342. A Fistfight

Slytherin, Common Room

Magnus arrived in the common room to find a crowd gathered in the middle. Some jazz music was playing in the background.

"What's going on?" He asked them.

"Mr Pendragon, look, that new kid, Gilderoy, is challenging other first years." One of the other Prefects informed him. Heck, even the Headboy and Headgirl were standing at the side and watching.

He moved in and saw Gilderoy with a wand out. Magnus quickly cast an expelliarmus and took it away. "No no... magical fights are not allowed in dorms. If you want to prove yourself, then prove your physical strength. LET'S HAVE A FISTFIGHT"

Magnus' cheerful shout pumped everyone with excitement. Gilderoy frowned but nodded. "I shall prove my strength then."

Magnus chuckled, he saw the opponent of Gilderoy, it was a muggle-born kid, he had sharp and smart eyes. Ever since Magnus reformed the house, muggle-borns getting sorted in Slytherin had become common.

"Who do you put your bets on?" Ragnar asked him.

"On the muggle boy. He's small in stature but I know he will win." With utmost confidence, Magnus bet on a hundred galleons. This was worth a month's salary to many people, but among the super-rich, their bets were also extraordinary.

Ragnar scoffed, "Huh, Gilderoy is dumb, but I bet on him. He's bigger and taller."

"We'll see," Magnus focused on the fight.

As expected, Gilderoy came hard on his opponent, sending a punch to the face directly, while the other boy was struggling due to his smaller stature.

"I am the GREATEST wizard to have ever been born!" Gilderoy shouted in excitement, feeling powerful over his opponent.

"TAKE THIS!" Gilderoy threw a straight jab in the face.

But, surprising him, the muggle boy sidestepped and sent one punch straight to Gilderoy's face, on the nose. *BAM*

*THUD* Taking a few steps back, Gilderoy fell down. He was silent now, soon blood started coming out of his nose. He felt wet and numb on the face so he checked with his hand.

And the instant he saw red blood on his hand, he screamed at the top of his lungs, "BOOD... NOOOOOO..."

*THUD*

He fell back, unconscious now. The funny thing was, the muggle boy was in a much worse state, as he took more and harder punches. Yet Gilderoy fell first.

Magnus quickly got up and waved his wand over the two, healing them with a minor spell. Then he took out a pouch of a hundred Galleons and handed them to the muggle boy. "Good job. I am not appreciating you for the fight, it was an act that deserves punishment. But instead, I am praising your strength, your tenaciousness to not fall. Most importantly, you taught a lesson to this overconfident dreaming buffoon. Get a good night's rest now. And take these too, special notes for the 1st-year syllabus, made by me and Ragnar."

The boy happily took both, but the notes were more of a treasure to him. For every muggle-born who knows nothing about Magnus, it only takes them one single visit to Diagon Alley to learn about how great he is since the entire Diagon Alley is full of chatter about him and there are many posters too, all thanks to Daily Prophet. Then when they learn that the awesome British Prince is also an awesome Wizard, they automatically feel a sense of loyalty towards him.

This was basically softcore brainwashing, but Magnus wasn't deliberately doing it.

Anyway, after the fight was over and everyone dispersed, Ragnar asked him while giving him the bet money, "HOW? How did you know?"

He chuckled, "Simple, by the look and behaviour of Gilderoy, it was easy to see he was one spoiled brat, told by his parents that he's the best, when he's not. Often people like him are a wuss. Good night, Rag,"

...

A month later, it was a full moon. As always, Remus had to go to the shrieking shack, however, the shack did not shriek anymore as Wolfsbane potions had become so much affordable that even Remus could buy plenty. This is what mass production does to cost. It wasn't even a profitable business for normal potioneers, as the work was too much.

Remus arrived at the Shrieking Shack and sat down, waiting to turn into a werewolf, but thankfully, with the potion, he could keep his senses in that form too.

~I guess. I do owe it to Magnus and Ragnar, they have helped me, and many like me.~ he thought while sitting in the darkness. Every once in a while, he'd hear some wood creaking noise, but he was accustomed to it by now. The past 4 years have been full of experiences.

...

"Are you sure we should be here, James?" asked Peter.

"Calm down, my spineless friend. We are here to see Remus' secret. I and Sirius have been noticing that he disappeared every month for a night since last year. We are here to see why." James shushed him.

"Do you have any idea what it could be?" Peter asked him.

Sirius answered, "Of course, but we need confirmation. Now move your ass, don't block the tunnel."

