Be Normal

After determining there was no danger, Linley and Cedric climbed out of the secret passage together.

Seeing the werewolf sitting quietly under a tree, looking at them indifferently, Cedric whispered into Linley's ear.

"He doesn't seem to be in a frenzy. Did we guess wrong? Is he actually not a werewolf?"

Linley rolled his eyes.

"If he's not a werewolf, what else could he be? A dog-man?"

They thought their voices were very low, but they didn't notice that Ian, sitting under the tree, twitched his ears, and his wolf-like face turned a little dark.

"Should we go over and say hello first?" Cedric now followed Linley's lead.

Linley certainly wouldn't refuse. He needed to talk to Ian to complete the mission.

They cautiously approached Ian, maintaining a safe distance of about ten meters. Then Linley showed a polite smile and waved at him.

"Hi!"

But Ian didn't seem to want to acknowledge him, still looking at them with cold eyes, showing no sign of friendliness.

"I think you might have forgotten me," Linley tried to get closer to Ian, bringing up the only connection they had.

"We shared a compartment on the train to Hogwarts. I even introduced myself to you. My name is Linley Belloc."

Ian didn't speak.

"You don't need to introduce yourself. I remember your name from the Sorting Ceremony. Ian Campbell, right? And you were sorted into Ravenclaw. Honestly, the moment I first saw you, I knew you were brilliant."

Ian didn't speak.

"What's your current state? A werewolf transformation? You can maintain your sanity? Wow! You're amazing!"

Ian didn't speak.

"The moonlight is beautiful tonight, and you look so majestic when you transform! It would be even more majestic if you could chat with me!"

Ian still hadn't spoken, but his gaze had shifted from indifferent to looking at him like he was crazy.

Even Cedric was starting to get fed up with Linley. He had never seen Linley engage in such awkward, cringe-worthy small talk.

Even with Linley's thick skin, he was starting to get embarrassed and angry. If the system hadn't given him a mission to chat with this wolf cub, would he have to put himself out there like this?

"Did you become mute after turning into a werewolf! Can't you say a single word! Even if you can't speak human language, a wolf howl would do!"

Ian didn't howl, but he was finally annoyed enough by Linley to speak.

"Can you be quiet for a moment?"

The moment he spoke, Linley's face lit up with surprise, but then his expression immediately fell.

[Quest 1 Complete!]

[Physique attribute unlocked, Physique +1]

[Quest 2 Unlocked: Gain the friendship of the werewolf Ian.]

[Reward: Physique +3]

It was this difficult just to get the wolf cub to speak, and now he had to befriend him?

Compared to this, he would have preferred the system to assign him a task to feed Professor McGonagall dried fish snacks or pull Dumbledore's beard.

But that little bit of Physique attribute was just too tempting!

After the Physique attribute points were awarded, Linley could clearly feel the changes in his body.

His five senses were enhanced, his muscles became stronger, his breathing grew longer, and even his heart felt like it was beating more powerfully than before.

This feeling of evolution made Linley incredibly captivated.

How should a mage allocate their stats?

Linley could now give a definitive answer: adding points to Spirit or Intelligence was the wrong path! Only adding to Physique and Attack was the right way!

Aren't all true mages wielding their wands to smash the skulls of their enemies?

What use is magic other than for lighting?

Almost in an instant, Linley made up his mind.

To become a true mage, and for those tempting three Physique attribute points, he was determined to befriend Ian!

He sat cross-legged in front of Ian, a sickeningly affectionate smile on his face that made Cedric want to vomit, and said affectionately.

"Classmate Campbell, don't be so heartless. Look how nice the weather is today, and we were startled by you just now. It's not too much to ask for you to chat with us to make up for it, right?"

"Ugh!" A sound of gagging came from Cedric's side.

Even Ian was starting to get restless. He thought Linley either had a problem with his brain or his sexual orientation.

Their reactions made Linley lose face a bit. He looked at Cedric with a dark expression, wanting him to explain his gagging sound.

"Linley, act normal. You're scaring me like this." Cedric's face was a little pale. He seemed genuinely frightened by Linley's behavior.

Linley wasn't very good at making friends with strangers, especially when the other party wasn't proactive.

He cleared his throat a couple of times to ease his awkwardness, then said to Cedric.

"It's already past ten o'clock, which is exactly when Filch is most diligent in patrolling the castle. Why don't we sit here for a while? It must be quite boring for classmate Campbell to be alone. It would be nice if we accompanied him to look at the stars and moon."

Before Cedric could speak, Ian couldn't help but speak up first.

"I don't feel bored, I just feel you're a bit noisy."

"Nonsense! You're clearly bored!"

Ian suppressed the urge to pounce on Linley and silently chose not to argue with him.

Cedric also felt that Linley's words made a lot of sense.

This was precisely when the castle caretaker, Filch, conducted his strictest patrols. If they were caught returning now, they wouldn't be able to tell the truth.

Ian's admission as a werewolf must have been with the tacit approval of Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. Recalling Professor McGonagall's reaction when that Auror named Kingsley said he wanted to investigate Ian.

They certainly wouldn't want Ian's secret of being a werewolf to become known to the entire school. Even if he was a special werewolf who retained his sanity after transforming, there would definitely be panic among the young wizards, and parents would undoubtedly put pressure on Dumbledore!

So Cedric also sat cross-legged on the ground, forming a triangle with Linley and Ian.

"Why did you transform outside the secret passage just now? Didn't you have time to get inside?"

Compared to Linley, Cedric's impression of Ian was more like that of a normal person. Therefore, although his tone was still somewhat indifferent, he still answered his question.

"I misjudged the weather today. The moon was a bit too bright. As soon as I opened the secret passage, the transformation began ahead of schedule."

His answer made Cedric even more puzzled. His knowledge of werewolves mostly came from books, and he had never encountered Ian's situation.

"May I ask, were you bitten by another werewolf to become one?"

This time, Ian did not answer.

He looked up at the bright full moon in the sky, remaining silent.

After a long while, he answered a question that wasn't asked.

"I hope you can help me keep my secret."

Linley and Cedric exchanged glances. Without hesitation, they replied in unison.

"Of course, no problem."