–
"You scared to death, Darren! You finally made it! What was Mr. Weasley saying to you?"
Hermione asked curiously as she pulled Darren into an empty compartnt.
"Oh—this is the food Mrs. Weasley asked us to bring you. She told us to eat it on the train because she was worried you didn't have breakfast!"
"Thank you, Hermione. You don't look well… did sothing happen?"
Darren took the sandwich and glanced at Harry.
Harry hesitated, then said, "I think I need to tell you sothing… and Darren should know, too…"
He was just about to continue—
—when he noticed soone sitting in the corner.
There was a man by the window, eyes closed, seemingly fast asleep.
An adult.
They had never seen any adults besides the trolley witch ride the Hogwarts Express.
He wore a shabby robe patched many tis. He looked fairly young, but white streaked his temples.
His face looked exhausted.
Like he hadn't slept properly in days.
Darren noticed the na printed on his suitcase:
Professor R. J. Lupin.
Professor Lupin?
"Brother, when I had my birthday last ti, Dumbledore told that I have a godfather."
"My godfather's na is Remus. The surna isn't very common… I wonder if he knows my godfather."
He glanced at Professor Lupin with a hint of hope.
"Actually, if you want to know about Remus, you could just ask Dumbledore," Harry said helplessly.
He knew the situation well.
Darren obviously could ask Dumbledore anything, but Darren always worried about disturbing him.
Indeed.
Darren sighed softly.
"Headmaster Dumbledore is very busy. And Remus didn't leave an address… I don't even know where to write to him."
"I hope he's doing well."
[Ding, Fatherly Value 100]
[Ding, Fatherly Value 100]
[Ding, Fatherly Value 100]
…Was Remus awake?
He even earned Fatherly Value from this.
And he didn't even open his eyes.
Fine.
This man clearly didn't want to face them yet.
Darren ntally criticized him for being too timid.
But still, he whispered, "How about we switch compartnts? What if we disturb the professor?"
[Ding, Fatherly Value 100]
[Ding, Fatherly Value 100]
[Ding, Fatherly Value 100]
[…]
"Oh, Darren, we're late. The other compartnts are packed," Harry said helplessly.
"And you don't want others hearing about Black, do you?"
Darren quickly shook his head.
"No… Black's situation is dangerous. If other students find out, they might get hurt."
"I don't even want Ron and Hermione to know—I don't want anything to happen to you."
[Ding, Fatherly Value 100]
[Ding, Fatherhood Value 100]
[Ding, Fatherhood Value 100]
[bite]
"My dear Darren, you're always so sweet—how could anything happen to us?"
"Aren't you here? You're so capable, you can protect us, right?"
Hermione said in a soft, overly-sugary tone.
Darren moved to speak.
Both she and Ron imdiately cut him off.
"Alright, alright, we know you're worried."
"But if we didn't know anything, we might walk into danger without realizing it and die without knowing why. I know, I know what you want to say."
"But actually, we won't die—because Dumbledore is at Hogwarts. Don't you trust Headmaster Dumbledore?"
Hermione smiled lightly.
Darren opened his mouth, but no rebuttal ca out.
He could only nod, looking pitifully anxious.
[Ding, Fatherly Value 80]
[Ding, Fatherhood Value 70]
[Ding, Fatherhood Value 60]
[…]
With all those Fatherly Values collected, Darren sat obediently, waiting for Harry to continue.
Harry then repeated everything they had overheard the night before.
Ron and Hermione were completely stunned.
They never imagined that Black had escaped for Harry's sake—
and that he might try to use Darren against him.
"That's only a possibility. I'm actually very capable—as you all know. If I want to escape, nobody can catch . Don't worry," Darren reassured them.
No Fatherly Value triggered.
None of them believed a word of it.
They looked around nervously, half expecting Black to jump out at any mont.
Fortunately, Professor Lupin stirred slightly, breaking the heavy atmosphere.
"By the way, what does Professor Lupin teach?" Ron suddenly asked.
"It's obvious—Defense Against the Dark Arts. That's the only open position," Hermione said impatiently.
Then she glanced at Lupin, lowered her voice, and whispered anxiously:
"The past two Defense Against the Dark Arts professors weren't exactly good people. Hopefully this Lupin is at least normal."
"Hopefully he isn't one of Voldemort's followers. Or connected to Black."
"But Darren, stay away from him just in case. After all, Lockhart looked perfectly respectable last year…"
"I never imagined he'd end up being soone like that!"
Hermione said angrily as she pulled out the day's Daily Prophet.
She pointed at the headline.
"Look! Lockhart's crazy fangirls are joining forces to sue Darren. They claim a Slytherin student will testify that Darren 'abused' Lockhart."
"These people are insane. Last year they tried to drag Darren to court—he didn't go because we stopped him."
"And now they want to sue him again? Force him into court again? Disgusting!"
"I hope Dumbledore handles this. Darren is always getting bullied. It must be exhausting for the Headmaster!"
Hermione angrily slamd the newspaper onto the table.
The noise startled Lupin, who shifted slightly but kept sleeping.
Hermione quickly clapped a hand over her mouth and sat down stiffly.
"Hey, don't you two just stare at ! Aren't you going to say sothing? Do you want Darren to get bullied?"
---
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