The club's project quickly leaked out. Of course, Tver hadn't asked them to keep it confidential. After all, he needed everyone's wisdom—ideally, it would reach the professors' ears so they could offer some valuable advice. What disappointed him, however, was that the professors either wore expressions of disdain (Snape) or smug "I'm rooting for you" looks, then claimed they couldn't help with the issue. It made sense, really, because this very problem was also occupying Tver's own thoughts.
While contemplating soul fusion, he had come up with a line of reasoning—the transformation of will. After numerous attempts, he realized that re-merging soul and magic was likely impossible. Yet the Chamber of Secrets door was undeniably real. Therefore, he concluded that Salazar must have altered his soul to some degree, transforming it into something that could merge with magic. The test subjects were his means of verifying whether such a transformation existed. It was a bit embarrassing to admit, but it seemed he'd treated the entire club's students as test subjects...
Even so, the club's progress remained predictably slow. By Halloween Eve, they could only occasionally cast the Boggart Banishing Spell on fake Boggarts. Tver had braced himself for this, though the students, new to magical research, hadn't yet tasted such tedium.
"Alright, I hope you all realize that every advancement in the magical world involves researchers enduring long stretches of tedium."
"Only through this can the final results become truly delicious. Understood?" Tver offered a reassuring word to the disheartened students.
"That concludes today's seminar. Some of you have dates in Hogsmeade to attend, after all."
The students immediately giggled, glancing at Percy and Penelope, whose faces flushed crimson at the teasing remark. Though seminars were normally held on Sundays, today was Halloween Eve—and the first Hogsmeade trip of the school year. So Tver deliberately scheduled a morning wrap-up before dismissing everyone. Whether they headed off on dates or elsewhere was none of his business.
After seeing the students off, he restored the classroom to its original state. There wasn't much to restore—the desks and chairs had been hidden with Transfiguration spells, so he simply undid the spells. Even this rudimentary version of the Room of Requirement drained a significant amount of magic. Despite his vast reserves, the effort felt taxing.
"What's the matter? Studying magic drained your reserves? Care for a cup of my potion to sample?"
On the staircase, Tver encountered Snape carrying a cup of potion—along with his "greetings." Slytherin truly lived up to its house name; the Head of House's words were as venomous as ever.
"Thank you, but no thanks. I'm quite confident in my own concoctions of this sort," Tver replied with a smile, leaving Snape's hostility nowhere to land.
"But this is for Lupin, isn't it?"
"Of course. I've specially modified it—perfectly suited for him." Snape deliberately emphasized the word "specially," as if afraid Tver wouldn't recognize it as a wolfsbane potion. Wolfsbane potions weren't meant to kill wolves; they were designed to help werewolves retain their sanity during the full moon, even after transformation. This particular Wolfsbane Potion had indeed been improved. According to Lupin, aside from tasting even worse, its effects were enhanced in every other way.
"Why don't you give it to me? I'm heading over to his place anyway."
Tver was indeed going to see Lupin, who had informed him he'd found another Boggart and wanted Tver to come and take it back. Snape was more than happy to offload the task—he couldn't bear the sight of Lupin's face! He shoved the cup into Tver's arms so forcefully it nearly spilled.
"Handle it," he said, his voice laced with cold amusement. "Just remember—he'd better take another dose tomorrow. Otherwise, it won't be stable enough. And the students in the castle? They won't tolerate his other face."
"When the time comes, I won't mind giving him a taste of magic myself."
As soon as Tver took the cup, Snape turned and walked away without looking back. Tver felt an inexplicable sense of unease. Ever since Lupin arrived at the school, it seemed Snape's attention had shifted entirely to him.
It was as if Lupin's face was perpetually set in a sneer. After a moment's thought, Tver shrugged and continued toward Lupin's office. Having someone else take the heat for him was no bad thing.
But Lupin's office already had another visitor—Professor Fawley.
"Professor Fawley."
Harry stood up as if he'd done something wrong, looking at him nervously.
Tver ignored his peculiar expression and handed the potion to Lupin first.
"A potion brewed for you by Snape. He's got a whole cauldron full left. You'd best go over and drink a cup every day for a while."
If it was about drawing fire, then naturally, the more attention drawn, the better!
"This is a potion brewed by Snape?"
Harry's face was written with disbelief.
"Quite right," Tver knew exactly what he was thinking. "Rest assured, Snape has a hundred ways to kill Lupin, but he wouldn't stoop to using potions."
"...Thanks, but shouldn't you check on that Boggart first?"
Lupin took a sip of the potion and shuddered involuntarily. Clearly, the taste was as indescribable as he'd claimed.
"It's fine. I can see Harry has a flood of questions he wants answered."
Tver sat down beside Lupin, who was sipping his potion, and looked at Harry, waiting for him to speak.
Harry felt flustered by the two professors' attention. After a moment's hesitation, he lowered his head and said,
"Actually... it's about the Boggart. Why didn't you let me deal with it that day?"
"To be honest, that was my fault. I just didn't want Voldemort appearing in front of everyone," Lupin answered bluntly.
"But that was a Dementor."
"So you want to face a Dementor again? I mean, there was a Boggart inside it."
"Um..."
Harry hesitated awkwardly, unsure if he could truly face a Dementor again.
Tver couldn't help but laugh.
"It's just a Boggart. Even if it were a real Dementor, it wouldn't scare you this much."
"Harry's just a child, not a powerful wizard like you. It's perfectly normal for him to feel afraid. After all, Dementors truly deserve to be feared," Lupin countered, sounding slightly annoyed.
Tver waved his hand dismissively.
"No, no, no. What I mean is, Harry possesses the courage to defeat a Dementor. He just needs to tap into it himself."
Turning his gaze to Harry, Lupin sipped his potion slowly, saying nothing more. A heavy silence settled over the office.
Harry felt awkward in the silence, his eyes shifting between the two professors, unsure what to say.
"Oh, I nearly forgot," Lupin said, as if suddenly remembering after finishing his potion. "There's the Halloween feast tonight. You should hurry back."
Harry breathed a sigh of relief and bid farewell to both professors.
...