Lupin hadn't expected Wayne's camera to be used here.
The Boggart was utterly bewildered by the roomful of laughter, standing frozen in place. Lupin couldn't spare attention for Wayne, shouting instead:
"Next, Parvati!"
Parvati stepped firmly into Neville's previous position. The Boggart writhed again, transforming into a blood-soaked mummy.
"Riddikulus!"
The mummy's bandages unravelled, collapsing with a thud.
"Seamus!" Lupin called again.
This time, the Boggart became a female ghost—dishevelled hair, mouth gaping wide with a piercing shriek. After the transformation, she became a voluptuous blonde beauty that made the boys' eyes gleam.
Seamus had good taste.
"Do you think she's pretty, too?" Hermione glared at the boy beside her.
"Average. Very average." Wayne shook his head repeatedly—he wasn't fond of large-framed beauties.
Seeing his genuine expression, Hermione smiled in satisfaction, secretly grasping Wayne's hand.
Students went up one after another. The Boggart was overwhelmed—one moment a terrifying serpent or spine-chilling spider, the next a lame toad or tailless rat.
The queue shortened rapidly, and the students grew more confident. Some even treated the Boggart as a fear detector, observing their own fears before acting.
Only Harry remained uneasy, wondering whether he could handle it if a Dementor appeared.
His turn was coming, but Lupin called another name.
"Hermione, come up!"
Hermione took a deep breath, striding past the stunned Harry to face the Boggart.
Bang~!
Scattered building blocks coalesced into the form of a corpse.
Hermione, who had been brimming with confidence mere moments ago, froze for two full seconds upon seeing the corpse's face—then screamed at the top of her lungs.
"AAAAAHHH!"
"Reducto!"
"Bombarda!"
"Sectumsempra!"
Lupin's expression changed instantly as he pointed his wand at the corpse on the ground.
"Protego!"
What shocked him even more was that his Shield Charm shattered after merely two spells. The third curse left no trace before the corpse on the ground split in two.
"Hermione, that's a Boggart! It's not real!" Lupin shouted over her screams, seeing her still squeezing her eyes shut.
"Riddikulus!"
The corpse vanished, replaced by a perfect Transfiguration exam paper.
"Well done." Lupin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
This was only the first Boggart lesson, with many more classes waiting their turn.
If Hermione had destroyed it, he'd have to find another one.
While the Boggart-Banishing Spell was the proper counter to a Boggart, sufficiently powerful spells could physically eliminate them, too.
Given Hermione's display, Lupin had no doubt the Boggart would have been destroyed without his protection.
The students at the back had already retreated far away, thoroughly frightened by Hermione's outburst.
"I'm sorry, Professor." Hermione apologised, her face flushed.
"Not at all. This just proves how deeply you care. Ten points to Gryffindor – that was an excellent series of spells."
Lupin looked genuinely impressed. Mastering such advanced spells in the third year was remarkable.
Hermione, embarrassed by the praise, apologised again before rushing back to Wayne.
Only then did Wayne notice the witch's reddened eyes. Heart aching, he immediately pulled her into a comforting embrace.
"I imagine you'll have plenty of time for affection after class, but our lesson time is running short," Lupin teased. "Wayne, why don't you try? Let's see what frightens you most."
"Alright." Wayne patted Hermione's back before releasing her and approaching the Boggart.
Truthfully, he was curious too.
As he walked, Wayne silently dropped his Occlumency shields, leaving his mind completely relaxed.
A Boggart's method of reading fears wasn't simple Legilimency, but those with strong mental defences still resisted it somewhat.
Wayne stopped less than two paces away while Lupin retreated to stand with the other students.
The entire class watched curiously, wondering what could possibly frighten someone like Wayne.
Finally, the exam paper floated up as the Boggart began transforming.
The swirling mass contorted violently in mid-air, but the boy watched calmly, as if awaiting an ordinary performance.
Two whole minutes passed with the Boggart still struggling, unable to settle on any concrete form.
Then the bell rang.
Boom!
To everyone's astonishment, the writhing mass suddenly exploded into tendrils of black smoke before vanishing completely.
"Wayne's worst fear is... explosions?" Seamus asked, dumbfounded.
"No." Lupin collected himself, expression complicated. "The Boggart destroyed itself..."
"It concluded Wayne has no fears. The Boggart doubted its own existence. That's what happened."
