Minerva: No More Pretending, Time to Lay It All Out

Walking on the soft, damp grass, Hermione asked softly, "Loren, do you think the Anti-Werewolf Law will be repealed if Werewolf could actually learn to use the Animagus?"

"Who knows, maybe..."

Loren stomped on the wild grass with his hard-soled shoes, and no one noticed the faint rustling sound of the grass.

Hermione seemed to understand the unspoken meaning in his words and fell silent for a moment.

The moon had somehow emerged from the clouds, and the drifting rain had stopped at some point. The damp air was filled with the fragrance of forest grass and trees.

Ron seemed determined to take the Twins down with him. Their playful shouts echoed through the night, while the nearby young wizards kept their distance, watching the spectacle with amusement.

To avoid conflict, Harry and Ginny slowly moved to the back of the group and walked alongside Loren Hermione.

Hermione and Ginny exchanged glances, a silent understanding flowing between them. After a moment of looking at each other, they both looked away as if nothing had happened.

"Where's Professor Lupin? Wasn't he just here?" Harry looked around and asked, puzzled.

Loren replied, "He had to leave early."

"That's strange, it took me so long after leaving the Castle to remember I had something to do."

"Yes, that's strange."

"..."

Amidst the chatter of the young wizards, the group arrived at a grassy area on the Edge of the Forbidden Forest, led by Professor McGonagall. The young wizards, with Mandrake Leaf in their mouths, consciously walked to the front, while Loren and Hermione came to the right front.

Professor McGonagall turned to the young wizards, her gaze sweeping across the crowd before she called out, "Percy, Percy Weasley and Cedric Diggory here?"

"Here!"

"Professor, I'm here."

Percy and Cedric pushed their way through the crowd and came out.

"You two step forward and demonstrate for the others," Professor McGonagall said, looking at the other young wizards. "Those who are going to bury the Secret Potion tonight, watch carefully. If you have any questions, be sure to ask. The Archives of St Mungo's's contain hundreds of cases of injuries and illnesses caused by mistakes in the Animagus Ritual. Among them, seventeen people suffered irreversible Transfiguration due to mistakes in the Secret Potion- making process that led to the failure of the Animagus Ritual."

The young wizards' relaxed hearts were gripped by Professor McGonagall's words, and they unconsciously slowed their breathing, afraid of missing a single detail.

Professor McGonagall stepped to the side, turning her gaze to Percy and Cedric: "First, remove the Mandrake Leaf from your mouths..."

Percy and Cedric each took out a small crystal bottle they had prepared beforehand, brought it to their mouths, and spat out the leaves from their mouths.

Compared to Cedric's swift movements, Percy seemed a bit hesitant, probably because he felt the action was unseemly and wasn't quite comfortable with it.

Professor McGonagall warned sternly, "Mr. Weasley, if you don't just want to change your upper body or just your lower body, spit out more saliva, leaving only half a finger joint of space in the Crystal Vial."

The little Witch in the crowd frowned, and even Hermione couldn't help but purse her lips.

George gave Fred a look, Fred smiled knowingly. It was time for them to step up and say something, since it was a rare opportunity to publicly ridicule the good student Percy.

Fred was about to speak when Angelina nudged his arm, calming him down instantly.

George's eyes widened immediately.

Percy, whose name was called by Professor McGonagall, paused for a moment, his face stiffening in the moonlight. After thinking for a few seconds, he gave up struggling and began to obediently spit into the bottle.

Under the watchful eyes of a group of young wizards and with Professor McGonagall's guidance, Percy and Cedric each added a hair, a silver teaspoon of dew, and a Death's-head Hawkmoth Chrysalis to a small crystal vial.

"... One last check, make sure your stoppers are stable enough. No need to shake the mixture thoroughly; the Secret Potion will change on its own over time." Professor McGonagall nodded to the two. "Now find a quiet, dark place to hide. I recommend burying it under tree roots, or hiding it in a tree hollow where no small animals live..."

While Percy and Cedric ran into the Forbidden Forest to hide the Secret Potion from opposite directions, Professor McGonagall explained several key points and precautions for brewing the Secret Potion before letting the other young wizards get started.

Hermione brought the small crystal vial to her lips, her mouth slightly open, when suddenly she stopped.

