Lupa | Teddy Lupin

Chapter 13 - A Remedy?

There wasn't much Remus could do before the next full moon gleamed like a ghostly, haunting orb in the sky.

The whole day of the moon Maddie couldn't even leave the common room for nerves. When other students saw her sitting in the corner, they cowered away, afraid of what she may become. Alas, when the sun sank below the towering mountains, making the January snow bleed red, Maddie marched down to the Whomping Willow, her head bowed low. To her relief, the sun set early in the Scottish winter and she encountered no one in the corridors due to lessons.

She stepped outside the great oak doors and instantly an icy wind clenched its hand around her. The howls whispered in her ears, reminding her of the monster she had tried so hard to hide inside of her. Shivering, she hurried over to the restless tree and found there the nurse.

Madam Pomfrey's face was as tight and strict as ever, but her eyes could not have been kinder. She took Maddie's frozen hand in her warm ones and looked at her through her chocolate brown eyes.

"You know what to do my dear." She reassured the young girl, who still said nothing. She nodded and swallowed.

"Immobulus!" She cried and the tree froze into place. Taking a final breath and a final glance at the melting sunlight, Maddie disappeared beneath the roots of the tree.

Madam Pomfrey sighed sadly as she watched the brave young woman disappear into the passage below. She turned back towards the ageing castle and slowly made her way back. As she closed the door to the entrance of the infirmary, the final blood red glow disappeared below the mountains. The golden streams ceased to run through the room and the sky turned inky and black. Stars began to creep across the horizon and soon the reflection of the full moon could be seen in the Black Lake. As it rippled, glowing against the murky water a distant howl could be heard from a girl in a lot of pain.

***

Maddie marched through the passage as quickly as she could. Over the years she had learned to ignore the spiders that fell and the rats that scuttled past her feet. Even though she was only walking briskly she started to pant with the effort. The darkness around her seemed to spin a little. However, she shook her head and continued to hurry to the shrieking shack.

When she finally pulled herself up into the room, her muscles ached. However, she didn't have a moment to dwell on the pain as she quickly noted the silver light seeping through the wooden boards. She quickly undressed and let the moonlight take over her skeletal body.

In a flash the changes started happening. First her hind legs grew and spine lengthened. Maddie let out an ear splitting scream. The cuts on her back stretched and stung and bled as her body grew to a towering height. Her hands clawed and her fingernails sharpened and in her distress she clawed at her arms and chest. Her teeth sharpened and her eyes dilated and a snout began to grow. Soon enough she had a tail and body was covered in fur.

The young werewolf was now merely whimpering in the pain of her new body. She let out a howl and began tearing at her flesh.

First she crouched low and sniffed the air. She smelt only a distant human, the stale scent of someone who had been in her place a few minutes before. Her throat made a permanent growling noise. She was hungry. So, so hungry. As in more than normal. As if she hadn't had a full meal in weeks.

She howled in fury and frustration. She bit into her arm and at the feel of the blinding pain, she began to thrash around and fall in the walls of the rickety old shed. She heard the crunch of bones and the whack of skin and the felt the heat of friction but this only drove her more wild.