In the Forbidden Forest, in front of a small wooden cabin, Sirius accompanied the pale-faced Lupin as they arrived.
The current Sirius had already been exonerated by the Ministry of Magic. Unlike before when he was still a fugitive, Sirius could now stand under the sun. He had also inherited the Black family fortune, which had improved Lupin's living conditions as well.
At least Lupin was no longer homeless, starving, or dressed in rags.
Yesterday was the full moon, so Lupin had naturally undergone his transformation. Actually, if it weren't for the urgent circumstances and not wanting the Death Eaters hiding in Hogwarts to notice anything amiss, Dumbledore wouldn't have called Lupin over at this time.
"Remus, when did the Forbidden Forest get such a small cabin?"
Looking at Sirius, who was glancing around curiously, Lupin grinned. "Looking at the newness of this cabin, it should have been created using Transfiguration or other magic. Dumbledore and the others must be inside. Let's go in."
"Good, let's go in now. But I just hope that greasy git won't be here."
"Unless necessary, Dumbledore won't let Severus meet with us."
After all, when you two start making a fuss, even Dumbledore gets a headache.
Pushing open the door to enter the cabin, Lupin and Sirius immediately saw Dumbledore sitting in a rocking chair waving at them, then saw Madam Pomfrey feeding medicine to Hagrid, then saw Hagrid lying in bed with fairly good colour returning, and finally saw Sean sitting quietly in a corner of the cabin reading a book, with a burly man lying at his feet.
Seeing Sean, Lupin immediately smiled. "Sean, you're here too. That's wonderful."
Sean smiled and nodded at Lupin in greeting. He also noticed Sirius muttering something behind Lupin. Although Sirius's voice was so low that even Sean's hearing enhanced by Wolf's Agility couldn't catch it, from his lip movements Sean could roughly guess what Sirius had muttered.
Nothing more than specific anti-Slytherin terms like "little snake".
"Remus, Sirius, you're both here. The man at Sean's feet is the one who impersonated Hagrid. He's also the new Wolf King of the Greyback clan after Fenrir's death."
Hearing this, both Lupin and Sirius were shocked.
They looked at Scull lying on the ground and found his condition extremely poor. Though there didn't seem to be any magic affecting him, he lay there very weakly at Sean's feet. Looking carefully, Scull's body also had web-like black-purple patterns, as if he had been poisoned.
"What happened to him?"
Looking at Lupin, actually, if not for Snape's relationship, Sean quite liked the gentle professor. Sean answered, "He's been poisoned by one of my jinxes. After all, if a little snake doesn't know how to use poison, what kind of little snake would it be?"
At these words, Dumbledore coughed lightly, and his rocking chair moved even faster, like a single-person pirate ship. Madam Pomfrey suddenly became more enthusiastic, attending to Hagrid, who suddenly became very cooperative as patient and healer worked together happily with the medicine. Lupin coughed lightly and turned to study the texture of the cabin walls. Sirius's face turned red; even he couldn't help but feel shame.
Closing the book in his hands, Sean took three potions from his Undetectable Extension Bag and placed them on the table.
"Professor Lupin, these three bottles are, respectively, a Recovery Potion, a new-style Wolfsbane Potion, and a Polyjuice Potion, all things you can use in the plan. Before taking the Polyjuice Potion, first drink the Recovery Potion to restore your condition. After taking the potions, wait at least an hour."
At this point, Sean looked at Dumbledore. "Professor, if there's nothing else, I'll leave now."
"Of course, there's nothing here that needs to trouble you anymore, Sean. Also, I sent a letter of recommendation to the editorial board of Animagus for you. They'll prioritise reviewing your paper. I imagine they should have a response by noon today."
Hearing this, Sean immediately nodded to Dumbledore. "Thank you very much, Professor Dumbledore."
"This is all what I should do. Moreover, as an honorary editor of Animagus, I have the qualification and necessity to recommend papers I consider very meaningful to the editorial board."
Nodding in thanks again, Sean looked at Dumbledore, then at the others, nodded farewell, and turned to leave the cabin. As he left, his form instantly became hidden and disappeared without a trace.
Watching Sean leave, Lupin turned to Sirius with some dissatisfaction. "Sirius, you were too rude just now. I won't even mention how much Sean has helped us. Previously, if not for Sean, with just Harry alone, you and Harry might have already had your souls sucked away by the Dementor's Kiss. Yet when you saw him, not only did you not greet him, but you called him those names. I think you should apologise to him!"
Hearing Lupin's words, even Sirius's ears turned red.
He explained haltingly, "I know all that. I just, I'm just used to it. I actually didn't mean anything by it."
"Remember to find time to apologise."
"I will; I'll apologise."
Getting Sirius's assurance, Lupin's expression finally improved a bit. Then he walked to the potions Sean had left and drank the Recovery Potion in one gulp.
While waiting for the Recovery Potion to take effect, Lupin looked at Dumbledore. "Dumbledore, what exactly are these Death Eaters' objectives? Why do they suddenly want to infiltrate Hogwarts?"
Hearing Lupin's question, Dumbledore immediately answered, "What I currently know is that those Death Eaters, for unknown reasons, want to capture Sean, which is why they went to such lengths to make Sean a Triwizard Tournament champion."
"But isn't Sean not old enough yet?"
"Indeed, but I think the person who tampered with things should have cast a very powerful Confundus Charm on the Goblet of Fire, making it blur the age restrictions. Once there were no age limitations, with Sean's abilities, he would naturally become Hogwarts' champion successfully."
At this time, Scull lying in the corner, used what little strength he had left to glance at Dumbledore and the others. On the surface he remained expressionless, but inwardly he was laughing heartily. In his view, Sean, as Voldemort's other half, would sooner or later show his fangs, and that would be the death sentence for these foolish people. He looked forward to that moment.