Chapter 9
The 31st of October had arrived around Hogwarts. I honestly had no idea what the significance of the date was. But to no one's surprise, my friends went bonkers when they found out I had no idea what Halloween was.
Lee pointed out the window, half yelling, "Every Halloween my family gets free candy."
I raised an eyebrow, "By knocking on a random bloke's door!" I shook my head. Free candy did seem pretty neat, though.
Fred walked closer to me, "Liam, I knew you were clueless. But not this clueless!"
"Honestly, Liam." George said, who was still under his covers in bed.
"Fellas," I said, "I had no idea what my surname was, how am I supposed to know this?!"
"Everybody knows this!"
***
Hogsmeade was today, and I did not want to be left behind by my friends. Sure, the first and second years were neat and all... but not really the most favourable option.
Professor McGonagall had given me a permission slip, whispering, "If you get an adult signature in the next hour, you may be permitted to go."
I yanked the parchment from her hand, whooping a tiny bit. I skipped away, knowing exactly who to go to.
"Don't try any of your shenanigans!" McGonagall's voice faded into the background.
I turned my head and hollered, "Can't promise that one!" and I turned the corner, heading off to a specific Professor's office.
***
Professor Lupin looked up from his desk, twirling a quill between his scarred fingers, "And why should I do that?"
I hesitated, "Because I'm your favorite student." I paused then whispered to myself, "...that's a fifth year transfer."
Lupin raised an eyebrow, "What's that you said?" He put down the quill and leaned forward onto the desk.
"Professor, please." I made a begging gesture, then walked around his office. I found a golden chain necklace that looked quite nice. I plucked it off the shelf and placed it on his desk, "I'll give this to you if you do."
"What if I, perhaps, don't sign it." Lupin smiled slightly.
I grabbed the necklace again, "Finders keepers, losers weepers." I had no idea where I had heard that phrase from, but it still stood.
Lupin sighed, shaking his head, "Now, I'm not saying you should steal. But you're going about it in an unskilled way." He grabbed the necklace from my hands and dropped it into one of the drawers near him.
"Could always forge a signature." I shrugged, reaching out for the permission slip.
Lupin put his hand on the paper, preventing me from grabbing it, "The thing is that Minn- I mean- Professor McGonagall knows. Not a doubt about that. Plus, Dumbledore-"
"I don't give a flying shit what Dumbledore thinks or believes." I probably shouldn't have said that so loud, but I stood my ground.
Lupin chuckled to himself, "Alright then. Give me some ink, will you?"
I strolled over to his bookshelf and carefully brought the ink down to where he sat.
Lupin dipped the quill and began to read over the document. I watched over his shoulder as he brushed the feather over the words on the page.
He signed the first box R. J. Lupin.
"What does that stand for?" I asked. I never really got to talk to the professor much after the train ride here. DADA proved to be a tough subject for me, so I tried to pay attention as much as possible in his classes.
"Remus John Lupin." He mumbled, still reading over the document.
"Werewolf, Werewolf." I laughed to myself.
Lupin snapped his head towards me, a small amount of fear in his eyes.
"Your name basically means 'Werewolf Werewolf' what're the chances of that?" I said slowly, a bit confused as to why he had reacted that way.
He narrowed his eyes at me, looking bewildered, "So I've heard." He glanced down at the ring on his hand and twisted it.
"Who's the lucky one?" I eventually asked. The ring looked gorgeous, surely quite a sum of money.
Lupin looked from the ring to me and shrugged, "It's really nothing. Just something a friend gave to me."
I could sense the lie, but damn was he a good lier. I dismissed it and watched as Lupin finished signing everything.
I smiled and hurried off. I hesitated at the door.
Seems like the right thing to do. I thought to myself.
I headed back to the Professor and gave him a quick hug. I smiled and waved as I left the office.
After a few seconds, I went into a sprint and shouted, "PROFESSOR MCGONAGALLLLLLL-!"
***
"Hogs head, eh?" I whispered, eyeing the building in the distance.
"Yep." Lee replied, huddled behind the bush right next to me.
The two of us had been staring at the door for the past 4 minutes, surveying for any sort of signs of what had happened to the twins after they set out on their mission for Firewhiskey.
I began to unwrap the bag of chocolate peanut clusters I had purchased from Honeydukes a few minutes earlier. I shoved the golden ribbon into my pocket and surveyed the chocolate.
Lee was laying on the ground, limbs spread out. He stared at the cloudy sky in silence. I tossed a piece of chocolate onto him and he bolted upright. He ate the chocolate and returned his focus to the door.
The door violently slammed open, revealing 3 lanky gingers.
Me and Lee immediately looked at each other, eyebrows raised.
Percy stumbled out of the Hog's Head, as drunk as an Irishman. He went up to the twins and began to scold both of them, sluggishly pointing around.
From afar, it was hilarious. Me and Lee were choking on our chocolate while we witnessed the scene unfolding before us.
"Isn't it a bit early for drinks?" Lee managed to utter in-between the giggles.
"Just a tad bit." I replied.
Fred and George hurried over to where me and Lee were cackling. They both immediately joined in.
"Did'ya see his face?!"
"He was going to reenact when Liam and George met-"
This went on for a few minutes. I looked at the building in the distance, we hadn't been there yet. "What's that?"
