Remus awoke early on the morning of September first, 1971. It was a testament to his excitement for the start of school. With it being only the third day after the full moon, he normally would have slept at least another hour, and then, the stiffness and aches and pains that were the result of his transformation would have made him want to stay in bed even longer. But not today….

He got up and proceeded to get ready for the trip to Hogwarts. Looking at his reflection in the mirror as he brushed his teeth, he could see that his bruises had all but vanished. The new bruise-healing paste his mum had found at Slug & Jiggers Apothecary during their trip to Diagon Alley was much better than the old one. Someday, someone will invent one that heals bruises in a day, he thought hopefully. Most of the cuts and bites were healing nicely, although there was a pretty nasty one on his upper right arm. There just wasn’t much one could do about werewolf inflicted wounds. So, he was awfully thankful for the fact that the school robes would cover everything except his face and hands. Nicked up hands were easy enough to explain away, especially for an eleven year old boy. The cut on the side of his face could be from just about anything; running through the woods, his owl, or a dog. As he scrutinized his appearance, he thought it was too bad he was still peaky and scratched up, not to mention sore and tired, for the first day at school. But overall, the timing of the full moon couldn’t have been better. Now, he would have almost an entire month before the next transformation. He was nervous about that. He had never awakened from one without his mum there to care for him. 

Don’t be a baby, Remus. You’re eleven and a half years old! he told himself. And, you are going to HOGWARTS! The reflection in the mirror broke into a wide grin.

His mum and dad escorted him on the train ride to King’s Cross Station and onto platform 9 and �. When his eyes fell upon the gleaming scarlet engine of the Hogwarts Express, the breath caught in his throat. It finally hit him that he was really going. He decided, in that moment, that Albus Dumbledore was truly the greatest wizard who had ever lived.

Remus waited excitedly as a handful of passengers disembarked from the train cars before the students were allowed to board. Among them was a girl about his age, with long dark hair pulled back in a barrette. His gaze followed her as she walked by, but the conductor called for boarding, and he turned back to the steaming engine of the Hogwarts Express. He was nearly bursting with excitement. He hugged his parents unashamedly as his mother tried, but failed to fight back tears. He knew she was happy for him, but also worried. 

“It’ll be alright, Mum,” he said reassuringly. She smiled at him and kissed his cheek before gently pushing him towards the train. In his excitement, Remus didn’t suspect that she gave no reply for fear of her voice cracking and releasing the sobs she would save for the trip home.

“Good luck, Son,” said his father, clapping him on the shoulder. “Let us know how you’re doing… And have FUN!” 

He waved one last time and climbed on board. When he came to an empty compartment, he settled into a window seat and waited…and watched. The platform quickly became crowded with families loaded down with trunks and animal cages. Amid the chaos, Remus witnessed many goodbyes, some rushed and some tearful. As a mother hugged her young daughter, tears running down the woman’s reddened face, Remus noticed that he wasn’t the only one interested in the emotional display. The dark-haired girl he had seen earlier was standing next to a column just outside his compartment window watching with great interest. He found himself wondering about her…Where had she been? Why was she getting off instead of on; she looked like she should be in school? After a moment, the young woman who had accompanied the girl off the train walked up and rested her hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“That will be us next year,” she said wistfully, watching the crying mother and daughter.

“But we won’t cry,” said the girl.

“Speak for yourself. Are you that anxious to leave your poor mum?” asked the woman. She mocked a small pout and the girl smiled. 

“No,” said the girl guiltily. “But I can’t wait to go to Hogwarts!” Her wide eyes flashed brightly. “Why couldn’t we stay with Rosmerta another day so we could see the students arrive?”

“You get to see them leave; isn’t that enough? Come on, Lindi; I’m getting you out of here before you decide to stowaway in someone’s trunk. You might be ready for Hogwarts, but I’m not!” The woman grabbed the girl’s hand and started to drag her off. Before the girl went willingly, she looked up and caught him watching her. She smiled, looking rather envious, and gave him a tiny wave. He smiled back and was a bit unnerved by the strange flutter in his stomach. It must have been the excitement of seeing so many new people. Yes, that was it; what else could it be?

When the girl and her mum had disappeared through the barrier from platform 9 and �, Remus turned his attention to the corridor as people passed by his compartment, laughing and calling to friends. He noticed some who were obviously first years, as well. They were wandering about with nervous excitement. He hoped someone would come and join him so he wouldn’t be all alone for the journey, and after a few minutes, the door opened and a boy with shaggy ginger hair and a rather bemused look on his face stepped inside.

“Mind if I sit here?” the boy asked as he stowed his trunk. 

