"How's this one!?"
"I like that one too—the color is nice." Remus was too patient, giving an amused smile at his charge's antics despite it already being probably the hundred thing Harry had forcefully shown him this week. Not all of it clothes, but it had certainly been a lot of clothes, and he knew Moony was only half invested in what he was actually wearing, more just here for moral support as always. Since Harry was only actually buying one out of ten things he put on and forced the werewolf to comment on, the low investment wasn't that insulting either.
"You've said that about literally everything I've shown you so far!" He huffed, jokingly indignant.
"I'm afraid I don't have the expertise on what colors match each other, and besides I think it's your right to wear what you'd like. I admit I'm kind of afraid of commenting either way," The werewolf deflected like an expert.
"Oh come on, I promise I won't be mad if you gave me a real opinion you know, I'm aware I dress weird. It would be more helpful to know how weird it is in the wizarding world."
"I'm sure you're not the type who cares what the general opinion is."
"I mean true, but I'm also friends with Slytherins and if I'm gonna get on their good side I also need to know how to dress like a pureblood when it counts."
Remus just sighed, kind of defeated by this wild child.
Throughout their shopping adventures, the werewolf had gotten used to Harry's insistence and bull-like personality in doing what he wanted. He'd gone along with most of it with this fond air, and despite being noticeably wary of other people, in the muggle shops they'd been visiting no one looked twice at either of them. Not since there were tons of people and families of all sorts also shopping for last minute holiday gifts, they blended right in easily.
Remus did have a moment of being hesitant at the shopping spree Harry was on, but also very clearly not brave enough to comment on his outfit choices, so kept it to himself. Only once had he come only so close as to imply that maybe they wanted to not spend a fortune here, and Harry had twisted it in an instant into taking it as a comment on what he chose to wear. Remus immediately backed off and there had not been a word or implication since.
Harry felt slightly bad of twisting his words like that, but he was also not about to be lectured. Remus was a friend first, he didn't want to be coddled or treated like a kid who couldn't make his own life choices—he would love the reliable ear that the werewolf was for some advice, but he wasn't about to be bossed around and drew that line in the sand immediately. Mostly because he knew it wasn't about the clothes it was about the money, but Harry was not about to be told anything or guilted into wearing anything he didn't pick himself because someone else felt weird about him having the money to buy it himself, and that was final.
Luckily Remus was clever enough to recognize that quickly and backed off to give him space to do these shopping sprees in peace, as a weary but supportive side kick mostly. Harry suspected it was related to his self-depreciating nature but was instead choosing to believe his godfather was merely respecting him instead… and the truth was probably somewhere in the middle, honestly.
As the trips wore on though, watching how much fun his charge was having, Moony clearly softened until he appeared mostly won over and just happy to be here at this point.
Which was great because Harry had an ulterior motive: yes this was a lot of fun, but he also needed to drill home to Remus that this was something he wanted. In amongst their shopping when the man's back was turned, he'd already ordered new clothes as a present for the werewolf for Christmas and if he had a shot of convincing him it wasn't charity, it needed to be made clear that this was mostly because Harry wanted to dress his godfather up, not because of pity or embarrassment to be seen with a man in shabby clothes.
He would rather the quiet werewolf be embarrassed his unofficial godson wanted to dress him up like a doll for his own enjoyment rather than humiliated thinking a child thought he was a charity case. Remus would not be getting out of new clothes either way and you know, lesser of two evils here.
Harry really hated that that seemed to be the situation with most things relating to Remus but… they would both just have to get over it. At least Remus would have new clothes that fit his complexion better and were warmer for the chilly season than the old jacket he had on now. And their relationship would stay playful despite any potential embarrassment at being forced to wear sweaters with a lot more color than Harry suspected Remus would have ever considered wearing on his own. That was a light-hearted kind of embarrassment at least, rather than the alternative.
So if Harry had been trying on more clothes (like a lot more) than strictly necessary in an attempt to wear Moony down, no one had to know. Going by how utterly defeated the man seemed at this point when Harry returned to the dressing room with yet another armful of things to try, he was going to call this mission a success!
"…I'm not quite sure that neon of any sort would be looked upon favorably by most purebloods, to be completely honest." Remus finally admitted after much convincing.
Harry tisked but just looked back in the mirror to his current get-up. "I figured that, but it's still annoying."
Remus laughed quietly behind him out of sight of the mirror. The act of glancing back to see where he'd moved to though, had a new rack catching his eye. He made a playful gasp and spun on his heel to walk over, snatching up one of the big fluffy sweaters displayed, which were honestly perfect for the weather this season.
"I'll be right back!" He didn't even spare his guardian a glance but at this point knew Remus was not about to stop him.
"Sure thing…" Came the weary but clearly amused agreement as he disappeared back into the shop.
The two of them had found a routine in no time at all, and honestly Harry was… well he liked it, first of all, but he couldn't exactly put into words just what it was he felt about it sometimes too.
He hadn't asked but it was clear Remus wasn't working right now, probably between jobs as he often was going from their letters, but not seeming to be that motivated to return to work probably while he had Harry here for break. He appreciated it, since it meant the two of them could do whatever with their days and spend the break actually together since that was the entire point of the trip in the first place.
