章節 154: Chapter 154 Wormtail (2 in 1)

Hermione also heard Jon's question, and she turned her gaze to Jon's hand and saw the small tuft of grey fur.

"It doesn't look like something from a human."

Jon examined the grey hairs carefully, and his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Are there any other creatures on the wagon?"

"There is Hagrid's Niffler named Beech." Hermione mused, "But Beech's fur is black, and this one is a little on the grey side. Other than that there are Thestrals kept enclosed in a special room, but those are unlikely to come to the Charms classroom, and their fur should also be solid black if anyone can see it."

"There aren't any animals on the wagon whose fur is grey." Jon's frown grew tighter, "Even Professor McGonagall's Animagus is a tiger-spotted cat, and it's even less likely that she would have shed grey fur."

He held the tuft of hair up to Hermione's eyes and asked in an inexplicable tone.

"What animal do you think left this behind?"

Hermione stared at the grey fur, not quite able to understand exactly what Jon was trying to convey.

"Hmm, a magical creature? Raised by the professors on a wagon, it's just kept in a room we can't get into, so we don't even know?"

"Don't think so hard." Jon's gaze was fixed on the grey fur as he murmured, "Do you think this may be a rat's fur?

"A rat?"

Hermione cocked her head in bewilderment, thinking that a short, thin grey fur like this could potentially be many animals, such as grey rabbits, cats, and dogs are possible, but why would Jon specifically emphasize rats?

"That does seem possible too." She could only go on to follow Jon's line of thought, "Maybe it was a grey rat that slipped into the wagon in the middle of the last orientation dinner at the beginning of the school year, and before any of us noticed, it had made its home here."

Jon's brow didn't half relax, but his gaze grew brighter.

"No, if it is a rat, then it should have sneaked into the wagon much earlier!"

Hermione couldn't understand more and more about what Jon was trying to say, she couldn't understand how he could deduce so much from a tuft of fur.

Jon, however, did not continue to explain much to Hermione further, this tuft of fur seems very ordinary, but it can make people who know about certain things, to associate it with many things!

He did not continue to stay in the charms' classroom, but took the tuft of grey fur, turned and pushed the door ready to leave.

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked from behind him.

Jon said without looking back as he hurried on his feet.

"To find Professor Dumbledore."

Hermione froze.

She felt that she could not keep up with Jon's brain circuit, just because you found a pinch of hair of some animal in the wagon, do you want to report this matter to Professor Dumbledore?

Jon is indeed ready to go to Dumbledore, but his steps have gradually started to slow down when he was near the door of the Headmaster's office.

This matter certainly must be reported, he never wanted to rely on his own to investigate anything, there are so many people and professors on the wagon, and there is still Dumbledore present, they are definitely much better than him alone.

But he has to think about what to say and how to avoid the suspicion of why he thought of this particular direction.

After arriving in front of the Headmaster's office, Jon already had a plan in mind, he took a deep breath and then knocked on the door.

And when the sound of Dumbledore's response came from inside, he pushed the door and walked in.

Dumbledore is not the only one who is in the Headmaster's office, except for McGonagall, other Professors such as Flitwick, Lupin, as well as Lily, who just finished talking with Jon an hour ago, are all here.

They seemed to be discussing something, and after Jon walked in, all eyes focused on him.

"Sorry, professor, I seem to have interrupted your meeting."

Facing Jon's apology, Dumbledore just shook his head.

"It's okay, Jon, if you have something important to say, you can just say it."

Without further hesitation, Jon took a deep breath and held up the tuft of grey fur he had found in the charms' classroom.

"Professor, I just found this in the charms' classroom when I was practising a spell."

Everyone in the Headmaster's office looked at the small pinch of grey hair he was pinching between his fingers.

Flitwick, Lily and Lupin all three unconsciously frowned, they do not feel any discontent, but they still don't understand why Jon brought such a pinch of hair to the Headmaster's office.

