It was now winter, close to Christmas, and snowflakes drifted across the London sky.
Riding on his flying broomstick, Anton shivered, his days were packed to the brim, leaving him with very little time to learn non-essential spells.
If only he could cast a body-warming charm on himself right now...
"Oh~"
Anton let out a comfortable sigh, he found his whole body had become warm, and the howling wind around him had also softened.
He looked back in surprise, only to see Miss Ilsa putting her wand back into her wizarding robe.
"Thank you."
Ilsa twitched the corners of her mouth, indicating a smile, she was filled with complex emotions right now and couldn't really bring herself to smile.
A werewolf!
Why did Lupin have to be a werewolf!
For this long month, she had lived in regret every day. She hated herself for taking a step back when she heard Lupin say he was a werewolf, that one step made it so she could never see Lupin again.
She struggled for three days, then had an epiphany, she had truly fallen in love with this gentle man, and she was willing to accept everything about him, even if he was a werewolf.
However, this supposedly very clever nephew of Lupin's had chosen this particular time to bring her to find Lupin...
This was a test, daring to go was only the first step.
She didn't know what kind of scene she would witness next, she was very anxious, she even began to worry about how she would react.
Would she, would she shrink back involuntarily again?
No!
Absolutely not!
Riding the flying broomstick, they shuttled through the falling snow, the setting sun gradually slipping behind the distant mountain peaks.
Anton waved his wand once more.
A cursor appeared in front of them, spun around, and pointed northwest.
This magical version of a GPS clearly had room for improvement, it couldn't move, unable to continuously provide directions based on the journey like a car's navigation system.
They could only stop and go, constantly using the cursor to decide their next direction.
But Anton soon discovered a pattern.
Looking down from high above, a long stretch of train tracks was always within their line of sight.
"Hahaha, this is so interesting, Lupin actually left London by train?" The two of them stopped above one of the train station platforms, the cursor spell once again pointing to a certain location.
"Is that strange?" Ilsa looked at him in confusion, "Lupin is a business elite, isn't taking the train very common?"
She often invited Lupin to restaurants, she could feel that Lupin was a little embarrassed every time he watched her drive, and he had even secretly signed up for a driving license training course.
"Business elite?" Anton smiled with a strange expression, "That's so interesting."
He looked at Ilsa seriously, "Perhaps next you might see the real Lupin, stripped of the refined exterior of modern society, just his ordinary self."
Ilsa pressed her lips together, "I will accept everything about him!"
Her tone was firmer than ever before.
Anton shrugged, chuckling.
Putting aside the werewolf identity, Lupin was a true wizard, the kind of wizard who still lived in the Europe of the last century.
Wizards like Ilsa who actively integrated into modern society, honestly, Anton had only ever met this one.
The two flew again, and at this moment, the sun finally set.
A bright moon rose.
It was round, emitting a pure, bright light.
They flew over the city, over the suburbs, over the villages, and as Anton had expected, they arrived above a desolate mountain range.
The cursor spell changed, after spinning once, it pointed straight down.
Lowering the broomstick, a cave appeared before them, the howls of a werewolf faintly audible.
Landing and standing outside the cave, Anton raised an eyebrow.
He took off his hat and gestured elegantly, "Ladies first!"
Ilsa was almost dying of nervousness, looking at Anton's mischievous smile, she couldn't help but roll her eyes. This little wizard, who had been well-educated by his uncle, was indeed very smart, and possessed the same elegance and propriety as his uncle.
But he just had a wicked sense of humor, he seemed to enjoy watching others make a fool of themselves, who knows who influenced him. She couldn't help but think of the bickering house-elf and ghost in Lupin's home.
No amount of wild thoughts could cover up her panic, finally, she firmed her resolve and walked into the cave, one forceful step at a time.
The werewolf's howls grew louder.
This was a cave formed by many squeezed-together rocks, it twisted and turned, sometimes requiring one to squeeze sideways through a small crevice, and finally, a spacious area appeared before them.
The walls were made of earth and stone, covered with moss and unknown plants, there was a large opening above, and moonlight spilled down from it.
Thick chains were bound to the walls, tightly restraining a huge werewolf.
The werewolf was very tall, she had to tilt her head back as far as she could to see its head.
It was so big.
Fangs like a vicious beast, and with its roars, saliva dripped from its huge mouth. Amidst the thick wolf fur, a pair of eyes, longing to tear everything apart, were filled with savagery.
"Lupin!"
Ilsa covered her mouth, her voice choked with sobs.
The werewolf only answered her with a roar, struggling and causing the chains to rattle, it grew more furious, its huge wolf claws digging hard into the walls, sending dirt flying.
"I won't back down this time, Lupin!" Ilsa's steps were resolute, she stared at the werewolf, slowly approaching, and raised her slender neck, "Bite me, let me become a werewolf too!"
"This way we can be together forever."
Oh, with such a fragrant piece of meat placed before it, the werewolf wouldn't be polite, it roared and lowered its head, about to bite down on her neck.
With a face full of hope for happiness, Ilsa closed her eyes.
"Protego!"
The light of the spell lit up on her body, the werewolf seemed to have bitten into an iron plate and shook its head in pain.
Anton pulled her back with a yank.
Ilsa's face showed the lingering fear of having survived a disaster, yet she glared at Anton, embarrassed and angry, "Why did you pull me back, let me become a werewolf, I want to be with..."
Anton let out a helpless sigh, "You can't become a werewolf, your neck is so thin, and its mouth is so big, the most likely outcome is that it would bite your neck off."
"Even if you really did become a werewolf, once Lupin sobers up, he would definitely come after me with his life."
"I..."
The tears in Ilsa's eyes finally couldn't be held back and streamed down, her lips trembled, and her whole being radiated a deep sorrow, "I don't know what to do, I don't know."
Anton shrugged, "The wizarding world isn't as wonderful as I imagined, although there's amazing magic, I always run into a bunch of terrible things. I know someone whose relative turned into a snake, just like a werewolf, doesn't recognize anyone, and just wants to attack people."
He looked up at the werewolf with admiration, then shook his head, "Sometimes it's really despairing."
Ilsa sat on the ground sorrowfully, staring blankly at Lupin.
Anton took out a bottle of brewed 'Wizard's Eye' potion, drank it, and moved closer.
Enduring the daze and nausea brought by the potion, he stared intently at the magical image of the werewolf, which had turned into countless twisting and surging lines.
Unlike the first time he entered Lupin's body with the Legilimency spell to look inward, observing from the outside, although he couldn't see the deepest details, he could see the overall changes more clearly.
"Wow~"
The magical image was as exquisite as a work of art.
"So much more complex than a snake, no wonder the professor is so obsessed with werewolves." Anton's pupils dilated immensely, countless specks of starlight twinkling within them.
The habitual recording spell displayed countless bright lines beside him, recording all the changes bit by bit.
But the changes were too complex, he had to focus only on the werewolf's arm, starting from the details.
"Tsk tsk tsk, the professor just loves to talk big, what final step of the great experiment, it's clearly just the beginning, hah."
Ilsa didn't know what this little nephew was saying, but she spread her arms to block Anton, looking at him angrily, "Don't you dare criticize him, it's not his fault he became a werewolf, he's just a poor, injured person!"
The corner of Anton's mouth lifted, "Of course."