But even not needing to get up to go to classes or a job, there was a routine that found its rhythm almost immediately between them two that was… easy, somehow.
Given it was a two-room shack they were living in and Harry didn't know the silencing charm even if he had been allowed to use it, Remus obviously noticed what an early riser his guest was and dutifully rose to spend the mornings with him. If Harry had wanted to help with the breakfast chores since he'd been so eager about cooking dinner the nights before, Remus had put a firm line in the sand and had him sitting at the tiny kitchen table to catch up on his homework for break at least while the werewolf pulled together their morning meal. They'd eat and talk charms, then finish their tea as Harry finished an essay or wrote a letter to one of his friends (Hedwig, the clever bird she was, having arrived the morning after he did when she connected he'd left her behind—don't worry he'd made it up to her with plenty of treats), and then the day would really start.
If Harry had wanted to immediately jump up into the things they had planned for the day, he never got the chance to since after breakfast they now went on walks around the little forested area. Moony's knowledge of tea leaves and herbs expanded into knowing about the flora and fauna around the little area, even if it was mostly covered in snow this time of year, so Harry got a little more education on rural living and foraging than he had before. They also discovered the cows did come up to the fence and were happy to accept all the veggie scraps they saved from the previous day's meals with deep, grumbling sounds of content. They were pretty quick on the uptake too, because this was only day three of their new routine and by the time they left the shack this morning the large creatures were already lined up at the fence waiting for their snack, happy to greet Harry running over through the snow to say hi.
There was also always a chore or something for them to do—collect wood from the pile outside, brush off snow of the small path back to the road, clean the kitchen from breakfast or the sitting area from whatever they'd been doing the night before: the list went on. Remus also had an owl delivering small parcels of groceries they put away, then of course cleaning out Hedwig's cage, wrapping the presents they'd bought the previous day or… you know, just something to tidy up around the place and keep them moving and useful. By that time it was usually late morning and he'd help Remus pack them lunches to go, and then they'd be off to whatever the real goal of the day was.
So far it had been shopping, and a lot of it. It had also been into the muggle village nearby, the two of them taking the long walk over the snowy road while bundled up tight—and Remus drawing warmth-saving runes on their clothes which was a major win on all accounts.
At this point Harry had pretty much everything he needed from the muggle world, so this last shop they were in was purely a selfish desire to update his wardrobe some. The downside of most of his shopping sprees being in the summer was that he clearly couldn't wrap his head around what he'd want to wear once it got cold, so it was a nice chance to get some sweaters, jackets, boots, and general warmer things that fit his colors better. He had a ton of options for warm days and noticeably less for colder days, so he was happy to fix that now. It was also a nice surprise that despite the rural area this town was still fully equipped with plenty of cafes and little clothing shops that he made himself very familiar at quickly.
Laden with their spoils (though not really as it all fit into his bottomless bag without adding any weight) they made the walk home once more to rest, although Harry normally wasn't resting much given how the trip always got him so hyper he just bounced around the small apartment babbling his head off while Remus unpacked their things and listened with an amused smile. There was even an attempt to teach his werewolf godfather football in the snowy open area around the forest, though it was poorly thought through since the terrain made it all but impossible. Harry suspected it was mainly Remus' attempt to tire him out since he was being too hyper, but in the end the werewolf was the one who looked the most tired by the time darkness fell.
It was hard to say what his favorite part of the routine was but he certainly had a soft spot for their evenings, when they partnered to pull together pretty amazing dinners given their skills and attention to it. Not to mention an expertise Harry had that Remus did not was in baking, so he also got to teach him some of his favorites to make for dessert—to which Remus fully proved himself a Marauder at heart when the cupcake-decorating activity ended up destroying the kitchen and wasting a lot of icing (most of it ending up in Harry's hair unfortunately). Luckily magic made the clean up much easier than it would've been normally so Harry could chuck a handful of sprinkled icing at his opponent without feeling too guilty about it—and he kind of had to when he was under an icing attack himself.
Well fed and in a sugar coma then, the nights usually ended with them playing games on the sitting area carpet or reading together, and somehow Harry always found himself asleep far earlier than he'd ever been at Hogwarts. He knew it was all by his werewolf's design and despite grumbling about it couldn't complain that hard when the solid night's sleeps were actually great.
It was only the third day of it but Harry was already kind of wishing this was just how life always was.
He shook those thoughts off as he examined the sweater he was wearing, but quickly decided against it. He had a couple kind of similar to this already and it was too scratchy up at the neck, and honestly he was about done with the clothes shopping for now. It was getting late and he was kind of already looking forward to getting home… which as soon as the thought formed he had to stare into the mirror for a second to convince himself that that feeling was actually real right now.
He wanted to go home.
As in, he wanted to leave the free-reign shopping adventure he was on and just… retreat back to somewhere he was more comfortable than out in public like this.
…huh.
He quickly put his normal clothes back on and went to find Remus again, returning the sweater to where he'd gotten it from.
"Not interested in that one?"
"Well, the twins said Mrs. Weasley makes everyone sweaters for Christmas every year and she was nice enough to give me one last year. If I get another I'd rather wear that one so I don't need two," He explained, almost in a 'See? I can be reasonable!' sort of tone, and earned himself a wry smile telling him Remus knew exactly what he was doing.
