Werewolves at Hogwarts

Chapter 6

Severus woke with a monstrous hangover, still dressed in his under robes. His mouth tasted like the bottom of an owl cage and he only just made it to the lavatory before he threw up spectacularly. Since there was no one around, he crawled to the cupboard and pulled himself up to find a potion for his aching head and stomach. Disgusted with himself, he couldn't even shake his head as even his hair hurt.

What a way to start the school year, drunk and debauched and feeling like shit. Which reminded him, they were supposed to meet the little shits this evening, all jolly feasting and hail fellow well met. The very thought of food made his stomach roll rebelliously and Severus groaned aloud. Merlin had better save him because he wasn't doing too good a job of saving himself!

It wasn't until he was in the shower and wishing the water wasn't so loud that he began to remember his dreams. It had begun with his Grandmother beating him with her riding crop, his father and uncles watching from a safe distance. The pain had been overwhelming and the verbal abuse as torrential and filthy as usual, and then it had stopped. A werewolf ate his grandmother, tore her into little bits and gobbled her up! But that was not right as Severus knew his grandmother had died of kindling, a sharp piece plunged through her chest. He smiled viciously at that memory. An over enthusiastic Muggle with a head full of Muggle fantasy stories and a piece of stick at the right moment had done her in. Grandmother always maintained she was part vampire and death by stake sort of proved that irony was alive and well and living in the Muggle world.

He sometimes dreamed of his Grandmother but this had been a particularly strange dream as the pictures were accompanied by a terribly familiar voice, which seemed to be reading the story. In this story the woodsman did not kill the werewolf - a werewolf? -but praised it for setting the little boy free at last to grow well and strong again. Then the werewolf had kissed him and the resultant scenes were so real Severus grew hard and ready just thinking about it.

"Damned imagination, it even supplied the scar pattern," he mused as he finished his shower and carefully dried himself off.

A quick check of the time made him swear once again. Somehow he had managed to sleep most of the day away and there was only an hour left before they were invaded by the stumbling noise-making hoards for another bloody year of torture. Getting dressed carefully in his school robes, Severus put in an appearance in the staffroom, but found it somewhat deserted, except for a few diehards and the new fellow Mosley or something. He managed to get a cup of tea to stay down but lost his temper when the door opened and Sybil drifted in on a cloud of scarves and veils. He swore at her when she made one of her stupid and totally off the planet predictions about him getting bitten by a werewolf this year and it having far reaching consequences for them all.

"Well of course being bitten by a werewolf would have far reaching consequences you daft old bat," he hissed as he moved to the door. "Believe me Sybil, if by some remote change I do get bitten by a werewolf, you will be the first person I decide to look up at the very next full moon." He exited to the rest of the staff's laughter.

~~*~~

Glancing around the compartment at the boys who were to be her closest companions for the next few months, Andrea Léger-Path smiled sweetly. "Its okay, Mum is the snob, not me. Call me Andy, if you like. So, are you all werewolves too? And the professor is our alpha? Well, well, well, things are looking up at last! So, what's Hogwarts like? What is the food like? Beauxbatons was okay but so fussy, all haute cuisine and learning to be a lady."

"Dunno, never been there yet," Charlie replied thawing first, "should be good though. Me Dad says it's the best school in the world and he missed going when his friend Neville Longbottom was sent his letter. Costs a lot and we had no money then but Dad says we'll manage fine now."

"Oh, it pays off in the long run," Andy, said airily, taking off her robes like coat and folding it onto the parcel rack. Malcolm drew a sharp breath at the show of belly skin and pierced navel the stretch revealed. Muggle style flared jeans hugged her backside like a glove and he was most appreciative of the sight. She smiled knowingly as she sat back down. "When your leaving certificate is printed on Hogwarts stationary, it is almost a guarantee that your results were earned, not bestowed," she continued as if not noticing Malcolm's interest.

"The letter said we were to be Sorted into one of four Houses; I wonder which one we will be put into?" Paul said very quietly.

"Hope you and me get in the same House." Charlie grinned and play punched the paler boy on the shoulder, puzzled when he cringed a little. "What's the matter? Did I hit you too hard? Dad says I have to watch that. We werewolves are quite a bit stronger than standard humans."

Paul squirmed and blushed. "I - I thought you didn't like me or, or something."

"Jeez mate, get over yourself. Haven't you ever played with anyone before? So long as you don't bite its okay to wrestle and punch and play games you known," Charlie told his new friend earnestly. "Me and my brothers played all the time, they're mostly younger than me so I had to be careful of them but it was still fun."

"How many brothers do you have?" Andy asked interested despite herself, the boy was contagious.

"Oh, I got three real brothers and three cousins who live with us 'cus their folks got killed when the wolf got me. I got away but my uncle and aunt were Squibs and weren't so lucky. My Dad shot the wolf with a silver spell and it was a Dark Wolf 'cus it had a Dark Mark on its arm when it was a man again."

"Lots of bad things happened then," Remus said softly as he re-entered the compartment and took his seat again. "So, are you all getting acquainted? Good. It will take a couple of hours to get to Hogsmeade Station so if any of you have something to read or play then now is a good time. If you have any questions I will try to answer them but I had better tell you that this is my first year of teaching after a rather longer gap than I care to even think about."

"You mean you are just as new here as the rest of us?" Malcolm asked in outraged tones.

"Oh, no, I spent seven years as a student at Hogwarts and a year as a teacher, which was just before the war or right at the beginning of the war really."

