Charms, Broomsticks and Animagi-A Marauder Story

Disclaimer: It´s JKR´s world. All I do is go and play in it.

Part One- One Owl can change the course of destiny

Lily Evans always considered herself to be a pretty normal child. She went to school, she went out with her friends and she argued with her sister; just like any other 11-year-old girl.

However, her whole way of life changed on one sunny, lazy morning in late July.

"Morning," Lily yawned as she stumbled down the stairs into the kitchen, running a brush through her long red hair.

She sat at the kitchen table, having made herself a bowl of cornflakes and some orange juice. Petunia, her older sister, was sitting opposite her with her customary sulk on her face. Lily´s father, Harold, was reading his newspaper whilst munching on a piece of toast.

"What´s up with you, Pet?" Lily asked, a friendly but slightly guarded expression on her face.

Her older sister scowled. "Nothing that´s to do with you, brat! But if you must know, it´s because dad won´t let me go to that Rolling Stones concert on the mainland with Marge, Vernon and Barry. All because of my homework! Of all things! I´m not 3 years old!" Lily rolled her eyes.

Arguments like this between Petunia and her parents were a regular occurrence.

Her father raised his eyes from his newspaper, pushing his glasses back on his nose, and spoke with a tone of exasperation, "Pet, I have told you time and time again that you cannot go out with your friends until you do your holiday homework! Not to mention those extra questions that Mr Cunliffe set you to help your maths. How else will you improve?"

"But I already paid for the ticket, Dad, with my own money! How am I expected to get a refund now?" Petunia protested.

"I don´t care, Petunia, you are not going to that concert! You will have to sell the ticket to one of your school friends, I´m sure you know somebody who has not got a ticket that wants one. How about Laurel?"

Petunia yelped in protest "Dad! Laurel´s - OH MY GOD! AAIIEEEEE!!"

Whatever Laurel was, Lily never found out, because at that moment a huge barn owl flew in through the open window. His wings bashed against the frame as he passed, before he dropped a letter heavily onto Petunia´s head. Petunia, being deathly afraid of birds, screamed and ran out of the room. She pounded up the stairs, ran into her bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

Lily, however, was not afraid. She stretched out a hand to the owl, stroking it whilst picking up the letter that had fallen in Petunia´s cereal.

However, when she looked at the letter, neither was there any evidence of smudged ink, nor was there any crinkles in the paper, as you would normally expect from a letter that has just been submerged in milk. Frowning in bemusement, she read the front, where it said in sparkling green ink:

Miss L. Evans

The Attic Bedroom

67 Upper Moorgreen Road

Cowes

Isle of Wight

Inwardly wondering on how they knew which room she slept in, Lily turned over the letter, registering that it was fastened with a rather ornate seal, in which a lion, a badger, an eagle and a snake gathered around a large `H´. She slit it open using one of her father´s letter openers, pulling out the letter and reading it leisurely whilst eating her cereal.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, International Confed. Of Wizards)

Dear Miss Evans,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1^st September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

First year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Set Books

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

The Subtle Science of the Simmering Cauldron by Uric Gubacious

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark forces- A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

Other Equipment

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

I set glass or crystal phials

I telescope

I set brass scales

Students may bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

Lily was amazed. Her, a witch? Impossible! Magic only existed in Fairytales! She turned to her father for guidance. "Dad, I just got a really strange letter! It says I´m a witch!" She picked up the envelope again to show her father and found that there was something else in it. It was another letter and a book.

Dear Miss Evans,

We realise that you will be wondering what this is all about, so we have sent you a book entitled `Muggle-Born, A Guide to the Magical Universe´ which will tell you everything about the wizarding community. We first became aware of your magical ability when you performed a levitating charm when you were 6 months old in order to stop your cat from falling out of a tree. Since then, you have performed many charms of a peculiarly advanced nature.

In order to obtain your school supplies, you must go to Diagon Alley, which can be reached through a public house called `The Leaky Cauldron´ which is on Old Street, nearest to Old Street tube station, in between `Bumper Books´ and `Rockin´ Records´.

