After missing out on the Quidditch Cup, what awaited us third-years were the final exams.
With June approaching and day after day of cloudless, humid weather, we holed up in the cool underground Slytherin common room and studied nonstop. Thanks to that, our overall performance felt fairly solid.
The first exam of the week was Transfiguration, where the task was to turn a teapot into a tortoise. After lunch came Charms, with the assignment being the Cheering Charm.
On Tuesday morning, we had Care of Magical Creatures, featuring a bonus challenge of keeping a lettuce-eating grub alive for one hour. In the afternoon was Potions, where we brewed a Confusion Draught.
At midnight came Astronomy, followed by History of Magic on Wednesday morning, covering medieval witch hunts. In the afternoon, under the blazing sun, we continued with Herbology.
On the morning of the final day, we had Defence Against the Dark Arts. It was essentially a very practical obstacle course: a pool containing a Grindylow, a hollow where Red Caps lurked, a marsh inhabited by a beckoning Hinkypunk, and finally, defeating a shape-shifting Boggart.
"Riddikulus. How ridiculous!"
I handled everything perfectly and finished by easily defeating my gelatinous final form. What ridiculous shape I transformed myself into is a secret only I know.
"…So you can defeat it normally when no one's watching."
With that comment, Professor Lupin sent me off wearing an expression I couldn't quite read. That afternoon was the last exam.
Since the final subject was an elective, mine was Arithmancy. The exam involved using a randomly selected partner's name and date of birth to predict how many times they would fall ill in the coming year. More than the result itself, the exam emphasized the logic and clarity of the calculation process used to derive it, with its uniquely complex formulas.
After all the exams were finally over, I was heading back to the common room, thinking I might do some self-grading.
"Celesteria, may I have a word?"
Rarely addressed directly by Professor Snape, I followed his instruction to come to his office. Inside, a potion was in the middle of being brewed.
"I want you to deliver this potion to Lupin."
He made the request while stirring a cauldron that bubbled vigorously.
Come to think of it, Professor Snape still didn't know that we had realized what the Wolfsbane Potion was. Astoria had told us to keep quiet, and Daphne and Draco had maintained their silence, so it seemed the task had fallen to me.
I played dumb and asked, "What kind of potion is this?" He happily explained the ingredients and even the brewing method.
On top of that, he casually remarked things like, "Speaking of which, it's a fine full moon tonight," even though it was heavily overcast outside, and, "If silver were mixed into this potion, it would become a deadly poison to the patient." He was so obviously hinting at werewolves that it was practically a demand for me to notice.
"Celesteria, I have high expectations for you. You may be able to accomplish what Lostolf of Hufflepuff, the prefect Weasley, and even Farley could not."
As I was leaving, he put an immense amount of pressure on me.
That said, I have no intention of revealing anything for now. As sorry as I feel for Professor Snape, losing a competent Defence Against the Dark Arts professor like Professor Lupin would be a major loss, both for me and for the other students.
"Excuse me."
Determined to at least complete the delivery, I knocked on Professor Lupin's door. There was no response.
Did we just miss each other?
I tried the doorknob, and the door opened easily. The room was empty. Since it wasn't locked, I assumed he had stepped out briefly, perhaps to the restroom.
I placed the goblet on his desk and was about to leave after jotting a simple note saying, "Potion delivery from Professor Snape," when something caught my attention.
"Oh? What's this…?"
Left carelessly on the table was an old, square piece of parchment. It looked like a map, but its contents were astonishing.
"The Marauder's Map…?"
The parchment turned out to be a detailed map of Hogwarts Castle and the entire school grounds.
What was more, numerous small dots moved across the map, each labeled with a person's name in tiny writing. It even marked several secret passages I had never known about.
Could this incredibly convenient map have been made by Professor Lupin? It seemed like it would be in high demand for facility security work.
As I was thinking that, I noticed the name "Remus Lupin" written in small letters near the edge of the map. The name moved across the grounds, then exited the map through a secret passage beneath the Whomping Willow.
A secret passage under the Whomping Willow?
It also appeared to lead outside the school. Fred and George had secretly told me about a passage to Hogsmeade via the One-Eyed Witch statue, but where exactly did the passage under the Whomping Willow lead?
More concerning than that, however, was Professor Lupin's behavior.
It was surprising enough that the seemingly serious Professor Lupin knew about secret passages at Hogwarts, but forgetting to take the Wolfsbane Potion was even more unexpected. Was there really something so important or urgent beyond that passage under the Whomping Willow?
What should I do?
After spinning my sharp mind at full speed and carefully considering the best course of action, I decided on one thing.
I told Professor Snape everything, exactly as it was.
If I had followed Professor Lupin instead, it would only have been a matter of time before Professor Snape noticed that the delivery hadn't been confirmed and came to check for himself.
And honestly, I felt it was better to stop Professor Lupin's strange behavior of forgetting his Wolfsbane Potion on a full moon and leaving the school through a secret passage. Besides, Professor Snape is a teacher, a Head of House, and an adult.
