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After hearing what Harry said, Professor Lupin's expression eased a little.
"Professor, this is something I... picked up..." Harry didn't want to betray Fred and George, so he could only rack his brains to find an excuse that sounded reasonable to explain the origin of the map.
"I don't want to find out how you got hold of something like this, but I'm shocked you didn't turn it in, especially after the last time a student left the castle information lying around."
"I..." Harry wanted to explain, but didn't know how to start.
Fred and George had clearly told him before that he should destroy the map as soon as he wrote down the location of the secret passage, but he forgot about it.
So far, he only remembered the secret passage of the hunchback witch statue.
"I can't give it back to you, Harry." Professor Lupin put the map away. "I have to ..."
"Ok?"
Suddenly, he moved his nose and seemed to smell a very familiar smell.
Professor Lupin searched for a while and happened to see Kyle who had just walked into the hall.
"Nice to meet you, Professor Lupin." Kyle smiled and waved.
"Hello... Kyle." Professor Lupin asked in confusion, "Why are you here? Why didn't you go to Hogsmeade?"
"I'm in detention, Professor." Kyle shrugged. "No time to go to Hogsmeade?"
"Confinement?!"
Professor Lupin was stunned for a moment. He had never expected that Kyle, who had been top of the grade for four consecutive years, would be put in detention.
But Harry remained calm. He already knew about this when he met Kyle and Snape on the fourth floor in the morning.
As for Snape, there's nothing strange about it.
"He must have given you detention because it's Visiting Day at Hogsmeade," said Harry firmly.
"What did he ask you to do, deal with all that caterpillar slime?"
"No." Kyle shook his head, "It's not that bad. I just helped him make the potion for a few hours."
"Oh, that's okay." Harry said with lingering fear, "Last time I was put in detention by Snape, I didn't eat for several days in a row... By the way, what did you guys endure that took so long?"
"A rare potion..." Kyle said, "Wolfsbane Potion."
A trace of panic flashed across Professor Lupin's eyes, but it quickly disappeared. Although he tried to look normal, his hands were clenched tightly, fearing that Kyle would call out his name the next second.
This semester, he would take leave every full moon, and with the wolfsbane potion...it was difficult for him to guarantee that Kyle didn't discover anything.
Fortunately, at this time, a group of people walked into the hallway from outside.
Those were the people who had been visiting Hogsmeade, and now they were all back.
Fred and George came over and surrounded Kyle on the left and right.
"You don't know what you've been missing..."
"The Shrieking Shack wasn't as bad as we thought..." George said with a smile, "I don't know what Malfoy saw in there. He was so scared that he ran all the way back to the castle."
"We all heard his screams in Zuko..." Fred said regretfully, "But why didn't we see anything the last time we went there..."
Harry lowered his head and said nothing.
In fact, Malfoy was scared away by him. He was wearing an invisibility cloak and threw a ball of mud into the other person's face.
But because he used too much force, part of the invisibility cloak accidentally slipped off, revealing his head outside. It looked like he was floating in mid-air, which scared Malfoy away.
It was also for this reason that he was called to Snape's office.
Later, Connor, Cho and Cedric also came back.
Kyle ended the topic of confinement and followed them to the outside venue.
He estimated that if he stayed any longer, Professor Lupin would probably crush the map to pieces.
To be honest, he looked so nervous that it was almost as if the words "I am a werewolf" were written on his face.
Fortunately, Harry and Ron were there, because if it was Hermione, they would definitely notice something wrong.
But speaking of Hermione, it seems that we rarely see her recently, especially after the Christmas holidays, the trio has become a duo.
Only at mealtimes could one see Hermione carrying a bulging bag and hurriedly eating a few mouthfuls of food in the great hall.
Thinking of this, Kyle followed Kanna to the outside venue.
Qiu next to him handed over a bottle of butterbeer, and Kyle took it without thinking.
The next second, Butterbeer turned into an aggressive haddock and bit his arm.
The haddock was rubbery, not painful, but very firm, and no matter how hard Kyle shook it, he couldn't get it off, and pulling hard only made it longer.
Fred and George held their stomachs and laughed. It was obvious that it was their idea.
