Even if you've been dealing with celebrity for what seems like your entire life, it can still be a shock to have what seems like every eye you pass focused on you. The whispering conversations and long stares were only multiplied once Remus actually started classes, and Professor Flitwick, the diminutive Charms professor, had almost toppled off the pile of books he stood on when he'd first read Remus's name from the roll call. And with Tonks and her various and almost always bright hair colors constantly by his side, the stares only increased.
The first few days of classes were full and hectic, and Remus enjoyed them immensely, though by the time Thursday rolled around it felt as though he and the rest of the first years were buried in homework which seemed to consist mostly of writing essays several feet in length based on the pages and pages of notes they had taken in their classes so far. Thursday afternoon, after spending almost an hour in the damp, hot greenhouse with Professor Sprout, the first year Gryffindors joined the Hufflepuffs for their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
As Remus, Adam and Tonks took seats in the second row of desks next to Winfield, who had insisted they call him Win from breakfast their first day, and Jeremiah, the professor for the class leaned casually on his desk at the front of the room, smiling and nodding at the students that entered. When the bell rang, he stood up and smiled at the class as a whole.
"All right, why don't we get started. I'm Professor Wyllys Armistead, and this is your first year Defense Against the Dark Arts class." Professor Armistead was a tall, broad man who'd been teaching for two years now, only six years removed from his own graduation from Hogwarts. A former Hufflepuff, he wore his long, dark brown hair in a short ponytail at the base of his head. His most distinguishing feature was usually agreed upon as a tie between his sparkling sliver eyes, the general consensus among the older girls, and the large fang he wore dangling from his left ear, the general consensus of everybody else.
"So, let's set up some basic stuff. Now, I'm not even twenty-five yet, and I always find that I feel kind of silly addressing students as Ms. and Mr. when I'm still so young and youthfully handsome," he paused here to allow the laughter, "so, if it's all right with this class, I'd prefer to just call you by your first names. Is that okay?" he said, and the class nodded. "Good. I knew I could count on my Hufflepuffs and our friends the Gryffindors not to pitch a hissy fit about it. It's usually just the Slytherins that get picky about it, but don't tell them I said that."
The class laughed, and Professor Armistead picked up a book off his desk, holding it up for all of them to see. The class collectively reached for the similar book that each of them possessed, but he just shook his head and they paused in their motion as he laughed.
"I know that you all have spent the first three days of your Hogwarts careers taking notes and studying your books with great intensity, and I'm not going to promise that you won't spend some time in my class doing those exact same things, because you will, but I know also that I never was a great fan of those things when I was a student, so today, I thought we'd have a practical demonstration, and maybe get started on the notes and such next Monday. How does that sound?"
The class clapped enthusiastically, and Armistead smiled again, "Okay, I just need to go grab a couple of my friends out of the corridor, while you guys move the desks off to the side so they can have a proper stage. Sound good?" he asked, and the class rose quickly to start their part of the task while he laughed and exited the room, returning moments later with Ben Boyce and the Hufflepuff Prefect Ben had called Gary their first night after the Sorting.
"Well, Gryffindors, you already know 'Uncle' Ben Boyce, and Hufflepuffs, you've been introduced to Gary Sharpeton, but I suppose proper introductions have just been made to the opposite houses, so let's get started. First years, I'd take a step or two out of the way," the class immediately backed away as the two Prefects smiled and high-fived. "Now, these two won't be using any of the dark spells you'll be learning about in this class eventually, but being able to duel someone not using the Dark Arts is just as important as being able to duel someone that is."
"All right, Ben, Gary, let's do this properly," Armistead said, and the two fifth years bowed to each other before holding their wands out in front of them and waiting for Armistead, who'd moved over toward the group of first years, to start them, "How about we make this interesting? Best two out of three, winner gets five points for their house. Ready? Begin!"
