isn't that what told me scratched your face?!"
Remus blushed at the attention called once again to the faint scar lines on his face. Sirius turned from the front of the boat and leaned towards Remus's face brazenly to see what Peter had referenced.
Remus could tell Sirius was enjoying stirring up a reaction in Peter whom he felt slightly protective of being his first friend he made on the long train ride earlier. He didn't like that Peter was possibly being picked on again.
Remus sighed, "Yes. I did, " and then he continued trying to divert the attention away from his face,
"On our train ride here, one of my chocolate frog cards was the enormous cephalopod, the Giant Squid, that lives right here in this Great Lake, too. It has eight gigantic arms and two creepy long tentacles."
Sirius had stopped looking at the scar lines on Remus's face and was now distractedly bending over the edge of the boat gazing down into the murky depths. Remus snuck a hand behind him and suddenly clenched his hand around Sirius's arm like a great tentacle had grabbed him.
"OH SHIT!" Sirius yelped impulsively and leapt up from his seat and their boat slightly rocked.
Other first year students in the group of boats floating along whipped their heads around to stare at him.
The shockingly large man who had called over all the first-year students to guide them down to the boats when they got off the train initially at Hogsmeade station, also turned around in the very front of the group where he was riding in a boat by himself in the lead. He had introduced himself at the station as Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts.
"AY! Evry'thing alrigh' back ther'?!" Hagrid called out towards their boat.
The four of them burst out laughing and Peter gently slugged the side of Remus saying quietly, "Heh heh, good one, Remus."
Siruis leaned out the bow of the boat and called out innocently back to Hagrid, "Oh yes, everything's fine, Hagrid. Thank you!"
Sirius locked eyes with a random girl in another boat, gave her a charming big smile and then winked at her. She gasped, giggled shyly and looked away.
Then Sirius spun around, cast Remus a tight-lipped devilish smile, and whispered, "You silly bugger."
Remus grinned and told him apologetically, "Sorry, I really couldn't resist."
Siruis gave him an incredulous stare and said teasingly, "Yeah yeah, sure you are, Remus. You enjoyed every bit of that. I can tell. But no matter, mate, I probably deserved it giving Peter a hard time. Glad I, um, dodged getting in trouble on our first day."
Remus gave him a mischievous smirk back and felt a thrill burst inside him. Did he really just call him 'mate'? He happily let that word roll around in his head for a while.
Peter said, "Yeah, well, Remus and I barely avoided getting busted by, by, by the Slytherin Prefect on the train today. My toad escaped and Remus caught it using magic outside of Hogwarts with his wand. Whew. That was a close one."
"What spell did you cast?" James asked curiously from the rear of the boat.
Remus shyly answered, "Oh it was nothing, just the basic levitation charm to make it fly towards me instead of hop away. Peter's right, I'm glad the Slytherin Prefect, Lucius, only gave me a warning. I really shouldn't have done it and risked having points taken off whatever house I get sorted into and then the house members all hating me on our first day."
Peter patted him on the back and said, "No no, I'm glad you did it. Merlin knows how long I would have been chasing that darn toad around on that long train ride if you hadn't."
James commented, "Pulling off the levitation charm in a successful manner to move a toad isn't nothing either. That one's harder than it looks the few times I've tried it. I only managed to make an object wiggle so far. That's impressive."
Remus shrugged and replied, "Thanks."
Remus looked up at the unforgettable view of the Hogwarts castle lit against the night sky and felt such joy at the opportunity unfolding that had for so many years been impossible, now actually possible for him. He was sure he would remember this moment forever.
The fleet of first year students arrived at a small landing stage at the base of the castle. Remus noticed that Peter looked scared to climb out as the boat got more tippy when one standing up in it. He offered Peter his hand from the dock which he gladly took to steady himself and step out.
Everyone climbed out of the boats and Hagrid ushered them up the hill.
"Firs' years follow me! Mind yer step!"
Remus glanced briefly out around the castle grounds wondering if he could get a glimpse of the special Whomping Willow tree that Dumbledore had described would be planted for him. But he couldn't really make out anything in the dark and felt relieved that the shrinking moon in the sky was in the waning gibbous phase allowing him to be in a better state of health.