"Nothing about these trips have implied you'd be upset about having two." He reminded him a bit too serenely.
Harry crossed his arms in a pout, "Are you calling me spoiled!?"
"Self-assured, perhaps."
He almost injured himself eye-rolling at that new habit while the werewolf laughed at him, but made a show of pouting to change the subject. "Okay but the real issue now is what the heck I get the Slytherins. I've gotten everything I can in the muggle world with this," referencing the last cart of things and Remus seemed relieved to take the hint that this shop was done as he pushed it for him towards the front to check out.
"We can discuss more tonight and make a plan for Diagon tomorrow. We still have some time this afternoon though, so how about we stop at the library?" Remus suggested and Harry perked right up. He had been looking forward to getting home but they hadn't had a chance to stop there yet and he was curious so he eagerly agreed.
"Yes! We're getting books on algebra, right?"
Remus gave a huff and just shook his head. "They called me a bookworm in my Hogwarts days but you certainly have me beat, don't you?"
"It's only 'cause I'm motivated." He admitted as the shop keep began scanning the many items for them, peering over the edge of the cart to double check it really was everything he'd meant to get.
"I did pick up that you're rather hard to convince when uninterested,"
Harry narrowed a look up at the man but as Remus was now smiling at the cashier and accepting their greetings there was a good excuse to ignore him.
It wasn't until they were free of the store, bags safely repacked into Harry's bottomless bag, and walking the small sidewalks towards where the library was that Moony brought the focus back from the bickering they'd fallen into once again.
"About these books we're getting," He interrupted, Harry blinking up at him as he sensed the more serious topic of conversation. "I was thinking over your request to just 'teach you' things. When I tutored I worked out of this library a couple times and know there are published documents for children who need a home education here. I might pick up some for your year level to see what else muggle children your age should be learning, if you're interested."
"So not just algebra but writing and language and things," He frowned, not having great memories of his muggle school but knew that was probably largely from the people and how he was supposed to be stupider than Dudley (somehow).
"As we've established, if you're not interested then I don't believe there's much anyone could do to compel you so I won't force anything, but the offer is there. I'll stick to the one topic if that's all you're interested in for now."
Harry thought it over, pressing his lips into a thin line as he did so but… as the library came into view, and he took Remus' hand to cross the road, he gripped it tighter as he remembered what he was doing this for.
He was not a bookworm or that academically inclined and to be honest he didn't want to be doing extra homework or boring stuff like this… but he was motivated to be smarter than everyone else someday if he could manage it. The hand in his was a good reminder of why.
"I'm interested only because I want both magic and muggle educations, not because I think literature or history will be fun." He admitted bluntly.
Remus just laughed. "Understood. I'll do my best to make it painless then."
000
Harry kept insisting he wasn't a nerd and yet evidence kept failing him because despite of it all, he really did like libraries. That library he first read his Hogwarts letter in had been a sanctuary, the Hogwarts library itself was obviously magical in more ways than one, and he was finding that this muggle library was just as interesting yet peaceful as he'd hoped it'd be.
He actually did feel like a kid accompanying an adult for once, as Remus had helped him talk to the Librarian about getting himself an official card and then gone off to obtain the right paperwork and workbooks for that promised home education, so Harry found himself solo once more. Normally that was the standard procedure for him but all of a sudden he wasn't super thrilled about it despite what a non-issue it was.
Especially given that this place had several dozen children and teenagers also milling about reading or playing, so it was quite a safe place that adults felt comfortable just letting their charges go in and it wasn't weird to be left to wander exactly. It was just that Harry wasn't particularly itching to be alone for once, because most of the things he wanted to learn from these books he really wanted ask Remus about first so he was more just hanging out and checking what a different muggle library could offer him. Normally he was in the fiction section if he were at his old library as a means of escape, and Hogwarts' entire library felt like fiction and nonsense despite it all being real, so today was his first real attempt at exploring the non-fiction section.
And there was a lot.
It kind of overwhelmed him honestly, which is how he knew for certain he was no Ravenclaw, but as he wandered the endless aisles of books he did eventually stumble upon some that looked cool. It was mostly fun science stuff, particularly stuff about animals because those were cool and he was honestly losing his mind a bit in the magical world about what a 'normal' animal looked like… particularly because as he leafed through these muggle books he was still seeing creatures he was finding hard to believe muggles knew about and didn't consider them mythical or magical.
Science definitely seemed like the muggle topic he'd like the most as it just made a lot of sense to him. He killed some time checking out books with colorful covers boasting weird facts and experiments for families to try, then a ton of magazines just full of animal facts and beginner science things, before he ran into what was clearly the heavy academic side of science. The books were a lot less colorful and inviting and probably full of much more boring text instead of pictures or fun facts.
He was instantly less interested and about to walk right through this aisle to loop back around to the more colorful children's section, when a large familiar symbol on the binding of a big white book made him freeze.
How do I know that one? He wondered, pausing to grab it and turn it over curiously. He almost had to do a double-take at the title printed in boring muggle-type-font text on the from surrounded by a whole lot of magical symbols that he suddenly remembered all at once because Nick had given him several small texts with these exact graphics only weeks ago.
