"This is..."
"Yes, a black bear. Its fur is quite smooth, perfect for making a coat."
"...Uh, so, what's wrong with it?"
Lupin paused for a moment, instinctively ignoring William's description, somewhat puzzled as he asked—after William had led him out of that room, they had taken several turns before arriving at this chamber, where a row of cages was lined up along one side, each one containing a figure.
And there, William stood with him in front of this black bear.
"Well, the reason it wasn't turned into a coat is that it's an Animagus."
William nodded and continued to introduce, "You might remember last Christmas Eve, and this is the one I captured that night..."
"Squeak squeak!"
Kabuda suddenly poked its head out from William's shoulder, waving its claws indignantly.
"...Alright, alright, it was you, you captured it."
William was somewhat speechless; Kabuda had always regarded the spoils of its first triumph as very important, and this Animagus was exactly what it had brought back after enlarging and fitting it into its pocket.
"Is he also one of the poachers?"
Lupin, who was quite familiar with Animagi, didn't need any further introduction, staring at the black bear in the cage. After receiving William's affirmative answer, he shook his head, "But I don't understand what this has to do with what you're looking for..."
"You're familiar with Animagi, right?"
"Uh, yes."
"Then you should know how troublesome it is to prepare for this magic."
"...Yes."
Lupin's consciousness suddenly wavered for a moment, as if he remembered something, then nodded.
"So, what if I told you that among this group of poachers, on average, one in every five is an Animagus?"
"That's impossible!"
Lupin shook his head without hesitation and then looked at William with eyes full of shock—but only received a firm nod in return.
"Furthermore, each Animagus among these poachers has a certain combat capability, the most common of which you should be familiar with is the large black dog from the first level. Of course, the Animagus version is a bit tougher. If you hadn't been successfully ambushed by the Ashwinder gang, you would have seen them."
William continued speaking, but each word challenged the understanding Lupin had accumulated since his youth.
"But, how did they..."
"I don't know either, maybe some kind of unknown magical effect? According to his vague memory," William pointed at the black bear before them, "it seems to be a ritual, not needing Mandrake Leaves, no spell required, and doesn't even need to wait for a stormy weather, one could become an Animagus—even mass production."
Indeed, it was mass production. William unknowingly killed countless poachers a century ago, their corpses encircled Hogwarts Castle three times over, and the Animagi among them were countless, far exceeding the number registered since the Animagus Act was established.
"However, it appears to involve some secret, after I probed into his memories, this person completely turned into a genuine beast—assimilation at the soul level."
"Is this what you wanted to find?"
"Of course, this transformation could even be directed, it's very valuable for research."
"So, are all of these poachers?"
Lupin looked at the adjacent cages, where an Acromantula slumped lifelessly, with only five of its eight legs remaining, seemingly too weak to even stand.
"Oh, this one isn't, it's the former leader of the Acromantula colony, here for retirement after being defeated by the new king, otherwise it would have been eaten by the new monarch. Those injuries weren't caused by me; I just charged symbolic rent—"
Yes, just about two gallons (approximately 160 ounces) of venom per month, merely symbolic.
"Then these are..."
"Squeak squeak—"
"Right, it's the Niffler Legion under Kabuda, temporarily placed here because they couldn't find a classroom..."
"And this one..."
"Oh, this person is actually a werewolf, and a Death Eater too, I captured him while he was committing crimes one day...uh, what's the matter with you?"
William was halfway through his explanation when he noticed something amiss, turning to look at Lupin only to find the man standing there in a daze, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the skinny man in the cage.
"Fenrir Greyback..."
Lupin murmured the name he had repeated countless times.
"You know him?"
William was stunned for a moment, then he looked at Lupin's wrist, and a possibility suddenly flashed through his mind.
"...Yes, of course, I know him."
The gentle aura on Lupin's face vanished, replaced by a complicated grimace, hate, fear, William smelled many emotions from the man, almost confirming his suspicion.
"He bit you?"
"...I was four years old then."
Lupin nodded, the hatred in his eyes gradually faded, his calm returning far quicker than William had expected, "And now, what's wrong with him?" Lupin scrutinized Fenrir's vacant eyes, asking in some confusion.
"I removed his frontal lobe. Initially, he was meant to be an experimental material, but eventually, there was no shortage, and we never lacked fertilizer, so he's been left unused."
William pondered for a moment, recalling the process of abandoning this experimental material.
"I, I've always wanted to kill him."
Lupin placed his hand on the cage, staring at Greyback, who squatted there motionlessly, looking utterly blank, "Almost thirty years."
Almost thirty years, four years old...
"You're only in your thirties?"
William blinked incredulously, speechless as he looked at Lupin's weathered face—he had always thought Lupin had to be in his fifties.
"..."
The originally tense and grave atmosphere was completely shattered by William's outcry, Lupin coughed twice, "Uh, I was born in '60—"
"...Cough, my bad."
William scratched his head and began to "change the topic," "Actually, it's not too late now; luckily I haven't turned him into fertilizer yet, do you want to do it yourself?"
Lupin had to admit, William's suggestion was very tempting, he subconsciously reached for the magic wand in his pocket, his trembling arm almost waving it to cast a spell, but he finally stopped at the last moment.
"Forget it."
Lupin sighed and turned to exit the room.
'Strong self-control'
Watching the man push open the door and leave, William took out a notebook from his pocket, jotting down his observations of Lupin—observing and summarizing human behavior was one of his occasional hobbies.
"What are you writing?"
"Oh, nothing, just some inspiration for a VR game—"
"V...R?"
"Oh, it's that dream magic. I'm planning to turn it into a way to train in combat—hey, since you're the Defense Against the Dark Arts Class Professor, this dream could simulate a lot of the dark creatures I've seen, arranging them in levels, would letting the students clear them one by one be fun—"
"Ah, you mentioning it reminded me, am I close to clearing it?"
"..."
"What's wrong?"
"Uh, actually, you've passed the first major level already, that iron armored troll was the level boss."
"So, how many levels in total?"
"Currently, over five hundred levels, I think."
"?"