You will have to change your money at Gringotts, the wizarding bank, into Galleons, Sickles and Knuts. The exchange rate varies, but there are 17 sickles in a galleon and 29 knuts to a sickle.

To travel to Hogwarts, you must board the Hogwarts Express, which leaves Platform 9 ¾ at King´s Cross Station at 11.00 on the 1^st of September. To get on the platform, you must walk through the barrier of Platforms 9 and 10.

Anything else that you need to know will be in your book, and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to owl me.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster of Hogwarts.

Lily flicked through the book, noticing such chapters as A History Of The Magical Community and Preparing Your Child For The Magical Transition. She closed the book and looked up at her father with bright, excited eyes. "Dad, can I go? Isn´t this amazing!"

Harold read the letter with a slight frown on his face, folded it back up, and sighed.

"I don´t know, Lil, this all sounds incredibly implausible, are they actually saying that there is a whole community out there that we have no idea about? Even if there is-how can you be magical? Neither your mother or me had any magical ancestors, therefore these...people must have made a mistake."

With a desperate expression on her face, Lily quickly picked up the book and flicked through it, stopping at a page entitled; The Mystery of Muggle-born Wizards and Witches. "Dad, look, it says here that Muggle born wizards are often descended from Squibs, who are people from a magical family who cannot work magic themselves. That must mean that we have wizards as distant ancestors! Then the magical ability has a tendency to skip generations until it manifests itself unexpectedly in a child."

Lily continued, reading from the book again, "That explains everything! Did I really save Jet from the tree, like it says in the letter?" She glanced at her father and saw the expression of dawning comprehension on his face. "Come to think of it, I do remember that. We had just called the RSPCA to help get Jet down, and when they arrived, Jet was already out of the tree, even though she had been in what seemed an impossible position to get down from." Her father thought for a moment, then noticing his daughter´s hopeful expression, sighed. "Okay, Lil, we can at least go to this `Diagon Alley´ later today and see what this is all about, hmm? Perhaps it isn´t a joke. Come on, get ready, we´ll leave in an hour for the ferry."

Lily said nothing, but her expression betrayed the elation she was feeling at that moment. She quickly hugged her father and ran up to her room to get ready, not noticing the odd, slightly wistful expression on Petunia´s face.

* * *

"Mum, can James come over? Thanks!" yelled Sirius Black, not bothering to wait for his mother, Dorinda, to answer his request as he opened the pot of Fire Communication Powder.

He threw a pinch into the fire and waited for it to turn purple, after which he said, "James Potter!"

It took a while, but eventually a head with messy black hair, dark brown eyes and glasses appeared in the fire, with a slightly sardonic smile on his face.

"Sirius, this is really not a good time!" James exclaimed. "I´ve put some Filibuster Fireworks and some Stinking Sponges in my father´s boardroom, and by the sounds of things they just found out it was me and not some stuffy Ministry member forgetting to perform his deodorising charm this morning!" James had a worried look on his face, but that was betrayed by the glimmer of triumphant mischief in his brown eyes.

Sirius burst out laughing, "Why, James, I have well and truly corrupted you now! I couldn´t have done better myself!"

James grinned, but also looked slightly panicked, seeming like he could hear noises in the background. "My father is going to explode when he catches me! Argh! He´s coming!"

"Not to worry, James, I corrupted you; least I can do is to save you from the old stuffed shirt and invite you over to mine! Mum´s fine with it, so grab your stuff and Floo over here then we can have some real FUN!"

"Why do I get the feeling that this is not a brilliant idea?" sighed James as his head disappeared from the fire.

A few minutes later, the fire in the Blacks´ living room turned an emerald green, signalling the activation of the Floo network, and James Potter arrived on the rug with a flump, scattering soot every which way.

