During the summer holidays, Snape had already passed all of his knowledge on to Arthur.
With the Zen Garden's time dilation and Arthur's absurd talent, he'd long since digested Snape's life's work.
So having him substitute for a few Potions classes was really no big deal.
More than that—unlike Snape's gloomy, oppressive classroom atmosphere, Arthur's teaching style was… the exact opposite.
Thanks to his very first teacher, the spellcube witch Sellen, Arthur's teaching ability was top-tier. On the podium, he quoted theory and history with ease, cracked jokes at just the right time, and explained complex concepts in a way even the densest Hufflepuff could follow.
In just a few days, he had the entire school eating out of his hand.
The girls, of course, had always been Arthur's diehard face-fans.
Now they discovered that not only was he handsome, he was brilliant and a fantastic teacher. Their admiration ratcheted up another level entirely.
The boys had originally been a bit jealous of him.
But after attending one of his classes, they were forced—grimly, reluctantly, and completely—to submit to his skill and knowledge.
Before long, the hottest topic in Hogwarts was:
"Can we please keep Arthur as the permanent Potions professor?"
Even the Slytherin common room was quietly discussing the idea.
When Snape heard about all this, his face turned a startling shade of green.
He'd worked diligently at that post for so many years… only to be overshadowed by his own student subbing for a few days?
Spare him that "the disciple surpassing the master is a good thing" nonsense.
Was he the one who taught Arthur half of the crazy things the boy could do?
He didn't feel proud in the slightest.
Most of the time, he just felt emotionally bludgeoned.
Fortunately, after tonight, Lupin's condition would stabilize again, and Snape could hand Defense back to him.
Snape swore to himself that next month, if Lupin needed another break, he'd rather shove Arthur over to substitute for Defense than let him touch Potions again.
This was ridiculous.
A few days of substitute teaching, and his position as Potions professor had nearly been yanked out from under him by his own student.
Arthur, of course, knew nothing about any of this.
He had just finished his last subbed class for the day when Hermione came bouncing up to him.
The moment he saw her, he knew exactly why she was here.
The full moon had risen.
The night she'd been waiting for—her Animagus initiation—had arrived.
"Let's go," Arthur said, standing up. "Once it's fully dark, we can start."
He led Hermione out of the castle and toward the Forbidden Forest.
The two of them found a wide clearing beneath the trees. Arthur flicked his wrist, and a picnic blanket spread itself neatly across the grass.
He casually took out some mooncakes he'd made himself, along with a few plates of fruit.
It was the Mid-Autumn Festival back home. You couldn't not moon-gaze with snacks.
They sat side by side, quietly watching the moon rise higher in the sky, waiting for true night to fall.
Before long, Ranni appeared, stepping out from the Zen Garden.
She was here to watch the moon as well.
In truth, every full moon, Ranni would find a quiet place to sit and stare at the sky. Arthur would usually join her.
He had once asked her why she did it.
Ranni hadn't been able to give a clear answer. She wasn't good at expressing that kind of thing.
Maybe the full moon reminded her of her mother.
Maybe it pulled up memories of the Lands Between, of her past as the Lunar Princess.
Whatever the reason, she and the moon were tangled together by a history so long it could fill a thousand pages.
When the sky was finally dark and the moon shone clean and bright, Hermione dragged her gaze away.
She turned to Arthur. "So… what do I do now?"
Arthur took out a single mandrake leaf and handed it to her.
"Put this in your mouth and keep it there," he said. "Then we'll go into the Zen Garden. I'll crank the time flow up to maximum. You'll live through a whole month in there, while only about seven hours pass out here."
He added, "Then we'll take advantage of what's left of the full-moon night to brew the Animagus potion. That way, you save yourself an entire month, and we don't have to gamble on whether the next full moon will be hidden by clouds."
Hermione took the mandrake leaf and pushed it into her mouth, her cheeks puffing slightly.
Arthur waited until he saw she was ready, then opened the portal into the Garden and motioned for her to go in.
He didn't step through immediately. Instead, he walked over to Ranni.
Pulling her gently into his arms, he kissed her on the forehead. "Sorry. I can't stay and moon-gaze with you tonight."
Ranni shook her head lightly.
"'Tis but a single night," she said quietly. "Besides, I never demanded thy company. There is naught to apologize for."
"Then I'll go ahead," Arthur replied softly. "If you get bored, come find us."
With that, he stepped through into the Zen Garden.
