From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

'I also have to thank the wolfsbane potion, otherwise I would never have been able to groom myself so calmly in my life... Honestly, transforming without sleeping is too painful...'

'But speaking of which, when Sirius Black turns into a dog, will he shed fur?'

Whether it was the recent peaceful life that improved his mindset or the influence of his office colleagues, Lu Ping suddenly had this question in his mind.

'Just ask Sirius secretly… there’s no need to discuss this with Harry…'

As he pondered this strange question, he subconsciously glanced at his hair in the mirror…

"Then, clean off the hair..."

Lupin waved his wand to get rid of the annoying things, then broke the spell he had set up the night before, knocking on the door to tell Sirius to release him.

Good morning, Remus.

Sirius Black rushed over cheerfully, looked his old friend over, and said, "You look great today. Dobby prepared a very lavish breakfast. I figured you should be awake by now!"

"Fortunately, the medicine works as well as ever."

Lupin made a relaxed expression. "Oh, by the way, I..."

"We did nothing!"

"no!"

"The Animagus has succeeded in its first step!"

"no!"

“Okay… I admit, I did Harry’s Divination homework to help him focus on Transfiguration, but you know, Remus, that’s just how Divination is.”

"A divination lesson..."

"Okay, I secretly bought Harry a book over in Knockturn Alley as a birthday present... just one! I haven't had a chance to give it to him yet!"

"Blake!!!"

Lupin's temper flared up instantly. "How old are you?!"

"That's all, really, that's all!"

"You..." Lupin felt his blood pressure spike. He was neither behaving like a godfather nor a proper father...

"Well, what's up...?"

"I just want to ask you, when you transform into an Animagus, do you shed fur?"

"Shedding?"

Sirius Black was stunned. Was it shedding its fur?

You should have said so earlier, it's such a small thing...

"Well, I haven't really observed that closely. You know, Moonface, it's normal for them to bite off a tuft of fur when they're playing around, and when they transform back, you can hardly see any injuries, unless there are special circumstances, like... that traitor..."

The two were silent for a while, then Lupin seemed to remember something and held out his hand to Sirius, "What about the gift you gave me? I'm confiscating it!"

After Harry's undelivered gifts were destroyed, Lupin glared at Sirius, "Look at you, and look at Professor William! He's much more reliable than you!"

"Have you arranged the spells before the transformation? I need to communicate with Hagrid. We must complete the transformation quickly."

"Don't worry, I've arranged everything!"

Sirius smiled and nodded—they had practically guided that traitor through his Animagus training back then, so he was very familiar with the process.

Lupin was quite reassured about this; Bigfoot might be mischievous, but he wouldn't risk Harry's life.

Even when he went to settle accounts with that traitor, he entrusted the motorcycle and Harry to Hagrid before leaving; otherwise, he wouldn't have tacitly allowed Harry to practice Animagus Transfiguration.

Just as he returned to his desk, preparing to write a letter to Hagrid to discuss the feasibility of using the Thunderbirds to create thunderstorms, an owl came to the windowsill and began banging on the window.

"Whose letter?"

Lupin glanced at it curiously; it wasn't an owl he recognized, but rather looked like a public owl.

He waved his wand to open the window and let it in, then took a small bowl of owl food from the drawer and handed it over. While it ate quickly, he unwrapped the unknown letter and carefully examined it with magic.

'It's not a roaring letter, nor does it seem to be entangled in a magical curse…'

After a brief examination, Lupin reached a conclusion with certainty, while simultaneously mocking his own excessive caution.

However, when he opened the letter, he was completely stunned.

Dear Professor Lupin:

I imagine you'll be very surprised when you receive this letter, but it is indeed from me in Greece.

...

Because there's just so much about curses here, and considering my recent discoveries, I've decided to make a public appearance in Greece and conduct some research on curses...

This decision was made after weighing the pros and cons. I realized that if I continued to conceal my identity during the investigation, my chances of coming into contact with high-level magic would be far too slim…

...

Just as we suspected last semester, the Dark Lord might infiltrate the school under the guise of a professor, so we must remain vigilant and conduct the necessary investigation…

To prevent such information from being extracted during interrogation when I'm replaced, I will erase the relevant thoughts and memories from my memory myself afterwards. So, I'll leave the inspection and the sneak attack to you, Professor Lupin…

...]

