"Thank you so much! Really, thank you so much!"

After hearing Marie's original words from Harry, Rosier expressed his gratitude to them.

Draco stood to the side with his arms crossed, saying nothing, his head held high as if the whole world owed him a lifetime of debt.

Harry patted Rosier on the shoulder.

"Your bond is so strong… you shouldn't have doubted that she'd be angry with you over this in the first place."

Rosier's gaze went blank for a few seconds after hearing Harry's words. Then, he clutched his head, "I know I should have trusted her. She's always been so forgiving and patient with me. But ever since I left home for Edinburgh, my mind has been foggy. I keep imagining all sorts of nonsense and fearing that Marie would abandon me."

Harry looked at him with pity.

He knew these were the aftereffects of excessive Memory Charms. Rosier's condition was practically beyond cure. Even St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries struggled to achieve breakthrough results in treating brain-related ailments.

But Rosier was far more optimistic than Harry had expected… or perhaps his mind was already too cluttered with chaotic thoughts to dwell on anything else.

After a brief daze, he frantically rummaged through a nearby cabinet, pulling out a few items, "After confirming I had nothing to do with the kidnapping case, the Aurors returned the things I had on me. I should give you something as thanks. Please, wait a moment."

He pulled out a silver bracelet, a few keys, and a pair of gloves, his expression turning confused.

"Did I ever own these? Sorry, I've forgotten too much. But these probably aren't useful to you."

"I have other things, though. Marie and I bought some souvenirs in Edinburgh. Oh, right! Walkers' shortbread cookies… you'd definitely like these. Almost everyone buys a few packs to try when they visit."

Finally, he dug out something suitable and shoved it into Harry's arms.

Harry didn't refuse in the end. Instead, he asked, "Did the Aurors tell you when you can go home?"

"No." Rosier shook his head, "They said the apartment Marie and I rented is still under lockdown. There's something wrong with the room, so we can't return yet. But at noon, someone came to tell me that I'll be able to see Marie tomorrow. The restrictions on us meeting will be lifted."

Harry was happy for them.

"That's wonderful!"

By this point, Draco was growing impatient. He urged Harry to hurry up and take him to the broomstick storage room.

Finally, Harry bid Rosier farewell and led Draco to the Aurors' broomstick storage.

Just as the young witch had told Harry, the place was currently unguarded. Aside from the latest high-speed broomstick models, which were locked away, the older models were free for them to play with.

"Moonshine." Draco sneered at the brooms on the shelves, "A relic from nearly 90 years ago! The French Aurors actually kept this junk around!"

"And the Silver Arrows… look at these broom handles, they're practically falling apart! Can these things even still fly?"

Harry, however, wasn't as picky as Draco. This was the first time he'd seen flying broomsticks up close, and even the oldest, most worn-out brooms seemed fascinating to him.

The room was clearly enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm… it was much larger than a normal room, with a space next to it that had a ceiling about 10 meters high and was as wide as a football pitch!

"Do you know how to ride one of these?" Harry asked, excited and nervous.

Draco puffed up with pride, his pure-blood superiority complex kicking in.

"Of course I do! I've been riding toy broomsticks since I was two! They were replicas of the Cleansweep Three… even as toys, they were far more refined than these ancient things!"

"So… I just have to sit on it?"

Harry had already picked out a Silver Arrow and straddled it between his legs.

Draco laughed at his posture.

"Brooms aren't that inconvenient to ride!"

He struck a pose in front of another broom, extending his right hand above the handle.

"Up!"

At his command, the old Moonshine broomstick seemed to come alive, leaping straight into his hand!

"Ha! At least these old things still listen!" Even when complimenting, Draco couldn't resist adding a jab.

Harry mimicked him carefully, setting his broom down and repeating Draco's motion.

The Silver Arrow wobbled but eventually jumped into his hand.

However, it quickly became clear that Draco wasn't as skilled as he claimed.

Once he mounted the broom, he struggled to find the right posture. Meanwhile, Harry, the moment he gripped the handle, felt as though his body remembered something from a very long time ago.

