Wretched little beggar

An Interesting History of Magic Class

As time went on, a routine fell in place for M and the rest of the first years. They all began to navigate with more ease in the castle, especially M who probably knew more hidden passageways then most of the third years. She still didn't sleep in her bed, but would sleep more often in the common room, for she had to admit it was a lot more comfortable than a hard broom cupboard. She didn't go back to the dormitory except for showers, and she would take them during her free periods, when the dormitory was most likely to be empty.

Anyone who had known the young girl just two month ago probably wouldn't have recognized her at first glance. Her thin body had begun to fill up a bit, and her bones were less visible. Her hair, that had been a rat's nest, full of twigs and leaves from sleeping on the ground, was still unruly, but had acquired a sheen and lost most of its knots, with the help of a hairbrush she had nicked from the bed of one of the girls in the dormitory.

She kept it in the cupboard behind the drunken monk, along with her few other possessions, such as her leather jacket (that was still too big for her) and a wrinkled wanted poster of Jack Roberts that she had found when she was five.

On the 31st of october,  the little thief made her way to her first class: History of Magic. Although she probably was the only one in her class, except maybe for Hermione Granger, who paid attention in every class anyways, M actually liked this class, for even if the classes were boring, Professor Binns droned on and on about his dates, never asking them to read anything. This was one of the only classes where she wasn't handicaped compared to the others. Sure, she couldn't take notes, but she had a surprisingly good memory when it came to remebering things she'd heard only once.

Even after almost two month, M hadn't gotten much better at reading. She had made many trips to the library, trying to decipher the small black writing, and she could recognize some small words, but lacking a real teacher, she didn't progress much.

But a surprise was waiting for the first years when they entered the classroom. The translucide figure of Professor Binns was sitting at his desk as usual, but so was the tired figure of a brown haired man. He was standing in a corner of the classroom, and seemed to be there to tell them something.

Whispers started as soon as the pupils passed the door, but they took their place and waited for either man or ghost to speak.

-"My name is Remus Lupin. Professor Dumbledore has asked me to give you all a lesson of more ... modern history. Your Professor Binns feels more comfortable talking about things that happened either during his time or before... which he does very well." he added quickly, glancing at the ghost. "Furthermore I was... personally acquainted with the people linked to the subject we will... talk about."

The man seemed to have some difficulty pronouncing the words, as if it was a sensitive subject. Then he shook his head, recollected his thoughts, and spoke again, more clearly this time.

-"As most of you probably know, this is the tenth anniversary of the defeat of you-know-who. Ten years, on this very night, he went to kill the Potters... and never came back. Nobody truly knows what happened, and why a family that was... well, that was not that different from all the others he murdered finished him off. The only sure information that is known, is that the bodies of Pron- James and Lily Potter were found, but less commonly said, the one of their daughter was not. There is no logical explanation for that, and maybe that is why it is forgotten by society and not written in textbooks, but let me tell you, Euphemia Potter is - was very much alive. Some believe that her body disintegrated under one of you-know-who's spell. Some people... some people think she's still alive, and somewhere out there. Either living a brand new life with no idea of her past, or getting raised by you-know-who's loyal followers, to prepare the return of their master. In my opinion, those are... far-fetched stories, and hoping will only make it hurt more. While I wish that it was true, it seems ... very unlikely." At that time, Remus Lupin's voice broke again.

M didn't understand why the Headmaster had asked this man to teach them, out of all the wizarding community. This subject seemed particularly painful for him. And she knew how losing someone you loved feels like.

-"Now, I would like for all of you to get into groups of four, and make your own special theories about what might have happened. We will probably never know the truth, or get any more information then what I have told you, for there were no witnesses, so none of your theories will be wrong. Move along!" Lupin said, clapping his hands.

Every student got up and went with their friends into groups, except M who stayed alone in the back of the class, as always, hoping that the teacher wouldn't notice. Anyways, none of her classmates made a move towards her. But Lupin noticed, and called out.

-"I would like everyone to find classmates please! If necessary, a group of five or three can be created, but no one left alone."

M didn't like the unnecessary attention.The class looked around them until they realized who he was talking about. Ron Weasley decided  to tell the teacher what everyone was thinking.

-"But sir... it's not really our fault. She probably couldn't do this exercise anyway. She hasn't spoken a single word to anyone in these past two months, sir. We think she's mute or something." muttered the boy hurriedly.

-"That's hardly a reason to exclude her now, is it? Miss... What's her name?" Lupin asked, looking at rest of the class. This time, it was Parvati Patil who spoke.

-"It is apparently M, like the letter sir."

The man seemed slightly taken aback, like everybody else when they heard her name.

-"Oh... well, Miss...M, do you not want to take a sheet of paper and a quill and communicate that way?"

M pointedly ignored the question and stared at her hands. The fact that she was now the center of the whole class's attention annoyed her, and the man's lesson had quite intrigued her and she wanted to think about it quietly. The brown-haired teacher had talked about someplace called Godric's Hollow, which was , if she remembered correctly, where Jack had found her. The thief had always been evasive when the conversation came to her origins, and that was almost the only thing she knew about her life before Jack.

Lupin misinterpreted the lack of reaction from the girl's part, and turned to the attentively watching class.

-"Is she... uh... deaf too?" he asked.

M finally looked up to shoot a deadly glare at the teacher. The werewolf had to blink twice. He could have sworn it was the green glare of a certain red-haired witch when her husband did something stupid. But it wasn't possible. The talk from earlier had just gotten to his head, and he never felt well on this particular day. When he looked back at the girl, he had convinced himself that it was her eyes he was seeing. These ones had a hard, sharp and deadly glint in them that certainly weren't in her's. And anyway, this was all completely preposterous.

They had a staring/glaring contest that seemed to last an eternity, before M got up and stormed out of the classroom. Lupin was too bewildered to think of taking house points from Gryffindor or putting her in detention, and Professor Binns had floated away at some point.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! Well, it's shorter than I wanted it to be, at first I leant to add the wingardium leviosa and the troll in this chapter but it probably would have been to long. Also, I have no idea what this chapter was about, or why Moony was the one teaching, but I felt that she needed some suspicion about her identity.
Bye!