A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts

Chapter 235: More Than Just a Little Change

In the end, Lupin did not agree either. As a bystander, Felix Harp could clearly see the professor's reluctance.

He had a certain speculation that the Patronus's form had a significant connection with a wizard's state. Being a werewolf, Lupin - despite his efforts to avoid the term - was already deeply affected by his condition. His Patronus was likely to be a wolf or a related subspecies.

Felix Harp didn't know what to say. "Severus really is something..."

...

One evening, Ron crawled into the common room alone.

"Snape is a total nutter! He *&$..." Ron cursed, using foul language, causing Hermione to respond uncomfortably, "Ron, watch your language!"

He plopped down in a chair next to Harry, the smell of strong cleaning solution wafting off him.

Harry looked sympathetically at Ron. This wasn't the first time he lost his temper due to Snape's actions. When Lupin was sick and Snape substituted, Ron stood up to Snape in front of everyone and was punished by cleaning bedpans in the school hospital, without using magic, and Snape seemed to savor the drawn-out process. He split the punishment into three sessions, and each time Ron finished his punishment, he was as angry as an irritable lion.

"I'm serious, Snape is seriously messed up. If it weren't for the fact that he only substituted for one class..." Ron said angrily, "I didn't write a single word of the essay he assigned. Ha! Lupin canceled it, just like I expected!"

Hermione's expression wasn't too good. Most of the class was watching, and only she had finished her paper about werewolves.

Ron continued sarcastically, "Maybe someone stuck his head in a toilet when he was at school. Look at his hair, Harry—" he turned to Harry, "Aren't you staying back tonight to ask Professor Lupin if he revealed anything about this?"

Harry said gloomily, "No, I asked him about Dementors and my mum."

Ron's expression softened. He exchanged a look with Hermione and asked in a low voice, "You heard it again on the day of the Quidditch match, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Harry said, "It's the second time. I felt especially vulnerable facing Dementors. Professor Lupin said it's because I've experienced more pain." He whispered, "He's right. I heard my mum's voice in her final moments, over and over again."

"But," Harry's tone brightened, "Professor Lupin told me a lot about my mum. You know, I've only seen her in a photo Hagrid gave me and on the Mirror of Erised. Others hardly ever mentioned her..."

"Harry..." Hermione looked at him with concern.

Ignoring everything, Harry continued, "I always thought my mum was gentle, that's how I imagined her. But actually, she had a strong personality. Professor Lupin said she was headstrong, even a bit fierce. In that era, she maintained a friendship with a neighbor from a rival house—Snape—for five whole years. Professor Lupin said he admired her."

"Of course! Mum and Snape went their separate ways in the end because of Voldemort!" Harry exclaimed excitedly, "My mum had to grow up. When she first entered school, she wasn't aware of Voldemort's war, but how can one resist reality? Every few days, a classmate's family member or relative would die. A few students dropped out every month. That's war, isn't it?"

"She must have struggled with it for a long time, but she eventually ended that friendship. Professor Lupin said she was melancholic for a long time. Dad comforted her and told her a lot about the Order of the Phoenix. They naturally came together..."

"Marriage, fighting Death Eaters, evading Voldemort's pursuit, and then there was me," Harry's expression darkened, "Until they wrongly believed in Sirius Black."

Ron said uneasily, "Harry, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Harry said, "Professor Lupin promised to teach me the Patronus Charm after Christmas. But he turned down my request for special training. Professor Snape is too busy, and I didn't want to bother him."

"While I was writing my Dueling System paper, I kept using Black as my hypothetical opponent, but truthfully, there's not much I can do, just a few spells. And I'm not proficient..."

Ron said, "Harry, we can train ourselves."

Harry stopped his incessant chatter, looked up at Ron, and said slowly, "Train ourselves?" This made Ron somewhat uneasy, and he said, "I know I'm weaker and not your match, but if you need to, I can be your assistant."

He came up with another silly idea, "If it really doesn't work, we can use Slytherin students for practice. That lot, including Malfoy, isn't bad. Crabbe and Goyle look like they could withstand a few more spells with their builds."

Thinking of the burly Crabbe and the gorilla-like Goyle, Harry couldn't help but grin. He composed himself and said seriously, "Thank you, Ron."

Ron blushed, "It's, it's nothing."

"So, what are we waiting for?" Hermione looked relieved. She took out a piece of parchment and quickly started writing and drawing on it.

"If we're going to train ourselves, we need to be well-prepared. We need to pick the right time, place, choose appropriate spells, and be ready for any accidents... There's a lot to do!" Hermione said determinedly.

"Hermione?" Ron looked at her somewhat dumbfounded.

But Hermione was already in work mode. "My schedule is a bit different from yours, but... I should be able to find some time..."

"How are you going to find time—"

"Don't interrupt me, Ron," Hermione impatiently said, "For spell selection, it's best to refer to what we've learned in Dueling class. Harry, I need your essay."

Harry dumbly handed over his finished essay to her.

"I'll give this to Professor Harp, but I need to look at it first and summarize your dueling strategy. And Ron, you can't slack off either. You can't fall too far behind."

Ron made a face of anguish, "You're not thinking of having me write an essay too, are you? Binns just assigned us a two-foot essay, you know."

"Well, if you're not planning to... I mean, I could lend you my assignment for reference." Hermione tried her best not to use the word 'copy.'

Ron whispered to Harry with a grin, "She really surprised me."

Harry shrugged, sounding relaxed, "That's Hermione for you. How many times has she surprised us?"

Hermione was still thinking hard, "Maybe we can bring in a few more people. Of course, the three of us will have the most time together, but others might be interested, and their skills are generally good. Dueling class has really helped!"

"Dean's pretty skilled with the Stunning Spell, and Seamus's Exploding Charm is quite impressive. He's definitely got a knack for it... And Neville, Ginny's got a handful of nasty curses down pat. I didn't expect her to pick them up so quickly when I was teaching her. We could even get Percy's help; he owes the twins a favor, and the twins..." She chuckled, "They owe me a lot of favors."

"Wait a minute," Ron exclaimed, "What's the deal with Percy and Fred and George?"

"Remember the Love Potion? They gave Penelope a discount. It was originally meant as a Christmas gift for Percy, but he secretly went to the twins..."

"How did you get involved with Fred and George, though?" Ron still couldn't quite grasp it. His two brothers were not easy to deal with.

"Oh," Hermione said with a brilliant smile, "I'm the assistant for Ancient Runes class. They often ask me for reference books, down to the page numbers. They said it was to save time, as they didn't want to waste time on theoretical ancient runes."

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