Chapter 12.

Moony's First Owl Post to Home.

"I wonder when more students are coming?"

"Shut up, I'm still sleeping!"

"What do I have to do to get some sleep around here - go drill into a tree in the Forbidden Forest?"

"That mouse looks tasty. Where did you find that?"

"Don't you know? Voles are better than mice!"

"Ugh, what I'd do for an Eeylops Premium Owl Treat right now!"

"I fancy eating snakes myself."

Cadbury the barn owl stood calmly on her new perch in the Owlrey room on top of the Hogwarts Castle's West Tower. She was pleased she been given her own little personal enclave in the wall. She cocked her head sideways acutely listening to the other bird chitter chatter that had grown noisier as the sun was setting and owls were waking up for the night.

She was so glad to have gotten a much needed full day of rest in her new home after the exhausting train ride. Remus had been right that it ended up being a very long day between the last night at 17 Trafalgar Avenue and the arrival at the Hogwarts Owlrey for the school year. There was indeed no sleep to be had in the pile of cages she was suddenly thrust into with strange other owls hooting the entire time on the Hogwarts Express.

When the enormous giant of a man had unloaded them finally into the Owlrey from the cages, she had never been more relieved in her life. Cadbury was so excited to be placed in her new enclave home on a wood stump and then fly out in such sweet freedom from the tower to explore the area.

She liked the giant man right away who had diligently moved all the cages up to the Owlrey and unloaded each of them one by one. She could tell instinctively that he genuinely cared about the owls as there was a loving twinkle in his eye and he handled them each so gently. She had heard from some of the returning owls of returning Hogwarts students call him the name Hagrid.

Hagrid had carefully placed each owl in their own receded, open enclave into the stone wall inside the circular room. Cadbury noticed there was somewhat of a hierarchy as to which owls got to reside in which holes in the stone wall of the Owlrey.

The highest level of enclaves were the school owls and returning student owls. The lowest holes were the newest owls belonging to first year students. It didn't matter to her how high or how low her cozy nook in the wall was located.

She was just thrilled to now be staged to do her job she was meant and trained to do carrying the Owl post. Remus had been a very kind boy to her so far and she was looking forward to serving him in his correspondence needs throughout the school year.

Students had been streaming in and out of the Owlrey since Cadbury had woken up. She wondered when Remus would show up with his first letter for her to fly to his parents.

A young girl with dark red hair appeared in the doorway looking around the room in excitement.

"What a lovely place for all the owls!" the girl commented brightly.

Cadbury heard another owl in a space in the wall not far from her say in a loud squawk, "Hey! There she is - that's my owner!" A beautuful snow owl flapped out of its enclave towards the girl. A big smile spread across the girl's face in joyful recognition as the snow owl landed on her arm,

"Hi! There you are! So that's your new space in the wall. I like it. I have a letter for Mummy & Daddy, and another one for Petunia. But don't worry, I put the two letters in one envelope so it will be a bit easier."

Suddenly, Remus walked through the door of the Owlrey holding a thick letter and staring around at the walls searching for Cadbury. He saw the girl and said,

"Hello there. Good evening."

"Oh hello. Good time to send out a letter, right?" she said smiling back to him.

"Yes, yes indeed. Um, I'm sorry if we got off on the wrong foot on the train the other day with my friend and his untidy eating habits in the compartment. I hope I didn't cause you any more unnecessary stress during the travel here-"

"No, no, it's alright. Don't worry about it. It's, just, my friend, Sev, he's... well, it doesn't matter now. Hey, you're in Gryffindor, yeah?"

Lily said glancing down briefly at the house crest on Remus's robe that had magically appeared embroidered on his robe after the Sorting ceremony.

"Yes, I am. You too?" he asked politely even though he already knew the answer.

"Yes! Gryffindor, too. I love it so far."

Cadbury took the initiative to fly out of her hole in the wall and flapped her wings over to Remus. She landed on his arm and he said,

"Well hello, Cadbury. You found me before I even found you."

The girl slightly giggled and said, "Mine did the same thing. Did you name yours Cadbury? Like the Muggle chocolate brand? Ha! I like that."

Remus nodded and asked, "What did you name yours?"

"My owl's name is Cleopatra."

