CURSES AND CANDIES - REMUS LUPIN

𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑒.

The hallways of Hogwarts were crowded full of students transitioning class periods for their last block of the day before dinner on that Wednesday night. It was many of their first days back after the long summer, and things felt different.

The war had begun to increase its toll on the families of the students, and many of them were left with only one or neither parents. Older siblings that had gone out to fight for either side were dropping by the day, and with every death of a teenager, Hogwarts deeply mourned the loss of one of their alumni.

A group of seventh year N.E.W.T. students were headed to Transfiguration on this evening, Sebastian Fink with his friends among them. He had been in a good mood ever since Hollis had returned to the school with the message from his boyfriend, an extra pep in his step at the reminder of Sirius.

"Good evening, professor," he called out to McGonagall, who gave him a tight yet genuine smile back. 

"Settle down, settle down," she said, raising her arms to the teenagers. "Just because you are in your seventh year now does not give you permission to misbehave in my class."

There were a few more moments of quill and wands being pulled out of bags and wooden seats screeching against the floor before all attention was directed back towards McGonagall.

"I am delighted to see that so many of you have decided to an advanced level, but I must also warn you," she started with a stern tone. "This is no easy course-"

She was interrupted by the loud hoot of a large yellow owl soaring into the room inches away from her student's heads, making many of them press their ears to their desks to avoid being hit with the envelope it was carrying in its talons.

The owl swiftly dropped the letter directly into McGonagall's hands instead of on her desk. Typically, letters would wait in the owlery so that they could be delivered at breakfast the next morning, but this one must have been specifically instructed to get to the professor as quickly as possible.

"Someone really wanted to owl you, professor," a Ravenclaw called out. "Who's it from?"

McGonagall would never let a letter interrupt her class, so she was about to set it down on her desk and reply to the Ravenclaw before she recognized one of the favourite student's handwriting on the envelope.

She had to place a trembling hand against her desk for support as she read its contents.

To the Most Astounding Woman I Have Ever Met, Minerva (Minnie) McGonagall,

I would like you to know what you mean to me not only as a professor but as a motherly figure.

When I first arrived at Hogwarts in 1971, I was automatically judged by dozens of students because of my last name at the time, Rosier. They assumed that I was to be cruel and haughty simply because of that one name. The moment I stepped into your classroom, though, I felt that all melt away. To you, I was just another eleven year old ready to be taught, and you cared not of my reputation or anything of the sort.

Ever since that wondrous first day, I found a sort of safe place in your classroom I had never before found at home.

Then, in my fifth year, things started to take a turn for the worse. When I pulled away from the Slytherins, you were the person who supported me and saw what was happening without turning a blind eye as so many others did.

Whether you know it or not, you gave me the strength to become a Marauder.

Whenever I would need guidance, the first option was always 'just go to Minnie's office, she'll know what to do.' Your stern yet caring advice saved me from either making a mistake to hurt others or myself many times.