The History of Chemistry: Alchemy Symbols and Compounds.
Compounds? What are compounds? Is that science or alchemy!? Chemistry is a science, the one with the lab coats and test tubes and things—does that mean alchemy is a science?
He blinked several times at the title, trying to make what he was seeing make sense. Was this a wizard book that got mixed into a normal library by accident? Did people not think this should be in the fiction section then? If it's a prank then a wizard might not even know what 'science' was to put it in this section in the first place, so where did it come from?
Well, the fast way to figure it out was to just read it himself, so he cracked the cover and flipped to the first page in hopes the introduction would give him a hint. The first thing that struck him was that muggle textbooks were very dry, to the point of being kind of robotic compared to things written by a wizard—no pizzazz or flair or personality!—but then again books written by wizards didn't have editors or reviewers. On the upside though it was much cleaner and more concisely written than anything he'd read from the Hogwarts' library in the past year and a half, so it wasn't that bad, just a little dry…
… but then what he was reading sunk into his brain and even the monotone introductory paragraphs were suddenly riveting.
He almost didn't realize the passing of several minutes, nor the way he'd sunk to the ground to kneel on the floor with the book locked into his hands tightly as his mind was blown by what he was reading.
Muggles knew about Alchemy! A long time ago both muggles and wizards knew about Alchemy. Then when the wizards went into hiding and the two worlds separated, it got refined into other subjects like Potions and Transfiguration in the wizarding world, but what muggles called Alchemy eventually evolved into Chemistry—but the old Alchemy was the exact same thing to both worlds.
Admittedly Harry had only scanned some of the stuff Nick had sent him as he hadn't had the time (or real motivation) beyond goofing off with Hermione sometimes to really get into it. Now that he was hearing almost the same history of Alchemy but from a muggle perspective and this very official textbook was talking about how alchemy had been the origin of what became known as chemistry, it was all coming back to him and dots were connecting in ways he never thought possible.
That's wicked.
"Harry?"
He almost leapt out of his skin, so absorbed in the text he'd completely forgotten for a moment he was in a public place and there were people wandering around right now. Snapping his head up he was relieved it was just Remus looking own at him, papers under his arm with a fond smile.
"Found something interesting?"
He immediately held up book. "What do you know about Chemistry?"
"Chemistry?" He tilted his head. "Hm, not nearly as much as other topics for sure… it's one of the later branches of muggle science that the kids I used to tutor didn't need, so I only have a basic understanding of what it is and some fundamentals. Did it catch your interest? From what I know, it's rather similar to Transfiguration."
Harry felt his spirits soar.
This.
It's exactly what he'd been looking for when he was trying to distract himself in the Hogwarts library: something brand new, something he could sink his teeth into, something not even magical so McGonagall couldn't get mad about him reading ahead! He'd been about to resort to dark Transfiguration to an attempt to do all those things before, but to think he'd found something muggle that scratched the itch too was the best news he'd gotten all year.
"Yes! It sounds really interesting!" He scrambled to his feet, clutching the book tighter to his chest.
Remus didn't think anything amiss with his enthusiasm thankfully and just got on board as always.
"Well you have a library card now, why don't you check out some books for break? I'll see if I can't find some introductory ones."
Harry cheered, not dropping the book currently in his arms but happily following along as Remus walked back down the aisles some to browse through some more muggle books Harry had previously walked right by. Now that he knew what the topic was he could see the titles fitting his wants better, things like 'introduction to Chemistry' and other boring-looking muggle textbooks essentially, but Harry couldn't give a quaffle.
Particularly not when Remus pulled a large flat one off the shelf and opened to a large, detailed chart to show him outright instead of waiting until they got home like with everything else, and Harry realized this was his first lesson unofficially.
"It's called a periodic table. It's basically everything muggles know about the world around us: every material that exists on earth, separated into columns and rows depending on what they do. See, over here are gases and over here are metals and so forth…" Remus trailed his fingers over the data and seeing Harry's expression just smiled and knelt in the aisle too so the second-year could lean into his shoulder absently with his eyes glued to it.
And indeed, Harry was welded right to it immediately, enraptured, and everything Nick had told him about questioning materials and probes like 'what's the different between a rock and a cotton ball' echoing forebodingly in his mind.
"Wait, those are all gases? I mean I guess I knew about oxygen but all these are…"
"To start at the very basics, then there are three types of matter—or materials as Alchemy puts it. Solids, liquids, and gasses… and yes all of these over here are gases. This one, is oxygen." Remus pointed to the right side of the table and Harry felt his eyes widen. "This table is actually very clever in how it's organized. Oxygen burns right?" Harry nodded immediately. "Well all the gases around it also burn… but every gas in this column is actually stable, so they don't burn. They're called 'noble' gases. This table is colored pretty well so you can see how it's organized, as each color indicates that material does something different."
"But how do they know that? Did they test them all?"
"Actually, yes, over a long period of time that is. How the creator of this table made it though is a very interesting story too, but it'll take a while to explain: it has to do with these little numbers above and below each letter. He actually discovered a rule about materials that meant he knew this table would work, even if in his time he only knew some of them. Future generations of muggles did the experiments to discover everything else to fill the rest out properly. He was pretty ahead of his time as he was able to create this table in a time before muggles fully understood what these numbers were, so when they did discover them and went to update the table, they discovered it was all perfectly in order already."
