"Miss Yu," Peeves clasped his hands together and even gave an exaggerated bow, "would you kindly show mercy and grant little Peeves a small wish?"
It was the first time Jane Yu had seen the mischievous Peeves act so polite, as though he had been possessed by someone else.
She glanced behind him, half-expecting the Bloody Baron to be standing there, but saw no such thing.
"What do you want?" she asked.
Peeves flipped in the air excitedly, his true nature instantly revealing itself.
"Oh, you know, that thing, the gaming console!"
"Those red-headed twins play it all the time, and Peeves has never seen anything so fun!"
Jane happened to have two unused prototypes lying around and didn't mind lending one to Peeves. However, nothing in this world comes for free—
"And what will you offer in exchange?"
"Let's not forget that back in my second year, you falsely accused me—"
Peeves panicked. Bowing even lower, he spoke with exaggerated humility, "Oh, great Miss Yu, please don't hold a grudge against poor little Peeves. I'm willing to make it up to you!"
"If there's anyone in this school you don't like, just say the word! Water balloons, chalk, ink bottles, or even Gurdyroot pods—I'll throw them at whoever you want!"
Seeing that Jane remained unmoved, Peeves quickly switched tactics.
"Or perhaps you'd like to know some secrets?"
"From the founding of Hogwarts to now, anything you want to know—Peeves knows it all!"
"Secret passageways, students' little scandals…"
This was undeniably tempting for Jane. She asked, "Why don't you give me an example?"
Peeves' eyes gleamed as he thought of Lupin, who had recently shot chewing gum up his nose. He immediately began to slander him.
"For instance, your dear Professor Lupin—he has a secret, a big one!"
"Back in the day, there were four Gryffindors: Prongs Potter, Moony Lupin, Padfoot Black, and Wormtail Pettigrew. They called themselves the Marauders. They were troublemakers, inseparable, and I gave each of them nicknames!"
Jane understood now.
Peeves must have been annoyed because he couldn't out-prank the Marauders.
Perhaps they were even better at causing chaos than he was.
"I thought I'd never see them again, but lo and behold, Lupin came back as a professor!" Peeves' round eyes widened in indignation. "It's infuriating! I call him Moony—a little jab at his moonlit cycles!"
This wasn't news to Jane, so she listened with mild boredom.
"You know why your Head of House dislikes Lupin so much, don't you? It's because they were always at odds during school!"
Jane couldn't help but be a little surprised.
Four against one? That was hardly fair!
Professor Snape could take on all four of them? Now that was impressive!
No wonder he became the Head of Slytherin House!
But her thoughts quickly turned to the Wolfsbane Potion Snape brewed, and she couldn't help but feel a sense of respect.
Brewing potions for your mortal enemy—that was truly magnanimous and noble!
Peeves then led Jane through all the secret passageways leading out of Hogwarts: the one behind the one-eyed humpback witch statue, the one behind the mirror on the fourth floor, the Whomping Willow passage, the Gregory the Smarmy statue passage, the Vanishing Cabinet passage, and more.
His efforts earned him a gaming console.
Peeves was so overjoyed that he performed an elaborate bow mid-air, his delight knowing no bounds.
However, Jane's admiration for Snape's magnanimity was short-lived. She was soon summoned to his office.
Today, the professor's brow was unusually unfurrowed. Instead of extending her detention for the final week of the month, he pushed a goblet containing Wolfsbane Potion toward her, as though relieved of some burden.
"Take this to your fur-covered professor and remind him to roll around in the muddy fields under the moonlight as needed."
"If he runs out, bring him the cauldron and sincerely wish him a long and prosperous life."
Snape even allowed himself a rare smirk before shutting the office door in her face.
But having just learned about his history with the Marauders from Peeves, Jane had no doubt that Snape's subtext was more along the lines of "Don't let me see him," "Make him leave," "I'll drown him in this cauldron," and "May he drop dead on the spot."
Carrying the still-smoking goblet, Jane made her way to Lupin's office.
The door opened, and Lupin appeared behind it. He looked surprised to see her standing there.
"Miss Yu, you're here?" Lupin's expression shifted, his gaze flickering nervously between her and the goblet.
"You don't need to worry," Jane reassured him. "Both Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Snape are aware of this. You drank what I brewed for you last month as well."
Lupin's expression softened back into his usual mild demeanor. He seemed reassured and invited Jane into his office.
"Have a seat," he said, seemingly wanting to build some rapport. He handed her a cup of hot tea. "You've left quite an impression on me. You're an exceptional student, especially with how you've handled Boggarts, Dementors, and even brewing such a complex potion, Yu."
He downed the Wolfsbane Potion in one gulp, his face contorting slightly.
"The taste is... authentic. Looks like you've truly mastered Snape's essence," he muttered. "Thank you, and please pass along my gratitude to him."
He offered her a polite smile, but since they didn't know each other well, there wasn't much to talk about. He shifted the topic to Harry.
"Yesterday, I caught another Boggart. Harry happened to pass by my office and helped me test it."
"He failed a few times but eventually succeeded. He said he thought of your guidance and used one of your magical tools for help."
"That's wonderful," Lupin said, his gaze probing as though curious about her relationship with Harry. "It's rare to see such camaraderie between a Gryffindor and a Slytherin."
To be honest, Lupin was pleased.
The inter-house rivalries had only grown worse over the years.
But in Harry and Jane, he saw hope for reconciliation.
Jane nodded.
Indeed, her relationship with Gryffindor was excellent.
After all, she had built an unshakable monetary bond with its students.
Every single one of them was a potential customer—a walking, breathing Galleon!
"Ever since I graduated from Hogwarts, I've often thought about it," Lupin said with a sigh. "Perhaps there's always been some bias and prejudice between Gryffindor and Slytherin…"
He trailed off, unwilling to delve too deeply into such a heavy topic, and instead offered a smile.
"By the way, I've been troubled lately. Students have been skipping class more and more frequently. Do you know why?"
"And the essays I assigned—many students didn't even meet the word count. Being a professor isn't easy, you know!"
Jane felt a pang of guilt and quickly made her exit.
"Maybe it's the sudden drop in temperature," she said, making up an excuse. "The students are under a lot of stress and catching colds."
Lupin seemed to consider this, nodding thoughtfully.
But deep down, he couldn't shake an uneasy feeling.
Somehow, he doubted it was that simple.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
"8 amazing fanfics available on my Patreon.
Support for 200+ advance chapters:
patreon.com/DarkGolds"