Professor McGonagall's announcement had left the school basking in a cheerful atmosphere throughout the morning.
So much so that during the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, most of the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students were whispering among themselves, paying no attention at all to Professor Lockhart's demonstration with Miss Melinda Bobbin on how to subdue a werewolf with bare hands.
"Like this—grab the werewolf's right paw... Beautiful move, Miss Bobbin..." Professor Lockhart explained loudly from the podium.
"I didn't expect Slytherin's monster to be a giant snake. That's terrifying!" whispered Eloise Midgen behind Jon, talking to Zacharias Smith. "Do you think something that scary will ever happen at Hogwarts again?"
"Definitely not!" Zacharias said confidently. "I can't even imagine anything more terrifying than a giant snake showing up at school!"
Up front, Jon stuck his tongue out quietly, then turned his attention back to Wanderings with Werewolves.
About ten minutes later, the tedious Defense Against the Dark Arts class finally came to an end.
When Professor Lockhart announced the end of class and the students began filing out, Jon Hart deliberately lagged behind, staying alone as he walked up to the podium.
"Something on your mind, Jon?" Gilderoy Lockhart's voice was cheerful—he seemed to be in a good mood.
"Yes, Professor Lockhart." Jon's tone was calm. "I ran into a bit of trouble just now while reading Wanderings with Werewolves... I didn't quite understand the magical principle behind silver being effective against werewolves."
"Oh really?" Lockhart blinked.
"So... I'd like to borrow two related books from the library. Unfortunately, both are in the Restricted Section." As he spoke, Jon handed over a slip of paper.
He was using the same trick as last time, but Lockhart wasn't as careless now. He actually looked down and read the note.
"Under the Moonlight, by Moka Trever... Merlin, that author's name sounds familiar!" Lockhart muttered to himself. "And another one, Summoning the Joy Within... Oh, it's about Dementors—no wonder it's restricted…"
Jon was prepared and replied smoothly, "Yes. Mr. Newt Scamander mentioned in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them that werewolves and Dementors might share some traits. I figured studying Dementors could give me some insight."
"I see... I mean—I knew that already, of course!" Lockhart said quickly, after a brief pause. "But Jon, don't go around telling people you're researching spells related to Dementors. Some folks at the Ministry of Magic might get the wrong idea..."
Jon paused, then nodded.
"Of course, as a teacher, I'd never stand in the way of my best student's thirst for knowledge!" Lockhart said grandly, pulling out a large peacock-feather quill and signing the note with a flourish.
"Thank you, Professor!"
...
After leaving the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Jon went straight to the library.
This time, though, Madam Pince wasn't nearly as easygoing.
She held the note and examined it again and again, even bringing it close to the lamp to check for signs of forgery. But unsurprisingly, she found nothing. Ten minutes later, she returned with two large, dusty old books.
"These are the ones," she said coolly.
"Thank you, ma'am."
Jon carefully placed the books in his bag and walked away as if nothing had happened.
Now that the Basilisk was gone, even with over four months left in the school year, it was time to prepare for the "accidents" that would occur during his second year at Hogwarts.
As expected, the Patronus Charm had been classified by the Ministry of Magic as a "forbidden spell"—after all, Dementors were still employed by the Ministry. They couldn't allow just anyone to gain access to a spell that could fend off their own "civil servants."
Books on werewolves were easy to find, but most of them focused on how to fight and eliminate them. When it came to someone like Lupin, a "moderate" werewolf, Jon didn't think it was worth going to such lengths. Lupin wouldn't attack people without reason, and as long as one avoided going out on full moon nights, it was fine.
Because of his own training, Jon was more interested in the physiological differences between werewolves and regular humans, and the pathogenesis of the lycanthropy virus. Books on that topic were much harder to come by—it had taken him quite a bit of effort to find even one in the Restricted Section.
The second year (third year for the "savior trio") was arguably the most peaceful of all the upcoming years at Hogwarts.
Even though Black had a fearsome reputation, he wasn't truly a villain and didn't pose much of a threat. Unlike Harry, Jon had no tragic past to haunt him, so he wouldn't attract much attention from Dementors. Peter was harmless unless pushed to the edge—just a little rat, really.
Besides, it would be easy to change the course of events this year. All he had to do was find a chance to use Polyjuice Potion, turn into Neville Longbottom, go to the Gryffindor common room, and say he'd forgotten the password. Once inside, he could shoot Peter, and that'd be that. No need for the rest of the story to play out—without Peter, Voldemort wouldn't need to go to all that trouble with the Triwizard Tournament...
But there were risks. Peter had received some training from Voldemort—he wasn't someone a second-year could easily take down. And when cornered, even a rabbit will bite when cornered—let alone a rat.
More importantly... what would happen to the rest of the plot?
Even if Peter never suspected that Neville Longbottom—with his honest face and thick eyebrows—would suddenly pull a gun and blow his brains out... Would Voldemort's resurrection really be stopped?
Of course not. The Dark Lord had six and a half Horcruxes—his return was inevitable.
After much thought, Jon decided it would be safer to let the original story unfold. Let the Chosen One do the dirty work, and he'd keep his head down, bide his time, and quietly make his fortune.
...
Humming to himself, Jon skipped toward the Hufflepuff common room.
As he descended the stairs to the first floor of the castle, he came across a young girl with golden curls.
"Mr. Hart..." the girl stopped and said softly.
"What is it?" Jon asked coolly. "Miss Greengrass."
"Um... Professor Snape said he'll be waiting for you in his office at 1:15 this afternoon... He's invited you for tea," said Miss Daphne Greengrass in a low voice.