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.
Chapter 382: Chapter 382: Confession (Edited)
"They came at just the right moment..." Before Dumbledore could finish speaking, Harry took a step forward and lunged at Sirius, knocking him down before anyone could react.
After toppling Sirius, Harry didn't let up; instead, he straddled him directly, gripping his neck with his hands.
"You bastard!" His eyes were bloodshot, and his face was even redder than Sirius's, whom he was strangling. "You were their confidant! And you betrayed them."
A flicker of pain crossed Sirius's eyes. He wanted to say something, but his throat was tightly constricted, and he could only emit muffled sounds. Instinctively, he grabbed Harry's wrist with his hand.
"Spongify." A spell from Dumbledore caused Harry's hands to involuntarily loosen their grip. Then, Professor McGonagall rushed over and grabbed Harry's left shoulder, looking at Percy. Percy understood immediately and approached, holding Harry's right shoulder and pulling him off Sirius.
A breath of fresh air filled Sirius's lungs as he managed to sit up and looked at Harry, who was staring at him furiously. Sirius felt uncomfortable.
"Harry, I admit... I was wrong with James and the others... In the last moment, I convinced them to switch the Secret Keeper to Peter... All of this is my fault... If I hadn't chosen Peter, they wouldn't have been betrayed..." His voice sounded hoarse, filled with deep regret. "But Harry, I beg you... Believe me, I never betrayed James and Lily, I would rather die than do that..."
"Secret Keeper, Peter?" Harry was overwhelmed by this news, his head began to ache. "Do you mean that my parents' spy wasn't you, but Peter?"
A thought surfaced in Harry's mind, but he dismissed it because it seemed absurd.
"Yes, to protect them better..." Sirius nodded bitterly. "But instead, I put them in danger and let Peter, the real traitor, go free all these years."
Harry was confused, he looked at Dumbledore for answers. Then he saw Dumbledore nodding. "Peter is here; he has been hiding in the Weasley's house all these years..." at that moment, a strange sound came from Ron on the side, "... I can wake him up and confront him with you."
Dumbledore summarized the facts briefly.
Harry watched all of this in astonishment, as if he were overwhelmed by the amount of information. He believed in Dumbledore's judgment, but deep down, he still wanted to hear Peter's words.
"Rennervate." Dumbledore assumed that Harry agreed, so he woke up Peter for the confrontation.
When Peter woke up, he didn't start screaming and crying desperately; he simply sat there in silence, with an ashen expression on his face, muttering something.
Harry listened attentively and found that he seemed to be repeating the words "ridiculous," "incriminated," and "mad."
No wonder Peter had surrendered without a fight; Dumbledore's attitude had left him in despair. If he couldn't deceive Dumbledore, everything would be lost, there was no point in resisting.
But when he saw Harry, Peter's eyes lit up, as if he had found a glimmer of salvation.
Peter Pettigrew grabbed Harry by the edge of his shirt and said, trembling, "Harry, oh Merlin, you look so much like James, only your eyes..."
"Shut up!" Sirius roared furiously. "How dare you? How dare you speak of him?"
Harry felt like he should say something, but the words wouldn't come out of his mouth.
"Professor Dumbledore," Hermione's timid voice interrupted the conversation. "May I ask a question?" She had been listening to the conversation between everyone and, combining it with the stories she had heard at the Three Broomsticks, had a general idea: Peter was the one who killed Harry's parents! And he turned into a rat to hide.
"Of course." Dumbledore looked at Hermione with a fond gaze, as if he were looking at his granddaughter.
"Scabbers... I mean, I mean, this individual, Peter, infiltrated Harry's bedroom for three years and hid in Ron's house for twelve years. If he was a accomplice of You-Know-Who, why didn't he harm Harry or the Weasley family? That being said, why didn't he hide in some remote village for the rest of his life? Why did he have to stay close to Ron, at Hogwarts?"
Peter seemed to cling to a lifeline. He knelt in front of Hermione, tears and snot running down his face, "Thank you, clever and kind miss, Merlin will bless you..." He reached out to grab the hem of Hermione's clothing, but she showed a frightened expression and backed away abruptly. Tom stepped between them, separating her from Peter.
Peter didn't pay attention to that detail. He turned to everyone in the room and spoke loudly, "Exactly! Twelve years, I didn't even harm a hair on Harry's head! I even helped him deal with troublesome little wizards! If I were truly an accomplice of that person, why not kill Harry or flee to some uninhabited place?"
"Because you're a selfish coward who only thinks of yourself!" Sirius didn't hesitate to expose Peter's lie. "You joined Voldemort solely for your own benefit, you're not loyal to him, you're only loyal to yourself..."
"You know perfectly well how to maximize your own interests," Sirius continued. "You've been waiting for an opportunity, waiting for him to become the supreme leader again. For you, handing Harry over to Voldemort or helping him to rise again would be a way to clear your suspicions and earn your master's favor, right?"
"You need to hide in a wizarding family so you can hear news, don't you?"
Under the barrage of Sirius's questions, Peter seemed like a newly arrived foreign student, stunned and not knowing what to say. He found that all his excuses were refuted, with no chance of redemption. He desperately tried to think if he still had any chance to turn the situation around, but he realized he was trapped.
Finally, he was rendered speechless. He sat on the floor like a deflated balloon, surrendering.
Peter confessed. He murmured, "Yes... but I had no choice, I was forced."
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