"Nice. An elegant name for an elegant bird. Um, my name is Remus, Remus Lupin, and you are?"

"Oh yeah, Lily, Lily Evans. Nice to meet you, Remus."

"Yes, likewise, Lily. Nice to meet you, too."

"Remus, um, this might sound a bit silly, but do you mind if I watch how you tie on your letter? I um, watched my Muggle parents fumble around trying to do it just once this last summer when we were supposed to send back a response to Dumbledore on whether we were coming or not. But honestly, I don't remember precisely how they did it."

"Yes, of course. I'd be happy to show you. It's not silly at all. I've watched my Dad do it loads of times. He's a Wizard and works for the ministry so I've grown up around them. They can carry the letter in their beak but I prefer to secure it to the leg."

"Right. Thank you. I appreciate it. I just didn't want to do it wrong and have it fall off or anything in transit. How was your first day of classes?"

"They went well, thanks. My favorite was either Defense Against the Dark Arts or Charms. How about you?"

"Oh they were all great, well, on second thought, I take that back, except History of Magic! I um, almost fell asleep to be honest. The ghost Professor Binns is rather dull. My favorite is Potions."

"Ah yes, I know what you mean. I think I would of definitely fallen asleep in History of Magic if it weren't for my friend keeping me awake playing that card game Exploding Snap under the table. It was surprising Professor Binns didn't even react to any of the sounds of the explosions."

Remus had transferred his owl to a perch in the center of the Owlrey room and chatted while slowly tying on his letter to his owl's leg. Lily was watching carefully how he did it while they chatted about classes. Cadbury was making excited chirps in anticipation of her post delivery.

Lily's owl, Cleopatra, chirped to Cadbury,

"Are you flying your letter back to that boy's home?"

Cadbury responded, "Yes yes! I'm so excited. It's the same route I took back from here to Yorkshire when I had to deliver their response to Dumbledore."

Cleopatra said, "Yes. Same for me but of course different home address than yours. I'll be flying to Cokeworth, England. Nice to have already flown the route once before."

"Indeed! I wonder if my boy's parents are going to send back a letter or parcel."

"Oh yes. No doubt it'll be a parcel if their decent folks, that's the scuttlebutt I've heard from the returning owls here anyway. My girl has decent parents but I don't think I trust her sister."

"Oh yum! Here comes a Eeylops Premium Owl Treat!"

Once Remus had finished tying on the letter, he gave Cadbury a few gentle strokes on her wing feathers and pulled out a Eeylops Premium Owl Treat for her out of the pocket of his robe.

Remus asked, "Would you care to have one for Cleopatra? "

"Oh yes please, I forgot mine back in the dorm in the rush to climb up here before it gets too dark. Thank you!" Lily replied taking an owl treat from Remus.

"Safe travels, Cadbury," Remus called out as his owl flew out one of the open windows of the tower. He ran over to the open window and watched her gracefully flap away from the castle.

For a moment he felt a pang of homesickness thinking of his parents waking up without him at home and wondering how he was doing. It was comforting to know his letter was on the way and they would soon hear fresh news.

Remus walked back towards Lily and kindly waited by her in case she had any questions. She fiddled with her letter awkwardly trying to attach it to her owl's leg and then stood back eyeing her work on it.

"Do you think that'll do alright?" Lily asked.

"Almost, may I?" Remus replied.

Lily nodded with a worried expression. Remus tightened down the letter in one spot and then stepped back. He then said,

"There. Now I believe it's ready to go."

"Much obliged, Remus, thanks so much for putting my mind at ease with it," Lily said gratefully.

"It was nothing. Glad I could help," Remus said shyly looking away. She was staring at him intently and he suddenly felt self conscious of the scars on his face. He turned away to pretend to gaze out one of the open windows.

She said earnestly,

"No it wasn't nothing! I'm glad you ended up being here at the same time as me and you were willing to help. It helps me to have better peace of mind and not be worrying it gets lost from here to there. So thanks!"

Remus gave her a bashful little half-smile and shrugged his shoulders. Lily brought her owl over to the nearest window opening and without prompting her beautuful snow owl swooped out of the tower taking off from her arm. She called out happily to it,

"Goodbye Cleopatra. Fly safe! Hope to see you back soon!"