A memory surfaced… a cozy little room where he sat on a toy broomstick, a man who looked just like him laughing joyfully nearby, and a beautiful witch with bright green eyes smiling as she watched them…

Instinctively, he tightened his grip on the broom, then kicked off the ground and leaned forward!

The next second, the so-called 'ancient relic' broom carried him smoothly into the air!

Harry was ecstatic!

The freedom of breaking free from gravity's restraints made his face flush with excitement.

Nearby, Draco, who had just steadied his broom, grew anxious when he saw this. He, too, kicked off the ground and rose into the air!

But because he hadn't gripped the broom handle correctly, once airborne, he completely lost control of the broomstick's trajectory.

The broom beneath him began shaking violently, as if trying to throw him off!

Draco let out a terrified scream, clinging desperately to the handle as the Moonshine broom plunged toward the ground at breakneck speed!

Just as he was less than half a meter from crashing, a hand suddenly grabbed the back of Draco's collar from behind, yanking him off the broom and safely setting him down on the ground.

Draco was so frightened that his back was drenched in sweat. Harry, who had successfully rescued him, hovered nearby on his broom and shrugged.

"You should grip it farther forward… that way, you'll have better control."

"I don't need you to teach me!" Draco snapped furiously, his face red with embarrassment, "It's this broom's fault! It's too disobedient! I'm switching to another one!"

"Oh? But didn't you just say it was at least well-behaved, even if it's old?" Harry teased deliberately.

"Shut up!!!"

…

"The improved Wolfsbane Potion recipe requires precise heat control and a strict stirring rhythm. The good news is, while brewing this potion is troublesome and difficult, it doesn't take an excessively long time. The bad news is, for the next two days, we'll have to work on it at this exact time every day."

Inside a confiscated items storage room borrowed from the Aurors, Severus and the others were using the space to brew the Wolfsbane Potion.

Lupin was a little nervous.

"I... I've never actually drunk this before."

"Well, you're in for a treat. The inventor of this formula, Belby, was truly a genius. Giving him just a Second-Class Order of Merlin was an insult to this achievement… mostly because the Ministry doesn't see werewolves as people. But if you think about it, while the Wolfsbane Potion doesn't completely solve the problem of transforming during the full moon, it indirectly provides a better solution."

Severus explained, "As long as you take it every day for the week leading up to the full moon, then on the night itself, even if you transform, you'll retain your human consciousness."

"If anyone in the Ministry had half a brain, they'd realize just how terrifying a werewolf with a clear mind could be as a living weapon!"

"Magic resistance on par with a troll, venom more lethal than a Venomous Tentacula, agility rivaling a Thunderbird's… and now, with independent thought! Tsk, tsk!"

Severus patted Lupin on the shoulder, clicking his tongue in admiration.

"One night every month, you'd be practically invincible… a true wizard-killer!"

Lupin could only smile bitterly.

"But this potion is far too expensive. The rare ingredients alone cost a fortune, not to mention the incredibly difficult brewing process. Even regular wizards couldn't afford it, let alone werewolves."

"As long as you stick with your Uncle Severus, you'll never run out of potions." Severus said, standing up from the cauldron, "Let it simmer here. We'll come back tomorrow."

Just as the two of them stepped out of the storage room, they ran straight into Yuma, who was hurrying toward them.

He clearly had important news to share. The moment he saw them, he spoke up.

"We've caught Shafiq in Lyon!"

The news made both Severus and Lupin freeze in place.

"You caught him?" Severus's tone was thick with skepticism.

"Yes!" Yuma's expression, however, was far from triumphant… clearly, the Shafiq they'd captured was problematic, "To be precise, we found him in that farmhouse in Lyon!"

"He's been turned into a complete imbecile… remembering nothing, knowing nothing! Someone abandoned him there!"

Severus frowned.

"What do you mean, 'turned into an imbecile'? Did someone torture him into madness with the Cruciatus Curse?"

"No, no! It's a Memory Charm… one so vicious it nearly killed him! We can't even determine how many times he was hit with it, but it must've been at least a hundred!"

Yuma's face was pale. The brutality of the spell, comparable only to the Cruciatus Curse, had shaken him.

"It's horrifying! Those curses completely destroyed his mind, leaving him an empty shell without a soul. His companions... his companions abandoned him!"