Author's note: The most recent chapters have had a bit of a focus on Remus's POV, but from next chapter, they will be from different perspectives and we'll give Remus a little break.
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Remus Lupin took the folder from the Durmstrang professor, and figuring the class would not be in use anyway, invited the student back inside. He sat at Rada's desk, and opened it, before looking up, and instead of finding only one pair of eyes looking at him, he found three. Alongside Bauer, who was standing at attention near the desk, there were another two Durmstrang students, on each side of her. A blonde student at the back of the class, with thick black glasses who was arduously scribbling away, ignoring everyone else - Remus wondered if she even noticed that the class ended-, and a male student, who seemed to be developing the shadows of his first moustache, who was whispering behind Bauer with a hand over his mouth, asking her if she got in trouble again, thinking that Remus couldn't hear.
"Can I help you both?"
"Mister professor, I've got to hand in this report by twelve today and I barely have time to breathe, I don't have time to find another class."
"Sir, I'm here to help Krista." He recognised the voice of the student as the one who tried to ask him a question right before professor Akin interrupted.
"I don't believe she will need help, it's simply about this report that Miss Bauer made."
"Mister professor, sir, with all due respect, Krista got help from a dog to do her report, I don't think-"
"Shut. UP! God, shut up!" Bauer stomped her feet much like an aggravated toddler would, and got her wand out, turning towards the boy.
Remus, however, was already one step ahead, and asked the other students to both leave, so he could have a calm and quiet conversation about Bauer's report.
"Oh, Hayk will positively kill me this time-" the student writing her report grumbled, hurriedly packing her parchment and pointing a finger at both of the students, before deciding to rest it on the male student. "and it's on your head." she finally said, before running out. The male student shrugged, and grabbed his books, before leaving and closing the door behind him.
"I wasn't going to do anything, mister professor Lupin, sir. Promise."
"I've seen you duel in professor Toma's class." Remus stated quite amused, going back behind the desk and taking out some of the parchment pieces. He hoped he could build a rapport with the student quickly, as he wanted this line of enquiry to be done with as soon as possible. "I wouldn't want to risk it as the only witness. Junior European Duelling champion three years in a row, professor Toma told me you were, is that correct?"
"It would be at a higher level as well, mister professor Lupin, but mister Headmaster spends more money on cross-continental championships for Quidditch than for any other sport." she spoke casually, as if it was utterly normal to slag off the headmaster in front of, well, a stranger working for a competing school. Something in Remus's face must have betrayed his train of thought, yet she seemed unbothered by this, and waved her hand with ease. "Oh, it's fine, mister professor, everyone knows. Duggal in Year Eleven calculates the budget of everything mister Headmaster Karkaroff spends and gives us a rundown each semester of where money goes, and professor Pann gives us enough hints to let us know if we're right or not."
"I see." Remus couldn't help but be amused, yet he decided his focus and reason for being here was not gossip about Karkaroff's spending habits, and he pointed to the stack of documents Bauer had gathered. "So tell me about this defence you've built then, miss Bauer. I've heard that you've claimed that Sirius Black is innocent in the murder of twelve Muggles and the wizard Peter Pettigrew."
"Well, I didn't claim that, mister professor, that is what you are saying." she answered, taking a seat. "I said a confession was coerced. Because- look." She looked for a piece of parchment from the pile, and put her finger on it. "Here. There was enough evidence that subjecting the Wizengamot to an unnecessary trial was deemed not necessary. Special consideration was also given to the fact that a confession was made at the scene of the crime."
"And how do you understand from there that a confession was coerced?"
"I mean, sir, do you know what the confession was?" The question was genuine, and Bauer seemed to have tried all avenues to explore it. "Because I couldn't find it in any documents, and we've made a request to the British Ministry at the start of the year. Miss professor Pann said the information is classified. Now, if it was a confession that said 'I killed twelve Muggles and a wizard', wouldn't they have printed it?"
"Go on." Remus was aware, having been in the Order, on why that particular information was kept hidden, to spare the larger public of further enquiries, as well as the knowledge that Sirius Black had betrayed James and Lily Potter, and had no qualms about having his own godson, who barely could walk unaided at the time, killed in cold blood. Yet he was somehow happy not to be able to burst Bauer's bubble, as she seemed quite invested in her research.
"And I also found here, right here, that the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the time, one uhhh-... Bartemius Crouch Senior, was presiding over these matters, and that his son, Junior, was also convicted of being a Death Eater, which would make mister Crouch Senior biased towards Black, because if his son was one, then…well…"
Remus lifted his hand to stop her, and pointed to the dates of the articles she had pulled out. One which showed Sirius's decisive imprisonment, and a headline alleging the accusations against the Lestranges and Crouch Jr.
