When Sumpak heard that the man before him was a Hogwarts professor, he was thrilled, as if he had a personal stake in the honor!
He'd spent ages talking with a Hogwarts professor. That was something he could brag about for a long time.
Chatting with this professor ranked just below spending time with Harry Potter himself. He was going to tell all his friends about it!
Even after Dewey got off the bus, Sumpak was still happily waving at him.
"Goodbye, Professor!"
he shouted.
Dewey smiled warmly and waved back.
"Goodbye, Sumpak!"
He'd called Sumpak by name, and Sumpak clutched his heart in bliss. Turning around, he shouted, "Ernie, Ernie, did you hear that? The professor remembered my name. He knows I'm called Sumpak!"
Ernie ignored the ticket conductor, started the engine, and with a loud bang, the Knight Bus vanished before Dewey's eyes, taking Sumpak's voice, still lingering in the air, with it.
Dewey smiled faintly at the empty air before him.
He was in London.
He looked up. He was standing right in front of the Leaky Cauldron.
If Dewey were acting on his own instincts, he'd try tossing a couple of bombs into the Leaky Cauldron.
Not to hurt anyone. He just wanted to run an experiment: could wizards be killed by explosives?
Would they cast a spell to turn the bombs into little mice?
Or would their thinking be too rigid, and they'd put up a shield to protect themselves?
Unfortunately, he was Lupin now, and Lupin wouldn't hurt anyone. He couldn't indulge this entertaining idea.
Imagine what Lupin would do.
Dewey thought to himself, glancing at the sign above the Leaky Cauldron.
"Stay here for the night?"
Soon, Dewey shook his head. He figured that after arriving in London a day early, Lupin would head straight for King's Cross Station.
A private room at the Leaky Cauldron was expensive. Given Lupin's finances, he'd probably make do at King's Cross Station for the night, then catch up on sleep on the train the next day.
He'd probably buy some provisions to eat along the way, too.
"Thrift is a virtue."
Dewey said it aloud. He decided to follow Lupin's instincts and find somewhere to make do for the night.
Even a waiting-room bench at King's Cross Station was far more comfortable than Azkaban's cold, damp floor.
"A luxury."
After saying that, Dewey turned and walked away with his suitcase.
Before leaving, he glanced at his watch, then looked up at the nearly full moon. He knew the full moon would arrive tomorrow night.
Fortunately, Dumbledore's owl had brought Lupin a dose of Wolfsbane Potion.
A new kind of potion.
Wolfsbane Potion had been invented by a wizard the previous year, earning its inventor the Order of Merlin.
That was a great honor.
Wolfsbane Potion was a remarkable invention, too.
It allowed a Werewolf to retain his reason on the night of the full moon.
Of course, it only preserved his reason.
Wolfsbane Potion couldn't prevent a Werewolf from transforming. Luckily, the night of September first would be rainy at Hogwarts, with no moon, so Dewey wouldn't have to transform.
Even so, a Werewolf under the full moon would be extremely uncomfortable.
By Werewolves, he meant those who hadn't abandoned their identity as wizards and resisted becoming Werewolves. True Werewolves didn't feel uncomfortable during the full moon.
They only got more excited!
Standing outside the Leaky Cauldron without being able to go in, Dewey felt a little regretful. Humming "Hedwig's Theme," he planned to walk to King's Cross Station. But before he'd taken more than a couple of steps, he heard someone behind him exclaim, "Lupin?"
Dewey turned and saw someone else.
A tall, dark-skinned wizard wearing a hat.
He held a wand and looked as if he'd just come out of the Leaky Cauldron.
Dewey recognized him.
He put on a delighted expression. "Shacklebolt? What are you doing here? Hmm, are you hunting down the Azkaban escapees, too?"
Dewey's expression was just right, as if he had no idea he was the reason these poor men were working around the clock with no days off.
Why were they here? Did they think Dewey didn't know?
Kingsley Shacklebolt looked at Lupin with some surprise, too.
