Breaking News: Sirius Bck Found I and to Be Released Sooer Pettigrew, the Death Eater, firmed Alive! Order of Merlin to be Retracted!

  It was headline news, and Neville didn’t wait until dio rush over to Scarlet, clutg a neer he had borrowed from one of his housemates. Scarlet read through the article thhly, pleased to see that Professor Dumbledore had wotle of wits against the Minister of Magic. From the previous summaries, she could tell the Minister was someone who craved fame and was unwilling to admit fault. It was evident in the way he tried to shift the bme for Sirius Bck’s wrongful impriso onto his predecessor, g it wasn’t his responsibility...

  “Thanks, Neville. I’m sure there will be more articles on this topic. Please make sure to highlight the key points in the summaries,” Scarlet said as she hahe neer baeville nodded, accepting the task, auro the Gryffindor table. He seemed a lot more fident and reliable now pared to when h first arrived at Hogwarts.

  No wohe mark I left on that fat rat has been so faint tely, Scarlet thought, It must’ve been because he was in Azkaban, far out of my reach.

  Scarlet recalled the pictures she’d seen in the yearbook: Peter Pettigrew had been part of the group of friends who used to hang around with Sirius Bck, along with Remus Lupin and James Potter – Harry's father. So...Sirius Bck will probably be reag out to Harry soon, sidering he was James Potter’s best friend.

  As Scarlet had expected, she soon noticed Professonagall approag Harry and Ron, speaking to them briefly before likely esc them to the headmaster’s office to be informed of the test developments.

  Just as Scarlet was about to leave for her css, Faye, her owl, swooped into the hall, surprising her. She had received the reports from the school owls, but Faye brought her a letter from her dad.

  “My dear Princess Red,

  Although we’ve been exging notes frequently through the news clippings I’ve attached to Faye, I felt pelled to send you a separate letter as this matter is rather bizarre, and I thought we should discuss it further to better uand how to hahis guest.

  As you may have noticed, I’m ba London, which is odd, given that I mentioned I’d be in Japan until Christmas season. Normally, my letters would have beehrough my assistant via express post and delivered by William. However, one of my old friends called for my help, and I had no choice but to e and see what was going on.

  This friend of mine is a merary – an experienced hired gun, ly a saint, but he only kills those who deserve it, the real scum of the earth. You know the type; we get along just fine. He nning to retire and join our bodyguard pany, but he stumbled upon someone unusual and, for reasons unknown, decided to help him. He brought this person to the , safest pce he could think of - our house.

  Now, this guest triggered the arm you’ve set for the house, indig that he’s dangerous but still manageable. William, of course, hat despite this, the man behaved quite gentlemanly, albeit looking very poor and ragged, as though he had been wandering in the wild for days.

  My friend and his new panio some time together before the man disappeared for a few days, only to reappear weak and malnourished, urgently in need of a safe space to recover.

  I don’t mind hosting a dangerous guest – after all, we’re all dangerous in one way or another - but this particur guest has beeing our offers of help, which is troubling both me and my friend. We’re w if you might have some insight on how to properly wele him. Here’s an iing clue about his strange disappeara happened on a night of a full moon, when the moon was bright and round.

  Please respond as soon as you .

  From your old father

  PS: Bought you some beautiful notebooks in Japan, I’ll be sending them your way on Faye’s rip.”

  Missing during a full mooing off my entment? My entment doesn’t apply to ordinary humans...Could he be a werewolf? Scarlet thought, her mind immediately jumping to that clusion after pieg together the clues; she had read and watched plenty of reted materials during her previous life. However, she was as fused by this revetion as by the idea of a merary crossing paths with a werewolf...Where oh did they meet, anyway?

  Without dey, she set aside all her pns for the day and headed straight to the library to gather more information about werewolves. Afterward, she quickly wrote a reply to her father, w once again why the owlery was located so far away. She nearly arrived te for her css.

  It was Transfiguration with the Slytherins, and today, Draco seemed to keep his eyes ohroughout the entire lesson. Once css ended, he awkwardly approached her. “S-Scarlet Smith!”

  “Yes? How I help you?” Scarlet asked, motioning for her friends to head to their css without her. “Please be quick; we’ve got Potio, and I don’t want to keep Professor Snape waiting.”

  As usual, Crabbe and Goyle fnked Draco, though today they seemed to take their bodyguard duties more seriously, ensuring no one approached their er.

  Draced at another dire before finally speaking, “What you said...it was true.” Seeing Scarlet’s fused expression, he crified, “About the birth defects.”