Only Dumbledore's face remained calm, his azure eyes seemed like thinking of something after seeing the grey hair in Jon's hand, and his pupils shrank slightly.

"I don't know if any of the other professors on the wagon still keep any pets, but from what I know about all the existing creatures and animals in the school, none of them has this type of fur."

Jon uttered the wording he had thought of ahead of time before entering.

"Before when Professor Slughorn was still around, he told me about a very magical transfiguration magic used among wizards called Animagus, and I thought, is it possible that the man who infiltrated the wagon, is in fact an Animagus? These hairs are left behind when he turned into an animal!"

His words did not bring any obvious change in Dumbledore's face, but Lily as well as Lupin, both of them at the moment Jon said the word Animagus, and their complexion all became strange and grey.

They seem to associate it with some unforgettable past, Lily did not know when she clenched her fists, while Lupin also had a rare gloomy look.

"I know I may be making a big deal out of this, but maybe if it's actually true, then-"

"No! You're not making a big deal out of this at all, Jon."

Lily interrupted him before he could finish, she had risen from her seat, and her face, which was usually cold, had now gone gloomy to the extreme.

"This is a very important clue! Can you tell me in which Charms classroom you found it?"

Jon could tell that the professors in the Headmaster's office had already thought of what he was going to have them associate it with, and he didn't hesitate.

"It's in the classroom with the signage that reads 'Charms Class (2)'."

And it was at this moment that Dumbledore suddenly spoke up.

"The clue you provided is indeed very important, thank you very much for your attentiveness, Jon, but now can you please excuse yourself for a moment?"

He looked at Jon, his face neither showed any surprise nor frown, and his tone remained as sincere as ever.

"We're going to talk about a personal matter that happened in the past, and it's not some pleasant incident, as you should know, it's always a good idea to avoid such not-so-nice matters."

Jon, of course, knew exactly what they would be talking about next, his heart was not half dissatisfied with Dumbledore's concealment, precisely because he knew, so he understood these things, especially in the face of Lily, the person concerned, it is not appropriate to mention it with someone who does not know about it.

He nodded, left the pinch of grey hair on the desk, and after passing on the clue, turned and left the Headmaster's office.

And with his departure, Lily turned her head and glanced at the animal hair Jon had left behind, then her gaze tightened on Dumbledore.

"Only a rat could have left behind such fur! It could only be a rat!"

"I can understand how you feel right now, but the more this kind of thing happens, the more we have to calm down, Lily." Dumbledore advised her, appeasing her to sit back in her chair again, rather than now immediately rushing to the charms' classroom where Jon found the grey fur.

But although Lily sat down again, her countenance did not change in the slightest, still as gloomy, hateful along with impatient.

"Jon is not wrong, none of the animals kept in the wagon match the colour and shape of this fur, it's not a matter of being calm or not, it's the fact that he is most likely on this wagon, not only present but has been staying here for a long time!"

She sounded like she was trying very hard to suppress her tone of voice, but her voice still couldn't help but become sharp.

Even Lupin, who has always been calm and gentle, looked the same, but he was obviously much better than Lily in terms of emotional control, so he did not say anything, looking at Dumbledore, as if waiting for him to finish what he was trying to say.

And Flitwick at this point seems to have thought of exactly why Lily and Lupin become like this after seeing a pinch of grey hair, he let out a long sigh, originally he intended to dissuade them, but did not know what to say.

"I know this pinch of hair is likely to be left behind by Wormtail." Dumbledore seriously looked at Lily and Lupin, "his Animagus form is a rat, a grey-haired rat, which is something we all know. But it is because the one who has infiltrated the wagon now is most likely him, that I want to advise you to calm down."

"Think about it, how many years have we not heard a word about him? After the Dark Lord took control of Hogwarts Castle with his men seven years ago and completely solidified his rule in the entire British magical community, he disappeared as if he had evaporated."

"It is reasonable to say that he had done a great merit, no matter what the Dark Lord should have rewarded him properly after gaining authority, but there is no information about him, and his name has not appeared in the magical world for seven years."

