---
When Darren woke up that morning, Ron was already awake.
Harry and Hermione opened their eyes at the sa ti.
Ron rushed over happily.
"God, you're finally awake! I was really worried last night! No matter how much I shook you, you wouldn't wake up."
"Then Madam Pomfrey scolded and said if I disturbed you again, she'd make drink a whole table of potions too!"
Harry and Hermione burst out laughing.
Even Darren couldn't help smiling.
"Oh, Ron, the Dentors ca and went, and Black got away!"
Harry quickly explained.
Hermione handed Darren so chocolate, and he took a piece and ate it. When they were done talking, Madam Pomfrey ca out. When she saw Darren awake so early, a trace of surprise crossed her face.
Darren even heard her muttering about making Snape improve the potion.
It sounded like they were planning to invent a dicine that could keep Darren asleep outside of class.
Darren felt that if he weren't strong enough, he would already be raging at Snape and Madam Pomfrey.
Fortunately—
They clearly couldn't do that to him.
So he followed Harry and the others out of the hospital wing quite happily.
The blazing sunlight and the end of exams had driven most students to Hogsade.
The castle was almost empty.
After eating with Harry for a while in the Great Hall, Darren eventually felt bored.
They went to sit on the lawn outside the castle by the edge of the Black Lake.
Back in his second year, Darren had caused an… incident here.
The place had been avoided for a long ti after that.
But by third year, students had started coming back because it was so peaceful and comfortable.
It was usually hard to find a place to lie in the sun, but today, the best spot was completely empty.
They watched the giant squid float lazily in the lake while talking about everything that had happened the night before.
Then—
Hagrid ca over.
There was a jug of wine in his hand.
He looked delighted to see them.
"Oh, Darren! Harry! Ron! Hermione! Hello!"
"I've got good news for you—and of course, I know Sirius escaped last night… but I believe the Ministry will catch him soon, and the Dentors will be withdrawn…"
They all smiled.
They already knew why Hagrid was happy.
Sure enough, Hagrid continued,
"After you left last night, Buck ran away… Must be that I didn't tie the rope properly."
"But Buck's too smart! Darren, I thought about it all night—why he wasn't upset at all before…"
"He must've been prepared for this for a long ti!"
Hagrid said this with absolute confidence.
As if Buckbeak were a genius.
Darren almost laughed out loud.
This ti he didn't bother hiding it.
After all—this truly was happy news.
Hagrid took another big drink.
"This morning I was also worried whether Lupin had run into anything in the Forbidden Forest. After all, he turned into a werewolf and might've—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
"Oh! Darren—don't look at like I just revealed a big secret!"
"He turned into a werewolf in front of loads of people, it can't be hidden now. He's packing up his office…"
Before Hagrid could finish—
Darren and the others jumped up.
They rushed straight back to the castle.
Hagrid sighed and watched them go.
"It's no use going now… No one wants a werewolf as a professor. And Lupin showed aggression last night..."
By the ti Hagrid turned toward his hut—
Darren had already reached Lupin's office.
The door was open.
Lupin wasn't surprised to see them.
Instead, he walked over imdiately and hugged Darren.
Then he looked at Harry.
"I've heard what happened last night. I have to praise you for your bravery…"
"Of course, I won't praise Darren like that," he added helplessly.
"He was far too brave."
Harry nodded vigorously.
He agreed completely.
Darren's 'bravery' really didn't need more encouragent.
Darren pouted.
Very mature.
As if not praising him would stop him from doing reckless things.
Naturally, he also put on an embarrassed little expression.
This made Lupin swallow the rest of his criticism.
Then Harry rembered Hagrid's words.
He asked anxiously,
"You're not leaving… are you?"
…
Lupin sighed softly.
"Yes. I am."
Harry panicked.
"Why! Did the Ministry misunderstand you?"
"Remus, I'll go to Fudge! I'll apologize, beg him—anything!"
"He must be taking revenge on you because you're my godfather!"
[Ding, Father value 100]
[Ding, Father value 100]
[Ding, Father value 100]
Darren looked guilty and distressed.
Lupin's heart imdiately softened.
"No. It's not because of you. Dumbledore has already proven my innocence to the Ministry."
"I only wanted to protect you…"
"…Still, I'm impressed you even know about 'revenge.' I thought you were clueless about politics."
He forced a small joke.
Harry then explained everything that had happened with Fudge the night before.
Lupin grew furious.
"How could he do sothing like that? It's outrageous!"
"Your parents… your brother—they were heroes. How could he treat you this way?"
He paced the room, clearly overwheld.
At last, he stopped in front of Darren.
His voice softened.
"Darren… I didn't protect you well. I should've stayed by your side."
"But I can't."
"I'm a werewolf. I'll only bring you trouble… and give people a reason to look down on you."
"I'm sorry…"
He looked genuinely heartbroken.
Darren insisted he didn't care.
But Lupin remained dispirited.
Finally, he spoke again—
"I have to leave."
"When Severus realized I had nothing to do with what happened…"
"…he told all of Slytherin that I'm a werewolf."
"Yes. You were still asleep this morning, Darren."
"But now… the entire school knows."
"I have no choice but to go."
"I really liked teaching here…"
"I liked being with you…"
His eyes reddened.
Darren grabbed the sleeve of his robe.
Tightly.
"Remus… stay."
"I'll find you a job in Diagon Alley!"
"I'll talk to them, I promise them you'll be safe."
"I can even brew Wolfsbane myself…"
[Ding, Father value 100]
[Ding, Father value 100]
[Ding, Holy Father value 10,000,000,000]
< this is kinda like a joke aning Lupin was so moved that he gave this many points >
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