"Nothing to fear?" Wayne lowered his head, murmuring softly with a hint of melancholy. "Indeed, what in this world could possibly frighten me now?"
Unconsciously, he had already reached the pinnacle.
Even the most powerful weapons or individuals on this planet could no longer threaten him.
So what could possibly make him afraid?
"Class dismissed, everyone." Lupin clapped his hands, drawing the students' attention back to him.
"You all performed excellently. This lesson was a success. Read the article on Boggarts and write a brief summary—three inches."
Lupin sighed inwardly. He needed to hurry and find a new Boggart.
He had never expected that, after guarding against Hermione's powerful magic, Wayne would be the one to destroy it. What a miscalculation.
The young wizards chattered excitedly as they left the staff room.
Harry was unhappy because Lupin hadn't let him face the Boggart. Was it due to a lack of trust?
Hermione was also upset.
Though usually rational, she was still a girl at heart.
"I saw such a terrifying vision. Why didn't you? Aren't you afraid I might leave?"
"No." In the courtyard garden, Wayne wrapped his arms around Hermione's slender waist, meeting her gaze earnestly. "Even if you tried to leave, I wouldn't let you."
"Then... what if something happened to me?" Hermione suppressed her rapidly beating heart, continuing her 'unreasonable' questioning.
"Even less likely. With me here, no one can harm you."
Staring into the boy's resolute eyes, Hermione found herself unable to argue further. Unconsciously, she rose onto her tiptoes...
...
Lupin's lessons were a resounding success, earning high praise across all year groups.
The students were relieved that the school had finally gotten a competent Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, making it the most popular subject overnight.
"He's actually teaching us useful things," Cho remarked. "The only shame is that Professor Lupin didn't prepare a Boggart for us. He said it'd take some time to procure a new one."
At this, the girl shot Wayne a reproachful look, as if blaming him for blowing up the Boggart.
"Exactly!" Astoria waved her small fist. "I wanted to try it too."
Alongside Lupin's reputation, rumours about the third-year class spread—how Hermione's greatest fear was Wayne's death, to the point she even messed up the incantation.
Several other girls also wanted to test whether this was their deepest fear, as if it were proof of their feelings for Wayne.
Unfortunately, Professor Lupin only had one Boggart. He'd already asked Hagrid and Filch to help find another.
"This is a completely unnecessary worry," Wayne said helplessly, ruffling Astoria's head. "I don't want to comfort each of you one by one afterwards."
"I don't care, I still want to see," Cho huffed with rare haughtiness, heading off to class first.
The others followed. After this afternoon's lessons, the first week of the term would officially come to an end.
Wayne arrived at the Potions Classroom, where Snape stood at the podium, glaring at him venomously.
"Failing to greet your professor? Ten points from Hufflepuff, and detention tonight!"
While Lupin's classes were well-received, in terms of sheer explosive gossip, nothing could compare to Snape's infamous photo.
Wayne didn't go too far—he merely made a few hundred copies of the photo, distributing them when he felt like it and withholding them when he didn't.
In any case, within two days, nearly everyone in the school had seen the photograph.
Even the professors were no exception. During dinner the previous night, Snape had endured his colleagues' peculiar glances, forcing him to eat lunch in his office today.
Professor McGonagall even advised him to build better relationships with the students and not become the most feared figure among them.
What a joke!
If he didn't make Longbottom's life miserable, it would only be out of the goodness of his heart.
And Lawrence!
If Neville was the mastermind, then Wayne was the accomplice who exacerbated the situation—arguably even more detestable in some ways.
Just how many copies had that brat made?
The look Snape shot Wayne could have killed.
Wayne wasn't happy either. Deducting points was one thing—for him, losing points was as good as gaining them, a guaranteed profit.
But detention? What the hell was that?
"Professor, isn't this punishment a bit excessive? Who gives detention without warning?"
"If you're going to be like this, I'll start reporting Slytherin students every day—anyone who doesn't greet a professor properly."
Usually, such a threat would have made Snape back down, but today, the old bat was dead set on making Wayne suffer.
"If you have the time, go ahead. But tonight, you will serve detention. Come to my office right after class."
Wayne fell silent, then gave Snape a thumbs-up.
Mutual destruction, huh? Fine, fine.
For the rest of the lesson, Snape ignored Wayne entirely. But when class ended, instead of leaving first as usual, he lingered—making sure Wayne couldn't slip away in the chaos.
Wayne had no choice but to follow him to the office.
