Of Wolf and Wizard

Remus was not a morning person. Therefore it came as no surprise to him when he woke up the next day, which was the first Saturday of term, and found that the room was already completely empty. He vaguely recalled Peter having tried to wake him up a few hours ago but, like many similar attempts made by his parents on weekends past, Peter's effort had been a spectacular failure.

He lay quietly in his bed for a good fifteen minutes before getting up, oddly glad that he was the only one around - even James Potter, who had made a big stink during the week about how their morning lessons were too early, had already left. Bright sunlight spilled in through the windows on the other side of the room, lending the entire space an air that perfectly complemented Remus' quietly contented mood. He smiled, finally deciding that he should probably get up at least a few hours before the sun set. But as he sat up in bed, his shoulders crunched in protest.

He remembered the horn.

And their failed adventure of the previous night.

And the fact that he would now have to find the hospital wing on his own, while the halls were crowded with students.

"Bugger," he muttered, reaching up to massage his neck. His good mood now completely shattered, he threw the covers aside and pulled on a pair of trousers. He was about to pull a jumper over his head but, after regarding it with wary eyes, he instead found a button-up shirt, which was far less likely to be ripped to shreds by the horn when he put it on. Despite the fact that he normally didn't give two Knuts about which shirt he wore, he somehow felt cheated of the jumper, so it was with a vague scowl that he threw the useless garment onto his bed and left Gryffindor Tower.

Remus found the hospital wing with the help of a pair of fifth year Hufflepuff boys that he encountered in the hall. Contrary to what he'd expected, of the people who noticed his horn it was only the younger students who gawked or laughed. The older students merely gave him pitying smiles; he could only conclude that occurrences like this must not be very uncommon.

Madam Pomfrey flew into a frenzy when she saw who was standing in the doorway. "Oh my!" she cried, running past all the empty beds and over to Remus. "Are you all right? The full moon isn't until next week, is it? Have I missed something?"

Remus, who was expecting a much less violent reaction, raised his eyebrows. "Er... no, I just got hexed. By accident."

The Healer let this information sink in, obviously relieved (not to mention a little embarrassed). "Then it has nothing to do with...?" She trailed off nervously, despite the fact that they were the only two people in the room.

It suddenly made sense to him why she'd been so worried, and he grinned. "No," he explained patiently, lowering his voice a bit. "We don't grow horns, you see. Fur, yes. Horns, no."

Her expression faltered, as if she wasn't entirely sure whether or not this had been intended as a joke. He reached up and touched a finger to the horn. "I think this one was meant for a unicorn," he said, and she finally let herself chuckle.

A simple spell made the horn vanish, but it took a small vial of a thin, faintly lemony drink to cure the ache in Remus' neck and shoulders. Madam Pomfrey asked him who was responsible for the hex, but he shrugged, opting not to incriminate any of his classmates. Since the Healer was still recovering from her initial panic, she didn't press the matter.

"Fur yes, horns no," she repeated to herself, still chuckling breathlessly.

Remus smiled faintly, wondering why she found this simple fact so amusing. "Yes," he said. "Lots of fur." Madam Pomfrey looked curiously at him, and they were silent for a moment.

"What color?" she asked all of a sudden.

He looked up at her as he downed the last of the lemony potion. "What color's what?" he said.

A bit of pink crept into her cheeks as the mildly embarrassed expression returned. "Your... er, the wolf's - the, er, fur," she faltered, busying herself with cleaning the empty potion vial.

Remus didn't understand her embarrassment. To him this was a perfectly valid, even friendly, question. "Grey," he said, then paused thoughtfully and amended the statement. "I'm mostly grey. Mum says I've got bits of brown too."

Madam Pomfrey smiled. "Bits of brown?" Remus nodded with a smile, and she shook her head. "I must admit, it's just very hard to imagine a boy like you turning into a wolf...."

He bristled as she let out a soft chuckle, the memories of Professor Sinistra's reaction flitting through his mind. "But I do," he said tentatively.

"Oh, I know you do," she said, to his great relief. "It just seems... well, I'd never have guessed it by looking at you."

"That's because you can't guess it," said Remus with unfaltering logic. "You can't tell a person is a werewolf unless you see him change."

Madam Pomfrey sighed and gave up. "Of course," she said. "Why don't you run along, then? It's a beautiful day, very warm for this time of year...."

