Students had been whispering ever since they saw Lupin that day. It was a surprise, especially for the older students. What had their past few years been like? A new teacher every year.
During the summer holiday, plenty of fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-year students had lamented losing Lupin. Their studies had reached a crucial stage. If they ended up with another Quirrell or Lockhart, they were done for.
Of course they were happy Lupin could keep teaching them. It could only do them good.
Before long, the feast ended without a hitch. Will said goodbye to Sylvia and headed upstairs—he lived in the Room of Requirement.
Back before the feast began—
Professor McGonagall had taken Will up to the Tower to meet Dumbledore. Will told him everything Voldemort had asked him to do, including his plan to make Will a Double Agent.
Dumbledore frowned. "He said Harry is very useful right now... If so, Tom may be planning something again."
Will knew exactly what Voldemort was planning, so he had made a point of checking on Little Hangleton before coming to school.
A comprehensive infrastructure project was already underway in Little Hangleton.
Large stretches of wasteland had become construction sites, and the deserted cemetery had been cleared to make room for new facilities.
As for the grave of Voldemort's father, Old Riddle, Muggle officials had "accidentally" leveled it through a combination of "oversight" and "lax management." Apparently, a new public school was going to be built there.
Old Tom's bones, meanwhile, seemed to have been gathered up and destroyed when the cemetery was cleared.
England had standard procedures for handling unclaimed remains:
First came a notice seeking relatives, published in local newspapers and on government websites for sixty to ninety days. If no one came forward to claim the