The scene shifts back to Link's side.
After informing Emily of everything, Link threw himself into the work of training the 'Skars'.
This was not some light work, because Krell had made some modifications to the original training machine, which made it more efficient, but at the same time, it required much more magic power in the early stages, and this magic infusion had to be continuous.
Such consumption, even though Link's magic power far exceeded that of people his age, was truly unbearable.
Fortunately, Emily strongly supported Link, and would often help infuse magic into the machine together with Link after class.
This greatly reduced Link's workload, and soon the early stage of 'incubation' ended, allowing the embryos to enter the acceleration stage that didn't require as much magic to maintain.
Only at this point did Link breathe a sigh of relief. The recent high-intensity magic consumption had made him completely haggard.
Compared to Link, John was much more carefree.
This guy was cheerful every day, smiling at everyone, and disappearing right after class.
At the same time, he was like he'd been injected with chicken blood during Quidditch training.
According to Cedric, it seemed to be because Lilian was watching the matches.
As for John getting together with Lilian, Link wasn't surprised at all.
The method he gave may have been old-fashioned, but that was by modern standards, placed in the present, it was just right.
Moreover, the day after John successfully confessed, he excitedly sought out Link and described every detail of the confession.
Of course, there were surely exaggerated parts in it.
For example, the claim that John had perfectly recited that Elvish phrase, Link would never believe it. After all, if John really had that thick of a face, Link wouldn't have needed to step in at all.
However, after hearing the whole process, Link also discovered another thing.
That Ravenclaw girl named Lilian seemed to be far more experienced than John.
This could be seen clearly from how she guided John to formally say that confession phrase.
John, he might very well suffer the pain of love later on.
But Link wouldn't tell John such things. You have to understand, the guy was currently in the honeymoon phase. Saying something like that would just ruin the mood.
It's worth mentioning that after successfully confessing thanks to Link's advice, John seemed to regard Link as a love guru.
Every day after returning from his dates with Lilian, he would seek Link out to review and ask for advice. This drove Link nearly mad.
"Link! Do you think it was a bit too sudden when I held her hand yesterday? I keep feeling it was a bit disrespectful to her for it to happen so quickly."
On the way to Defense Against the Dark Arts class, John was still whispering to Link.
This made Link roll his eyes and reply irritably, "No such thing. Maybe she's been hoping you'd take the next step for a while."
"But..."
"No buts! John!" Seeing that John still wanted to continue, Link finally couldn't hold back, "Merlin's beard, I've only just been freed from endless remedial Potions classes, (This was Link's excuse for his recent busyness. After all, no one would actually dare verify it with Snape.), Can't you let me rest in peace for a while?"
As soon as Link said this, John immediately covered his mouth with his hand.
Only then did Link breathe a sigh of relief and quicken his pace forward.
But not long after Link walked off, John let go of his hand, revealing a lovestruck grin.
Their next class was Defense Against the Dark Arts with Ravenclaw. Thanks to Professor Lupin's consistently lenient teaching philosophy, John would have nearly a full class period to continue flirting with Lilian.
Thinking this, John couldn't help but let out a laugh and quickly chased after Link's back.
The two of them walked one after the other into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.
However, at the very moment they entered the classroom, the lovestruck grin on John's face disappeared, and he froze at the doorway.
Because the person standing at the podium was not the always-smiling Professor Lupin, but the cold-as-water Snape.
"Don't just stand there like a stump blocking the door. Move aside." On the podium, Snape said coldly.
Hearing this, John snapped out of it, stepped forward two steps in agitation, and questioned Snape, "W-why is it you? Where's Professor Lupin?!"
"Lupin? He said he wasn't feeling well yesterday and couldn't come to class." Snape sneered and said, "Also, yelling at a professor, Hufflepuff, minus 5 points!"
John, who originally wanted to keep asking, immediately shut his mouth upon hearing that.
Knowing Snape well, he understood that if he dared to continue asking, Snape would definitely keep deducting Hufflepuff points.
The 'brave' Gryffindors had proven this countless times through their actions.
"Alright, let's head back to our seats." Link spoke, guiding John back to their seats.
Seeing there was no more opportunity to deduct points, Snape also returned to the podium. Only after everyone had settled in did he say, "Today I'll be your substitute professor. Unfortunately, regarding the content you've learned so far, Professor Lupin left absolutely no records. So what I've decided we'll discuss is, Werewolves!"
After saying that, Snape turned his gaze to the corner where Link sat, and a sinister smile curled on his lips.
Seeing this, Link shook his head.
He couldn't be more clear about what Snape was planning.
He simply wanted to use the chance of subbing for Lupin to teach students how to identify werewolves, and amplify how dangerous they are in the eyes of students.
Thus, getting them to discover and dislike Lupin on their own.
As for why Lupin didn't show up for class, this was easy to explain.
The full moon was approaching. He must've taken the Wolfsbane Potion and was now hiding somewhere to focus on his transformation.
But could Snape's plan really succeed?
Link didn't hold out much hope.
Because knowledge about werewolves was extremely complex, and with just one or two classes, ordinary students simply couldn't learn enough to recognize Lupin's identity as a werewolf.
The original book made this very clear. Even though Snape had tried hard, in the end, it was only Hermione who figured out Lupin's true identity.
Besides, Snape himself was the type of person that everyone disliked. Whether anyone would even pay attention to his Defense Against the Dark Arts class was another matter entirely.
Thinking of this, Link returned a smile to Snape.
Only, this smile carried a heavy dose of mockery, to the extent that even John beside him widened his eyes in fear, worried that Link might get punished.
Fortunately, Snape hadn't gone mad to that degree yet. After being mocked by Link, he only snorted coldly and then picked up the textbook.
"Now, turn to page 314 in your textbooks. Read every single word carefully! Then! Tell me how to identify a werewolf hiding among Muggles and wizards!"
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