It was another day of drifting snow.
A few owls were cutting through the stormy sky delivering mail.
The Great Hall roared with warm fire, but the drafty corridors were still bitterly cold, and icy wind rattled the classroom windowpanes with a constant clatter.
Whitey hadn't brought Sean any mail in a long time, but today it swooped down from the rafters onto his shoulder and, unexpectedly, dropped a letter into his hands.
[The bookshop renovations are complete. Please remit payment.]
It was from Green Bookshop.
That letter also meant Lupin would soon be moving in.
The Plan Map floated out; at the [Hogsmeade] marker, a red exclamation mark flared briefly.
Sean thought it over just as Justin received an identical letter.
Justin glanced at Sean, and Sean gave a small nod in return.
"Good thing it's a Sunday…"
Justin said with a gentle smile.
"Sean, when are we heading out?"
"Now."
Sean said.
He flicked his wand, and a thin potions book zipped back into his expanded bag.
Thanks to the enormous-space extension bag that Professor McGonagall had given him, Sean's satchel basically contained a mini library.
Lately he'd been wondering: did extension charms count as high-level alchemical artifacts?
After all, that sort of magic was extremely advanced even by Harry Potter-world standards.
Leaving the Great Hall, Sean and Justin took the stairs and turned into a corridor.
The light here was particularly dim. One pane of glass had come loose, and a blast of freezing wind blew in, snuffing out all the torches.
"Sean, I've been meaning to ask you something."
Justin suddenly said. Lately he'd been carrying around a nagging worry and sense of unease he couldn't quite name.
"Mm."
Sean nodded.
"It's about Mr. Lupin."
Justin frowned slightly.
"He must be someone truly capable—your judgment is never off. But at the same time… what could have made him end up so… battered by life?"
"He's a werewolf."
Sean answered, simple and straightforward.
"A werewolf… a werewolf?"
Justin faltered for a second. Outside, the blizzard howled even louder.
The corner of his mouth slowly curled up.
He realized his worry had been a bit unnecessary. The boy beside him always loved to stand off to one side as if nothing touched him, but when you actually asked, you would get an answer.
And that told him something: they were in this together.
…
Hogsmeade was always dotted with magical candles—ever-burning candles, whose little flames could be seen in every corner of the village.
A travel-worn man, lugging an old suitcase, stepped into the snow.
The regulars at the Three Broomsticks were clearly no strangers to him; as he came in, several people gave him odd looks.
He tugged his hood down over his face.
His clothing was as strange as his habits: a well-cut robe, boots polished to a shine—paired with a shabby old hat and a battered suitcase.
As if anything that wasn't absolutely necessary to display had to be reduced to the bare minimum cost.
Faced with the odd looks inside the Three Broomsticks, Lupin quickened his pace just a little.
The silver-white owl had brought a letter, telling him the room above the shop was ready. Attached was a contract.
The final line at the bottom had left him especially dazed:
[Until Remus John Lupin finds a stable permanent residence and the employment contract is terminated, Green Bookshop grants him unlimited residential rights on its premises.]
Folding the contract away, he couldn't help but smile.
He'd completely forgotten that today was his moving day.
And wizards, when they move, often hold a housewarming party—a "warming the house" gathering.
The moment he stepped into the bookshop,
over in Diagon Alley,
Manager Gert had a rare free moment. Not far from her, Justin and Sean were returning from a supply run.
"That's it? My dear bosses, you broke school rules just to go shopping for ten minutes?"
"To Hogsmeade."
Sean replied.
"All right, all right, who told you to pay me double wages, anyway."
Gert didn't pry.
So three more figures stepped out into the snow.
Walking through the lively streets of Hogsmeade, Sean and Justin passed many witches and wizards.
In the winter sunlight outside Honeydukes, the air was full of laughter; Zonko's Joke Shop was packed with students whose pockets bulged with Dungbombs, Belch Powder, Frog Spawn Soap, and likely a Nose-Biting Teacup or two.
As the only all-wizard village in Britain, the place drew droves of magical tourists—and it was everything Hogwarts students dreamed about on long school days.
One fun detail: the trolley lady on the Hogwarts Express? That trolley was called the Honeydukes Express.
All its treats came from Honeydukes here in Hogsmeade.
They passed the newest Weasley & Green Wizard Wheezes—
It was the most crowded stop of all. People waved their Galleons in the air, stripping the shelves bare.
"New piece! The Werewolf Knight!"
A small wizard shouted, thrilled.
His shout drew every nearby kid's attention.
"You pulled the hidden piece from Oddball Wizards Chess?!"
His friend nearly shrieked.
Students not yet eleven, at their most mischievous, sprinted and shoved over to see the "Werewolf Knight" for themselves.
They tore past Sean and Justin like a gust of wind.
"Werewolf…"
Justin murmured, tightening his arms around the delicate potion boxes he was carrying.
Soon, the two of them reached Green Bookshop.
Inside, there were already plenty of customers.
Sean and Justin went straight up to the second floor, where an extra living room had been fully renovated.
Warm firelight was spilling out through the crack at the bottom of the door.
Through that crack, Sean could see the corner of a photo frame on the desk. Even without seeing the whole picture, the small, younger Remus in it made it easy to guess these were probably Lupin's parents.
It tugged loose his own memories of him.
Remus John Lupin, calm, capable, kind, and sharp-minded—a wizard bitten by Fenrir Greyback, turned into a werewolf who would lose control and hurt people under a full moon.
But the lifetime of fighting dark wizards and werewolves that his father had lived; the warmth and wisdom of his mother—those two together had shaped Lupin into a gentle, humble, deeply knowledgeable man.
His childhood was carved full of pain and loneliness, but the good family that raised him meant that he never fell into darkness, never became anything like Greyback and his ilk.
Inside the room,
Lupin had grown used to quiet, and used to being alone.
He'd never really remembered the idea of "housewarming parties"—for him, moving wasn't something worth celebrating.
Every time they moved, it was because the neighbours had discovered his "condition." Every temporary refuge turned into yet another place they had to abandon in a hurry.
The only time he could clearly recall walking out the front door with his head held high… was when Dumbledore came to take him to Hogwarts.
He could still hear that knock.
"Hello, Remus. My name is Albus Dumbledore."
Now Green Bookshop was veiled in a thin layer of white; snow decorated the shopfront, and little rivulets were melting down the second-floor windowpanes.
Right then, a knock sounded on the door:
"Hello, Mr. Lupin. It's me—Sean Green."