New Acquaintances
Wednesday, September 1, 1971
The bus squeaked to a halt and the Lupin family exited, Lyall hauling Remus’ trunk to a trolley where he set it down with a crash. Remus pushed the trolley and followed his father. He had explained how to get onto platform 9 ¾, but Remus was still a bit scared to actually attempt it.
“Okay, almost there, do you remember what to do?” Remus nodded. “Together?” Remus nodded again, fervently, and his father chuckled. “Hope, fancy coming through?”
“No thank you, dear, I think I’ll wait for you on this side,” she replied, looking a little green.
His father shrugged and held Remus’ shoulder. “Okay, son, here goes!” he said, and the two ran straight through the brick wall and onto the platform. “Now, do you need any help getting your trunk on the train?” Remus shook his head; he’d always been stronger than both his parents combined. He tries not to think about it. “Okay. I love you, write often, especially after… well, you know. Have a good year son,” he said, gave Remus an affectionate pat on the shoulder, and walked back through the barrier. Remus hoisted up his trunk with one hand, staggering only a bit, and wandered onto the train to find an empty compartment. It took only a moment, as he arrived early, and he shoved the trunk onto the overhead space. He sat down and tried to rest and not worry about the full moon in four days.
His peace and quiet only lasted about five minutes though, as the train began filling quite quickly. Everybody seemed to leave him alone, though, until two boys stumbled by and opened the compartment door.
“Hi, mind if we sit with you?” The dark-haired one asked. Remus gestured for them to take a seat. “James Potter, and this here is Peter Pettigrew,” he said while gesturing to the vaguely mousy-looking boy with dirty blond hair.
“Remus Lupin,” Remus responded and shook both the boys’ hands.
“Lupin, eh? I think I recognize that name… Your parents work for the ministry or something?”
“Oh, er, yeah, my dad used to,” he replied. He hadn’t thought he would be recognized by name, his father never mentioned any other wizards. His father didn’t mention much of anything, though.
“Ah, what about your mum?” inquired Potter, who seemed to be full of questions.
“Oh, she’s uh, she’s not… magic.” Remus had forgotten the proper word his dad had said a couple of times.
“Your mum’s a muggle? You’re a half-blood, then.” There was that word, muggle.
“Um. Yeah. I guess? What’s it to you?”
“Sorry, mate, no offence meant. I-”
“Lads, everywhere else is full, so you’ll have to put up with me I’m afraid,” said another black-haired boy as he barged into the compartment and plopped down right next to Remus. “Was I interrupting? Do continue.”
“No, no, not at all. James Potter, this is Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin,” James said, gesturing at Peter and Remus accordingly.
“Ooh, a Potter! We have to be friends, my parents hate your family. Sirius Black, pleased to make your acquaintance! Pettigrew and Lupin, though?” Black inquired, turning to face Remus, “I don’t think I’ve heard those ones before.”
“You wouldn’t have, they’re half-bloods.”
“Oh, my family will kill me! From now on, we’re all best mates.” Remus felt particularly vexed at this point.
“Oi, can you stop discussing me right in front of my face? What’s it to you that I’m half-blood? I mean, it can’t matter that much.” The other three boys exchanged a look. “What?”
Potter is the one to speak, “Lupin, were you… raised in wizarding society?” Remus squirms at this.
“Not really. No.” A look of understanding came across Potter’s face.
“Okay. To put it nicely, you’ll find that some wizards, not the good sort, mind you, but some wizards judge others based on their blood status. Purebloods have both parents that are pureblood, half-bloods have some muggle mixed in, usually half, sometimes less. Muggleborns are, well, muggleborn. Both non-magical parents. A lot more common than one would think, though. You get it?”
“Yeah, I get it.” He thought he got it. Remus had expected to be teased about his scars and his hair and his secondhand books. Now he finds out he’ll just be teased about another thing. Can’t be that bad, he mused, he’s been teased his whole life. Whatever.
