When Peeves turned around, he discovered that what faced him was nothing more than a large group of young witches and wizards.
Wait a minute—the person leading them at the front was...
Remus Lupin?
Peeves: Delighted.
He thought it was someone else entirely, but it turned out to be an old acquaintance after all.
"Loony, loopy Lupin~"
Peeves sang out in his usual mocking tone.
"Loony, loopy Lupin, loony, loopy Lupin~"
Under normal circumstances, Peeves was both crude and discourteous, impossible to manage without certain means. But based on past experience, this troublemaker usually showed professors at least some measure of respect—certainly not treating them with the same vicious attitude he reserved for students. So what was happening now?
Peeves was actually taunting Professor Lupin to his face?
Everyone's gaze shifted to Professor Lupin's expression, eager to see how he'd handle this unprecedented disrespect.
But this caught everyone off guard. Even as Peeves hurled his mockery, Professor Lupin continued to smile serenely.
"If I were you, Peeves," he said mildly, "I'd remove that chewing gum you've stuffed into the keyhole."
"Otherwise, Mr. Filch won't be able to unlock the door to fetch his broom."
Who do you think you are? Just because you say something doesn't mean I have to listen. I'll do whatever I bloody well please—some mere Remus Lupin can't boss me around.
That's what Peeves thought as he completely ignored Professor Lupin's words. After pulling a grotesque face, he began making all manner of strange and vulgar noises with his mouth, deliberately provoking Lupin.
"I can't help but feel Peeves has become even more insufferable than during my student days at Hogwarts," Lupin mused with mild bewilderment. He let out a gentle sigh, drew his wand, and turned to face the students.
"I'm about to demonstrate a useful little charm. Everyone, please observe carefully."
This immediately captured everyone's attention—including Hermione's. The girl's eyes lit up like stars.
This was a perfect opportunity to observe Professor Lupin's magical prowess!
She concentrated intently, fixing her gaze on Professor Lupin.
Lupin raised his wand to shoulder height, then slowly intoned:
"Waddiwasi!"
His wand flicked toward Peeves.
A white streak flashed through the air, shooting directly at Peeves—it was the very piece of chewing gum he'd just crammed into the keyhole.
However, Peeves had endured countless nights of ambushes from some unknown assailant. His reflexes had evolved far beyond what they once were. With the slightest tilt of his head, the gum whizzed past his cheek and stuck to the ceiling.
Lupin: ?
Students: ?!
"Loony, loopy Lupin! With pathetic skills like that, you'll never lay a finger on the magnificent Peeves as I am now! Hahahahahaha!"
Peeves crossed his arms and cackled maniacally in midair, striking a pose of supreme arrogance as if he ruled both heaven and earth.
This time he'd truly gotten his moment to show off. All the frustration from those sneak attacks evaporated instantly.
Then the chewing gum stuck to the ceiling ricocheted back at even greater speed, flying straight into Peeves' wide-open mouth and cutting off his triumphant laughter.
There's something there, but not much.
Peeves clutched his throat with both hands, looking utterly wretched as he staggered and tumbled through the air. He made desperate sounds that no human could decipher—presumably cursing up a storm.
Lupin tucked his wand away with resignation and turned back to the students.
"Peeves seems rather... off lately. What on earth has been happening to him?"
The students exchanged glances, then collectively shrugged.
Haven't got a clue.
"Though I have no concrete evidence, I can't shake the feeling this has something to do with you," Hermione said thoughtfully, resting her chin on her hand as she cast a suspicious look at Glenn beside her. "Did you do something to him?"
Hermione's intuition was rarely wrong, and Glenn saw no point in hiding anything.
"I ran into Peeves once when he tried to prank me. I happened to be in the mood for some payback, so I gave him a proper thrashing."
"After that, whenever I encountered him alone, I'd use him for spell practice and experimentation while maintaining a Disillusionment Charm. Peeves never figured out who was attacking him."
"That's the gist of it."
"Blimey, that's absolutely wicked of you... but I love it. Brilliant work," Hermione whispered, giving him an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
"That pest always tries to disrupt our study group meetings. Every single time, I'm the one who has to drive him off with hexes. So we're quite even, really!"
Good Lord, so that's why the poor sod's gone mental—he's been getting a proper husband-and-wife beating from these two!
Behind Glenn, Draco's mouth twitched as he accidentally overheard the entire conversation between Glenn and Hermione.
But honestly...
Bloody brilliant!
Peeves had it coming—serves him right for crossing paths with these two little demons! Hahahaha!
Absolutely deserved!
At the front of the group, Professor Lupin saw that the students were equally mystified, so he shrugged and decided not to dwell on this trivial incident. He continued leading the young witches and wizards forward.
They entered the second corridor and stopped outside the staff room.
"Please enter the staff room, everyone," Professor Lupin announced, opening the door and stepping aside.
The students obediently filed in, though for some inexplicable reason, those at the front all hesitated for a brief moment before the line resumed its normal flow.
Harry—still in his current transformed state—walked at the very back with his close friends. Ron and Neville, following Harry's request, had formed a protective circle around him.
Though most students had already seen Harry's current appearance, he still refused to expose himself to public scrutiny. Even though his secret was already out, this arrangement provided him with some psychological comfort.
After everyone else had entered the staff room, Harry and his group followed. What greeted Harry's eyes was a long stretch of mismatched old chairs—and sitting there was a single professor.
It was Professor Snape.
Snape sat in his chair, scanning the entering students with gleaming eyes, as if searching for something specific.
Harry: ?!
Why the hell is that bastard here?!
Survival instincts kicked in immediately. Harry shoved past Ron and tried to flee the room.
Then he watched in despair as Professor Lupin entered last... and closed the door behind him.
Harry: Bloody hell.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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