I sat at the table in my workshop, peering through an enchanted microscope — one that left ordinary models in the dust. Sure, wizards might lag behind Muggles in some areas, but when it comes to useful devices, we know a thing or two. I'd taken one of the best optical microscopes on the market and enchanted the lenses, not just for better magnification, but for viewing in different spectra — astral, magical, and more.
That's how I could see the difference between the saliva of a transformed werewolf during a full moon and the same werewolf in his normal state. In the latter case, a werewolf could bite you, kiss you, do whatever — and you wouldn't get infected. It's only during the full moon that a werewolf becomes dangerous.
So, what is the werewolf curse, really? It's not a curse in the classical sense — it's a virus, a magical one, with a reproduction matrix, a way to accumulate surrounding mana, and the image of a werewolf embedded in it. Wizards had already figured out the infection and transformation process long before I came along.
It all starts with saliva, blood, or — if you're dealing with a real pervert — other secretions getting into the victim's bloodstream. The virus immediately starts absorbing mana. If the victim is a Muggle, they compensate with ambient energy. The infected person feels chills, weakness, sometimes a fever — it's like a bad cold. At this stage, healers have learned to treat it by destroying the virus in the blood. It's still weak, hasn't settled in, so it's a relatively simple task — though even that was only mastered a few years ago.
It's much worse when the virus has already spread through the body and gathered enough energy — usually by the next full moon. But the virus needs a trigger: lunar mana. Just a sliver of moonlight is enough, and the virus activates, implanting the werewolf matrix into the human body and transforming it according to that image. That's it — at this point, there's no going back. The person's own matrix, their astral body, is changed in a burst of energy, and they become a werewolf.
Of course, there are some upsides. Some of the physical changes remain even in human form. That's why werewolves are usually faster, stronger, and more agile than they were before their first transformation.
Because of all this, curing Lupin with simple methods was out of the question. His body now produced the virus itself. At best, I could make a potion to suppress it, softening the transformation and maybe letting him keep his mind.
But I saw three possible paths:
[First] : Don't cure him, but push the changes forward — make the transformation controllable, like with animagi, metamorphmagi, veela, or totemic werewolves. In principle, it's possible: bind the werewolf image and merge it with the half-formed image the virus provides. The upside? The form would be controllable, and the werewolf wouldn't lose his mind. The downside? He'd still be contagious in werewolf form, though maybe I could make a special amulet to suppress the virus.
[Second] : Fully unite the half-formed image with the body, like I did with the veela image — but in a controlled way. The problem is, the virus would always be active. The person would essentially be in werewolf form all the time.
[Third] : Change the physical and astral body, then completely remove the virus while it's inactive. The most complex method, but the only one that offers a true cure.
I couldn't decide for Lupin which path was best, so I told him everything when he came by the next day after lunch.
"So there are three options?" Remus looked at me, surprised.
"More like two. I'm not about to make you a walking source of infection, like in the second scenario. And I doubt you'd be happy if girls started turning into werewolves just from your kiss."
He scratched his head, a little embarrassed. "Yeah, I'd rather be completely cured. Even if I could control myself, people would still see me as a dark creature."
"It's your choice. My job is to offer, yours is to decide. So, shall we get started?"
"What, right now? I have Defense Against the Dark Arts!" Lupin protested.
"Don't worry," I said, dropping the illusion from my office and revealing the already-prepared workshop. I wasn't about to drag him all the way to Availon. "The teacher's a friend of mine. I already told her you'd be missing."
***
•Third-year Gryffindors and Slytherins, Defense Against the Dark Arts.•
"I can't wait for class to start. I heard the new teacher is an absolute bomb," James fidgeted in his seat, barely able to contain his excitement.
"Hey, you're talking about my cousin, you know!" Sirius shot back, not sharing the school's general enthusiasm. At least, not the kind the boys felt. He wasn't exactly thrilled to see all the drooling, either. He didn't love Bella's radical views or her habit of mocking him as the youngest, but this was something else. "I wonder where Remus disappeared to?"
"Glad to hear you're defending your beloved big sister, Siri," came a sultry voice right by Black's ear. Potter, sitting next to him, quickly covered his groin with a textbook. Bella loved teasing Sirius, but after her brainwashing, she mostly just ignored him.
"What? How did you even get here?" Sirius nearly fell out of his chair, looking around in confusion.
