The Sorting
After a horrifyingly slow boat trip -Remus had always been terrified of boats and the possibility of sinking, even though he had been taught to swim from a young age- from the train station to Hogwarts castle, Remus was left white in the face and trembling. The students were all escorted in a big mob towards the entrance. Remus trailed slowly behind the other boys, still shaking, but now taking in the magnificent castle looming before him.
It was many, many stories high. Turrets sprouting up from the stones and reaching for the sky with pointed roofs, and a jumble of battlements sprawled across the grounds. Overall, Remus thought, Hogwarts is a beautiful school.
Before the train had stopped, Remus and the boys had changed into their plain black school robes, which Remus now pulled tighter around himself, hoping to fight off the September chill.
Once they were inside the great hall, Remus couldn’t keep his jaw shut, it hung open in awe. The ceiling above him, or where there was supposed to be a ceiling, was the sky outside. A blanket of stars twinkling overhead as he watched, dumbstruck. Candles floated midair, lighting the beautiful room. There were five grand tables, one for each house, and one separate table for the professors, all covered in different colours -which Remus had eventually learnt were the coloursof the four different houses: Ravenclaw, with bronze and blue; Hufflepuff, with yellow and black; Slytherin, with silver and green; and Gryffindor, with red and gold which was James and Peter’s favourite, while Sirius said he would be sorted into Slytherin because ‘Not one Black has been sorted elsewhere for five hundred years.’- and at each seat, there was an empty plate with a set of cutlery on either side.
An old woman with dark hair tied into a tight bun, a pointed hat atop her head, a small pair of glasses perched delicately on the end of her nose, and emerald green robes called for all the first year students to file into alphabetical order to be sorted into houses. Remus was second out of the four boys, but somewhere in the middle of the whole line.
He watched as the first student approached the dais, they sat down and had an old, wrinkly brown hat placed on their head. It was all silent in the great hall for a second, before the hat yelled “HUFFLEPUFF!” And the student giddily walked over to the Hufflepuff table, smiling brightly as the house cheered loudly. This all proceeded happily until Sirius’ name was called by the old witch -Professor McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor house. He waltzed proudly up to the stool, sitting down and he had the hat placed atop his head. The whole of Slytherin house was silent, waiting greedily for another famous Black -especially the heir to the family- to enter their house.
That was why it all came as such a surprise when the gruff voice of the old hat screamed “GRYFFINDOR!” instead of Slytherin. All the colour seemed to drain out of Sirius’ face as he stood up numbly, and walked slowly to the Gryffindortable. Once he sat down, he looked over his shoulder towards the Slytherin table, where two harsh looking girls -both with jet black hair, like Sirius’ and his mother’s- were glaring daggers at the poor boy. He seemed to flinch, and turned back to his table, thumping his head against the wood.
When Remus’ name was announced, he made his was nervously to the dais, his palms sweating and fingers fidgeting with his robe anxiously. As he had the hat placed on his head, the voice of the old hat spoke directly into his mind, and he almost jumped out of his skin.
“Hmmm,” it hummed, “Remus Lupin… A bright, while cunning mind, like your fathers, but you also have a brave and loyal heart…” Remus waited, sweat beading on his brow where the hat sat, then suddenly, the roar came, “GRYFFINDOR!”
The hat was yanked off of Remus’ head by a smiling Professor McGonagall. Her smile quickly faded and she spoke to Remus in a hushed tone that only he could hear, “See me in my office after the feast, Mr Lupin, we must discuss the matter of the up coming full moon.” Remus felt the colour drain from his face, but he nodded all the same. She knew, McGonagall knew, who else knew?
Remus made his way towards the cheering Gryffindor table, his mind spinning and his stomach somersaulting. He sat down numbly next to Sirius who still had his head in his hands, mumbling “They’re going to kill me, five hundred year of Slytherin’s and it’s their bloody heir who breaks it…” Unsure of what to do in his frazzled state, Remus just put a hand on Sirius’ shoulder, causing the other boy to lift his eyes. Remus offered what was hopefully a comforting smile as Peter was called up to the hat. Sirius’ eyes widened at Remus’ smile, his own lips curving up at the corners slightly, “At least all four of us will be together,” he nodded towards where Peter was now skipping happily over to the Gryffindor table, applause following his every step.
Remus’ brow furrowed, “James hasn’t been sorted yet, he might get split-” Sirius cut him off, grinning,
“Have you met James Potter? He is the most ‘Gryffindor’ person I’ve ever laid eyes on, we won’t be split up.”
