One. Foot. Up. The. Steps. At. A. Time.
He had to be careful not to rush it. It took all of his concentration to do it, but he managed to keep his mind focused on the rather complex set of motions that he unconsciously did every time he lifted a foot from a stair and brought it up to rest on the next step. He had never thought about it, and if he didn't need something to slow him down, he wouldn't be doing it right now. But, he did need something to slow him, and this worked better than just thinking "slooooooowly" to himself.
At the top of the stairs, Dave could hear the brat rushing to try and hide all of the evidence of what he had just been doing. That was quite a bit, and he was probably already wondering what was taking so long. After all, the rather loud slam of the door, pulled shut by a wind that had nearly knocked Dave off of his feet and sent him sprawling to the floor just inside, had sounded nearly two minutes earlier. And Dave always went to check on his young charge first thing after returning home. Especially when he had come straight home from school, only to find evidence that the brat had been home for quite a while, thus disproving the lie he always told Dave that he had been at school all day.
Dave could smell the faintest traces of sulfur on the air wafting down from the brat's room, mixed with a smell that he couldn't quite identify, but that he knew was only used in certain types of spells that the brat should never be touching, particularly not as a first year student. Thus the reason why he hadn't been in school, where he should have been, learning the basics of magic that would someday allow him to perform such spells without risking things such as turning himself into a giant stuffed bunny until he could get Dave to change him back (which was what had happened last time Dave caught the brat skipping school to do magic). He figured that it couldn't take any less than a full five minutes to get all of the magic supplies the brat must have been using back into their places without the risk of something more serious than last time, most likely more, based on what he knew of the brat's ability.
So, he took the stairs slowly, making sure to pause in between each step and focus on the motions that would take him up higher so that he wouldn't hurry. That way he could give the brat the illusion that he might be able to make it in time and get everything put away before Dave could show up at his door to see just why he hadn't been at school for the latter half of the day, when he wasn't there to watch him. But, instead of that, he would arrive at the door and open it just before the brat could get the last pieces of equipment deactivated and shoved into the closet. And he would stand there in the doorway, arms crossed against his chest and giving the young werewolf his best "stern mother" stare.
The brat would go pale, and then probably drop whatever expensive and hard to replace piece of equipment he was holding at the time, which would just get him in more trouble. Then he would start apologizing, maybe even shifting to wolf form and trying to suck up that way. Finally, Dave would give him yet another lecture on the dangers of trying out magic that he just wasn't good enough to do yet, and then sentence him to a week or so of chores and a bit of grounding. And he would be out some equipment, which would mean a trip back to the village to get a replacement from the Elders. That would suck royally, but in the end it would be worth it to catch the brat at just the right moment.