Kingsley was one of the Ministry's top Aurors, Fudge's trusted man, and possibly one of the few wizards in the entire Ministry who could really fight.
His being here wasn't surprising.
Dewey thought it would've been more surprising if he weren't.
He was probably guarding Harry Potter at the Leaky Cauldron.
Kingsley nodded. He seemed to know Lupin, but unfortunately, Dewey had no idea how they'd met.
Had Kingsley been part of the old Order of the Phoenix?
Or had Kingsley and Lupin worked together professionally?
In Lupin's house, Sirius Black had refused to use the Unforgivable Curses or Legilimency on him. Dewey didn't know much about Lupin's connections, so when he ran into an acquaintance, he'd have to judge for himself how to handle the conversation.
After being captured, Lupin had refused to provide any information.
At present, Dewey knew next to nothing about Lupin's life over the past twelve years.
Whenever their conversation touched on the past, Dewey had to improvise and keep himself in check!
It was a challenge.
Dewey wasn't unhappy about it. On the contrary, he was excited.
Dewey loved a challenge.
It gave him a thrill, sending his adrenaline soaring. The uncertainty, the unknown!
That feeling fascinated him. At least it made him feel alive, like a living person, and not like a baby curled up on a cold floor, waiting to be fed.
Kingsley looked at Lupin's still-ragged clothes and asked, "What brings you to London?"
"I'm going to Hogwarts," Dewey replied matter-of-factly. "Dumbledore found me not long ago and invited me to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. The term's about to start.
"I'm planning to take the train. You know how it is."
Dewey explained, then shrugged.
Kingsley immediately understood.
Looking at Dewey, he could tell his friend was headed for King's Cross Station. Clearly, Kingsley knew Lupin wouldn't pay for a room at the Leaky Cauldron. It was far too expensive.
The Floo Network was restricted throughout London, and even Apparition had been suspended because of those two damn escapees.
The Ministry had placed Anti-Apparition Jinxes around the city. Even Aurors like them couldn't Apparate in London, let alone Lupin.
Walking was Lupin's only real option.
Kingsley never even considered taking the Underground.
Wizards had a perceptual blind spot when it came to Muggles. Usually, they'd created it themselves.
Kingsley thought for a moment, then said, "Harry Potter's at the Leaky Cauldron. Stay here. There are a few things I need to tell you."
The Lupin impersonated by Dewey stopped in his tracks.
Seizing the moment, Kingsley grabbed Lupin by the arm.
Dewey went along with it, and Kingsley led him into the Leaky Cauldron and explained the whole situation.
Dewey realized he was even more closely involved in this than he'd thought.
The two Azkaban escapees were unbelievably brazen. They'd attacked Ministry personnel in broad daylight in London, and the news had shaken everyone.
Especially during the last few nights before Sirius left. "He was at Hogwarts." That had given the Ministry officials quite a scare. They'd been terrified Sirius would storm Hogwarts and go on a killing spree.
Who knew whether Sirius might cast the Killing Curse on other students while trying to kill Harry Potter?
So even though the stretch between the Leaky Cauldron and King's Cross Station was heavily guarded, Fudge still didn't trust Harry to go there alone.
"Someone needs to stay close and protect Harry."
He said that the duty had originally been given to the Weasley family. Arthur and his family, along with a few Aurors, should've been enough to protect Harry. But before the plan could even get underway, the family had been attacked by the two criminals.
Now Kingsley was the one protecting him.
When Kingsley saw Lupin, he figured they were headed in the same direction and that he could help an old friend. Lupin could also help fend off the criminals, so he invited him along.
What a coincidence!
Dewey readily agreed and walked into the Leaky Cauldron.
At the same time, he couldn't help but reflect.
Good thing he wasn't actually planning to kill Harry Potter.
With the Ministry's security measures, Harry Potter would've been killed ten times over by now. Dewey followed Kingsley into the room the Ministry had reserved and met the legendary Harry Potter.
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