With a few quick words of goodbye, Remus left the hospital wing and headed outside. He usually wasn't much for basking in the sun, but it certainly was a beautiful day, and he hadn't yet had the opportunity to have a good look around the grounds.

The lake sparkled in the sunlight, drawing Remus' immediate attention as he ventured outside. He passed through small groups of chattering students, none of whom even gave him a second glance now that his horn had been removed, and approached the water stealthily. His father had warned him that a giant squid lived in the lake, and even told him a story about a girl who had almost drowned when it tried to pull her under - but Remus didn't quite believe him. After all, his father did have a certain fondness for telling tall tales.

All the same, there was no way to be sure, so Remus was very cautious as he reached the edge of the lake. The water was murkier up close, and he couldn't see the bottom except at the very edge. But most importantly, there was no sign of a squid, giant or otherwise. After a few moments of listening intently and hearing nothing but sloshing water mingled with the distant voices of Hogwarts students, he decided that it was safe to sit down - so long as he remained alert.

Remus sat down in the grass, watching the sunlight play off the water in the distance as tiny waves lapped at the grassy shore mere inches away from his feet. It was a tranquil spot, perhaps even more so than the empty dormitory had been, and for a few minutes he was quite content in the knowledge that none of his classmates had discovered it first.

A soft hooting made Remus look up. A brown-feathered owl was circling a few feet above his head, and it had a tightly rolled piece of parchment tied to its leg. Bemused, Remus held out his arm for the owl to land on, as he had seen his parents do so many times. The owl alighted, but it was heavier than Remus had expected and he almost let his arm drop. Looking none too pleased with this, the owl landed on the ground instead and held out its leg. Remus quickly untied the parchment, and the offended bird flew off toward the castle.

Only once the owl had gone did Remus take a look at the roll of parchment in his hand. It was pale pink... his mother's parchment. Remus suddenly wondered whether or not hitting himself over the head would knock out some of the stupidity that was there. He'd been at school almost a week, and he'd completely forgot to write....

He opened the letter cautiously, fully expecting to find the gentle sort of scoldings that he usually got from his mother - "I've been worried sick" and suchlike - but as he skimmed it, he found that she had chosen words much angrier than she habitually used. By the time he'd reached the end of the letter, he was simply grateful that she hadn't sent a Howler. Although that probably wouldn't have been prudent, as she'd mentioned transformations and full moons and things several times throughout the letter, and how could she be sure that he'd be alone when he opened it?

His placid mood shattered for the second time in the day, he clutched the letter in his fist, raced back toward the castle, and dashed immediately up to his dormitory to compose a reply. Writing swiftly and messily, he filled several inches of parchment with apologies and assurances that everything was just fine - but right in the middle of his third "sorry," a new idea occurred to him and his quill froze. A grin spread out across his face, and he crumpled the letter and threw it away.

With a much less hasty hand, he began another letter - the letter he would have written during the week had he remembered to do so. He detailed all of the arrangements that Headmaster Dumbledore had made for him, expressed his happiness at finally being able to learn magic properly, and asked after the well being of his parents. Below the affectionate farewell and signature, Remus added a post-script: "I hope you don't mind if this owl takes a few days to reach you. Everyone has been writing to their families, and all of the school owls are quite tired out." Very satisfied with himself, he wrote last Wednesday's date at the top of the page and then sealed the letter.

As fast as he could, he went up to the Owlery, chose a bird, and sent it off with his letter. And despite the overwhelming stench of droppings and dead rodents that penetrated the tower, he breathed a deep sigh of relief. With the intention of returning to his spot by the lake, Remus left - but on the stairs of the otherwise empty corridor, he encountered someone heading in the opposite direction. With a letter in his hand, Sirius Black stalked up the stairs, his mood seemingly as dark as his name.

"Hullo," said Remus.

Sirius seemed not to have noticed the presence of a fellow student until now. He blinked out of whatever thoughts he'd been immersed in, and halted on the stairs, a mere four steps down from where Remus stood. "Hi, Loopy Lupin," he replied.

Unfazed by the nickname, Remus took advantage of James' absence to attempt a conversation. "Sending a letter?" he said, for lack of a more interesting comment to make.

Wrinkling his nose with a graceful sort of disdain, Sirius mumbled his assent. "Have to use a school owl. Mother's owl wouldn't wait for a reply."