  “Oh, that,” Scarlet responded, remembering the versation they’d had weeks ago. She'd almost fotten about it, as she and Draco didn’t i much. The Slytherins mostly kept to themselves, got along a bit better with Ravencws, were rivals with Gryffindors, and rgely ighe Hufflepuffs.

  Thinking for a moment, Scarlet said, “Well, it’s been a few weeks, so I assume your family’s been looking into the matter? Actually, I have a brief uanding of your family tree - don’t give me that look, it’s not as extraordinary as you might think. It’s hardly shog; the Malfoys are a renowned family, and information about them isn’t difficult to e by. I’ve researched the other famous pureblood families as well. Actually, pared to them, your family’s situation is better.”

  Draco stayed silent, letting Scarlet tinue. “I think your aors must have sensed something wrong, but couldn’t figure out what. That's probably why your family still marries purebloods, but not ones who are too closely reted. It's not just a wizarding issue either - this happens all over the world, especially among royals and rying to preserve status, wealth, and of course, ‘purity’, something your sort cares deeply about.”

  Draco took a deep breath. “How would you suggest breaking the cycle?”

  “If you insist on marrying a pureblood, I’d suggest looking abroad,” Scarlet replied, recalling her resear ical schools around the world. “Germany, France, or even Japan, if you’re ied. I believe the belief in pureblood superiority exists in those pces as well, so you might find someoo marry from there.”

  Draodded, clearly abs her words. Theiced the red-haired girl staring at him, which made him snap, “What are you looking at?”

  Scarlet smiled calmly. “If I’m not mistaken, your father probably asked you to befriend me, just like he told you to try with Harry Potter...Or maybe you’re doing this on your own, trying to befriend Harry and me.”

  Draco’s eyes widened in surprise, and Scarlet chuckled, “I was right, wasn’t I? You failed with Harry, which isn’t surprising since you went about it the wrong way. As for me, well, let’s just stick to being sates. I help you if you ask, but don’t expect us to be close.”

  “Why?” Draco’s voice wavered with a hint of hurt, “I’m trying my best to be h you and Harry! You’re the ones pushing me away.”

  “Maybe we just want friends who don’t act like they’re above everyone else,” Scarlet said before heading to her css, “Pride be your friend, Mr. Malfoy, but arrogance will always be your enemy. Remember that.”

  Draco stood there for a moment, then after a warm breeze brushed his hair, he finally heading off to his css together with his two thick “bodyguards”.

  Meanwhile, at a secluded house, Kyle watched as Faye nded on the bird stand he’d set up on the porch.

  He muttered to himself, “That was fast.”

  Kyle took dowter attached to the owl after giving it a treat. Notig the entment sealing the letter, he immediately uood it was fidential, so he called for William, and together they read it in his study. The seal could only be broken using his private stamp - one Scarlet had carved for him as his birthday gift. It also served as a protective talisman.

  The tents of the letter were brief, skipping the usual formalities aing straight to the point, the handwriting slightly messy, as if written in haste.

  “He’s most likely a werewolf. Treat him like a regur perso’s not a full moon. However, during a full moon, he’ll transform into a human-wolf hybrid and act like an untrolble beast if he’s a on werewolf, losing all sense of humanity. Only the elite among them retain some level of sciousness, though they’ll still be highly dangerous and dislike humans. Normal humans don’t stand a ce - unless you’re willing to kill him with a bazooka. Try t him and cage him in the seal I left in the basement. I’ll see if I help with his dition when I return for Christmas, but only if he’s willing.”

  Kyle and William exged bewildered looks after reading the letter.

  “What does she mean by ‘drug him’?” Kyle asked. “Are we talking about sedating him like we would an elephant? Using an ahetic rifle? Pills?”

  William pohis for a while before responding, “We could try a surgical ahetic procedure. I have some experien that. If Lady Scarlet’s saying we’d need a bazooka to kill him, it means normal gunshots won’t work, so we’d need something more powerful – maybe even a missile. Fortunately, the seal Lady Scarlet left in the basement should provide a good sed yer of security.”

  “You’re sure about the seal?”

  “Yes,” William replied fidently. “I tested it. It trap something with twenty times my strength, and I sider myself rather formidable in battle.”

  Kyle shrugged, “If you’re sure. Now, all we have to do is vince Mr. Lupin to stay until Scarlet gets back. We need a solid pn.”

  “Yes, sir.” William agreed.