"That's what today's lesson is about," Bella said, this time dressed in perfectly proper robes. She'd learned that catching lustful glances from schoolboys was… well, not ideal. Older students were one thing — you could tease them a bit, and teach them a lesson with a few well-placed jinxes. After a couple of students ran out with sudden diarrhea, the rest realized the new teacher wasn't just about textbooks and spells — she showed how little tricks could help you win. "Concealment charms and their varieties."
"Professor Black, but according to the textbook, we're supposed to be studying something else right now," Lily Evans called out.
"Silencio," Bella said, making sure everyone heard the incantation. She wanted them to know she'd sealed Lily's lips, not that she needed to say the words aloud. "First, in my class, you only speak with my permission.
Second, I decide what we study. What's in the book — grindylows? Breaking their fingers? And how will you do that if you can't cast nonverbally, and grindylows only live in water and swim better than you? Don't answer — I can see you can't. Today's topic is concealment charms.
When you're up against a much stronger opponent, there are only two ways to survive — run and hide."
Bella taught thoroughly, giving real-life examples of how concealment had helped people survive, grow stronger, and come back to defeat their enemies. She wasn't just giving out information — she was giving them something genuinely useful, unlike the usual stuff about red caps or pixies.
After all, Diffindo or Stupefy works on all weak creatures, but what about the strong ones? There's only one answer — run, hide, and wait for backup.
The students quickly grew to love her lessons. She was strict, stern, beautiful, and — most importantly — interesting. After class, unnoticed by anyone thanks to her charms and Hal's control over Hogwarts, she made her way to Arthur's room.
***
"Come on, come on, resurrect already, you stubborn pest!" In the workshop, I was chanting complex resurrection charms over Lupin. For me, these spells were still tough — that's why they kept failing. Finally, Remus's chest started to rise and fall steadily.
"Phew, almost lost you there, little wolf."
"And what are you doing here?" Bella asked, walking in without knocking. I was used to it by now and just nodded to her.
"Trying to cure him of lycanthropy, but he keeps dying on me. The virus interferes, I think. I'll have to weaken it first, then implant the image of a healthy body," I said, wiping sweat from my forehead. Dorothea, in fairy form, floated a glass of juice over to me.
"Oh, thank you, darling. I'm thirstier than ever."
"So that's why he missed my lesson?" Bella asked, glancing at the thin boy lying in the ritual circle, the runes around him fading.
"Yeah, don't be too hard on him — he's busy with important business, as you can see. I'll probably have to drag him to Availon after all, or I'll never finish before dinner. And I'd rather not stretch this out. If people see him coming to me, there'll be questions."
"Your call," Bella replied, giving me a sly smile. She looked like she wouldn't mind watching me try to explain away the rumors. "I taught my first lessons today, by the way."
"How did it go?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"To my surprise, I liked it. I remembered my own time at Hogwarts, and all the things I didn't like about the teachers," Bella said, a small smile on her lips as she drifted into rare, pleasant memories. Who would have thought a girl like Bella would enjoy teaching?
"Nostalgia," I nodded. "Alright, let's get this guy to our place. Bella, are you coming with us, or running off to your egg?"
"His name is Jörmundr!" she protested, blushing a little. The warm, unfamiliar feelings she had for her familiar embarrassed her. "And he's not an egg — he's a basilisk. Just… still small."
"You've already named him?"
"No, he told me that's what his creator called him," she said. I couldn't help but notice how close Jörmundr sounded to Jörmungandr. "And anyway, you fuss over your Dorothea just as much."
"I'm not denying it. I feel the same way about my little one," I said, stroking the blissful fairy. "It's just that your reactions are so cute, I can't help teasing you."
I left with Dorothea and the levitated patient for Availon, but Bella didn't follow. It was hard for her to change her nature and accept her feelings. To rejoice as openly as the Marlow family, or Pandora, did in Redzenpark. She could still show anger, contempt, irritation — but joy and happiness?
Her family had spent years rooting those out of her. Her first friend, her first pet, even her first love and honor — all taken away. And Arthur had given them back. She had friends, a familiar, work she enjoyed, and the freedom to act as she wished.
She realized she was starting to feel something more for Arthur than duty, friendship, or gratitude… but she locked those feelings away, refusing to dwell on them. Her rational side warned her she might be confusing real feelings with duty and gratitude, and that extra emotions could get in the way of her main goal — revenge.
Once she dealt with Bellatrix, then… then she'd be truly free to figure herself out. Shaking her head, she decided to visit her little sister, Cissy.
Narcissa was in the Slytherin common room. At the sight of the professor — and, as every Slytherin knew, the Dark Lord's right hand — the students felt a mix of fear and awe.
