The Upright and Brave Miss Granger

Loren found it amusing and pinched the tip of her nose. "Not only do Professor Snape and I know about Professor Lupin's Werewolf identity, but Headmaster Dumbledore knows, and I suspect Professor McGonagall knows as well, and Madam Pomfrey, who might know too."

"Huh?" Hermione's eyes widened, and she began to stare blankly.

This was completely different from the grim situation she had imagined. Because of the "Anti-Werewolf Law" promoted by the Daily Prophet, she thought that Professor Lupin's identity had to be kept strictly confidential, and that a leak would mean unemployment and expulsion.

That's why Professor Snape guided the young wizards to discover it on their own...

Hey, wait a minute.

Right, why didn't Professor Snape just expose Professor Lupin directly?

"Remember the Wolfsbane Potion? In first grade, I had to send a dose home every month. Professor Lupin was hospitalized and unable to teach because he drank a modified version of the Wolfsbane Potion," Loren explained.

Hermione's eyes widened even more. "Professor Snape poisoned the medicine?"

"What kind of outrageous plots are you thinking about?" Loren shook his head with a smile. "I brewed the Wolfsbane Potion, but the new herbs I added were too irritating, which is why Professor Lupin was sent to the hospital."

"The one you brewed..." Hermione nodded belatedly, remembering something. "So, the potion you mentioned a while ago, the one brewed at the Room of Requirement, was the Wolfsbane Potion?"

"Yes, Professor Snape specified the general direction, and I designed the experimental details. I added some... some relatively rare materials. The improved Wolfsbane Potion is more irritating, and if nothing unexpected happens, the pain caused by transformation will be less."

Loren paused for a moment, pondering, "But I'm not sure whether Professor Snape was trying to help Professor Lupin or just wanted to tease him."

"It's definitely to prank Professor Lupin!" Hermione said with certainty. "He deliberately brought up the chapter on nocturnal animals and guided everyone to identify Werewolf, all to expose Professor Lupin."

"If you say so, then so be it. Let's put Professor Lupin's matter aside for now."

Loren's eyes were fixed on the girl. "Let's talk about what happened. Miss Granger was angry with me because of Professor Snape. Before she even knew the truth, she planned to take me to an empty classroom and scold me. How should this be accounted for?"

"I... I..."

Hermione's face, which had gradually calmed down, suddenly turned red again, and even her fair neck began to flush.

Unable to find a reason to defend herself, Hermione simply resorted to shamelessness. She tilted her head back, raised her chin, and said stubbornly, "I was wrong about this. I apologize. I'm sorry. Is that alright?"

"Apologize? Miss Granger, you don't seem to be being sincere."

Loren had a faint smile on his lips, and his gaze was as scorching as if it were tainted with Fire Charm, making Hermione's heart flutter.

"What do you want—um..."

In a secluded, Abandoned Classroom, a boy with black hair and black eyes leaned forward, capturing the girl's rosy lower lip and gently sucking on it.

The soft, tender lips were like pudding, with a subtle sweetness.

Cleverly, this is the touch of two people.

Dear Mom:

Hopefully, when you receive this letter, you won't be busy examining a patient's wisdom tooth or calculating the dental clinic's tax bill. Your poor daughter is reaching out to you with many questions, hoping for some help.

This has been very distressing for me. Even as I begin to write this letter, my restless heart continues to race whenever I think about what happened during the day.

It's really hard to talk about. Ever since I spent Loren's birthday with him, a lot has changed about me. In class, I always find myself looking at him unconsciously, and unconsciously moving closer to him. I feel peaceful and relaxed when I'm with him. It's like having you next to me, but it's also different. I can't quite explain it.

Ever since he helped me comb my hair one morning, I've found myself hesitating in front of the mirror every morning, wondering if I should spend more time tidying up my unruly hair, or if I should try some magic on my less-than-perfect front teeth. My roommates Lavender and Parvati, even consulted the school nurse, Madam Pomfrey, about it...

Fortunately, Hogwarts requires uniform attire during classes, so I didn't have to struggle between the dress that Loren liked and the shirt that I preferred.