"Expelliarmus!" shouted Ben, but Gary responded quickly with his own call of "Protego!" and the red light bounced harmlessly away from the other boy. Gary followed up with "Rictusempra!" but Ben created his own shield and the duel continued.
"Get him, Uncle Ben!" called Jeremiah, and Ben laughed through his concentration as he cast another spell.
"You got him already, Gary!" shouted Chris in response, and both the prefects laughed as they cast counteracting spells that produced a brilliant explosion of blue light that the first years ooohed and aahhhed over appropriately. Eventually though, Gary managed to slip a spell past Ben's Protego, and caught the other boy's wand with a shout of triumph. The Hufflepuffs cheered while the Gryffindors groaned, but Ben just retrieved his wand from Gary and winked at the first years, as though it were all part of some big plan he had.
And indeed, as soon as Armistead started the second duel, it seemed as though the first duel had just been to lull Gary into a false sense of security. Ben's first spell set him on his heels, and it was only a manner of time before the Gryffindor prefect's favorite spell, Rotoisi, hit Gary's hand before he could manage the Shield Charm and sent his wand spinning towards Ben's outstretched hand.
Catching it with ease and a smile on his face, Ben turned to the awestruck Gryffindors and said simply, "Bang." They let out wild cheers, and even the Hufflepuffs couldn't resist joining in as Gary laughed uproariously while Ben tossed him his wand back.
Just as Professor Armistead was about to begin the third and final duel, the fighters poised, the first years eager, the bell rang and a groan of disappointment went up from both sides. Armistead just smiled and stepped forward, "Well, looks like we have no winner. I'm left with no choice but to award both houses 5 points for the brilliant performances of their duelists. Nice job, Ben, Gary. And now, homework. Read the first four pages of Chapter One in your books and be ready to discuss Monday. Class dismissed!" he shouted, over the cheers that the points had garnered, and the groans that met the homework assignment.
Remus exited the room with Adam and Tonks as an excited crowd surrounded Ben and Gary, who seemed to enjoy the attention immensely. The first years were headed to lunch when Remus noticed that he must have left his Defense book on the desk, and turned to go back, telling the other two to go ahead to lunch and save him a seat. When he returned to the classroom, Professor Armistead was wandering among the desks and picked up Remus's book with a smile.
"Your homework might have been a little difficult without this," he said, handing the book to Remus, "I can't say I blame you for being a little scatter-brained. Merlin knows that there's nothing quite so hectic as a student's first few days at Hogwarts. And it can't have been made any easier by that," he said, nodding at Remus's scar, and Remus reached up to touch it softly.
"Well, as long as you don't have an official fan club yet, I think you'll be all right. But if you do ever need somewhere to hide from the attention, my door's always open."
"There are people with official fan clubs?" Remus asked, eyes wide.
"Not that I know of, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were unofficial ones under the noses of the professors," said Armistead, and both of them laughed, Remus slightly nervously.
"Well, I'm sure you're wanting to get off to lunch, and I've got a meeting with a couple of seventh year Ravenclaws who are already worried about their NEWTs," he said, and Remus exited the room with a wave.
"That was awesome!" said Adam when Remus sat down next to him at lunch, "I wish every teacher had started out class that way. Much better than taking all those notes. I think I'm developing carpal tunnel," he said, shaking out his right wrist.
"McGonagall did turn her desk into a cow," said Tonks, "and Sprout had us repotting those," she paused to think for a moment, "whatever you call them almost as soon as we walked in the door."
"I have to agree with Adam, a duel is a little more interesting than taking endless notes that I can barely understand, despite the fact that I was there," said Remus, grabbing a roll and the butter knife from Adam.
"Says the boy who is already done with all four of the reading assignments we've already gotten," said Tonks, rolling her eyes at Remus.
"Not my fault I like reading."
"No, I think it's almost entirely your fault."
"There is one thing we can agree on."
"What?" asked Remus and Tonks, both turning to look at Adam.
"That was awesome!"