Hermione raised her head expressionlessly, meeting the man's probing gaze directly.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Loren blinked. "Making Secret Potion!"

"..."

There was nothing Hermione could do about this scoundrel, so she ignored him. Holding the small crystal vial in one hand and slightly concealing it with the other, she swiftly finished filling the vial with the Secret Potion, ignoring the strange "tsk tsk" sounds coming from his mouth.

Perhaps it was the Mandrake Leaf that were working, because the saliva in the small bottle didn't have an unpleasant smell. In fact, it looked quite clear after adding dew. The hair that was put in was wrapped around the pupa of the ghost-faced Tian'e and swayed slowly in the Crystal Vial.

Loren and Hermione dug a deep pit under a huge beech tree, sprinkled insect repellent powder on it, placed Crystal Vial inside, filled it in, leveled it, and then made a scale mark on the beech tree trunk.

On the way back to the Castle, they passed the Whomping Willow again. Hermione's gaze lingered for a few seconds on the Whomping Willow's leaves, which had turned almost completely red, and she whispered:

"I wish Professor Lupin all the best."

At this moment, Professor Lupin had transformed into Werewolf, standing in front of the window on the Second Floor of the Shrieking Shack, gazing up at the moonlight, even forgetting to take out the steaming roasted chicken leg from his Storage Scale.

Lupin the Werewolf had never seen the moon from this angle or for this long before; at least, he had none of his few memories of the moon. A wolf's eyesight should be excellent, but the moon appeared to him as clearly as if he were seeing it with human eyes.

It's hazy, with some diffused light and rough edges. The colors are also cooler, with a sense of chill.

Lupin didn't consider himself someone Dumbledore cared for the entire Wizarding World, nor someone as kind as Lily, nor as righteous Lumbard couple. He had never before entertained any Sage ideas about saving all Werewolf, the equality between humans and werewolves, or that Werewolf were also human.

But Loren's conjecture kept swirling in his mind, the voice echoing in his ears, never fading away. He pondered the Magic Power principles behind that conjecture a thousand times over, and even though he was absolutely certain that his magical skills couldn't find any flaws, Lupin couldn't help but think, deduce, and conjecture again and again.

Perhaps it was the stimulating effect of the Wolfsbane Potion that was keeping Lupin the Werewolf from getting tired, and then at some point, his somewhat numb mind naturally slid into an abyss he had never ventured into before.

To restore the Werewolf's self-control and reduce Werewolf harm, then...

The words of the goblins in Gringotts over the past few decades; the words of the vagrants during my wandering years; the words of some Werewolf companions; even the declarations made by some wizards to Care of Magical Creatures; the main subjects of those words that I heard intentionally or unintentionally were inexplicably replaced by Werewolf.

So the wolf's ears heard the voice from its dream.

Before dawn, the moon had already set. Lupin, who had been standing all night, hurriedly crawled out of the tunnel and ran all the way to the Headmaster's office.

Knock knock knock!

Knock knock knock!

The portrait of the principal on the wall was suddenly startled awake. For once, former Principal Dexter Foster and former Principal Black were on the same side, cursing at the visitors outside the door.

Dumbledore, emerged from behind a cubicle in his office, his deep blue eyes gleaming sharply behind his glasses.

Only Merlin would know that when a centenarian suffering from insomnia is woken up early in the morning, the resentment in his heart is enough to fill the entire Black Lake —and the excess could pile up into a small mountain.

He opened the door to find his Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, who, despite having dark circles under his eyes, looked energetic, his tired face displaying a complex mix of excitement and bewilderment.

Dumbledore paused for a moment, his anger vanished instantly, and his eyes were filled with a deep sense of self-reproach and regret.

Remus, he was driven mad by Severus.

"Professor Dumbledore, Loren made a tremendous discovery last night!" Lupin exclaimed excitedly.

Dumbledore: "..."

"It's you, Remus. Come in and we'll talk."

The self-blame and regret disappeared, and Dumbledore, even somewhat disappointed for some reason, turned around, slowly walked behind the desk and sat down, shaking the teapot as he poured himself and Lupin a cup of hot maple syrup.