Lee gasped, "It's The Three Broomsticks." Lee's eyes widened even more, "My god, Liam hasn't tried Butterbeer yet!"
"WHAT?!" George exclaimed, putting his hands on his head. He grabbed my hand and began to run to the shop.
My heart began to beat faster. But it was just due to me running... right? I looked at George's grin as the two of us made our way to the shop. It made me smile too.
I pushed open the door. The shop was packed with Hogwarts students, everywhere I looked there was the house colours. There was no room for personal space.
"I think I have the money," George muttered, fumbling through his pockets with one hand, "I'll wait in line." He looked over, his hair tousled about his head. His eyes sparkled in the light.
I must've made an unsettling face. George glanced down towards his hand that was still intertwined with mine. He let go and headed towards the line.
A wave of embarrassment flooded over me. I was an idiot. But I shook it off and headed out the shop. I peered into the distance and saw Fred and Lee heading towards me.
"You ran off just like," Fred snapped his fingers, "that."
Lee nodded, "You don't even know if Butterbeer is any good."
Fred sighed, shaking his head, "Merlin, Lee, everyone knows butterbeer is the most delicious substance in Hogsmeade!"
"Not Mr. Memory loss over here."
"It does sound delicious." I said. All three of us headed into the Three Broomsticks and tried to locate where George had gone.
George's face lit up as he saw all of us. He waved us over to where he stood.
George's place in line was near the front, but not close enough that you had to order. It was perfect.
George handed the coins to each of us as we neared the front.
A short old man in a off-white apron greeted us as he listened to our orders.
"Four butterbeers, please." Fred said, sliding the money onto the counter.
The old man grabbed the money and dropped it into a cash register. The employee disappeared behind a wall.
It was a perfect time to look around at this new and interesting place. There was a small chalkboard menu above us with all the options. Behind the counter was a colourful cup full of little trinkets. Must've been for the children. But a specific straw caught my eye.
A pink twisty straw.
The old man came back with four cups of liquid and placed them on the counter. He didn't even glance at me before saying, "The pink straw, right?"
My jaw dropped. How did he-? But right now was no time for questions. I just nodded and gratefully accepted the straw that was placed in my drink.
"I didn't even know that was an option." said Lee, eyeing my straw.
"I'm just better like that." I said as we made our way to the exit of the shop.
The butterbeer tasted delicious, surely topping the chocolate I had just recently had. Fred and George finished theirs within the first minute, which was pretty impressive to say the least. I decided to enjoy mine, slowly slurping it up through the pink straw.
Fred looked at the group and said, "Y'know where this makes me want to go?" he turned towards Lee, "The shrieking shack."
Lee shook his head, "That place makes me sick."
I raised the hand that George had held before, "All in favour?"
Both Fred and George raised their hands.
"Majority rule. Let's go, mates!"
After a few offhand comments from Lee, we began on our way. Some people (us) more happy than others (Lee).
"Wonder what it looks like in there." George said, walking a little ahead of the group.
"Probably as trashy as it does on the outside." Lee muttered.
"Hey!" Fred quipped, "You don't want to be haunted by the ghosts, do you?"
"Waitwaitwait," I said, putting my hands in a stopping gesture, "ghosts?!"
George smacked Fred on the shoulder, "Fred, you're spoiling the story."
All of us stopped at an old rickety shack. It looked as if it were going to fall over any second. The wood looked rotten, but it still seemed to conceal whatever was hidden inside. My heart started to beat faster for whatever reason.
"Looks ugly." I finally said, staring at it. There were scratch marks on nearly every surface of the shack.
"Every month, there was screams heard from the shack. Some say it's haunted." George said in an intimidating voice.
"The ghosts are coming for you, Liam." Fred whispered behind me. It made me jump a little bit, but I laughed it off.
I glanced back over to the shrieking shack. I felt drawn to it, if that made any sense. I continued to observe it, looking it over again and again just until I had memorized every bit of the building.
George cleared his throat, "I'm going to go to Zonkos. Who's coming with?"
I raised my hand, "Haven't been there yet." I said.
Of course right after that, the group went into utter chaos and they kept on saying how I haven't lived yet until you had gone to Zonkos. I laughed it off, nodding to their conversation as I looked around.
"Hey, why's Ron and Hermione without Harry?" I eventually interrupted their conversation about the selection Zonkos had in stock.
"Ooh, Ronnie has a girlllfriend." Fred whispered, causing George to cackle.
"Them two? I don't see it." George said.
"Nah, I see it." I cut in, "I think you're oblivious to love, George."
George rolled his eyes and we made our way over to Ron.
"Did Harry not get the form signed?" Lee asked, looking between Ron and Hermione.
Hermione sighed, "No, he didn't." she narrowed her eyes at me, "But then how did you-?"
I looked upwards, "One must not reveal their secrets." I winked at her then looked at Fred, who wiggled his eyebrows.
I mouthed 'let's go' to everyone and we continued our way to the decent sized building.
"Ladies first," George gestured towards me and opened the door.
"Ah indeed." I retorted, yanking the door handle from him and gesturing him inside of the store.
The inside was wonderful, on every store wall there was a new and fun gadget that you could play around with and use for your victims demise.
My friends and I traveled around, picking out new products to purchase for Hogwarts, when a hand slapped onto my shoulder.
"Ah! Olivander, I haven't seen you in years!"