“Not at all,” said Remus brightly. The boy took the seat across from him and started looking around. “Are you a first year?” asked Remus.

“Yeah, I’m Mundungus Fletcher, you?”

“Remus Lupin. I’m first year, too. Nice to meet you.”

They were joined by a short, rather pudgy boy named Peter Pettigrew. He seemed nice enough, though a bit distracted by the students walking by in the corridor. Finally, Remus felt the train pull away from the station. As it picked up speed, a tall boy with stringy black hair, pale face and hooked nose entered the compartment and sat down without even asking. He didn’t seem very friendly, but Remus figured the boy was probably nervous, too. Plus, the compartment didn’t belong to any of them, after all.

The trip was pleasant, with light conversation: Where are you from? What class are you looking most forward to? What house do you hope you get in?…

“I’m hopin’ fer Hufflepuff, myself,” said Mundungus. There was a rather disdainful snort from the black haired boy. 

“That’s surprising,” he said very sarcastically.

“No, not really,” said Fletcher, clearly missing the fact that he had been insulted. “Fer some reason, nobody really expects much from ‘em. I figure, even if I botch the whole thing up, if I’m in Hufflepuff, nobody’ll be that disappointed, ey?”

“My mum was in Hufflepuff,” said Peter defensively.

“My father told me some of the best people he’s worked with were in Hufflepuff,” Remus said to Peter supportively. “He said all the houses have their strengths and benefits. Do you want to be in Hufflepuff, Peter?”

Peter hesitated. “Not really,” he admitted. “I think I might like to be in either Gryffindor or Slytherin. Most of the coolest blokes I know have been in one of those. According to Mum, Slytherin is a little cut-throat, though. I don’t know if I’m really cut out for that. What about you?”

“I don’t really think it will matter. According to a book I read, the way they sort you is pretty sound. I expect I’ll be satisfied wherever they put me.” Remus looked at the black-haired boy who was watching them silently. “What about you…er…I’m sorry, I don’t know your name?”

“I see no reason to dwell on it,” he said coldly. “Why set your hopes on one only to be put in another? They’ll put me where they put me,” he said waving his hand dismissively. “I can only hope it isn’t crawling with Mu…” he looked around at the three boys with a sneer. “Well, never mind.”

“Yeah…well…alright,” said Mundungus brightly. “So, you got a name or can we jus’ call you Sunshine?”

The boy sneered even more and hissed, “You can call me Snape, if you must.”

No… Remus didn’t think Snape was very friendly at all. Of course, some people weren’t good in unfamiliar settings and with new people. Fortunately, the snack trolley arrived and they busied themselves eating sweets and pasties, talking of wizard card collections and Quidditch. It was wonderful, even if Snape only threw in a snide remark here and there. Remus thought he probably wanted to be involved but just wasn’t loaded with social grace.

Finally, they arrived at the Hogsmeade station and were loaded into boats to cross the lake to Hogwarts. When he caught his first glimpse of the castle, Remus felt a wave of excitement. He couldn’t wait to get inside and explore the magnificent structure. 

Remus soon found himself waiting anxiously with the other first years. The rather intimidating witch, Professor McGonagall, had left them in a chamber with instructions to straighten their robes and tidy themselves before they would be taken to the sorting. As he looked around at the nervous faces, a few caught his attention. There was a girl who was somewhat taller than the others, with honey-colored hair, and he felt a little embarrassed when he thought to himself that she was quite pretty. He thought again of the girl at the train station…the feeling he had gotten in his stomach when she smiled at him. He had thought she was pretty, too, come to think of it. Yuck, Remus! It wasn’t like he liked girls or anything, well not like that anyway. Of course, his dad had told him he would soon enough. As hard as it was to believe, he had read enough and seen enough in town to realize it was probably true. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be all those couples running around holding hands and kissing and…It was almost enough to make him shiver. He figured he had a couple of good years before things started getting weird. But, from the looks of things, this was the place to be when that dreaded day arrived. In addition to the tall girl there was a cute little brunette, and a rather pretty redhead who was being harassed by a couple of dark-haired boys. 

From what Remus could glean from their conversation, the girl must be Muggle-born, and the boys were trying to scare her about the sorting. It didn’t seem to be working. Remus had the feeling that she had done some research on the wizarding world before arriving. The boys were undaunted and moved on to a frightened looking boy. They kept asking if he remembered to bring things that Remus knew didn’t even exist, but the poor boy didn’t have a clue and was starting to panic. They had attracted a fair amount of attention to themselves and obviously enjoyed it. Peter was watching them with transparent admiration. Remus found himself laughing at their antics along with many of the other new students. But, even these two didn’t seem to amuse Mr. Snape, who watched them with near contempt on his face. Sunshine apparently didn’t like jokes.

