My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 40. Making Friends with Wolves

Lynn and Cedric stayed until nearly midnight before sneaking back to the castle.

I was lucky; everything went smoothly, and I wasn't caught by that old pervert Filch in his office.

Back in his dorm, Lynn didn't rest immediately. He had already arranged with Cedric to postpone the spell practice session the next morning by three hours.

Although tomorrow is Sunday, that's precisely why there won't be many young wizards at Hogwarts.

Basically, all the older wizards went to Hogsmeade to have fun, while most of the younger ones were still curled up in their warm beds at eight o'clock.

Lynn adjusted the light on his desk lamp, then opened the book Professor Fox had given him that day—"Cutting-Edge Black Magic: An Exploration."

According to the professor, the book doesn't contain much instruction on spells; instead, it provides a relatively basic explanation of the principles, effects, and applications of black magic.

This book isn't exactly a banned book; it's more like a textbook used in defense against the dark arts classes for older students, teaching young wizards to identify various types of dark magic so they can deal with them.

Lynn didn't stay up too late; he just skimmed through the book before turning off the light and going to sleep.

the next day.

It's still by the Black Lake.

Cedric was waving his wand, experimenting with his petrification spell on a frog, and chatting with Lynn about what happened last night.

"I've been thinking about this all night and I still can't figure it out. Why would there be a werewolf who retains their rationality after transforming? Or rather, can someone like Ian still be called a werewolf?"

The instant Cedric cast his petrification spell, Lynn countered with a spell-stopping move, ending Cedric's spell.

This spell was taught to him by Cedric, and it was quite difficult; it took Lynn three days to fully master it.

"You aspire to become a werewolf research expert?"

"Of course not." Cedric shook his head.

"Then why do you care if he still has his sanity after transforming? The fact that he can still maintain his sanity is a huge good thing for us last night, isn't it? Otherwise, given the narrow space of the secret passage, we would all be finished. Being bitten and assimilated into a werewolf would be lucky; the most likely outcome would be being bitten to death on the spot."

After hearing Lynn's words, Cedric recalled the scene from last night and suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

"Actually, we can definitely get in touch with Iando in the future." Lynn twirled his wand on his fingertip, leaving a series of dazzling silver trails in the air.

Cedric agreed with this assessment.

"It's clear that he's actually very lonely. In order to hide his identity as a werewolf, he has to keep his distance from those around him. Even if he knows that he won't hurt anyone after transforming, no one will believe him."

"And we just happen to know his secret." Lynn shrugged. "Are you bothered by his werewolf identity, afraid he might bite you?"

Cedric shook his head decisively and said, "Of course not. If he wanted to, he wouldn't have let us go yesterday."

"So he's quite pitiful. I saw him in Ravenclaw before, and he seemed to be all alone. Even when he was eating, no one sat next to him."

Lynn stroked his chin: "Hogwarts doesn't seem to have a rule that every house's young wizards have to eat at their own house's long table, right?"

Cedric stated definitively, "Of course there's no way such a rule would exist."

"Okay, that's good."

……

Ian felt that he might be under some kind of inexplicable curse.

Since arriving at Hogwarts, I haven't had a single clue about what I'm looking for.

Last night, I misjudged the time it would take to transform, which caused me to start transforming while I was still inside Hogwarts.

Unfortunately, the entire transformation process was witnessed by the two little wizards.

Especially since one of the two, a Slytherin boy, was a bit mentally unstable. He couldn't chat with people but insisted on awkward small talk, which made him, despite being a werewolf, get goosebumps all over.

That's not the worst part; what's worse is that these two little wizards seem to be sticking to him!

Ian fidgeted, holding his silver fork, mentally weighing whether to stab Lynn, who was grinning lewdly at him, to death.

Lynn, however, did not think so. He felt that his smile was very friendly and that Ian would definitely feel his sincerity. Then he burst into tears and declared that he was Ian's best friend for life. Finally, the system gave him a reward, which led him to embark on the true path of a mage.

Every time he thought of this, he couldn't help but smile even more warmly.

This made Cedric, who was sitting next to him, feel extremely embarrassed, and he tugged at Lynn's robe.

"Watch out, he's practically drooling."

Lynn blushed slightly and subconsciously touched the corner of his mouth, but there was nothing there.

This enraged him, and he grabbed Cedric by the neck with both hands and shook him violently.

"Fine! You dared to lie to me!"

Cedric felt like Lynn was shaking his head off, but luckily Ian spoke up to save him.

"Why are you eating at Ravenclaw's table?"

Lynn's smile returned to its friendly form, as if he hadn't been the one who had just committed the violence.

"Who says that all the young wizards from each house have to eat together? Hogwarts is made up of four houses, not the other way around. The more different the houses are, the more we need to interact with each other."

He spoke with righteous indignation, but Ian clearly didn't buy it and continued to speak coldly.

"Then why are you sitting next to me?"

Having gotten used to being humiliated by Ian, Lynn no longer cares about what he says.

"Can't you see how obvious it is? We want to be your friend."

Ian's refusal was also very decisive.

"Sorry, I don't need it."

Lynn was prepared to be as persistent as a leech.

"Don't be like that. Nobody can live without friends. Besides, aren't you keeping your distance from others just because you're afraid your secret will be discovered? You can rest assured, Cedric and I, that we won't have any other opinions about your identity."

He then whispered.

"We can also help you cover for yourself. Every time there's a full moon, your disappearance alone will always arouse suspicion, but with us, you'll have a reason."

Although Lynn is not good at making friends, he is very good at understanding other people's psychology.

Just like now, he gave Ian an excuse to continue spending time with them.

"What reason?" Ian asked.

"Next time you transform, you can tell your roommate you're coming with us for a nighttime tour of Hogwarts," Lynn said with a smile. "The young wizards at Hogwarts all yearn for a nighttime tour of the school."

(End of this chapter)