Lily spun around and saw Remus was heading towards the doorway. She took careful strides over the straw covered floor and called out,

"Hey! Remus! You wanna walk back to the Fat Lady portrait together? I have some questions about our Potions homework, the Cure for Boils."

Remus turned and said, "Um, yeah sure. Although I'm not sure Potions is my strongest subject. I'm probably not going to be much help. I might end up making a potion that will cause the boils to get worse."

Lily laughed as she headed down the West tower staircase with him and said, "Ah nonsense, you'll get it right."

Cadbury flew out gracefully over the dark waters of the Great Lake on the castle grounds and then continued flapping towards the treetops of the Forbidden forest. As Cleopatra had just told her, it was indeed nice to have already flown the route before earlier that summer.

Part of being a magical owl was the activation of an optical lighting lens that was triggered whenever a parcel or letter was in progress. As soon as Remus had securely attached his letter upon her bird leg and she swooped out of the tower, special lenses switched to delivery mode. The delivery mode lens in her eyes meant there was a bluish lighting only visible to her individually, that glowed across part of the landscape to aide in her navigation to the right destination.

She flapped swiftly following the shifting blue glow and felt the jubilant exhilaration of doing what she was meant to do as the cool night air fluttered through her feathers.

Lyall and Hope Lupin were in a deep sleep when Cadbury arrived at 17 Trafalgar Avenue before sunrise with the letter from Remus. The owl hovered outside their bedroom and began making a scratching noise on the glass with her sharp talons. Lyall heard it first and bolted upright grabbing his wand on the bedside table. He said firmly,

"Lumos!"

The room illuminated with a soft glow from the tip of his wand. He squinted his eyes at the window glass for a moment in a confused daze and then recognized the owl. He declared excitedly,

"Oh! It's Remus's owl! Cadbury!"

He started tugging on Hope's arm repeatedly and she mumbled sleepily, "Whhhaat?"

"Wake up, love, it's Remus's owl. It's outside our window. It must be the first letter from him," Lyall explained.

Hope blinked, sat up quickly and rubbed her eyes trying to adjust to the wand light. She turned to look at the window where Cadbury was still banging its talons against the glass and now making some soft chirps.

Lyall leaned closer to the window pane and said to the owl, "Fly around to our front door, Cadbury. We'll let you in there!"

Hope and Lyall rushed to open their front door and Cadbury squawked loudly while zooming without hesitation right into their living room. Hope asked worriedly,

"You don't think the neighbors heard that, do you?"

Lyall shook his head and replied, "No. It wasn't that loud."

The owl landed on top of one of their living room chairs and knowing the drill, Hope yawned and went to fetch it a cut of raw meat from the kitchen. Lyall told the bird,

"Well done, Cadbury! Thank you for your work bringing the letter here."

After Hope fed the owl a piece of meat, she gulped it down and Lyall carefully untied the letter on the leg. It was addressed to Hope so he passed it off to her. She anxiously opened it and quickly became totally engrossed in reading it. He smiled at her, rubbed her back and said softly in her ear,

"I'll go put a brew on."

Lyall went to the kitchen to make tea and Hope read the letter from Remus which said the following:

"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. Once I climbed on board, in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the crowded corridor, much to my surprise was an escaped toad gleefully taking great leaps in my direction. I helped return it to its frantic owner; another first year student whom I ended up sharing a compartment with on the remainder of the train ride, Peter Pettigrew.

Tell Dad thanks again for the generous amount of galleons he sent with me. I was delighted to purchase and enjoy a bottle of butter beer, a pumpkin pastie, chocolate frogs and several of Honeydukes Chocolate bars. Peter purchased a sample of just about everything from the food trolley and found much amusement in the fact that I had little to no reaction to the disgusting flavors of Bertie Bots Every Flavor Jelly beans.

When we arrived at Hogsmeade station a peculiarly large man named Hagrid ushered us first year students to a fleet of boats that took us across the Great Lake to the castle. Peter and I met two other boys riding in our boat, James Potter and Sirius Black. The four of us hit it off well immediately and shared laughs that made the boat ride an experience I am sure to count towards one of the best memories of my life.

