Chapter 89 Identifying And Killing Werewolves

A few days after Halloween, the entire school was discussing Sirius Black.

Conversations revolved around how he managed to infiltrate the castle. Evan heard people saying that Black was invisible and other similar things. Even Hannah from Hufflepuff wrote an article on the subject as a contribution to the Magical Hogwarts News. She swore to have witnessed Black's incarnation as a blooming bush.

This article was presented when Evan was not present, but it was rejected by Hermione.

Thanks to a series of articles introducing the "Dementors" from the beginning of the school year, sales of the Magical Hogwarts News had been good, and the issue dedicated to the "Patronus Charm" reached a record with a full print run of over two thousand copies.

In addition to the school wizards, many adult wizards learned about this defensive charm through the Magical Hogwarts News. Evan had just discovered that so many people had never heard of this spell before. He was concerned about the overall level of power in the magical world.

Besides the growing esoteric rumors, there were many changes in the castle.

For example, the portrait of the Fat Lady, which was damaged, was removed from the wall and replaced by a portrait of a fully armed Sir Cadogan and his obese gray pony.

No one was happy with this arrangement. Sir Cadogan spent half of his time challenging people to fight him and the rest of the time contemplating complex and ridiculous passwords. In fact, he changed his password twice a day.

As another example, Harry was now under surveillance.

Teachers walked with him in the corridors for various reasons and excuses; Percy followed him everywhere, as if he were his guardian dog.

Black invaded the castle. The most affected should be Peter Pettigrew.

Ron told Evan that the rat tonic he gave him had no effect. Now, in addition to drinking water, Scabbers did not eat anything. He stayed in the corner of his bed all day and did not move, as if he were dead.

A more accurate description would be that he was waiting for his death. Evan had already checked. The tracking potion was effective; he could feel the presence of the rat whenever it was within 100 meters.

The next step was to look for opportunities to contact Sirius Black. This would be the end-of-year event. But the first two failed contacts made Black distrust Evan. He became more cautious, and Evan did not know where he was hiding.

According to the original story, Black should be hiding in the Shrieking Shack, but Evan checked it after Halloween, and he was not there.

On the eve of Halloween, Lupin also saw Black. With Black's caution, he could not stay there.

Just as Lupin did not trust Black, Black did not trust Lupin.

Twelve years of life in Azkaban left little of his sanity. He did not trust Dumbledore. He only had revenge in mind.

Black was most likely now hiding in the Forbidden Forest. Evan was not interested in searching for a dog throughout the forest. He decided to devise a plan to lure him out.

At lunch, Evan saw Crookshanks running out of the Great Hall with a large loaf of bread. Suddenly, an idea struck him; perhaps he could use it...

Hermione's cat was cunning and inscrutable, and sometimes Evan suspected it might also be an Animagus. It must have befriended Sirius Black. The bread it had just taken was for Black.

Just as Evan watched Crookshanks, who had passed by him, he saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione entering the Great Hall looking frustrated.

"Do you know what Snape told me to do? He actually asked me to clean the cauldrons in the school infirmary. And he didn't even allow me to use magic!" Ron gasped, his fists clenched tightly.

"Why can't Black hide in Snape's office, so he can take care of him for us?"

"How, Ron? Don't third-year students have Defense Against the Dark Arts class this morning?" Colin inquired. "How come you got in trouble with Snape?"

"Excellent question, Colin!" Ron exclaimed heavily. "Indeed, I got in trouble with Snape in Defense Against the Dark Arts class this morning. Then, I had to endure him again in Potions class in the afternoon."

"But why?"

"Because Snape said Professor Lupin was sick and couldn't attend classes; this Defense Against the Dark Arts session was his." Harry sat down angrily. "Snape must be involved in this. Remember when I mentioned giving Professor Lupin a potion recipe a few days ago? What did he put in that potion?"

Harry's words were echoed by Ron. Evan knew that Snape's potion was a scorpion venom agent. The potion was supposed to be taken a week before the full moon night.

Today should be Lupin's transformation day. No wonder no one has seen him.

"Don't talk nonsense, Harry; why would Snape do that?" Hermione pulled out her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook.

"He's always wanted to teach this course." Ron shouted, "Look at what he did in class, he spent half the time criticizing Professor Lupin's teaching methods and the other half asking us a strange question!"

"What did he ask?"

"It was about werewolves, Colin!" Ron turned and said, "Snape has been asking us how to recognize a werewolf. Hermione knew the answer. But he wouldn't let her speak. I asked him: if he didn't want to hear the answer, why keep asking? And that's why I got in trouble!"

"But there must be a reason for this. Why does he want us to know how to identify werewolves?" Hermione pondered.

"Anything is possible; maybe he was bitten by a mad werewolf, so he lost his mind!" Ron exclaimed, "I mean, look at this. Snape assigned us homework regarding the identification and killing of werewolves. At least two scrolls. He's completely mad!"

"The difference between werewolf and real wolf, symptoms of werewolf in human form..." Hermione flipped through her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook.

"Dear, Hermione, are you really not going to finish the assignment, on how to identify an evil werewolf and kill it?"

"The middle finger and ring finger are of the same length, weak, full moon, changing weather, fear of..." Hermione disregarded him. Her hands swiftly moved through the book. She seemed to have found something. She raised her head abruptly, her beautiful brown eyes filled with astonishment.

"A werewolf is not necessarily evil, Ron!" Seeing Hermione's expression, Evan knew she had discovered the truth and sighed. "Wizards often think it has no reason or feelings, only knows to destroy and kill, filled with bloodthirsty desires. In fact, this image is incorrect."

"You should know that even a person of pure heart, someone who never forgets to pray at night, will inevitably transform into a wolf on a full moon night when exposed to moonlight." Evan calmly looked at Hermione, "but it's kind by nature. Just because he's a werewolf, doesn't mean we can't trust him."

"Isn't that right, Evan?" Hermione asked, concerned. But in her gaze, she felt less concerned.

"Yes, I trust him," nodded Evan.

Harry, Ron, and Colin looked at Evan and Hermione. They were puzzled and couldn't grasp what the two were saying.