He noticed walking in front of him was the boy, Severus, who had gotten in a row with Peter on the train was walking side by side next to the dark red haired girl, Lily. They were whispering quietly together as they made their way up the hillside. Their facial expressions now both looked quite different then their appearance on the train; filled with nervous excitement and wonderment pointing at the castle.
They were all directed to a ground floor building mentioned in their invitation called the Chamber of Reception, that stood before the Entrance Hall, next to the Viaduct Courtyard.
A tall, no-nonsense looking, witch wearing dark emerald tartan robes and looking over her square lens glasses, greeted them briskly,
"Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor Minerva McGonagall. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be Sorted into your houses. Students' owls and trunks will be stored here during the Welcoming Feast."
Remus anxiously looked over the huge chaotic pile of owl cages hoping for a glimpse of his owl, Cadbury. But there were too many other similar looking barn owls in identical cages for him to know if he was truly looking at his own. His father explained there was designated place for student owls at Hogwarts and he wondered where it would be.
How would he know where to find her?
Right on cue, Professor McGonagall put his mind at ease by her answering his unspoken question,
"Students' owls will be transferred to The Owlery which is located on the top of Hogwarts Castle's West Tower, where the school owls and student owls live during the school year.
Follow me! The Sorting Ceremony will begin in just a few minutes!"
James was running his hands through his thick black hair but still had wild hairs that stubbornly stuck up in the back. Remus nervously pulled down the sleeves on his robe to make sure his arms were covered. He bemoaned the fact he had forgotten that morning to use some of his mother's make up to try and hide his facial scars. Oh well.
They listened to the Sorting Hat sing its yearly song. Then Professor McGonagall lined them up and began reading each of their names aloud alphabetically; pausing between for them to have them to take their individual turn sitting on a stool; where the infamous battered old Sorting Hat would be dropped upon their head to shout out which of the four houses they were to be in the rest of their years at Hogwarts.
Remus didn't really care which house he would be in, he was just thankful to even be at the school. But he strongly suspected he would be in Gryffindor and perhaps a slight chance of Ravenclaw. He thought about how his father, Lyall, had been standing nervously in this place 31 years ago and sorted into Gryffindor.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
He watched as Sirius Black whom he had just met on the boat ride was sorted into Gryffindor. As Sirius walked to the cheering Gryffindor table, he also noticed some surprised and harsh whispering at the Slytherin table. The dark red headed girl, Lilly, was also sorted into Gryffindor.
Suddenly he heard Professor McGonagall call out his name from the roll of parchment.
"Lupin, Remus!"
He walked carefully to the stool trying not to show his shaky knees and sat down.
The dirty old hat dropped onto his head. Remus tried not think about how it stunk.
All a sudden a deep gravely voice seemed to be talking into his ear. His father had described the sorting process but it still felt very odd to have a hat using legilimency talk into his mind.
"You think I'm smelly, 'eh? Well, you'd stink too if you were worn on the number of sweaty heads I've seen over the last thousand years.
My my my, now isn't this new and interesting for Hogwarts, our very first werewolf student..."
Remus felt himself flinch when the Sorting Hat said the 'w' word even though he knew the conversation was only audible to him inside his head. His body tensed, his hands white knuckle gripped the edge of the four-legged stool and he felt his heart racing in fear at the thought of his despicable condition being discovered.
"Not to worry, your secret is safe with me, boy. A brilliant mind you have, yes indeed, you would excel in Ravenclaw, and a great depth of compassion, but I have not seen this extreme level of courage and bravery in anyone for centuries which no doubt puts you in..."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Remus pulled the hat off his head and gently handed it back to Professer McGonagall. She looked down at him when he passed her back the hat and could of sworn he saw the corner of her mouth give him a little proud smile.
As he walked with a big grin and blushing cheeks to the cheering Gryffindor table, he saw Sirius whistling loudly with his fingers in his teeth at him. He walked beneath the countless glittering floating candles in the Great Hall to the table where Sirius made a deliberate effort to come stand next to him with a warm welcoming handshake.