Remus frowned, not understanding exactly why this should be a problem. "The school owls are fine," he began, but stopped at the look that Sirius fixed on him. He tried a different angle. "My mum wrote to me as well," he said. "I just sent her an owl too. She was awfully angry...."

This seemed to catch Sirius' attention. "Was she?"

Remus wrinkled his nose, half in hopes of recreating the intriguing face that Sirius had made only a moment before. "Very," he said. "I didn't owl her this week, and she was upset with me."

"Oh, that's all?" said Sirius, his face falling a little.

"But then," said Remus conspiratorially, "I wrote to her today and pretended I sent the letter on Wednesday...."

Though he looked mildly amused, Sirius only shook his head. "My mother will kill me no matter when I write," he said flatly, and continued up the stairs.

"Why?" said Remus.

Sirius shot him a glare as he passed, more than a little reminiscent of the one Remus had seen in their Potions lesson a few days ago. "What's it to you, Loopy Lupin?"

With the recollection of that particular Potions lesson, something fell into place, and Remus regarded Sirius with a newfound solemnity. "Is it because you're in Gryffindor?" he asked.

Sirius rounded on him, making the most of the few inches that he had on Remus. It worked; Remus flinched as the other boy's dark grey eyes bore into his own. "If you're going to listen to everything that... that Snape says about me," Sirius hissed, somehow managing to look threatening even as he searched for an appropriate way to finish this statement - but what had begun as a threat ended with a slump of Sirius' shoulders and a roll of his eyes. "Look," he began again in more even tones, "why don't you just... just go find Pottyhead or something? I'm sure he's upset that he's missing a minion today."

"Minion?" repeated Remus blankly.

"Yeah," said Sirius. "Minion. Sidekick. Follower. Crony."

Remus grinned. "You think I'm a sidekick?"

"No. A minion."

"What gave you that idea?"

"Well, the three of you trying that hex thing last night - that was a pretty big clue. Didn't work, either," he added with a snide grin.

Remus passed a hand across his now horn-free forehead. "Yeah, I know. Say, how'd you... you know" - he made a motion with his hand as though casting a spell - "so fast? We thought you were asleep."

Sirius smiled a mirthless sort of smile, half proud and half malicious. "I've had lots of practise," he said.

Remus frowned, as he wasn't entirely sure how to reply to this; Sirius took advantage of the pause to slip into the Owlery. Remus looked after him, but didn't follow. Leaning against the wall at the top of the staircase, he waited patiently for Sirius to come back, all the while wondering at the fierce look that had come and gone so quickly from his face. For a few moments he'd looked absolutely nothing like the unflappable Ear Boy of the past week - in fact, Remus was quite sure that if James had witnessed the Sirius of just a few moments ago, he would be a little more hesitant about using that nickname at all.

A smile crept across Remus' face as he pictured James flinging insults at Sirius until the latter went all menacing on him. Though somehow it was difficult to imagine James Potter flinching in the face of Sirius Black.

"You still here?" said Sirius as he came back out of the Owlery. His hands were in his pockets, and he seemed to have fallen right back into his familiar devil-may-care attitude.

"Sorry about trying to hex you," said Remus, though once the words had left his mouth, he wasn't entirely sure why he'd said them.

Sirius gave him an odd look. "Save your apologies for when it actually works, Loopy," he said airily. Passing Remus without another word, he headed swiftly back down the stairs and out of sight.

Vaguely hurt, Remus started slowly down the stairs as well - he had no intention of catching up to Sirius, as he wasn't sure that he'd have anything to say if he did so. And that, he realized, was what annoyed him the most: not that Sirius had brushed off his apology, but that he, Remus, couldn't think of a comeback. James Potter would have been able to think of something, he mused irritably, then checked himself at the very thought. It had been a very minion-ish thought.

Oh dear, he thought, and ran back toward Gryffindor Tower.

* * * * *

Though the thought of being a minion gave Remus a few minutes' pause, he did not let it trouble him much after those few minutes were over. He decided that Sirius Black, snide and unfriendly as he was, had become jealous of Remus' friendship with James, and therefore all of his comments on said friendship simply didn't matter. And since Remus saw very little of Sirius for the rest of the weekend, it was easy to forget that he'd made any comment at all.

