Close to the water pavilion gets the moon first. That's it!
As the magical folk in the wizarding world are still on edge over Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban and his whereabouts unknown, Lupin, whose relationship with Dumbledore is close, has already figured out Black's true purpose of escape and has truly taken action!
"Uhm--"
Lupin held his breath, blinking confusion out of his eyes. A few seconds later, his brain racing, he finally understood what Alastorius had been saying.
"Yes, Alastorius," Lupin's eyes flickered, and he licked his lips before saying.
"Cough... Just as you said... The Ministry's fifty-thousand-galleon bounty, such a large sum... Well, if I could get my hands on it, I'd never have to worry about eating again for the rest of my life." ŴŴŴ.
Alastorius nodded vehemently, acknowledging that under normal circumstances, his annual "output" would probably only be in the thousands, maybe tens of thousands of galleons. FIFTY THOUSAND!? Since he graduated, over the past three or four years, he may not have even made that much money total!
"By the way--"
Alastor pounded the table lightly again and looked at the werewolf standing before him, who would soon be occupying a 'VIP ward' in St. Mangus's Magical Malady and Injury Hospital. His eyes gleamed as a wonderful idea suddenly popped into his mind.
"Hey, Remus, how about we collaborate?"
"Collaborate? You mean--" Looking at Alastorius, who had suddenly become overly eager, Lupin felt a chill creeping up his spine. Now it was he who had become alert.
Alastorius leaned closer to the table, as if afraid of spilling some important business secret.
"We all know that Black escaped from Azkaban to seek revenge, and he will eventually seek Harry Potter's--"
Enthusiastic Alastorius didn't notice that his words made Lupin's hand, which was resting under the table, tremble.
"--it's predictable that he will do everything in his power to get close to Harry Potter. Although Dumbledore is at Hogwarts, he is not omnipotent, as evidenced by the Slytherin's Labyrinth last year, where Dumbledore failed to prevent the conspiracy in time... What I mean is, since you can appear openly at Hogwarts, you can help keep an eye on Potter. You're very alert, Remus; if Black really tries to get close to Potter, you would definitely be able to pick up on some clues. Then, you pass the clues on to me, and I'll track down Black. If we succeed, we can split the fifty thousand galleons three ways!"
Lupin maintained an eerie silence, not uttering a word. His attitude caused Alastorius to misunderstand something.
"Do you think it's too little?" Alastorius frowned, and his tone turned hostile.
"You have to know, Black is a very dangerous criminal. Even with your skills, you might not be able to handle him if you find him."
"No, I was just--"
Lupin seemed to have something plugged in his nose, and he was struggling to get words out one by one.
"I'm just confused, Alastor, Albus admires you, and you could definitely write a letter to Albus. He wouldn't stop you from returning to Hogwarts, but you--"
"I have my reasons, Remus," Alastorius sighed regretfully.
"I plan to stay in Hogwarts, and if anything happens in the school, you can notify me at any time."
Lupin fell silent again, and after a long while, he asked in a voice that was weary and slow,
"If... you really catch Black, Alastor, what are you going to do with him?"
Alastorius raised his eyebrows and was somewhat surprised by Lupin's question.
"Naturally, I'll hand him over to the Ministry for the bounty, Remus. That's the purpose of our collaboration, isn't it?"
"Don't you plan to kill him?" Lupin's expression was dark, "He's committed such heinous crimes."
"It's the responsibility of the Weasleys to try and punish crime, not mine," Alastorius said flatly, and then added,
"And a living one might be worth more."
Looking at Alastorius, who had already made up his mind to scoop up a big sum of galleons, Lupin suddenly felt a deep sense of sorrow. This sorrow was not for Alastorius or for himself, but for his former good friend, Sirius Black.
When he decided to betray his friendship and justice, to submit to Voldemort and provide James and Lily's location, he must have believed that he would be able to gain Voldemort's trust and be granted unprecedented glory.
But did he ever imagine that one day, he would be trapped in this predicament because of that sin, being viewed as prey by rising stars?
"I have a condition, Alastorius. If you agree, then we can collaborate."
Lupin's expression grew solemn, and he spoke in the most frosty tone, "If you agree to this condition, then we will cooperate."
"If Sirius Black were ever truly in your hands, I hope you would turn him over to me."
Noticing Alastorius' confusion, Lupin gasped twice before speaking, "He killed my three friends... very good friends. I must personally kill him."
Silence, stillness.
Alastorius gazed deeply into the weathered face of Lupin, realizing that his previous assumptions had been wrong.... This werewolf had suddenly agreed to become a professor at Hogwarts, not for the money, but for revenge.
"Alright, I'll agree to your request... if I catch Black, I will hand him over to you so that you can kill him. But after that, you can only take two-tenths of the bounty." Alastorius nodded.
In the end, Alastorius and Lupin reached an agreement and signed a magical contract. Having been burned once before, Alastorius clearly stipulated in the contract that Remus Lupin was not to disclose their cooperation to anyone else.
"I noticed something--" Lupin's tone was more stable now, "The contract only binds me not to reveal the plan, but it doesn't bind you?"
Alastorius stood up, stretched, and waved his wand to put the contract away.
"My mouth is shut tight, Remus, but I'm not sure if you'll turn around and tell Albus Dumbledore about this... after all, there's been a precedent."
After this matter was concluded, the two of them talked for several hours in detail about the young witches and wizards at Hogwarts.
Although becoming a professor at Hogwarts was largely due to capturing Black, as Alastorius had previously mentioned, this was indeed a good opportunity to improve the negative image of the werewolf.
If he does a good job, then in the future, when the students he taught enter the magical world and learn that they once had an influential Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts who was a werewolf, they might no longer hold such animosity towards werewolves.
Time quietly passed, and in a blink of an eye, the day of the new term had arrived.
