Spring sunlight finally reached Hogwarts. In just one short week, it swept away the dampness and chill that had long clung to the castle.
At the same time, the dueling tournament was unfolding across the school in full swing.
Of course, no matter how loudly they protested or how many tactics they tried, Tver still refused to let first- and second-year students take part, purely for reasons of ability.
Most of them could barely cast even a basic combat spell properly. If they were thrown into the arena, swapping their wands for wooden clubs might honestly have been more effective.
As for the older students, they were naturally overjoyed.
Counting last year's statue incident, they had already been through plenty of combat-related training. Still, what they truly longed for was real, head-on combat, especially proper wizard duels.
Otherwise, the students wouldn't have turned the arena into the go-to place for settling disputes in the first place.
It wasn't that there were so many genuine grudges. They just wanted an excuse to indulge themselves.
Now, with an official and openly sanctioned dueling tournament that was also tense and thrilling, the enthusiasm of the entire student body had been ignited.
Tver's reputation, which had taken a noticeable hit earlier due to his habit of slacking off, finally began to recover.
Of course, that also had a lot to do with Lupin's outstanding teaching lately.
He had grown thoroughly dissatisfied with the Ministry of Magic's inaction regarding werewolves and desperately wanted to help the werewolf children he had encountered before, as well as the kind-hearted werewolf wizards still struggling in society.
Especially after a friendly discussion between Tver and Dumbledore, the Board of Governors unanimously decided to fully admit all eligible werewolf children into Hogwarts.
This wasn't without precedent. Aside from Lupin himself, there had been another werewolf student at Hogwarts ten years ago, a girl named Chiara Lobosca.
According to Lupin, Professor Snape began refining the Wolfsbane Potion precisely for that young witch.
(This is official canon. I just find it interesting, so I'm sharing it.)
Tver, however, always felt that the fact she ended up in Hufflepuff rather than Gryffindor accounted for most of it…
In the end, it had been concerns over the Board of Governors and the uncontrollable nature of werewolves that stopped Dumbledore from fully opening Hogwarts' doors to werewolf children, all for the safety of the other students.
Now, with Tver's help, both problems were resolved. They even managed to weaken Voldemort in the process.
So the moment Tver made the proposal, Dumbledore agreed without hesitation.
If Tver's methods for requesting funding hadn't been so clumsy, Dumbledore might have even been tempted to pay for the werewolf bracelets out of his own pocket.
As a result, Lupin had long been eager to carry out the plan Tver had so "kindly" helped him devise.
Unfortunately, out of a sense of responsibility toward his students, he still had to remain at Hogwarts and teach Defence Against the Dark Arts for another half year.
Because of that, he held nothing back, showcasing his skill and presence as the second-best Defence Against the Dark Arts professor to the students.
With one rising as the other fell, if the dueling tournament hadn't pulled back a fair number of fence-sitters, Tver's title as the best would have been in real danger.
...
With the weekend approaching, however, the students temporarily set aside their passion for dueling.
The Quidditch match was about to begin.
More importantly, Harry Potter had obtained the most advanced broomstick in the world: the Firebolt.
Yes. No matter how many times Gryffindor's Quidditch captain Wood tried to stress discretion, news of the Firebolt still spread to every corner of the school.
Which meant that the upcoming Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw match would be the Firebolt's very first appearance at Hogwarts.
It was like a Muggle supercar. While the result of the match certainly mattered, for a significant number of students, simply seeing the Firebolt in action mattered even more.
So, with the weather looking particularly pleasant that day, Tver appeared in the stands in a relaxed mood.
He was gradually getting the hang of the Transfiguration techniques Salazar had left behind. Even more pleasantly surprising were the unconventional magical theories Salazar had included as well.
These ideas were practically uncharted territory in the modern wizarding world, especially when it came to the unrestrained, imaginative side of Transfiguration.
The unexpected windfall put Tver in such a good mood that a faint smile had lingered on his face since morning.
"Professor, you seem especially happy today?" Cedric asked tentatively.
In today's match, George and Fred were playing for Gryffindor, while Davies was on Ravenclaw's side. So Cedric had left the Hufflepuff section and moved over to sit with Ravenclaw, planning to show some support—
Of course, for Cho Chang.
As for Davies…
Who was that, again?
Tver was completely unaware of Cedric's little thoughts. The reason he was sitting with Ravenclaw today was simply because of an invitation from Professor Flitwick, who hoped it would give a bit of encouragement to a house that wasn't exactly known for athletic prowess.
What no one knew was that Tver had always shown little interest in anything outside magical study, sports included.
That was also why his build wasn't nearly as sturdy as that of other Durmstrang students.
"It is quite nice," Tver replied, not bothering to deny it.
"Then may I ask you something?" Cedric's eyes immediately lit up.
After two and a half years of observation, the students had more or less figured out the professor's habits.
Ordinary classroom questions could be asked anytime. But once a question went beyond the syllabus, the answer depended entirely on the professor's mood.
If his mood was average, he would usually point them toward a few books and let them work it out themselves, right or wrong being their own responsibility.
But when the professor was in an exceptionally good mood, especially after certain banquets, any question asked would receive an extremely detailed answer.
"I was wondering," Cedric said, "why is it that spells like Riddikulus, or other spells that act directly on people, encounter resistance?"
"And what does that resistance actually mean for us?"
Tver glanced at Cedric in surprise. That was not an easy question.
"Let me give you an example," he said. "If you wanted to put a dress on Davies, what's the difference between using Riddikulus and knocking him out with a Stunning Spell first, then conjuring a dress and changing him into it?"
The surrounding students shuddered immediately. If those words hadn't come from the handsome Professor Fawley, their imaginations would have gone to some very strange places.
Cedric, however, fell into deep thought, clearly taking the question seriously.
"Unconsciousness?" he finally ventured after a long pause, his answer uncertain.
"Riddikulus doesn't require him to be unconscious, but the other method does."
"So why is that?" Tver pressed.
"Uh… because Davies would resist?"
"Exactly!" Tver exclaimed, clearly pleased, just as the match officially began.
"It's the will to resist. By personally changing his clothes, you're directly violating his will."
"That's why your Riddikulus often has such a hard time working on people."
"Unless you find a way around that wall of will, you're forced to use brute force to break straight through it."
In reality, it wasn't quite that simple. It was closer to a wizard's inherent resistance to magic.
For most wizards, it functioned like a passive trait. You either had it, or you didn't.
But for Tver now, this was precisely the field he was actively exploring.
...
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