An Unexpected Encounter

That Obliviate had turned into a [Blue Card] was something Dewey Jones had never expected.

Dewey frowned while on his Flying Broomstick, as if he had something heavy on his mind.

He had always assumed that once a card appeared, its form was set in stone.

But now that Obliviate had become a Blue Card, he realized his understanding seemed to have been flawed.

He had been far too presumptuous.

The power of the cards did not seem to be immutable.

For instance, during the upgrade process, some cards would become more powerful as their potency changed.

While Obliviate turning into a [Blue Card] was certainly a good thing, the cost to upgrade it further made his scalp tingle.

To copy a [Blue Card] required 800 Essence.

To upgrade Obliviate to level 6 meant he would need at least 9,600 Essence.

That was nearly ten thousand.

Disenchanting a Purple Card only yielded 400.

That was 25 Purple Cards! Where was he supposed to find 25 Purple Cards to destroy?

Dewey felt that the Card System was dead set on preventing people from copying high-level cards through disenchanting.

The system had other inclinations.

There was no necessity to copy and upgrade high-level cards.

If one wanted to improve cards quickly, the Card System encouraged combat above all else.

Cards of the same type dropped in battle were the best way to upgrade, while all other methods were merely supplementary.

Dewey's system panel changed once again:

[User: Dewey Jones (Pseudonym)

Learned Cards:

[(Apprentice) Protego (Level 5)] (White Common)

[(Apprentice) Stupefy (Level 5)] (White Common)

[Apparition (Level 2)] (Purple Epic)

[Avada Kedavra (Level 1)] (Purple Epic)

[(Apprentice) Obliviate (Level 5)] (Blue Rare)

[Finite Incantatem (Level 2)] (Blue Rare)

[Animagus (Special Card)]

[Petrificus Totalus (Level 3)] (Blue Rare) *2

[Reducto (Level 2)] (Blue Rare)

[Expecto Patronum (Level 3)] (Purple Epic) *3

Title: None

Magic Power: 120

Magic Essence: 1500

Duel Points: 0]

Dewey looked at his panel, unsure if he could be considered an average wizard now, or how his strength compared to a Hit Wizard.

He wondered what the outcome would be if he faced off against the core members of the Order of the Phoenix or the Death Eaters.

Fortunately, he would soon find out.

He was already on his way to test his spells.

"How are you holding up?"

Dewey shouted "Whoo-hoo," swallowing a bellyful of cold wind. Sirius Black lowered his body, yelling at Dewey to overcome the wind noise.

"Don't worry about me, I'm doing better than ever!

But I must say, I agree with your terms, and you must remember your promise to me.

Never, ever, harm Harry Potter.

Also, from now on, you are not allowed to cast hexes or Unforgivable Curses on my friends."

He emphasized these two points heavily.

"No problem, Black, absolutely no problem."

Dewey shouted back, "Rest assured, I will be gentle, gentle, and more gentle, careful, careful, and more careful with your werewolf friend.

I'm only putting him to sleep!

Everything is for the sake of our plan!"

Lupin will forgive you.

"We aren't sinners, are we?"

He shouted aloud, the two of them speeding across several counties, heading straight for the dwelling of Moony Lupin!

That's right, Dewey Jones's next target was none other than Lupin, the werewolf who had once been a close friend in Sirius Black's inner circle!

Lupin lived alone.

He wasn't married, had no girlfriend for the time being, and lived a nomadic existence.

He was a werewolf.

To keep his secret, he rarely interacted with people, appearing most often in the forests of various small nations.

He didn't communicate with his relatives, nor did he like other werewolves.

Because of his status, he had no steady job, though he had published a few books over the years, scraping by on the royalties.

Even for someone like Dumbledore, finding a man like this had taken quite some time.

In the end, it was Lupin who had reached out to Dumbledore first, offering to serve as the professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts.

At this moment, Lupin was inside his own house.

He didn't live in a wizarding village, nor did he live in a bustling city.

His home was at the foot of the mountains in the northwest.

It was sparsely populated.

His entire appearance was excessively simple.

Simple and haggard.

Of course, no matter how simple, the house still had a fireplace.

The fireplace was connected to the Floo Network, making it convenient for Lupin to return home. Compared to the house-elves of the Black family, Lupin's home had nothing; he had lived alone for a long time, not even keeping in touch with his parents.

I have to go back, after all.

Lupin looked at the news of Sirius Black and Dewey Jones's prison break in the paper, stroking his slightly greying hair.

He felt he should know how Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban.

Dementors wouldn't have much defense against an Animagus.

If Sirius had transformed into an Animagus, he could have left Azkaban with ease.

But the other person, this Dewey Jones—how did he leave Azkaban?

Sirius Black didn't remember Dewey Jones, but Lupin was different. He remembered the face of everyone, including this Dewey Jones. The young lad had been several years below them; he was clever, yet he admired powerful people, much like Peter Pettigrew. He had wanted to be friends with James, but unfortunately, he had been ostracized.

James hadn't been short on friends.

This person was very smart, but that didn't mean he was also an Animagus. Lupin knew just how difficult it was to master the Animagus transformation.

Time.

Energy.

Luck.

Not one could be missing.

From the moment you placed a Mandrake leaf in your mouth at the full moon, if there wasn't a single slip-up, it could take weeks, months, or even years, because the process of learning it was filled with mysticism.

The timing had no concrete anchor; everything was calculated from the first full moon to the second. Between the two full moons, the Mandrake leaf was not allowed to leave the mouth. After that, the leaf and other potions had to be placed into a glass vial.

Then, one had to wait for a thunderstorm.

The vial could not be exposed to the sun, and one could not observe the vial under lightning.

Do you see?

Every step of this magic was filled with chance and temptation.

Miss a single step, and the magic would fail.

And even if the magic succeeded, what of it?

It was quite ordinary. Without a specific need, people wouldn't bother learning to be an Animagus.

There were also taboos for an Animagus; no Animagus would ever transform into a magical creature.

Because it was too dangerous.

It didn't increase one's combat power.

So, the fact that James and the others could become Animagi was a stroke of immense luck—a luck that belonged to them, and to Lupin himself.

He looked at the gaunt Sirius in the photograph, unable to stop himself from sinking into memories. Finally, with a sigh, Lupin packed his trunk—the things he needed to take with him when he went to teach at Hogwarts.

A textbook for his classes, Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection, an old book, but a useful one.

There were also a few scattered volumes that looked like second-hand books: Basic Defense Against the Dark Arts, How to Identify Vampires, and so on.

Lupin packed these books full, stuffed in a few potions, and added a coat identical to the one he was wearing. Finally, he straightened his back and took one last look at his home.

"Goodbye."

He spoke to the empty house. He had originally intended to travel to London via the Floo Network, but now that all Floo connections to London were restricted, he would need to head out to perform Apparition, then combine it with a Muggle car to reach the Leaky Cauldron.

He also had to transport the Boggart he had captured.

"I hope you haven't done anything foolish, Sirius, or I won't be showing you any mercy."

Lupin muttered to himself.

Dragging his heavy suitcase, he opened the front door, ready to leave.

Sirius Black was standing at the threshold.

"Stupefy."

Sirius did not cast the spell slowly; he unleashed it the very moment the door swung open.

But Lupin's reaction was faster.

His wand was still in his hand—he had been using it for chores just moments ago—and seeing the spell incoming, he instinctively deflected the Stupefy and cast a hex at Sirius!