Charmolypi

Chapter 134

The group set off down the corridor, looking for an empty compartment, but all were full except for the one at the very end of the train. This had only one occupant, a man sitting fast asleep next to the window. The stranger was wearing an extremely shabby set of wizard's robes that had been darned in several places. He looked ill and exhausted. Though quite young, his light brown hair was flecked with gray.

"Who d'you reckon he is?" Ron hissed as they sat down and slid the door shut, taking the seats farthest away from the window.

"Who is that?"

"Why is there an adult on the train?"

"That looks like Moony when he's sick," Sirius said softly. As if hearing his words, Remus turned to look at him, his eyes wide.

"Professor R. J. Lupin," whispered Hermione at once.

All eyes were on Remus, and he was looking at the future generation, not believing what he was seeing or hearing.

"Do I become a professor at Hogwarts in the future?" Remus asked, genuinely afraid of the answer he would receive.

"Yes," Thea answered with a smile. "You were the best professor."

"How d'you know that?"

"It's on his case," Thea replied, pointing at the luggage rack over the man's head, where there was a small, battered case held together with a large quantity of neatly knotted string. The name Professor R. J. Lupin was stamped across one corner in peeling letters.

"Wonder what he teaches?" said Ron, frowning at Professor Lupin's pallid profile.

"That's obvious," whispered Hermione.

"There's only one vacancy, isn't there? Defense Against the Dark Arts" Thea explained when she saw the slightly confused look on the Weasley bot's face.

Remus had a worried smile on his face. "I'm glad that I got to teach at Hogwarts, but what about the curse?"

"What curse are you talking about, Mr. Lupin?" Minerva asked, having always had high hopes when I came to the young prefect.

"The Defense Against the Dark arts curse," he quickly said, and every student understood what he was talking about.

"What?" Dumbledore asked, confused by the claim.

"Sir, we all have reason to believe that there's a curse on that specific teaching position," Regulus quickly explained.

"Ever DADA teacher leaves after one year, or something bad happens to them," Andromeda supported her cousin's statement.

"It's true," Harry added.

"No one was able to keep the job for more than a year except Quirrell, and that was because he had the help of Voldemort," Thea explained.

"So what happens to me?" Remus asks again.

"You don't die," Thea quickly reassured him. "But for the rest, I'm sure you're going to need to keep watching to know what happened." Remus visibly relaxed, but that did not mean he didn't have a sad expression on his face.

"Well, I hope he's up to it," said Ron doubtfully. "He looks like one good hex would finish him off, doesn't he? Anyway . . ." He turned to Harry. "What were you going to tell us?"

Harry explained all about Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's argument and the warning Mr. Weasley had just given him and his sister. When he'd finished, Ron looked thunderstruck, and Hermione had her hands over her mouth. Thea looked beyond mad, but it was obvious she was keeping quiet in order not to wake up the sleeping professor.