After a string of other students were sorted, Remus ears perked when he heard Professor McGonagall call out from her list,
"Pettigrew, Peter!"
Peter sat with the Sorting Hat upon him wringing his hands together nervously and his eyes darting around. Minutes passed and curious whispers began to erupt across the crowd. It normally did not take this long. The hat was quiet.
Remus noted that at times Peter had a very pained facial expression as if there was a intense conversation happening between him and the hat inside his head.
Sirius leaned over and whispered, "Blimey! I think it's going to be a 'Hatstall'... those are rare."
Remus asked, "What's a 'Hatstall'?"
Sirius explained, "It's when the sorting takes more than five minutes - the hat vacillates between two different houses, having difficulty deciding which one."
Remus nodded and wondered which two houses it was agonizing over. The Great Hall became noisier with mummers amongst the students as the unusually long minutes passed towards the five minute mark. Peter's face was blushing profusely and Remus felt bad for his embarrassing predicament.
Professor Dumbledore was even watching the long deliberation with keen fascination and stroking his beard. Professor McGonagall who up until this point had only shown a very stern facial expression had a knowing, reminiscent smile on her face.
Finally, at almost the sixth minute marker, the Sorting Hat declared,
"GRYFFINDOR!"
All the students at the Gryffindor stood to their feet to cheer as Peter walked to their table. Peter was in such a ridiculous rush to get out of the attention of everyone that he tumbled down the steps and crashed pell-mell onto the floor. The Slytherin table broke out in cacophonous laughter.
Not giving it a second thought, Remus rushed forward and helped him back up to his feet. Peter wasn't hurt but his pride felt momentarily shattered. Sirius and James gathered near him as he came to the Gryffindor table, they shook his sweaty hand and welcomed him to the house.
James said, "Bloody Hell, Peter! You caused a 'Hatstall'. What was the other house it couldn't decide between?"
Peter still looked mortified from all the unexpected attention and barely choked out in reply, "S,S,Slytherin."
Sirius said patting him on the back, "Glad you made it in with us, mate."
Peter simply nodded at him with a nervous toothy grin. Little did anyone know at the time, how many people in the future would question the Sorting Hat's choice.
After the last of the first year students were sorted, a school song was sung, and then Albus Dumbledore did staff introductions followed by brief announcements. Remus concentrated hard on keeping a deadpan face when the addition of new Whomping Willow was mentioned.
Dumbledore included a strong warning students to stay away from the violent branches of the Whomping Willow tree unless they desired to have a visit in the hospital wing to try out the foul taste of Skele-Gro potion from Madam Pomfrey for regrowing broken bones.
The Welcoming Feast feast began and Remus had never seen so much food served all at once magically appearing in an instant on hundreds of empty plates.
He stuffed himself silly and his favorite was the chocolate éclairs for dessert. He thought to himself how he would enjoy writing to his mother about it and tried to memorize all the types of food being served to describe it to her.
Suddenly a chocolate éclair was being held close to Remus's face. He looked sideways and saw it was James holding it in front of him while munching on a jam doughnut himself.
"You fancy a third one, mate?" he asked.
Remus put both hands over his stomach, shook his head and replied jovially, "No thanks. Not unless you want to see me burst."
James laughed, "Ha! Well, in case you change your mind, I'll set it here." He put it on Remus's dinner plate. Remus picked it up and stared at it wishing he had more room to eat it.
Across the table Remus noticed Lily was chewing and gazing a bit sadly over at the Slytherin table. She was separated from her friend Severus. He had a passing thought of offering her the chocolate éclair to try and cheer her up.
But then he suddenly felt Peter snatch it right out of his hand and start to gobble it it down. "Thanks, Me-mush," Peter said with his mouth full of pastry cream.
Sirius reached over to James and handed him a mini, round treacle tart. "Hey James, you must try one of these, they're so good!"
James ate it and broke into a uncontrollable fit of hiccups.
Sirius pointed at him and said, "Ha! Gotcha'! Zonkos Hiccough Sweets!"