"What do you notice, miss Bauer?" he asked a deflated Bauer, who grumbled ' the dates don't add up'. "Unfortunately for your case, this line of enquiry leads you to a dead end. Now, I am interested to hear your other claim. You claimed a confession was coerced, and something else."
"Oh, yes, yes. So, mister professor Lupin, Muggles have this thing, in some countries, and the United Kingdom is one of them, where it's impossible to prosecute if you don't have a body, right? And they found body pieces from the Muggles, but they only found a finger from Peter Pettigrew, but no body, nothing more. And there's no reports on the spell that Sirius Black used. So how-... how…" she waved her arms about, and Remus figured she was not sure herself where she was going with this idea.
"Would you not consider a finger to be proof enough of a body?"
"Mister professor, sir, with all due respect, I could cut my finger and leave it on the table, that doesn't mean you have killed me, sir."
"So what do you think happened then, miss Bauer? Who framed Sirius Black? Do you believe that Peter Pettigrew would have done this to himself, then?" He found himself being a bit brusque in questioning her, and saw her retreat in her chair, sitting up straight as opposed to the very casual manner she had had moments earlier.
"Well, no…"
"I can assure you that did indeed not happen."
He wasn't mad at the Durmstrang student - of course, for her this was all a distant case, a foreign case even. She had no stakes, she knew no one that was involved in the war. These were just names and pictures and dates.
Remus folded her papers back into a neat stack, and looked at the graduation picture of Peter Pettigrew, alongside a picture of his mother and Cornelius Fudge. He hid the headline with another parchment, as by now he knew exactly what he said. He had read it again and again when it happened, in his house, pacing for hours.
In the span of two days, he had lost everyone.
"I knew Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black as well, miss Bauer. Your professor, Professor Pann, was a few years below us, but I don't believe she knew either of them well, at least not as well as I did. Sirius Black was by far a stronger wizard than many, Peter included. Unfortunately, back then, many people turned to the dark side, to He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named during that time. For power, for riches, for ideology… who knows what might have gotten to Sirius Black."
"Well, then, mister professor, if he was so strong and powerful - Black I mean, not He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named - maybe someone wanted to get rid of him?"
"You seem to have very strong opinions on your case. Might I ask why?"
Krista Bauer moved her mouth to one side, then to the other, as she seemed to ponder his question. Remus leaned back onto the chair, waiting for an answer that never came, before deciding to switch the course of his questions.
"Who was that boy, the one earlier, with the ponytail?"
"Oh? That's just Niko, mister professor, he's miss professor Eftimiou's son. That's why he has that smart mouth on him." she clarified quickly.
"What did he say then, about the dog…?"
"Oh, don't pay attention to what he says, mister professor, sir. He just talks whatever because no one's given one to him yet. But we're working on it."
Remus wasn't sure what 'giving one to someone' meant, but decided not to get involved in that, especially after having seen that redhead student violently butthead another Durmstrang student a few days ago, and dragging her to Karkaroff's office with her casually wiping strands of blood off her forehead. No wonder Rada seemed stressed many a times, if that was a casual occurrence, and students felt confident enough to let them know their plans of 'giving one'.
"Why would he say a dog, specifically?"
Krista Bauer, however, shrugged her shoulders, because Remus Lupin had made the mistake of saying he had studied with Rada Pann, and Krista knew that if she had said that Pann's dog was sometimes helping students with their homework- This or that? Put your paw where it's correct. Bark if I'm wrong - Then they could have that privilege removed, and she was not the only one whose performance this year has increased since Pann's dog arrived and started hanging out in the study rooms.
"He just likes to talk bull, mister professor, how should I know?"
Remus looked at her one final time, before sighing and collecting the folder of papers.
"Thank you, Miss Bauer, that will be all. I can get these through to your professor, I need to talk to her anyway. Could you take me to the teacher's lounge?"
With the promise of talking to her professor and putting in a good word regarding her research, Bauer led Remus towards the staff room, strutting ahead with a pep in her step as she continued to talk about her Ethics class, and various aspects of it, before asking Remus if he would cover their classes if Rada would be absent for a few weeks, like 'last time it happened'. He asked what happened last time, but she shrugged once again, and mentioned they never found out. And judging by everything else Bauer had been saying during half an hour, she seemed to be aware of most things that were moving around, whether that was in the student or staff body.