Remus spent most of the weekend, not surprisingly, with James and Peter. The failed adventure of Friday night inspired in all of them a certain curiosity to explore the castle and its grounds - after all, it wouldn't do for them to have to ask older students for directions any time they wanted to go somewhere! But Remus' primary reason for wanting to explore the castle was that in all of his eleven years, he'd never seen anything like it. He wouldn't admit it to either of his friends at first, since for all he knew they could both have grown up in mansions three times the size of Hogwarts. He did feel a little more at ease, though, when they found the Quidditch trophy room on Saturday evening and all James could say was, "Wow!" And judging from the perpetual gawk that characterized Peter's expressions as they explored, Remus figured that no matter what their respective backgrounds were, the impressiveness of Hogwarts Castle was a thing that simply couldn't be ignored.

Unfortunately, on Sunday evening Remus recalled something else that couldn't - or at least shouldn't - be ignored. They didn't have an excessive amount of homework, but even the little bit that they did have was definitely enough to dampen Remus' spirits. As the three boys sat on the floor of the Gryffindor common room, working on a series of questions that Professor McGonagall had given them about basic rules of Transfiguration, Peter gave perfect voice to Remus' sentiments: "What sort of teachers give homework on weekends?"

As he finished writing his fourth answer, Remus shrugged a tacit I-don't-know. James, however, threw down his quill and glared. "McGonagall," he declared unnecessarily. "I do not like her."

A sudden laugh came from the direction of two older students who were sitting on the other side of the room, presumably working on homework as well. Remus looked sharply over at them, wondering if they had heard James or if they were merely laughing at some private joke.

But he had little time to wonder before a small owl flew in through one of the open windows and alighted on the floor next to him. His stomach turned over when he recalled the owl his mother had sent the day before, but he sighed in relief as he realized that this parchment wasn't pink this time.

"Ooh," said Peter with a devilish grin, "Remus got a love letter!"

Remus whapped him. "It's not a love letter," he said, but he felt his face go red anyway.

"I bet it is," said James. "Open it."

Remus made a face at him and unrolled the parchment as the owl flew away. His eyes skipped over the message and fell on the signature, and he resisted the urge to laugh out loud as he read the name. "It's from Professor McGonagall," he said, turning to James. "She says she doesn't like you either."

"How did she--?" James began, but stopped as he saw the look on Remus' face. "Give me that," he said, snatching the parchment out of the other boy's hand. He took a moment to scan the letter, and Remus watched in horror as a near-malicious grin spread across James' face. Looking up from the parchment, James whispered, "Remus, she wants you to meet her... after class!"

"Alone?" said Peter with wide eyes.

"Alone!" affirmed James. "Listen to this: 'Mr. Lupin, Please see me after your Transfiguration lesson on Monday afternoon, so that we can begin work on the charm that you will need for the upcoming weekend.'"

Suddenly Remus was painfully aware of the excited eyes that seemed to be burning holes in his face. "Erm," he said, but his voice came out as a croak.

"What's going on this weekend, Remus?" teased Peter. "Are you and McGonagall running away together?"

"And what kind of charm is she talking about?" said James, a great deal of suggestiveness in his voice.

Peter began to make kissy noises.

"Can I have my letter?" said Remus weakly.

James grasped the parchment tightly in his fist. "Only if you tell us what's going on!" he crowed. By now a large percentage of the other students in the common room were watching them.

Remus thought fast. "It's for my mum," he said quietly. "She's sick again, and I'm going home to visit her next weekend, and Professor McGonagall wants to teach me a charm to try on her. She says it'll help with... er, with the... sickness."

James looked disappointed and vaguely abashed, and Peter had the grace to cease making the kissy noises. "Well then," said James as he handed the parchment over to a very grateful Remus, "I hope your mum feels better. Maybe McGonagall's charm will help with those green spots, eh?"

Remus nodded fervently. "I hope so. They're awful. And then they pop and go all runny...."

"Stop it," said Peter, who was starting to look a bit green himself. James snickered, but Remus and Peter ignored him as they returned their attention to their Transfiguration homework.

The sound of pounding footsteps made all three boys look up; Sirius Black had just come down the dormitory staircase and was bounding across the common room toward the portrait hole, flashing them a secretive grin as he passed.

James took the bait first. "Where are you going, Black?" he said in a forcedly bored tone, though Remus could tell that his interest was genuine.

Sirius gave the answer that he'd clearly been waiting to give: "Wouldn't you like to know, Pottyhead!"

