While the news of the Azkaban attack continued to dominate the news in the Daily Prophet, it was quickly overshadowed at Hogwarts by a new, terrifying attack two days later – one that had happened on the Hogwarts grounds.

"Did you hear?" a first year said, running up to Hermione as she entered the common room that morning. "Professor Snape killed Professor Lupin!"

"What?" Hermione's jaw dropped.

"That's not right – Lupin killed Snape!" another first year objected, then promptly burst into tears. "Dumbledore had to go out after Lupin to avenge Snape!"

"What are you talking about?" Hermione demanded.

"No, you have it wrong – the Gryffindor boys were trying to kill Lupin," another first year said. "Snape went out to save Lupin, and that was when they both got killed!"

Hermione glanced around, not seeing Tracey or Blaise. She looked down at the first years.

"Where did you hear all this?" she asked.

"At breakfast!" one of the first years chirped. "Everyone was talking about it!"

Hermione gave them a quizzical look. "And you're back from breakfast already?"

"Well, if Professor Snape is dead, we wanted to be sure we were safe," one of the first-year girls said seriously. "We all decided to come back here to protect ourselves. That way, if Snape killed Lupin and the Gryffindors are out for blood, they can't get us. And if Snape did get killed, we can plot on how we're going to avenge his death."

"Exactly," agreed one of the boys, nodding rapidly. He looked at Hermione. "You're welcome to stay with us, too, if you want to be safe."

"Thank you," Hermione said, suppressing a smile. "But I'm terribly hungry, and I should probably try to find out what really happened. Thank you for the invitation, though."

"Bye!" the first years all waved as she left, leaving Hermione shaking her head and boggling as she made her way up to the Great Hall.

Breakfast was a flurry of gossip by the time Hermione arrived, and the disappearance of Professor Dumbledore, Lupin, and Snape from the staff table all at the same time didn't bode well for something being blown out of proportion. Hermione slid into her seat at the Slytherin table next to Blaise.

"What is going on?" she wanted to know.

"I'm not sure – Tracey's getting the details now," Blaise said. He nodded his head over toward the Gryffindor table. "I'm sure it's being exaggerated, but it's still better to know."

"The first years are convinced someone died," Hermione snapped. "It had better be blown out of proportion."

"Wait, what?"

Hermione turned to see Draco Malfoy, who had approached. His eyes were wide.

"Someone died?" he asked, taking his seat on the opposite bend. He looked exhausted. "How did someone die?"

"No idea," Blaise said promptly. "What happened to you, mate?"

"I was up all night with the bloody hedgewitches," Draco grumbled. He yawned. "We were able to cover three tenancies, so they're getting better. But it was still all bloody night."

Hermione's eyes widened, a sinking feeling in her stomach. For Draco to help the hedgewitches with the silver wards meant the previous night had been the full moon. Suddenly, the stories of Lupin killing someone started to make a horrible sort of sense.

"I'm here," Tracey announced, sliding into her seat. She grinned at them all. "Are you ready to hear this?"

"Yes," Draco snapped. "Someone died?"

"No one is sure if someone is dead yet or not," Tracey said, waggling her eyebrows ominously. "But given what happened, it's very possible someone is dead."

"So what did happen?" Hermione pleaded. "Please. Start at the beginning."

Tracey drew herself up, looking out over the assembled 3rd year Slytherins, all of whom were hanging on her words. She grinned once, and Hermione had a brief thought that this was Tracey in her element – knowing everything that was going on, with others begging her to tell them.

"Yesterday, a bunch of 5th and 6th year Gryffindor boys thought they had figured out the attack on Azkaban," Tracey began. "They thought it was Sirius Black – because he had broken out before, he presumably could break back in – and he had a motive with his grudge against the dementors."

"Okay…" Theo frowned. "What's that have to do with Lupin or Snape?"

"Well, they knew from seeing Potter talking to Black and Lupin in the Great Hall that Lupin was friends with Black," Tracey said. "So they went to go confront Lupin about it, to see if he knew anything about Black and the Azkaban attack."

"And…?" Draco prompted.

"That's where it gets tricky," Tracey admitted. "At some point during their confrontation, something happened to a goblet Professor Lupin had on his desk."

"Oh no," Hermione breathed. "His Wolfsbane."

She exchanged a look of dread with Blaise, Blaise heaving a sigh.

"I bet Lupin served them that weak tea," Blaise said, "And someone spilled sugar over the goblet while trying to make their own tea more palatable."

Hermione groaned. It was just stupid enough to be plausible.

"And, as you already seem to know," Tracey said pointedly, giving Hermione a sharp look, "Professor Lupin is a werewolf. And that goblet was supposed to help him keep control when he turned into a werewolf."

