Just then, Cho Chang suddenly looked up toward the sky and let out a delighted gasp.
Almost instinctively, she grabbed Harry's hand that was resting on the stone table and pointed to the sky: "Look, Harry! That looks like Watson!"
Being suddenly held by the girl's soft hand, Harry felt as if a tiny electric current instantly coursed through his entire body from where their skin touched, and the blush that had just faded from his face came rushing back with a "whoosh."
At this moment, he could clearly feel the warmth and delicacy of Cho Chang's fingertips.
Cho Chang also realized in the next instant that her intimate gesture had been rather sudden.
Her cheeks flushed, and as if burned, she quickly released Harry's hand, then self-consciously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
Harry immediately felt a strong sense of loss, his palm seemingly still retaining the soft touch and warmth of the girl's fingertips.
But by then, Watson had fluttered down and landed on the stone table in front of them, looking at the two with a peculiar expression, its talons carrying two gift boxes.
"It must be the birthday present Sherlock sent you!"
Cho Chang pretended the hand-holding hadn't happened, trying to ease the subtle atmosphere in the air, her gaze falling on Watson's talons: "But—why are there two?"
Harry also found it strange. While thanking Watson and feeding it a small piece of nut from the table, he and Cho Chang carefully removed the two beautifully wrapped gift boxes.
He picked up the small note attached to one of the boxes, quickly scanned it, and his expression immediately became somewhat peculiar, his eyes lingering on the second box for a moment.
"What is it?"
Seeing Harry's odd, hesitant expression, Cho Chang couldn't help but lean in to ask.
"Um—"
Harry cleared his throat, pointing to the slightly smaller box tied with a dark blue ribbon: "The second gift is from Hermione. The note says—"
He paused, his expression growing more subtle: "She stayed at Sherlock's house last night."
"Ah—!"
Upon hearing this, Cho Chang's beautiful eyes widened slightly in surprise, and she couldn't help but cover her mouth with her hand.
But the next moment, she asked with a curious expression: "Sherlock and Hermione—have they started dating?"
"Not really," Harry said with a wry smile. "Hermione said she didn't want to stay, but Mrs. Holmes insisted she stay, and her mother agreed too—
I thought that after coming back from St. Mungo's yesterday, she went straight home—"
Harry had just casually added this detail, but Cho Chang immediately caught the key word.
"What, St. Mungo's? You mean St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies?"
The smile on her face was instantly replaced with worry, and in her urgency, Cho Chang once again grabbed Harry's hand resting on his knee, asking with a nervous expression: "You went to the hospital? Were you injured? When did this happen? Was it serious?"
"I'm fine."
Seeing Cho Chang so anxious and agitated, as if she wouldn't let it go without getting clear answers, Harry panicked and quickly explained: "We went there to visit a patient yesterday. I'm really fine."
Hearing Harry say this, Cho Chang's furrowed brows relaxed somewhat, but she still couldn't help asking: "Visit a patient—who?"
"Professor Lockhart."
Harry looked into Cho Chang's clear eyes, and his heart suddenly softened.
He never wanted to lie to Cho Chang, especially when she was so worried about him.
But Dumbledore had already instructed that unless Neville himself chose to speak about it, they couldn't tell others about Neville's parents.
However, there was nothing sensitive about Lockhart's situation.
So, seeing Cho Chang so nervous about him, Harry simply told her the truth.
"Professor Lockhart? Why would you think to visit him?"
This time Cho Chang was no longer worried about Harry, but wore a surprised expression instead. Recalling Lockhart's year at Hogwarts, she said somewhat hesitantly. "Are you really that close to him—although when he was at Hogwarts, he always said you were his best partner—"
"Our relationship—well, I suppose it's okay—"
Hearing Cho Chang bring this up, Harry felt somewhat embarrassed.
That guy Lockhart had gone around school saying he was his star pupil, making many people believe it.
"It was mainly that after Sherlock learned he had woken up, he called me to go see him.
Unfortunately, his condition isn't very good—"
Harry recounted yesterday's experience at the hospital—naturally omitting the part about Neville's parents.
"—So that's the situation now. From start to finish, he believes he's a hero."
"I see."
After hearing Harry's account, Cho Chang nodded thoughtfully, then spoke: "So Sherlock originally wanted to find a solution to Professor Lupin's identity problem through Lockhart's memories, but unexpectedly failed, right?"
"Yes, so we—?"
As he said this, Harry suddenly realized something. He looked at Cho Chang with surprise.
If he remembered correctly, he had never told Cho Chang about Professor Lupin being a werewolf!
In his description just now, he had only mentioned that Sherlock questioned Lockhart about how he defeated the Wagga Wagga werewolf.
So how did Cho Chang know about this?
Seeing Harry's shocked expression, Cho Chang couldn't help but laugh: "Harry, do you really think I'm a foolish girl?"
"Of—of course not!"
Harry shook his head like a rattle drum: "You're much smarter than me!"
"Then why do you think I couldn't figure it out?"
Cho Chang looked at Harry with a smile, her gaze becoming somewhat mischievous: "The first time Professor Lupin had Professor Snape substitute teach, he ignored our course schedule and specifically gave us a lesson on werewolves.
I didn't think much of it at the time, but later I discovered that Professor Lupin has Professor Snape substitute every month.
Then rumors spread saying he was a woman in disguise, having those inconvenient days every month—"
At this point, Cho Chang's face reddened slightly, but she continued: "Originally I thought this was nonsense, but by chance, I discovered that Professor Lupin's absences always coincided with the full moon.
