Malfoy's mouth suddenly vanished. He scrambled to his feet in terror, clawing and groping helplessly at where it had been, then stumbled and fell back onto the floor.
Holding the Dragon Bone Wand, Audrey said softly, "I read about that word in a book. It means something very nasty. You'd better not say it." She waved her wand again and lifted the Silencing Charm.
Malfoy scrambled up in terror and pointed at Audrey. "I'll make sure my father gets you expelled!"
After a brief moment of stunned silence, the Slytherins around them suddenly burst into cheers.
The corners of Audrey's mouth lifted slightly. In her Spectator State, these children who had yet to leave school were easy to read-Slytherins had always been like this. The more aggression-or strength-you displayed, the more they liked you.
That was how Voldemort had quickly gathered his first followers back then.
"Ding, ding, ding."
Dumbledore tapped his golden plate with a spoon and called out, "Quiet, please."
Just then, a sickly-looking middle-aged man in shabby wizard's robes walked up to the High Table. Dumbledore introduced him with a smile. "This is your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for this year, Professor R. J. Lupin. Please give him a warm welcome."
Thunderous applause filled the dining hall. Only Snape, who resembled an enormous bat, stared venomously at Lupin, as though he wanted to pounce on him and devour him.
The plot really has changed beyond recognition. Quirrell's death brought Lupin in as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher two years early, when he wasn't supposed to appear until the third year. Of course, that was also thanks to the Wolfsbane Potion being invented several years earlier than in the original story.
Edward quickly swept his gaze over everyone at the High Table.
Then where has Voldemort gone now, since he was originally possessing Quirrell?
After warning them not to enter the Forbidden Forest or the Corridor on the Right on the Fourth Floor, Dumbledore brought the opening ceremony to an end with a bizarre school song.
Audrey said goodbye to Edward, then followed the Slytherin prefect to the dormitories.
I hope she can get used to living beneath the lake.
Edward patted Cedric on the shoulder. "Go on ahead. I need to see Headmaster Dumbledore about something."
"All right. I've got a present for you when you get back. I bought it especially for you at the Quidditch World Cup market."
"Thanks!"
Edward made his way through the crowd and hurried toward the High Table. Snape stood in front of Dumbledore, angrily saying something, while Lupin looked thoroughly awkward, unable to decide whether to leave or stay.
"Did you need something, Edward?"
Edward's arrival seemed to give Dumbledore the perfect excuse to change the subject.
"Headmaster, I have something to report!"
Chapter 36: My God!
"I happened to learn some important information, and I'd like to tell you about it."
Dumbledore nodded and turned to Snape and Lupin. "Severus, Lupin, go and get some rest. We can discuss this tomorrow."
"Wait. What I have to say concerns both professors, too."
"??"
Snape looked at Edward in confusion, while Lupin was even more bewildered. Who are you? Do I know you?
Dumbledore's expression grew serious, and he stood up. "Let's go to my office."
Dumbledore led the way, with Edward and Snape in the middle. Lupin brought up the rear, deliberately keeping a few extra paces behind.
Snape's expression was cold and sinister. Rather than a bat, he now looked more like a vampire-the kind from horror films, of course.
"Oh, Professor Snape, these are some potions I brewed a little while ago."
Edward handed Snape several bottles. Slightly surprised, Snape took them, opened them, and sniffed their contents. A flicker of appreciation crossed his eyes, but his tone remained as unpleasant as ever. "Barely acceptable. There is still considerable room for improvement."
He paused, then glanced back at Lupin and continued, "I remember teaching you how to brew the Wolfsbane Potion, did I not?"
"Yes, Professor."
Snape sneered. "I've had a few better ideas recently. Add some senna and soapberry to the existing ingredients, and the results should be most interesting."
Good grief. One of those herbs causes diarrhea, and the other makes people vomit. You're deliberately saying this loudly just to disgust Lupin, aren't you?
No, with how much Snape hates him, he really could do something like that.
Lupin's expression grew noticeably more bitter. He shook his head without saying anything.
Soon, they arrived at the Headmaster's Office. Dumbledore waved his wand and conjured three chairs for them. "Go ahead, Edward."
Although Edward had decided to report Pettigrew, he still felt a little nervous now that the moment had arrived. After all, there was one unavoidable question: how did he know? But keeping it hidden and leaving a ticking time bomb beside him seemed even less rational!
Surely I can't do what I did when reporting Megose in the world of mysteries-smash a window and leave a tip-off letter? That would get the job done without revealing who was responsible.
Wait, why would I need to smash a window?
Edward hurriedly reined in his increasingly wandering thoughts and began:
"The three of you must know someone named Peter, right? He also has a nickname: Wormtail."
Snape gave a cold snort and said:
"You mean that cowardly, stupid little man who was awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class after his death? Of course I remember him! Though I wonder whether Professor Lupin has forgotten his former lackey."
Lupin immediately grew serious. "Snape, I know you hate us, but Peter was a hero who sacrificed himself fighting... that man. You shouldn't insult him like that!"
Snape opened his mouth, ready to spit venom, but Dumbledore interrupted. "Please continue, Edward."
"During the summer holiday, I happened to learn something shocking from a Dark wizard. To be honest, I don't quite believe it myself."