The other three boys, mainly Potter and Black, kept chattering on the whole train ride there, with Pettigrew being able to get a word in every now and then. Remus blocked them out and decided to take a nap until they arrived.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Oi, mate, we’re here” Remus groggily wiped his eyes and thanked Pettigrew for waking him. “Yeah, leave your trunk on the train, though, the house elves will get them for us.” Remus was, frankly, still too sleepy to question what the hell a house elf is.
Stepping off the train, he followed the flock of first-year students toward a severe-looking witch calling out for all first-years to come with her. Once she was satisfied that all of them were present, the group descended a hill towards a lake with a mass of boats at the shore. She instructed them to all climb in, and the boats began gliding across the water to a glorious castle perched on a cliff. Remus stared with his mouth agape in awe and was in a daze as the group wandered through the castle following the staff member. Eventually, the group came to a halt in front of a grand double door.
“Welcome, first-year students, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Professor McGonagall,” she stated. “The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitories, and spend much of your free time in your house's common room.
“The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.
“The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. Do wait quietly, I will be back when we are ready for you” she said, and left the chamber.
This whole speech made Remus quite nervous, though as he looked around, many others were in the same boat. It seemed hours before Professor McGonagall came back, and the students filed into the Great Hall. The Sorting Ceremony began almost immediately, but Remus was too occupied by looking at the enchanted ceiling to pay any attention. At least, that is, until Black was assigned Gryffindor, and the hall fell silent. Slowly, the Gryffindor table began clapping, and Black made his way across the room. Remus decided to look at the ceiling again until his name was called.
“Remus Lupin!” Professor McGonagall called, and he shifted his way to the front of the room. He sat on the stool and the hat, once placed on his head, began speaking in his mind.
“Hmm, a good brain in here, and a great want for knowledge. Ravenclaw wouldn’t be bad, but then again, you’re exceptionally kind, you’d fit right in in Hufflepuff. No, no, there’s something more. You’ve suffered a great deal, boy, you know you’re not safe here. That takes courage, boatloads of courage. Right, then, looks like it’s GRYFFINDOR!” The hat shouted the last word and Remus stood up and headed towards the table with all the students beckoning him over. A red-haired girl, a first year as well, motioned for him to sit between her and Black.
“Hi, Lily Evans, good to meet you.”
“Remus Lupin, likewise.” They shook hands and Remus tried to watch the rest of the ceremony, but was quite bothered by something. He turns to Black. “So, um. Why didn’t everybody clap when you were sorted?”
Black tenses at this. “Oh. That. Well, my entire family, since Hogwarts was founded, has been in Slytherin. And Gryffindor is basically the opposite of Slytherin. Slytherin is all about ambition, cunning, and power. Gryffindor is more about bravery, loyalty, pig-headedness, and such. They’re opposites, in many people’s views. And, well, everyone knows my family, and everyone knows we’re all Slytherins. Except me.” He finished speaking and promptly turned his head back to the front, signalling to Remus that the conversation was over. Why, then , thought Remus, did the hat put me here? Remus had never thought of himself as particularly brave, even considering his situation. It’s not like he had a choice in the matter.
After the last student was sorted, and Headmaster Dumbledore made a speech that Remus really could not make sense of (save him introducing the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Prof. Anna Weaver), the most amazing thing happened. Mountains of food suddenly appeared on all the tables, and ghosts flew into the Great Hall, and students were making conversation with them like it was nothing. Not quite knowing how to feel about that, Remus piled his plate with anything in reach and dug in.
After the feast, and what a feast it was, the first years were escorted to Gryffindor tower by a prefect and were told the password to the tower, which was ‘Audere Est Facere’. They were pointed toward the dormitories and Remus was placed with Potter, Pettigrew, and Black. The boys walk into the dorm. It is equipped with four large four-poster beds with red and gold patterned curtains. Their trunks were already placed at the ends of the beds, and Remus was just happy his bed was in the far corner from the door. In addition, there were four dressers, and a door just inside the dorm led to a bathroom, with a bathtub separate from the shower. Remus had never known such wonder. Still, he was exhausted and decided to collapse onto his bed. After all, classes did start tomorrow.