The next day, Harry and Ron returned to the Burrow. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Harry didn't get a chance to speak to Mr. Weasley, who worked for a long time in the Ministry of Magic every day until Christmas Eve.

The Weasleys and their guests sit in the living room, and Ginny decorates the room in such an exaggerated way that it resembles a sea of latte paper.

Fred, George, Harry, and Ron are the only ones who know that the angel at the top of the Christmas tree is actually a goblin who is bitten by Fred while plucking turnips for the Christmas dinner. So they cast a stun spell on it, painted it gold, dressed it in a miniature tutu and glued a pair of wings to its back, and were now glaring down at all of them in anger.

It had a large bald head like a potato and shaggy feet, the most ugly angel Harry had ever seen.

They were all listening to Mrs. Weasley's favorite singer, Selistina Warbeck, on Christmas radio, her gentle singing voice coming out of the huge wooden radio. Fleur seemed to find Celestina's singing voice boring, and she spoke in the corner with a loud voice, while the sullen Mrs. Weasley kept pointing her wand at the volume controller, so Celestina's voice became louder and louder.

In a jazz-style rhyme, 'The Crucible of Intense Love', Fred and George begin to play with Ginny and explode. Ron kept sneaking a peek at Bill and Fleur, as if to learn some tricks. Lupin, meanwhile, sat by the fire and stared into the deepest part of the fire, as if he couldn't hear Celestina's voice.

He looked thinner and his clothes more shabby than before.

"Oh, come and stir my crucible, and if you have done nothing wrong, I will kindle a strong fire of love so that you can spend the night warmly."

"We danced to this song when we were 18 years old!" Mrs. Weasley wiped tears from her eyes with her sweater. "Do you remember, Arthur?"

"Huh?" Mr. Weasley, who was peeling oranges, nodded and said, "Oh yes...... Incredible tune...... "He struggled to sit up straight, and turned his head to look at Harry, who was sitting next to him.

"I'm sorry," he said, glancing over the radio, where Celestina had already sung the chorus, "and it's almost over." ”

"It's okay," Harry grinned. "Has the Ministry of Magic been busy lately?"

"Very busy," said Mr. Weasley, "I wouldn't care if there was progress, but I suspect that none of the three arrests in recent months have been a real Death Eater - just don't tell anyone else, Harry." ”

Suddenly, he seemed much more alert.

"They didn't detain Stan, did they?" Harry asked.

"I'm afraid not," Mr. Weasley said. "I know Dumbledore tried to ask Scrimgeour directly to release Stan...... I mean, everyone who interrogated him agreed that he couldn't be a Death Eater like this orange...... But the top brass wants people to see their progress, and 'three arrests' is better than 'three wrongful arrests and releases'...... Again, it's all top secret......"

"I'm not going to say anything," Harry said. He hesitated for a moment, not knowing how to speak; As he gathered his thoughts, he listened to Celestina Warbeck start a new song, "You Cast a Spell on My Heart."

"Mr. Weasley, do you remember what I told you before I left for school at the station?"

"I've checked, Harry," Mr. Weasley said immediately. "I went and searched Malfoy's house. Nothing was found that shouldn't have been there, broken or intact. ”

"yes, I know, I read in the Daily Prophet that you've looked it up...... But that's a different story...... Well, further ......" He told Mr. Weasley what he had overheard about the conversation between Malfoy and Snape, and as Harry spoke, he saw Lupin's head turn slightly in his direction, hearing every word.

When he had finished, no one in the room spoke except for Selistina's soulful humming.

"Oh, where has my poor heart gone? It threw me out for a spell ......"

"Did you ever think, Harry," Mr. Weasley asked, "Snape was just pretending—"

"--Pretending to help Malfoy so you know what he's up to?" Harry said quickly. "yes, I know you think so. But how do we know that's the case? ”

"We don't need to know," Lupin said unexpectedly. He turned his back to the fireplace and looked over Mr. Weasley to Harry. "It's Dumbledore's business. Dumbledore trusted Severus, and that should be enough for all of us. ”

"But," said Harry, "I just said—just that Dumbledore was wrong about Snape—"

This has been said many times. It's up to you to trust Dumbledore's judgment or not. I believe; Therefore, I trust Severus. ”

"But Dumbledore makes mistakes," Harry argued. He said it himself. You-" He stared straight at Lupin. "-You really like Snape?"

"I neither like nor hate Severus," Lupin said. "No, Harry, I'm telling the truth," he added, seeing Harry's skeptical expression. "We may never be close friends; After all that had happened between Jaime and Sirius and Severus, there was too much bitterness. But I haven't forgotten my year at Hogwarts, where Severus made the perfect potion of wolf poison for me every month, so that I didn't have to suffer so much during the full moon. ”

"But he 'accidentally' divulged the fact that you were a werewolf, causing you to have to leave!" Harry said angrily.

Lupin shrugged.

"Sooner or later, this will leak out. You and I both know he wants my job, but if he wants to do me more harm, he can do it in the potion. But he kept me healthy. I should be grateful to him. ”

"Maybe under Dumbledore's nose, he wouldn't dare to do anything in the potion!" Harry said.

"You've made up your mind to hate him, Harry," Lupin smiled feebly. "I understand; Jaime is your father, Sirius is your godfather, and you have inherited the same prejudices. You can tell Dumbledore everything you said to Arthur and to me, but don't expect him to agree with you on this; Don't even expect him to be surprised by what you say. Maybe Dumbledore ordered Severus to question Draco. ”

“…… Now that you've torn my heart apart, I want to thank you for giving it back to me! Selistina ended her song with a long high note, and the radio erupted in loud applause, which Mrs. Weasley enthusiastically joined.

