Werewolf on Trial

Werewolf on Trial

Chapter 2- The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures

July 1977

Sirius glanced at the clock high on the hallway wall. Ten after three. "The hearing was supposed to start ten minutes ago. The least the bloody committee could do is be on time." He watched Remus pacing at the other end of the hall. "No, the least they could do is let him have a normal trial instead of hauling him in front of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures." Sirius caught himself just before growling. "Don't you dare growl in front of the Committee," he scolded himself. "They'll think Remus is rubbing off on you."

He saw Remus sit down between Mrs. Lupin and James. Sirius's mother sat on the other side of Mrs. Lupin and was holding her hand. Mrs. Pettigrew hadn't reacted as well to the revelation that Remus was a werewolf and had refused to allow Peter to come to the hearing. It didn't really matter as only those testifying would be allowed in, but he had wanted to come for moral support.

Remus was pacing again. In his mind, Sirius saw the wolf pacing in the Shrieking Shack. When they had first mastered the animagus transformation, but weren't yet bold enough, or reckless enough, to leave the Shack, he had seen the wolf pacing the same way. "He feels trapped."

"Here come the last two committee members, Radley and Ewell," Aeneas Black whispered to his son.

"Sit down, Moony," Sirius urged under his breath.

"What?"

"Remus is pacing like an animal in a cage. Not the image we want committee members to see," Sirius explained quietly. James must have had the same thought for he stood at that moment and stilled Remus by laying a hand on his arm and speaking to him.

Sirius looked then at the tardy committee members, but was more interested in the two people in their wake, Severus Snape and Peter Pettigrew. Snape was walking calmly and resolutely, his gaze straight ahead. Peter's pace was more erratic. He would quicken as if eager to join his friends, but then slow as soon as he began to catch up to Snape.

The committee members swept into the meeting room without a glance at any of the people waiting. The doors closed behind them without a touch. Snape saw Sirius and glared at him briefly before turning to go to the other end of the hall. Seeing Remus and James there, he merely leaned back against the wall in the center of the corridor. He stared at the meeting room doors. Peter hurried over to Sirius.

"Glad to see you, Peter. Did your mum change her mind, or did you sneak out?" Sirius asked.

"Snuck out," Peter replied. "She thinks I'm in my room, sulking because I couldn't come here." Aeneas Black shook his head as he listened to his son and his friend, but said nothing.

"Why don't you go over and help James keep Remus calm. He's wearing the floor out pacing," Sirius suggested.

"Yeah, but I'll have to walk past Snape. I thought he was going to kill me on the stairs."

"What did the slimy git do?"

"Nothing really. Just a few rather choice and inspired insults, but the way he was glaring at me--trust me, a basilisk has got nothing on Snape when he's really angry."

"I know. Believe me, I know."

Just then the meeting room doors opened and a grey-haired wizard wearing a red robe emerged. "All the better to hide the bloodstains," Sirius thought. He suppressed the urge to growl again."

"We will begin hearing testimony in just a few moments," the red robed wizard announced. Before we begin, we wish to ascertain if all the witnesses are present. Mrs. Julia Lupin?"

"Present." There was an understandable quaver in her voice.

"Mr. Severus Snape?" Snape raised his hand slightly and nodded at the wizard. "Mr. Sirius Black?"

"I am."

"Mr. James Potter?"

"Here."

"And the werewolf, Remus Lupin?"

A pause, and then, "Here," James's voice again.

Sirius was staring at Snape. Snape smirked when the wizard called Remus, "the werewolf." Sirius gripped the edge of the bench.

"Thank you. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore of Hogwarts School has also asked to speak, but as he will be speaking last, the committee requested his presence for four o'clock. The remainder of you will be questioned in the order in which I called your names. Only one person will be permitted in at a time. Mrs. Lupin, if you would follow me?" Mrs. Lupin kissed her son on his cheek and followed the wizard into the room. The doors closed again.

A sudden brainstorm hit Sirius.

