Werewolves at Hogwarts

Chapter 21

Moonset caught them serenading her departure and Moony laughed as he felt the first bite of transformation. Around him, the others failed to find shelter before they too were caught up in the change. When he came to himself, there were thirty unclothed bodies in the clearing in various states of stunned post transformation agonies. Raising his head, he managed to find his voice briefly. "Please, reassemble when you are dressed," he called, croaked, managed to tell them in an undignified fit of coughing.

There were a few briefly sketched agreements as people crawled away to find their clothes and whatever water they had stashed against the need. Remus found his own things undisturbed and pulled on his clothes slowly, carefully wrapping his thick cloak around himself to ward off the freezing chill. Staggering back into the clearing, he took his seat on the rock again and waited until the majority of the group had returned clad in various types of clothing.

"Welcome to the Forbidden Forest January Assembly," Remus proclaimed when the majority were reassembled. "I have heard from various sources that werewolf kind is entering a new era, where we will be tolerated and accepted for our human selves, rather than ostracised for our wolf component. I do not know if this is true but I do know it is what I have been fighting for all my life. I was once secretly taken into Hogwarts to teach, but this time I was employed with the full knowledge of the Board of Governors. This is definitely a personal step forward. I have four werewolf students who are full members of the school, accepted by their peers and largely treated with respect."

"Says who?" a voice heckled from the middle of the crowd and a heavy shouldered, bearded man pushed forward to stand hip shot and belligerent in the front of the crowd. There were livid red marks on his throat and his attack was almost personal. "Didn't one of your kids get hurt this week, a silver injury, a very deliberate and well thought out attack with silver? Well? Refute that if you can!"

"I cannot. It was indeed a deliberate attack. On the bright side, the all too human prefect and his friend grabbed both boys and hurried them to the infirmary where Poppy Pomfrey, also human, spent all night making sure they did not die. The humans were helping werewolves freely and unstintingly. A goblin told me that there was to be a new era of cooperation between humans and non-humans, a goblin of all things. However, into this attempt to close the gap between us and them, someone is pouring the poison of hate. Someone is killing and skinning werewolves as well as murdering other non-humans. Someone is trying to make werewolves kill and consume humans. We need to find out who is doing it and why they are doing it, and we need to find out quickly, before June Moon at least. If anyone has any knowledge, speculation or even a guess, owl me or send me a Muggle note. Tell me what you know so I can continue to work for our best interests with as much information as is available."

"Why? What's in it for us? Will the Ministry recognise us as humans instead of vermin? Will they treat us as people instead of animals?" another disgruntled voice asked from the crowd.

"Well at least they do not hunt and skin us and leave our hides on display in Potions shops and as hunting trophies." Remus raised his voice to be heard above the groundswell of agreement.

"No, they stuff us into dark corners, shuffle us out into the streets or distant islands like the Isle of Cardoul and make our families pay for us, even though none of us chose to be bitten."

"That is the key point though, isn't it? None of us chose to be bitten, but we were. Who was controlling the wolves that bit us? Who gave them the Law and made them conform? A member of my cubs' human family is appointed by the Ministry to hunt down rogue werewolves on the Yorkshire moors. He does this diligently and with regret - and his family has paid the price of blood and pain for the position - but he does not do it out of bitterness, nor does he treat the wolf with anything but respect when it is done. He has not been on a werewolf hunt for ten years, and he is glad of it."

"If we hold to the Law and we do not trespass on the world of men, then we are tolerated? Is this the doctrine you are espousing?" The blue wolf troublemaker from the night before spat on the ground contemptuously.

"Show me your registration tattoo?" Remus demanded.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Exactly! The older ones of the Packs and Clans fought hard and long to make sure we were not branded like animals, and herded into compounds during the Dark Lord's reign. Our Alphas Prime preached care and tolerance, and for the most part it worked, and that draconian law was not passed. Certain other laws have since been quietly repealed. How many of you wolves under the age of twenty one were compulsorily sterilised on or before your seventeenth birthday? Yes, that law was repealed, but we older ones remember it all too well."

