Chapter 2
The few days following the appearance of the letter from Hogwarts were long, tiring, confusing, and hard.
Remus what’s still puzzling over the whole concept of a school for magical people, let alone the fact that Witches and Wizards live outside of fairy tales. If anyone were to ask Remus, he would say it’s all a bunch of bullocks. But, then again, if Remus hadn’t been bitten by a werewolf and had turned into one himself on every full moon since he was five, he would’ve said that was bullocks, too.
The Pentworth’s, on the other hand, acted as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. Rupert read the news every morning with such a fascination Remus had never understood. Mary continued to guzzle tea multiple times throughout the day, every day, like it was religion.
Remus was sitting in the houses’ personal library when a maid rushed in, looking for him. She sighed when she saw Remus, “Master Lupin, you have a visitor. Master Pentworth sent me to collect you, and to ensure you are in proper attire for company,” she gave Remus a once over, apparently deeming him ‘unfit’ for the occasion, and then sent him off to get changed.
After checking with the maid ten minutes later that his change of clothes -a white button up shirt, gray slacks, formal shoes, and a loosely fitted dark blue sweater- were suitable, he headed downstairs to the living room where his mysterious visitor waited, chatting politely to Rupert and Mary.
The man was sitting down, but Remus could still tell he was extremely tall. He appeared to be very old, and had long white hair, coming from the top of his head, as well as his face -Remus noted with awe that the man’s beard was the longest he’d ever seen, reaching all the way to his waist. He had small glasses that perched deliberately on the tip of his nose, and striking blue eyes, not entirely unlike Rupert’s, the main difference was that the man’s eyes had a twinkle and a soft sort of kindness, while Rupert’s were fearsome and held the promise of hard discipline.
The tall figure rose from his seat in one of the many plush armchairs inhabiting the room, -standing easily at 6 foot 3 inches- as Remus entered the room. The Pentworth’s stayed seated, Rupert’s polite smile turned to a sneer, as Mary’s eyes narrowed slightly behind her glasses.
The tall man stepped towards Remus, offering a wrinkled hand in greeting. As he got closer, a sickly familiar scent clogged Remus’ heightened senses from the full moon. Metallic. Different. Like his father.
Rupert’s rough voice cut through his shock, “Remus, this is Professor Albus Dumbledore, your new Principal.” As if in a trance, Remus reached foreword and shook the principals hand, a strong, firm handshake.
The older man smiled kindly at Remus, “Mr Lupin, you look so much like your father.”
This threw Remus off. This strange old man knew his father? Did his dad go to the magic school? Is that why they smell the same?
“You knew my father?” Remus inquired, his brow furrowing in confusion, “Did he go to Hogwarts, sir?”
Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled as he sat back down on the chair, gesturing for Remus to take a seat on the couch opposite him. He did, back straight and his full attention fixed on the mysterious man. He barely noticed the Pentworth’s as the exited the room, glaring daggers at Remus.
“I did know your father, Mr Lupin. Lyall was a very bright student, he was tremendous at dueling, and a brilliant beater for the RavenclawQuidditch team.” Remus’ brow furrowed further. What was Quidditch, and a Ravenclaw? He opened his mouth to quiz the principal, but the old man held up a hand, commanding silence, “I will answer all you inquiries to the best of my ability after we have discussed the arrangements for your schooling at Hogwarts.”
If he hadn’t been silenced before, that statement would have definitely shut Remus up.
“Oh.”
Dumbledore chuckles, “There’s no need to fret, Mr Lupin, we have precautions in place to accommodate your Lycanthrope every full moon.”
“Oh,” he repeated, dumbfounded, “You knew about that..?”
Dumbledore nodded, a pitying glint in his eyes, “Of course, Mr Lupin. I have been aware of it ever since your father passed.” His smile turned sad. “Rest assured, Mr Lupin, nobody will be affected by your being a werewolf.” The man pulled a long, thin stick out of his robe pocket, waving it in the air and two teacups, a teapot, as well as a small bowl of sugar cubes appears out of thin air, landing gently on the coffee table between the armchair and the couch. “Tea, Mr Lupin?”
Remus’ jaw hung open in utter perplexity, “W-what was that?” He stuttered.
With another flick of the stick, -which Remus figured was a wand- the teapot began to float midair, pouring tea into the two teacups, and sugar cubes floated in after the steaming liquid, “Magic, Mr Lupin,” Dumbledore offered Remus the teacup, which he took numbly, puzzling over what he had just witnessed, magic.
Dumbledore pocketed his wand, and sipped from his own teacup, “Now, Mr Lupin-”
Remus interrupted him,“Just Remus, please,”
The old man smiled,“Now, Remus, I suppose it would be beneficial if I set up your fireplace with the Floo Network so you can travel to wizarding places with ease. Then we can take a visit to Diagon Alley to collect some of your necessary equipment for school.” Dumbledore stood up, gently putting his tea cup on the coffee table, he moved over to the brick fireplace, pulling out his wand and a small satchel. He muttered a few words under his breath, waving his wand at the fireplace, and then reached into the satchel, pulling out a handful of green powder and sprinkling it over the lit fire. To Remus’ utter shock, the hearth grew a few feet taller, almost the same height as Remus himself, and the fire turned the same shade of green as the powder before slowly flickering back to normal.
With wide eyes, Remus leapt up from his seat on the sofa, giddily rushing over to the principal. “Was that more magic, professor? Will I get to learn that at Hogwarts?”
Dumbledore chuckled, patting Remus on his bony shoulder, “Oh, yes, my boy, you will learn spells and much more at Hogwarts.”
***
It turned out that the Floo Network was not as complicated as Remus had initially thought. It could take you wherever you wished, provided that the destination had a fireplace.
While Dumbledore was setting it up, he explained the concept to Remus, going into great detail about one of the most famous accidental misdirection’s of the Floo Network which happened in the 1850’s. The story had had Remus snorting with laughter rather impolitely into his teacup, as Dumbledore chuckled along.
After a second cup of tea, and a platter of digestive biscuits, Dumbledore deemed Remus ready to travel to a place called ‘Diagon Alley.’
“Remus, listen carefully. To travel to Diagon Alley, you must sprinkle Floo Powder over the flames, step into the fireplace, and speak the words ‘Diagon Alley,’ with perfect pronunciation or you will end up someplace else, like in the story I told you.” Remus nodded, fidgeting on his feet in anticipation as Dumbledore spoke. The principal held out the fabric bag of powder, and Remus took a handful, blowing out a steadying breath. He sprinkled the powder into the recently enlarged fireplace, watching the fire turn green. Diagon Alley, Diagon Alley.
He stepped into the flames tentatively, ducking slightly as to not hit his head on the edge of the fireplace, and before he could fink out, he squeezed his eyes shut, and said clearly, with perfect pronunciation, “Diagon Alley.”