"Did you fight in the war?" Paul asked diffidently, a shy smile on his face.

"I did, as a member of the Order of the Phoenix...."

"You're that Remus Lupin? Oh my! It is an honour Sir!" Andy said with round eyes that went even rounder when their teacher blushed.

"Oh, hush. That was long ago in a different lifetime," Remus mumbled, then pulled himself together. "So, the food is good, mainly English cooking although there are quite a few exotic dishes as we draw students from all over the world these days. The Houses each have a separate set of dormitories and your house will become your family while you are at school. If you want to try out for the Quidditch teams, werewolves tend to make good seekers and chasers but you must remember to let the balls go once you have caught them."

Charlie got the joke and giggled wildly while the other three just looked uncomfortable.

Sighing Remus shook his head. "For heavens sake, lighten up. You have to have a sense of humour about these things or you are going to spend most of your life being miserable."

"Much you know, being locked up like a rabid animal and your people too terrified of you to even let you out half the time," Malcolm snarled angrily. "They wouldn't even leave my wand where I could find it and help myself once it was over."

"My Mum made me a special ball so that I would have something to play with so I wouldn't hurt myself. It still works well," Charlie said thoughtfully.

"If there is no company then a very large beef bone is good as it satisfies the need to crunch and tear," Remus offered. "If you make sure your human scent is all over it before you change then you don't tend to hurt yourself so much. Of course, company is much better which is why we are all here at the same time. We wolves are pack animals and we need company, especially at the wrong time of the month."

Andy giggled. "If my mother could hear you now, she would have the vapours! She always says I am indisposed, like I had a headache or something! And she always let me have my wand so I could clean up before she had to face the reality of a werewolf daughter."

"How did you manage to get bitten by your wolf Andrea?" Remus asked cautiously.

"By being a headstrong idiot and ignoring good advice I received. Oh, I met a really nice boy in the village so a couple of friends and I decided to sneak out one night and go to the local dance with him and his friends. Unfortunately, he and his friends had an all meat meal on their mind when they invited us. My two friends were killed but I escaped, more by luck than good management. Next month I was joining the howl squad as a very light soprano. Fortunately our house-elf makes the most fantastic healing balm so I have been spared a lot of scars and even the original bite has been reduced to a silver shadow."

"I have a lot of scars 'cus being locked up terrifies me," Paul said in a trembling little voice. "I would try to get out, try to dig my way out or tear off the bars. I'm claustrophobic."

"Well, I think being part of the crowd will stop you feeling so badly," Remus commiserated gently. "So, I think we need to get our school robes on and prepare for arrival. I'm not sure who meets the train at Hogsmeade these days. It used to be Hagrid but he was killed in the war so we will have to see."

~~*~~

Ron Weasley stared at the report on his desk with a growing horror. Remus Lupin of The Lilacs in Outer London had been reported missing yesterday. He immediately contacted the department of Magical Creatures and spoke to the secretary on the desk. She very kindly put him through to the Ministry representative Stevie Robinson-Talbot, a thin Purebred looking woman with a horsy face and a supercilious expression. She looked blank for a few moments then snorted. "Remus John Lupin the werewolf, who has been living as a Muggle for the past four, nearly five years? He's not missing; he's been employed at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He sold his house and caught the train this morning. Headmaster Dumbledore arranged the papers three days ago, and I hope he knows what he is doing."

"Oh, thank goodness for that," Ron sighed and smiled sheepishly at her inquiring look. "There have been quite a few disappearances and deaths lately and I would hate to think Remus had joined the missing or dead."

"Oh, I shouldn't worry about it, werewolves are always going missing but they usually turn up one way or the other, either just gone off on a bender or a bad transformation kills them. They aren't exactly reliable creatures, you know," Mrs Robinson-Talbot said in exasperation.

Ron bit his tongue and finished the call, furious at her callous disregard for the people under her charge. If that was the attitude of the department in charge of werewolves and their welfare, no wonder they were always treated like vermin by the wider community.

~~*~~

The train slowed and stopped with a great rush of steam that almost drowned out the excited cries of the children who began to descend even before the train had fully stopped. A stout, robed figure with a lit lantern called out to the first years to gather around. Wilhemina Grubbly-Plank had been Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts since Hagrid had been killed during the war. She enjoyed her job and really enjoyed the first night when all the first years were taken in boats across the lake for their first majestic sight of Hogwarts. It was a sight she never grew tired of seeing.

This year she had a special extra duty and was curious to see who this Remus Lupin was as she had never met him before, although like most people who worked at Hogwarts, she had heard of him. There was also supposed to be four young werewolves starting this year and how was she supposed to deal with them? Sure, she taught care of magical creatures but was she supposed to care for them too?

As the first years gathered around her a man at the back of the group smiled and waved, pointing to his two tall companions and two small ones. "I have two new starters, for sixth year but I don't know if they should go with you or go in the carriages," he called cheerfully.

"Are you Professor Lupin? Oh good, Professor Dumbledore wants you to call into his office as soon as you can. Also, do you want to take your group with you or do you want them to go with the herd?"

"You can herd my first years, they deserve the treat. Malcolm, Andrea, carriage or boat?"

"By boat, please!" Andrea said decisively and grinned at the two small boys. "I love boat rides, don't you?"

"Alright then people, I'll meet you at the other side at the feast probably. Don't fall in, will you?" Remus teased and swung off toward the carriages, avoiding the thestrals with practiced grace. "Oh, leave me alone you ruddy nuisances," he hissed as another one tried to nip him.