# Professor Lupin "I'm letting the children have a look at the Grindylow in advance."
Lupin said cheerfully, pointing at the water tank.
# Snape "Fascinating."
Snape said, not bothering to look at it,
# Snape "You should just drink it, Lupin."
# Professor Lupin "Yes, yes, I will."
Lupin said.
# Snape "I've made a full cauldron of it,"
Snape said,
# Snape "in case you need more."
# Professor Lupin "I might need some more tomorrow. Thanks, Severus."
Lupin smiled.
# Snape "You're welcome."
Snape said. His face showed no smile, and he seemed wary. As he exited the room, he glanced at Orli and then at the goblet, as if trying to hint something to her. But Orli had already guessed that the goblet contained the Wolfsbane Potion.
Harry also looked curiously at the goblet.
Lupin explained with a smile:
# Professor Lupin "Professor Snape kindly brewed a potion for me,"
he said,
# Professor Lupin "I've never been very good at potion-making, and this potion is particularly complex."
He picked up the goblet and sniffed it.
# Professor Lupin "Unfortunately, it can't be sweetened."
He added, taking a sip and shivering.
# Harry "Why—"
Harry began to ask. Lupin looked at him and answered the unfinished question.
# Professor Lupin "I've always felt unwell,"
he said,
# Professor Lupin "Only this potion can help. I'm lucky to work with Professor Snape; there aren't many wizards capable of brewing this potion."
Professor Lupin took another sip, and Harry was on pins and needles in his chair. If Orli weren't present, he looked like he would snatch the goblet from Lupin's hand.
# Harry "Some say—"
Harry hesitated, then blurted out,
# Harry "Some say he desperately wants to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, willing to do anything for the position."
Lupin drank the potion in one gulp and made a face.
# Professor Lupin "It's awful."
He said,
# Professor Lupin "Alright, Harry. I should get back to work. See you at the feast."
# Harry "Okay."
Harry said, placing his empty teacup down. The goblet he had drunk from was still steaming.
——————
Until the sun set, Ron and Hermione followed most people back from Hogsmeade. Their cheeks were red from the wind as they sorted the mountain of sweets they had bought in the common room.
# Ron "How about it, you weren't caught, right?"
Ron asked in a low voice.
# Hermione "Did you do your homework this afternoon?"
Hermione inquired.
# Harry "No,"
Harry said,
# Harry "We met Professor Lupin when we returned, and he showed us a water monster in his office. Then Snape came in..."
He told them all about the goblet. Ron's mouth opened wide.
# Ron "Did Lupin drink it?"
He gasped,
# Ron "Is he crazy?"
## Orli "Ron!"
Orli glared at him angrily.
Hermione checked her watch.
# Hermione "We should head downstairs; you know, the Halloween feast starts in five minutes."
They hurriedly passed through the portrait hole and joined the crowd, still talking about Snape along the way.
# Hermione "Snape wouldn't poison Lupin."
Hermione said quietly, glancing around nervously. Orli was about to agree when she added:
# Hermione "If he were trying—to poison Lupin—he wouldn't do it in front of Harry and Orli."
## Orli "Why can't it be that Professor Lupin is just sick?"
Orli found herself once again holding the truth she couldn't reveal.
# Harry "Yeah, that could be it."
Harry concluded the topic.
By then, they had reached the entrance hall and were entering the Great Hall. The hall was adorned with hundreds of jack-o'-lanterns, a swarm of fluttering bats, and many orange streamers spewing flames lazily drifting below the ceiling like brilliant water serpents.
Every dish was exquisite, and even Hermione and Ron, who had eaten so many Honeydukes sweets their stomachs were nearly bursting, took second helpings of everything. Orli sneakily glanced at the professors' table; Professor Lupin looked no different from usual, likely because the full moon hadn't arrived yet. Snape still occasionally cast glances in Lupin's direction.
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