The Cursed Creature

Chapter 15

The Hogwarts Letter

His eleventh birthday was not something he looked forward to ever since Remus knew that he wouldn’t be able to go to Hogwarts like his father and grandfather did. Knowing about his mood, his parents had agreed to not celebrate his birthday in their traditional way. Instead they would just eat some confectionary, while his dad would teach him something he would have otherwise learned at Hogwarts. If he’d been able to go.

Remus preferred to spend his birthday like this. By the time Remus had finished his fifth bar of chocolate, his father looked at him with fond desperation: “I don’t know you manage to eat so many of them”. Remus wanted to object, five bars weren’t that many after all, but his father already continued: “That reminds me. I don’t know if I ever told you about this, but in certain situations chocolate can even be used for healing.”

Remus gaped at his father. He had never drank a single healing potion that did not taste either like mint or downright vile. How is it that he never got something that tasted like chocolate? “What situations?” he asked curiously.

“Situations I hope you’ll never find yourself in. Coming across a Dementor or a Lethifold for example can leave you feeling extremely shaken. In these cases, consuming chocolate has been found to help after the encounter. Not for physical injuries though. I hate to say this, Remus, but chocolate can unfortunately only do so much.”

Here, his father winked at him and Remus felt a mixture of annoyance and amusement. Hearing the laughter of his mum made the amusement win over though and he allowed himself a smile. Amidst the following lecture his dad gave on the difference between Dementors and Lethifolds, they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Remus and his parents exchanged looks of confusion. Except for his grandparents no one had ever visited them here and they weren’t expecting them today. The next village was miles away and after his grandparents Howell had died, his mum was the only Muggle keyed into wards. Any other Muggle would be repelled by the charms in place.

His dad drew his wand and motioned for them to wait, before he slowly made his way to the door. Remus strained his ears in order to hear anything out of the ordinary. His mum was nervous and so was he. They wouldn’t be of much help if the stranger meant them harm.

“Professor Dumbledore?! What are you doing here? I… I mean…please come inside. Can we offer you something?” His dad seemed shocked and Remus couldn’t blame him. He himself couldn’t think of a reason that “the Albus Dumbledore” would come to their home. If at all, Remus had expected the typical Hogwarts letter to arrive today which he would have been forced to ignore lest his secret would be revealed.

Albus Dumbledore, however, was a presence that could not simply be ignored. Looking dazed, his dad opened the door further and led the man into their living room. “Good afternoon,” Dumbledore said jovially. “I hope I didn’t pop by at an inconvenient time?”

Remus had never seen Albus Dumbledore before. That is if you didn’t count his chocolate frog card and Remus found that shouldn’t count. The real man had an aura that the picture just couldn’t catch and he seemed strangely out of place in their humble home with his colourful majestic robes.

His mum made to stand hurriedly and offered Dumbledore her hand to shake, looking slightly nervous. “Not at all, sir. You are welcome to join us. Please take a seat. I am Hope and this is our son Remus. Can I offer you a cup of tea?”

Dumbledore smiled genially at her and shook the proffered hand. “You can call me Albus. And yes thank you, that would be delightful.”

While his mum busied herself in the kitchen, Dumbledore settled himself into one of the armchairs around the table and looked curiously around the room. Remus was rendered speechless, though his dad seemed to have overcome his shock over the unexpected visitor. “Professor Dumbledore, I am sorry for greeting you at wand-point. We weren’t expecting anyone today. As nice as it is to have you here with us, I must admit that I am surprised by your visit”.

Dumbledore chuckled mildly as he waved away his apology. “Don’t apologise Lyall. You can’t be too careful these days. As for the reason that brings me here-,” Dumbledore searched through his robes' pockets until his eyes lit up. “Ahh, here it is. I knew I had it somewhere. Welcome to Hogwarts Remus.” Then he turned to Remus and presented him with his Hogwarts acceptance letter.

Without knowing how to react, Remus took the letter and stared at the Hogwarts seal, feeling tears unbidden well up in his eyes. This was so much worse than just a letter that came by owl. In the corner of his eye, Remus could see his father looking at him with sympathy. Luckily, this was just the moment his mum came back with a tray filled with their tea and delicious looking scones.

The distraction helped Remus to calm himself a little and to prepare himself mentally for the unavoidably unpleasant conversation that would follow. “It is highly unusual for the headmaster to deliver the invitations personally, isn’t it?” his father asked after they had all had a cup of tea fixed and Dumbledore was enjoying one of his mum's scones.

“That is indeed an astute observation. Alas, for young Remus we will have to make some special arrangements. Therefore, I deemed it prudent to speak with you in person.”

Every Lupin in the room was gaping at the headmaster. “How do you know?” Lyall asked. “The only people outside the family that ever knew for certain were the Moreaus and they moved back to France a few years after Remus’s 6th birthday”. That was news to Remus, albeit not that surprising as Pierre had always planned to go to Beauxbatons.

Dumbledore’s eyes assumed an amused glint when he replied: “Ah, but I didn’t hear about your situation from a wizard or a witch. In fact, I got quite the angry letter from a Muggle girl last year.”

In response to that statement the headmaster got three bewildered expressions and an asynchronous “Whaaat?”

In lieu of a direct answer, Dumbledore asked them a counter question that seemed so far off topic that Remus had to reorganise his thoughts. “Are you all familiar with the tale 'The Warlock’s Hairy Heart'?”

Seeing the confused stares of his parents, probably caused by the abrupt topic change, Remus replied: “Yes, though I don’t like the story very much, because it has a bad ending.”

Dumbledore nodded understandingly. “Very true indeed. Why I’m bringing this tale up, is because the girl unwittingly compared me with the Warlock and advised me to find my heart so you could have a place in Hogwarts.”

He chuckled mildly, when he saw the surprised faces in front of him.