We've discussed adolescent psychological issues many nights. You've talked to me about love, and I've read many books on physiology and psychology. Thank you and Father for your enlightened guidance...

I know perfectly well, and I'm absolutely certain, that I should focus on my studies, that I should persuade that bad guy to focus on his studies with me, and that I should stop his outrageous behavior. But Mom, I don't know what to do. Every time he gets close, I only want to get closer than he does; every time he kisses me, I crave the feeling of the kiss just as much... What should I do?

Help

Your Confused Daughter

In the Gryffindor girls' dormitory, Hermione finished writing the embarrassing letter with a blush and a pounding heart. She took several deep breaths to calm herself down.

Hermione folded the letter neatly, put it in a thick paper envelope, shrunk off the bed, went to the window, and handed the letter to the Spectacled Owl Hānhan waiting there.

Hermione ruffled his Hānhan head. "Hānhan Hānhan, make sure you get the letter to my mother. Don't give it to anyone else. If it's urgent, destroy the letter."

"Coo coo?"

Hānhan round, innocent eyes darted around.

"Don't ask so many questions, just do as I say." Hermione took out a small bundle she had prepared beforehand from the pendant and tied it around Hānhan's neck. "This is some dried white mouse meat for you to eat on the way. After we get back, I'll cover your supply of dried mouse meat for a month."

"Coo-coo! Coo-coo?" The Spectacled Owl flapped its wings happily.

"Yes, they were all lab rats."

Hānhan received assurances, the owl flew out of the window with high spirits, tracing a joyful arc in the night sky.

Just then, several of her roommates sitting around Lavender's bed peeked out, and Parvati called out, "Hermione, have you finished writing your letter?"

"Oh, oh, I'm done writing!"

"Come over here quickly after you're done writing, and teach us some tips for dating!"

Hermione paused for a moment, pursed her lips, and slowly walked over to join the girls' dormitory's late-night chat.

Gryffindor boys' dormitory.

Ron shamelessly explained Quidditch tactics to Harry, using donuts as Quidditch hoop, Licorice Wands as flying brooms, and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans as Quaffle and Bludger.

"I'm planning a novel tactic: after the goalkeeper intercepts the Quaffle, he knocks it away, and then, as the Quaffle slides along, he knocks the Bludger away, creating—" Ron said, gesturing wildly.

"Wait!" Harry grabbed his hand. "How can you, a goalkeeper, knock Bludger away?"

"Well..." Ron thought about it carefully, "We'll talk about that when I go on stage."

"That doesn't sound plausible at all," Harry retorted expressionlessly.

"How is it unreliable? The rules don't say you can't do it..."

The two argued about the feasibility of the technology, and neither could convince the other. In the end, they had to ask their roommate to support their point of view.

"Seamus, Neville, what do you think?"

Neville was engrossed in writing in his diary, without even looking up.

Seamus lazily raised his eyes. "I think Harry is right, Ron, you should become a goalkeeper first."

"Damn it!" Ron gritted his teeth indignantly, then turned to his roommate, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, hugging the bedpost and grinning foolishly. "Loren, what do you think?"

"Huh?" Loren snapped out of his daze. "I think both of them make sense—"

He touched the wound on his lip while speaking, and hissed in pain.

Harry looked over curiously. "Are you hurt, Loren? How did you get hurt?"

"It happened when I was catching the cat."

"Crookshanks? It doesn't look like a cat that scratches people."

"Another mischievous kitten."

According to the older wizards who Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Lupin recovered the next day and returned to the classroom to teach normally. Apart from being a little pale and smelling of bath soap, he was fine.

This relieved the worried young wizards, since the results of the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor were not very good every year, and Professor Lupin was the best Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor they had encountered in recent years.

After a typical weekend, on Monday afternoon, the third-year Gryffindor walked nervously toward their Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"If Snape comes to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts again, I'm skipping class!" Ron said with a serious expression.

"Even though you're both Weasley, you don't have George's or Fred's skills. Skipping school will get you detention," Harry laughed. "Don't worry, Professor Lupin was perfectly healthy yesterday when I went to learn the Patronus Charm from him. If you hadn't insisted on practicing Quidditch ..."

