The Marauders: Moony

Remus and Wolfsbane Potion

When Remus revealed that he had been the one to set the nifflers loose in the Ravenclaw common room, Freya had initially been very annoyed, but she quickly forgave him when he offered her a large bar of chocolate as an apology present.

"So who actually won the prank wars?" She asked as she popped a square into her mouth.

"James. Hundreds of Severus's? He's a genius!" Remus exclaimed, a playful grin on his lips as he stole a square of the bar of chocolate that he had just given to Freya.

Freya broke off another square and held it out towards Remus. He opened his mouth and she placed it on his tongue.

"Speaking of potions. Shall I teach you about the wolfsbane potion?" Freya suggested.

Remus nodded in excitement, his mouth full of chocolate. 

This could be life changing for him. He imagined not suffering every full moon. He imagined being himself up until the transformation, not a shell of a boy, shivering in pain. He dreamed of running under the moonlight, conscious of all his actions.

"It's something that my father's friend Damocles Belby is working on. He hasn't perfected it yet, that's why you may not have heard of it, but I think it's going to be really popular in a few years time." Freya told him.

Remus thought that she was right. If something like this became available to all werewolves, it could totally change everything. If werewolves were able to keep their minds during their transformations, it could mean that they weren't looked down on so badly by the rest of society. Werewolves may not be looked at in disgust and fear. He could be a normal member of society. He could have a normal future.

"It's quite complex. I'm not entirely comfortable making it myself, but he sends me some regularly. Every batch is slightly different, I'm sort of trialling it." She added.

Remus thought about Lily and how great she was at potions. He made a mental note to ask her if she had heard of the wolfsbane potion, and if so, if she was able to teach him how to make it.

"I just have to send him the ingredients. They're expensive, so I try to find my own." Freya told him.

"What ingredients?" Remus asked. He had never been so interested in a potion before. This one had the ability to change his life.

"The main ingredient is wolfsbane, or some call it aconite or monkshood. I found some at the edges of the forest here before." Freya responded, getting to her feet.

Remus followed, pushing himself up. 

Remus hesitated. He knew that he could get into trouble going into the Forbidden Forest. That hadn't stopped him numerous times before, but he certainly didn't want to get into any more trouble after the prank wars. He thought about it for a moment, uncertain, but this was a big deal. It was worth the risk.

Remus and Freya made their way to the Forbidden Forest together. Remus kept looking around to make sure that there was nobody within sight. He really couldn't afford to get caught breaking any more rules at the minute.

Although it was the middle of the day, the edges of the forest were dark. Remus shivered as they walked further into the forest, and the overhead canopy became denser, blocking out the light. The forest was thick with all sorts of trees, including beech, oak, pine, sycamore and yew. The forest floor was covered in a thick carpet of moss, knotgrass and thorns. Remus walked carefully. He didn't want to disturb anything.

The pair followed the path that weaved its way through the forest. Off the path, it was impossible to walk with all of the thick tree roots, stumps and brambles. Remus loved the forest when in wolf form, but something about it felt threatening as a wizard. 

"What are we looking for?" Remus asked, causing Freya to flinch. 

"It's a purple flower." Freya responded in a whisper. Remus was glad that he wasn't the only one feeling a little nervous. 

Remus doubted very much that any sort of flower would grow somewhere so dark. Then it dawned on him. The flowers appeared in his mind. Remus thought of the clearing. The flower meadow. He had seen purple flowers.

"I think I know where we can find some." He told her with newfound confidence.

Remus took Freya's hand and led her to the clearing. They had been there together before. In wolf form. Before they both knew that the other was also a werewolf.

As they entered the clearing, the dense forest canopy shrank away, and sunlight filled the air. Freya tilted her head back, face up towards the sky. Remus watched as she soaked in the sunlight. She stretched out her arms and spun around, flowers floating through the air around her. It was like a dream. It was difficult to imagine that minutes before, they had been in the eerily dark Forbidden Forest.

Remus looked around. His eyes scanned the clearing for tufts of purple.

He found a tall stem of purple flowers and plucked it from the ground.

"Ooh! You found some!" Freya exclaimed, running through the long grass towards him.

There was a small patch of stems, and Remus and Freya picked them all. They gathered up their bouquet of purple and headed back towards the castle.

"I'll send it by owl this evening." Freya told Remus, cradling her treasure. 

A few days later, the pair began taking the wolfsbane potion. Freya had told Remus to meet her on the edge of the lake right after last lesson, when most other students would be heading back to their dorms to get rid of their satchels and take off their robes. They weren't doing anything wrong, but they didn't want other students to see them and to start asking questions.

Remus felt nervous as he sat down next to her on the grass overlooking the lake.

Freya gave him a smile and took his hand. She turned it over and placed a small vial of the blue-purple liquid in his palm.

Remus stared at it for a moment. This was the most precious thing he had ever possessed. It had the potential to change everything.

Remus carefully lifted the cork off his vial. He felt as though he was handling treasure. A strange blue smoke wafted up towards his face. Remus sniffed it and wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"We must take it every day for a week. Missing one dose will render the whole thing completely pointless." Freya told him, before downing her bottle.

Remus copied, but was so shocked by the disgusting taste that he almost spat the precious liquid back out. His eyes watered as he forced the vile liquid down his throat. It had looked so pretty, so inviting, but it had to be the worst thing that Remus had ever tasted.

Freya laughed a little at Remus's reaction.

"God, that's awful!" He coughed, blinking to stop his eyes from watering.

"Isn't it! And you can't add sugar to make it taste better as it makes the potion ineffective." Freya told him.

Remus and Freya continued to take their potion by the lake every day after last lesson. Remus felt great, his usual aches and pains and tiredness were nowhere to be seen. He couldn't believe quite how affective the potion was.

The day of the full moon, Remus started to feel a little tired, but nowhere near the level of illness that usually fell upon him.

When the sun set, and darkness started to fall, Remus and Freya sat side by side at the far end of the lake, out of view of the castle.

Remus's senses were heightened. He could smell the dew on the grass, he could hear the wings of insects beating as they floated through the damp spring air, and he could feel the moon as it approached, as it rose over the tops of the trees.

The transformation was still painful. Every bone still had to change shape. They snapped and re-formed, and Remus and Freya cried out in pain as the transformation took place, but once it was over, Remus felt a sense of consciousness that he had never felt before.

He was the wolf, but he was in control.