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Friday morning, the three of them managed to make it down to breakfast in less then 15 minutes for the first time, but their joy was short-lived as Remus glanced at their schedule and groaned.
"What?" asked Adam, who was carefully creating a small pyramid of bacon on his plate.
"Potions with the Slytherins first thing in the morning," he said, hurrying to get some bacon from the tray nearest them before Adam took it all.
"At least we've got this afternoon off," said Tonks, rolling her eyes at the boys' eating habits and taking some toast for herself.
"We might need it to recover emotionally," said Jeremiah as he sat down across from them with Win.
"Or physically," Win said, and the rest of them laughed.
"If we weren't with the Slytherins, I think I'd be able to almost grin and bear it. But I guess we'll get a chance to see if he really favors them just as much as everyone says," said Tonks, and Charlie and Ben, sitting a few seats down from the group at the still sparsely populated table, laughed.
"Oh, he does. In fact, he probably favors them twice as much as we say, but there aren't words in the human language to actually describe it," said Charlie, and Ben clapped him on the shoulder.
"He even hates Charlie, and how is it possible to hate Charlie? It isn't. It is not possible to hate Charlie Weasley; no matter how hard you try. But that man manages it, makes it look easy in fact."
"Sounds promising," said Remus.
When the bell finally rang, the first year Gryffindors went as a group towards the dungeon classroom where Potions was held. Entering the dank room, they filtered into the back while the Slytherins took the seats near the front, leaving almost an entire row between the two houses. McNair looked back and shot them a sneer as a dark figure strode in, his black robes billowing dramatically behind him: Severus Snape.
Win and several others rolled their eyes at the theatrics, but Remus unconsciously slunk down in his seat as the professor rounded on the class and began to take roll in a voice so icy the temperature in the already chilly room actually dropped a few degrees. A sneer much more venomous than anything Remus had ever seen on McNair's face curled the lips of the Potions Professor after he'd read "Lister, Lewis."
"Lupin, Remus. Our own local celebrity, the acclaimed werewolf fighter, has been kind enough to bring his presence down to my humble abode. To what, do tell, do I owe the honor?" he asked, glaring back at Remus in the same manner he had the night of the Sorting.
Remus looked at the other Gryffindors for help, but they all seemed just as puzzled as he did, so he turned back to Snape and answered the best he could, "Well, your class was next on my schedule, sir."
Win smiled and actually let out a single bark of laughter while several other Gryffindors snickered into their hands. All the Slytherins looked scandalized, and what little color was in Snape's face drained out of it completely, "Three points from each Mr. Lupin and Mr. Brees for their blatant disrespect for a professor. Your instructions are on the board, and can also be found on page 11 of Magical Drafts and Potions. All the ingredients you need can be found in the back cupboard. Get to work!"
The students quietly went to work on the simple potion to cure boils. Remus sat stunned for a second, before Adam nudged his shoulder and indicated his open book, and Remus glanced over the ingredients and went to get what they needed. Win was standing back by the cupboard and smiled at Remus as they searched for snake fangs.
"This could be an interesting year," he said, and Remus laughed.
"To make a huge understatement," Remus agreed, and Win gave another huge laugh. Snape glared at them, but didn't say anything.
Adam left most of the chopping and grinding to Remus, and Remus used the opportunity to take out some of his frustration at his singling out. As he added the carefully measured, finely crushed snake fangs to his cauldron, Snape came up behind him and scoffed. Remus wasn't exactly sure how you could add things to a cauldron incorrectly, but apparently he was he could.
Forty minutes later, the bell rang, mercifully releasing them, and the Gryffindors rushed to deposit their flasks on the desks and to leave the dungeon, but they were stopped by Snape's cold voice, "Whose is this?" he asked, holding up a flask with the names clearly printed on the side facing away from him.
"It's ours," said Jeremiah, indicating himself and Win. Snape looked suspicious for a second, but seeing that none of the Slytherins had handed in their potions yet, was forced to accept it.