The Sorting Hat ceremony I found absolutely nerve wracking to have the entire schools' eyes upon me all at once. I know Dad will certainly be pleased to hear the old hat sorted me into the same house he was in, Gryffindor. Thankfully, my new mates, Peter, James, and Sirius were all sorted into Gryffindor, too.

Although, Sirius, for some unknown reason to me seemed to stir up a surprised reaction from students at the Slytherin table. Peter caused quite a commotion with everyone when during his turn a rare 'Hatstall' occurred where the hat took almost six minutes debating between Slytherin & Gryffindor.

The Welcoming Feast was unforgettable and impressed me beyond measure with the numerous mounds of endless food piled high. Oh mum, I tried to remember all the kinds of food to tell you about but I'm afraid I'm not even doing the menu justice to name: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops, lamb chops, sausages, bacon, steak and kidney pie, boiled potatoes, roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, bowls of peppermint humbugs.

Then there were amazing dessert choices such as assorted ice cream, apple pies, spotted dick pudding, treacle tart, pumpkin tart, chocolate éclairs, jam doughnuts and rice pudding. After I ate a second chocolate éclair, I'm surprised the button didn't pop off my trousers. The only thing missing was the Queen Elizabeth II herself, but perhaps she would of found all the floating candles above us odd and the ghosts whizzing about a bit frightening.

I am grateful to have a cozy bed in the Gryffindor Boys dormitory near my mates Peter, James and Sirius. This is where I assisted Peter once again with his silly toad crawling unabashed into Sirius's four-poster bed at the end of the first day. I have a feeling it's the beginning of many good times together with these four mates. I couldn't be more pleased and I never thought this much laughter in one day even possible. Often I find that I want to pinch myself to check if I'm going to wake up and this has all just been one big, happy dream.

My eight classes are going well. Please tell Dad if it weren't for all his tireless efforts teaching me what he did before coming here, I do believe I would be quite overwhelmed.

Here is the list of my classes and teachers:

Astronomy ~ Professor Aurora Sinstra

Charms ~ Professor Filius Flitwick

Defense Against the Dark Arts ~ Professor Wildacre

Broom Flight Class ~ Mister Overhill

Potions Master - Professor Horace Slughorn

History of Magic - Professor Cuthbert Binns

Herbology ~ Professor Pamona Sprout

Transfiguration ~ Professor Minerva McGonagall

Astronomy is not the most enjoyable subject for me as I've never cared much for looking at the night skies but I understand it's important. No complaints about the class location as it's a stunning view on top of the Astronomy Tower; which is apparently the tallest tower in the Hogwarts castle; where we meet at midnight on Wednesdays putting our telescopes to good use.

Charms is a close rival to Defense Against the Dark Arts in my most favorite classes. Again, please tell Dad my sincere appreciation for the practice he's done with me beforehand in this area. Professor Flitwick was very impressed at how well I performed the levitation charm in class but I don't like all the fuss from others over it.

Defense Against the Dark Arts is my favorite class as it not only brings up so many rich memories with Dad but I can't help but feel all of it will be so useful someday and it seems especially relevant with this terrible First Wizarding War upon us with You-Know-Who.

Broom Flight Class has admittedly been a bit boring as I already know the basics from all the flying with Dad. Plus, the school issued broom sticks are marginal in quality battered from previous student usage but I suppose it will get better as time goes on and we advance in lessons.

Potions is fascinating but something tells me it will not be my strongest course subject. I feel like it takes me much more effort to be successful than other students who appear to have an instinctive, natural knack for it.

History of Magic is surprisingly taught by a ghost, Professor Binns. I know the subject matter is important but it's very difficult to not get sleepy with his boring teaching style.

Herbology with Professor Sprout in the the green houses is interesting and I've already put my dragon hide gloves to good use digging up a strange screaming plant called a mandrake.

Transfiguration is a very challenging subject for the entire class. Professor McGonagall impressed us all when she transfigured back and forth into her registered animagus form of a cat.

I better finish this letter now as I fear the sound of me scratching on parchment late at night might be keeping the others in the dormitory awake. I hope this letter finds you well. I love and miss you, mum. Please give my love and regards to dad as well.

Cheers,

~Remus