REQUIEM - [h.p]

III; memories

| YEAR 3; CHAPTER FOUR |
MEMORIES

     WHEN THE DOOR CREAKED OPEN, PROFESSOR LUPIN STEPPED INSIDE. Edwyn looked away before he could look at the man's expression. He didn't need pity or concern, he just wanted to leave and forget this entire event ever happened. It was just a stupid fit, that's all it was.

"Hey, Edwyn." The Professor eventually said.

Adamant on keeping his eyes on the edge of the Professor's desk, Edwyn fidgeted with his hands. "Why am I here?"

There was silence, then a bit of shuffling from their area, then Professor Lupin's voice came from the front of the desk. "I just wanted to make sure that you're doing alright. Do you have any questions, anything at all you want to ask of me or just talk about?"

Shaking his head, he looked down at his hands. "Did Mr Scamander talk to you?"

There was a brief pause before the man replied. "Yes, he did. Does this have something to do with that?" 

"Why did he tell me to speak to you about the dementors?"

The professor sighed, it was a long and weary sound, and Edwyn glanced back toward the man in hopes that he'd get an answer. Though, it was when he did look, that Edwyn finally observed the professor with a more attentive eye, and he couldn't help but feel an ounce of concern for his professor. 

Lupin's face was haggard, and beneath his tired eyes were dark bags and he could see the break out of stubble around his chin and jawline, clearly the professor hadn't been keeping up with maintaining his health as of late, and Edwyn couldn't help but wonder if the man had contracted an illness of sorts. It would certainly explain Lupin's appearance.

"Newt asked me to teach you the Patronus charm."

"The Patronus charm?" 

The spell rang some bell of recognition within his head, but the more he attempted to recall the definition, the more it evaded him. Thankfully Professor Lupin must have caught onto his train of thought and answered the question in his mind.

"It's a charm which focuses the user's happiest memories into a concentrated form," he said softly before brushing a hand through his hair in what Edwyn could only guess was either frustration or stress. He did hope it was only stress, he didn't want to be a bother. "It's main use is to ward away dementors."

His increased interest was frankly inevitable, and as Edwyn considered the man's words. It's main use, Lupin had said, which meant that there was clearly some other uses for it, which was strange he supposed, given that it was simply a concentrated form of... joy? 

"What else is it used for?" he finally asked, looking over at Lupin with a newfound curiosity despite what had previously occurred in the professor's classroom. 

"The charm was also used for long-distance communication during the war."

Edwyn halted at Lupin's words. The man must have fought in the war, and wasn't that a strange revelation. It would certainly explain the man's knowledge and the reason behind why he was chosen by Dumbledore for his teaching position—though, considering the past defence professors Hogwart's has housed over the past two years, Edwyn had a feeling that it had nothing to do with Lupin's merit, and if he was wrong, it may only be by an incredibly small margin.