...

When Lupin finished reading the letter, he couldn't quite describe how he felt. He had participated in the investigation last semester, but he always felt that even if something happened to him, Professor William wouldn't be surprised.

'What kind of knowledge related to curses could possibly make him bring it into the open?'

Lupin was a little confused, but he still read it and then destroyed it, making sure to remember it well—according to their previous analysis, because of the blessing on Harry, this place was actually the safest place, not to mention that he and Sirius were also there.

Let's invite Professor Moody when school starts, and then we can check on Professor William together...

'If he gets switched, that's fine, but if he doesn't, then we'll have to resort to a sneak attack... With Professor Moody and me, we should be alright...'

Just as Lupin was accepting all of this with a sense of relief, another owl flew in through the open window.

'Really?'

However, upon careful examination and the first glance upon opening the letter, Lupin was dumbfounded.

Dear Professor Lupin:

You'll be very surprised when you see this letter...

(I wasn't just surprised, I was terrified...)

...

For reasons I can't explain, I'm currently in Canada...

This place is close enough to danger, but not quite that dangerous—I've discovered something strange…

...

In light of our discussion last year, I am sending you this letter. The reason I am not sending it to Professor William is simply because he likes to wander around outside, and although he is quite discreet, there is still a certain risk involved…

(You don't need to say anything, I know. I'm perfectly safe here, and it doesn't seem like the situation is too serious as entrusting it to Dumbledore...)

In short... please check carefully when school starts, Professor Lu Ping...

I can…

(How did you two even think of deleting related memories...?)

...

]

'In the end, I'll still have to go find the principal... Do you think I can take on two of them by myself?'

Lupin destroyed the letters and started complaining.

"Moonface! I've already discussed it with Professor McGonagall, and Harry can go to the Forbidden Forest to prepare for his first transformation!"

"Is everything ready?"

"All set!"

Sirius was full of confidence.

"If the Thunderbird refuses to help, have you prepared food to appease it? If the transformation isn't successful, will Professor McGonagall come to assist? What about Dumbledore? How many times have you checked Harry's memorization of the relevant rules? What about the precautions for thunderstorms and protection against magical creatures? If it's successful, have you explained to Harry the specific steps for transforming back?"

"..."

After being bombarded with questions by Lupin, the once confident Sirius Black suddenly deflated...

"Hurry up and get ready! We need to be fully prepared, Bigfoot!"

Chapter 504 Animagus

"Amado, Animo, Animado, Animagus".

Harry put away Sirius's wand, which was pointing towards his heart, and returned it to Sirius, who was in the same room.

"Is this really okay?"

He asked Sirius with a puzzled look. Theoretically, he couldn't cast spells during the summer—but before he could successfully perform the Animagus Transfiguration, he had to complete the incantation at sunrise and sunset every day.

"Of course, no problem. How strong do you think the Ministry of Magic's surveillance capabilities are?"

Sirius retrieved his wand and re-inserted it. "You used my wand, not a real spell. We were in the same house, and your wand was downstairs—and the house is protected by all sorts of spells. How could they possibly detect it?"

"Besides, there's Lupin, isn't there? Don't forget, professors have the right to allow students to perform spells for a short period during the summer."

Unbeknownst to Lupin, Sirius silently added another task for him, then put his arm around Harry's shoulder, "Get ready, we're going to Hogwarts today. Hopefully, I won't get scolded by Professor McGonagall this time..."

"Professor McGonagall?"

“Otherwise,” Sirius’s expression turned serious and earnest, “you don’t think that Hogwarts during the summer is a place you can just walk into, do you… Lupin could, but he wouldn’t take you to perform Transfiguration without Professor McGonagall’s knowledge.”

"Besides, although I have a lot of confidence in you, Professor McGonagall's presence will definitely make things much safer—but don't worry, we have ample contingency plans."

Harry trusted Sirius—if he couldn't trust Sirius, then he really had no one else he could trust.

But when it came time to set off, he fully realized just how absurd the so-called comprehensive response measures were.

"We went to school to complete our transformation, right?"