Chapter 480: What Are You Doing? (Edited)

Newt Scamander's resignation was expected since he was an interim professor Dumbledore had brought in to replace Hagrid while he was involved in a trial. Once Hagrid's case came to an end, Scamander was supposed to leave. However, Hagrid asked him to stay for half a semester longer, and Scamander agreed to continue teaching.

During that time, Hagrid learned a lot from Scamander, giving him more confidence to teach in the coming year. He was sure he wouldn't lead students to encounter dangerous creatures like Hippogriffs in the first class.

Professor Lupin's resignation was very unusual, as he had been an excellent professor that semester. Why did he suddenly want to resign?

Harry pushed the bags toward Ron and said, "I'm going to Professor Lupin's office!"

"But if Professor Lupin has requested to resign, there's nothing we can do!" Ron struggled with the four bags, trying to hold Harry back, but Harry didn't care and quickly ran toward the castle without looking back.

"I don't care, I have to see him before he leaves. See you in the dormitory."

Harry rushed to Professor Lupin's office. The door was closed but not locked, so Harry pushed it open and entered. What he saw was a rather strange scene.

Lupin and Sirius were sitting in office chairs, with calm expressions. In front of them stood Severus Snape, leaning his hands on the desk and almost touching Sirius's face.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked in surprise. The scene in front of him was too shocking to easily comprehend.

Upon hearing the sound of the door, Snape turned abruptly. His deep, cold eyes met Harry's face, clearly showing his disgust.

"Gryffindor loses ten points, Potter," he said coldly. "You should be glad it's the end of the semester, or I would assign you detention. Next time, remember to knock before entering a professor's office."

"Why did you come, Harry?" Lupin seemed not to have heard Snape's words and looked kindly at Harry, while Sirius winked at him.

"I'll inform Professor Dumbledore about the situation. Everything you need is here," Snape said, tapping a small box on the desk. Since Harry entered, Snape felt the air in the office had become unpleasant, and he didn't want to stay a second longer.

So he swirled his cloak and floated out of Lupin's office like a giant bat.

Once he was gone, Sirius muttered resentfully, "Why didn't we give him a nickname like 'Old Bat' back then?"

"Maybe because 'Snivellus' was already flashy enough," Lupin suggested, thinking that 'Snivellus' was Snape's classic nickname.

"But I think 'Old Bat' would be more fitting now..."

But Harry interrupted their conversation that was veering off track, "So, what were you doing? And why is Sirius here?"

"Oh, we were..." Sirius was about to answer, but Lupin gave his thigh a pat.

"Harry, why did you come rushing here?"

Harry looked around Lupin's office, which had changed a lot since his last visit. Most of the objects were packed, and only a few essential office supplies and furniture remained, along with the boxes that used to contain various magical creatures.

"I just received news that you're resigning. Is that true?"

"Yes, it's true," Lupin replied, causing Sirius to move away a bit to open a drawer. He hadn't finished organizing things in his drawer yet.

"Why? You were teaching so well..."

"Have you heard of Voldemort's curse?" Sirius slouched into the chair, looking lazy. "No Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher can last a year. The fact that Remus managed to go through the whole year smoothly is quite a feat. So it's better to quit while you're ahead."

Harry wanted to say that this was absurd, how could someone resign because of an illusory curse? But considering this was the magical world, and it was a curse left by Voldemort, he felt disheartened inside.

"Did all the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers have accidents?" he weakly asked.

"Yes, that's right," Sirius replied enthusiastically, as if he were telling ghost stories to a child. He vividly recounted the legend of Voldemort's curse and listed the fates of the previous teachers.

"You know? The teacher before Quirrell was even gored and killed by a wild boar. Now you should understand the seriousness of this curse, right? If Remus hadn't resigned in time, maybe one day he would have been crushed by a chandelier falling from the ceiling, or the stairs could suddenly collapse when he was upstairs, leaving him crippled..."

Harry shuddered at the thought.

So, it was because of the curse? It made sense.

"It's such a shame..." Harry couldn't help but feel a deep sorrow in his heart.

Lupin and Sirius exchanged relieved glances, pleased that they had fooled him. Voldemort's curse played a certain role in Lupin's resignation, but the main reason was a task entrusted to him by Dumbledore.

A challenging task assigned to him and Sirius. Snape had just come here for that task as well. This task required strict confidentiality, not even Harry could know about it.

For this task, he and Sirius had been preparing throughout the semester.

After a moment of silence, Harry spoke, "You're the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've had."

Lupin stopped his work, looking at Harry seriously, and said, "Thank you."

"So, will you come back? When the next teacher's term is up..."

"Voldemort's curse is such that no teacher can teach for more than a year. It seems to accumulate, Harry. Have you ever thought why Voldemort cursed the Defense Against the Dark Arts position?" Lupin shook his head, indicating that the curse wasn't easily bypassed.

Harry shook his head as well. He wasn't very clear on the curse, but Sirius, on the other hand, understood it deeply. During the time he was on the run, aside from preparing for the mission, he had been catching up on all kinds of gossip... or rather, old news.

"According to legend, before officially launching his war, Voldemort came to Hogwarts to seek a teaching position, which was ultimately denied to him by Professor Dumbledore. In a fit of rage, Voldemort cursed that position... That's right, the job Voldemort wanted was the Defense Against the Dark Arts professorship!" Sirius exclaimed excitedly.