After witnessing the sheer performance of Maurise's broomstick, Rita Skeeter's attitude instantly took a complete one-eighty.
"Write a similar review? Absolutely no problem."
The name Firebolt was currently a household name. The sudden appearance of a new broomstick completely capable of challenging its undisputed dominance was undeniably a massive news scoop.
While Rita had never harbored much personal interest in such "boring" hardware news, she was not particularly opposed to it either. More importantly, Maurise held a massive, career-destroying secret over her head. Even if she desperately wanted to refuse, she simply could not.
This particular trip to Hogwarts had been an absolute disaster. Not only had she completely failed to dig up an exclusive scoop on the Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew drama, but she had also exposed her highly illegal Animagus status in the process. It was a massive loss.
Fortunately, the boy's demand was not entirely unreasonable. All he wanted was a simple article. That was exactly what she did best. She was entirely confident in her ability to write an incredibly captivating piece, even if she had absolutely no idea what the specific technical data for Maurise's broomstick was.
As far as she was concerned, every single detail in a report could be completely fabricated, just as long as it was interesting enough to hook the reader...
Maurise was naturally unaware of the specific schemes spinning in Rita's mind. But even if he knew, he would not care in the slightest.
He had absolute confidence in the quality of his product. Once his broomstick gained enough widespread recognition, he would never suffer from a lack of eager customers.
Rita departed quickly.
Once her figure had completely vanished from sight, Maurise turned to the twins. "Let's go. Time to head back and revise."
The research and development phase of his flying broomstick had finally come to a successful end. The only things left to do were to give it a proper name and officially launch it onto the market.
Once Rita fulfilled her end of their bargain, the hype surrounding his creation would undoubtedly be astronomical. By then, he would be swimming in more golden Galleons than he could possibly spend.
---
Before anyone truly realized it, exam week at Hogwarts had finally arrived.
The entire castle was immediately shrouded in an incredibly tense, almost suffocating atmosphere.
Maurise, naturally, was not panicked in the slightest. Barring any highly unforeseen accidents, he would undoubtedly secure first place in his year once again. It was pure, unadulterated confidence.
The exams proceeded incredibly smoothly, and in the blink of an eye, the final day before departure had arrived.
After finishing breakfast in the Great Hall, Maurise knocked lightly on the door to Professor Lupin's office.
"Come in," Lupin's voice called out from inside.
Maurise pushed the door open and immediately noticed the office was completely bare. There was absolutely nothing on the desk, and the shelves had been entirely cleared out. The large room contained only a single desk and an armchair, making it feel remarkably empty.
Lupin stood quietly by the window with his back to the door. Hearing footsteps, he turned around and offered a gentle smile. "Hello there, Maurise. Is there something you need?"
Maurise took a quick look around the desolate room before speaking. "Professor Lupin, I was just wondering if you still needed me to brew the Wolfsbane Potion. It needs to be taken a full week in advance. By my calculations, it is about time to start preparing."
Lupin shook his head gently.
"Do not worry about it," he replied easily. "I have already officially resigned."
So that was it. Maurise nodded. No wonder the office had been packed up so thoroughly.
Just then, the office door was violently shoved open, crashing loudly against the stone wall. A figure strode confidently into the room.
"Lupin, I came to see you! How are you holding up?"
The voice was incredibly cheerful and sounded remarkably familiar.
Upon seeing Maurise standing there, the newcomer clearly paused.
"Ah, Maurise. What are you doing here?"
It was Sirius Black. And following closely behind him was Harry Potter.
Upon entering, Harry nodded eagerly at Maurise, a massive, almost exaggerated grin plastered across his face. He seemed unbelievably happy for some unknown reason.
"I just came to ask Professor Lupin if he still required the Wolfsbane Potion," Maurise answered honestly.
"Wolfsbane Potion?" Sirius looked mildly confused.
"Ah, let us not talk about that," Lupin clearly did not wish to dwell on the subject. He quickly changed the topic. "By the way, Sirius, how did your case go? Is the Ministry of Magic still giving you a hard time?"
Sirius leaned casually against the wall and grinned widely, though the smile faded slightly as a sudden thought crossed his mind.
"Everything has pretty much been sorted out, except for catching Peter, of course," he stated calmly. "The illegal Animagus issue has already been resolved. According to the law, I should have been tossed straight into Azkaban. However, they finally realized I had already spent over a decade rotting in there for nothing. Sentencing me again simply would not hold up. But I really have to thank Professor Dumbledore for that. He was the one who personally stepped in and smoothed a lot of things over."
Lupin offered a completely genuine smile. "Congratulations."
"And there is even better news!" Harry interjected suddenly, his voice practically trembling with excitement. "Sirius is going to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor next term!"
Lupin's eyes widened in sheer surprise. "Really? You are going to teach?"
"Dumbledore personally invited me." Sirius shrugged effortlessly. "I have nothing else to do anyway."
So it was Dumbledore's doing.
"Well..." Maurise pondered for a moment before deciding to casually pour a bucket of cold water over the celebration. "Sirius, allow me to remind you... being the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts carries a very high risk of severe injury."
They were somewhat acquainted now. It was only polite to offer a fair warning.
The widely accepted rumor was that "no professor can last more than a single year." However, the stark reality was that the professor always ended up injured in some capacity. In the worst-case scenarios, they could even lose their lives. It was likely a highly meticulous design implemented by Voldemort himself.
Hearing Maurise's grim reminder, the color instantly drained from Harry's face.
"That is right! There is a curse! How could I possibly forget about that!?" His expression quickly turned to sheer panic. "Sirius, you cannot take the job! The position is cursed!"
Sirius looked down at his panicked godson, his own expression remaining largely unbothered. He reached out and ruffled Harry's messy hair affectionately. "Relax. Lupin is perfectly fine, is he not?"
Hearing this, Maurise was the first to react. Now that he thought about it, that was incredibly true. As of today, Lupin had indeed suffered no major accidents.
Oh my, perhaps he had severely underestimated Lupin's capabilities.
"That is likely because someone else helped him shoulder the burden of the curse."
Suddenly, a familiar voice drifted into the room.
Everyone's gaze instantly snapped to the doorway. Dumbledore stood there, clad in a set of deep purple robes, attire he typically reserved for formal occasions.
"Professor Dumbledore?" Lupin quickly recovered his wits. "What exactly do you mean by that?"
Dumbledore stepped further into the room, offering a warm smile. "Have you forgotten? A certain someone took over quite a few of your classes."
Lupin thought for a moment, his eyes widening in pure disbelief. "Snape?"
"Indeed," Dumbledore confirmed.
Lupin's expression instantly became incredibly complicated.
So, in a roundabout way, Snape had actually helped him. Hmm... he wondered exactly how Snape would feel if he heard that.
However, a massive part of the reason he was forced to resign was precisely because of Snape. Snape had "accidentally" slipped the truth about his werewolf identity to the Slytherin students.
"Therefore, I plan to hire exactly two Defense Against the Dark Arts professors next term," Dumbledore stated with a sly twinkle in his eye. "That way, we can effectively dilute the power of the curse."
"Who is the other one?" Maurise asked casually.
"A retired Auror," Dumbledore answered cryptically.
...
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