"Not interested, actually," said James smoothly. "What I am interested in is all our teachers' reactions when they find out you were sneaking around instead of doing homework...."

Sirius snorted. "Are you kidding? I finished all that stuff an hour ago!" With that, he made a face at them and started to climb through the portrait hole.

"Have fun, Wacky Blacky!" called Remus. Sirius disappeared without replying, but Remus was sure that he'd heard.

After the portrait hole was closed again, James turned to the other two with a familiar wild expression on his face. Before he could say anything, though, Remus said firmly, "We are not going after him."

"What makes you think he wanted to go after him?" said Peter, not even bothering to disguise his sarcasm.

For his part, James tried his best to look hurt, but he gave up soon enough. After they'd all shared a quiet laugh at his expense, James looked at Remus with a smile. "Wacky Blacky," he said with a degree of admiration. "Nice one."

* * * * *

When Professor McGonagall dismissed their class at the end of the Transfiguration lesson, Remus stayed in his seat in the second row, twirling his quill between his thumb and forefinger as he watched his friends pack up their books. "Do you want us to wait for you?" asked Peter.

Remus shook his head. "Don't bother. I'll see you at dinner."

James wiggled his eyebrows. "Are you sure?"

"Mr. Potter," came Professor McGonagall's stern voice from the front of the classroom, where she was sitting at her desk, "if you don't mind, I have several important matters to discuss with Mr. Lupin."

James' mouth twitched, but he managed to keep his face set in an otherwise innocent expression. "But of course, Professor. Come on, Pete...."

The two boys left the classroom without further ado, but as Professor McGonagall rose from her desk and approached Remus, a thought occurred to him and he began to feel uneasy. "Professor," he said, glancing worriedly at the door.

She smiled reassuringly, then said in a very loud voice, "Five points from Gryffindor for every student who is still standing outside the door of my classroom after ten seconds."

Just as Remus had expected, there followed the sound of two pairs of feet scampering away. He couldn't help but laugh.

"Very well, Mr. Lupin. The first matter I wish to discuss with you is that of your Astronomy lessons." Remus felt the color drain from his face, but his teacher didn't seem to notice. "The headmaster and I have spoken with Professor Sinistra," she continued. "She seems to be concerned about the fact that you will have to miss one of her lessons every month."

"That's not all she's concerned about," muttered Remus, but then stopped as he realized that that had probably been an inappropriate thing to say to a teacher.

But a sad half-smile flitted across Professor McGonagall's face, and she didn't seem angry. "Naturally," she said slowly, as if weighing every word, "you must be aware that--"

"People fear what they don't understand," Remus finished for her, quoting the words he'd heard so many times from his mother.

"That's exactly right," said Professor McGonagall, just as if he'd answered a question correctly during a lesson. "But it is not your job to worry about Professor Sinistra's fears, whatever they may be. Your job is to pay attention to her during your lessons and catch up with whatever you miss. I have informed her that you will make sure to keep up with the rest of your class, and she has agreed to keep the matter a secret, so I foresee no further problems."

Remus furrowed his brow; for some reason he could definitely foresee further problems, but since he couldn't quite put his finger on what those problems might be, he said nothing.

"However," she said, "I want to ask you whether or not you've spoken with any of the other teachers about your situation."

"No," he said, a little more forcefully than he'd intended.

Professor McGonagall looked at him sharply. "I see," she said slowly. "Mr. Lupin, the headmaster and I have discussed the matter, and we were wondering if it might not be better to inform your teachers of your condition - that is, if Professor Dumbledore and I informed them, so that you wouldn't have to."

"You mean bring them all together and tell everyone that I'm..." Remus trailed off.

"Yes," she said. "A formal staff meeting, so that everyone will be aware and the matter will be out of your hands."

She watched as Remus frowned, turning the idea over in his mind. After a moment he looked up at her with solemn eyes. "Please don't," he said quietly.

Her eyebrows shot up, betraying her surprise at his response. "No?" she said. He shook his head. "May I ask why not?"

Remus was silent for a moment as he debated how exactly he should put his reasoning into words. "Well," he began tentatively, "you see, the Sorting Hat put me in Gryffindor...."

"Ahh," said his teacher knowingly, and he thought that he saw a hint of a smile playing around her lips.

Encouraged by her apparent understanding of the situation, he went on: "Right. So that means I'm supposed to be brave about things and... and besides that, you see, when I've told someone about - you know - then I know that they know, and that way I can keep track of who knows and who doesn't know. D'you know what I mean?"

