𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹, draco malfoy

˗ˋ 29

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
✧
-: third year :-

── IN WHICH IT'S EXPLAINED AND PROVEN

. . .

"I was a very small boy when I received the bite." Lupin began, looking rather weary as he started his tale. "My parents tried everything, but in those days there was no cure. The potion that Professor Snape has been making for me is a very recent discovery. It makes me safe, you see. As long as I take it in the week, preceding the full moon, I keep my mind when I transform... I'm able to curl up in my office, a harmless wolf, and wait for the moon to wane again."

"Before the Wolfsbane Potion was discovered, however, I became a fully fledged monster once a month. It seemed impossible that I would be able to come to Hogwarts. Other parents weren't likely to want their children exposed to me."  Lupin continued on, and Marlie felt positively sick at the tale - people were so cruel to someone who had no control over the thing that plagued them the most.

"But then Dumbledore became Headmaster, and he was sympathetic. He said that as long as we took certain precautions, there was no reason I shouldn't come to school..." Lupin sighed, and looked directly at Marlie and Harry. "I told you two, months ago, that the Whomping Willow was planted the year I came to Hogwarts. The truth is that it was planted because I came to Hogwarts. This house.." Lupin trailed off, looking miserably around the room.

"This house and the tunnel that leads to it - they were built for my use. Once a month, I was smuggled out of the castle, into this place, to transform.The tree was placed at the tunnel entrance to stop anyone coming across me while I was dangerous." The only other sound other than Lupin's story was the rat's squeaking, the four teenagers and Sirius Black were listening carefully, although it seemed that the prisoner already knew it all.

"My transformations in those days were - were terrible. It is very painful to turn into a werewolf. I was separated from humans to bite, so I bit and scratched myself instead. The villagers heard the noise and the screaming and thought they were hearing particularly violent spirits. Dumbledore encouraged the rumor... Even now, when the house has been silent for years, the villagers don't dare approach it..." Professor Lupin seemed almost horrified at himself as he told the story.

"But apart from my transformations, I was happier than I had ever been in my life. For the first time ever, I had friends, three great friends. Sirius Black... Peter Pettigrew... and, of course, your father, Harry, Marlie - James Potter." Marlie could hear her heart beating in her ears as her father's name passed through Lupin's lips.

"Now, my three friends could hardly fail to notice that I disappeared once a month. I made up all sorts of stories. I told them my mother was ill, and that I had to go home to see her.. I was terrified they would desert me the moment they found out what I was. But of course, they, like you two, worked out the truth." Lupin gestured over to Hermione, and nodded at Marlie. 

"And they didn't desert me at all. Instead, they did something for me that would make my transformations not only bearable, but the best times of my life. They became Animagi." Lupin revealed, and Marlie's eyes widened.

Harry's actions instantly mimicked hers, eyebrows raised and jaw dropping. "My dad too?" Harry asked, astounded.

"Yes, indeed," Lupin nodded. "It took them the best part of three years to work out how to do it. Your father and Sirius here were the cleverest students in the school, and lucky they were, because the Animagus transformation can go horribly wrong - one reason the Ministry keeps a close watch on those attempting to do it. Peter needed all the help he could get from James and Sirius. Finally, in our fifth year, they managed it. They could each turn into a different animal at will."