bacchusnovels Chapter 389 The Spotted Ones Held High Above
Chapter 389 The Spotted Ones Held High Above
Chapter 389 The Spotted Ones Held High Above
"Don't come any closer!" Sirius shouted sharply. Hermione, who was standing nearby, recognized him at that moment—it was the infamous Death Eater who had escaped from Azkaban and was featured in the Daily Prophet.
Sirius Black!
Hermione's face turned deathly pale instantly. She grabbed Harry's arm and said in a trembling voice, "Harry, it's Black!"
He's Sirius Black! The Death Eater who escaped from Azkaban!
"What?" Harry was stunned, his heart sinking.
When he looked at Sirius again, his eyes were misty with hatred.
"Blake!" Ron clenched his fists and roared, "Put down my Scabbers right now!"
Seeing that his identity had been exposed, Sirius Black remained calm and composed.
He slowly narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice, "Your Banban? This rat should not have existed for a long time. It—it's a traitor!"
It must repay its debts!
"You madman!" Ron roared, charging forward to snatch Scabbers back.
"Ron, don't go!" Hermione screamed, but it was too late.
Sirius moved swiftly, taking a step back while firmly gripping Scabbers in his hand.
His other hand quickly reached for his waist and pulled out a worn-out wand.
"Back off!" he roared, threatening, "You have no idea what it is! What a sinner it is!"
"I don't care what it is!" Ron roared, charging forward to try and tackle Sirius.
Sirius Black snorted and waved his wand. "Faint!"
A flash of light, and Ron was struck by the spell, falling to the ground. Scabbers slipped from his grasp and rolled onto the ground.
"Ron!" Hermione cried out, rushing to check on Ron's condition, and simultaneously raising her wand sharply towards Sirius: "Expelliarmus!"
Sirius quickly dodged the spell, his sharp gaze locking onto Hermione.
He gritted his teeth and roared, "What do you kids know! It killed your parents—it killed James and Lily!"
"What?" Harry stopped abruptly, looking at Sirius in shock.
"Black, you're talking nonsense!" Hermione didn't hesitate, raising her arm and pointing her wand at him, angrily saying, "You're the one who killed them!"
Sirius's face contorted instantly, as if touched by the deepest pain: "Me? You think it was me? No, it was it!" He pointed sharply at Scabbers on the ground, the flames in his eyes like an inextinguishable wildfire, frantically devouring his remaining sanity. "It's Wormtail! It betrayed James and Lily, handing them over to Voldemort!"
"Don't listen to him!" Hermione yelled at Harry, trying to snap him out of his shock. But just then, Scabbers on the ground suddenly struggled to his feet and crawled toward a corner at an eerie speed, trying to escape.
"Don't let it get away!" Sirius roared, lunging forward to catch it.
Harry finally realized what was happening. He drew his wand and pointed it at Sirius: "Expelliarmus!"
The spell struck Sirius's wand precisely, knocking it aside.
However, Sirius's actions did not stop at all.
He pounced on Banban and grabbed the struggling mouse tightly with both hands.
Harry gripped his wand tightly, his arm trembling slightly, the tip of the wand pointing directly at Sirius's chest.
His heart pounded, and images of his parents flashed through his mind. Anger and hatred burned like flames against his reason.
If he wanted, he could avenge his parents with a single spell.
"It can't escape!" Sirius's hoarse voice echoed in the room, filled with madness and despair. "It will destroy you all!"
Harry's wand didn't move, but his fingers turned white.
A voice echoed repeatedly in his mind: Do it! End all of this!
Just then, footsteps came from downstairs, soft yet carrying a heavy rhythm.
Hermione suddenly cried out in alarm, her voice filled with panic and tension: "Someone's coming! We're up there! Sirius Black, come quick!"
Sirius's eyes instantly turned to terror, and he suddenly exerted force, almost throwing Scabbers away.
Harry heard his own breathing, rapid and disordered.
His grip on the wand loosened slightly, but it remained stiffly held in the air.
The footsteps grew closer, and the stairs creaked and groaned.
Harry snapped out of his daze and instinctively looked back towards the doorway.
The door was flung open with a bang, and red sparks flew everywhere.
"Disarm you!" A deep voice came from the doorway.
Harry's wand flew out of his hand and towards the door, along with Hermione's and Ron's wands, except for Sophia's.
Her wand was still firmly resting at her waist.
Professor Lupin burst in from outside, caught several wands, and quickly scanned the scene inside the room.
His gaze lingered on Harry, then swept over Ron, who was sprawled on the floor, and Hermione and Sophia, who were huddled in the corner.
Finally, he looked at Sirius lying on the ground, his eyes filled with an indescribable complex emotion.
Lupin slowly walked to the center of the room and stood in front of Sirius: "Where is he, Sirius?"
These words sent a jolt through Harry.
He didn't understand what Lupin meant.
Who is he talking about?
Sirius slowly raised his head, a struggling expression appearing on his tired face.
He very slowly raised the mouse in his hand; the spotted mouse was still struggling and making sharp squeaking noises.
"It's this one."
When Lupin's gaze settled on Scabbers, his expression instantly changed: "Are you sure he's been here the whole time?"