By now the hint had become a full smile, and Professor McGonagall nodded. "You mean that you want to have control over the situation."

That wasn't exactly what he had been going for. Remus' reluctance to agree to the staff meeting had less to do with control and more to do with the fact that he didn't want more people than absolutely necessary to stare at him and whisper behind his back when he walked through the halls. However, since he had no desire or intention of bringing up those particular fears, he decided that Professor McGonagall's understanding of the matter was close enough.

"Right," he said.

She nodded again. "I shall tell the headmaster not to call the staff meeting."

He smiled. "Thanks."

"Now," she said, moving swiftly along in her businesslike manner, "as you know, there will be a full moon on Friday night."

He nodded; he'd been counting the days since the last one. "I'll need to learn the charm to close off the tunnel," he said, pulling his wand out of the inside pocket of his robes.

"The Colloportus Charm," she reminded him. "It isn't usually taught until third or fourth year, but I see no reason why someone of your age shouldn't be able to handle it." With this she pulled out her own wand and pointed it at the door that opened into the corridor, and Remus watched her intently. "Aim your wand just as I'm doing - no, a bit to the left. You see? Aim it just where the door hinges onto its frame."

She lowered her own wand and adjusted Remus' arm ever so slightly. "Yes, exactly. Now you must concentrate - in your mind, picture the door sealed shut. No, keep your eyes open! Are you concentrating?" Gritting his teeth together with the effort of both concentrating and suppressing the irrational nervousness that had suddenly come over him, Remus nodded. He kept his eyes focused on the door, picturing it shut, and aimed his wand as steadily as he could.

"Good," said Professor McGonagall. "Now, repeat after me: Colloportus!"

"Colloportus!" he said, but though he felt a jet of magic burst from his wand, he must have lost his aim. The doorframe seemed to shimmer ever so slightly as the charm hit it, but the door itself remained ajar.

His teacher shook her head. "Aim, Mr. Lupin," she chided. "You must develop a better sense of aim. Try again."

He aimed again, pointing his wand right at the topmost hinge. "Colloportus!" he said, and this time the door swung shut with a loud bang. "There!" he announced. "But... wouldn't it be easier if I just went over and shut the door myself?"

To his surprise, Professor McGonagall laughed. "Of course it would, if all you wanted to do was shut the door. Mr. Lupin, we are trying to seal the door shut, which requires much more concentration. Once the door has been sealed with magic, only magic can open it again."

"And I can't do magic when I'm a wolf," finished Remus with a nod of understanding. "Then how do I seal it?"

"Concentrate," she repeated patiently. "Try it again. Your aim was much better this time, but you must concentrate harder. Picture it shut in your mind; imagine that it's impossible to open...."

Concentrating as hard as he could, he aimed again. In a voice louder and clearer than before, he cried, "Colloportus!"

He could almost see the magic from his wand hit the door, just at the hinge. There was a loud squelching noise, as if someone had squished a giant wad of Drooble's Best between the door and its frame. "Was that right?" he asked.

Professor McGonagall looked at him proudly. "Yes, that was exactly right," she said. "I must say, I'm very pleased. Now, do you know how to reverse the charm?"

After a moment's thought, he ventured, "We learned about 'Alohomora' in Charms on Friday...."

"Very good, Mr. Lupin," said Professor McGonagall. "Will you show me how it works?"

"Well," faltered Remus, "see, we learned about it, but I couldn't exactly do it, really."

"Ah," said Professor McGonagall. "Well, we shall have to fix that. But don't worry; after doing the Colloportus Charm as well as you just did, I shouldn't imagine you'll have much trouble with the other."

"Right," said Remus eagerly, encouraged by both his success and her words of praise.

Within mere minutes Remus managed to perform Alohomora successfully, and his teacher looked very pleased indeed. She asked him to perform the pair of charms three more times, until she was satisfied that he should have no trouble on Friday night.

"Off you go," she said finally. "Dinner will have started already. And don't forget to practice the charms!"

With a few words of thanks, Remus packed his things into his schoolbag and headed out into the corridor. He hadn't noticed before, but his stomach had begun to rumble quite fiercely during the short lesson with Professor McGonagall. So he headed swiftly off to join James and Peter in the dining hall, all the while trying to think up names for charms that might effectively rid a person's skin of green spots.