"Professor Lupin is a werewolf?" Draco demanded, going pale. "Since when?"

"Since forever," Theo snapped. "Try to keep up."

"What, you knew too? How did you—"

"Snape set us an essay, remember? That Lupin cancelled? Didn't you wonder why?"

"I'm not so much of a swot to ask why homework was cancelled, thank you very much—"

"When did this happen?" Hermione asked Tracey, aghast. They all tuned out Draco and Theo's bickering. "Did Lupin not realize something went wrong with the Wolfsbane?"

"Apparently not," Blaise said dryly.

"I guess not." Tracey shrugged. "Later, Lupin caught the same boys trying to break into his office after hours. They were on brooms, trying to jinx the window open. They didn't realize he was in his office still, and Lupin was furious. He opened the window to yell at them, when—"

"This makes no sense. Curfew is at ten. Shouldn't he have been a werewolf by then?" Pansy demanded.

"We're only two days past the solstice," Hermione reminded the others. "Sunset was probably still after 10pm, and dusk wouldn't have been for an hour or so after that."

"Anyway, as I was saying, Lupin was yelling at them, when he froze and started to transform," Tracey said, giving Pansy at nasty look at the interruption. "The boys thought it was some kind of proof that he helped Sirius Black escape, I think? I'm not real clear on that part. But what is clear is someone flew too close to the open window, and Lupin lunged out the window at them."

Daphne gasped while Pansy looked horrified. Hermione was unfazed. She had been to Lupin's office enough times to know it was only on the second floor, and she figured a fully-transformed werewolf would be strong enough to survive that sort of fall.

"The boys flew down to see if they'd killed Lupin, only to have him spring up back up, jaws snapping and trying to eat them, and once the boys realized what had happened, they scattered," Tracey said with relish. "One of them – Zakir – had the sense to fly back inside through the open window. He had to break out of Lupin's office – Lupin had done some kind of complicated locking charm to keep himself locked in – and he booked it for Professor Snape."

"Professor Snape?" Daphne was surprised. "Since when do the Gryffindors trust Snape?"

"Of all the teachers, who would you trust to take down a werewolf?" Pansy wanted to know, turning to Daphne.

"I don't know – probably Dumbledore—"

"Sure, but do you even know where Dumbledore's office is? While everyone knows Snape's been after the Defense Against the Dark Arts position for forever," Pansy pointed out. "Plus, Snape can probably sense when Gryffindors are out after curfew – he'd be way easier to find."

"The other boys were trying to stay out of Lupin's way on their broomsticks, while simultaneously trying to keep him interested enough in them to make sure he didn't go back in the castle," Tracey said. "They drew him away from the school as much as they could, toward the Quidditch Pitch and the Forbidden Forest, away from the school."

"Chalk one up to the bravery of the Gryffindors," Blaise said grimly. "That could have been bad."

"Yeah, it was bad," Tracey said, growing serious. "Apparently Lupin could jump much higher than they anticipated. But if they stayed too high on their brooms, Lupin would lose interest and start back towards the school."

Hermione shuddered.

"By the time Zakir got Professor Snape, Geoffrey Hooper had been attacked," Tracey said. "He was bleeding badly, barely hanging onto his broom. Snape ran over and stabilized him and yelled for the other Gryffindors to get him to the Hospital Wing as fast as possible while he took care of Lupin. So they all took off for the castle, leaving Snape with a moon-mad Lupin and Geoffrey's Cleansweep."

"Was he okay?" Daphne asked, anxious.

Tracey shrugged uneasily. "Madame Pomfrey kicked them all out as soon as they explained what had happened, so nobody knows what happened to Geoffrey yet."

"Does anyone know if it was a bite or a claw mark?" Theo asked, pale.

"No idea," Tracey said, shaking her head. "Anyway. That's what all the rumors are stemming from. No one knows if Lupin killed Geoffrey, if Snape killed Lupin, if Lupin killed Snape, or what – no one's seen any of them since."

The end of Tracey's story was met with a horrified silence, before Draco drew himself up.

"I will be writing to my father immediately," he told them all. "And I encourage you to do the same."

"Not everyone's father is on the Board of Governors, Malfoy," Blaise remarked dryly, and Draco shot him a look.

"Then write your parents. Gryffindor or not, that could have been any of us," Draco said pointedly. "Any of us could have died, with a mad werewolf running around. What if he had gotten into the school? This is completely unacceptable. Completely."

"It sounds like it was an accident," Daphne protested. "If his Potion hadn't gotten tampered with—"

"Yeah, but it did, didn't it?" Theo cut in. "And now some Gryffindor kid might be dead because of it? How's that fair?"