Before they got too out of control, Professor McGonagall returned, and Remus felt some consolation when the two cool boys appeared to tense at her arrival just as much as anyone else. As he looked at the faces around him once more, he had a miserable thought. He was the only werewolf at the school. What if they decided he was too different to fit in anywhere? 

Nonsense! Headmaster Dumbledore is in charge and he says I can stay, Remus told himself sternly. But what if I get sorted, but everyone finds out, and I still don’t have any friends?The thought came to him unbidden. He had been so excited about the prospect of attending Hogwarts that he hadn’t thought of anything negative, until now. Stop it , Remus! Don’t ruin this for yourself. You’ll just make sure nobody finds out. What you should be worrying about is failing your classes or getting on McGonagall's bad side. After all, he had never had friends before, anyway. But if he botched up his classes he’d be thrown out of school. That he couldn’t bear.

As McGonagall opened the doors into the Great Hall, Remus’ fears were replaced with the sense of wonder he had felt when he had seen the castle. As they filed to the front of the hall and the hat sang its song, Remus' mind was churning. He couldn’t stop himself looking down the staff table. Those were the people who would be teaching him the wonders of the world. When his gaze lingered on the tall silver haired wizard at the center, he felt a surge of gratitude, and the man seemed to sense this, for he turned and looked Remus squarely in the eye and gave an ever-so-slight smile. It happened so quickly, and then the Professor looked away again. But in that brief glance, Remus had felt great warmth and acceptance. He was ready to be sorted.

He awaited his turn and watched as those before him nervously sat beneath the hat when Professor McGonagall called their names.

“Baumgartner, Patsy,” was quickly made a Hufflepuff and the students at that table erupted into cheers.

“Beerbohm, Mitchell,” was made a Ravenclaw and his new house cheered. 

Remus watched with mild interest as one of the dark-haired boys stepped forward when the name “Black, Sirius,” was called. He sat under the hat for a moment. The Sorting Hat’s decision obviously came as a surprise for when it cried out “Gryffindor!” there wasn’t an outburst of applause. Instead, the Gryffindors stared slack-jawed at their new housemate as a startled murmur arose from a group at the Slytherin table. A lovely blonde girl who looked to be fifth or sixth year, was whispering to a very beautiful girl with long dark hair. The dark-haired girl had to be a seventh year and she had a shocked look on her face. While the lovely Slytherin girls appeared to be stunned by Black’s sorting, Black, himself, seemed unfazed. He took the hat off and, grinning broadly, joined the now cheering students at the Gryffindor table, and the sorting continued.

“Dagget, Felicia.” Remus saw the tall, honey haired girl become a Slytherin.

“Daniels, Jeffrey.” “Ravenclaw!”

“Evans, Lily.” The redhead became a Gryffindor and took a seat next to Black.

“Fletcher, Mundungus,” got his wish to be a Hufflepuff and looked very pleased about it.

“Haversham, Leanna,” a skinny little blonde girl, was obviously proud to be named a Ravenclaw. 

“Keller, Celia,” became the next Gryffindor and at long last, it was his turn.

“Lupin, Remus.” He was amazed at the steadiness with which he climbed onto the stool. A sense of calm came over him when the hat started talking to him without mentioning his…affliction.

“You have a great thirst for knowledge, I see. Ravenclaw could satisfy you there,” the hat said. “But, there is great courage in your heart. Yes, that is what I sense most strongly. So, I think it shall be GRYFFINDOR!”

Remus’ heart beat fiercely. While what he had said on the train was true, he had secretly hoped to be in Gryffindor. He had liked what he read of Godric Gryffindor in his Hogwarts, A History book. Of course, his mum and dad had both been in Ravenclaw, so that would have been good too. As he joined his fellow Gryffindors at the house table, he felt almost as happy as he had when he received his letter. In his excitement, he almost missed Peter’s sorting. However, Peter had to sit there for a while. Finally, the hat shouted “Gryffindor” and the chubby boy practically jumped to the table.

“Potter, James” was called and the second of the cool dark-haired boys stepped forward. He pushed his glasses up and instinctively smoothed down the tuft of black hair standing up at the crown of his head, but it sprang back immediately. Professor McGonagall gave him a slightly disapproving smirk as she sat the hat down over it. The hat wiggled a bit before shouting “GRYFFINDOR!”

When Potter arrived at the table, he slapped Black on the shoulder before taking his seat. Remus wondered if they were childhood mates.

