Bones frowned and looked at the letter in her hand.
"Cornelius, Remus Lupin publicly revealing his identity as a werewolf could indeed cause some social problems. Wizards have long feared werewolves, and he is at Hogwarts, no less. Once this news gets out, I fear it will cause panic."
Fudge waved impatiently and said:
"It's already impossible to stop the news. Between the Daily Prophet and those students, it will soon spread throughout the Wizarding World."
Bones glanced at the letter again and said:
"What I mean is, if this potion really works, perhaps it could change how we deal with werewolves... Although I've never had any dealings with this Professor Holmes, I trust Albus's judgment..."
There seemed to be a hint of resignation in Fudge's voice:
"Amelia, Albus is over a hundred years old. He's spent too long at Hogwarts. I think he's gone a bit senile."
Scrimgeour gave a disdainful snort:
"Hmph! I know that Holmes fellow. Perhaps his ability in Defense Against Dark Magic really is quite good, but as far as I know, although he earned an O in his Potions O.W.L., he never took any advanced Potions courses. How could a novelist possibly improve the Wolfsbane Potion, a potion that requires a master's skill?"
Scrimgeour had come off worse against Douglas during the last operation to capture Wormtail and had privately asked around about his exploits.
Thinking of how Dumbledore and the others had known about Peter long beforehand but kept him around for the students to practice on, ultimately letting Peter slip through the Aurors' fingers, Scrimgeour adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and said bluntly:
"Who knows whether this is another of Dumbledore's schemes? He's always springing things like this on us, putting us Aurors and the Ministry of Magic in an awkward position. Perhaps