Before Lupin could even sit down, he launched into a long, rambling monologue about everything that had happened the night before, adding his own thoughts, "What do you think, Professor Dumbledore?"

"..." Dumbledore didn't answer, staring blankly at Lupin's maple syrup drink.

"Professor..." Lupin hesitated for a moment, then repeated, "What do you think, Professor Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore remained silent, quietly picking up his cup and taking a sip of his hot maple syrup.

Lupin glanced at the syrup in the cup in front of him and began to vaguely understand its flavor.

Is the professor throwing a tantrum in bed?

It's unbelievable that a professor who's over a hundred years old still acts like a child.

Lupin was somewhat amused and exasperated, but he still picked up the cloyingly sweet syrup and took a sip, as an apology for disturbing the old man's sweet dreams.

Seeing Remus wince in sweetness, Dumbledore couldn't hide his smile, "When I was little, my mother always said that when you don't have time for breakfast, eating something sweet makes you feel much better."

Lupin, whose body was gradually warming up, was stunned for a moment. "So the professor did this to take care of me..."

"No, I was just teasing you." Dumbledore winked playfully, then immediately became serious before Lupin could react. "Regarding what you just said about using Animagus to counter Werewolf transformations, well, although I used to be a professor of Transfiguration, we'd better consult a professional."

"Minerva, could you please come to the Headmaster's office as soon as possible? I need your help."

Dumbledore waved his wand, and a silver Phoenix Patronus, shot out from the tip of the wand, flapped its wings, and flew away.

The old headmaster, who had released the Patronus, looked at Lupin: "So, would you like some candy and cookies?"

A few minutes later, the current professor of Transfiguration, with his sideburns slightly disheveled, opened the oak door to the Headmaster's office.

Professor McGonagall, who rushed over, listened to Lupin's account but did not give an immediate reply.

Dumbledore didn't urge him, took a sip of his maple syrup drink, and then changed the subject. "Our Miss Beetle has written again. She infiltrated the Werewolf community and discovered that some Werewolf frequently associate with a professor at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Each time they visit that professor, they bring back large amounts of food and winter clothing."

"Miss Beetle asked me if I would like to help investigate that strange professor in Ilvermorny. Considering that the person is in Ilvermorny, I declined Miss Beetle."

"Whatever the Dark Lord is plotting, his goal is to turn the Werewolf into his minions," Professor McGonagall analyzed. "If Lupin's idea can be realized, whatever they are planning, we can get most of the Werewolf to our side."

"Professor McGonagall ..." Lupin, who had drunk most of a cup of syrup, had calmed down. He pursed his lips, recalling the problems he had anticipated countless times last night, and said slowly, "Supporting the Werewolf in learning Animagus with Wolfsbane Potion requires a large sum of money. The current Minister for Magic is Cornelius Fudge, and it will be difficult for us to persuade the Ministry of Magic to allocate funds."

Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore exchanged a glance. Professor McGonagall pursed her lips to hide her smug smile and said, "Remus, you've just started working at the school, so you may not know much about Hogwarts now. If it's just Potions problem... we can completely get rid of the Ministry of Magic."

"But, but..." Lupin hesitated, his mind a jumble of thoughts.

Has Hogwarts suddenly become incredibly wealthy?

Did the principal find the gold left behind by the Founders?

Wait a minute, if Hogwarts really has a treasure, did Gryffindor steal it or did Slytherin leave it behind...?

Professor McGonagall waved her hand. "If you ask me, the biggest problem right now is whether Werewolf can learn from the Animagus, and how difficult it is for them to learn."

Lupin shook his head to clear his mind of the jumbled thoughts and quickly explained, "Professor McGonagall, I've read several of your papers published in 'Transfiguration Today.' According to your theory, the difficulty for the Animagus lies in understanding the process of Human Transfiguration and using reason to reject animalistic instincts... Believe me, these things are very familiar to a conscious Werewolf."

Professor McGonagall pondered for a moment, "Remus, you need to prove to me and Albus... I will tell the students that you are a Teaching Class, that you will study with them, memorize with them, and even be examined by me together."

Lupin was stunned; this answer was completely unexpected.

Dumbledore picked up his cup, took a sip of his hot maple syrup, and watched the scene unfold with a smile, seemingly finding it quite amusing.