"Wicked… what was the rule!?"
Remus just patted him on the back reassuringly. "You'll need a lot of background into some science basics before we get to that. As a sneak peak they're called 'atomic numbers' but that will mean nothing to you until you learn about atoms and such. Let's head back and maybe after dinner were can start from the beginning, that might be easier."
"Can't we start now?" Harry complained, unable to be that upset though with the promise of getting into this so close. He had half expected Remus to say he should wait until he was older, so the fact it was just until after dinner was a major win.
The werewolf just stood and took the books back, carrying them for him since Harry still hadn't let go of his first one.
"How about food first? I suspect we'll be at it a while and you'll want some fuel in you to learn it properly."
000
"So what's-his-face didn't even know about electrons when he did this? That's wild." Harry bluntly announced, absently blowing on the ink in his journal to dry the writing faster, kicking his legs distractedly as he sat at Remus' tiny kitchen table. "Also wait a second, if living stuff is made up of carbon and glass is one silicon and two oxygen, does that mean the Transfiguration spell of turning a bird into a pair of glasses is just transfiguring carbon down one row and stealing oxygen from the air then?"
Moony stared at him, the book in front of him forgotten for a moment.
"… to be completely honest, I have no idea. I've never attempted to apply muggle principles to magic before, much less dissect a spell enough to be able to know what would apply and what wouldn't." He admitted. "Also his name is Dmitri Mendeleev… I can see you care a lot less about the history or names associated with the topic then."
"Eh," Harry drawled, instantly less interested. "I suck at names and dates… the idea of elements is so cool though! It definitely relates to Transfiguration somehow but I'm now sure just how yet!"
"I've read your paper… I would venture to guess you're going to make some very important discoveries someday." The werewolf allowed, seeming restrained as he said it but… also proud, if that made sense.
Harry wasn't sure what to do with that so he deflected as always, dropping his quill to perk up curiously.
"You're a lot more chill that Professor McGonagall was about me learning ahead, you know. Didn't you say this was a topic for older students?"
"She has every right to be concerned: learning ahead in magic is a risk to your magical core so it's not about what you can mentally handle, it's about your body which is still growing," Remus instantly backed the Transfiguration teacher up, but then his eyes softened some. "Before I explain though, can I ask…? I had gathered from our letters but seeing it myself… you really like Transfiguration, don't you?"
Harry couldn't help but smile. They had talked about it over letters but somehow it was different… he found himself repeating written conversations out loud with Remus often just because it felt different to say it in person. It felt different now that he felt like he knew Remus more too, less like a diary entry across paper and more like he was being heard which he could never get enough of.
"I do! At first it was because of Draco and McGonagall but then it started coming easy to me and now it's more like a hobby than a school topic."
"I'm more impressed you can still think topics like Transfiguration and chemistry as a hobby," Moony admitted, kind of jokingly perturbed.
"Do people not like chemistry?" Harry wondered, having picked up from his attitudes that he was probably pretty unique in being so enthusiastic about all of this.
"Most times it's considered one of the hardest branches of muggle science, particularly when learning it in grade school." Remus admitted, but it had Harry scratching his brain some. It made sense to him at least and it in no way felt difficult like Potions or History were to him. "I suppose physics is a top contender though too, though I'm no expert in either of them..." The werewolf continued, that last part mainly musing to himself it seemed.
"Well it makes sense to me is all… I really like this table, it explains so much." He pulled the book with the muggle table closer once more, intent to devour it all as soon as he could.
Remus didn't seem to be against this plan by the fond smile he had on. "How did it start because of Draco and McGonagall then?"
"Well… I liked McGonagall right away because she was really uptight and I wanted to get on her good side, so I studied hard when I first got to Hogwarts so she'd think I was a good student. Then she really helped me with it too—she talks like you do, like I'm a peer and not just a kid."
Moony blinked, visibly touched for a moment before just smiling. "She always was very good at that, yes."
"And for Draco… well, one of the first things I learned about the wizarding world is that being specialized is way more useful than being good at everything, and since I needed Slytherin house to like me so they'd stop picking on Draco for being friends with me, I needed to have something special about me that they'd want to use."
"Really?"
"Slytherins like trading," He flashed a megawatt grin to deflect his 'innocence' on the topic. "If I'm useful then they can't ignore me or get on my bad side by picking on my friends."
"So you said…"
"Now that I've got a good reputation of being really good at Transfiguration, people are willing to trade a lot for my class notes on the subject. Slytherins in particular—I even got an upper year to trade with me for my notes! Don't tell anyone I said that though, they traded extra so no one would know."
"That truly is impressive." He chuckled along.
"And it totally worked too, might I add! I outsmarted a third-year Slytherin last year using Transfiguration, and Slytherin house is really dependent on hierarchy and stuff, so a younger year confronting or tricking an older year is pretty unheard of. They thought it was so impressive they've really backed off Draco this year, since they treat me like I'm a snake too now and you have to be careful with snakes instead of 'dumb lions' as they say." Harry couldn't stop grinning as he boasted, thrilled that Moony seemed suitably impressed as he mulled that over.
