Harry woke up from his bed in the hospital wing and saw the white ceiling when he opened his eyes.
“Here you go, Harry.” He heard Hermione speak, and he reached out to take them – it would be his glasses.
Harry’s vision cleared as he put on his glasses, and he saw Hermione and Ron sitting off to the side. Madam Pomfrey is mixing potions on a small table at the foot of the bed, and Professor Lupin is leaning over to check his condition.
Across the aisle, Professor Hap sat in the bed opposite in a relaxed manner, flipping through a Daily Prophet.
“Professor–”
“Drink it first, son.” Madam Pomfrey said, and Harry struggled, “I think I’m fine!”
“Oh, yeah?” She said absent-mindedly, “That won’t stop you from drinking it all, come on, or I’ll replace it with a Draught of Living Death.”
Harry drank the entire cup of liquid in one gulp, he looked at Felix and asked eagerly, “Professor Hap, am I lasted for two minutes?”
Felix put down the paper and smiled, “You did do well with that last one, I was planning to keep the time close.”
It took Harry two or three seconds to catch the professor’s meaning, and he revealed a startled look, “So, I, I …”
“Well,” Felix winked at him, “you can take your time to consider the wish, not too difficult, or I will refuse.”
Harry blurted out, “I want to know about my father and Sirius Black!” He glanced at Professor Lupin next to him – who is looking at him in shock – and whispered, “Thank you for visiting me, Professor Lupin.”
Professor Lupin said gently, “It’s nothing, I happen to be free tonight. Harry, about your father–”
Madam Pomfrey brought over a blanket, “It’s a little chilly at night, put this over yourself.” She turned her head to the two professors and said with an impatient look on her face, “The patient needs to rest, so you try to keep it short.”
Professor Lupin changed his tone and said, “Harry, I know you have some questions, this weekend, you can drop by for a visit. I’ll excuse myself, for now, Professor Hap, How about we go together?”
Felix stood up, “Of course.”
The two walked out of the room in pairs and as they walked around a corridor, Lupin paused, “Professor Hap, we need to talk.”
“About Potter?”
“Yes, about Harry.” Lupin said calmly: “I can see that you treat him very well. But don’t you think that some of your ways are not appropriate for a third year?”
“You mean?” Felix looked at him curiously.
“The special summer training, if you’ll excuse me, they were in the same compartment as me at the time and I heard a bit of it. From Harry’s description, he fainted a dozen times during your special training …”
Felix said carelessly, “Probably more than that, if the data I recorded is correct, it should be 32 times.”
Lupin looked at him seriously, “Don’t you realize the seriousness of the problem? He is only thirteen years old!”
“What does age means? Will Black leave him alone and wait for him to become an adult because of his age?” Felix scoffed, “If you’re worried about his health, that’s not necessary, I’m well-prepared.”
Lupin suppressed the anger in his heart, “Harry will be safe by staying in school. Besides, not everything can be brushed off with ‘well-prepared’. Have you considered his mental capacity, what were you doing when you were thirteen?”
Felix looked at him expressionlessly and said softly, “In my opinion, your reasons are all excuses. At least, I won’t pin my hopes on others, and be comfortable enough to pretend nothing happened to me.”
Lupin calmed down, hesitated, and said, “I do not want my words to show some kind of prejudice, but you come from Slytherin, and also Snape’s students …”
“What are you trying to say, Lupin?” Felix knocked on the window frame in front of him, “I’m in a hurry.”
Lupin took a deep breath, “I’m more concerned about Harry’s well-being than anyone else, and you’re simply too much of an influence on him. On the other hand, Snape and his father were mortal enemies when they were at school, and I’m worried that Snape’s attitude will affect you.”
Felix’s gaze fell on the window, “Severus can’t influence me to do that yet, of course, I don’t intend to change my teaching philosophy. Professor Lupin, you’re way out of line, what does Harry’s problem have to do with you? Let’s part ways here.”
He took a few steps forward and counted silently in his mind, one, two, three …
“I knew Harry’s father! We were good friends, far beyond even the boundaries of that word, and I am grateful to him.” Lupin said suddenly.
Felix, who had his back to him, curled his mouth as he looked back at Lupin, “You expect to convince me with vague statements?”
“… Harry’s father, James Potter, is a brilliant child in school, he learns everything at the drop of a hat, and Sirius … I mean Black too.” Lupin stood with him side by side, looking out the window, the sky had gone completely dark. ” Well, I was on the edge, and it was James who accepted me.”
” James and that guy were young and flamboyant, very popular with their classmates… and James went on to join the Quidditch team. However, on the other hand, they also became targets for Slytherin.”
Felix asked with interest, “Can you elaborate on that?”
Lupin thought for a moment, carefully choosing his words, “Slytherin … during that period might not be quite the same as what you’ve been exposed to, the Pure Blood theory was so popular that many students joined the ranks of the Death Eaters as soon as they graduated. We privately referred to them as Death Eater reserves.”
Felix nodded and said, “I did hear something about that.”
