When Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I left the hospital wing at noon the next day, it was to find an almost deserted castle. The sweltering heat and the end of the exams meant that everyone was taking full advantage of another Hogsmeade visit. Neither Ron nor Hermione felt like going, however, so they, plus Harry and I, wandered onto the grounds. They were all still talking about the extraordinary events of the previous night and wondering where Sirius and Buckbeak were now; I was just thinking about my sister. Sitting near the lake, watching a giant squid that was in it for some reason waving its tentacles lazily above the water, I sighed quietly. Whatever happened, I would be with her soon... I wasn't going to get the Dark Mark... Father was going to kill me... and then I'd be with her forever.

A shadow suddenly fell across us, and I looked up to see a very bleary-eyed Hagrid mopping his sweaty face with one of his tablecloth-sized handkerchiefs and beaming down at us.
"Know I shouldn' feel happy, after wha' happened las' night," he said. "I mean, Black escapin' again, an' everythin' — but guess what?"
"What?" we said, pretending to look curious.
"Beaky! He escaped! He's free! Bin celebratin' all night!"

"That's wonderful!" said Hermione, giving Ron a reproving look, because he looked as though he was close to laughing.
"Yeah... can't've tied him up properly," said Hagrid, gazing happily out over the grounds. "I was worried this mornin', mind... thought he mighta met Professor Lupin on the grounds, but Lupin says he never ate anythin' las' night..."
"What?" I said quickly.
"Blimey, haven' yeh heard?" said Hagrid, his smile fading a little. He lowered his voice, even though there was nobody in sight. "Er — Snape told all the Slytherins this mornin'... thought everyone'd know by now... Professor Lupin's a werewolf, see. An' he was loose on the grounds las' night... he's packin' now, o' course."

"He's packing?" said Harry. "Why?"
"Leavin', isn' he?" said Hagrid, looking surprised that Harry had to ask. "Resigned firs' thing this mornin'. Says he can't risk it happenin' again."
Harry and I both scrambled to our feet.
"I'm going to see him," he said to Ron and Hermione.
"Me too," I said.
"But if he's resigned—"
"Doesn't sound like there's anything we can do—"
"I don't care. I still want to see him."
"We'll meet you back here!"

Lupin's office door was open. He had already packed most of his things. The Grindylow's empty tank stood next to his battered old suitcase, which was open and nearly full. Lupin was bending over something on his desk, and looked up only when Harry knocked on the door.
"I saw you coming," said Lupin, smiling. He pointed to the parchment he had been poring over. It was the Marauders Map.
"I just saw Hagrid," said Harry. "And he said you'd resigned. It's not true, is it?"
"I'm afraid it is," said Lupin. He started opening his desk drawers and taking out the contents.

"Why?" said Harry. "The Ministry of Magic don't think you were helping Sirius, do they?"
Lupin crossed to the door, and closed it behind us.
"No. Professor Dumbledore managed to convince Fudge that I was trying to save your lives." He sighed. "That was the final straw for Severus. I think the loss of the Order of Merlin hit him hard. So he — er — accidentally let slip that I am a werewolf this morning at breakfast."
"That foul git," I hissed.
"You're not leaving just because of that!" said Harry.

Lupin smiled wryly.
"This time tomorrow, the owls will start arriving from parents — they will not want a werewolf teaching their children, Harry. And after last night, I see their point. I could have bitten any of you... that must never happen again."
"You're the best Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had!" said Harry. "Don't go!"
Lupin shook his head and didn't speak. He carried on emptying his drawers. Then, while I could hear Harry trying to think of a good argument to make him stay (he really needed to learn occlumency, it was as if he was yelling his thoughts out for the world to hear), Lupin said, "From what the headmaster told me this morning, you saved a lot of lives last night, Harry. If I'm proud of anything, it's how much you've learned. Tell me about your patronus."

"How d'you know about that?" said Harry.
"What else could have driven the Dementors back?"
Harry told Lupin what had happened. When he'd finished, Lupin was smiling again.
"Yes, your father was always a stag when he transformed," he said. "You guessed right... that's why we called him Prongs."

Lupin threw his last few books into his case, closed the desk drawers, and turned to look at Harry.
"Here — I brought this from the Shrieking Shack last night," he said, handing Harry back the invisibility cloak. "And..." He hesitated, then held out the Marauders Map too. "I am no longer your teacher, so I don't feel guilty about giving you back this as well. It's no use to me, and I daresay you, Ron, and Hermione will find uses for it."
Harry took the map and grinned.

"You told me Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs would've wanted to lure me out of school... you said they'd have thought it was funny," he said.
"And so we would have," said Lupin, now reaching down to close his case. "I have no hesitation in saying that James would have been highly disappointed if his son had never found any of the secret passages out of the castle."

Lupin closed the case, then straightened up and looked at me.
"Are you alright, Ivory? You seem upset about something."
"I'm fine," I muttered.
"What's wrong?" he said gently.
"I said I'm fine."

He frowned slightly.
"You're clearly not fine," he said, looking at Harry to see if he knew what was wrong. Harry shook his head, looking just as confused as Lupin. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing," I muttered, making a conscious effort to stop my voice shaking.
They both raised their eyebrows.
"It's nothing," I repeated, my voice louder this time, and with a firmness that said I didn't want to discuss it.

There was silence for a moment, then I sighed quietly, put my hands up to the back of my neck, and unclipped the necklace.
"You can have this," I muttered, giving it to Lupin. "I'm not going to need it..."
He took it from me, his hands shaking ever so slightly.
Just as he opened his mouth to say something, there was a knock on the door. Harry hastily stuffed the Marauders Map and the invisibility cloak into his pocket.

It was Professor Dumbledore. He didn't look surprised to see Harry and me there.
"Your carriage is at the gates, Remus," he said.
"Thank You, Headmaster."
Lupin picked up his old suitcase and the empty Grindylow tank.

"Well — goodbye, Harry; goodbye, Ivory," he said, smiling. "It has been a real pleasure teaching both of you. Harry, I feel sure we'll meet again sometime. Headmaster, there is no need to see me to the gates, I can manage..."
I had the impression that Lupin wanted to leave as quickly as possible.
"Goodbye then, Remus," said Dumbledore soberly. Lupin shifted the Grindylow tank slightly so that he and Dumbledore could shake hands. Then, with a final nod and a swift smile, Lupin left the office.

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A/n: thank you so, so, so much for 20k reads!!!! I'm actually speechless rn. As usual, I'm really glad (and amazed) that so many people have read this book and seemed to have been enjoying it! I never imagined getting this many reads in my wildest dreams, so now I'm kinda freaking out 😂. I honestly can't express how happy I am. Aaaanyways, this is getting kinda long and boring so I'mma go now. Thanks again!
~ Charlie 🖤