"I'm going to be Gryffindor's goalkeeper! And being healthy yesterday doesn't mean I'm healthy today, who knows..." Ron waved his hand, "I think Professor Lupin was poisoned by Snape the first time he was admitted to the hospital, and who knows if he'll be poisoned again."

"If you're still worried, I can help you get hospitalized, the kind that even Madam Pomfrey won't be able to tell," Loren joked.

Ron pouted, ran to the classroom door, peeked through the door, and shouted excitedly, "That's great!"

Professor Lupin was standing on the podium, smiling at everyone. He seemed perfectly fine, and even the paleness that the older students had mentioned was gone.

Seeing Loren enter, Lupin smiled and nodded at him.

Seeing this, Loren breathed a sigh of relief and whispered to Hermione, "Thank goodness, my Wolfsbane Potion didn't turn into poison."

Hermione seemed a little distracted, and after a short while she looked up groggily and replied, "Huh? Oh, yes, yes."

"You seem a bit listless..." Loren frowned and leaned closer to look into her eyes. "Was the Divination Class and Ancient Rune this morning too tiring?"

Hermione blushed and dodged away. "No, no. Oh dear, class is starting, hurry up and go inside..."

The students cheered and took their seats, chattering amongst themselves about Snape's behavior while he was teaching.

"We have absolutely no idea what Werewolf is..."

"He's just a substitute professor, what right does he have to assign us homework?"

"Yes, two whole rolls of parchment!"

Professor Lupin smiled as he looked at each indignant face, his expression remaining unchanged even when he heard that the substitute lesson was about Werewolf. He pondered for a moment and said, "Don't worry, kids. I'll talk to Professor Snape. You don't need to write that paper."

"Yay!"

Except for Hermione, every young wizard burst into joyful cheers.

"Alright, students, today we're going to learn about Hinkypunk, a small, one-legged creature that looks like it's made of smoke..."

September 30, 1993, Thursday, the fifteenth day of the eighth month in the traditional calendar of an Eastern country.

The day when the moon is at its fullest throughout the year.

There was also Defense Against the Dark Arts that day, where the third-year Gryffindor wizards continued their study of Hinkypunk.

"Hinkypunk will lead those who are lost on their journey into the swamp..." Professor Lupin lectured as usual, and the young wizards took notes. Apart from his smile being less frequent than usual, nothing else was different.

"Did you notice the lantern it's carrying? Imagine if you were lost in a forest, night had fallen, and it was pitch black, and this lantern was moving forward through the mist—people followed the light, and then..."

Hinkypunk let out a terrifying howl at just the right moment, startling the young wizards into widening their eyes.

While Professor Lupin was answering her questions, Hermione reached out and nudged Loren's arm, whispering, "Loren, tonight is the Full Moon Night, right?"

"Yes."

"What is Professor Lupin going to do? Will your Wolfsbane Potion be effective? Will Headmaster Dumbledore be with him?" The little Witch's face was full of worry.

Loren smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on Professor Lupin. He'll go to the Shrieking Shack to wait for his transformation and won't come back until dawn."

"Well..." Hermione hesitated for a moment, "Can I come along?"

Loren looked over in surprise. "Huh?"

"Want to go together?"

In the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom after class, Lupin Remus looked at the little Witch with a surprised expression, then looked at the little wizard next to him with a suspicious look, and even stopped tidying up the teaching materials.

Loren shrugged helplessly. "I didn't tell on her. She deduced it herself from the behavior of Boggart and Professor Snape."

"Yes, Professor Lupin, I want to go to the Shrieking Shack with you. I want to learn more." Hermione nodded and said with a determined look, "Ever since the Anti-Werewolf Law was enacted, I've wanted to know more about Werewolf. I think this act is an unjust act."

Understanding the unspoken meaning in the girl's words, Lupin paused for a moment, then shook his head and laughed, "You know what, Miss Granger, you're even bolder than me, Werewolf."

"So..." Hermione looked tentatively at the usually gentle professor, "May I, Professor?"

"What reason do I have to refuse you, Miss Granger, who is upright and courageous?"