A loud crash from the kitchen signalled the arrival of Sirius, who had incidentally just put an Exploding Eggshell in his parents´ lunch, making it explode whilst it was cooking. He grabbed James, who barely suppressed a yelp, and hurtled out of the front door in the direction of the garden shed to grab their brooms.

By the time Dorinda Black was at the door, hands on hips, Sirius and James were oh so innocently flying around, tossing a beach ball that had been enchanted to behave like a quaffle between them. However, Dorinda knew them better than that.

"Nice try, Sirius, but if you are going to go to Hogwarts with that attitude you had better work on not being so blatantly obvious! Now come down and clean this up right now before your father gets home, otherwise we´ll both have an unpleasant time of it when he sees the state of the kitchen."

Sirius huffed good-naturedly and began to direct his broom downwards when he suddenly collided with an owl. Spinning off course, he eventually righted his Comet 100 and landed, the owl looking very ruffled and indignant, flying down beside him and dropping a parchment letter into his hands. Sirius´s disgruntled expression lightened as he recognised the familiar seal and ripped the letter open, throwing the envelope carelessly to the ground.

"Oy Jim! Hogwarts letters!"

He flew in a celebratory circle around the garden before touching down in front of James, who was ripping open his own Hogwarts letter.

"Brilliant!´ James said as he ripped it open and scanned the contents. `Mum told me to go to Diagon Alley anyway to get some new cooking books for her. We can get our stuff whilst we´re there!"

Sirius turned to his mother, "Have we still got some Floo powder left from the last time we went?"

"Just about," she replied, "though that means I can´t come with you boys, but I guess you´re not overly disappointed by that, now are you?"

"We´ll be fine, mum." Sirius grinned, "And we´ll try not to blow anything up or get caught by the MLES again!"

James grinned at that. `I never saw so many of those biting books in one place, causing so much fun before! Do you remember the really stuffy Daily Prophet wizard who had one bite him on the..."

"Oh, go on with you and try not to annoy the books too much this time!" Dorinda laughed as she gave Sirius his Gringotts key and watched the two boys disappear into the Floo network.

* * *

Stay away from him... he´s a werewolf... he could kill us all...doesn´t deserve to live...

Remus Lupin wrapped his cloak around him and kept his head down, walking to his usual corner in the playground where he sat down and took out his pocket sketchbook, wanting to finish his picture of a centaur.

He sketched diligently for a few minutes, shading in carefully, not acknowledging the stones and cans that just missed him, hitting the wall of the school.

However, one stone that was better aimed than the others succeeded in knocking the pencil out of his hand and smudging an angry black line across the page.

Remus looked up mildly to see his best Never-Be-Blunt sketching pencil be crushed under the feet of his biggest tormentor and one-time friend, Andrew Stevens.

Remus´s expression quickly grew angry as he saw the remains of his pencil. With the full moon so close, his temper was volatile to the point where he was close to being unable to control it.

Clenching his left fist in anger, he packed up his sketch pad and calmly went to walk past Andrew, picking up the remains of his pencil on the way. However, Andrew had other ideas, as he grabbed the back of Remus´s clothes and pushed him down into the dirt.

"Come on, aren´t you beasts supposed to have some super strength? Figures that you´d make a pathetic werewolf, Lupin, you cant even manage to get that right!" taunted Andrew, his blue eyes scornful.

"Why can´t you just leave me alone, Stevens, like the rest of this school?" replied Remus harshly, eyes narrowing in anger.

"Aww. Pathetic little Lupin wants to be left alone, does he? Go ahead. I shouldn´t have been wasting my time on a pathetic little thing like you anyway. Your parents should have put you down the moment you were contaminated! Don´t know what the hell they were doing, letting a beast like you - "

Remus´s temper snapped. He leapt at Andrew, forcing him flat on his back, smacking his head against the tarmac.

"Is that what you wanted to see? Is it? Do you ever give up with the prejudice, Stevens?" Remus shouted as he raised a hand to punch Andrew in the face, the noises of the crowd shouting "Fight, Fight," as if they were enjoying it. Nevertheless they were still keeping their distance from the werewolf.

