Harry Potter: The Blogger of Hogwarts

Dear Hermione,

All right, I've talked to Remus and, yes, after all these weeks of badgering, I can finally tell you why I'm so cool with him. But it's very important that you cannot tell anyone. You know me. You know how chatty I am. You know I don't have much of a filter. You know I even had no problem talking about our little heist on my blog. So all of that should impress upon you that if I want this to stay a secret, it must stay a bloody secret. (Remus says you can tell your parents, though.)

Remus is a werewolf. And, yes, in retrospect I should have realized it since his name is Remus Lupin, but nominative determinism isn't a thing in real life. Have you seen me near a kiln? No, you have not. Magical society is prejudiced against werewolves. To a certain extent, I can sort of understand. They didn't have any control of themselves when they were transformed, which happens once a month, and if they didn't keep themselves securely locked up, they could seriously hurt or kill people. But recently someone invented a potion called Wolfsbane which allows him to maintain control of himself when transformed.

"Okay," I said to him slowly after he informed me of this one day after class. "But that doesn't explain why you didn't try to gain custody of me? Or, what, did you think Petunia was such a wonderful person?"

Remus sighed. "Harry, I know it's hard to believe, but, yes, I actually did. And there's a very simple reason for that. Your mother told me she was."

I looked at him askance. "Yeah, sure. I'm totally going to buy that. They were on such great terms. That's obviously why Petunia told me she was a drunken whore who died in a car crash."

Remus frowned. "I didn't know she said that. That's horrible."

"Answers!" I shouted.

"That's answers, please, professor," Remus said in a teasing tone. "For the longest time, I was just as confused as you are. But I think I've figured it out. You see, even for a Muggleborn, Lily's political positions were…radical. They got more radical by the day."

I suddenly recalled all those terrible things the person pretending to be Mum had said in the Daily Prophet article and then I forcibly put it out of my mind. That couldn't have been real. "So what does that have to do with my aunt?"

"I'm getting there," Remus said very patiently. "Lily despised the Statute of Secrecy. She constantly advocated for its abolishment. She believed the Obliviations conducted on Muggles were nothing less than violation. But you see, it just was not done to want the Statute of Secrecy to be abolished. The dark lord before Voldemort had wanted to do it, but only so that he could rule the world. Thousands of people died in the service of that cause and that's a conservative estimate."

I still didn't understand where this was going. "But if we got rid of the Statute of Secrecy, then that would mean…" I really couldn't come up with the words for such a massive, world changing idea.

"A lot of things, but this isn't the point. Lily's argument got her…attention. Voldemort saw her as an asset to his cause, even though she was a Muggleborn. He tried to recruit her on three separate occasions. But she refused, with force, each time. Lily knew Voldemort was pure evil, of course. She was a good person." It was strange, and probably just my paranoid imagination, but I detected a note of uncertainty with that last sentence. "Since she got so much negative attention, I believe she attempted to defuse suspicions about her loyalty by pretending she was on good terms with her Muggle sister. Even though the exact opposite was no doubt true."

Well, that made…not sense. It was an utterly nonsensical thing to have done. But it certainly sounded plausible. No one must have objected to my placement because, well, as far as they knew, there wasn't anything to be concerned about. And she was the closest family member. And anyway, every time I tried to get child services involved, everyone promised to follow up on it, but then they never did.

"I am sorry, Harry," Remus said morosely. I felt a tear forming, much to my horror. I couldn't remember the last time an adult had apologized to me. "I should gotten into contact with you. I should have done a number of things. But I want to make up for my mistake."

"Can you adopt me?" I blurted out. I knew Remus wasn't the best choice for a guardian. He was an alcoholic for some years, had trouble keeping a steady job, and he turned into a ravenous monster on the full moon. Logically speaking, it made more sense to try to get the Weasleys or your parents to adopt me. Yet in that moment, I knew with all my heart Remus loved me and I loved him and I wanted him to adopt me. The heart sometimes has more of a say in things than the head.

"I don't think I can," Remus admitted, and I could feel my heart cracking. "I don't mean I don't want to," he hastened to add. "But I don't think it's legal for me as a werewolf to adopt you. I would need to consult a barrister."

I gave him Ms. Cheatham's contact information. "Remus, if it was legal, would you want to adopt me?"

Remus leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. I don't think I've ever been treated with affection by an adult before in my life. I know that's sad, but it's the way things have been for me. "It would be a great honor, Harry. But I should warn you, it's going to be a hard fight. And just because we win in the magical world doesn't mean we'll win in the Muggle world. Your uncle is a prominent executive and I haven't even set foot in Britain since your parents died before this year."

"But will you try," I begged him.

"Yes," he said firmly. "If you want me to. But I may not be the best option you have for getting out of the Dursleys."

I've spoken to Ms. Cheatham since then and she's told me that since I'm in the custody of Muggles, the issue of my custody is a purely Muggle one. Fortunately, her firm has a presence in the Muggle world as well. She has recommended your parents be the ones to try to gain custody of me, at least on paper. I think I'd still prefer Remus (no offense to your parents at all; it's just I think my parents would have wanted Remus to raise me), but I can see Ms. Cheatham's point. As very well to do dentists with some of the most important people in Britain as their clients, your parents probably have a better than Remus to gain custody.

Sorry to disrupt your vacation like this. I hope you're having a great time in Malta!

Your friend,

Harry

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