Daphne bit her lip and looked down at the table. Pansy looked grim.

"Tracey, want to come with me and help spread what really happened to the other Houses?" she said, standing. "If everyone knows the truth, enough people will write their parents that there will be an uproar. Dumbledore won't be able to keep the werewolf here after that happens."

Tracey nodded to Pansy, rising, and the two girls went off while Crabbe elbowed Goyle.

"Wait, I thought Snape killed Lupin?" Crabbe asked, looking confused. "Why would Dumbledore want to keep a dead guy as a teacher?"

"Keep up, mate," Goyle said. "Binns was dead, and he taught for ages. Dumbledore doesn't care if you're dead."

"Yeah, but would he be a ghost werewolf, then? Does a ghost werewolf bite turn you into a werewolf? Do you become a ghost werewolf once a month instead?"

Crabbe and Goyle lapsed into silence, looking at each other with wide eyes as they considered this new possibility. Everyone else collectively turned away from them, wordlessly deciding to ignore them in a silent consensus.

"If he is alive, is Lupin going to die?" Daphne asked, holding a hand to her mouth in horror.

"You mean if he's still alive?" Draco sneered. "I hope so."

"What, and be shot down as a wizard in cold blood?" Blaise said. "I don't think even Snape is that cold, to kill him after he's transformed back."

"No. Because of her law," Daphne said, gesturing to Hermione. "Doesn't it include 'any werewolf that attacks a human gets put to death' or something?"

"The law isn't set to take effect until September 1st," Hermione said, "though they're trying to move it up to August, to protect people before the World Cup." She gnawed her lip. "But everything's in flux and still being determined."

"They can't put Lupin to death if it's not his fault," Daphne protested. "It's not fair. He didn't mess up his own potion, and I'm sure he'll wear one of the Moon-keys as soon as they're available."

"I'm sure that'll mean a lot to Geoffrey Hooper's parents when they come to pick up his body," Draco said cynically, and Daphne fell silent, staring silently at the table. Hermione thought it looked like Daphne was blinking back tears.

"I can't believe you care about Lupin more than Snape," Blaise said to Daphne. "We should be worrying about our own, you know."

"Professor Snape is fine," Hermione reassured Daphne. "We don't need to worry about him,"

Daphne looked up at her, anxious. "He is? How do you know?"

"Because he's the Head of Slytherin for a reason," Hermione said with certainty. "Professor Lupin might have been burned alive or hit with the Killing Curse, but I'm sure Snape is fine."

"The Killing Curse is really hard to cast," Theo said. "You have to really want to kill someone, with no hesitation or remorse. You think Snape could cast that at his coworker?"

"If he faced down Lupin as a werewolf?" Hermione said. Her mind went back to Snape's story of the time he'd found out Lupin was a werewolf, back when he was sixteen and terrified, and her eyes glinted. "I'm certain of it."

Professor Dumbledore was at lunch, though Snape, McGonagall, and Lupin were not, nor was Geoffrey Hooper. Students were still gossiping and writing letters home all through lunch, and Draco Malfoy had disappeared with Tracey somewhere, saying something vaguely about her 'giving an interview'.

Everyone seemed to be reacting to the news differently. Ravenclaw was horrified and writing letters home, demanding Lupin be held accountable and fired. Slytherin was horrified and writing letters home, demanding Dumbledore be held accountable for putting the students at such a risk. Hufflepuff was horrified at the entire thing, and Gryffindor was horrified that one of their own had been savaged in such a way. The tension eased somewhat when Madame Pomfrey appeared partway through lunch to speak to several older Gryffindors, and four boys immediately rose to follow her back out, all of them looking relieved.

"Well, at least we know Geoffrey's alive, now," Blaise commented. "How long until the Gryffindors start caring more about Lupin losing his job than almost losing one of their classmates?"

Theo scowled. "I give it ten seconds, tops."

Tracey and Draco found Hermione, Susan, and Blaise outside on the lawn later.

"Geoffrey Hooper is alive," Tracey announced. "He's been bitten, and he will turn into a werewolf now. He also has a horrifying scar across his face, but he's being heralded as a hero for protecting the rest of the school."

"Thank Merlin," Susan sighed in relief. "I was so worried."

"If they award him points, I shall riot," Hermione said flatly. "Riot."

"Snape would just dock them all right back off," Draco told her. "He's spent all day brewing potions to help Geoffrey survive and to prevent a cursed infection. Apparently, werewolf bites and scrapes are significantly more dangerous than just the obvious."

"That checks out," Blaise mused. "Wonder if there's a werewolf version of rabies?"

"Professor Lupin is alive as well," Tracey confirmed. "Though… he's on suicide watch."

