Chapter 380: Chapter 380: Fudge's Reaction (Edited)
Dumbledore observed Peter Pettigrew with great interest, as if he were watching a theatrical performance.
Peter's emotions suddenly spiraled out of control, and he shouted at everyone, his shrill voice almost piercing everyone's ears: "He killed James and Lily!"
He jumped and pointed at Sirius with his missing finger, "Now he's coming to kill me! Professor Dumbledore, save me..."
When a person's anger reaches a threshold, it suddenly becomes cold and calm. That's exactly what happened to Sirius. At first, he was furious, but when he saw Peter and heard his voice, his anger intensified, but he himself became strangely calm.
Sirius looked at Peter coldly, not bothering to argue with him, and let him jump and hop around on his own.
"Can you explain why you were willing to be a rat for twelve years? I'm not an Animagus, so I can't fully understand your thoughts. Do you become addicted to that feeling after turning into an animal? It seems that Minerva often transforms into a cat, but that doesn't mean she spends the whole day as a cat," Dumbledore interrupted, very curious.
He had a curious expression, like an intrigued student.
"Because... because..." Beads of sweat began to appear on Peter's forehead.
Sirius snorted with disdain, "These twelve years, you weren't hiding from me, but from Voldemort's old followers, right? I heard interesting things while I was in Azkaban. Voldemort's loyalists mumbled in their sleep, wanting to find you and make you confess how you deceived their great master. Voldemort went to the Potter's house based on the information you gave, and there he was defeated... Tsk, tsk, not all Death Eaters were sent to Azkaban, many remained outside, waiting for the right moment. Peter, you should consider yourself lucky. Everyone believes you're dead."
Peter trembled, as if the scenes described by Sirius had frightened him, or rather, as if the word "Voldemort" had scared him.
"No... I don't understand what you're saying... It's normal for Voldemort's followers to want to get revenge on me because I sent their loyal servant, the one who infiltrated the Order of the Phoenix, to Azkaban..." But under the gaze of Lupin and Sirius, Peter grew weaker and his voice lower, until he finally broke down in tears.
"Professor Dumbledore, how long do you want to keep watching this spectacle?" Sirius impatiently looked at Dumbledore. "I think you've already reached a conclusion. If you don't believe us, you can ask Snape to provide us with some Veritaserum."
Dumbledore nodded, he believed Sirius almost as soon as he saw Peter.
"Perfect, Fudge will be here in a moment. I think all of this should be wrapped up before Christmas," Dumbledore said as he glanced at the wall clock.
At Dumbledore's reaction, Peter lamented and then fainted on the spot. But no one in the room cared anymore about what he did.
Dumbledore looked at the wall clock and murmured to himself, "Fudge should be arriving soon."
As expected, a few minutes later, there was a knock on his office door. Percy opened the door, and Fudge and Professor McGonagall entered together.
"Albus, you have quite a crowd here..." Fudge's voice choked when he saw Sirius standing in the office, looking at him coldly.
"Sirius... you, you..." Fudge was so excited he couldn't speak. He drew his own wand, "Albus, thank you, this is the best Christmas present I've ever received."
He thought that Sirius in the room had been captured by Dumbledore.
"The Christmas present isn't limited to just Sirius; there's also this." Lupin dragged Peter, who looked like a dead pig, in front of Fudge. "Minister Fudge, I believe you should recognize him."
Looking at Peter, Fudge felt he looked familiar, and when he recognized who he was, he gasped.
"This... this..." Fudge didn't know how to describe his feelings. Even someone as slow as him realized that the course of events had taken a sharp turn with the appearance of Peter Pettigrew. Now he would have to deal with a much more complicated problem than simply capturing a fugitive.
Dumbledore patiently explained the truth to Fudge.
After hearing it, Fudge remained motionless in his place.
"Merlin's beard!" he groaned. Fudge now felt it might have been better not to have caught Sirius. He was now facing a much more complicated problem than simply capturing a fugitive.
It was a serious breach of duty.
The Ministry of Magic had sent an innocent man to Azkaban for twelve years, while awarding a medal to the real culprit, without even bothering to verify whether that person was alive or dead!
Just putting these plain and direct words in The Daily Prophet would cause a huge uproar, not to mention those expert journalists who thrived on stirring emotions.
To make matters worse, the direct person in charge of Black's case back then was Cornelius Fudge himself.
Fudge's body trembled slightly.
"Now that the truth has come to light, I believe it's time to restore Sirius's innocence and bring the real culprit to justice," Dumbledore said beside him. His voice wasn't loud, but it was extraordinarily firm.
Fudge's face turned pale, and several times he tried to say something, but he finally nodded. Sirius and Lupin by his side breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like a massive weight that had been on their hearts had finally been lifted. Sirius even experienced a profound sense of relief.
Although he hadn't mentioned it much out loud, deep down in his mind, he had worried about the identity of that fugitive. After his injustice was revealed today, a feeling of relief that he hadn't felt in a long time welled up in his heart.