"They treat you as one of their own… which is amazing in and of itself. I never imagined the house rivalries would ever get to the point where someone would be able to overcome it, or perhaps it just to your credit you've managed it anyway."
Harry puffed up with pride, tossing his hair over his shoulder once for effect.
"It wasn't easy," he had to admit for a second. "But me being acknowledged as the best at Transfiguration has helped me a get a good reputation with them which makes making friends easier than it once was. I told you about Theo right?"
"You did. I'm glad you've cracked his shell some, it sounds like he needed it."
"I'm not completely sure about that but I really do like talking to him. Aside from Neville whose still pretty nervous all the time, I don't think I know anyone as smart and calm as he is."
"It sounds like the topic has opened a lot of paths for you, including connections to other people. And isn't not just for a grade or for your friends at this point now, you truly enjoy it?"
"Yes!" Harry could confidently say that, even if there were a lot of things his confidence was faked on… this one was as true as it'd ever been.
Remus took all this in calmly himself, before seeming to decide something for himself. "To go back to your original question of why I think it okay to learn something like this then, it's directly because of that interest. Not just because you want to know it—I'm happy to help you with any topic, but some things I will say you should wait until your older. Transfiguration though… you clearly have a strong talent in it, and perhaps because it's so easy for you, I think you need to be pushed."
"Pushed?" Harry settled some of his excitement, sensing this was a little more serious a topic. Moony reassured him with a pat of the hands still on the book in front of him.
"You're a gifted child, Harry. Not just with magic, but in intelligence."
He… wasn't sure what to make of that.
"I'm not as smart as someone like Hermione… or Draco in potions even. I told you about my History grade, right?"
Remus just snorted. "Don't try to deflect, I'm not talking about your grades. Did you care about your Transfiguration grade when you wrote a paper that breaks ground on a thousand-year-old subject?"
Harry pressed his lips into a line, realizing he'd been caught. "Ah… no?"
"In a lot of ways that's what true intelligence is… not being able to regurgitate information but being able to use information the right way, to do whatever it is you're really after." Remus walked him through it oh-so patiently, a small, rather bittersweet smile on his lips for some reason. "It's not just Transfiguration, which you seem to have a prodigious talent in, but everything else… how you talk, how you view the world. Your life goals, your ability to read and understand people, to plan ahead and fight only certain battles you think worth the energy. You have a very solid grasp of yourself, of the people around you, and even of the world itself which, if you didn't realize it, is far beyond your years. There are seventh years who don't have the maturity you do sometimes Harry, I hope you realize that. Talking to you, honestly if not for your height I would say you're years older."
"Oi, I'm not that short!" He huffed, rolling his eyes as the werewolf teased him playfully to break the serious tone he'd set.
"Ignoring that lie, what I'm saying is that you don't have to be a prodigy in every subject they teach in school to be gifted; you don't even need top scores. I've tutored several children who were insanely intelligent and clearly gifted, yet they had failing grades—hence why their parents hired me as a tutor in the first place. It's just that they were not pushed or appropriately challenged by the normal coursework and so eventually just lost interest completely. Their grades suffered because of their apathy, not because they couldn't do it."
Harry sat up a little more, realizing where he was going with this.
"You don't want me to get bored?" He frowned.
"Not all schoolwork is interesting, some is boring and there's no way around that. But in Transfiguration you have a strong passion still, and I don't want you to hit a wall and end up uninterested when there's nothing else to satisfy your curiosity. Particularly since you can't learn too far ahead with magical topics or you'll end up risking your core." Moony tapped the book between them once more. "Honestly, if you truly think there's a link between Transfiguration and Chemistry that might be the greatest news so far, since Chemistry is a deep topic that will take you quite some time to learn. It may be a bit advanced for your age but… considering you still want to learn it, I don't see a reason to stop you if it can help you continue to be interested in schoolwork for longer."
He considered that for a moment, seeing the logic some but…
"I mean, I think this is interesting but it's not going to help me find an interest in things like History or Charms," He pointed out doubtfully.
"No, but you don't need to excel in every subject, just pass them. You want to learn Transfiguration and Chemistry, therefore you're going to be reading a lot, and doing even more maths and research to support it. Reading, arithmetic—studying and the act of learning in general… if you do it because you want to in one topic, you're still exercising those skills. Then eventually when you're forced to read a history book or work out a Charms spell, it won't be as fun but you'll be very practiced in reading and learning skills, which will make it all the easier to at least pass the next Charms test even if you won't be getting an 'O's on it or publishing papers on the topic."
"I guess that makes some sense," He allowed, still not thrilled at the reminder of how much studying he had left to do in the next five and a half years at Hogwarts. Practice learning new things on something interesting, then when it came time to do it on something uninteresting he could still manage it well enough. It wasn't bad logic even if it sounded so un-fun right now.
"You look so concerned… what's wrong?" Remus poked fun at him gently, and he rolled his eyes.
"I just don't think it's that serious. Maybe I'm good in Transfiguration but honestly it seems like a fluke… I never had to do anything to be good at it, but there are a ton of things I've put a lot of effort into that I failed terribly at."
