Gary and Alfrina exchanged glances; both now clearly understood that the beast in the Shrieking Shack at the time was a Werewolf.
"Who chained him there?" Gary heard Alfrina say that the Werewolf was bound by several iron chains, and if Lockhart hadn't accidentally blasted the chains apart, the Werewolf would not have been able to escape and attack them.
A Werewolf was chained in the Shrieking Shack every full moon. Gary immediately thought of Dumbledore's attitude; he had previously promised to solve the problem, but in the end, he only blocked the ground passage leading to the Shrieking Shack…
Dumbledore must have known about the Werewolf in the Shrieking Shack. He wanted to shield him, so who could Dumbledore shield?
His own relatives, Hogwarts teachers and students…
Gary tried to recall all the details from that time. The Defense Against the Dark Arts book stated, "Adult Werewolves can reach eight feet in length (excluding tail), while juvenile Werewolves are nearly six feet in length (excluding tail)…"
That Werewolf was definitely not an adult!
It could only be a Hogwarts student…
The legend of the Shrieking Shack had been widely spread since they entered school, so he should have entered school with them, or perhaps he was bitten by a Werewolf and transformed at that time…
Who, is there anyone who disappears for a period every full moon…
Gary first excluded his close friends, then sifted outwards, circle by circle: Nance, James, Sirius, Peter… Lupin.
Gary remembered that in their second year, around every full moon, Lupin would inform them that he had to go home to care for his seriously ill mother.
Every time Lupin returned from leave, he would be listless for a period, which was extremely similar to the weakness after-effects of a Werewolf's transformation during the full moon.
Gary's mind raced. The more he thought, the more alarmed he became; the possibility of Lupin being a Werewolf was simply too high, every characteristic matched him.
The summer sun still shone on Gary, but cold sweat suddenly broke out on his back.
He felt a chill, Dumbledore actually let a Werewolf in!
Alfrina also seemed to have connected to this astonishing fact, biting her lower lip tightly, her originally rosy cheeks now bloodless.
"What's wrong with you two?" Kona was happily setting up the visiting schedule with Howard, and when she looked back, Gary and Alfrina's faces were extremely pale.
"Nothing, nothing…" Gary's lips trembled as he organized his words, "You two continue discussing, Al, come with me."
He staggered to his feet, packed his schoolbag, entrusted Howard to take it back to the dormitory, and then headed towards the Castle. At first, his steps were slow, then they became faster and faster, until finally, he exerted himself and began to run quickly.
Bypassing the Quidditch pitch, stepping over the green lawn, he swiftly rushed into the Castle's entrance hall. Many students were walking out, and they looked surprised to see him rush in, drenched in sweat.
Alfrina's long legs ran swiftly as well. She rushed in right behind Gary.
"What's wrong with you two?" Gryffindor's Sunny, holding a stack of notes, was chatting with Nance as she walked out of the Castle, and seeing their appearance, she asked with concern.
"…Nothing, have you seen James?" Gary asked frantically.
"James? He was still in the common room when I came out." Sunny frowned and thought carefully.
"That's great, can you help me call him out?" Gary didn't bother to wipe the sweat from his head; in the summer heat, sweat dripped down in streams.
"Ah… you two come with me." Sunny knew from Gary's expression that something urgent must have happened, so she quickly handed the books in her hand to Nance and led them running towards the Gryffindor Tower.
→
Nance looked at the two stacks of books in his hands, stunned, then looked at Sunny who had run off, and quickly chased after her.
Jumping over a moving staircase, climbing to the eighth floor, running straight down the corridor, they finally arrived at the entrance of the Gryffindor Common Room, where the Fat Lady guarded the door, playing with her nails.
"Dragon Scale." Sunny's short hair was soaked with sweat and stuck to her cheeks. She gasped out the password to the Fat Lady.
"Password correct." The Fat Lady's portrait rotated, revealing a short, narrow passage that required crawling through.
"You two wait for me here, I'll go call him." Sunny didn't look back and directly squeezed into the passage. The Fat Lady, being very responsible, blocked the passage again.
Alfrina and Gary looked serious, both pressing their lips together, not saying a word. Nance, beside them, placed the two stacks of books on the ground and sat down with a bend of his legs.
Nance looked at Gary, then at Alfrina, his lips moved slightly, but he still held back from asking.
A rumbling sound came, and the Fat Lady moved her backside again, revealing the passage exit. Sunny emerged first, followed by James.
"You're looking for me?" James was still in his pajamas, his hair messy, and his eyes sleepy.
Gary and Alfrina hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back.
"Then you two talk, we'll go first." Sunny smiled generously, pulled Nance, who was squatting on the ground, and left.
"Do you know Remus's true identity?" Alfrina grabbed James's arm.
"What?" James rubbed his eyes, "What true identity?" His voice was soft and his tone drawn out, looking like he hadn't fully woken up yet.
"Slap!" Alfrina slapped James on the back of his head. James cried out in pain, and his eyes finally opened.
"Remus is a Werewolf, do you know that?" Gary pulled James and made him look him in the eye.
"…" James reacted as if he had seen a ghost. He jumped up, "You, you, you…" His index finger pointed at Gary, looking incredulous.
"What about me? You all knew?" Gary's face darkened.
"How did you guess?" James looked left and right to make sure no one was eavesdropping.
"We saw the fourth-year Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook, it has a description of a Werewolf's basic characteristics." Alfrina said, her face flushed.
"You actually knew already, why didn't you report it?" Gary was a little angry.
"Report what?" James was puzzled, "Remus is my brother."
"He's… he's your brother, and also a Werewolf!" Gary was anxious. He grabbed James's pajama collar and shouted at him.
"So what if he's a Werewolf?" James shouted back.
"You two, lower your voices, do you want everyone in the Castle to know about this?" Alfrina urged them to calm down.
"James, you need to move out of that dormitory." Gary said in a deep voice.
"I don't need you to worry about my business." James said to him with a cold face.
Upon hearing this, Gary felt all his enthusiasm turn to ice. His robes were completely soaked with sweat, and now they stuck to his body, making him extremely uncomfortable.
He slowly released his hand from James's collar.
"You need to know, Werewolves can transform at will." Gary felt a bitter taste in his mouth.