Sorry, I'm an Actor

Sirius Black lay on the ground, silently watching what was happening before him. Dewey knocked Lupin to the ground, picked up the oak wand, and tossed it to Sirius.

Sirius Black reached out and caught the wand. Wincing from the pain in his ribs, he got to his feet.

"He didn't go easy on you, did he?"

Dewey said absentmindedly.

Lupin hadn't held back at all against his old friend.

Dewey had no idea what spell Lupin had used, but one look at Sirius Black's face told him it must have hurt like hell.

Every time Sirius took a step, the muscles in his face twitched.

He struggled over to Lupin and crouched down to examine him. Dewey followed, pried Lupin's clenched fingers open, and took his wand.

Watching Sirius feel for Lupin's neck, Dewey said, "Don't worry. I used Stupefy. I haven't done anything evil to your friend."

Dewey tried casting Stupefy with Lupin's wand. When he found that it worked well, he tucked it into his waistband.

The mess around them was exactly what Dewey had expected.

He'd known all along that Lupin wouldn't believe Sirius.

Only if he saw Peter Pettigrew alive with his own eyes and understood the whole story might he be willing to help Sirius.

But to see Peter Pettigrew, they'd have to go either to Hogwarts or to Diagon Alley.

Both places were heavily guarded by the Ministry of Magic, and Hogwarts had Dumbledore stationed there, making it as dangerous as a dragon's lair.

If Sirius Black were surrounded like that, he wouldn't be able to escape either.

At the slightest change of heart from Lupin, Sirius could be captured by the Ministry of Magic and given a Dementor's Kiss.

So Sirius couldn't fully trust Lupin either.

At least until he was cleared of the accusations, he wasn't willing to die carrying the name of a traitor.

It was a deadlock.

The only way out was for Lupin and Sirius to make an Unbreakable Vow in front of Dewey.

As the witness, Dewey would confirm that the vow had taken effect. Then they could work together to capture Peter Pettigrew.

But clearly, the two men's negotiations had broken down.

The scene was enough to make anyone sigh.

Dewey checked Lupin's breathing. He was fine, just fast asleep.

Six Cards lay scattered beside him.

Most of them were White Cards.

But one colorless Card made Dewey raise an eyebrow.

Dewey picked it up.

[Transformation Card (Werewolf)]

[Transformation Card (Werewolf): The tragedy of Mr. Lupin had been foreshadowed from the moment his parents denounced werewolves]

["Go on, you filthy, stinking carrion beasts"]

This was a Special Card.

Just as with the Animagus, Dewey hadn't expected this thing to drop.

It might be a pleasant surprise. With this Special Card, Dewey could become a werewolf!

Compared with Wizards, werewolves couldn't cast magic.

But in terms of strength, speed, and contagiousness, werewolves were far superior to Wizards. In a straight-up brawl, humans were no match for them.

It was another trump card.

Without a word, Dewey absorbed the Card, hoisted Lupin over his shoulder, and headed for the little house.

Black cast a spell, and Lupin's trunk bobbed along behind them.

The three of them entered Lupin's little house. Dewey dumped Lupin onto the bed, and with a flick of Black's wrist, a rope wound around Lupin like a living snake, binding him tight.

"Let's get started!"

Dewey said. He took out a pair of scissors and snipped some hair from Lupin's head.

"This stuff doesn't taste great. You'd better drink it all in one go."

Sirius handed Dewey the Polyjuice Potion and watched as he dropped Lupin's hair into it.

This was the plan Dewey had told Sirius about.

A switcheroo.

That was right. This was Dewey's plan.

He would work with Sirius to capture Lupin ahead of time, use Polyjuice Potion to take on his appearance, and impersonate him as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at school. That way, he could see more spellbooks and meet more Wizards. More importantly, Dewey could use his lessons as an excuse for "practical training between classes" and get himself a whole lot of Cards.

The plan was extremely simple, and not simple at all.

It depended on one major prerequisite: an information gap.

So far, apart from McGonagall and Dumbledore, nobody knew whom Dumbledore had approached to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Snape didn't find out that Lupin had been hired as Hogwarts' Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher until a few days before term started. He was furious about it for a while.

Clearly, he thought a werewolf shouldn't be allowed into Hogwarts.

He belonged in Azkaban.

Not to mention, he'd nearly been bitten by the werewolf Lupin. If James hadn't been an Animagus and knocked the werewolf aside, Snape might have become a werewolf too.

