"...What's wrong with you?"
Having just completed the full transformation of a young Werewolf, Lupin noticed William's strange expression and asked in confusion.
"Nothing."
William was silent for a moment, then shook his head. He discreetly pinched another piece of Mandrake Leaves and stuffed it into his mouth—well, the rule only said to start holding Mandrake on the night of the full moon, but didn't say that if you make a mistake on the spot, you can't hold another one, or even directly hold sixty slices, swallowing two pieces a day still allows for errors...
...Forget it, he's not a hamster.
He doesn't have the habit of storing things in his mouth.
Saying this, he turned his head and looked Lupin up and down. This time, Lupin had transformed while wearing elastic clothing all over his body, so except for his head and claws, all his fur was trapped inside his clothes, making him look just like... a pet dog in clothes?
It wasn't until Lupin felt a bit creeped out by William's stare that William finally looked away and uttered one word, "Let's go."
There's no helping it; for the next month, he would likely be in this state where words were precious, considering that Mandrake Leaves could accidentally be swallowed at any time.
If it weren't for trying to see if he could master two Animagus forms at the same time, William would have just used the Poacher's method. Why would it be so troublesome otherwise? If only he could get a legitimate Animagus for experimentation, that would be great, but unfortunately, the practice of this thing is extremely cumbersome, with only seven legally registered in the entire twentieth century.
Although there was one beside him, but... using Professor Meow for the experiment? Better forget it.
Sighing, William took the lead down the stairs within the Room of Requirement, which he had partitioned into two stories. After all, with the current increase of "traffic," it was better for the original single apartment to be a loft.
"Whoosh—"
The sound of wings flapping, the Fire Dragon Radish who had been doing nothing but eating and sleeping recently spread its wings and descended from the ceiling. It was about to enter adulthood, its oversized figure forcing William to shrink its size, so now it looked like a winged little lizard, about the size of an adult golden retriever—
Except it didn't feel as nice; William ultimately preferred the soft fur, but he wasn't quite used to the cool scales of the Radish and Poisonous Snake Green Pepper.
"?"
Looking at the Radish, wiggling its tail and flapping its wings, bouncing towards him for a pat, William blinked, his gaze instinctively shifted to Dobby who was on his seventh round of wiping the dining table, his eyes clearly asking—did this guy get into trouble?
And seeing William's gaze, Dobby scratched his bald head in confusion, "Sir, I don't know either, Radish has been behaving very well lately—"
"Roar—"
Upon hearing Dobby's words, Radish shook its head ceremoniously, a puff of black smoke spewed from its mouth.
"...I still can't believe it's a Fire Dragon."
Because the clothes were somewhat tight, Lupin, who was used to going commando in his Werewolf form, tugged at them a bit crudely, his tone was strange—it's not like he hadn't seen Fire Dragons before; although these creatures were protected in the Magic Realm, like giant pandas, they weren't extinct. Besides, Lupin had spent some time in a circus before.
So Lupin knew the temper of those Fire Dragons, and to say that these creatures can't be tamed into pets…
He's emphasizing "should" because now there's a real-life example in front of him; if not for Radish's pitch-black scales and sharp dorsal fin wings, Lupin could be convinced it's just a big dog.
"Charisma."
William, still sparing with words, spoke calmly, and in a sort of boastful gesture, patted Radish's head, then hugged it close and walked towards the hallway that led to other rooms.
Now neither William nor Cedric needed to handle the household chores in the Room of Requirement at all. After a summer of solo adaptation, Dobby even learned to manipulate the Room of Requirement, even more skillfully than William, which made him feel quite familiar—
After all, a hundred years ago, he had also arranged the Room of Requirement with the help of a Little Elf, although sadly, Dico didn't live till now.
Until now, William finally completely understood why Wizard Nobility must keep a House-Elf; their proficiency in Magic involving household chores is virtually perfect. Before, Dico had to organize the entire castle as a secondary job, so it wasn't noticeable, but now Dobby is fully serving him—
Once thoroughly skilled, it's to the point it has nothing to do recently.
After all, unlike the vast area of Malfoy Manor, William's territory was only the Room of Requirement; if not for the daily feeding needs of those Magical Creatures, Dobby would probably die of boredom, not to mention, that dining table was almost polished to a shine by it?
Should I find something for it to do?
William furrowed his brows but, for the moment, couldn't think of anything under his command that needed to be assigned to a House-Elf. He sighed, led Lupin further into the room; he still needed to record Lupin's physical condition, as he was improving the Wolf Poison Potion, though progress was slow; the biggest advancement so far was creating a strawberry-flavored one.
In addition, the weakness after each transformation still existed, though Lupin had grown accustomed to it by now, for no other reason than during the summer, using the bracelet daily had become a habit. Before fighting, he'd pour a bottle of strawberry-flavored potion into his mouth, then twist the bracelet and shout "hen shin (transform)" and it'd be done.