"Beep, beep, beep—"
Lupin rubbed his slightly throbbing head, suppressing the urge to check whether his "surgery" was successful by unbuttoning his pants. After all, he had just discerned who the owner of that sound was, and the other person's frequent twisted sense of humor didn't worry him too much... But maybe he should check?
"Uh, what's this on me...?"
Lupin, who had been about to sit up, suddenly felt a pulling force on his chest. He instinctively lifted his clothes, only to discover that several white circular patches were stuck around his chest, each connected to a white wire leading to a metal box by his side, from which the beeping sounds emanated.
"Hey, take it easy, don't tear them off—"
William stepped forward to stop the man's rough actions and helped him remove the electrode patches stuck to his chest. "This is to monitor the heart, mainly to see the level of stimulation the dream can achieve... Muggle technology." William patted the ECG machine beside him, explaining to Lupin.
"A dream?"
Lupin keenly caught onto William's words. He frowned, his light brown eyes glinting slightly. "So you're saying that everything I just experienced... was merely a dream?"
"So, how was the experience?"
William nodded while packing up the equipment, admitting that everything Lupin experienced from earlier was his doing.
"..."
What do you mean, 'how's the experience'?
Was it almost having his neck bitten off by a black dog? Or nearly having his knees chopped by an armored goblin? Or perhaps being hit from behind by an Avada Kedavra?
Lupin was not familiar with the sensation of being hit by a Killing Curse, or one might say, nobody in the world should know it, as all historical records indicate anyone hit directly by such a curse has died, but the feelings in the dream... Lupin felt it might truly be akin to the sensation of death.
Despair, suffocation, emptiness... At the moment of being cursed, nearly every negative emotion that resides in human hearts surged toward him.
"...Perhaps next time, if you have a similar... experiment, you could notify me in advance."
Lupin silently stared at William's back for a long time before finally letting out a sigh and making his suggestion.
"Notify you in advance, and you'll be mentally prepared—"
Suggestion rejected. William provided his reasoning, "An initial test needs the most authentic data. You did well; you slept the soundest among everyone." With that, William pulled out a notebook from his pocket and started scribbling.
"Slept the soundest..."
For some reason, Lupin felt this description was a bit odd, but he didn't refute it. He looked up and only then noticed that the room contained more than just his bed; there was a row of them, and even a group of people lay on the last bed.
"Is he the one from last night?"
Lupin, pulling his clothes on to sit up, instantly recognized the man nearest to him as the only Animagus William had captured alive in the sky the previous night. The scars on the man's face had hardly been tended to, and the other line of individuals seemed all to be captives caught on the deck. At the moment, they, like Lupin just moments earlier, had white wires attached to them, their eyes tightly shut, and a terror-stricken expression overflowing on their faces.
"Uh-huh, don't look at them. They haven't climbed towers as tall as you have..."
William, without looking up, said, "It's just that they haven't woken up yet. This bird-man, if I remember correctly, has restarted three times... Each time, he gets decapitated by those armored goblins... Hmm, perhaps I should balance the numbers for the goblin archer; they're supposed to be an ADC but can't seem to snag any kills..."
With that, William continued jotting down notes in his notebook.
"Those empty beds..."
"Oh, the one next to you belongs to Mundungus, who couldn't even handle a few Spinybacked Orbweavers. There are also a few volunteers among the crew who, once they awaken, are set free. The current highest record is just reaching the Armored Troll stage, which today secured the most kills to become MVP— Hey, how did you get past that metal brute?"
"Uh, used a Diffindo to strip off its armor..."
"That's one way, though a bit strenuous... Actually, you can just roast it with fire, but the smell of roasting a troll inside a covered pot is a bit potent. It's like... uh, like stuffing unwashed ten-month-old socks into an oven and roasting for twenty-eight minutes before taking it out..."
William hit the notebook as he tried to vividly describe the odor while frowning slightly.
"Hiss... Uh, but wasn't the armor supposed to be immune to magic?"
Sensing the smell William described, Lupin's facial features knotted together, yet he asked curiously, having tried numerous charms, all of which vanished upon contact with the armor as if void of any power.
"Fiendfyre."
Well, nothing more to say.
Upon hearing William's method, Lupin fell silent briefly before nodding. Dark Arts were known for this. "So what about these people, when do you plan to wake them—"
"Wake them? What's the point of waking these scoundrels?"
William glanced oddly at Lupin. "Come on, these poachers invaded our ship and even tried to snatch my dragon, my Niffler, my Thunderbird, and Dumbledore's phoenix. Plus, they are all Black Wizards..."
"Shouldn't this mean turning them over to the Ministry of Magic—"
"We're at the British-French border, we're a British merchant ship, and these people are Germans— now tell me, which Ministry of Magic should I notify?"
"..."
"Don't think about it; no one wants to handle these hot potatoes, especially the British Ministry of Magic—"
"Why?"
"Because it falls under international affairs, and their identity—"
William reached over, flipping open the man's collar to reveal a badge to Lupin beside him. "Recognize this?"
"...Looks familiar."
"Poachers, specializing in hunting and capturing Magical Creatures for performance and sale. Every hazardous species circulated on the market has one or the other of their doing. I once thought it was confined to within the United Kingdom, but who knows if it's fast development over the century or just my previous ignorance of the mainland— this is an international organization now—"
Following William's explanation, Lupin now seemed to recall something, although he was somewhat confused about what William meant by a century.
"So what do you intend to do with them?"
Choosing not to ask further, Lupin shifted to a question he found more concerning.
"Keep some as captives, Mundungus mentioned the ship is short-handed—"
If not for Mundungus's request, William would have initially planned to turn them all into fertilizer. Of course, remaining individuals would certainly have some charms cast on them, "Two of them seem to be leaders, bring them back to locate their hideout, there's something there I want— By the way, Dumbledore suggests you accompany me this summer? Once we reach land, you'll come along with me..."
Lupin had no objections to accompanying, "What is it you want?"
"Follow me."
William nodded, turning to walk towards the door.