“But who is that girl and how did she contact you?” Lyall demanded. Remus could see that his dad was completely out of his depth. He himself had a suspicion who this girl might be. He never learned her name, but he only ever told one person his secret after the Moreaus had shunned him.

“Oh that is quite the ingenious piece of magic, if you don’t mind me sharing my opinion. All the post boxes in Great Britain are charmed to alert a sub department in the Ministry of Magic if a letter is addressed to Hogwarts. The respective letters will then be collected and sent to me. This system was put into place about a century ago to give Muggleborns and their families the option to reach out to the school, even if they don’t have access to an owl.”

“It’s nice to hear that they have the possibility,” his mum said, “but what I don’t understand is how the girl came to know about Remus. We have been living here for about a year and we don’t interact with the Muggles.”

Keen to avoid eye-contact with his parents, Remus bowed his head and shrunk in on himself in shame. “Remus?”, Dumbledore prompted mildly, “maybe you could shed some light on the situation”.

Sensing all eyes in the suddenly too small living room fixed on him, Remus felt his face heating up. “I didn’t tell her that it was your fault I couldn’t go to Hogwarts,” he croaked, “I said it was because of the curse and that people would not accept me going there.”

“But why would you tell her at all, Remus?” his father sighed tiredly. “You know how the Moreaus reacted and how often we had to move. When did that happen?”

Remus still didn’t look up from the floor. He did not want to see the disappointment in their faces. “I don’t know. Before we came here. She was sad because her sister was a witch and would go to Hogwarts but she couldn’t because she didn’t have magic. I told that I couldn’t go to Hogwarts either, even with magic to make her feel better.”

After Remus's helpless explanation his mum caught him in her arms. “Oh Remus. That was sweet of you dear, but you have to be careful. You can’t tell people about your situation, you know that.”

“I’m sorry mum. I know I was stupid. She promised me she wouldn’t tell anyone” Remus said miserably.

“If I may ask, what were the exact words of that promise Remus?”, asked a slightly amused looking Dmbledore. Remus was thrown for a moment by that question until he tried to remember what was said during the conversation and groaned.

The headmaster seemed to have guessed the answer before Remus spoke grudgingly, “She said she wouldn’t say a word to anyone”.

“And I am sure that she did not break her promise and only wrote to me in good faith.” Dumbledore chuckled, before his expression turned serious.

“Though, I have to agree with your parents. If you want to attend Hogwarts, we must make sure that the other students do not find out about your situation. The laws regarding werewolves are not favourable at the moment and the Wizarding World will see werewolves as dark creatures. So you can’t tell any student in Hogwarts, if you want to complete your education there. Magic society will not look kindly on you, if they were to find out. Preparations will be made for your transformations and recovery during your stay and only staff that absolutely has to know, like your head of house and our resident healer, will be informed. What do you think, Remus? Can you manage that?”

His mum started to cry, he didn’t know when he himself had started crying but his cheeks felt suspiciously wet as well and his dad looked ready to kiss Dumbledore right there. If it wasn’t all so overwhelming Remus would have laughed at his dad’s expression. He couldn’t believe it. He would go to Hogwarts. He, Remus, would go to Hogwarts after all.

“This is the best birthday present ever!” he exclaimed with a big smile on his face.

After they had discussed the details and the headmaster had left, they sat together in comfortable silence. The mood in house Lupin had significantly shifted compared to what it had been at the beginning of the day. Remus had opened his letter and studied the list of required textbooks and materials he would need for his first classes.

Excitement couldn’t even begin to describe his current emotional state. He couldn’t wait to go to Diagon Alley to get his school supplies and even more so, his very own wand. The next day they would visit his grandparents whom he was allowed to tell the good news to. The day after, they would travel to London, which he was really looking forward to.

Still, he felt a bit guilty for the costs that would come along with his enrolment. He would need books, robes, potion supplies and the wand wouldn’t be cheap either. “Mum? Dad?” he finally broke the silence, “Will that be alright? I know it won't be cheap to get everything from that list”.

His parents shared a quick glance but smiled both equally bright at him, before his mum replied: “Sure, dear. We always wished for you to be able to make that experience for yourself and get the traditional education. We will manage it.”

This did not ease his conscience by much but he didn’t ask further. Instead he calculated how much time he would have to read all the books before his first year would start and wondered if his dad would practise some of the spells with him once he got a wand. Remus knew that it was a rare chance he got offered with his condition and he wouldn’t disappoint the people who made this possible for him.

He would make his parents and the headmaster proud, by studying hard and never telling anyone about his secret while he was at Hogwarts. Especially the latter, because he didn’t want to ruin the opportunity he had been given.

It wasn’t until he lay in bed that evening that he thought back to the conversation he had with the girl last year. That the one slip-up led to such consequences was still baffling to him. It was lucky for Remus that the consequences were positive this time around, but that was what it was: luck. In his mind he had to thank the girl though. Even if she hadn’t managed to get into Hogwarts herself, she had managed it for Remus and he would be forever grateful for that.

It left him with hope for his future to know that there were at least non-magical people out there whom he didn’t know who would be kind to him if they knew the truth. Before he started to slip off into dreams about Diagon Alley and Hogwarts his thoughts wandered to another thing he had discussed with the girl. Dark Creatures. She had asked him why he would be declared as such because he was human, a wizard for most of the year.

Only the curse forced him to be mindless one night a month and came with horrible pain and fear he had never asked for. What did she propose to call the wolf instead? Oh, yes. Cursed Creature. Remus preferred it over being called dark. It alluded to no bad intention on his part and he would try to keep that in mind when it got difficult during the next seven years. Years he would spend where he always felt he would belong. And with a smile on his face Remus drifted off into sleep.

~ The End ~

(Of The Beginning)