Chapter Text
September 1, 1971
Platform Nine and Three-Quarters had met it's busiest day of the year. Toy shops had Christmas, and pumpkin patches had Halloween, but this particularly peculiar train station had the first day of school.
Parents bustled along or were pulled by eager children, all dashing around with luggage of various shapes and sizes, clutching wands in their hands. They were all adorned with robes, some different textures and others with brighter shades, but most were plain and black. Somehow, the train station still looked like a merry place, even with all the dark clothing.
Merriest of all was an eleven-year-old boy, standing in line to get on the train. His wild black hair was sticking out at every possible angle, as if he'd been struck by lightning serveral times over. Even while lightning striked, he was rocking back and forth on the heels of his feet, humming to himself. "Excitement is an awfully hard thing to keep locked up inside, isn't it?" he quipped to the girl beside him.
"For you maybe, I'm feeling jittery all over for very different reasons."
"There's no need to be nervous, Penny, I've told you a million times! This is the moment of a lifetime, the greatest thing ever! Bask in the glory of it all!"
The girl tugged at her dry, frizzy hair. "But ... but what if we get put in different houses?"
"Nonsense," he dismissed the worry with ease. "I won't get anything but Gryffindor, and neither will you. It's the best house, and we are the best - so it only makes sense."
The boy and girl went by the names of Ben Potter and Penelope Pettigrew. The two had been friends for an awfully long time - since before either of them could walk. (Not since before Ben could talk however, since he had been blabbering on since the ripe age of ten months.)
That was mainly due to the fact that they had been living on the same street in the rich countryside of England their whole lives. Being the only two kids on the street, there was no one else to hang out with besides eachother.
Penelope had always feared that they would've never became friends if not given the circumstances. The two were quite at odds with eachother, even if they tended to overlook it.
Ben was brilliant. He was quick and daring and so full of laughter it constantly bubbled over - shining in his eyes and lighting up his grin. He'd been able to fly a broom since he was only five, and fly well at that. He seemed to be a natural at everything he tried.
Penelope wasn't a natural at anything. She was anxious, and slow, and had only now stopped crashing whenever she tried flying a broom. She wasn't confident or funny or anything. She was like a horribly bland peice of bread.
Despite it all, the two were friends.
The train let out a loud whistle.
"Guess that's our call to get on," Penelope said.
Ben grinned, and held out his hand to her. "Here's to an amazing first year at Hogwarts."
Penelope couldn't help smiling, and she took his hand.
Fredrick Black. Heir to the most noble house of Black. King amongst peasants. Ruler of snakes. Born for the throne.
It was all quite a lot, wasn't it? Freddie thought so. It all sounded ridiculous - but nothing was ridiculous in the house of Black. If you even cracked a smile, you were scolded.
You were also scolded if you drifted away during boring conversations, but alas there was nothing else to do, was there?
"Fredrick! Are you listening?"
"Huh?"
His cousin, Narcissa, groaned, her bleached-blonde hair sticking up on it's ends. Behind her, the window showed off the countryside of England, moving by so quickly it all blurred together. You could faintly hear the sound of the train on the tracks beneath them.
"The family is going to kill you two seconds into Hogwarts if you don't head my words, understand?" she snapped, her nasal voice sharp and cold.
Freddie rolled his eyes. "Father gave me the speech. And then Mother repeated it to me fifty times. I've headed the words, trust me."
His other cousin, Bellatrix, giggled from across him, her manically curly hair bouncing on her shoulders. "Someone's fed up with mummy and daddy."
"And that someone needs to stop treating this like a game," Narcissa went on. "Now, if you've headed the words, then repeat them to me. Your mother gave us express orders to make sure the heir behaved orderly."
Of course she did, Freddie thought glumly. Getting away from that dreaded house can't even save me now. "Once sorted into Slythyrin establish power, make sure the fellow students know who is incharge. Make allies with the Crouch son. Spend the school year studying hard and being the perfect heir, blah, blah, blah-"
"You are hopeless," Narcissa said. "Do you think me and Bella want to babysit you all year? No. If you do something wrong, that makes us look bad. So head my words. If you mess this up we'll kill you and stuff you on the mantel next to the taxidermy ravens."
"Got it, little Fred?" Bellatrix finished, her wild eyes burning into Freddie's skull.
He nodded, the knot that was his stomach sinking down to the train floor. This was going to be a long year.
Dumbledore's office was as strange as it was intimidating. Paintings mounted the walls all the way up to the ceilings high above. The only thing lighting the room was a crackling fire place, that brought shadows to life as they danced around the room.
On the chair across from an empty desk sat a small boy. His dark skin was set in shadows, with even darker hair that covered the uneasy eyes beneath.