"Your task is to brew a batch of Wolfsbane Potion. Once it's done, your detention ends."
With a flick of his wand, Snape summoned the necessary ingredients from the cupboard, arranging them beside the cauldron.
Seated at his desk, Snape watched Wayne expectantly, his expression practically screaming:
Ask me!
Go on, ask me why I'm making you brew Wolfsbane Potion. If you ask, I'll tell you everything!
Wayne smirked inwardly, immediately grasping Snape's scheme.
Without a word, he strode to the cauldron and got to work.
Snape's face slowly stiffened.
Two hours later, before dinner had even ended, Wayne had finished brewing an improved version of the Wolfsbane Potion.
For anyone else, it would have taken at least four or five hours, if not longer.
But this was his own invention—naturally, it didn't take him that long.
Wayne was already contemplating further refinements.
This next improvement wouldn't just mitigate side effects—it would allow Werewolves to regain their humanity fully, sparing them the agony of transformation every full moon.
The problem was, he had too much on his plate right now. He couldn't dedicate enough time to perfecting the potion.
Who knew when he'd finally crack it?
"Professor, I'll leave this here. I'm off." Wayne poured the still-bubbling potion into a glass vial and turned to leave.
"Wait." Snape finally snapped. "Aren't you the least bit curious why I made you brew Wolfsbane Potion?"
"Who knows?" Wayne shrugged. "Perhaps you have a Werewolf friend?"
"Who would be friends with a Werewolf?" Snape sneered, his face twisted in disgust. "Twenty points from Hufflepuff for insulting a professor!"
Ah~
So satisfying~
Wayne couldn't help but smile as Snape chose to lay his cards on the table.
"Don't tell me you haven't noticed Lupin's abnormalities. Even if he hasn't transformed, the characteristics remain."
"You're the one who improved the Wolfsbane Potion – how could you not have noticed?"
"He is a Werewolf!"
"I know," Wayne replied bluntly.
It wasn't just from knowing the plot. As Snape said, with his current knowledge, just observing Lupin more carefully would reveal his condition.
"What does it matter?" Wayne spread his hands in a bear-like gesture. "The Headmaster should be the one worrying about staff appointments. Since he chose Lupin, and by all accounts, he's doing well, isn't that enough?"
"Aren't you concerned?" Snape slammed the table as he stood up.
"Yes, you, Lawrence, are exceptionally powerful – not just one Werewolf, even ten would be nothing to you."
"But what about your little girlfriends? Aren't you worried they might be in danger?"
"Not worried." Wayne shook his head again. "They all carry my marks and artefacts. If they really encounter trouble... You should be concerned about Professor Lupin instead."
Snape choked on his words for a long moment.
Seeing his silence, Wayne patiently continued, "Professor, I couldn't care less about your personal grudges."
"If you want to deal with Professor Lupin, that's none of my business either. But don't think about using me as leverage. I'm off now."
Wayne waved dismissively and turned to leave.
"Wait!" Snape called out again, his expression awkward. "I need some of Ho-Oh's tears and ashes."
Bang!
The door was shut without hesitation.
'Bloody hell, you just finished punishing me with detention, and now you want favours? How thick-skinned can you be?'
In the corridor, Wayne sighed helplessly.
How long has it been? Snape's still so... 'naive'.
If you want Ho-Oh's tears and ashes, then offer something good in exchange. Do you think you're Nicolas or Newt, getting things just by asking?
Hmm?
Speaking of Nicolas, Wayne suddenly realised he hadn't written to him in ages. Could pen a letter tonight.
And Sakura – that girl's so inconsiderate. The last reply didn't even include photos, despite all the design drafts he sent her. Could've at least attached a couple. Must remind her this time.
Wayne ascended the stairs, bypassing the Great Hall entirely until he reached the eighth-floor entrance to the Headmaster's Office.
The gargoyle came to life, tilting its head.
"You here? Dumbledore's away, you know that, right?"
"Obviously." Wayne nodded. "I'm not here for Dumbledore."
"So... you're here to chat with me?" The gargoyle perked up. "Loyal mate! Good bloke!"
"Not that either." Wayne shook his head.
"Then why'd you come?" The gargoyle looked baffled.
Wayne grinned at it. "With Dumbledore gone, doesn't that make me the top authority in school?"
"Which means this office rightfully belongs to me now. Flawless logic, no?"
The gargoyle pondered this so hard its stone brain nearly overheated before slowly nodding.
"Flawless!"