183: Chapter 183 Lu Ping's Departure

"If you're leaving, don't leave the chocolate for someone else."

Allen stood at the doorway of the Defense Against the Dark Arts office; the words had already entered the room before the knocking had even finished.

Lupin was putting a few old books into a trunk, with two washed-out robes at his side.

The office was much emptier than at the beginning of the term, and most of the diagrams of Dark Arts creatures on the walls had been taken down, leaving only a few pale nail marks.

Lupin turned to look at him. "Mr. Potter, I thought you would avoid this place."

"I've come to collect a debt."

"A chocolate debt?"

"Mm."

Lupin smiled slightly and pushed the tin box on the table over. "The last piece. It's quite bitter; it might not suit Mr. Malfoy's taste."

"He eats sugar, not bitterness."

"And you?"

Allen walked into the room without closing the door.

Students passed by outside in the corridor, their footsteps light, and they quickly moved on.

Lupin's trunk was half-open, the contents inside excessively neat, as if the owner were ready to flee at any moment.

"I eat things whose origins I can record."

Lupin glanced at him. "That piece was made by my own hands. Cocoa, sugar, a small amount of nut powder. No spells, no potions."

"I remember."

"You remember that my chocolate is handmade?"

"After the Dementors on the train, you gave one to everyone. When you handed it to me, there was the scent of wolfsbane on your wrist."

Lupin put a book into the trunk. "You figured it out back then."

"I figured out part of it."

"That's enough."

The two stood with the table between them.

Lupin was thinner than a few days ago, his complexion poor, but his movements while packing were steady.

Allen smelled old parchment, chocolate, and the lingering scent of potions on him.

After his identity as a Werewolf was revealed, Hogwarts could not keep him, even if Dumbledore wanted to.

Lupin opened the tin box; inside was only one square piece of chocolate, the edges of the paper wrapper pressed very flat.

"I've always remembered that business with your Boggart," Lupin said.

Allen looked at the chocolate. "A Black void?"

"The Boggart couldn't find your fear. Students often hide their fears, but no matter how well they hide them, a Boggart can always catch a shadow. You, however, lack even a shadow."

"Perhaps I've missed too many classes, and the Boggart doesn't recognize me."

Lupin shook his head. "You are very good at turning danger into a joke."

"It's useful."

"Useful in the short term," Lupin pushed the chocolate closer. "In the long term, it will keep even trustworthy people outside your door."

Allen did not take it.

Lupin saw his guard, so he broke off a small corner himself and put it in his mouth, swallowing it before re-wrapping the rest. "Is this acceptable?"

Allen reached out and took the chocolate. "It is."

Lupin lowered his head to continue packing, his fingertips pausing for a moment on an old, worn photo album.

Allen saw the corner of a photograph peeking out from the edge of the cover: four boys standing on the grass, one of them laughing boisterously, one wearing glasses, one short and stout, and one sickly.

Lupin pressed the album to the bottom of the trunk. "Black is gone."

"The newspapers wrote about it."

"The newspapers wrote it very poorly."

"The Ministry of Magic has always been like that."

Lupin's movement of closing the trunk stopped. "The person he came looking for was not found."

Allen looked up. "Is the Professor going to ask me?"

"I have already resigned. I am just Remus Lupin now."

"Then you shouldn't be asking a student even more."

Lupin snapped the trunk shut. "You are right."

There was silence in the office for a moment.

Peeves' laughter came from outside the door, quickly chased away by Filch's angry shouting.

Hogwarts used noise to fill the void of departure, but it was ineffective.

Lupin suddenly said: "If you see that Black dog, tell him I've found a new recipe for wolfsbane. He doesn't need to worry about the full moon nights anymore."

Allen put the chocolate into his sleeve. "I haven't seen him."

Lupin looked at him.

Allen added, "But I will remember to pass it on."

Lupin's hand pressed on the trunk, and it took two seconds before he released it. "Thank you."

"Is the new wolfsbane recipe really useful?"

"It allows me to be unconscious for one day less after the full moon, and the bite reflex can also be reduced a bit. Snape's wolfsbane potion is very precise; he won't admit it, but he has saved a lot of trouble."

"He would say you increased his workload."

"He has the right to say so."

Allen looked toward the door. "Snape will check what you left behind."

"I only left empty cabinets and a few class schedules. And a note for Dumbledore."

"Did you mention me?"

Lupin did not answer immediately.

He picked up a folded piece of parchment from the corner of the table, placed it in the inner lining of the trunk, and closed it again.

"I mentioned the Boggart abnormality, that students might have an affinity for space, and that there is a need to pay attention to sleep and magical load."

"Very restrained."

"I promised myself I wouldn't chase students like prey."

Allen paused. "What about Black?"

Lupin's fingers pressed on the trunk latch. "He is a friend, and also part of an old case. I pursued him because twelve years is too long."

"And Peter?"

This time it was Lupin's turn to be silent.

Allen looked at him. Lupin also looked at Allen.

After that name dropped into the office, even the noisy sounds outside the corridor seemed to fade away.

Lupin spoke, "If the dead were alive, many people would go mad."

"Including you?"

"Including me." Lupin admitted quickly. "That's why I hope someone is calmer than I am."

"Dumbledore?"

"Perhaps." Lupin picked up the trunk. "Perhaps you as well."

Allen's smile vanished completely. "You overestimate students."

"I've taught at Hogwarts for a year, and students often see the truth before adults do."

He walked to the door and stopped again. "Allen, don't let Black carry that matter forever."

Allen did not agree. "Professor, I have accepted the chocolate."

Lupin nodded. "That is enough."

In the corridor, Draco and the others were waiting at the corner.

As soon as Draco saw Allen come out, he looked at his face first, then at his sleeve. "Did he curse you?"

"He gave me chocolate."

"You accepted it?"

"He ate a corner of it first."

Zabini reached out. "The rest can be tested."

Allen swatted his hand away. "File it."

Pansy looked at the office door. "Is he really leaving?"

Lupin walked out, carrying his trunk, and nodded at the group.

Draco didn't speak for a moment, and in the end, only managed to choke out a dry, "Professor."

Lupin looked at his arm that had been in a sling. "In the future, stop exaggerating fractures during Quidditch; Madam Pomfrey has a very good memory."

Zabini lowered his head to laugh.

Pansy turned directly to face the wall.

Draco's face turned red. "That was a misdiagnosis!"

Lupin smiled and left along the corridor.

Allen watched his back disappear at the top of the stairs before whispering, "The Werewolf thread is superficially concluded."

Nott wrote down, "Lupin has left the school. He left a message about a new wolfsbane recipe, targeting Sirius. He is suspicious of Peter, but did not press for information."

Draco frowned. "Are you really going to pass it on to Black?"

"Later."

"When?"

"When he finds the door."

Inside the Portable Space, Peter curled into a ball upon hearing Lupin's name.

The tip of the void's tail curled around the chocolate and sent it into the thin-walled archive layer, pressing it next to the page for "Lupin."

Allen wrote in his consciousness: A few are trustworthy, but still cannot reveal everything.

The void took a look and didn't knock it away.