Ten minutes earlier.
"Lupin is a werewolf," Umbridge declared loudly.
The corridor erupted in uproar.
It was like a stone thrown into a still lake. Reporters' quills raced across their pages, and magical cameras clicked furiously, their flashes lighting the corridor in bursts.
"A werewolf? Professor Lupin?" A Hufflepuff girl clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Impossible!" a Ravenclaw boy shouted. "Professor Lupin is the best Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor we've ever had!"
"But Professor Umbridge said—"
"And you believe Umbridge?"
The students argued among themselves. Most of them could hardly believe it.
Ron stepped forward. "Professor Lupin isn't a werewolf! You're talking rubbish! This is—mmph—"
Percy clapped a hand over his mouth before he could finish and dragged him aside. "Madam Umbridge, please ignore him. He's never been right in the head."
Ron wrenched Percy's hand away. "There's nothing wrong with my head! Professor Lupin isn't a werewolf! It's all slander."
Percy shoved Ron back into the crowd. "Ronald, shut up! You're obstructing Ministry of Magic business! You're just a student. What do you know? Stop standing around!"
Ron looked at Percy's meticulously combed hair, disgust flashing across his face.
"That's enough, Weasley," Fudge said. "It just shows how well Lupin has hidden what he is. Someone must have been covering for him to let him stay at the school this long. It's only natural you were fooled."
"Professor Umbridge, take us to the werewolf."
Excitement filled Umbridge's face. "Follow me!"
Umbridge led the way, taking Fudge and the others toward Lupin's rooms.
Ron looked grim. He had just stood up to Umbridge and insisted Lupin wasn't a werewolf, only for Percy to side firmly with her.
Percy's whispered words kept echoing in his head.
Ron wanted to know where his brother had gone. Whoever was