With the nuisance of Rita Skeeter permanently neutralized, the path was clear for Ariana and her friends to focus on their more significant projects. The first task of the Triwizard Tournament was still weeks away, providing a valuable window for their work on the Lycanthropy problem.
They spent every spare moment in the Room of Requirement, refining and perfecting the two Sunstone bracelets. Hermione double- and triple-checked her runic calculations, ensuring the energy dispersal rate was perfectly calibrated to counteract the lunar influence without overwhelming the wearer. Daphne, using her knowledge of fine magical metals, ensured the silver casings were flawlessly enchanted, creating a stable and durable containment field for the powerful magic within. Ariana, her own core now fully replenished, performed the final, delicate infusion of the modified Lumos Solem spell, charging each Sunstone with a perpetual, selfsustaining core of pure sunlight.
Finally, the bracelets were ready. They glowed with a soft, internal warmth, looking less like scientific instruments and more like pieces of beautiful, ancient jewelry.
The day before the next full moon, Ariana sent a Patronus message to Dumbledore. "Phase Two of Project Lycanthrope is ready for practical application. We require a secure, controlled environment and the presence of the test subject. Your assistance is requested."
That evening, the same council that had gathered to witness the exposure of Peter Pettigrew convened once more in the quiet solemnity of the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape sat listening as the three girls stood before them. Remus Lupin, summoned by a personal Floo call from Dumbledore, stood by the fireplace, his face pale and etched with a nervous, desperate hope. He had been told only that a new, experimental treatment was ready to be tested.
Ariana, as the project lead, conducted the briefing. She placed one of the glowing Sunstone bracelets on Dumbledore's desk.
"This is a Continuous Solar-Energy Dispersal Artifact," she began, her voice calm and clinical. "It is designed to suppress the viral activation of the lycanthropy curse."
She proceeded to explain their theory and their method, her logic as clean and sharp as cut glass. She detailed the "magical virus" hypothesis, the role of lunar energy as a catalyst, and the neutralizing effect of concentrated solar magic. Hermione then stepped forward, unrolling a chart to explain the complex runic matrix for containment and dispersal. Daphne followed, explaining the alchemical properties of the Sunstone and the enchanted silver that made the device stable and self-sustaining.
The three professors listened in stunned silence. This was not a student project. This was a presentation of revolutionary magical science that would have been the pride of any research division at the Ministry.
Snape, as always, was the first to voice skepticism, though his usual sneer was replaced by a look of intense, grudging academic curiosity. "The theory is… audacious," he drawled, picking up the bracelet to examine the fine rune-work. "But you propose to suppress a dark curse of immense power with what amounts to a continuous, low-level Sunlight Charm. The power differential is immense. How can you be sure it will be enough?"
"We are not attempting to overpower the curse, Professor," Ariana countered smoothly. "We are disrupting its food source. The lycanthropy virus requires a surge of specific lunar radiation, or simply lunar magic to activate. This device does not fight the virus itself; it creates a constant, localized field of opposing solar energy. This field acts as a magical 'white noise,' scrambling the lunar signal and preventing the virus from receiving the trigger it needs to initiate the transformation. We are not killing the beast; we are simply preventing it from ever waking up."
Her explanation was so elegant, so fundamentally logical, that Snape found himself with no immediate rebuttal. He merely grunted and continued to study the bracelet, a look of intense calculation on his face.
"The risks, however, are not insignificant," McGonagall said, her face taut with concern as she looked at Lupin. "If this fails…"
"The failure state has been accounted for," Ariana said. "Which is why the test must be conducted in a secure environment. We propose the Shrieking Shack. It is already prepared to contain a full werewolf transformation. Professor Snape will have the Wolfsbane Potion on hand as a secondary failsafe. And Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and yourself, Professor Snape, will be present to intervene with overwhelming force if the subject shows any sign of uncontrolled transformation."
She had anticipated every concern, planned for every contingency.
Dumbledore, who had been listening with a look of profound pride and wonder, finally spoke. "Remus," he said gently, his eyes full of a cautious hope. "The choice, as always, is yours. There is no shame in refusing."
Remus Lupin looked at the small, glowing bracelet on the desk. He looked at the faces of the three young witches who had dedicated themselves to this impossible task. For his entire adult life, he had been a prisoner to the moon, his life dictated by a cycle of agonizing pain and monstrous transformation. He had accepted it as his fate. And now, these children were offering him not a cure, but a chance. A chance at a quiet night. A chance at peace.
He took a deep, shaky breath and nodded. "I will do it," he said, his voice hoarse with an emotion he had not allowed himself to feel in years. "I will try."
The plan was set. The following evening, as the sun set and a brilliant, full moon began to rise in the sky, a small, grim party made their way under the cover of Disillusionment Charms to the Shrieking Shack.
Lupin sat in a chair in the center of the dusty, dilapidated room, his face pale and beaded with sweat. The first tremors of the transformation were already beginning to rack his body. With a trembling hand, he allowed Ariana to fasten the Sunstone bracelet around his wrist.
The moment the silver clasped shut, the Sunstone began to glow with a soft, warm, golden light. A gentle, almost imperceptible warmth spread up Lupin's arm.
The others—Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and the three girls—stood back, their wands raised, their faces tense with anticipation. They watched as the moon climbed higher in the sky, its pale light streaming through the boarded-up windows.
They waited for the screams. They waited for the sickening crack of breaking bones. They waited for the monstrous transformation.
But it never came.
Lupin trembled, his knuckles white as he gripped the arms of his chair. A low growl of fear escaped his lips. His body was fighting a war on a cellular level, but this time, he did not feel it. The agonizing, body-wracking spasms of the change did not occur. The Sunstone on his wrist glowed with a steady, defiant light, its gentle, constant field of solar energy holding back the tide of lunar madness.
He looked down at his own hands, which remained hands. He looked up at the moon, and for the first time in his adult life, he felt its pull not as a master's command, but as a dull, distant ache.
Tears began to stream down his face. They were not tears of pain, but of a relief so profound, so absolute, it was a physical release.
The beast was still inside him. But tonight, it slept.
In the dusty silence of the Shrieking Shack, surrounded by his friends, Remus Lupin passed his first peaceful full moon since he was a small boy. The hypothesis had been proven. The experiment was a success. And the lives of werewolves across the wizarding world would never be the same.