"Should we call Harry?" Lupin thought for a moment and felt that this was a perfect opportunity to reconcile Sirius and Harry.
After a brief moment of consideration, Dumbledore agreed with his proposal.
"Then, where is he? I trust the two of you can find him," Dumbledore looked at Lupin and winked.
Lupin understood what he meant and approached a corner to retrieve the Marauder's Map and search for Harry's footprints. But as he searched, his expression became increasingly strange. He was surprised to find that there wasn't even Harry's name on the map.
A herd of hippogriffs seemed to rush through his mind.
Today is Hogsmeade Day at Hogwarts, and with the Invisibility Cloak that James passed down to him, Lupin suddenly realized that Harry had surely sneaked into Hogwarts without anyone knowing.
Wow, this is very Gryffindor, no wonder he's James's son! He thought to himself.
Chapter 381: Chapter 381: As Expected from James's Son (Edited)
Lupin's admiration was one thing, but he was facing a very real problem: he couldn't find Harry at Hogwarts now, because Harry wasn't at Hogwarts. And... this probably violated the school rules! During his time teaching at Hogwarts, Lupin had observed Harry and thought he was very different from his father James, especially in terms of rule-following...
It had been over three months since the start of the term, and Harry had barely broken any rules. This didn't seem at all like James's son! Lupin was surprised, but today he discovered the truth: it's not that Harry hadn't broken any rules, but rather that he had never been caught doing so.
Lupin knew Harry's situation. This poor boy hadn't been given permission to go to the village of Hogsmeade and was probably desperate to get out, so it's no wonder he found a way to sneak to Hogsmeade on his own. But how could he explain this to Dumbledore? Being honest would be straightforward, but if he did, Harry would surely be punished with detention. Lupin already felt guilty for Harry, and if he were also involved in his punishment, it would be even worse.
So...
A flash of inspiration crossed his mind. He knew in his heart that Harry would return soon; he just needed to delay things a bit.
At that moment, Dumbledore left Fudge, who was lost in thought, and approached Lupin, kindly asking, "What's going on? Did you find Harry?"
"Well... it turns out that when James created the map, he left a trap..." Lupin improvised a reasonable explanation and told Dumbledore that James had left a trap on the map that prevented seeing Harry's location.
"What? Oh, yes, of course," said Sirius, who had approached while Lupin was speaking and noticed how Lupin was signaling desperately with his eyes. Their long-standing friendship made Sirius understand immediately and support Lupin's explanation.
"Oh?" Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, approached Lupin, and looked with interest at the Marauder's Map in Lupin's hands. "Well, if that's the case, do you have a way to deactivate it, Lupin? I think it would be better if Harry were here for this significant occasion."
"Yes, yes, of course. Let me investigate..." Lupin sighed inwardly. He was in a tricky situation. How would he know when Harry would return? He could only try to delay things as best as he could.
"Look," Dumbledore pointed to three small black dots that suddenly appeared on the map. "Yodel, Granger, and Harry."
Lupin followed Dumbledore's finger and was perplexed. By chance, all three had come out of the Three Broomsticks passageway and were now on the map.
"It seems your methods worked, so go find Harry as quickly as possible," Dumbledore said, winking and smiling like a child. When he saw the names next to Harry on the map, his thoughts took a turn, and he added, "Also, bring Yodel and Granger."
Seeing Dumbledore actively protecting Harry, Lupin felt relieved and quickly left the office to find Harry.
The people who remained in the room looked confused at the three in the corner, murmuring among themselves, not understanding what was happening.
...
Harry walked aimlessly. He had no idea how he ended up back in the Honeydukes cellar or how he returned to the castle through the passage. Hermione followed him, wanting to say something to console him, but she didn't know where to start.
Until a person appeared and blocked their way.
"Professor Lupin!" Hermione exclaimed alarmed. The three had just returned from Hogsmeade, and she feared that Lupin would notice something suspicious, especially now that Harry was so distraught.
"Granger, Yodel," Lupin said with a smile as he nodded towards Tom and Hermione, then looked at Harry, who was gazing absentmindedly ahead. "Harry, come with me for a moment. Dumbledore wants to see you, and also the two of you."
Hermione's face suddenly turned pale, thinking their whereabouts had been exposed. Her guesses weren't entirely wrong, but the real reason Dumbledore wanted them wasn't for that small matter. Tom, who stood by the side, looked thoughtful and had a slight inkling of Dumbledore's thoughts.
The three followed Lupin to Dumbledore's office. By that time, the office was quite crowded: Dumbledore, Lupin, Sirius, Fawkes, Peter, Percy, Ron, and Professor McGonagall, who had arrived after learning of the situation...
They were ten in total, not counting Tom, and when the three entered, there was barely enough room in the entire office.
Fortunately, the office of the Hogwarts headmaster was large enough to accommodate everyone. If it had been any other professor's office, some would have to stand on the desks.
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