"It's adequate," he said, and the Gryffindors all looked at Jeremiah and Win in stunned silence. Win just smiled and rolled his eyes before walking away, tugging his friend along behind him.
"Wait, Win, I want to soak in the moment," he said, but Win just kept tugging.
"Hurry up, before we learn that adequate means that he's going to take points off us."
As soon as they cleared the staircase into the Great Hall, Tonks changed her hair from the tame blonde curls back to her familiar pink spikes and turned on the two boys, "Well, he hates you," she said, and pointed to Remus, "A lot."
"Yes, he does, and I honestly have no idea why. He was staring daggers at me at the feast, but I thought maybe I misinterpreted it. I guess I didn't," Remus said, and Tonks laughed.
"No, I guess you didn't."
"It's totally unfair," said Adam, "What else were you supposed to say? 'Well sir, I heard just how fun your class was, so I thought I'd head down to see what all the fuss was about'?" The first years heard the laugh from across the hall, and saw Ben, Gary and Charlie walking towards them across the hall with a Gryffindor girl they didn't recognize.
"How many points did he get from you?" Ben asked.
"Six, three from Remus and three from Win. Remus said something, Win laughed, and he called it disrespectful."
"Oh, that's not so bad. He's always taking points off me. I must have some kind of record by now," said Ben, and Gary added on.
"My second year, he took points off Richie for breathing too hard. Course, Richie was having an allergic reaction to the fumes coming from one of the Slytherin idiot's cauldron because he put some ingredient in too early. That kid lost two points. Richie lost twenty, for not being able to 'control himself' or something like that, plus got two days detention. McGonagall revoked the detentions, but couldn't do anything about the points."
"See, so you guys did good," said Charlie, his arm around the tall girl they didn't know.
"Win even managed to impress him," said Jeremiah, clapping a huge dark hand on his friend's shoulder.
"He called our potion adequate, that's it."
"Wait, you're telling me that Snape, Professor Severus Snape, head of Slytherin house, Potions Master, told a Gryffindor student, a first year, that his potion was anything better than slightly above cat urine? Did you create a potion that instantly cures Dragon Pox that also tastes like rainbows?" asked Ben, and Win just rolled his eyes again.
"It was just a boil potion."
"That tastes like rainbows?" asked Gary, an almost hopeful hint in his voice.
"What do we have next?" asked Win, shifting the focus away from himself.
"Transfiguration. Wish McGonagall favored us," said Tonks, checking her schedule.
"She seems to favor you, just a bit," said Remus, but Tonks shrugged.
"That's just because Transfiguration comes naturally to me," she answered, scrunching up her face and darkening her hair, before returning it to bubblegum pink.
"Oh, she definitely favors us," said Ben, placing a hand over his heart, " She's got a special place in her heart for all of us Gryffindors. She just does it in a subtle, elegant way that Snape can only dream of. Our McGonagall is a classy lady, but a Gryffindor through and through."
The warning bell for the next class rang, and the first years left the older students in the Entrance Hall and mounted the Grand Staircase to head for their next class.
Remus Lupin and The Centaur Ashes by discosuperfli
Chapter Notes: I've been trying to strike a good balance in this story between exposition and letting the actual series knowledge suffice. Basically, anything new (characters, things, places) will be described well, along with things that I think it's important we see Remus's point of view on, but anything that we know well, I'm letting you fill in the blanks. If you'd like to see more exposition, just leave me a review or message me, and I'll see what I can do. Until then, enjoy!
Chapter Endnotes: As the story goes on, we will learn more about why Snape hates Remus so much, and no, it's not something as simple as 'He stepped into Dumbledore's office at the last moment before Remus went back.' Their relationship is much more emotionally complicated than that (but seriously, Snape already hates Remus a lot, and Remus has no particular happy feelings toward Snape). Until then, reviews, yes/yes?