"My wife took another husband because I was sterilised," Patrick O'Leary, the quiet man at one side of the gathering said reminiscently. "Our pack has six children now, my sister's, my wife's and my brother's, but none of my get. I fought hard and long in the SVW to make sure my children and the children who followed me were not subjected to such an indignity again, not taken by the Ministry and herded into orphanages. Boyce! Weren't you trying to get your leg over Moony's young beta this moon? Think about this when you are trying again. The young ones are fertile and may give up a cub. Are you prepared to protect, nurture and uphold that cub for the next eighteen years?"

The belligerent man's lower jaw dropped, and then he made a rude gesture and stormed away. Andy blushed bright red and hid her face in Malcolm's shoulder while a couple of the older ones laughed, but not unkindly. Remus shook his head and grinned crookedly at his friend.

"Yes, this is a fact that must be taken into consideration now, with the new generations, and a caution must be added to the Lore," Remus muttered, as if to remind himself, before clapping his hands for attention. "If any of you hear anything that might be useful in stopping the outrageous slaughter of our people then please send me a note. Those of you who served with us in the war know how to do it, tell your packs and clans, and be alert. Pass the word to others and make sure the country is aware of the whole problem. We did find that lack of communications between the packs was the biggest problem during the war. Oh, and controlling the Wild Ones who refuse to come in and be civilised. Has anyone anything to say?"

The silence was word enough as the people began to leave, some to slip away, some to apparate out until the clearing was all but empty. Patrick O'Leary came forward to shake hands with Remus, nodding to the two betas in a friendly way.

"How are you keeping, Remus? How does working back at Hogwarts suit you?"

"Perfectly, Paddy, how are you doing with the Irish contingent, these days?"

"Pretty well, they're still as mad as any of us, but they are a little less inclined to attack first and think later. A lot of the worst knuckle boys I sent to Africa to play with the Peace Keepers out there, and they love it. There's lots of action and adrenalin in removing landmines and rendering them safe. We lost a few boys, but they soon learned that the wizards and Muggles already on the ground were not fools and were capable of telling them some things they didn't know. The few that have returned after their stint have come back with a new attitude and a wish for peace that is positively wonderful."

"It's a grand solution and one I might recommend to the Alpha Prime. If we could get a few more of the belligerents involved into something like that it would certainly settle them down. I'll mention it to the Alpha next moon."

"Is it true he is retiring?" Paddy asked leaning forward to barely whisper the words.

"It may be true, he is old and tired. He may be finished his responsibilities or maybe not, we'll have to see."

"As you will, Lad, as you will. I had better go, there's a gathering of my private pack this afternoon for dinner at my house, so I had better not be late or Herself will skin me alive, never mind in wolf form." The man held out his hand and when Remus took it, he pulled the slightly build professor into his arms and hugged him tightly. "Take care lad," he murmured then apparated out.

The pale winter sunshine filtered through the tall trees and cast odd shadows over the slightly scuffed ground, all that was left to show any meeting had taken place there. Remus slung an arm over both his betas' shoulders, and turned them toward the path that led back toward Hogwarts, and home. "So, how was your first Meeting of the Packs?" he asked as they set off at a leisurely walk.

"Scary," Andy confessed, a shiver working down her back. "I don't understand how I could possibly be in season, its absurd!"

Remus closed his eyes and took a deep breath, not at all ready for this talk. "Your wolf cycle is not the same as your human cycle, it doesn't happen monthly, but usually only yearly, in late winter, early spring. It does not involve menses; it involves ovulation which causes the ready scent to be broadcast. As I was saying, you younger people are no longer sterilised out of hand, only if you are caught out in a criminal activity."

"What? Any criminal activities, even something silly, like shop lifting?" Malcolm demanded incredulously.