The urge to introduce themselves, to ask her to put in a good word with Voldemort, or just to meet the beautiful young woman, battled with their fear of the dark lady of House Black and her reputation for harshness. In the end, no one dared approach, waiting for her to make the first move. But Bella only called over another beauty — her sister — and led her away.
"Well, hello there, little sister. How are you doing?" Bella asked kindly, bringing Narcissa to her room.
"Little sister? When was the last time you called me that? Five years ago?" Cissy asked, sounding tired.
"Are you against it?" Bella summoned a Hogwarts house-elf and ordered tea and sweets, noting sadly that it had indeed been five years since she first met Gaunt — and since her engagement to Rodolphus was arranged. Well, no matter. They'd both pay for that, Bella would make sure of it.
"No, but… never mind," Narcissa waved it off. "Things haven't been great lately. The Dark Lord summoned Lucius's father, Abraxas, and… well, he overdid it. Now he's lying in a coma at the manor, under a healer's care, but there are no guarantees. Lucius still hasn't recovered from that duel — the Lord was furious about his loss, and now this…"
"But you didn't want to marry Malfoy in the first place," Bella said, surprised, taking a mug of tea and dunking an oatmeal cookie with chocolate chips.
"No, I didn't. But… I've never seen him so vulnerable. He always seemed proud and untouchable, but yesterday he cried in my arms," Narcissa admitted, blushing.
"Ah, I see — Florence Nightingale effect," Bella smirked. She'd read not only magical books on mental magic during her recovery, but also Muggle psychology. She needed to understand herself, and magical science alone didn't have all the answers.
"What effect?"
"When a nurse or doctor cares for a patient, they can fall in love. It's because you empathize, give your care and affection, and those feelings can arise. But they might disappear once the patient recovers," Bella warned.
"What should I do?" Cissy asked, looking lost.
"What do you want? Lucius hasn't taken the Mark yet, has he?" Narcissa shook her head regretfully. "That's a problem, but not unsolvable. You have a chance to turn an arranged engagement into real love. Give him tenderness, love, care — he'll be yours. He already trusts you if he cried in your arms. Most importantly — convince him not to follow the Lord, especially now that you have a reason."
"Trixie!" Narcissa blurted out, saying words you'd never expect from the Dark Lord's right hand. "Is that really you?"
"You used to hide boogers under the table," Bella teased.
"What?! You knew?" Narcissa, usually so cold, blushed. "No, that's not the point. What about the Lord?"
"He's losing his mind. Torturing his followers, using Legilimency on everyone — and that's just the start. Soon he'll be killing Muggle-borns — wizards just like us."
"But… didn't you want that yourself?"
"Cissy, think! Do you want to go kill women, children, men who are just trying to protect their families? Watch them get tortured and raped? Is that what we fought for? The Lord promised to restore our rights, not to commit genocide!" Narcissa shrank back in her chair, and Bella realized she'd lost her temper.
"Sorry, Cissy. This isn't what I wanted, or what I followed. But there's no way back for me. You, though — you still have a choice. Don't waste it. I don't want the Lord to shatter someone as fragile as you."
"Alright, I'll try," Narcissa said, thinking over Bella's words as she sipped her tea. Bella seemed different — more like the kind, caring sister she remembered, but with a new flash of anger. What had happened to her? Still, she decided to follow her advice and see what happened.
The wedding was still far off; she could always change her mind. But if she really fell in love with Lucius, and he with her… maybe he wouldn't stand in the way of her dreams. By the way — "Hmm, I saw you talking with Arthur Marlow, the one who beat Lucius. You even left together."
"That was the Lord's order," Bella explained.
"Really? That's a shame. His magicomputers are fascinating," Narcissa tried to probe, but she was no match for her older sister. "A lot of people are interested in them."
"Yes, he told me about them. But the price… ten thousand galleons," Bella said, making Narcissa nearly choke on her tea. That was as much as all her jewelry combined!
"Marlow is… an interesting person. I'm disappointed our uncle and aunt didn't see it. He could have done so much for our house. But enough about him — tell me, have you made any friends here?" Changing the subject, the sisters talked late into the evening. There was a lot to catch up on after years of distance.
When they finished and Bella walked Cissy back to her common room, the same boy Bella had seen in Marlow's workshop ran past them, sprinting as if death itself was on his heels. Behind him, Arthur jogged at a leisurely pace — and Bella knew just how fast he could really run.
"Stop! Why are you running?" Arthur called, bowing to the girls before jogging on. "At least say thank you!"
"Truly an interesting person," Narcissa laughed.
***
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