"Hey, Peter?"

"Yeah?"

"It's really too bad that only one person can go in at a time. I'd dearly love to know what Snape says in there." He looked at Peter with a smile. "Are you feeling all right, Peter? You look kind of pale. Maybe you should get some fresh air."

"Yeah. Maybe I should." Peter smiled faintly.

"Just make sure you're back for James's turn. Remus will need you to sit with him."

As Peter walked down the corridor and around the corner, Sirius's father asked quietly, "What are you two up to?"

"Peter just gets kind of queasy when he's nervous. You should have seen him when we took the O.W.L.s last year." Sirius was a skilled and practiced liar. He could fool almost everyone. However, most of his practicing had been done on his parents.

"Just tell me that Peter won't do anything that could make things worse for Remus."

"I don't know how Peter puking up his breakfast could make things worse," Sirius replied, "unless he does it on the shoes of a committee member. And since he isn't testifying, I guess that's too much to hope for."

The committee kept Mrs. Lupin for over forty minutes. Remus imagined that they were asking her about every full moon since Remus was first bitten, looking for even one instance of Remus's being a threat to someone. When the doors finally opened again, Mrs. Lupin emerged even paler than she had gone in, and Sirius hadn't imagined that possible. Almost all eyes in the corridor were upon Mrs. Lupin as she returned to her son and began speaking to him quietly. Only Sirius watched a grey rat follow Snape into the meeting room.

Sirius felt the urge to pace the floor, but he knew that Remus didn't need to see that. He started biting his nails instead. "Never did this before. Probably going to be stuck with a new bloody bad habit--as if I didn't have enough bad habits." Seven minutes later and the doors opened again. "Hope that's a good sign. Snape didn't have time to say much." Sirius watched Snape sweep out of the room and down the corridor toward the building's exit. "Not staying for the verdict. Another good sign, I hope."

"Ready, Son?"

"Yeah. Time to tell them what an asshole I am and what a paragon of virtue Remus is."

"Not in those exact words, I hope. Just remember, only answer what is asked. Don't volunteer extra information."

Sirius nodded, took a deep breath, and started walking toward the open doors. He glanced over at Remus and James. Remus was very deliberately staring at a wall, but James smiled encouragingly at him.

The room was not what he had expected. Sirius had imagined an imposing courtroom with a marble floor, dark wood paneling on the wall, and rows of highly polished benches or ornately carved wooden chairs. The sort of place where life and death decision were made. This room was shabby. There was no other word that came to mind. The walls cried out for a fresh coat of paint. The velvet drapes were faded. The chairs were mismatched. The long table where the red-robed committee sat was battered and worn. Sirius suddenly felt as sick as he had pretended Peter to be. The state of this room told him all too clearly the lack of importance that the Ministry of Magic placed on the decision of whether "a werewolf" would live or die.

He sat in the chair which stood alone in the center of the room, facing the long table and the five committee members. He wondered if Peter was still here, or if he had slipped out after Sirius entered. He didn't want to look around for him.

"Please state your full name for the record," said the wizard who had come into the hallway earlier. He sat on the far right.

"Sirius Aeneas Black."

"And what is your relationship to the werewolf, Remus Lupin?"

"Remus is my friend and my dorm mate at Hogwarts."

"When did you learn that he is a werewolf?"

"October 1972."

"Did he tell you or did you discover it in some other way?"

"My other dorm mates and I figured it out."

"How?" asked a dark haired witch.

"Remus was always absent at the full moon, and he skipped Herbology when we studied wolfsbane. Remus never skips classes."

"Did his temperament also give you a clue that he was a werewolf?" she asked.

"No."

"Have you ever seen instances of uncontrollable temper in the werewolf?"

"No."

"Any signs of a temper at all?" Sirius was starting to dislike her.

"Everyone has a temper, but Remus keeps his under control. He tries to keep mine under control too."

"What do you mean?" asked a young looking wizard.

"I'm the hot head of the group. That's why we're here today."

