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The second reason was that, with magic involved, the process by which the werewolf virus shed its shell was magical as well.
That was right—the full moon was the only way to trigger this "protective lock"!
The full-moon ritual was both the key that removed the capsid and the energy source for all its subsequent activity. Once separated from the full-moon ritual, the capsid would wrap around the virus again, crystallizing it into dormancy.
The two worked in tandem, creating a vicious cycle: to suppress viral replication, he had to open the capsid. But once the capsid was opened, he could no longer interfere with it. Otherwise, he would lose a thousand while the enemy—might not be harmed at all!
"Too cunning..."
As he flipped through the parchment records of all the difficulties encountered over the past few months in developing the Wolfsbane Potion, Vaughn could not help but sigh when he considered that this was likely a problem left behind by an "ancient" person from a thousand years ago.
Beside him, Hermione was likewise bent over the table, comparing Vaughn's notes while sorting through the ingredients laid out before her. Hearing him, she looked up in confusion. "Who's too cunning?"
"The wizard who developed the werewolf virus."
Hermione immediately understood.
Unlike Ron's earlier malicious speculation, although Hermione and Vaughn had not met very often since term began, they had remained in constant contact. She often helped Vaughn handle certain matters as well.
Such as organizing his research notes.
Thus, as long as Vaughn's difficulties in developing the Wolfsbane Potion had been put into writing, she had basically read about them—even though she could not understand many of the problems at all.
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