After the feast, Douglas made his way to the Headmaster's office.
Only then did Dumbledore really study him, his blue eyes twinkling with curiosity.
"Are you feeling any discomfort?" he asked.
Douglas blinked, then grinned.
"I feel fantastic—never better. I'm bursting with energy."
Dumbledore pried apart two sticky ice lollies and handed one to Douglas.
"Well, I must say, I'm delighted to see you back for your second year. You've no idea how much trouble that saves me. The rumors outside are absolutely wild—good professors are harder to come by than a well-behaved Niffler.
By the way, Professor Lupin wrote to me about a Patronus charm you gave Harry—apparently it managed to capture a Dementor. You do have the most unusual ideas, Douglas."
Douglas took a bite of the old-fashioned ice lolly and wrinkled his nose—it was far too sweet.
He explained, "That was just a theory I wanted to try. If a protective charm is meant to save someone's life, it should do more than block a simple jinx. I can't craft anything that'll stop the Killing Curse directly—not yet, anyway—so I had to get creative.
I made a pocket dimension inside the amulet, just big enough to hold a living creature. In a crisis, that creature can take an Avada Kedavra for Harry.
At first, I wasn't sure what to keep inside the charm. Keeping something alive in there isn't easy. But after this accident, I realized—a Dementor might actually be perfect...
You don't think the Ministry will want their Dementor back, do you, Professor?"
Dumbledore nibbled his ice lolly, looking perfectly content.
"Oh, certainly not—unless they can find it themselves..."
Clearly, Dumbledore had no love for Dementors either.
—
Early the next morning, Douglas arrived at the open field in front of the castle to find Professor Lupin already waiting. Lupin's eyes were fixed on the distant Whomping Willow, lost in thought.
"Good morning, Professor Lupin," Douglas called.
Lupin turned and smiled.
"Good morning, Professor Holmes."
His robes were threadbare and his frame frail, but there was a quiet confidence and warmth to him that made one forget his shabbiness.
Soon, a dozen or so students shuffled out of the castle, most looking half-awake. Some had joined the morning runs last year; others were new—mostly couples, Douglas noted, making up for a summer apart with moon-eyed glances.
When they saw Douglas, they chorused,
"Good morning, Professor Holmes!"
Only a few offered a greeting to Lupin, but he smiled and responded to each, seemingly unfazed.
Douglas frowned slightly.
"Though Professor Dumbledore introduced him last night, I want to emphasize again—Professor Lupin will be in charge of your morning runs and training from now on. I'll join in when I can, but Lupin will be leading.
This class isn't mandatory, nor does it count toward your grades, but I hope you'll spread the word and encourage others to join. You all saw what happened on the train yesterday. Apart from the handful who drove off the Dementors, not a single student who participated in last year's morning runs fainted or played dead..."
He went on for nearly five minutes, his message clear: "Morning runs are brilliant. Morning runs keep Dementors at bay."
The students grinned and promised to spread the word about the benefits of morning exercise.
Douglas smiled and glanced at Lupin, who nodded, already familiar with the routine.
Lupin pulled out a neatly prepared roster from his robes.
"Good morning, everyone. I'm Remus Lupin, your tutor. Besides morning runs, if you ever need help with your studies, come find me—I'll do my best to help.
Now, would each of you introduce yourselves so I can take attendance...?"
Watching Lupin work, Douglas couldn't help but think: Who says Lupin is just a soft-hearted pushover? Anyone who stood against Voldemort's forces in his day was never simple.
With that, the students present became the first official members of this year's morning run.
Douglas gazed out over the Hogwarts grounds. At regular intervals, a Dementor drifted near the boundaries, its gaze fixed hungrily on the castle, as if Hogwarts itself was a feast.
Lupin led the students on a run around the Black Lake. The ground was slick and heavy with moisture from last night's rain; their shoes and robes were soon damp.
Noticing a few shivering students, Lupin raised his right hand. Instantly, a flame flickered to life in his palm. He bowled it forward like a ball, and it transformed into a blazing fireball, gliding along the lakeside path. Where it passed, the dew-laden grass dried instantly, though the earth showed no sign of burning.
The fireball floated off into the distance and vanished with a soft pop.
The students stared, wide-eyed—amazed not just by Lupin's magical control, but by the effortless beauty of his wandless magic.
It might not have been as flashy as Professor Holmes snapping his fingers to cast spells, but this was a level of magic most could only dream of.
A round of applause broke out—this was the first time the students truly regarded their new tutor with respect.
Lupin let out a quiet sigh of relief, a faint smile lighting his pale face. He'd tried the same wandless magic on the train yesterday, but no one had reacted. He'd worried that students these days were impossible to impress.
But then he remembered—yesterday's compartment had been full of rising third- and second-years who barely knew what wandless magic was. What he didn't realize was that most of them had simply grown numb to Douglas's own casual spellwork.
The run began, with Douglas and Lupin setting the pace side by side.
To everyone's surprise, frail-looking Professor Lupin kept up with Holmes easily, barely breaking a sweat.
As the sun began to rise, Douglas called a halt. The students gathered, catching their breath.
Lupin recalled what Douglas had told him: this was a tradition—to use the magic of sunrise to draw out positive emotions in the students.
The first rays of sunlight leapt from behind the mountains, gilding the clouds in gold. The sunlit side of the Forbidden Forest blazed with dazzling light, while the shadowed side glimmered with an eerie golden-green. Ripples of gold danced across the Black Lake, and the castle itself was draped in a mantle of vibrant sunlight.
Lupin stood quietly, letting a deep warmth bloom in his chest.
After years of hiding, shunned by so many, he couldn't remember the last time he'd watched the sunrise in peace.
He remembered, suddenly, four boys slumped in exhaustion on the floor of the Shrieking Shack, and the way they'd laughed together when the morning sun spilled through the cracks in the walls...
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