Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 144 Academic Misconduct

The sun rose as usual the next day, but the owls brought today's Daily Prophet like a 500-kilogram bomb being dropped into an auditorium.

[A Lost Spell, a Boon for Werewolves—The Greengrass Family Discovers the Restoration Charm Invented by Salazar Slytherin]

When Rice saw the headline "Spell invented by Salazar Slytherin," he broke out in a cold sweat.

This feels a bit like stealing a classmate's research results—the classmate works hard on some research, then adds some things to the paper and publishes it without the classmate even getting a second authorship.

If Ravenclaw found out about this, it would probably trigger a wizarding war.

"Don't mention this to Ms. Ravenclaw later," Rice decided to remind Daphne to keep her mouth shut.

Daphne: ?

Why?

"For no reason."

That's why you should ask your father why he's so insistent that this is Slytherin's posthumous work.

Unlike Rice, the students at Hogwarts were more focused on the spell itself.

"Really? I feel like I'm dreaming."

"So, does that mean there will be no more werewolves from now on?"

"How could that be? But at least there's a cure after turning into a werewolf."

The students were buzzing with discussion, and the professors were no exception.

If it were just a single press release, they could remain calm, as it might be exaggerated. But Henry Greengrass directly posted the original Slytherin manuscript at the end of the article, and thoughtfully provided a translated version, saying that this was the great Slytherin's legacy to wizards, and welcoming everyone to study it together and correct their translation errors.

That makes a big difference.

Most of the Hogwarts professors are not incompetent; they have real knowledge. They immediately recognized the authenticity of the original manuscript. Regardless of whether the spells on it could actually be cast, the wording and phrasing alone were very much in line with the style of medieval wizards.

After a brief discussion, the professors concluded that it was an authentic work by Salazar Slytherin—or at the very least, a genuine manuscript from the Middle Ages.

"No wonder they're a pure-blooded family descended from the Middle Ages; they even have treasures like this." Even Professor McGonagall expressed her envy for the Greengrass family.

After Dumbledore finished reading the article in the Daily Prophet, he handed the newspaper to Snape, whose expression became extremely interesting: he vaguely guessed what was going on.

"Severus, can you concoct this wolfsbane slow-release potion described above?" Dumbledore's eyes gleamed.

The manuscript clearly states that potions can greatly increase the success rate of spells. In other words, as long as one's skill level is high enough, one can forcibly revert a werewolf back to human form without the aid of a slow-release wolfsbane potion.

Snape's expression shifted several times before he finally said dejectedly, "It's complicated, but not impossible."

"Could you please prepare a dose of medicine for me?"

Snape eventually agreed to Dumbledore's request.

He could guess what the potion was for, but his dignity as a potion master prevented him from lying through his teeth—if it could be done, it could be done; if it couldn't be done, it couldn't be done.

"Very good." Dumbledore's lips curled up slightly.

The publication of this posthumous manuscript was very timely, reminding him of a poor person who was suffering from the hardships of life.

Even more coincidentally, Professor Lockhart had just been hospitalized, and his condition had worsened further, with no end in sight for his discharge. Hogwarts needed a substitute professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

After breakfast, Dumbledore hurried back to the headmaster's office with a copy of the Daily Prophet.

After locking himself in his office and studying the Slytherin manuscripts for half a day, Dumbledore felt that he had a 50% chance of successfully casting the Great Restoration Charm without relying on the Wolfsbane Slow-Release Potion. With the help of the potion, the success rate could reach 100%. The reason why Rice had put so much effort into improving the Wolfsbane Potion was to reduce the difficulty of casting the Restoration Charm to the level of a normal high-level spell.

Now that he had the confidence, Dumbledore no longer hesitated, picked up his quill and wrote a letter on the parchment with swift, flowing strokes.

The letter was mailed out quickly.

……

Although it's only the beginning of September, the nighttime temperature in the Irish mountains has already dropped below ten degrees Celsius. In this drafty house, without any heating, it would be quite normal to freeze to death.

This is a long-abandoned wooden hut that often attracts homeless people to stay there temporarily. For example, right now, a homeless man wearing an extremely tattered robe, with a sickly and tired face, has placed his suitcase on the ground of the hut.

"I guess this counts as checking in," he chuckled self-deprecatingly.

The homeless man looked very young, but there were already a few strands of white hair mixed in with his light brown hair.

The homeless man went out for a walk and returned to the room carrying a large wooden stake.

After placing the wooden stake into a large, dark hole in the wall of the house, the man pulled out a magic wand—this down-on-his-luck vagrant was actually a wizard!

In no time, he chopped the wooden stake into pieces, and then a bright flame rose up.

After lighting the fire, the down-on-his-luck wizard cleaned up the dirty wooden hut and used some odds and ends to plug up any drafty corners. Now the hut was barely habitable.

The wizard plans to spend the fall here and then cross the sea to southern France or Spain for the winter.

It's rare for a male wizard who has received proper magical training to fall into such a destitute situation. If they look so down on their luck, they probably have some unspeakable secrets.

Remus John Lupin was a man with a secret.

He's a werewolf.

Lupin was unfortunate, but also fortunate, though overall unfortunate circumstances outweighed his fortunes.

From a young age, he was infected by a mad werewolf and transformed into one himself. Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, did not discriminate against his werewolf identity and admitted him to the school. There, he met like-minded friends and learned the magic he needed to make a living.

Unfortunately, the Wizarding Wars broke out later. Of his three closest friends, one died at the hands of a mysterious man, the other two killed each other, one was imprisoned in Azkaban, and the other was never found.

Lupin's spirit was broken, and he even grew white hair at a young age.

After the Dark Lord's downfall, Lupin has been wandering ever since, until today.

His werewolf identity, coupled with his self-destructive mental state, led this powerful wizard to live like a vagrant.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Update delivered, second update coming later.

hmm~

(End of this chapter)