The three were travelling through a secret tunnel passage leading to Hogsmeade. They think that only they know about it, not knowing Magnus had known about it from the first year and was even a user.

They secretly entered the Hogsmeade and soon arrived outside the Shrieking Shack. Scratching noises were coming from inside and it genuinely scared the three.

"You're scared, Sirius?" James asked in a joking tone.

Sirius really was scared, but he denied, "Not more than you, James. Let's go in and see it for ourselves."

Shrieking Shack did not have any doors or windows, so it was pretty hard to get inside. But the three used magic to transfigure the wood into a door and enter.

They lined up to get in, but Peter stopped, "Guys, I will wait for you outside."

James and Sirius just scoffed and ignored his existence. They were interested in their current adventure. To unravel the secret of Remus.

"Remus? Is that you?" Sirius voiced, perhaps a way to feel less scared.

"Grrrr... GAAAAA..." all of a sudden a big beast jumped out of the darkness and landed on Sirius.

"MERLIN'S CUNT!" James cursed, stepping back. Seeing Sirius pinned down, he took out his wand.

"NO! WAIT." Sirius voiced. "He's just licking my face."

Seeing this, James asked, "Are you, Remus?"

The werewolf nodded and growled even more. This made it clear that this creature, this werewolf, was Remus Lupin, their friend. Sirius forgot all his fears immediately, "Haha, James, now you owe me 5 galleons. I told you he's a werewolf."

Soon, they pulled the same prank on Peter, by calling him in and then letting Remus jump on him. Peter wet his pants that night sadly, suffering great humiliation. He was too much of a scaredy-cat, it was weird how he even ended up in Gryffindor.

They stayed the entire night with Remus, playing with him. But by the morning they had all fallen asleep and Remus was in his normal human form. When they all woke up, they panicked.

They had decided to return by midnight, but they didn't. And now it was bound to be found out by the others that they were missing.

"Guys, please don't tell anyone. Dumbledore secretly enrolled me into the school, otherwise, they would not let a werewolf like me enter the school." Remus requested them.

Sirius patted his back, "It's a secret that will die with us. But, you don't really need to hide anymore. Even Professor McGonagall is a werewolf. And I'm sure, Magnus would not allow anybody to make you leave the school."

James nodded, "There might even come a time when more werewolves are among us here, studying."

Remus felt touched and thanked them, "Thank you. This secret was taking a toll on my mental health. I can't believe Magnus didn't tell anybody all this time."

"WAIT!... Magnus knew?" James questioned him.

"Yes, he found out in the first year. Back then, I wasn't even in control of myself. The injury mark on his left eye, I gave him that. He too entered here back then, just like you. But he had to fight me in my maddening state," Remus revealed the secret.

James was taken aback, "I... didn't know this was the reason. I used to mock him for that."

Meanwhile, Sirius was in his own world, "YOU GAVE HIM THAT COOL SCAR? Remus, when you turn next time, I will be here, give me a cool cut mark as well. Chicks dig that, man."

While talking and laughing, they returned to the school from the secret entrance. Quickly, they changed their clothes and headed to the classes. They had already skipped breakfast.

But, sad for them, just before they could enter the potions class, Professor McGonagall was there. She stared at them angrily, "Do you four think that us teachers are fools? To Headmaster's office, RIGHT NOW!"

Then they received a verbal thrashing from Dumbledore. Certainly, Dumbledore had a way with the kids[A/N: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]. He talked so politely even when scolding, and that had an opposite reaction since the kids feel more pressured.

"I hope that you four have learnt your lesson. As a punishment, all four of you are to report for detention every day after school for 1 hour for the week. I am also taking 40 points from Gryffindor. Now, go back to your classes."

They went out, blaming each other. But they soon even forgot about all that. Now they had a new idea.

"Why don't we become Animagus and travel around with Remus whenever he's in his... Other form?" James suggested.

"YES!" Sirius was onboard, his love for everything illegal and rule-breaking was too much.

Every worried Peter spoke of his concern, however, "But, it's a really dangerous process. What if we made a mistake?"

"Come on, don't be a coward now." James and Sirius barked.

"He's right. You might die or get stuck half in the animal body and half in human." Remus added.

Now, this was scary, not death but being stuck. "Then how can we do it?"

Remus came up with an idea but didn't know if others would agree. "We need a genius to help. And the biggest genius in the school... We all know."

"NEVER... NO!" James was against it.

...

Great Hall,

Magnus sat with crossed arms and a prideful face. "Well, this is going to cost you four, lads."

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