Oh yeah and the pressure on Remus is increasing because why wouldn’t we make him suffer?
Their new professor started by taking the register. When he called out for 'Black, Sirius,' James immediately replied 'Yes, Sir.' Sirius grinned at his friend, and, following James' lead, decided to respond when 'Potter, James' was called. Peter sniggered, Remus' lip twitched, and a few of the girls seemed amused too.
It turned out that Archie Aymslowe, who looked like someone who knew absolutely nothing about the Dark Arts, and certainly nothing about defending himself against them, was an expert in cursed objects.
'And we will cover the basics of such objects next term,' said professor Aymslowe, which caused an excited murmur amongst the students to break out. 'This term, however, we will be covering dark creatures.'
'Like werewolves, professor?' James said innocently, glancing at Remus, who they both suspected to be very afraid of werewolves. Remus didn't meet James' eyes, and Sirius saw that he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Now that they were friends with Remus again, James and Sirius were definitely going to have some fun with him.
'Werewolves?' Professor Aymslowe seemed momentarily taken aback, before he cleared his throat: 'Well, yes, Black - although, not in great detail. Our focus will be on creatures such as Red Caps, kappas, hinkypunks and grindylows. We will also cover Boggarts, though I am by no means an expert in the area. I have, however, been fortunate enough to work with one such expert on a few occasions -'
Here their professor looked at Remus, who blushed slightly, and Sirius remembered that Remus' father was recognised as an expert in Non-Human Spirituous Apparitions.
'- and I hope I'll be able to pass on his wisdom.'
Their professor paused to take a sip of water from a glass on his desk before he continued: 'However, you are expected to know that there are five signs to identify a werewolf from a regular wolf and we will cover those, though you are not expected to be able to remember all five until next year.'
'What's the use of that?' James blurted out. 'To know that there are differences, but not know which.'
'To instil, early on, that wolves and werewolves look very much alike,' professor Aymslowe answered, frowning. 'Please, rai-'
'Basically, if you see a wolf during the full moon, assume the worst,' Gemma offered.
'Quite, Miss Dawlish,' professor Aymslowe agreed, 'Now - please - if anyone wishes to speak, raise your hand.'
'Luckily I know the signs already,' James told Peter, Remus and Sirius confidently after class, 'no werewolf can fool me.'
'As if you'd have time to look closely should you ever come across one,' Sirius snorted. 'It's just stupid little differences in any case, like the shape of the snout... Dawlish is right, best to avoid any and all wolves during the full moon.’
'How do you guys know all of this?' Peter bemoaned.
James shrugged, then turned to Sirius again: 'Or we could go werewolf hunting. Saturday 23 is a full moon. The four of us could sneak out to the Forbidden Forest and see if we spot any.'
'That's an excellent idea,' Sirius grinned, knowing exactly why James had suggested it.
'Yeah, brilliant idea. Always dreamt about dying young,' Remus muttered, and Peter nodded in agreement.
'Oh come off it,' said Sirius, feeling a surge of impatience with the two boys.
'There aren't actually any werewolves in the Forbidden Forest,' agreed James, 'it's just good fun, sneaking around during the full moon. We might see some Mooncalves.'
Admit it already, Sirius thought, studying Remus' tense face, you're terrified of werewolves.
'I say we go,' said James firmly, 'all of us. It's about time we have an adventure together in the forest. Remember point number four in our pact?'
Sirius' point. To go on adventures with my best friends.
'We wouldn't want to break the pact now, would we,' Sirius raised his eyebrows at the two smaller boys.
Peter appeared to be nervous, but he nodded. Remus looked something else entirely. He seemed absolutely miserable, but until he was ready to admit to his fear, Sirius wasn't about to give him any breaks. Nor did it seem, was James.
Extract from chapter 69.