Everyone knows Professor Snape wants to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. Connecting these clues together, one can naturally deduce that Professor Lupin is actually a werewolf.
Professor Snape specifically taught us about werewolf characteristics in class because he wanted us to figure this out ourselves."
"Ah, this—"
"Also, I'm not the only one who figured this out!"
Cho Chang looked at Harry's surprised expression, her smile deepening: "But everyone knows that once this matter becomes public, we'll definitely have to change Defense Against the Dark Arts professors again.
Think about it—if that really happens, where will we find another teacher as excellent as Professor Lupin?
What if we get another Quirrell or Lockhart? We'll be the ones who suffer.
So, everyone tacitly pretends not to know anything.
And that ridiculous rumor—those of us who don't want Professor Lupin to leave have done our share to spread it."
Cho Chang winked at Harry. "Don't underestimate Ravenclaw wisdom!"
At this moment, Harry was truly shocked.
So, Professor Lupin's secret wasn't a secret anymore?
In this moment, his amazement at Cho Chang's intelligence was quickly replaced by worry for Remus.
Although according to Cho Chang, the young wizards who had figured this out were smart people.
Precisely because they were smart people, they didn't want Professor Lupin to leave school because of his identity.
But you can't keep a secret forever.
Originally, he thought they could muddle through with Sherlock's plan, and last year's Triwizard Tournament had indeed attracted everyone's attention, but what about this year?
Wait—when they returned yesterday, Remus had already made it very clear.
Without getting what they wanted from Lockhart, Remus might very well resign voluntarily.
That's right!
Based on Harry's understanding of Professor Lupin, he was absolutely capable of doing such a thing!
It was just that after returning to Grimmauld Place last night, Remus had glossed over the matter with the excuse of celebrating his birthday early.
Today, preoccupied with thoughts of meeting Cho Chang, he had pushed this matter to the back of his mind.
Now that Cho Chang brought it up again, Harry realized the situation was still serious.
"Speaking of which, as long as we can get Lockhart to remember that human-restoration spell, it would solve Professor Lupin's problem, right?"
Seeing Harry's expression darkens, Cho Chang also put away her smile and asked seriously.
"Yes."
Harry nodded. "With the Wolfsbane Potion, werewolves can maintain their sanity when transformed.
Combined with this human-restoration spell, Professor Lupin's problem could be completely solved.
Then he wouldn't have to hide from everyone or worry about his identity being exposed."
Cho Chang's eyes suddenly lit up: "If that's the case, I actually have an idea."
"What?"
Harry looked at Cho Chang in surprise.
He never expected that visiting the Chang family today would yield an unexpected harvest.
Ten minutes later.
After hearing Harry and Cho Chang lay out the situation with Lupin and Lockhart, the Chang couple exchanged glances, immediately understanding their daughter's meaning.
"Cho, you want to solve that professor's memory problem through Japanese magic?"
"Exactly!"
Cho Chang's beautiful large eyes sparkled. She looked at her parents and said enthusiastically: "Since the last resort of even Legilimency has no way to extract the true memories from Lockhart's brain, why don't we try our Japanese magic?"
Mrs. Chang held a cup of spring tea, sat down on the sofa, her fingertips gently caressing the cup's wall, and pondered for a moment.
Under Harry and Cho Chang's anxious gazes, she finally spoke slowly.
Though her tone carried some uncertainty, there was also some anticipation: "If you put it that way, it's certainly worth trying—whether it's the Clarity Charm or the Soul Charms, they might be able to awaken the truth buried under his chaotic memories."
"We must try!"
Cho Chang immediately grabbed Mrs. Chang's hand, her tone full of urgency: "Mom, school starts soon. If we can't find a solution, Professor Lupin might really resign!
Please contact your friends right away and ask if they can help!"
Mrs. Chang looked at her daughter's impatient appearance and suddenly showed a half-smile expression.
She raised an eyebrow, her gaze moving between Cho Chang and Harry, her tone carrying some teasing: "Look at this, our daughter is really invested in Harry's affairs!"
"I—I am not!"
Hearing her mother say this, Cho Chang immediately became flustered. She quickly released Mrs. Chang's hand: "I just don't want to lose an excellent Defense Against the Dark Arts professor!
Professor Lupin teaches so well. If he leaves, it would be such a shame!"
"Is that so? Is that really the only reason?"
Mrs. Chang calmly took a sip of tea, the smile in her eyes deepening: "I've heard that Mad-Eye Moody's skills are not inferior to Professor Lupin's.
Having him as a professor at Hogwarts might not be bad either."
Mr. Chang, catching his wife's eye signal, also coughed: "That's right, now that Voldemort has been resurrected, I feel having an Auror as your teacher would be more appropriate—"
"It's—it's not entirely that!"
Seeing her parents say this, Cho Chang quickly said: "Didn't you teach me this?
Helping friends solve their problems is what we should do!
Harry is my friend. He's worried about Professor Lupin, so I'm helping him think of a solution. Isn't that what I should do?"
After saying this, she quickly glanced at Harry, and seeing Harry looking at her, immediately lowered her head.
Hearing Cho Chang's words and seeing her slightly reddened ear tips, Harry's heart suddenly warmed.
At this moment, he suddenly felt that the air was filled with a sweet scent.
You can read more than 40 chapters on:
patreon.com/MikeyMuse