Remus punched Andrew as hard as he could, becoming unaware of anything around him except the blind desire to hurt Andrew as much as he had hurt him...

"MR LUPIN!! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?!?!" An arm roughly pulled him away from Andrew, who was gingerly getting up from the floor, face pale, bleeding from the nose.

Remus, his temper now subdued, looked up with a white face at the owner of the voice. Mr Maynard, who was never called by his given name by the children when he was out of earshot but by things generally more unprintable, dragged Remus into his office and shut the door.

Remus stood in front of the desk, presenting a calm façade even though he was inwardly quaking, and faced the livid Headmaster.

"Mr Lupin, you know the policy on fighting in this school! It is unacceptable! I am afraid that I will have to suspend you for this, effective immediately. There is NO excuse, NO excuse whatsoever, for assaulting another student like that!"

"But - " Remus tried to redeem himself, feeling the injustice of the moment, but was cut off by the Headmaster.

"I do NOT want to hear any of your pathetic excuses, if they are anything like the stories you tell for why you are away every single month."

Remus went white.

"Yes, Mr Lupin, I have been hearing some very interesting tales from a couple of students, recently. Considering you are always away at the full moon, it seems pointless to bother even asking you if you are indeed a werewolf."

The expression on Remus´s face made words needless as he opened his mouth, striving for words to defend himself.

However, Mr Maynard cut him off. "I thought so. I cannot let anyone with a disease like yours stay in this school, Lupin; you are a danger to the other students. As this afternoon´s little escapade shows, keeping you in this school would put my job in jeopardy. Therefore, I am expelling you, effective immediately. The public reason will be due to the fighting between you and Andrew Stevens. I will owl your parents immediately. In the meantime, gather your belongings."

"But sir - " said Remus again, desperately trying to find some words to save his reputation.

"But nothing. Go." Mr Maynard replied, muttering under his breath. "Gods know why they´re allowed to live...."

Remus ran blindly out of the office, gathered up his belongings and walked calmly away from the school, never to return. He ran back to the top of a certain hill just outside the village where he lived, near Dartmouth, and sat on the tree branch he always used when thinking.

Scowling slightly, he took out his reserve sketchbook from his bag and another ordinary pencil. "Great." He said to himself. "No idea when I´ll actually be able to get another decent pencil, where in the world am I going to find 5 galleons? Damn Stevens."

He sketched for many minutes, ignoring the passing of time around him. He imagined

Andrew Stevens and the rest of his crew undergoing the various tortures that he had to live with because of his lycanthropy, occasionally glancing up to take in the view around him, in order to reproduce it on his paper.

Remus was so involved in his task that he did not notice a man with a very long white beard, glasses, and twinkling blue eyes appear behind him.

"Remus Lupin, I presume?"

Remus jumped at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, nearly tumbling from his perch. He turned around cautiously, looking quizzically at the stranger, then his eyes widened as he recognised him from his collection of chocolate frog cards.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Remus exclaimed, "Why in the world are you here! Oh! I mean - that sounded wrong. It´s just - " Here, Remus broke off and gazed down at his sketchbook again, sighing slightly, his shoulders slumped in resignation.

Dumbledore waited for Remus to continue, instinctively knowing that the child was on the brink of confessing something that was important to him.

Finally, Remus broke the silence, glancing uneasily up at Dumbledore again, but he was unable to hold his gaze.

"The reason I didn´t know why you are here is ... there is no possible way that I could go to Hogwarts," he sighed in a resigned tone that nevertheless had the smallest hint of hope in it.

"Ah Remus, have you ever heard of the phrase `When there´s a will, there´s a way?´ A very wise man said that, and I believe it to be true. Every child with the magical ability - the `will´ inside them - has the right to be educated and taught to use that gift, regardless of any outdated prejudices that this world has. I have always been ashamed of the closed-minded nature of our culture."

Dumbledore sighed, and looked out over the valley for a moment before continuing. "Therefore, I have found a `way´ for you to be allowed in to Hogwarts, that will guarantee the safety of both you and your peers."

