From the Eyes of the Werewolf

Two Rolls of Parchment!

The castle was full that weekend with chatter about the match and what had happened to Harry. All the teachers were upset, but non so much as Professor Dumbledore. He actually had punished the dementors by shining a bright light upon them for a few hours that couldn't be extinguished. This did not please dementors, who hate the light. Dumbledore was about to get rid of them entirely, but McGonagall and some of the other staff had to talk him into letting them return to their posts around the castle.

Dumbledore wasn't the only one who had to pick up the pieces from the week before. When Remus returned to his normal class schedule the next Monday he found some classes to be easier to resume teaching than others. The classes Flitwick covered were right on schedule and resumed their lessons without missing a beat. But the classes Snape had covered were another story. Snape had seen fit to take it upon himself to ignore lesson plans and teach whatever he felt necessary and reasonable. No class was affected as greatly as the third years.

Upon entering the classroom, Remus was greeted but a storm of protests from the students. The first came from Seamus Finnigan.

"Professor Lupin! Are we glad you're back! Professor Snape skipped to the end of the book and assigned us all essays on stuff we haven't even covered yet!"

"What section did he skip to?" Remus asked, standing at the front of the classroom.

"Werewolves! Can you believe it?" Dean said.

Feeling his heart quicken, Remus frowned and tried to act natural as the class continued their complaints.

"He assigned us two rolls of parchment, Professor!" Parvati said.

"It's not fair," chimed Lavender Brown, "he was only filling in, why should he give us homework?"

"We don't know anything about werewolves-" Neville said.

"-two rolls of parchment!" Parvati stressed again.

As upset as the class was about the assignment, none of the students seemed to realize that their teacher was a werewolf. Remus calmed down slightly and asked, "Did you tell Professor Snape we haven't covered them yet?"

"Yes," said Hermione, "but he said we were really behind-"

"-he wouldn't listen-"

"-two rolls of parchment!"

Remus smiled. Your little trick didn't work, Severus! "Don't worry. I'll speak to Professor Snape. You don't have to do the essay." But you wait, Severus. I will repay you for this somehow.

To Remus' disappointment, Hermione sighed heavily and said,
"Oh no! I've already finished it!"

The class continued as planned. Remus had brought in a hinkypunk to show the class and they seemed to have a good time experimenting with following it around and laughing at the squelching noise it made. But Remus found it difficult to concentrate. Hermione had finished her essay. Given the thoroughness of her research in the past, Remus was worried that she might have discovered his secret. But her behavior wasn't any different from before, and that left him feeling a bit better.

He was also concerned about Harry, for even though he looked well, his spirit seemed to be low. Remus needed to talk to him and to apologize for what happened. He didn't care what Poppy said. He felt responsible for the fact that Harry no longer owned a broom. So, when the bell rang, Remus called Harry over for a brief word.

Just be casual about it!

"I heard about the match," Remus said, picking up some of the books from the desk and placing them in his briefcase. "And I'm sorry about your broomstick. Is there any chance of fixing it?" He couldn't apologize any better than that without telling Harry about the wolf.

"No, the tree smashed it to bits," Harry said with a frown.

Remus sighed at this and said, "They planted the Whomping Willow the same year that I arrived at Hogwarts. People used to play a game, trying to get near enough to touch the trunk. In the end, a boy called Davey Gudgeon nearly lost an eye, and we were forbidden to go near it." Except me...I was allowed near it. "No broomstick would have a chance."

Harry's face fell and he asked in a shaky voice, "Did you hear about the dementors, too?"

Not expecting Harry to change the subject so quickly, Remus looked at him with a bit of surprise. "Yes, I did. I don't think any of us have seen Professor Dumbledore that angry. They have been growing restless for some time...furious at his refusal to let them inside the grounds...I suppose they were the reason you fell?" Of course they were the reason Harry fell off, but Remus didn't want Harry to feel as if his teacher were putting him down.

"Yes," Harry said quietly. He paused and then in a burst of frustration, as if he couldn't hold it back any more, he asked, "Why? Why do they affect me like that?" Remus could see where this was going, so when Harry started to ask, "Am I just -"

Remus interrupted him with, "It has nothing to do with weakness." He wanted Harry to understand that he most certainly wasn't weak. He explained further, "The dementors affect you worse than the others because there are horrors in your past that the others don't have."

Remus paused as Harry looked up at him with the first signs of hope on his young face. "Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them. Even Muggles feel their presence, though they can't see them. Get too near a dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, the dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself...soul-less and evil. You'll be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life." He thought briefly about Sirius and how he must have been experiencing just what Remus was describing. But the he noticed Harry looking up at him still with a questioning look. "And the worst that happened to you, Harry, is enough to make anyone fall off their broom. You have nothing to feel ashamed of." He smiled at Harry, hoping his explanation would make him feel better.

But Harry only look down at the desk and said, "When they get near me - I can hear Voldemort murdering my mum."

Oh God! He can hear Lily? He can actually hear her dying?

Remus wanted to hug Harry, to tell him that everything would be all right even though Remus wasn't certain of that himself. But, as he went to touch him, he held himself back. Giving a student a hug wasn't exactly the best thing to do under any circumstances, even if he was the son of one of your best friends.