The sorting continued and a tall muscular boy who looked more like a third year stepped up when the name “Rosier, Evan” was called. He was made a Slytherin and their house cheered loudly. 

When “Snape, Severus” was made a Slytherin, Potter leaned across Evans and made a face at Black. 

“Couldn’t have seen that coming,” he said and the boys sniggered.

“Starling, Fern,” became a Hufflepuff.

Finally, a pudgy girl with black pigtails was left. “Wilkins, Darlene” was sorted into Ravenclaw and the sorting was over.

As Professor McGonagall removed the sorting hat and stool, Professor Dumbledore approached the podium and waved his hand. Suddenly, the first years’ plain black robes were accented with the colors and crest of their houses. 

“Welcome to Hogwarts!” said Dumbledore brightly. “May you all be happy in your new houses. To all those returning, welcome back! I have some announcements before we get to our feast. First, I’d like to welcome a new member to the staff. Mr. Filch will be assistant caretaker to our own Mr. Pringle. I’m sure we will all appreciate his efforts to make Hogwarts a clean and pleasant environment in which to live and learn.” Professor Dumbledore waved his hand towards a rather bitter looking man who seemed to be sneering at them all rather than smiling as the Headmaster led the students in a round of applause.

“A reminder that the dark forest is off limits to students,” the Professor continued. Remus noticed Potter and Black exchange mischievous glances and smile. He had to admit, it did sound intriguing. “Also, there is a new tree on the school grounds that I urge all who do not wish to be bludgeoned to death to avoid. It is a fine specimen of Whomping Willow, but, it…is…deadly. Beware of it!” 

Remus tensed and looked around, but no one seemed to associate the tree with his presence. Why would they? But he knew of its purpose from the letter he had received on the arrangements Dumbledore had made for Remus’ monthly transformations. He thought the idea of the Whomping Willow was brilliant. He just wished it had been planted for reasons other than to guard the passage leading to him when he was transformed.

“Now, let the feast begin!” Dumbledore spread his arms again and a magnificent feast appeared on each table. A dull roar rose up as the students began talking animatedly while filling their plates.

Remus suddenly wished he hadn’t eaten all those sweets on the train, but his appetite was finally returning after the full moon, and he, like the others, loaded up his plate. He joined in the conversation from time to time, but mainly he listened. He found that he was correct in assuming that Lily Evans was Muggle-born and had done a fair amount of research before arriving in the wizarding world. Martin Deevers, a small boy with curly hair, was from South Wales and his mother was a Muggle. Remus could tell that Peter was thrilled to become a Gryffindor and had clearly become impressed with Black and Potter who, surprisingly had never met until the train ride. Black proudly announced that he was the first from his family to sort into a house other than Slytherin in centuries, which explained the reaction his sorting had received. Potter seemed obsessed with Quidditch, and kept steering the conversation towards the sport and his chances of playing for the house team, broomsticks, etc…

After all the desserts had been eaten, the house prefects gathered the first years together and led them to their houses. When they arrived at the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, a fifth year named Gideon Prewitt showed them the portrait of the Fat Lady and gave them all the password, wonky snockit. They entered a large but cozy round room decorated in the house colors of red and gold with a crackling fire in a large fireplace and chairs that looked quite comfortable.

“This is where you’ll come to hang out, play games or even study from time to time,” said Gideon. “But, now I’m going to give you your room assignments and I suggest you get settled and try to get some rest. Classes start tomorrow and you’ll want to be sharp. I’ll be here for a while in case you need anything.”

Remus found his name on the list and climbed the steep stone staircase until he finally reached his room. He found another boy putting his things in one of the five dressers. Remus walked in followed by two others and he picked a bed and placed his black school hat upon it before turning to introduce himself. He had seen them at the feast but, hadn’t really had a chance for formal introductions. 

“Hello, I’m Remus Lupin,” he said softly.

“Alright, Remus? I’m Archimedes Jones,” said a skinny boy with large ears, “but everyone calls me Archie.” 

“Ryan Shaugnessy, here,” said a husky dark-haired boy.

Martin Deevers introduced himself to the others and they all looked at one another, smiling awkwardly. Remus suddenly realized he would be sharing a room for the first time since he could remember. It was exciting and a bit nerve wracking. Shortly, they were joined by a fifth boy who introduced himself as Kirby Fleetwood. So, these boys were to be his roommates. They seemed alright to Remus and they sat up getting acquainted well into the night. When Remus finally lay down to sleep, his mind was reeling from the excitement of the day. Still, he was very tired and it didn’t take long for him to drift off, knowing more excitement lay ahead.