And sure enough, a few minutes later, James was called to the dais. The hat had barely been on his head a second before “GRYFFINDOR,” was announced and the table erupted into applause, Remus, Sirius and Peter joined in, watching as a goofy grin spread over James’ proud face.
***
The feast was magnificent. Piles upon piles of delicious food had just appeared on the table, out of nowhere, earning a resounding “ooh,” and “ahh,” from all students, especially the first years.
Remus piled heaps of food onto his plate, including lamb chops, roast chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes, peas, and gravy. The other three boys watched in awe as he ate it all, and then got himself a second helping. “Remus, mate, how do you fit so much food inside of you? You’re so skinny,” James exclaimed, Remus just grinned and continued to shovel food into his mouth as the other boys laughed.
After desert, -sticky toffee pudding- the prefects escorted everyone to their house common room. On the way, Remus spotted Professor McGonagall’s office door, and his stomach knotted with nerves again.
Their prefect, a fifth year boy named Frank Longbottom, told all the Gryffindor’s the password to get through a painting of a fat lady, and into the common room. With that information, Remus faded into the back of the mob of students until he was the very last. He turned on his heel and stalked towards the professors office, his teeth gnawing at the inside of his cheek.
Remus knocked on the dark mahogany door, and Professor McGonagall’s heavily accented voice called for him to enter.
The room was brightly lit by floating candles scattered throughout it. A large wooden desk by the window that was stacked high with papers, sitting at it was Professor McGonagall, her face set in a serious frown.
“Mr Lupin, have a seat,” she gestured to a plush chair sitting before the desk. He sat down nervously.
“As you may know, this coming Sunday is a full moon,” he nodded, he could tell by the slight twinge in his lower back, indicating the upcoming full moon, and he had memorised all the full moons for this year, and the next. “Hogwarts has taken many precautions to ensure yours and your peers’ safety during these nights.” He fiddled with his robe, “After supper on Sunday, you will come to my office, and Madam Pomfrey and myself will escort you to where you will be staying for the night.” Remus didn’t know who Madam Pomfrey was, but he was too nervous to ask, he just nodded along as the professor spoke, “That will be all, Mr Lupin.” He stood up in a rush, knocking the chair back slightly, his hands shaking.
“Thank you, Professor,”
Her thin lips turned up at the corners in a sad smile, “It is truly a sorrowful thing, Lycanthropy. Good night, Mr Lupin.” Remus just nodded, unsure of what to say as he exited the office.
***
When Remus made his way up the stairs towards the boys rooms, he took in the beautiful, cosy space: soft, maroon coloured couches and armchairs created a half moon around a big fireplace. There were red and gold canopies along the walls, as well as painting with moving witches and wizards inside.
Remus pushed open the door to his dorm room, greeted with the sight of James, Peter and Sirius already sprawled across three single beds, their trunks were already up in the room, and Remus headed to his, next to the his bed. A door to the side of the dorm room led to the bathroom, and a window at the far end of the dorm provided a beautiful view of the school grounds. “Where were you?” Peter questioned as Remus opened his trunk.
“Had to speak to McGonagall,” he replied, rummaging through his case for his night clothes and a book. James and Peter were already dressed for sleep, while Sirius was flopped on his bed, arms over his eyes, “What’s up with him?” He gestured to the raven haired boy.
“He’s freaking out about his parents, says he wasn’t supped to be put in Gryffindor, I think it’s a bunch of bollocks,” James supplied cheerily, “Why’d you need to talk to McGonagall?”
Remus’ mind went black, what was he supposed to tell them? He couldn’t tell them that he turned into a bloodthirsty monster every full moon, he would be kicked out of the school on his first day. “Just had some questions,” he lied, and James nodded, turning back to his own trunk.
***
Later that night, Remus had unpacked his trunk and gotten into his pyjama, Sirius had calmed down thanks to James starting up a debate about which was the best broom for flying, Peter had gotten into bed and pulled the curtains around him, blocking everyone else out, James had told Remus when he’d asked that Pete was ‘homesick,’ which Remus thought was strange, because Hogwarts was their home now.
Remus was in bed, atop the covers, a book in hand when James yawned and Sirius claimed it was probably a good time to sleep. The two said their good nights and climbed into bed.
“Night Remus,” James called softly across the room.
“G’night James,” he replied in an equally low tone, closing his book and beginning to pull the curtains around the bed. Sirius poked his head out of his bed and waved at Remus,
“Night Lupin,” Remus grinned sleepily at the other boy,
“Night Black.”