"It's over, right?" Fleur exclaimed. "Thank goodness, how terrible-"

"So, shall we have a nightcap?" Mrs. Weasley jumped to her feet and asked aloud. "Who wants eggnog?"

"What have you been up to lately?" Harry asked Lupin as Mrs. Weasley hurried to get the eggnog, and the others stretched and started talking.

"Oh, I've been working in secret," Lupin said. "No exaggeration. That's why I can't write to you, Harry; Sending you a letter could be a leak. ”

"What do you mean?"

"I've always lived with my companions, my kind," Lupin said. "Werewolf,"

Seeing Harry looking at him puzzled, Lupin added. "They're almost all on Voldemort's side. Dumbledore wanted a spy, and I was...... Ready-made. There was a little bitterness in his voice. Perhaps he was aware of this, too, for he smiled a little more enthusiastically as he continued, "I'm not complaining; It's a necessary job, and who better than me? However, it is not easy to gain their trust. There are clear signs in me that I've tried to hang out with wizards, you know, who like to avoid the usual society, live on the fringes, and steal - sometimes kill - to get food. ”

"How could they like Voldemort?"

"They think they can get better under his rule," Mr. Lupin said. "And it's very difficult to fight against Greyback......"

"Who's Greyback?"

"Haven't you heard of him?" Lupin's hands clenched spasmodically in his knees. "Finley Greyback is perhaps the most brutal werewolf in existence. He made it his goal to bite and infect as many people as possible; He wants to create enough werewolves to conquer wizards. Voldemort promised to give him some sacrifices in return for his service. Greyback specializes in biting small children...... He said that he wanted to bite them when they were young, so that they would grow up away from their parents and grow up with hatred for normal wizards; Voldemort had threatened others by letting him go out and bite their children; Such threats often work. Lupin paused, then said, "It was Greyback who bit me." ”

"What?" Harry was surprised. "When—do you mean when you were little?"

"Yes. My father offended him. For a long time I didn't know the identity of the werewolf who attacked me; I even sympathized with him, thinking that he couldn't control himself, and understood what it was like to be transformed. But that's not the case with Greyback. During the full moon, he approaches his victim to make sure he is close enough to attack. Everything was planned by him. Voldemort used him to organize and lead the werewolves. I can't say how much progress has been made in Greyback with his own unique and reasonable views, but he still insists that blood is deserved by us werewolves, and that we should take revenge on normal people. ”

"But you're normal!" Harry said fiercely. "You just have one--one problem-"

Lupin burst out laughing.

"Sometimes you remind me of a lot of things about Jaime. When he's around everyone, he calls me 'little furry puzzles'. A lot of people think I have a rabbit who likes to mess around. ”

He took a glass of eggnog from Mrs. Weasley and said thank you. Looks a little happier.

At the same time, Harry felt a surge of excitement: Lupin had just mentioned his father, which reminded Harry that he had something else to ask Lupin.

"Have you ever heard of someone called the Half-Blood Prince?"

"Half-breed what?"

"Prince," Harry watched him closely, hoping to see the signs he remembered.

"No prince is a wizard," Lupin said with a smile. "Is this a title you're going to adopt? I thought that the 'Son of God' would be enough. ”

"It's none of what I do!" Harry said angrily. "The Half-Blood Prince is a man who studied at Hogwarts, and I got his old Potions textbook. The book was full of spells written by him, spells he invented. One of them is a light shadow—"

"Oh, that spell was very popular when I was at Hogwarts," Lupin said nostalgically. "It was a few months when I was in fifth grade, and you would be lifted to the air by your ankle when you fell under this spell."

"My dad used it," Harry said. "I've seen it in the meditation basin, he used it for Snape." He tried to say it as if it were an inconsequential comment, but he wasn't sure if it had the desired effect; Lupin's smile seemed a little too understanding.

"Yes," he said, "but he's not the only one using it." As I said, it's very popular...... You know how these spells come and go......"

"But it sounds like it was invented during the time you were in school," Harry insisted.

"Not necessarily," Lupin said. "The spell is popular and outdated, just like everything else." He looked into Harry's face and said calmly, "Jaime is a pureblood, Harry, and I assure you that he never made us call him 'Prince'. ”

Harry threw away his disguise and said, "Isn't Sirius not either?" Or you? ”

"Absolutely not."

"Oh." Harry stared at the fire. "I just think- well, he helped me a lot in Potions class, the prince."

"How old is that book, Harry?"

"I don't know, I haven't checked."

"Well, maybe this will help you find some clues as to when the prince went to Hogwarts." Lupin said.

As soon as she said this, Fleur decided to imitate Celestina and sang "The Crucible of Intense Love", and everyone knew it was time to go to bed after catching a glimpse of Mrs. Weasley's face. Harry and Ron made their way to the bedroom in Ron's attic, where a camping bed had been added for Harry.

Ron immediately fell asleep, but Harry dug through his suitcase for Advanced Potions Preparation before going to bed. He flipped through the pages and searched for it, finally finding the date of publication at the beginning of the book. This book was written almost 50 years ago. His father and his friends hadn't been to Hogwarts 50 years ago. Disappointed, Harry tossed the book back into the box, turned off the lights, turned over and thought about Werewolves and Snape, Stan Sanpark, and the Half-Blood Prince, and finally fell asleep uncomfortably.