"Harry, it's called a talent." The man reminded him gently, leaning over to put a hand on his head to physically stop him from shaking it in annoyance at the sarcastic remark. "Do you think it's fluke you're good at quidditch? Or that it's easy for you to talk to people? Maybe you're not passing Herbology with flying colors but your scores are decent without much more than paying attention in class, right?"
"That's mainly because of Neville," He mumbled grumpily.
"And quidditch?" He challenged right back.
"I mean, isn't it because of my dad? He was good at quidditch too, right?" He tossed out without thinking, but even if maybe for a split second he regretted bringing it up, Remus didn't even hesitate.
"You are not James Potter, Harry. Even being her clone you're not Lily Evans either. You weren't gifted their abilities when they died, you were gifted some similar habits because they are your parents and you have their blood—what you do with them and think of things is all up to you. People might tell you your father was good at quidditch and Transfiguration, but he certainly wasn't the youngest seeker in a century and his academic talent was not nearly what yours is. He was also probably a gifted student who was never pushed because let me remind you, I used to study with him… the amount of essays I saw him fudge drove me insane but the teachers loved him so he always got good marks."
"Really…?" He blinked, taking that in slowly. "…I can't imagine Professor McGonagall doing that for him though, even if she liked him."
Remus chuckled, "Well, he was pretty good at Transfiguration, so no favoritism necessary there. Not on your level, but it was definitely his best subject too." When he couldn't really respond to that, Moony patted him gently on the head again to get his attention. "It's not like you to be so self-depreciating. Having a talent in a subject was a good thing ten minutes ago when you were talking about how it helped you get close to Draco, right?"
"Yeah, but it's different." Was all he could defend himself with, a bit worried Remus would then ask how it was different… which was something he wasn't even sure of himself to be able to explain. Luckily, he didn't.
Instead, he seemed to just sit back in his chair and accept it with a slightly sad smile.
Before, that is, he suddenly stood with intention.
"Alright, I think that should be enough studying for one night. Go get your jacket and boots on,"
"What?" Harry did a wild doubletake at that switch up, automatically looking out the living room window behind them, revealing what he already knew in that it was pitch black outside. "It's night though…?"
He pointed it out like this was somehow news to Remus, who seemed not to care. It was just, as per their new routine he was half sure they were about to get into the nightly negotiation at turning in for bed. It was still an hour earlier than their normal time but it was all hours earlier than Harry himself would've chosen to go to bed.
Moony seemed to be going rogue though and just shrugged with a mischievous glint in his eye.
"We're not going far, just out to enjoy the air some. I think it started snowing while we were talking."
"Did it?" He hopped up to walk to the window… but it was impossible to see out of right now, the night turning it into a black mirror rather than an actual window. "How the heck can you tell?"
"I can hear it falling." He said simply, in the kitchen and Harry realizing he had their travel mugs out and what looked like hot chocolate getting spoon into them—the kettle being magically summoned and already whistling from boiling water within thanks to a distracted wave of his wand. So they were really actually going somewhere, which only served to confused him even more.
"Hear it… the hell?" He frowned.
He supposed he could probably call to memory the sound of snowflakes hitting and already fallen blanket of snow, but that was usually in the dead quiet while walking through the storm itself—not inside with the fire crackling and them talking and quills scratching and all that.
"Come on, it'll be fun. Bundle up," Remus called again, and Harry tilted head as reflection in window but then gave up to dart back to door to grab his boots.
"It's so dark though," he pointed out, still confused but Remus just smiled down at him as he came over to pull his own cloak on.
"I can use magic and Lumos is quite effective, don't worry. I didn't think you were scared of the dark," Came the tease that Harry could not let lying down if he tried—forcibly finishing the ties on his boots pointedly.
"I'm not, it's just the middle of the night in a forest is all. Not going into the forest at night is a big rule at Hogwarts, remember?" He ruthlessly teased back, implying he was too much of an 'old man' to remember his school-day rules.
Harry had no idea what it meant when Remus just gave him the dryest look had ever seen on the man's face before.
"I am very aware, yes." No idea what that tone meant, and it didn't sound like he'd get an explanation either. "Luckily there is no such rule here and it'll be fun, you'll see. There's nothing to be wary of in this forest but some local wildlife after all… and a werewolf or so, if you're afraid of such rumors."
Harry almost flat out dropped the gloves he was trying to put on to gape up at the man, the sheer audacity he had to suddenly joke like that out of nowhere after tip-toeing around it this entire time.
Golden eyes just stared down at him challengingly as if daring him to try it… and yeah, once a Marauder, always a Marauder he guessed. Took him long enough to warm up apparently.
"… I'm not sure if I should laugh or punch you," He admitted, half aghast—and Remus had the gall to let out a loud bark of laughter at his expense.
"You father would've laughed but your mother would've hit me. You come by it honestly it seems," He grinned, slipping a hat over his red head to prevent further retaliation—which he obviously knew was coming. "Off we go then! Hold this, it'll keep your hands warm." He placed one of the ready mugs into his gloved hands and then shuffled him right out the door without much more fanfare.
Harry got hit full in the face with a blast of arctic wind… it had definitely started snowing after all as it pelted him in the face for a moment, before they were outside and the door shut behind them. Once there the air change relaxed again until the snow fell more reasonably from above to land on their heads instead of into their faces.