"Yes, any criminal activity, including littering. It is only an excuse after all. Oh, it's getting better; the Aurors don't follow us around just waiting any more, as they did when the law was first rewritten. Nor do they manufacture offences to take us in, but don't be fooled; it is still on the books, until we can completely quash it. So, Andy, if you feel a little odd, or until you can learn to calculate your ovulations, stay away from such gatherings during late winter and early spring, unless you are either pregnant or there is no choice in the matter. Then take your mate with you."

"Not that I was much good," Malcolm concluded gloomily.

"Give yourself time, those sort of fights have to be practiced before you can make much of a showing," Remus consoled him. "The first few meetings I went to saw me spread all over the clearings, as I am somewhat smaller than average. So, Old Mother, would you care to join us?" he said aloud, both betas glancing at him as if he was crazy, until an old woman appeared on the path in front of them.

"So it is true, Remus Lupin, you have very long ears," she said on a chuckle. "I've heard a lot about you over the years and thought it may be exaggerated, but perhaps not."

Remus had moved in front of his pack mates almost automatically as the old one had appeared, but at her words he relaxed a little. "You are Betty McFarlane, Moon Walker, I've heard of you too. I have also heard rumours of your death."

"We Scots are almost as hard to kill as the Irish. Walk with me, Moony; we have things to speak of. Cubs follow us; keep your ears open and your mouths shut."

Malcolm opened his mouth indignantly, then shut it and fell into step with Andy, as her elbow dug him in the short ribs. Remus and Betty exchanged knowing grins and began to walk arm in arm down the path.

"You are trying to understand why our people are being killed, and why those specific people are being killed, are you not?" Betty asked as they strolled along. "While they seem totally unrelated on the surface, they all share one common trait, which I fear everyone - including you - has missed. They were all Law Makers or Lore Givers. They knew the law; they knew how it was made, how it was told and how it was administered. Every time one of them was killed, another Law Maker was lost, another step backward for the biddable ones, another chance for the radicals to enforce their ideas and schemes."

Remus stopped in surprise, his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "You know, that almost makes sense. Wind Bitter was being groomed as our next Alpha Prime. Singer was one of the best at putting the law to music a chorus could sing."

"Add Hedgehog to the list, he was definitely killed two days ago, but his body has not yet been recovered," Betty told him grimly. "You, Remus Lupin, must be vigilant too. You are a prime candidate for murder as you are a Law Maker as well as a Lore Giver. Has anything strange happened to you?"

"No, but I am a resident of Hogwarts, and there is not much that can hurt me there."

"True, Albus Dumbledore is a powerful wizard and a fair advocate for our rights. I want to propose that we train a few new Law Makers as soon as possible, not volunteers, only those who we deem worthy of the position, but we do not name them publicly. However, I dare not show myself at any of the pack meetings for fear I may become one of the victims. Let's face it, my old hide is not very pretty but the contents of my brain are invaluable. Moony, we need to invent a way of recording our laws that can be written down and kept safe no matter who is killed. Oral traditions are only as good as the voice that sings them."

Remus nodded then just as quickly shook his head. "Oh no, I am not capable of inventing a whole new written language, Betty. Oh, I know I am smart but I'm not that smart."

"Rubbish Lad, you are one of the very few werewolves alive today that have ever gone to NEWTs level at school, and what a magnificent school it was. You know the laws, you know the howls and you can sing any part that is available, so why not you? It doesn't have to be done in the next five minutes; take your time, a few years should do it."

"Gee, thanks!" Remus drawled sarcastically. "It does have to be done and I will propose it, but not by me. We need someone who knows music and can both read and write it, for such a plan to succeed."

Betty nodded. "Yes, I can see the point and I may have the very candidate. You propose it soon mind, or we may not have any Lore Givers or Law Makers left. Here is where I leave you, young Lupin. Be alert and careful. See you at Easter Moon."

Remus nodded as the old woman faded off the path and disappeared into the gloom of the trees as silently as she had appeared. Andy and Malcolm hurried to catch up, taking up position on either side of their Alpha, they expressions expectant, but he merely pulled out his portkey. "Let's go home," he said softly.