The next morning Mr. Orson decided that my first job would be to interview Remus. I got out my Muggle tape recorder and, for once, was glad that I was not at Hogwarts. If I would’ve interviewed him there, the recorder would’ve gone haywire, and I hated using Quick-Notes Quills.

“So what do you need to know all of this for?” Remus asked before we began.

“Well, I’m supposed to be able to understand what it’s like for you,” I said. “That way I can incorporate it into my style.”

He nodded, but I was sure that he still didn’t understand completely.

I flipped on the tape recorder and sat on the opposite end of the sofa from Remus.

“Lily Evans and Remus Lupin, December Twentieth.” I set it down in the middle of us and began to scratch a few notes. “Okay, Remus. Could you please explain what it’s like when you’ve transformed without the potion?”

He looked down at his hands. “It’s very… painful. It feels like knives are being constantly stabbed into every inch of my body and my eye sight just totally changes… I can see and hear everything. I feel mad and angry all of the sudden and it’s like I want to conquer the world.”

“What does it feel like when you’ve transformed with the potion?”

“It still hurts a lot,” he replied, looking more confident. “But I can control myself. I have a much better sense of what’s going on. Most the time it’s almost like I’m a dog, except I occasionally have to fight with the urge to bite someone. When I’m transformed I’d bite anything in sight… But with the potion it’s just like a nagging sense… really easy to overcome.”

“Are there any side effects to your transforming?”

“No, not really… except I now like my steak really rare. Cooked food is so overrated.”

I couldn't help but to smile.