Harry stood in silence for a second as Remus tried to figure out what he should say to him. For the first time ever, Remus actually felt deep hatred for Sirius Black. He did this to Harry. And now Harry had to relive that awful night...and it was all Sirius' fault. Remus had been able to keep Sirius the Marauder separate from Sirius the servant of Voldemort for so long, but now they were melded into one...Sirius the killer.

Harry broke the silence by asking, "Why did they have to come to the match?" His voice was full of bitterness.

Remus turned back to his desk and shut his briefcase, trying to brush aside the dark thoughts he was having about Sirius. "They're getting hungry. Dumbledore won't let them into the school, so their supply of human prey has dried up...I don't think they could resist the large crowd around the Quidditch field. All that excitement...emotions running high...it was their idea of a feast."

"Azkaban must be terrible," Harry said under his breath to which Remus had to agree.

Remus had been there once after Sirius' capture. He had wanted to talk to Sirius about what happened, but they wouldn't let him in. The Ministry didn't think it a good idea to let Voldemort's most devoted servant speak to his long time friend who happened to be a werewolf. But the memory of what he did see was forever ingrained in his memory. "The fortress is set on a tiny island, way out at sea," he described to Harry, "but they don't need walls and water to keep the prisoners in, not when they're all trapped inside their own heads, incapable of a single cheerful thought. Most of them go mad within weeks."

Remus went to pick up his briefcase just as Harry said, "But Sirius Black escaped from them. He got away - "

The sudden mention of Sirius' name from Harry's lips startled Remus causing him to almost drop his briefcase. Did Harry know more about Black than Remus was aware? As far as Remus understood, Harry had never been told much about Sirius. He wasn't supposed to know that it was Sirius who betrayed Lily and James. He wasn't even supposed to know that Sirius was his Godfather. Why the sudden mention of Sirius' name?

Harry was looking up at Remus with raised eyebrows. Placing the briefcase back on the desk he said, "Yes, Black must have found a way to fight them. I wouldn't have believed it possible..." And he didn't believe it still. What kind of magic did you use, Sirius? "Dementors are supposed to drain a wizard of his powers if he is left with them too long..."

Before he could continue with the thought, Harry suddenly said, "You made that dementor on the train back off."

So I did. Good point. "There are - certain defenses one can use." But Sirius couldn't have conjured a Patronus without using a wand. And besides... "But there was only one dementor on the train. The more there are, the more difficult it becomes to resist." More proof that Sirius had to use dark magic to get out of Azkaban!

"What defenses? Can you teach me?" The hope on Harry's face was evident.

"I don't pretend to be an expert at fighting Dementors, Harry...quite the contrary..." he said. Indeed, he wasn't. When ever he got too close to a dementor, Remus always relived the moment that wolf had bitten him when he was little. It was always frightening, even after all these years, and his Patronus wasn't exactly strong because of it. The real expert in the group had been James. James could conjure the best Patronus of them all.

"But if the dementors come to another Quidditch match, I need to be able to fight them - "

Remus looked down at Harry's determined face with a small smile. He really was like his father in more ways than just looks. James wouldn't give up on something this easily. No, he would have done everything possible to make sure he could play in the match. Giving in, Remus said, "Well, all right. I'll try and help. But it will have to wait until next term. I have a lot to do before the holidays." Papers to grade, exams to write, not to mention Christmas gifts to buy if there is time. "I chose a very inconvenient time to fall ill."

Very happy that Remus had agreed to help him, Harry scampered off to his next class looking more at ease. As he watched Harry disappear around the corner, Remus couldn't help but smile. As much as he didn't like the idea of being around a dementor, he had just been given an excuse to spend some time with Harry. Maybe he would get a chance to actually talk to him and tell him a bit about James someday.

But talking about James would lead you to talk about Sirius, and you certainly don't want to talk about that.

He returned to his briefcase, picked it up, and headed back to his own room. What a strange day. He thought about his conversation with Harry and about how he would teach him to fight the dementors. He thought about the class and was still worried one of the students would figure out that he was a werewolf. And then he thought about Snape...

It's time to put you in your place, Severus!

***

The staff table bustled with chatter as usual as Remus sat down to his dinner that night. Professor Flitwick kindly discussed the lessons he covered and some of the discoveries the students had made and happenings that he thought Remus should be aware of. Snape sat at the far end of the table, avoiding Remus' eye. Every now and then, however, Remus would chance a glance down at him trying to get him to look his way.

As he finished with his meal, Remus excused himself and walked, purposefully, right past Snape. Casually he said, "Thank you for covering my class Severus."

"It was my pleasure, Lupin."

Turning suddenly as if remembering something, Remus added, "Oh, and I also would like to thank you for taking it upon yourself to teach my third years about werewolves. Seeing as how I certainly don't know much about the topic, it was a good thing you came along and made sure they understood it properly. "

Looking up at him over his shoulder, Snape said, "Well they were behind. I thought it important information that they should all know by now."

"Indeed it is," Remus nodded. "That's why I've decided to cover Vampires next term. Would you like to help with that lesson as well?"

Snape froze.

"No? Well, I guess you'll have to trust me to teach them from my own experiences." Sarcasm dripped from his voice as he said, "Thanks again, Severus."

Before Snape even knew what hit him, Remus was walking away with a great smile on his face. He felt better than he had in weeks!