Edward quickly added a layer of protection for himself, a habit he had picked up while spending time online in his later life. "Peter Pettigrew isn't dead! It wasn't Sirius who betrayed the Potter family, but Peter! He faked his death during his fight with Sirius and escaped. He's still alive today."
"Impossible!"
Lupin immediately shouted in denial. This revelation implicated all three of his closest friends at once.
Snape stared darkly at Edward. "Mr. Edward, you do understand what you're saying, don't you?"
Edward shrugged. "I was shocked when I heard it, too. That Dark wizard looked utterly scornful when he brought it up. He said the Ministry of Magic had actually been stupid enough to award an Order of Merlin to a diehard Death Eater. Who knows? Maybe a Death Eater could even become Minister for Magic one day."
Snape displayed a rare flash of humor. "I must say, I agree with that last remark."
After a moment of silence, Dumbledore spoke softly. Faced with Snape's and Lupin's questioning looks, he adjusted his Half-moon Spectacles and continued, "Snape, as you know, Edward was indeed away from school during the last part of the summer holiday. I don't think he has any reason to tell a lie that offers him no benefit."
He paused, then continued:
"I imagine you know where Peter is now?"
Dumbledore's words brought Snape and Lupin to attention. Both stared intently at Edward.
"Pettigrew is an unregistered Animagus. He can turn into a rat. And the Weasley family happens to have a remarkable rat that has lived for eleven years, far longer than a normal rat's lifespan."
"Right now, that rat should be sleeping soundly in the arms of the Weasley family's youngest son, Ron Weasley."
The Gryffindor dormitory.
Ron was sleeping soundly when he suddenly felt someone patting his face. He opened his bleary eyes and saw several tall figures gathered around him. Instantly wide awake, he jolted upright.
"Who-who's there?"
Dumbledore stepped forward, his wand glowing in his hand. "Don't be afraid, Mr. Weasley. It's me," he said gently.
"Headmaster Dumbledore?"
"I'd like to know where your pet rat, Scabbers, has gone."
Ron froze for a moment, then felt around beside his pillow. "He was here before I fell asleep. He was trying to chew my sheets, so I told him off... Huh? Where's Scabbers?"
Dumbledore looked at Edward. "Are you certain you didn't alert him before telling us?"
"No! I only thought about it. Even if he happened to use Legilimency on me at the time, I'm reasonably confident in my Occlumency."
"Did he happen to slip out just now?"
Dumbledore frowned slightly and waved his wand. "I'm very sorry, Mr. Weasley, but for your safety, I must do this."
"Obliviate."
He then turned to Snape and Lupin, who had remained silent.
"If he never returns, it will mean he either sensed the danger beforehand or had some other reason that forced him to leave. But I hope it was the former."
Lupin's tone was cold. "Why?"
"Because the latter would mean Voldemort may well have returned!"
The next few days passed peacefully.
Peter Pettigrew really had vanished for good, but nothing else happened.
During this time, Edward asked Dumbledore whether he could learn some magic that wasn't in the textbooks. After considering it, Dumbledore said he would need to look into it.
Snape actually assigned him the task of brewing the Wolfsbane Potion, repeatedly reminding him not to forget those two herbs.
The rest of the time, Edward and Audrey attended their classes as usual. In the evenings, they discussed magic, and he taught her Chinese along the way. Unfortunately, her gift for learning did not allow her to master Chinese quickly this time. Perhaps it was because the language belonged to an entirely different language family from anything she had studied before, leaving her unable to apply what she already knew.
And so, every evening, Audrey could be seen holding a full-time primary school Chinese textbook and earnestly reciting, "ā, á, ǎ, à; ō, ó, ǒ, ò."
Meanwhile, Edward secretly found the method for becoming an Animagus. It looked difficult, and it really was. He wasn't even confident about the first step: keeping a Mandrake leaf in his mouth for an entire month.
Fortunately, Mandrake leaves weren't expensive, so trying wouldn't cost him much. The only problem was that swallowing one gave him a stomachache.
Edward swallowed six leaves on the first day, then five on the second. On the third day, the number climbed back to eight. On the fourth day, just as he was about to give up, he finally made some progress. He had more or less grown used to talking with a leaf in his mouth, though he still swallowed two.
Over the next few days, Audrey also settled into student life at Hogwarts: the magical and fascinating Charms lessons, the dull and tedious History lessons, the Transfiguration lessons that gave her headaches, the varied Herbology lessons, and the Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons from which she learned a great deal.
Friday.
It was Audrey's first Potions Class. Although these potions were not the same as the potions she knew, she was still very interested.
As soon as she entered the dungeon classroom, she saw Malfoy boasting to his two lackeys. His expression immediately changed, and he awkwardly averted his gaze.
He had suffered quite a bit at Audrey's hands over the past few days. Every time he slipped into his usual insults, he was treated to a spell: a Dancing Charm, a Slug-Vomiting Charm, Petrificus Totalus, or Immobulus.
At first, he kept threatening to have his father get Audrey expelled. When that proved useless, he resorted to a student's "special ability": telling the teacher. That didn't work either.
After that, he simply walked away whenever he saw her. If I can't take her on, surely I can at least avoid her?
Well, actually... he really couldn't.
They were both first-year Slytherins and had to attend classes together every day. How was he supposed to avoid her?
Before you continue