"Wait, what?" Susan looked up suddenly, astonished. "He's what?"

Draco's lip curled.

"Apparently, he's so torn up over infecting another person that he's about ready to off himself," Draco drawled. "A situation he could have prevented, of course, by never teaching here in the first place, but whatever. Dumbledore was with him all morning, and now McGonagall's watching him, making sure he doesn't throw himself off the Astronomy Tower."

"Should let Snape do it," Blaise muttered. "I'm surprised he didn't do it, actually."

"Who knows?" Draco said, flopping onto the ground with a heavy sigh. "I wish he had."

"Snape is good," Tracey admonished Draco, rolling her eyes. "He wouldn't just kill somebody if he didn't have to."

Hermione wondered at that. Snape loathed Lupin, and she had no doubt he'd probably struggled immensely to not give in and kill him. It would have been so easy, and he'd have had the perfect excuse. And yet, he hadn't – he'd held onto himself and resisted the Dark temptation to defeat one of his oldest foes.

"I still bet Snape did something," Blaise said. "There's no way Lupin left that fight unscathed."

Lupin was still not at dinner, and neither was Dumbledore again. McGonagall had returned, looking very worn, and Snape had made his triumphant return, eating his food with the slightest curl to his lips.

"He's not going to say a damn word to anyone, is he?" Tracey asked, scowling. "He probably told Dumbledore, and that's it. No one is ever going to know what went down."

"Probably," Blaise said dully.

Hermione sighed. "You have a point."

That didn't mean she didn't still want to know, though. And she knew one person who always seemed to know things that she shouldn't know. She, Blaise, Tracey, and Draco found her after dinner, reading under a tree with an apple and muffin nearby.

"The fight with Professor Snape and Professor Lupin?" Luna repeated, blinking up at Hermione. "Oh, yes. It was very violent."

"What happened?" Hermione asked, eyes wide.

"Can you tell us?" Draco asked, sitting down. "Did you See it?"

"Yes. Literally, though," Luna said, smiling. "I had a feeling something bad was going to happen, so I was awake and watched from the tower with my telescope." They all leaned in to listen. "It was quite dreadful. For the first part of the fight, Professor Snape was fighting with Lupin, but he was also fighting quite hard with himself."

"Fighting with himself?" Blaise repeated.

"On whether or not to kill Professor Lupin," Luna said simply. "He eventually blasted off one of Professor Lupin's legs, which made him decide not to kill him. He realized it would be unnecessary at that point, I think. So instead he summoned his teeth."

Draco choked.

"I'm sorry," he said, coughing. "He did what?"

"He summoned Lupin's teeth," Luna said serenely. "He did some spell that yanked all Lupin's teeth from his jaw, while Lupin was distracted by his bleeding stump leg."

Tracey's eyes were wide.

"That's… that's intense," she said, looking sick. "Ripping his teeth out, one by one…"

"Oh, no, they all came flying out at once," Luna assured her. "Professor Lupin passed out then. Probably from the pain, or maybe from the blood loss."

"That's sick," Blaise said, sounding like he was going to retch. "I mean, I knew he hated the guy, but to torture him like that…"

"It was probably a practical thing," Hermione objected. "Without teeth, Lupin couldn't bite anyone and put anyone else at risk."

"Right," Luna said, nodding. "And teeth can be regrown. It was a much nicer choice than his other option, which was to blast off his lower jaw entirely."

Draco gagged, and Hermione's eyes went wide.

"Well," she said faintly. "I suppose that would have also been a choice."

They all exchanged horrified looks, while Luna looked at her muffin thoughtfully.

"It's a good thing they can regrow teeth," she remarked. "Can you imagine if they couldn't, and Professor Lupin needed dentures? And then they wouldn't fit whenever he turned into a werewolf, and he'd just be this toothless beast again?"

Hermione had a sudden mental image of a werewolf snarling at her through drippy gums with no teeth, like a weird amalgamation between the Big Bad Wolf and a cartoon grandfather from the telly. She barely suppressed a snort.

"They can't regrow legs, though," Tracey was saying. "He'll have to use a fake one to walk for the rest of his life."

"And Geoffrey Hooper will be scarred for the rest of his life," Draco said coolly, folding his arms. "Somehow, I don't feel that bad about Lupin being a cripple."

"Is Lupin going to be okay?" Hermione asked Luna. "We heard he was on suicide watch?"

Luna looked uneasy.

"It's… uncertain," she admitted. "He'll last until the end of term, and Dumbledore will take him to his friend's house to recover, but the summer is… cloudy. I don't know." She shrugged helplessly. "One thing I can tell you, though – he won't be teaching DADA here next September."