……
Watching several people walking out of the castle gate laughing and joking, Professor Lupin loosened his tightly clenched hands and a little color returned to his face.
Kyle didn't seem to notice anything, perhaps he was too nervous.
He thought so in his heart...
Yes, who would have thought that the great Professor Dumbledore would actually hire a werewolf as a professor, as if he would have agreed to let me go to school here before.
This kind of thing is impossible anywhere... Only Dumbledore...
Professor Lupin took a deep breath, gave Harry a few simple instructions, and then left in a hurry.
Now is not the time to think about these things, there is something more important to do.
He needed to go to Filch's place and find something.
……
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 414 Lupin's Scandal
The weather gradually became warmer, and as soon as the ice and snow outside the castle melted, the little wizards couldn't wait to stuff their thick winter robes into their wardrobes.
It is worth mentioning that due to some special reasons, there was no organized study of the Patronus Charm in February.
Professor Lupin is too busy. Apart from normal classes, you will never see him in school at other times... no matter after the last class in the afternoon or on weekends.
He ran to Hogsmeade almost every time he had some free time.
Gradually, some rumors began to spread in the castle.
Some people swore that Professor Lupin was pursuing Madam Rosmerta of the Three Broomsticks.
Although there is no definite evidence, this statement is recognized by most students.
Come to think of it, Hogsmeade is not that big, and there are only about a dozen shops at most. It is indeed fresh to go there occasionally, but you will get bored if you go there too many times.
If Professor Lupin didn't want to meet someone, how could he be so active, leaving the castle at five o'clock every day and not coming back until after curfew... Probably, anyway, no one has ever seen him before curfew.
Especially on weekends, you won’t see anyone the whole day.
So, gossip about Professor Lupin and Madam Rosmerta began to spread wildly in the castle, as well as the clerk at the Men of Letters... Madam Andel at the Owl Post... Madam Puddifoot's brother-in-law... the owner of the Hog's Head Pub... there were all kinds of versions of the story, covering all the shops in Hogsmeade.
Susan Burns even used these as her bedtime stories and couldn't fall asleep without listening to a new version every day.
She even summarized all of these and bound them into a thick booklet. Many people came to her to borrow them every day, but few were able to borrow them.
Susan treated the book as a treasure and almost never left it.
Some people thought they had discovered a business opportunity, so early in the morning, Fred and George went to find Kyle.
"Katie asked us to ask," Fred said. "She also collected a book like this and wanted to cooperate with us."
"Cooperation? What does that mean?" Kyle asked.
"She provides the booklets, and we are responsible for copying and selling them..." Fred explained, "In the end, we split the profits 30% to 70%."
Kyle raised his eyebrows, "We copied it and sold it, and finally we got %?"
"Seventy percent is hers, and we are three."
George said, "But don't worry, we will definitely not agree to it... But she said her bottom line is 50-50, no less."
"We've done some research. If this deal goes well, we can get at least thirty Galleons..." Fred added.
"How about it……"
"Want to come together?"
Fred and George picked up a cookie from the table and ate it while looking at Kyle.
"There's no way I'm going to participate anyway." Kyle said calmly, holding a book.
Not to mention that they could get a total of thirty Galleons, even if each person got thirty Galleons, Kyle would never agree.
What can you do with this little money? Send away the house-elves?
"And I have to warn you."
Kyle continued, "If you want to go to Hogsmeade outside of visiting days, it's best not to agree to that.
Otherwise, I guarantee that as soon as you step into Hogsmeade, Professor McGonagall will receive the news, and you won't be able to escape even if you want to."
Connor and Cedric nodded, they had the same idea as Kyle.
"Well... you're right." Fred shrugged.
"And that's what we thought," said George.
"But we are teammates after all... No matter what, I have to ask."
"This is just right..."
"If you don't agree, it's none of our business..."
"It's because we are so few in number."
Under Kyle's speechless gaze, the two of them finished the last piece of bread on the plate with a smile, then put on a regretful expression and turned to walk towards the Gryffindor table.
Katie Bell had finished her breakfast and was waiting for them.
"I'm sorry..." Fred shook his head and sighed, "They all have other things to do, so they may not have much time recently..."