” James and that guy, Sirius Black, he was still a good guy back then.” Lupin said arduously: “They quickly became a Gryffindor brand, James is big-headed, like to make mischief, he is cynical towards Slytherin, and he always defended the students in the same house, while Black, he strongly resented the rotten family he came from, also have no good feeling towards Slytherin, he even broke off relations with his family at the age of 16, I just did not expect that he would end up betraying James.” He shook his head and didn’t go on.
And Felix has understood his unexpressed meaning, So he said with emotion: ” A teenager who filled with a sense of justice turned into an evil one, how can it not make the heart saddened?”
Lupin continued: ” James and Black offended a lot of people, of course, most people hate them because of their mischief, but they didn’t care about it, Peter and I also participated in some. Looking back now, I wonder at how stupid I was.”
“You’re not just going to tell me about some of the experiences you had when you were young, are you?”
“Just about there, James and Black had a nemesis at the time, the current Potions professor, Severus Snape. They fought with each other openly and secretly, and for some reason, this rivalry reached a high intensity in the last few years.”
“Because of Harry’s mother?” Felix interrupted him to ask a question. From what he had snooped around, it seemed to be mostly emotional entanglements. “If you’ll excuse me, I found out some information privately.”
Lupin stared at him with a complicated expression, and only after a while, he said, “You are really an extraordinary Slytherin, Professor Hap. I don’t mean that to be derogatory, but you obviously know some inside information but keep your mouth shut …”
Felix said briefly: “I have limited knowledge to get a glimpse of the whole picture of that year, but it can be used to distinguish some suspicions. Please continue, Professor Lupin …”
Lupin said somewhat breathlessly, “It’s far more complicated than that. I’m considered one of the most knowledgeable persons, Professor Hap, and I hope that our conversation will not leak out.”
“At least I won’t spill the beans.” His eyes traced over the corner of the corridor with a playful smile.
But what if someone else happened to be right here?
“Harry’s mother, Lilly Evans, she and Snape had been good friends even before they started school, and James met Black from the beginning of the school year, and by a wonderful stroke of fate they sat in the same compartment in their first year, but the meeting wasn’t a pleasant one. After he entered, James had complained to Lilly, reminding her that she shouldn’t make friends with Slytherin, that they were a bunch of dregs, but Lilly didn’t pay him any head.”
“It didn’t take long for me to become friends with James and the gang, and I pulled in Peter. The four of us were inseparable, somewhat like Harry and his two best friends.” He smiled and remarked that it would be one of the best memories of his life.
“As I said before, James and Black quickly rose through in popularity and gained many fans. As for their relationship with Snape, let’s just say it was somewhat similar to Harry and Malfoy now, with Snape bringing too many points for Slytherin which James disliked: being unkempt, studying dark magic, being a Slytherin, making Slytherin No.1, and stalking his house girl.”
“Why stalking? I remember you saying that Snape and Harry’s mother were good friends.” Felix asked.
“True, but you can’t expect eleven or twelve-year-old boys to analyse things calmly, not to mention James and Sirius …” he paused, “they’re both impulsive in nature. ”
“The conflict between James and Snape soon escalated, James cast a jinx on Snape, Snape also researched various jinx to fight back, and Lilly has always defended Snape, looked at James with all kinds of displeasure.”
“So after several years, James spring came,” he showed a smile, “he suddenly got attracted to Lilly, who had been at odds with him, and tried to talk to her, but how would Lilly care about him? James soon changed himself, he became less arrogant and did not flaunt himself all the time, in short, showed a mature side …”
“He and Snape’s fight also moved to the shadows, not allowing Lilly to see. Well, we didn’t feel anything wrong, when Snape had already shown a strong talent for potions and was loved by Professor Slughorn, who gave him a lot of tips. We agreed that if he graduated, it would certainly make the Death Eaters much stronger.”
“In the middle of this, because of some rather nasty fight, Lilly and Snape broke off their friendship, and James took advantage of that if you’ll pardon the term, but it means pretty much the same thing.”
” James and Lilly hooked up, and his relationship with Snape became more complex – a personality disagreement, a battle of philosophies, and finally mixed with emotional issues.”
“If you ask me, the person Snape hates the most is James, followed probably by Black, who was the one who acted as an undercover agent for the You-Know-Who and leaked Harry’s house address to the public. God, I don’t even know how to tell Harry that James trusted him so much and made him Harry’s godfather …,” Lupin said with red eyes.
“Professor Hap,” Lupin said sincerely as he looked at him, “We haven’t had much contact, but I can tell that you are a serious and responsible professor, and some of my students love you, even though they are not old enough to take your Elective class.”
“I am telling you these past events in the hope that you will not be influenced by Snape. And please believe me that my feelings for Harry are sincere.”
Felix remained silent for a moment, “Professor Lupin, you think too much, Harry is a student I think highly of, and I am equally looking forward to his future.”
Lupin left, Felix’s eyes looked around the corner, sighed softly, and left from another side.
In the corner of the corridor, Harry sat wordlessly on the floor, Ron and Hermione looked at him with complicated expressions.
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