The Cursed Creature

Chapter 2

The Early Years

Remus John Lupin could only be described as a clever and inquisitive child. Especially during his first years of life he was always in search of knowledge.

He loved it, when his mum would read him stories and tales, he wanted to hear all about his fathers work journeys and the magical creatures involved and as soon as he was able to talk somewhat intelligible he would ask many questions about whatever topic was on his mind. One of the first questions he asked and actually remembered was how his dad did manage to travel through fire.

When his dad answered “That would be due to magic, little one. We are wizards and can use floo powder to travel through the fireplaces.” Remus instantly came up with the next question: “Is mum a wizard too, dad? She never uses the fire to go somewhere”. That question in turn led to a whole explanation about the difference between Muggles and Wizards and that not every human being can use magic.

During the early years of Remus's life the Lupins stayed in Cardiff to live close to Hope's parents. Cardiff was a wonderful place for Remus to call home, since they had a forest and a coast nearby, which they visited regularly. Sometimes they would even be able to spy some animals or magical creatures around.

Sunday, back then, was Remus’s favourite day of the week, because then they would visit his grandparents and have a family day with a nice lunch, tales, games and if he was lucky a film.

Remus had always been rather shy and amicable. Therefore he rarely got into any arguments with his family or children in the neighbourhood. The only instance Remus showed anything resembling a temper tantrum was remembered fondly by the Lupins.

When Remus was one and a half years old he wanted a second piece of chocolate, his favourite confectionery at the time, which was denied by his parents. After some screaming and crying, young Remus stretched stubbornly towards the chocolate that was placed way beyond his reach with a look of angry determination that caused some amusement in the onlookers.

That amusement soon turned into a shocked state of surprise however, when the chocolate slowly levitated into Remus outstretched hands. While Remus did not remember the incident, his parents loved to tease him with the recollection of his first bout of accidental magic every so often when he asked for chocolate.

He loved his Muggle side of the family just as much as his magical side and learned early that both sides came with their own advantages. While his grandma Isabell from the Howell side loved to treat him with self-baked goods and well-read stories from Muggle books, his grandmother Kendra from the Lupin side would take him through her gardens to inspect magical herbs or find some small magical creatures to observe.

His grandpa from his mothers side, John Howell, was a crafty person who took Remus around the house and garden and even let him help out with some tasks by letting him pass the right tools. Additionally, his grandpa John loved watching films with Remus, which he always enjoyed.

His grandfather, Kurt Lupin, on the other hand showed him magic whenever he asked. Sadly, he did not see his grandparents Lupin all that often, because he could only go there if his dad brought him or came with him to visit. Grandfather Kurt did not like his mum very much, which Remus couldn’t understand.

His mum was the most loveable person he knew. Though maybe something happened between them he did not know about and that was one of the few questions he did not want to ask, because he feared he would make his mum sad. Someday he would have to ask his dad about it.

When it came to friends Remus had some playdates arranged by his grandmother with other wizarding children who he liked well enough, but saw too irregularly to consider them real friends. Most of his friends were in their direct neighbourhood.

Two Muggle boys his age, David and Alan, as well as a girl called Mary would sometimes invite Remus to play with them a ball game or some other outside games like hide and seek. His best friend however was a wizard boy who lived two streets over.

His name was Pierre Moreau and he would go to the French wizarding school instead of the English one. Remus was a little sad that he would not be able to go to the same school as his best friend when he would turn eleven, but they both agreed they would stay friends no matter what.

Pierre's dad worked in the French part of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, through which he had to travel to Britain every so often and had met Pierre’s mother during a lunch break in Diagon Alley. Remus spent a lot of his time with Pierre and their parents would take turns in having them over until Remus was five and a half years old.