He was about to spend a "month" living together with Hermione.
Inside, Hermione very quickly discovered just how torturous it was to spend twenty-four hours a day with a leaf in your mouth.
She had to speak slowly and carefully, terrified of biting or swallowing the thing by accident. Even eating and drinking became a minefield.
Arthur, anticipating exactly this, compressed all of her meals into small potion-like pills with magic.
All she had to do was swallow them with water.
That was the only reason she didn't end up chewing the mandrake like a vegetable by mistake.
At the beginning, Hermione was so irritated by the leaf that she couldn't even concentrate on reading. Everything felt wrong.
But with Arthur at her side—taking her fishing, dragging in the various pets to play with her in the max-timeflow sector—her mood gradually smoothed out.
Toward the end, she had sunk back into the ocean of books, content and focused.
A little over a week into their "month," Ranni came into the Garden as well.
She had watched the moon for a while alone outside, but without Arthur beside her, even the full moon seemed dimmer than usual.
So the three of them shared their quiet little world together—studying, playing games, teasing the animals. Sometimes the girls would follow Arthur to the lake to fish.
It felt, once again, like an extended summer holiday.
Time sped by.
In the Garden, a full month passed in the blink of an eye.
Arthur glanced at Hermione. "Wait for me here," he said. "I'm going to step out and see if the moon's still up."
Hermione nodded obediently.
Arthur left the Garden and looked up at the sky.
The horizon was already lightening with a gray dawn, but the full moon still hung high above.
He immediately opened the portal and pulled Hermione out.
He laid out the remaining ingredients and handed them to her.
Hermione took them, then worked quickly under the moonlight, brewing the fateful mixture.
Once the potion was complete, Arthur buried it in the soil at their feet.
With that, the first major step of the Animagus ritual was complete.
Hermione finally let out a long breath.
"Whew… finally." She rubbed her jaw miserably. "Keeping a leaf in my mouth all the time is horrible."
Then she turned and threw herself into Arthur's arms, rubbing her forehead against his chest.
"Arthur," she mumbled, voice slightly mushy around the leaf-less mouth, "can you please make me breakfast? Real breakfast. I really want to eat your cooking."
Arthur laughed, lightly tapping her nose. "What, a whole month of meals in the Zen Garden wasn't enough?"
"That doesn't count!" Hermione protested. "Everything was turned into pills! I couldn't taste anything. I feel like I've been taking medicine for a month."
"Alright, alright," Arthur chuckled, gently stroking her cheek. "I'll make a proper feast later to reward our Miss Hermione."
"But," he added, "do you want to finish the rest of the Animagus process quickly first?"
Hermione perked up instantly at the phrase "finish quickly." She nodded so hard her curls bounced.
Arthur pulled out the three glowing orbs the system had given him—the Artifact Trio—and set them in her hands.
"Here," he said. "Hold them and think the word 'equip' in your mind."
Hermione did as instructed.
The orbs dissolved into streams of light and shot into her body.
In an instant, she felt a tide of strength surge through her—her body felt tougher, her magic deeper and more vigorous.
"Arthur," she breathed, wide-eyed, "I feel so much stronger… What are these? They're amazing!"
Arthur smiled. "You actually know them already. They're called Courage, Faith, and Determination."
Hermione froze for a moment, then her eyes went even wider.
Those names were all too familiar.
They were the three legendary artifacts from Cat Quest.
She'd spent their "month" in the Garden clearing that game on her iPad several times, and had often wondered if Arthur had gotten anything from that world.
She'd certainly never imagined he'd pull out those three items—and hand them over to her.
Fully and completely.
Heart swelling, Hermione flung herself at him and planted several quick kisses on his face.
Arthur patted her back, amused.
"Alright," he said, "dawn's almost here. Let's finish your Animagus first."
"Mm! What do I do next?" Hermione asked eagerly.
"It's simple from here," Arthur said. "Those three artifacts have boosted you up to roughly Professor McGonagall's level. Add in the runes on your wand, and I'm confident that the first time you recite the incantation, you'll feel that second heartbeat."
He smiled slightly.
"And once that happens, I'll… manufacture a little thunderstorm for you. Lightning and all. Then we can wrap up the final step of the Animagus ritual."
Hermione stared at him, stunned.
She'd always known her cousin was powerful—but just how powerful had been vague.
Now she finally had a concrete benchmark:
Powerful enough to create a full-on thunderstorm—complete with lightning—just because she needed one.
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