Thinking about it rationally, consulting Professor Snape was the best practice.
"…And that's the situation."
As I explained everything, Professor Snape listened in silence. His black eyes gradually began to gleam with an increasingly dangerous light.
"Oh…?"
He shook with a low chuckle, his face twisting into one of manic delight, as if a long-awaited chance for revenge had finally arrived.
(Hmm… how should I put this…)
Could it be that I made the wrong choice of person?
Professor Snape then put on a dangerously unsettling smile and murmured dreamily in a sticky, coaxing voice.
"How long I have awaited this day… Celesteria, you have done well to inform me."
"Um, Professor…?"
"It has turned out exactly as I repeatedly warned the Headmaster it would…"
"Excuse me…"
"And not only that, but to think he had the audacity to use that former haunt as a hideout… truly unbelievable."
Professor Snape, who had begun rambling about things no one had asked him, had a distinctly unhinged look in his eyes.
"I will deliver this potion to Lupin personally."
Despite saying that, Professor Snape had already drawn his wand and looked more than ready to kill.
Granted, the opponent was a werewolf and the full moon was approaching, so caution was understandable, but there was an overwhelming air of preemptive force radiating from him.
"Celesteria, return to the common room."
"Okaaay."
Of course, I had no intention of going back.
I brought along a telescope used for Astronomy and secretly watched Professor Snape through a castle window. With his wand held firmly and without a hint of carelessness, he hurried straight toward the Whomping Willow. After scanning the area for a moment, he picked up Harry's Invisibility Cloak lying on the ground and gripped it tightly.
Why is Harry's Invisibility Cloak there? No, wait… don't tell me he has gotten himself wrapped up in trouble again.
And today, of all days, there was also Professor Lupin on the verge of turning into a werewolf. Maybe Professor Trelawney was right, and Harry really is cursed.
Also, Harry really drops his father's heirloom Invisibility Cloak all over the place far too often. His dad is probably shedding a quiet tear in heaven.
While I was thinking all that, Professor Snape picked up a broken branch and poked a knot on the trunk of the Whomping Willow. The tree immediately stopped thrashing, and Professor Snape disappeared into the hole at its base.
Both Professor Lupin and Professor Snape being so casually knowledgeable about secret passages, on par with Fred and George, was honestly surprising.
"Well then… what should I do?"
Leaving aside the fact that Professor Snape is perpetually ill-tempered, he is undeniably a highly capable wizard.
Even if he were facing a werewolf, or if Harry and the others were tangled up in some kind of trouble, I doubted he would fall behind so easily. Still, something felt off.
It was as though I was forgetting something very important.
That strange sense of unease I had felt when I saw Professor Snape approach the Whomping Willow. After thinking about it for a while, I finally realized what it was.
Professor Snape had been gripping his wand tightly in his right hand, and with his left, he had picked up Harry's Invisibility Cloak lying on the ground…
"Oh."
Could it be that Professor Snape forgot to take the Wolfsbane Potion with him?
I rushed back to Professor Lupin's room, only to find both the Marauder's Map and the foul-smelling goblet of Wolfsbane Potion still there.
I had assumed that Professor Snape would take the potion with him, but whether he simply forgot or had some other reason, it had been completely left behind.
Well, Professor Snape did seem rather strange today…
Perhaps he intended to catch Professor Lupin in the act after he transformed into a werewolf and legally expel him from Hogwarts on charges like attempted manslaughter through professional negligence.
Even if that is overthinking it, I should at least deliver the Wolfsbane Potion.
Since I had agreed to the request to deliver it to Professor Lupin, I did have an obligation to see it through. I now knew how to stop the Whomping Willow, and if something went wrong, Professor Snape was already there.
With that in mind, I crossed the grounds, picked up the branch Professor Snape had used, poked the knot on the Whomping Willow to stop it, and entered through the hole at its base.
"Lumos. Light."
After passing through an endlessly long tunnel, I emerged into a cluttered, dusty room.
It looked completely unused. The furniture and wallpaper were in tatters, and for some reason every window had been boarded up.
"This place is… the Shrieking Shack?"
Judging by the distance, roughly that of Hogsmeade, and the fact that it was an abandoned building with boarded-up windows, the only place that fit was the Shrieking Shack.
After proceeding a little farther, I heard people talking upstairs.
"You were in contact with Voldemort more than a year before James and Lily died. Peter, you were the spy!"
As I climbed the stairs, a thunderous shout echoed from the room, and I nearly dropped the Wolfsbane Potion in shock.
Managing to keep hold of the foul-smelling goblet, I reached the room. Beyond the wide-open door were Harry, Ron, and Hermione, the usual Gryffindor trio, along with a grim-faced Professor Lupin, Professor Snape inexplicably unconscious and sprawled on the floor, and an unfamiliar, balding, short, pudgy middle-aged man.
And then…
"Sirius Black…?"
(End of chapter)
Want to read the chapters in Advance? Join my Patreon
https://patreon.com/Glimmer09