"Perhaps we should discuss the night of the full moon last month," said the wizard at the center of the table. "Who told Mr. Snape how to get into the tunnel leading to the werewolf's location?"

"I did."

"Did anyone know ahead of time that you were going to do this?"

"No. I didn't even know ahead of time."

"So Mr. Lupin did not know that Mr. Snape would be coming to his location?" asked a white haired witch on the far left.

"I like her," he thought. "No, he didn't."

"When did you talk to Mr. Snape? Before or after moonrise?" asked the young wizard.

Sirius thought for a moment. "It was right around moonrise. It may have been just before or just after. A few minutes either way."

"Did you contact the werewolf after you spoke to Mr. Snape?"

"No."

"So before he transformed, he had no knowledge that a human would be coming to his location?"

"No."

There was a minute of silence as the committee members tried to think of any more questions. Sirius felt a slight tug on one of his socks and looked down to see Wormtail just behind his foot.

"Do you know of any other instances of the werewolf being a danger to humans?" asked the dark haired witch.

"No." "Leaving the Shrieking Shack with him doesn't count because Prongs and I keep him away from people," Sirius rationalized to himself.

"Thank you, Mr. Black," said the wizard in the center. "You are dismissed."

"May I say one more thing?"

"Please keep it brief," the wizard on the right said as he began to write notes on a piece of parchment.

"Remus is one of the finest people I know, and I have felt honored to call him my friend. He's never been a danger to anyone, except for one night, and it was all my fault, not his. Remus didn't do anything wrong, and he shouldn't be punished because I did."

"Thank you, we'll keep your comments in mind," the wizard said in a careless manner.

"Liar."

Sirius reached down and picked up Wormtail, putting him in his pocket as he stood to leave. The doors opened as he approached, and Sirius returned to the hallway. He stood in front of the open doors and waited for James's approach. Sirius saw that Professor Dumbledore had arrived and was sitting beside Mrs. Lupin.

"How's he doing, James?" Sirius asked quietly.

"Awful. Where's Peter?"

"In my pocket. He eavesdropped on Snape." James smiled and went into the room. Sirius approached his father.

"Dad, I'm going to go look for Peter. I'll be right back."

"Want me to come with you?"

"No. Stay here so Remus doesn't think we're leaving."

As soon as Sirius was around the corner and out of sight, he took Wormtail out of his pocket and placed him on the floor. A moment later, Peter stood beside him.

"If I had to listen to them call Remus "the werewolf" instead of by name one more time, I would have bitten someone," Peter said.

"You and me both, Peter. You'd better go sit with Remus now." They started walking back to the others. "Just tell me, how horrible was Snape?"

"Actually, not too bad. I was only a little bit tempted to bite him. I'll tell you word by word later."

"I told my dad that you were probably puking up your breakfast because you were nervous."

"Works for me. After listening to that committee, I'm terrified." Peter hurried over to their pacing friend, and Sirius returned to his father. He saw Professor Dumbledore approaching and stood to meet him.

"Hello, Sirius. How are you holding up?" the Headmaster asked with a kind smile.

"I'm a nervous wreck. The only reason I'm not pacing is because Remus is doing that for all of us."

"Yes, I noticed that."

Sirius glanced over the elderly wizard's shoulder and saw Peter whispering in Remus's ear. "Probably telling him about Snape's testimony."

"Could you tell me what types of questions the committee asked you?" Professor Dumbledore asked. "The more Remus knows going in, the better prepared he'll be."

"They focused quite a bit on the possibility that Remus knew that Snape was coming. I told them every way I could that he didn't. I was the one who told Snape how to get in the tunnel, and I did it after Remus had already gone."

Dumbledore nodded at this. Sirius saw that Peter was still whispering to Remus. Remus looked at Sirius. "Probably telling him about my testimony, too."

"Anything else, Sirius?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, the dark haired witch kept trying to get me to say that Remus had a bad temper. I kept saying that he didn't."

"Except toward you at the moment," Professor Dumbledore said with a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.

