Chapter 18. Three Months Later
July.
It had been nearly a fortnight since Lupin started working at Adrian Wesson's plantation.
Tending to magic-laden plants was a painstaking business.
What was more, you couldn't use magic for any of it.
Magic interfered with the plants; some ingredients would even lose their properties the moment they came into contact with foreign magic. That made Lupin's job all the more complicated and draining.
And many of the plants at Adrian's place were aggressive.
Even with Adrian's care manual, Lupin still worried he might be attacked by some inexplicable plant at any moment.
As a result, he often slipped up at work.
Fortunately, whenever he had a question about a plant, he could ask Adrian and always get an answer.
And…
"Mr Lupin, don't forget the Bubble-Head Charm."
"Mr Lupin, don't touch it with your palm—use the back of your hand."
"Mr Lupin, that's Fertiliser No. 1; you should be using No. 3."
"Mr Lupin…"
In his spare time, Harry would also come to help Lupin with the work.
In fact, Harry was far more adept at caring for the plants than he was!
That left Lupin feeling a twinge of shame—after all, he was the one drawing a wage.
As for why Harry knew so much, it was thanks to Adrian often having him lend a hand.
You could say that over the past half-year, Harry had practically learnt the properties and care of every plant in Adrian's plantation.
If Adrian hadn't wanted Harry to have time to study his favourite subject—Potions—he might have kept Harry helping him all the time.
With Lupin and Harry's help, Adrian no longer needed to watch over the greenhouse plants from dawn till dusk.
During the day, he had set up a desk and a chair for himself in the pot-plant shop to work on his professorial duties—lesson prep.
After all, his main job now was Professor of Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts.
Just yesterday, Professor Kettleburn had sent him a letter and a copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
In the letter, Kettleburn thoughtfully introduced his past course arrangements.
Salamanders, Crups, Augureys, unicorns…
All in all, fairly common creatures, and not particularly dangerous.
Generally speaking, Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts was an elective taught across three years only—from third year to fifth.
As for why there were no classes for sixth and seventh years, it was because most students, having finished their O.W.L.s and got their certificates, no longer took the subject.
Only those who loved magical creatures dearly would opt to continue in sixth and seventh year.
At the end of the letter, Kettleburn also left Adrian a note.
"You may teach in whatever way you prefer—you needn't follow my methods—but remember: do not let the students handle overly dangerous creatures. That's why I had sixty-two periods of probation."
Adrian nodded after reading this. Naturally.
If students were injured in the name of seeing more marvellous beasts, the loss would outweigh the gain.
But sixty-two periods of probation…
Adrian didn't know how Kettleburn had managed to last until retirement from Hogwarts rather than being sacked on the spot.
One could only say the Headmaster had a large heart.
As for the set text, Adrian decided to keep things as they were and use Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
There was good reason it had served as Hogwarts' textbook for so long.
Newt Scamander had included almost every known magical creature in the wizarding world.
The book was practically an encyclopaedia of magical creatures.
While Adrian was wholly absorbed in planning his lessons, Lupin and Harry came out of the plantation together.
The creak of the door drew Adrian's eyes over.
Lupin looked more tired than usual, a light sweat on his brow as if a full day's labour had drained him.
Seeing him, Adrian couldn't help but feel a touch of puzzlement.
The workload here shouldn't be that heavy.
And in the past few days, Lupin hadn't looked nearly this exhausted after work.
Pale-faced, Lupin walked slowly up to Adrian. "Mr Wesson, I've finished today's work. May I leave early?"
He hesitated, then added, "I've something urgent to attend to."
It was obvious he knew he wasn't quite himself.
Adrian looked him over, a faint frown creasing his brow.
"You do seem a bit off," Adrian said, standing up. "Do you need tomorrow off to rest?"
Lupin gave a slight shake of the head and forced a small smile. "I'm fine, Mr Wesson—just a bit tired. A rest will set me right. It might just be the heat. I'm feeling a little unwell."
Although Adrian was not entirely reassured, since Lupin insisted he was all right, he wouldn't force a day's rest on him.
So Adrian nodded. "All right—go and rest if you need to. If there's anything I can do to help, be sure to tell me."
As he spoke, Adrian took a phial of potion from the drawer and handed it to Lupin. "Drink this—it'll make you feel a bit better."
Lupin accepted the draught with gratitude and downed it in one go, feeling a pang of guilt.
Damn full moon, he thought.
After Lupin left,
Harry stood to one side, watching his retreating back, worry flickering in his eyes.
Though Lupin had done his best to hide it, his condition today had already made Harry uneasy.
"Mr Lupin will be all right, won't he?" Harry turned his head to Adrian. "He was out of sorts all day, and he nearly stepped on a potato that explodes."
Adrian watched Lupin go, glanced at the time on his watch, and had a fair idea why Lupin was like this today.
Yesterday had been the full moon.
Which meant that last night, Lupin had transformed into a werewolf.
For a day or several after a transformation, Lupin inevitably fell into a state of weakness.
"Don't worry about Mr Lupin," Adrian said, ruffling Harry's hair, which was already messy and now even worse. "Worry about the Potions homework I set you. How's that Blood-Replenishing Potion coming along?"
At the mention of Potions, Harry's face turned into an instant grimace.
When exactly had he said Potions was his favourite subject?
He had no recollection whatsoever.
While Harry was fretting, Adrian considered whether to give Lupin time off whenever the moon was full.
Setting him to work in this condition didn't seem very humane.
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