"You hate him, all of us who know what he has done hate him, and he himself should know this better than anyone else. That's why we've long suspected that the Dark Lord helped him go incognito for his safety, rearranging an identity that none of us could possibly guess and letting him assume a high position in the Ministry of Magic, relying on the merits of betraying his friends. We have also been looking for all those suspicious pureblood wizards, trying to find every trace about him, but after all these years, there is still no clue at all."

"And now, a person from the Ministry of Magic has infiltrated the wagon under the Dark lord's order, and that person is quite likely to be Wormtail, who has been missing for so long. Right here in this wagon, where both Lily and Lupin are present inside, do you think that with his character, he would come to such a place?"

Dumbledore obviously thought much more thoroughly than anyone else, he was rational enough to think through all the problems, what he said just now, even Jon did not think for a moment, while Dumbledore instantly perceived the abnormal situation when he saw Jon take out the pinch of grey hair.

But not everyone can be as rational and calm as he is.

Even if there is no issue in what he said, it doesn't change the fact that Wormtail is most likely on this wagon right now!

And in the face of such facts, whether it is Lily or Lupin, both of them just couldn't sit back and do nothing.

"These are indeed a problem, but even if there are such issues, are we going to ignore the fact that Wormtail is right beside us?" Lily's voice was flat, but that flat voice was clearly trembling.

Lupin's tone remained calm.

"You're quite right, sir, it does defy common sense for Wormtail to show up on the wagon to act as an undercover agent for the Dark Lord if he truly is the Wormtail we knew. He should be most aware of what level of hatred we have for him better than anyone else, so he must have some kind of scheme up his sleeve along with his lord, but the more it is like this, the faster we have to catch this traitor! Because only then can we quickly pry into his mind and know all their plans as well as plots!"

Dumbledore went silent.

He was not persuaded by the words of Lily and Lupin, and it was clear that no matter what he said now there was no way to stop their hatred of Wormtail that had been pent up for countless years in the end.

Dumbledore knew there must be a problem, but he also didn't have the means to know exactly what this issue is.

And because of this, he also had no reason at all to stop Lily and Lupin from planning to find a way to pull Wormtail out right now in this wagon, even though his instincts told him that this is probably exactly what Voldemort wanted to see ...

***

Paris, France.

In an ancient mansion located on the outskirts of Paris, Sirius sat on the sofa in the drawing room, absent-mindedly cutting the steak in front of him, eating his dinner while listening to Bill, the oldest son of the Weasley family, giving him a report on his tasks beside him.

"Charlie and the men, after all this time of visiting and investigating, have concluded that the top brass of the French Ministry of Magic is currently divided into four main factions, one is pro-pureblood supremacy faction with the ancient wizard families as well as some of the half-blood wizards who meet the criteria for the new pureblood division, these people are big supporters of the ruling theories of the dark lord, many of them want to turn the French magical world into what Britain has become at present. This way, purebloods can completely hold all the authority."

"There is also a faction led by the current French Minister of Magic, Eric Amalric, a Faction that focuses on gaining benefits, they are now openly leaning towards the pureblood supremacy faction, but in fact, they just want to use this stance to muddy the waters of the French magical world and use it to gain more benefits for themselves, and they're also the biggest revolutionary force in the French Ministry of Magic on the surface."

"Then there is the one that is working with us, led by Adele Roland, the pro-muggle faction, they are now fiercely confronting the benefit-acquiring faction, and I heard that a temporary assembly will be held soon, trying to oust the Minister of Magic and thereby stabilizing the situation in France."

"Finally, the neutral faction, which has the largest number of people, probably occupying nearly half of the overall high-level people of the Ministry of Magic, are mostly purebloods or half-bloods who have more moderate thinking, with a tendency to lean towards pureblood supremacy faction, but also does not wish to bring chaos to France with such overly radical reforms; they fall into the category of those who do not want to help any sides, and eventually turn to whichever faction that has the advantage. "

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