Remus entered the staff lounge with Bauer's folder in his hands, looking for either Akin or Pann, yet all he found was faces he only had a vague recollection of, who slowly turned their heads towards him, some of them cocking a brow and turning their heads to one another, unsure of what to say or do.
"Professor Lupin, what a surprise to see you here."
Remus turned around, only to find Karkaroff behind him, bearing the falsest smile Remus had ever seen on a person.
"Headmaster." he nodded his head as a hello, clearing his throat. "I just came to return the folder of one of your students." He watched Karkaroff extend his right hand, and figuring he would most likely leave without seeing either of the people he planned to, he handed him the folder.
"Have you, now?" Karkaroff opened it, scoffing as he saw the name on the front. "If you don't mind me asking, professor, how has Miss Bauer's work reached you, of all people?"
"Ra-professor Pann asked me to have a look over it, considering my familiarity with the case." He figured, if anything, Rada would surely cover for him if she were to be asked by Karkaroff. "I hope she is well."
At that, Karkaroff's expression froze for a moment, and he appeared to scrutinise Remus closely. He opened his mouth for a moment, before seemingly deciding against whatever he wanted to say, and instead closed Bauer's folder, tapping his fingers against it for a few seconds before speaking.
"We all hope for my Deputy's speedy recovery. Especially considering her predicament has left me swamped with an enormous amount of work until her return. If you'll excuse me, professor, I may perhaps see you at the feast your Headmaster has organised." Without waiting for an answer from Remus, Karkaroff entered the staff lounge and disappeared behind a pile of books as high as the professor who dragged in Crabbe and Goyle weeks ago.
Remus could have sworn, however, that behind that pile of books, he swore that he had seen the black robe of Severus Snape, and the vague looks thrown by some other professors seemed to prove that indeed, there was another unfamiliar presence among them, even if Remus could not see who that was.
He decided that there was nothing much that he could do now in Durmstrang, not with Karkaroff aware that he had been roaming the institute, and Remus decided to return and prepare for his next class at Hogwarts. After all, each session he had the Weasley twins in could take an unexpected turn, and he liked to be prepared for most case scenarios.
And having been in the presence of James and Sirius during their Hogwarts years, he figured all he had to do was ask himself what those two would have done.
By the end of the day, Remus had almost forgotten about what transpired in the staff lounge that afternoon. The dinner announcement that they will be hosting Durmstrang staff and students for a 'pleasant celebration in which we can all hopefully learn from each other' during Halloween, as Dumbledore put it, led to an insurmountable amounts of whispers, to the point that Remus thought his head would explode from the sheer amount of buzzing coming from the four tables. He tried to focus her attention on Professor McGonagall next to him, and briefly joined in her conversation relating to OWL subjects this year and the expectations that had to be put on the fifth year students, and that this could be a good occasion to pick the ear of Durmstrang staff regarding this.
However, a knock at his office door, announcing the presence of Severus Snape, reminded him of the shadow he'd seen in the staff lounge. And as much as he knew Severus preferred to keep the amount of words exchanged as he gave him the Wolfsbane potion at a minimum, Remus couldn't help himself.
"I noticed you missed dinner in the Great Hall tonight, Severus." he said, trying to sound as casual as he could.
Severus's eyes raised from the potion to him, and he tilted his head to the side, lightly. Yet Remus knew he must have been crafting a response, as all Heads of Houses are expected to attend meals to the best of their ability, and he could not simply get out of it.
"I had other matters to attend to, which the Headmaster is aware of, if you truly must know."
"Which Headmaster?"
Severus appeared taken aback, and it took him a moment to regain his composure.
"What is that supposed to mean?" he hissed.
"I've just seen you at Durmstrang today, that's all. I was wondering, since you did not appear to be on the register for the professor exchange, whether you were considering them a better host than Hogwarts. Hopefully not, as it would be a pity to lose you as our Master of Potions."
"You were not on the exchange list either today, yet unlike you, I find myself not too concerned about you finding a post there. Different hiring policies and all, professor. Is that all, now?"
"That's all, Severus, thank you."
"I'd prefer we keep these conversations at a minimum, if possible, then. I am, as you know, very busy these days."
Of course you are. You, Karkaroff…
Remus took a seat at his desk after Severus left, and took an enormous swig of the potion. Only then, did he realise, he could have taken advantage of Rada's absence and Karkaroff being swamped with work, and tried to go through Durmstrang himself, or even ask Bauer, or the redhead student, to take him to her office or even to the dog itself… Ah, the missed opportunity! Slouching in his chair, Remus Lupin slapped his forehead, lamenting his shortsightedness.