Sirius smiled back. "That's why I'm at this end of the corridor. I thought it would be better if Remus killed me after this is over."

"Quite true."

Dumbledore returned to Remus and began speaking to him. He hadn't yet finished when the doors opened again and James emerged. He waited in front of the doorway for Remus. Mrs. Lupin stood up and said a few words to her son. She then kissed him and stood holding Professor Dumbledore's arm as Peter and Remus walked toward James. Sirius had the impression that she would faint as soon as Remus was out of sight.

Remus had a look of quiet resignation on his face, as if the verdict had already been read. James grasped Remus's shoulders and quietly said a few words. Remus seemed to get some comfort from whatever James said. He nodded, took a deep breath, and almost smiled. He then entered the room and the doors closed again. Sirius was beside his friends in a moment.

"What did you say, James? It really seemed to help."

"I told him that Peter and I would help him beat the shit out of you when this is all over."

"Fair enough, but do you really think he needs help?"

"No, but we want to help anyway."

"Sirius?" Sirius turned at the sound of his father's voice close behind him. "I want to go talk to Mrs. Lupin now. Why don't you come with me and apologize to her." Sirius nodded nervously and felt his mouth go dry. He followed his father and was surprised to see Mrs. Lupin smile as they approached.

"Oh, Aeneas, thank you so much for sending us that nice Charlotte Stirling," Mrs. Lupin said as she reached out for Mr. Black's hand and he sat beside her. "She's the first person I've met from Werewolf Support Services who didn't set my teeth on edge."

"Rather unfortunate name for her job though," he replied with a smile.

"Yes, I did rather flinch when she introduced herself." She laughed then, and there was a slightly hysterical edge to her laughter that made Sirius cringe inside.

"She was helpful?" Sirius's father asked.

Mrs. Lupin nodded and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "She talked with us about the types of questions to expect, and she pulled some strings to make sure the hearing was today."

"Today?" Sirius's father asked.

"It's the new moon," Sirius explained. His parents looked up at him with wide eyes, and Sirius shrugged. "Every little bit helps."

Sirius was suddenly uncomfortably aware of Mrs. Lupin staring at him. She didn't look angry, and that made it worse. She looked pale and lost. He dropped down on one knee so she wouldn't have to look up at him.

"Mrs. Lupin, I'm so, so, sorry. I never meant to hurt Remus. I never meant to hurt anyone. I'm not asking you to forgive me. I just wanted to apologize." He started to stand so she wouldn't have to put up with his presence any longer, but she put a hand on his shoulder.

"I know you didn't mean to do this, Sirius." She then looked up behind him to Peter and James. "The best thing that ever happened to Remus was becoming friends with the three of you. And whatever--" she closed her eyes, "whatever happens today, remember that." Sirius's mother pulled her close, and they sat silently. James pulled Sirius to his feet and the three teenagers returned to the other end of the corridor.

"Do you want to know what Snape said?" Peter asked. At that moment, Sirius didn't care.

"I do," James answered.

"Just the highlights, Peter," Sirius added, "I'm not in the mood for word by word."

Peter was silent for a moment as he thought. "Well, when they were trying to find out if Remus was in on it, he told the truth and said that you were the one who told him about the tunnel, and that you told him after Remus had already gone in the tunnel, but--"

"But, what?" Sirius growled.

"He said that the four of us are always plotting and scheming together. He said that it was rare for one of us to do something without the others knowing about it ahead of time."

"Bastard," Sirius muttered.

James sighed. "I made a big deal of the fact that when you told me about it, you said that you had just blurted it out because you were angry, that you hadn't planned it ahead of time. If they put that together with the fact that it was after Remus went in the tunnel--"

"They don't care, James," Sirius said as he dropped his head and grabbed fistfuls of hair. "You both heard them calling him 'the werewolf' instead of by name. They just want an excuse to kill him, and I gave it to them." Neither James nor Peter had an answer for that. They sat in silence and waited.