Robbie Lupin sat on his hands to keep them from shaking. The room smelled like artifical fruit flavouring - the same kind that candies had. It was an odd smell. Robbie didn't like candy very much, he was more of a chocolate guy. Thankfully, the smell wasn't too strong - not enough to give him a headache, as Robbie was prone to do when a scent or a sound was too prominant. Still, it was enough to leave him a little confused. Who had an office that smelled of candy?
His eyes flitted around the room.
The door behind him opened, and he jumped at the loud creak.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting, Mr Lupin. There was some trouble in the Hufflepuff common room, something to do with missing luggage. That's all sorted now though, and I am all yours." You could hear the smile in the headmaster's voice.
Robbie nodded slightly. Dumbledore went and sat on the other side of the desk.
"Now, you probably have many questions, but first off I would like to say how happy I am to see you here at Hogwarts. When I sent you the invitation letter, I couldn't be sure that your parents would allow it."
Robbie seemed to shrink lower into his seat. "They ... they nearly hadn't."
"Oh?"
"Dad didn't want me to go. Said it would be too dangerous."
"Well, rest assured, you will be very safe here."
"N-not for me," Robbie stammered out. "For the other students."
Dumbledore didn't reply for a moment. "Well, that's no worry either. Not to boast, but I am a very powerful wizard. I know how to keep my students safe."
Robbie doubted that greatly, though he didn't say that out loud. No headmaster who put safety first would ever invite a werewolf to their school. No headmaster would invite a werewolf to their school, period. That wasn't a thing.
Werewolves were outcasted from normal society the second they got bit. They weren't humans anymore. They didn't have any rights. They were Dark Creatures who could not be trusted and lived only to ravage the world.
Robbie had been bitten at a very young age, and was one of the lucky few who's parents kept him - which was an extremely rare occurance. Most of the time, if they weren't killed, they were kicked out and a pack took them in.
They didn't get to be normal. They didn't get friends. They didn't get school. They didn't get jobs. They got kicked to the curb. They got ostracized and weren't seen as people with feelings other then ferocity. They got shorter life spans, and high chances of suicide.
All and all, the life of a werewolf was rather dull.
That's why Robbie was never expecting to go to Hogwarts. He was a wizard, technically, and he could do some magic - but going to Hogwarts was never going to happen. He was a werewolf. He wasn't allowed to interact with people lest he hurt them, so he stayed at home with only his parents.
Robbie read lots of books to keep entertained, and homeschooled himself. He lived in the countryside of Wales, on a big plot of land with some goats and a few chickens. His mom taught him how to fix a fence, and stitch a shirt. His dad taught him how to hold a wand and magically unlock a door.
But they had never expected the invitation letter to arrive on that August afternoon.
"Absolutely not! What is Dumbledore thinking? A werewolf cannot go to Hogwarts! He's a monster!" Dad shouted from the kitchen. Robbie had been sent to his room, but he could still hear every word.
"A monster!? Lyall, he's a kid! Kids go to school!"
"Not him!"
Robbie burrowed under his pillow, wishing his enhanced senses would leave him be.
But Robbie was here now, at Hogwarts. He didn't want to be. He knew he was dangerous, a threat to everyone around him. But that wasn't his only problem. He wasn't sure how to function around kids his age - what was he supposed to say? Do? It was very hard to be normal when you'd spent the last six years of your life wallowing in your strangeness.
It also made him uneasy. What had made his parents change their minds? Why had they ever allowed him to go? Why had Dumbledore ever sent that letter in the first place?
It was all as confusing as the scent of artifical fruit flavouring.
"The full moon is exactly a week from now, so you're probably properly curious as to how that will work?" Dumbledore said with a small smile. "I have set up a place for you to transform, a very safe place. I can garuntee there is no way your wolf form can escape. And, once you transform back, our doctor - Matron Bruder - will fix you up. He is a very talented, caring wizard who will have no problem at all with healing you."
Robbie hesitated. "Does he know?"
"Oh yes, all the staff do."
Robbie blanched.
"Don't panic," Dumbledore said calmly. "I swore them all to secrecy. Your secret is safe," he paused. "However ..."
"Yes?"
"I'll have to ask you to be cautious about making friends. None of your fellow students know, and it would be best to keep it that way. If anyone finds out, fear and outrage would spread like wild fire. Parents would find out. They would contact the ministry. I would have no choice but to -"
"-Kick me out," Robbie nodded. "Yes, I know. I won't tell anyone."
"And I beleive you. I'm a good judge of character, and I know you can keep a secret, but I still would request you don't get too close with your peers. Closeness breeds the spilling of secrets."
Robbie knew. His father and him had this exact conversation at the train station.
"Remember to keep your head down and mouth shut, understand Robbie? If anyone finds out, then they might try to kill you to protect themselves. The word might get to the ministry, and I'd loose my job. Lotta bad things could happen, so don't draw attention to yourself. No friends. You are only there for school."
"Yes dad."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"I promise," Robbie said to Dumbledore, and with that, he was dismissed.