Chapter 130: It's Not the Same Old Rum

In the crowd, Fred and George looked at each other, and a smile appeared on their faces.

The next second, the two nonchalantly approached Professor Lupin.

"You look so handsome, Professor!" Fred walked over and hugged him.

"Yes, this is the best costume I've ever seen on you!" George also followed and hugged Lupin.

Fred and George laughed as if they were attending a costume party. The two made some good jokes with Lupin and the mood gradually lightened.

Behind them, other Gryffindor students also came over to hug Lupin.

Just before the hug, their professor's horrible expressions made them nervous as if they had been driven to death. But afterwards, each of them showed a sense of honor and pride like never before. Their fear of the werewolf was fading, and Colin even took a picture of Professor Lupin.

Dumbledore, Fudge, and the professors did not speak. They silently watched the Gryffindor students hugging Lupin in his werewolf form.

With the exception of Dumbledore with his faint smile on his face, everyone else was shocked to witness a scene they had never seen in their lives: a terrifying werewolf standing there silently weeping, and before him, young wizards lined up to hug him. Everyone whispered words of encouragement to Professor Lupin.

It was absolutely overwhelming to see such an event in real life.

They were leaving discrimination and prejudice behind, and believing and embracing the werewolf with absolute confidence.

Such a thing could only be done by young wizards, and perhaps it could only be done at Hogwarts.

They all stepped forward one after another. Last was Ginny, whose teary eyes were all red.

Needless to say, she had cried the most among those who were frightened.

After hearing that Ivan and Hermione were attacked by a werewolf, she was very afraid that Lupin would lose his mind and attack Ron and Harry.

Now that she realized it was all a misunderstanding, she felt really embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, Professor!" Ginny said as she walked over to hug Lupin, her face all flushed, "I shouldn't have yelled at you. I shouldn't have said you're a monster, I hope you can forgive me!"

Ginny finished her words and hugged Professor Lupin tightly.

Then she turned to Hermione. Now, with the exception of Ron, all the Gryffindor students stood behind Professor Lupin and all chose to trust him.

As expected, they all looked at Ron, who was standing in the corner, waiting for him to come with them.

As time passed, the expectation on his face faded. All the Gryffindor students were genuinely surprised that he didn't come. He didn't really move at all.

He stood alone in the corner with his head down and they didn't know what was going through his mind.

Besides Ron, the Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin students were all in their places.

None of them volunteered to hug Professor Lupin.

"Ron, what are you waiting for? come on!" said Harry anxiously. Tonight, he had felt that Ron was acting stranger than ever.

"I can't! It's not safe!" Ron snapped his head up sharply and answered bluntly. "It'll bite us - it's a werewolf!"

"Professor Lupin is under control!" Harry shouted angrily. "Didn't you hear what Ivan just said? The Wolfsbane potion helps him keep his mind!"

Ron said, "No, he just attacked me..."

"Please, Ron!" Hermione looked at Ron as well, her eyes glistening with crystal clear tears. "Please come to your senses, there must be a misunderstanding here!"

"I don't see any misunderstanding!" said Malfoy suddenly, a mischievous smile on his lips. "Only idiots would believe in a werewolf, even if he was drinking a ridiculous potion!"

"Shut up Malfoy!" said Harry fiercely. "Ron, what the hell are you doing? are you going to fall for Malfoy's lies?"

"I only believe my own eyes, Harry!" said Ron in a monotone voice. "I'm not going anywhere near it. It's not safe. Before you came in, the werewolf was ready to attack me. We should lock him up in Azkaban."

Ivan looked at Ron in surprise and sensed that there was something really strange going on.

Ron's behavior tonight had been too unusual. And he was the first one on the scene, so his testimony was very important.

Ivan had said enough to prove that Professor Lupin was under control. He told everyone that he was taking the Wolfsbane potion. All the Gryffindor students sided with the professor. They are Ron's family and best friends. But still, Ron insisted on accusing Lupin. This was not the Ron that Ivan knew.

And then there was Lucius Malfoy, who had been standing taunting him, with his plan to expel Dumbledore from the school.

That used to be impossible to accomplish on any given day. But it had become unusually easy tonight.

As long as it could be proven that Lupin was attacking students, Dumbledore would have to take responsibility for it. He would have to resign his post under pressure from concerned parents in the shadow of the werewolf riots that coincided with the incident.

After all, he was the one who had hired Professor Lupin as a teacher for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

This should make the bulk of Lucius' conspiracy. But Ivan didn't think it was that simple.

He didn't know where Lucius found out about Lupin's secret. After all, a lot of people knew.

It wasn't important. What was key to Lucius' plan was to prove that Professor Lupin was just as dangerous as other werewolves. For that to happen, Lupin would have to attack the students.

That was the only way Lucius' conspiracy would work.

If Professor Lupin was accused of attacking a Slytherin, Ivan would have understood, and it would fit well with his idea of the possible conspiracy.

But the last person he expected to help Lucius was Ron. It all seemed to come back to Ron. With his recent behavior, Ivan clearly sensed that there was something wrong with him.

It was the same feeling he had last year, when Tom Riddle was controlling Ron.

Ivan suddenly realized that Ron should be....

In the office, Harry felt betrayed when he heard Ron's response.

It felt similar to what he felt when he tried to think that his parents had been betrayed by his best friend, Sirius Black.

Heartbroken, he burst into tears.

She wiped her tears hard, still holding more anger inside her heart than ever.

"You're lying. Professor Lupin didn't hurt us at any time, he didn't attack anyone!" Harry yelled madly.

"You should shut up, Potter! Stop shouting like a brainless troll," Malfoy said with a sly grin. "The way I see it, Weasley is just making a wise decision. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence would never take half a step towards the monster next to you."

Malfoy was right. Besides the Gryffindor students, no one had sided with Professor Lupin.

It meant they didn't trust him. They didn't think they were safe in his werewolf form. Everything Ivan and the rest of the Gryffindor students had done was in vain.