Chapter 861: Lupin and the Werewolves (Patreon)

By the middle of the dinner, Lupin was back.

He Apparated directly in the kitchen, wearing patched, shabby robes and looking exhausted.

Everyone greeted him in a hurry. He sat between Harry and Evan, and Mrs. Weasley brought him a set of cutlery.

"Thank you, Molly, I'm so hungry!" said Lupin, turning around to look at Harry carefully, "Harry, how are you? Sorry I didn't come to pick you up today. I had something important to do…"

"I'm fine, you don't need to blame yourself for this," said Harry hurriedly.

He knew that Professor Lupin had been working for Evan and Hogwarts Magic after leaving school.

But he hadn't seen him for quite some time, and he felt warm to meet him now.

"How's it going there?" Evan asked, filling his goblet with butterbeer.

"Not so good. I haven't got into it yet. They don't seem to trust me very much and need more time," said Lupin. "The day I disappear, it'll mean that I'm really integrated into them. They live underground and have little communication with the outside world. Then, you may need a new editor-in-chief for the newspaper."

"An excellent editor like you is not easy to find..." said Evan.

"Do you have to do it?" Harry asked afterward.

He heard Evan talk about what Lupin was doing, and he seemed a little puzzled and worried about it.

The contact with werewolves was very dangerous, why did Lupin have to go?

"They don't believe in outsiders. Dumbledore wanted a spy, and here I was … ready-made," said Lupin, sounding a little bitter, and perhaps he realized it, for he smiled more warmly as he went on, "I am not complaining; it is necessary work and who can do it better than I? However, it has been difficult gaining their trust. I bear the unmistakable signs of having tried to live among wizards, whereas they have shunned normal society and live on the margins, stealing … and sometimes killing … to eat."

"How come they like Voldemort?"

"They think that, under his rule, they will have a better life. And it is hard to argue with Greyback there. ..."

"Fenrir Greyback?!" Hermione looked at Lupin, her eyes widened, and said worriedly, "Lupin, are you in contact with him?"

She had always remembered the werewolf attack a few years ago, and the brutality of Greyback also left a deep impression on her.

Hearing Greyback's name, the pleasant chatting in the room suddenly stopped, and everyone was looking at Lupin.

Because of the attack on Evan and Hermione, everyone knew about Greyback, the most savage werewolf alive today.

The terrible thing about Greyback was that he regarded it as his mission in life to bite and to contaminate as many people as possible. He wanted to create enough werewolves to overcome the wizards, and he also specialized in attacking children and underage wizards. He usually bit them young, and then took them away from their parents and raised them to hate normal wizards.

The werewolf problem in the wizarding world was so serious and, to a large extent, it was caused by Greyback.

Everyone hated him to death, including other werewolves, but they were also very afraid of him and obeyed his brutal rule.

It was precisely because of Greyback that Lupin became a werewolf, and his hatred for him was even more unforgettable.

"Remus, you said too much, you shouldn't tell them these things," said Mrs. Weasley unhappy.

"You’re right, Molly, can I have some more bread?" said Lupin gently, noticing the abnormality around him, "You don't have to worry, I'll settle all this. By the way, Evan, how was your trip to Egypt with Hermione? Did everything go well?"

"It went well, and the harvest was beyond imagination."

During this trip to Egypt, Evan had achieved his original goal, successfully learned the secret of the Emerald Tablet, and made a breakthrough in Alchemy.

Although it was a pity he couldn’t venture into the Ruins of Amun Ra, it also avoided danger.

Not to mention, there was also the treasure of the Goblin Zoser as compensation, he got a lot of valuable items.

Because Evan mentioned the goblin, he and Lupin and Mr. Weasley had an intense discussion about the matter.

"I’ve contacted the goblins of Gringotts before, and they’re not giving anything away yet," said Mr. Weasley. "Of course, they might prefer not to take sides at all, and keep out of it. As far as my personal opinion, I think those cunning goblins would never go over to You-Know-Who. They’ve suffered heavy losses last time and they will not repeat the same mistakes."

"That depends on what they’re offered," said Lupin. "I'm not talking about gold. The goblins want something more important. If they’re offered freedoms we’ve been denying them for centuries they’re going to be tempted."

"Voldemort might use his power to force the goblins obey him. He doesn't have the patience to negotiate with them," said Evan. "Of course, that would certainly cause the division of Gringotts..."

"The turbulent world of magic, this is really bad enough," said Mr. Weasley. "Bill will be back soon. He applied for a desk job. Then he’ll be responsible for communicating with the goblins. He can ..."

At this moment, a gale of laughter from the middle of the table drowned the rest of his words.

Mundungus was telling a joke about his business. Fred, George, Ron, and Mundungus were rolling around in their seats.

“I don’t think we need to hear any more of your business dealings, thank you very much, Mundungus,” said Mrs. Weasley sharply.

"Sorry, Molly!" said Mundungus at once, heedless of her warning.

Ron slumped forward onto the table, howling with laughter.

Fred and George buried their faces in their goblets of butterbeer; George was hiccupping.

Mrs. Weasley threw a very nasty look at Mr. Weasley before getting to her feet and going to fetch a large rhubarb crumble for pudding.

"Molly doesn't approve of Mundungus very much. She doesn't like him," said Mr. Weasley in an undertone, shrugging his shoulders. "I shouldn't have invited him to stay for dinner tonight. Molly thinks he’s going too far. Yes, she hasn't forgiven him for slipping off duty when he was supposed to be tailing Harry."

"Mundungus is a crook, but he’s very loyal to Dumbledore, who helped him out of a tight spot once. It also pays to have someone like Dung around, he hears things we don’t," said Lupin. "Sirius strongly agreed to let him join the Order of the Phoenix. By the way, Evan, after dinner, can I talk to you alone? I have something to tell you about Greyback. …"