Remus´ eyes widened. "Really? What about the other teachers, and the kids... they´re gonna find out sometime! And when they do..." His voice trailed off and he looked down at his feet, avoiding the Headmaster´s gaze again.

"Remus. Look at me." Reluctantly, Remus forced himself to meet the Headmaster´s penetrating blue gaze. "I assure you that only the people with absolute necessity to know will be informed of this matter, and that they will understand the delicacy of it. The only people who will know about this will be you and I, your head of house, which I can assure you will treat the matter with the utmost discretion, and will provide a means for you to escape awkward situations, and the school nurses, Madam Pomfrey and Miss Crowfoot will also have to know. They are both highly-trained mediwitches and will be able to cope with any situation. No one else will hear it from me, trust me."

Remus regarded him for a moment, deliberating whether to trust this man, or whether he would end up hurt by him like he had by any ... adults in his life save of course his parents.

However, there was something about the old man that commanded a certain respect; an aura about him that compelled everyone who encountered him to trust him implicitly. Remus did not know how, or why, but he trusted Dumbledore, and instantly knew that he would not betray him.

"Okay... but what would I do every month? What would I tell the others?"

Dumbledore frowned thoughtfully. "That is entirely up for you to decide, Remus. It is up to you as to what you tell the boys in your dormitory, but I suggest that we tell only the people who need to know, and even then, tell them as little as possible. It is imperative that no one is suspicious of your monthly absences. There is a secret passage directly from the office of Madam Pomfrey, who is the Assistant Nurse to Miss Crowfoot, to a concealed exit to the grounds. You will cross the grounds and enter a passage that is guarded by a rather... violent tree, which will prevent others from entering, then go through a passage to a sealed-off house where you can transform safely. I recognise that this will be difficult, but these are the best circumstances that I can offer to enable you to come to Hogwarts. Will you accept them and attend?"

Remus contemplated this idea for a moment. Beforehand, the possibility of learning magic had been so remote, that Remus had almost completely resigned himself to the fact that it was impossible. The cynic in him told him not to accept this offer, that he would only be setting himself impossible standards to keep a secret that, if broken, would cost him his security at Hogwarts.

However, the insistent little voice inside him, fuelled by desperation and an ever-rising hope, caused him to look directly at the headmaster, open his mouth and say calmly, "All right then, I´ll go."

Dumbledore´s expression changed slightly, registering a slight hint of surprise, and more than a little amount of respect for the small, ragged, yet determined boy who was prepared to follow his dreams after having endured so many setbacks.

Glancing down at his sketchbook, he remarked. "Ah, and I would guess you might be interested in our Magical Arts class? A good charm or two could easily animate a picture of that calibre."

Remus jumped in surprise at the light hearted comment, having drifted off into the semi-trance that he existed in when sketching, then grinned at the headmaster. This was the only time in that conversation where Albus Dumbledore saw a genuine smile from Remus Lupin, where all barriers had been removed, and for a moment he could see the unmistakeable sincerity that he exuded. It was then that the Headmaster of Hogwarts knew that Remus would be a valuable addition to their community. Smiling, he Disapparated, which successfully scared Remus when he turned around and saw that there was no longer anyone there.

* * *

Peter Pettigrew came in from feeding the chickens, entering the rundown kitchen with a sigh as he remembered that cleaning it was yet another of his jobs that he had not yet done. He was hoping that the owl post would come before his parents returned, as he was waiting for a very important letter. However, unlike many other wizarding children he wasn´t too optimistic about it coming.

"Peter!" snapped his aunt, who was watching the Muggle television in the living room, "Why haven´t you cleaned the kitchen! Your mother will be home soon, and she already has enough work to do, poor woman. Marcus needs his food- he´s been annoying the Kneazles out in the garden for long enough. God knows your father won´t do anything if he comes back from work... too busy chasing women down at the Hog´s Head and will split himself, probably"

"Yes, Aunt Ermintrude. I´ll clean the kitchen right away."

