Chapter 54
In the past, weekends were entirely devoted to Lucian's research into magic.
But as he became more and more serious and invested in his teaching, the distance between him and the students gradually began to shrink.
The studious ones regarded him as a great professor, while the students with poor grades both feared and admired him at the same time.
As a result, weekends became times when Lucian was frequently disturbed by the former group. The days when he could immerse himself deeply in magical research were gone forever — ever since his conversation with Dumbledore, he had removed the protective charms from his office door.
After that heartfelt conversation one night, Lucian no longer guided Jeffery and Camille in the study of dark magic. Instead, he let each of them pursue the fields that truly interested them. Now both of them had their own private research rooms and rarely came out except to rest.
It was only around that time that Lucian discovered Jeffery's greatest passion was actually magic related to memory, while Camille didn't seem to have any particularly strong interest. On Lucian's recommendation, she chose to study curses.
After all, the curse on her body still hadn't been resolved. But Camille acted so normally around him that he often forgot about it entirely.
Just after seeing off two Ravenclaw students, Lucian was about to let out a sigh of relief when the next moment he saw Cedric walking in.
"Professor, we need your help." He spoke while closing the office door behind him.
"What happened?" Seeing Hermione and the other two following close behind Cedric, Lucian silently wondered when these four would finally discover the entrance to the bathroom.
"Professor…"
Hermione anxiously lowered her robes, looking at Lucian with a miserable, teary face — the moment she saw him, she felt a wave of relief, but that relief immediately made her want to burst into loud sobs again.
"You're… Hermione?"
"It's me — Professor." Her voice already carried a crying tone. "I accidentally put cat hair in the Polyjuice Potion… and now I've turned into this!"
"Calm down, Hermione. It's not a big deal." Seeing that her emotions were somewhat out of control, Lucian offered a light, soothing remark.
But this time Hermione seemed genuinely devastated — so much so that, for the first time, she didn't listen to him.
"I can't calm down, Professor! The group meeting is at four this afternoon. What will everyone think of me? And the other students — they'll laugh themselves to death! Do I have to stay in the hospital wing forever now? I still want to get first place in the next monthly exam…"
She poured out all her worries in one breath. Harry, Ron, and Cedric all looked at her with sympathy.
Lucian subconsciously shook his head.
Truthfully, he didn't understand what was so serious about the situation Hermione described — even if she stayed looking like this around the school, so what?
But it was clear that unless he solved her problem first, she wouldn't be able to listen to anything he said.
'These students really are all different… So in their eyes, temporarily growing cat ears, a cat face, and a cat tail is such a fatal, world-ending disaster?'
While thinking this, Lucian drew his wand and gave it a gentle flick.
Hermione's cat ears immediately retracted, shrinking into two tiny triangular bumps less than a centimeter long.
Then the black fur on her face began to fall away bit by bit, revealing her original skin.
Next, her tail started shrinking, gradually disappearing beneath the hem of her robes until it became nothing more than a small, fluffy ball.
After this series of changes, although she could still feel traces of the transformation inside her body, at least on the outside she looked normal again.
Cedric and the others stared in shock, having no idea what Lucian had just done.
"Professor… can magic really undo the effects of a potion?" Cedric was the first to ask.
"No, that would be extremely difficult. I just used a clever workaround.
I used Human Transfiguration to return Hermione to something very close to her original appearance, but the Polyjuice Potion's effects are still inside her body — I estimate it will take at least half a year to fully wear off, to be safe.
Of course, Hermione, you could wait until Christmas when almost all the other students have left, then let the transformation fully revert. Without any suppression, the Polyjuice changes should disappear in about twenty-something days. By the time the holidays end, the effects will almost certainly be gone."
"Half a year is fine… As long as no one can tell, I'll just be careful. If you made me turn back into that appearance again, I'd rather die." Hermione's voice carried a mixture of secret delight and resignation.
Lucian shook his head and asked "Do you know what an Animagus is?"
"Animagus?" Hermione frowned, thinking for a moment before slowly answering, "I've read about it in books. Animagi usually train to become one in order to escape pursuit or carry out secret missions. It allows a wizard to transform into one specific animal form at will."
"Correct. In the future, if you get the chance, you will also learn this magic — in fact, mastering advanced Transfiguration requires Animagus training as a very important step. And during the transformation process, you will appear in the form of an animal."
Hermione frowned slightly, thought for a while, then looked up and said "Professor… are you trying to tell me that appearance isn't important? That panicking because I turned into a cat-person is the same kind of ignorance as the people who would laugh at me?"
"…It's not quite as serious as you put it, but you can understand it that way if you like."
Hermione tilted her head and gave Lucian a strange look, not fully understanding, but still left with Harry and the others.
"Cedric, you said earlier that you got some information from the professor. What was it?"
"Hm — first, the professor assured me that he already has a clear lead on the Chamber of Secrets matter. There won't be any more basilisk attacks."
"And second — he said there's something interesting hidden in the girls' bathroom."
"Something interesting?"
Everyone immediately became curious, though the two boys' expressions turned somewhat pained.
What kind of "interesting" thing could possibly be hidden in an abandoned girls' bathroom? Hermione, now full of energy again, suddenly spoke up "I have a feeling this is a trial the professor is giving us — we should go look for it!
Also, if the Slytherin heir isn't Malfoy, then who could it be? Even though the basilisk threat is gone now, I still think we should figure it out! Oh — maybe these two things are actually the same thing!"
"Then it's all yours, Hermione." Ron waved his hand dismissively — he really had no energy left for this.
Harry looked a bit eager to try, but he stayed silent — the thought of two boys constantly sneaking into an abandoned girls' bathroom was far too embarrassing if they ever got caught.
Cedric had mentioned it partly hoping Hermione would take the lead — he absolutely did not want to enter a girls' bathroom himself. If anyone saw him, he would want to crawl into a hole in shame.
"Ohhh, so that's what you were all thinking." Hermione pointed at them — the boys immediately looked sheepish.
But soon she laughed again.
"Fine then. I'll handle the searching in the bathroom. But I think it would still be okay if we regularly meet up to share ideas, right?"
"Of course. If you have any questions, you can always come to me."
"Us too."
Harry and Ron hurriedly promised.
The four of them looked at each other, and smiles appeared on all their faces.
In their eyes, the Chamber of Secrets crisis had been completely resolved. From now on, school life could go back to being relaxed.
But in the eyes of certain people with darker intentions, the Chamber incidents were happening one after another, and Hogwarts' safety could no longer be guaranteed.
A week later, a small crowd gathered around the notice board, reading the words newly pinned on a piece of parchment.
[Hogwarts Duelling Club will hold its first meeting this Thursday at 8 p.m. in the Great Hall. All students are welcome to attend]
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