After the Welcoming Feast, the group of Gryffindor first year students were guided up the tower to their house entrance or landing by the Head of Gryffindor House, Professor McGonagall, the Gryffindor Prefect, and the house ghost, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington (a.k.a Nearly Headless Nick).
James, Sirius, Remus and Peter had walked up together carefully navigating the floating, sliding staircases upward. The Prefect explained the procedures for presenting the correct password to the portrait of the Fat Lady concealing the round hole in the wall.
When they were told the current password was collywobbles a number of students snickered as the word was fitting for their belly aches after their recent overindulgence.
James made a silly gesture to Remus about their tummies being so full they would explode. Ker-POW!
When Remus first entered the cozy, circular Gryffindor common room, he was comforted to see the big roaring fireplace. He secretly thought of his aching body each month feeling chilled before and after transformations and he looked forward to the warmth helping to provide some soothing relief.
The four boys climbed with the other male first year students up a spiral mahogany staircase beautifully decorated in scarlet and gold that led to the Boys' dormitory. Thankfully, their luggage had been kindly delivered for them to claim in a large heap.
"I'm taking this one!" shouted Sirius flopping backwards into one of the four-poster beds with red curtains.
"Then I'll take *HICK* this one," said James settling into the next bed and still fighting off the hiccough sweets prank.
Remus hesitantly moved his luggage to the end of the bed next to James and said politely, "If you don't mind, I shall take this bed next to you, James."
James smiled at Remus, had another spasmodic inhalation shake his chest and gave him a thumbs up.
Peter struggled moving his luggage chest and without asking Remus kindly helped him move it to the next bed after his own.
The dorm was happily buzzing as boys unpacked their belongings, laughed, traded chocolate frog cards and sweets.
After a while when others started to change into their pajamas, Remus felt a twitch of panic in his gut not wanting to show his scarred up chest and arms. He was grateful for the curtains around his bed to change behind. The others didn't say anything about it respecting what they assumed to be his preference for a heightened level of modesty.
"Crikey Peter!" Sirius hollered in surprise, "Is this your toad coming over to visit me?"
Peter muttered, "Houdini! Oh that's where he went!" and scurried over to Sirius's bed. He attempted to pounce on it with both hands but was unsuccessful. Sirius just leaned back and watched the chase in amusement like it was a scheduled show for nightly entertainment.
The toad hopped away onto the floor on the edge of a red and yellow carpet with the house crest in the centre of it. Peter tried to leap after it again but only succeeded in looking like a larger version of a toad hopping himself.
Remus whipped out his wand once again that day for Peter feeling relieved that it was allowed now that they were officially within the Hogwarts grounds. He stated out loud calmly, "Wingardium Leviosa."
The toad made a disappointed croak sound as it floated flawlessly off the carpet following Remus's wand movement. Peter followed it hurriedly like a donkey with a carrot dangling in front of it. Remus directed the floating toad back to his bed area and landed it inside the top drawer of his chest of drawers. Peter slammed the drawer shut.
Peter was slightly out of breath and said, "Cheers again for that, Remus."
Remus gave him a smirk and said, "You know, it might be wise if you don't already know it, to use the unlocking spell, Alohomora, and counter-charm locking spell, Colloportus, on that drawer."
James had his mouth open in amazement, clapped a few times and said, "Bravo, Re, *hic* mus."
Sirius commented thoughtfully while chewing on a licorice wand,
"Houdini, yes, a very fitting name indeed for that escape artist toad. I don't see much point in a pet toad. I'm glad I got a pet snow owl; loads more useful for owl posts. I agree with Remus, Peter, better learn those locking and unlocking spells for your toad...and for our sakes, too. I'm sure James wants to dream about girls in peace and not wake up kissing that instead."
James threw his pillow at Sirius.
Peter replied, "S,s, sorry Sirius. I promise I'll work on it."
Remus laughed and began working on writing a letter to his mother.
Dumbledore, his parents and him had all earlier agreed it would be safest to not discuss anything related to his lycanthropy in letter correspondence in case the post got intercepted in transit falling into the wrong hands.
Dear Mum,
The first day on my journey to Hogwarts began and ended in the most peculiar fashion; helping my first friend catch his pet toad...