Dewey had known Lupin would be Hogwarts' new teacher even before Dumbledore went to see him.

Likewise, no one knew that the Marauder's Map was with the Weasley twins.

Without those two prerequisites, Dewey couldn't have planned this operation. Even Sirius Black thought Dewey's knowledge was downright unbelievable.

He seemed to know a little too much.

Sirius had asked Dewey how he knew all this.

"Maybe there's a god inside my head?"

Dewey had said. Sirius thought he was joking.

But he could also tell that Dewey didn't want to talk about it, and there was no way to get it out of him.

"Take Lupin to Hogwarts. He'll understand what we're trying to do."

Dewey urged Sirius Black as he watched Sirius start modifying Lupin's trunk, turning it into a huge container.

What Dewey was doing had never been done before, and probably never would be again.

He'd stolen Barty Crouch Jr.'s idea, and hoped Barty wouldn't complain about it next year.

The curse on Hogwarts' Defense Against the Dark Arts post was still in effect. Dewey knew he wouldn't escape it either.

He could teach the entire third year for a whole year, then step down.

The only question was how he should step down.

If you had enough nerve, Hogwarts was your home!

Dewey wasn't afraid. If he didn't take a risky move, he'd never reach Voldemort's level and status in just a few short years. One year was enough time for him to get a lot done.

He didn't expect to break the curse either. He figured he'd be another one-year teacher.

In Harry's first year, Professor Quirrell was possessed by Voldemort and died in the end. In Harry's second year, Professor Lockhart was all show and no substance, relying on nothing but his "Obliviate" spell to get by. In the end, his own spell landed him in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

In Harry's third year—this year—Dewey remembered that Lupin was the teacher. He was eventually forced to resign after his identity as a werewolf was discovered.

In Harry's fourth year, Barty Crouch Jr. attacked Mad-Eye Moody, used Polyjuice Potion to take his appearance, and taught Harry Potter for a year.

Ironically, the werewolf (a Dark Creature) in Harry's third year and Barty Jr. (a Death Eater) in his fourth year had been the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers who had the greatest impact on Harry Potter.

Of the two, Barty Jr. might have been the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Harry Potter had ever had.

Because he truly understood Dark Magic.

All Dewey had to do was take what Barty Jr. had planned to do and put it to use on himself: drink Polyjuice Potion and impersonate Professor Lupin.

Then he'd transform into a werewolf, get discovered, and be driven out of the school.

A perfect plan.

Because of his lycanthropy, Professor Lupin had distanced himself from his friends and had poor relationships with people. He was solitary and looked worn out. Nobody knew where he'd been all these years since graduation.

He was the perfect person to impersonate.

More importantly, Dewey had Lupin's old friend, Sirius, to help him recreate Lupin perfectly.

Given those conditions, Dewey thought it would've been a shame not to make a move against Lupin.

Sirius had handled both the Polyjuice Potion and the trunk for holding Lupin. He'd delivered on his part. The little flask in Dewey's hand now contained Polyjuice Potion.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Sirius looked at Dewey, unable to stop himself from asking again.

"Why not?"

Dewey said to Sirius. He gulped down the Polyjuice Potion and felt an indescribably strange taste flood his mouth, striking straight at his soul.

Dewey kept his expression steady, doing his best not to let any sign of discomfort show.

Polyjuice Potion lasted only an hour.

That meant Dewey would have to take it once every hour and endure that despair-inducing taste again and again.

The potion entered Dewey's body.

It began to take effect.

Dewey felt a rush of heat rise from his stomach and spread throughout his body.

After a while, he felt as though his whole body were melting. His bones, pupils, and appearance kept changing. In the end, even his fingernails began to twist.

He watched himself in the mirror go "glug, glug," shifting like someone kneading modeling clay.

A few seconds later, the horrifying transformation stopped abruptly.

Dewey looked at himself in the mirror.

He had become Professor Lupin.

Apart from his clothes, everything was exactly the same: the slightly weary expression, the vacant-looking eyes, the graying hair at his temples, and his thin frame.

He turned and looked at Sirius.

"An actor's preparation, Black." Dewey said to Sirius, "Now it's your turn to coach the actor!"

Sirius looked at "Lupin," then at the real Lupin on the bed, and shook his head.

"Merlin's beard," he said. "I never thought I'd do something this crazy with anyone!"