The following days at Hogwarts were thick with a peculiar kind of tension. While the stone walls of the castle remained as cold and indifferent as ever, the student body was anything but calm. The "Forbidden Forest Monster" had become the singular obsession of every breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Since Dumbledore's announcement, the rumors had mutated. Some third-years were convinced a rogue Hungarian Horntail was nesting in the canopy, while a group of Hufflepuffs whispered that the school was secretly housing a displaced Giant. They were, in Albert's estimation, far too bored. It was easy to spin tall tales when you hadn't stood ten feet away from a snarling Cerberus that smelled like a rotting graveyard. If any of these "adventurers" actually came face-to-face with Fluffy, they wouldn't be gossiping; they'd be looking for a change of trousers.
By the time Tuesday afternoon rolled around, the atmosphere in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was electric. Professor Smith had barely set her leather briefcase on the desk before the dam broke.
"Professor! Is it true?" Lee Jordan called out, nearly falling out of his seat in excitement. "The monster in the woods—people say you and the Headmaster had a proper duel with it! Did it really breathe fire?"
Professor Smith paused, a faint, weary smile playing on her lips as she looked over the sea of expectant faces. She looked every bit the sophisticated academic, yet there was a sharpness in her eyes that Albert—now equipped with Level 4 Occlumency—could see more clearly. She wasn't just tired; she was calculating.
"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you, Mr. Jordan," she replied, her voice smooth and tinged with a well-acted regret. "The forest is a vast, messy place. While the Headmaster and I were tracking the creature, we had to split up to cover more ground. As it happens, the Headmaster was the one who eventually crossed paths with our 'dangerous big fellow.' By the time I reached the clearing, the matter had been... resolved."
A collective groan of disappointment rippled through the Gryffindors.
"However," Smith continued, raising a hand to silence the murmurs, "while I missed the main event, I did stumble across something else that should serve as a very stern warning to all of you. Something with too many legs and a very unpleasant appetite."
"What was it?" Fred asked, leaning forward.
"An Acromantula," Smith said. The smile vanished, replaced by a cold, clinical seriousness. "I believe some of you encountered a Boggart version of one earlier this year. Mr. Weasley, if I recall, found the experience quite moving."
Ron Weasley, sitting a few rows back, turned a shade of red that matched his hair.
"There have been whispers for decades that a colony exists within the school grounds," Smith told the class, her gaze sweeping across the room. "I can confirm those whispers are fact. And that, more than any 'mystery monster,' is why the Forbidden Forest is off-limits. Acromantulas are not mere beasts; they are sentient, cruel, and they possess a very specific fondness for human flesh."
The classroom, usually a place of lively debate, went unnervingly quiet.
"Most of you," Smith added, her voice dropping an octave, "wouldn't even have time to scream before being dragged into the canopy. Do not mistake your school lessons for real-world invincibility. If you wander in there and vanish, poor Hagrid is the one who has to go in and try to find what's left of you. Even a seasoned witch can find herself overwhelmed if she's ambushed by a dozen of them at once."
Fred and George exchanged a look. They had been there. They had seen Albert standing in a circle of fire, blasting back a tide of chitin and venom. To them, Smith's warning felt almost understated, but they also knew that Albert was an anomaly.
"She's right," Albert cut in, his voice calm but firm. He didn't look at his friends, keeping his eyes on Smith. "Underestimating an Acromantula is the last mistake most people ever make. They aren't just big spiders; they're hunters that can talk you into a trap."
Smith nodded at Albert, a flicker of something—approval? suspicion?—crossing her face. "Quite right, Mr. Anderson. Now, let us move from the shadows of the forest to the dangers of the water. Turn your textbooks to the section on the Kappa."
Albert looked down at the illustration. To him, the Kappa looked like a bizarre cross between a monkey and a turtle, a creature straight out of Japanese folklore. In the wizarding world, they were classified as XXXX—dangerous.
"Kappas are rare in Britain, but they are a staple of Eastern magical defense," Smith explained. "They lurk in shallow waters, waiting for a traveler to wade in. They don't just bite; they drain the blood and drown their victims. Does anyone know the... more eccentric ways of dealing with one?"
"The cucumber trick!" someone shouted.
"Indeed," Smith said, though she didn't look amused. "Carving your name into a cucumber and tossing it to them can buy you safe passage. Or, if you're feeling brave, you can trick them into bowing. The bowl on their head holds the source of their power—water from their home pond. Empty the bowl, and the Kappa becomes as helpless as a newborn kitten."
A few students chuckled at the image of a bloodthirsty monster being defeated by a polite bow. But Smith didn't join in. She slammed her hand down on the desk, the sound echoing like a gunshot in the small room. The laughter died instantly.
"You think it's funny?" she asked, her voice dangerously quiet. "You think a bow and a cucumber make you safe? A Kappa moves faster than a human can react in water. If you miss that bow, you die. If you forget the cucumber, you die. Stay away from danger and always remain vigilant. That sentence is worth more than every page in this book."
The shift in her temperament was jarring. Usually, Smith was the "cool" professor, the one who told stories and kept things light. This sudden, jagged edge made the students shift uncomfortably in their seats.
"Vigilance," she repeated, her eyes lingering on Albert for a second too long. "It is the only thing that keeps a wizard alive when the world decides it wants him gone. Now, enough about water-dwellers. I want a twelve-inch essay on the Kappa's weaknesses by Friday. For the rest of the period, we are moving to a much more pressing threat. Turn to page three hundred and ninety-four."
"Sir? That's the section on—"
"Werewolves," Smith interrupted. "The most important chapter in this curriculum. While the chances of you meeting a Kappa in the Great Lake are slim, the chances of you meeting a werewolf in your lifetime are disturbingly high."
She began to pace the front of the room, her robes snapping. "A werewolf is a tragedy in human form. For twenty-eight days of the lunar cycle, they are people—often broken, often discriminated against, and often harborers of a deep, seething resentment toward the society that shuns them. But on the twenty-ninth night..."
She paused, the silence in the room heavy enough to feel.
"They lose everything. Their mind, their identity, their soul. A transformed werewolf does not recognize its mother, its friend, or its child. It sees only prey. And if you are lucky enough to survive an attack, your life is over anyway. You become a pariah. A monster in the eyes of the Ministry. A ruin."
The students watched her, mesmerized and terrified. The fear of werewolves in the Wizarding World was primal, akin to the fear of the plague.
"Some werewolves try to live quietly," Smith said, her voice softening slightly but losing none of its intensity. "But you cannot rely on the exception. When the moon is full, the beast is in control. You must learn to identify the signs—the snout shape, the pupils, the tufted tail. Because if you realize what you're looking at only when the lunging starts, it's already too late."
Albert watched Smith's hands as she spoke. She was gripping the edge of her podium so hard her knuckles were white. He wondered if this was part of the act—the dedicated teacher warning her flock—or if Smith had a personal stake in the hatred of lycanthropes.
As the class began to scribble notes on the silver-point weaknesses and the lunar cycle, Albert leaned back. His Level 4 Occlumency allowed him to stay detached, observing the room like a spectator at a play. He could see the fear in Fred's eyes and the intense focus on Hermione's face.
But he also saw the way Smith was watching the class. She wasn't just teaching them; she was gauging their reactions. She was looking for something.