And by the way, it´s splinch, not split, you stupid old bat. Peter inwardly scowled at his aunt, not actually daring to voice his thoughts about how she could not pronounce any words to due with the magical world correctly. Granted, it must be hard for her to be a Muggle, though Peter couldn´t help but think that she didn´t make things any easier for herself. Peter inwardly winced at the thought of being cut off from the wizarding world- of having no magical power like his Grandfather Derek and his Aunt Ermintrude.

He would let everyone down- and yet, the first child in the Pettigrew family for two generations running had had no magical power, what was there to stop it happening a third time? After all, Peter had shown very little magical power up to this point- whereas 6-year-old Marcus was quite often accidentally blowing up various rooms in the house due to sudden outbursts of magic.

I wouldn´t be surprised if I´m a squib, thought Peter pessimistically, as he wrung out the cloth again and half-heartedly wiped the wooden tabletop, looking out of the window and waiting for his mother to come home from work.

The uneasy quiet of the Pettigrew home was disturbed by the slam of the door, which indicated Marcus, Peter´s six-year-old brother, was finally bored of incessantly tormenting the Kneazles, deciding to pester Peter for food instead.

"Clean yourself before you come inside, Marc, or Aunt will be on at us again," recited Peter, without turning around, as Marcus was sure to have covered himself with mud from head-to-toe. Peter enjoyed exploits such as these himself, but not when he had to answer to them.

"Aw, come on, Pete, you never let me have any fun!" whined Marcus, as he grudgingly brushed himself down before stepping inside. "I´m hungry," he continued, "I want some food."

"Wait a minute," Peter sighed in exasperation, "I´m just getting you something. We can´t have anything big `till Mum comes home, though, she´ll go mad otherwise." He continued as he slammed a plate with a sandwich on in front of Marcus, his uncharacteristic bad mood unaccountably worsened.

Marcus opened his mouth to complain about something else, but decided it was too much trouble and started eating his sandwich, scowling at his older brother. Peter merely raised an eyebrow, used to the fact that his brother had not learnt the simple use of the words `Please´ and `Thank you.´ He flopped down on one of the kitchen chairs, grateful to have a minute´s rest before his mother came home. In the meanwhile, he grabbed a chocolate biscuit, consuming it greedily and closing his eyes at the pleasure of eating chocolate.

His bliss was interrupted, however, by the dull thump on the glass window that signalled the arrival of the post. Scowling slightly, Peter turned and pushed open the window, letting in their tawny owl, Aditi, who cuffed him around the head with one of her wings, indignant at the time that she had to wait in the cold.

"Oh stop looking at me like that, you stupid old bird," grumbled Peter, not entirely meaning to be harsh as he stroked Aditi´s head affectionately.

"What was that? What did you say?" came a sharp voice from the living room. It seemed as though Aunt Ermintrude had taken his words as an insult towards her, Peter concluded. Well she wouldn´t be far off, she is a stupid old bird. Looks like an owl as well, with those glasses, he thought, snickering.

"Nothing!" he called back innocently, grinning in spite of himself as he undid the post from Aditi´s leg.

"Daily Prophet.... Letter from Aunt Hilda.... Letter from Uncle Damien... letter from Hogwarts.... What?" muttered Peter, sorting through the letters in a businesslike fashion and staring incredulously at the parchment bound with the familiar seal.

Hands shaking, he turned it around, having difficulty with the wax seal but finally managing to tear it open. Fumbling fingers pulled the letter out and promptly dropped it on the floor, causing Peter to scowl as he bent down to pick it up.

Even as he unfolded the letter, part of him was still certain that this must be a mistake; the trend of squibs in the Pettigrew line couldn´t just... stop. However, he was forced to believe differently as his eyes scanned the letter. An incoherent noise of happiness burst out of him as he finally accepted the fact that he was good enough, as the proof was there right in front of him on the paper.

I´m going to Hogwarts.