Remus shuffled them forward, it seemed to Harry blindly because it was dark as shit out here. The little house was the only source of light for kilometers in any direction, even stars and moon above blacked out by snow clouds pressing down yet invisible above them. He had no idea it'd started snowing much less so hard, as it had already piled up to near his knees, and he was thankful once again for Remus' talent in runes and the fact he'd put warming ones on his boots to keep the warm in and the snow out.
True to his earlier words he did cast a Lumos once they were out into the forest a couple dozen meters, Remus' hands on his shoulders to keep them from being separated and a close presence guiding him into a literal unknown. Even after casting the Lumos though to give them some bearing of their surroundings, and despite being the only source of light, the little orb he conjured struggled against the pervasive darkness of a forest at night, much less the active snow storm happening.
As his eyes adjusted to the new light though, Harry found himself kind of entranced.
It felt like they'd entered an entirely new world compared to the reality of the little kitchen they'd just been standing in. The orb cast a bubble of light that didn't make it that far, snowflakes coming into their perimeter from seemingly nothingness and either falling to the ground or whipping right back out into the unknown darkness on the other side too fast to keep track of. The entire world was cast into a monochrome light too, the Lumos being a subtle blue, but the darkness and pure white snow making even the trees and leaves and branches around them seem very black-and-white.
Not only did it feel like another world, it felt otherworldly too… the magical world felt unnatural to him in a lot of ways but this was purely non-magical and it still felt somehow eerie in how busy-yet-calm it felt… how insanely, unnaturally silent it was without a silencing charm… and just ethereal and beautiful.
Not really sure what he'd previously associated beauty to mean, but this hadn't been in his lexicon before. Now though… he needed to reevaluate some things because this ranked pretty high on things that took his breath away, and it kind of took him by surprise.
Moony trudged them a little farther and brushed the layer of snow off a fallen tree, pulling him down to sit beside him on it. It was cold, and Remus purposefully placed him on the edge of his cloak to prevent him sitting on a wet branch, and bundled up leaning into the werewolf and clutching his hot chocolate, the weather wasn't bad at all actually. It was actually surprisingly comfortable so he could just sit and absorb the strange environment they'd journeyed into.
"Okay… this is pretty cool," He admitted, looking up to where he knew the trees were but only being able to see the orb of light illuminate a couple lower branches at best before the darkness above bore down on them once more. He blinked away the snowflakes that landed on his cheeks as he did so. "Do you do this a lot?"
"I like being in a forest, given the chance. It's rare you can sit an enjoy it in the winter, though I thought you'd like it since we've been blessed with a white Christmas it seems."
Harry couldn't tear his eyes away from the world around them… it didn't seem to be getting less interesting somehow, and he hoped he could commit every single thing to memory forever.
"I do… it's nice." He admitted. "We got snow at Hogwarts last year but… that's a magical-castle-weather thing again, isn't it?"
Remus chuckled. "Probably… we haven't had a white Christmas in this area in several years though. We're lucky this year."
Harry smiled.
It's weird to think that was… true, somehow. He had been lucky.
Weird.
"We still have several days to Christmas, it better not melt on us."
"Don't worry, projections say it'll only get colder the next couple days, and this far from the city it'll only build up rather than melt away. We should be safe."
"Good," he decided, burrowing deeper into his own jacket and Remus' cloak to get comfy, intent on enjoying this for all it was worth and into Christmas as well. He liked it.
They talked quietly for a bit, somehow not wanting to raise their voices and disturb the existing quiet even if that was impossible with the way the snow seemed to steal even the sound of the wind around them into a muffled background hum. Suddenly though, Moony shushed him and put a hand on his head to get him to be still, and he automatically froze obediently.
They didn't move an muscle for what felt like forever though it was only a couple minutes… before he saw them.
There was a herd of deer in the snow.
They seemed to just… emerge from the darkness, dark themselves in the poor light, and picking through the muted blanket beneath them with delicate, precise steps of careful hooves. They were as silent as the snow itself, and if Harry weren't look right at them, he would never have known they were there. He had no idea how Moony had known they were there even, much less knew to be quiet and still to let them get comfortable with getting close.
One lifted it's head to look at the humans sitting silently on their fallen tree as if vaguely recognizing that they shouldn't be there… but after a long minute where they made no sound or movement, she decided they were nothing to mind and went back to nosing through the snow for any buried treats.
The group slowly picked its way through the orb to light, silent but present, except for an occasionally extremely soft sound of a hoof crunching the snow beneath it as one occasionally took a cautious, calculated step forward. They passed by, careless of their audience and moving along without a hassle or concern for the weather or anything else but their casual journey.
Harry could only watch, unable to tear his eyes away and for once his mind just as quiet as the scene in front of him.
Even after they'd disappeared back into the darkness and the quiet crunching of snow beneath hooves had disappeared, and long after they had to have been out of hearing range, and they finally moved a little more than dead-still… they didn't really talk and disrupt the quiet again.
Harry just settled in and finished his hot chocolate, kind of really enjoying sitting in a dark, snowy forest with a werewolf all of a sudden.