"Why didn't he show himself before? Unless—" Lupin's eyes widened, as if looking at something unbelievable, muttering to himself, or perhaps asking rhetorically, "Unless he is the one—unless you switched—and didn't tell me?"
Sirius nodded, his eyes filled with pain and hatred.
"Professor!" Harry couldn't help but interrupt loudly, "What's going on? Why—" His words came to an abrupt halt, because Lupin slowly put down his wand, walked over to Sirius, grabbed his shoulder, and helped him up from the ground.
"You shouldn't have to bear this alone," Lupin said softly, his voice filled with deep sorrow and guilt.
Then, Lupin gently embraced Sirius as if he were embracing a long-lost brother.
Harry stood there, his mind a jumble of thoughts.
His wand slipped from his hand, his anger was extinguished by sudden confusion, and he could not understand what was happening before him.
Professor Lupin, the mentor he trusted, actually stood by Blake's side.
Blake, the man who betrayed his parents.
"I don't believe it!" Hermione screamed, breaking the silence of the room.
Lupin released Sirius and turned to face Hermione.
Hermione had already stood up, pointing at Lupin, her eyes wide, shock and anger mingling on her face: "You—you—"
Hermione—
"You and him!" Hermione screamed hysterically, her eyes filled with uncontrollable emotion.
"Hermione, calm down," Lupin comforted her.
"I didn't tell anyone!" Hermione shrieked, her voice shrill and piercing. "I've been keeping it from you—"
"Hermione, please listen to me!" Lupin cried.
Harry stood to the side, trembling, but not from fear; it was from the surge of anger within him.
His hands gripped the wand tightly, his fingertips turning white, and his voice trembled with rage: "I trusted you so much, and it turns out you've always been his friend!"
Lupin took a deep breath, trying to make his point clearer: "You're wrong, Harry," he said. "I wasn't Sirius's friend before, but now I am—"
"No!" Hermione interrupted him, almost screaming, "Harry, don't believe him! He helped Black infiltrate the castle, and he wants you dead too—he's a werewolf!"
An ear-splitting silence fell over the room.
All eyes turned to Lupin, who stood ramrod straight and appeared unusually calm, despite his face being as pale as paper.
“This is completely unlike your usual self, Hermione,” Lupin finally spoke, his voice tinged with helplessness and exhaustion. “I’m afraid it’s only a third of what it used to be. I didn’t help Sirius infiltrate the castle, and of course I didn’t want Harry to die—” His facial muscles twitched slightly, “but I won’t deny that I’m a werewolf.”
Then he turned to Hermione, his expression turning serious, and asked with obvious difficulty, "How long have you known?"
Hermione answered in a low voice, "A long time—ever since I did Professor Phillips's paper—".
"At the time, I was quite puzzled—"
Lupin's face stiffened instantly. "Did you check the lunar cycle chart and find that I always fall ill during a full moon? Or did you discover that Boggarts turn into the moon when they see me?"
Hermione's eyes flickered, and she answered in a low voice, "They've all found out."
Lupin sighed deeply and forced a smile: "You are the smartest little witch I have ever met, Hermione."
Hermione's eyes were a little red, and she almost muttered to herself, "If only I were smarter, I should have told everyone who you are!"
Lupin lowered his eyes and said with some emotion, "But they already know." He looked at Harry, Hermione, and Ron, "At least the teachers know."
"Dumbledore knew you were a werewolf and still hired you?" Ron asked in surprise. "Was he insane?"
“Some instructors thought that way,” Lupin said, a hint of sadness in his eyes, “but Dumbledore did a great deal of work to convince some of them that I was reliable.”
"But he's wrong!" Harry suddenly lost control, his angry voice making his own heart tremble. "You've been helping him all along!" Harry pointed at Sirius Black. "You've been in cahoots with him all along!"
"I did not help Sirius," Lupin defended himself. "If you give me a chance, I can explain everything."
As he spoke, he bent down and separated their wands, tossing them back to Harry, Hermione, and Ron one by one.
Harry caught the wand, a sense of doubt welling up inside him.
How dare he give his own wand to someone else?
Could it be that, as Lupin said, there is another possibility for a turn of events?
Or...::...the other party was so confident that even if they returned the wands to the group, they wouldn't be able to get hurt in the slightest?
Harry clenched his fist quietly at the thought of the latter possibility.
"Alright," Lupin said, turning around and putting his wand back into his belt. "Now you have weapons, we don't. Are you willing to listen to my explanation?"
Hermione hesitated for a moment before finally speaking: "Explain what? You've been on the opposite side from the beginning! You helped him! You never told us the truth!"
Lupin didn't respond directly to Hermione, but instead turned his gaze to Harry, his eyes filled with sincerity: "I understand your anger."
But listen to me—what you see now, the man called Sirius Black, is actually the truth that has kept all of you in the dark.”
He paused, then slowly began, "Banban—that seemingly harmless mouse—he's not an ordinary mouse."
Lupin took a deep breath and continued, "He is Peter Pediru."
To help Lupin, Sirius Black held up Scabbers high, as if wanting everyone to see him more clearly, even though... Scabbers struggled frantically, but what good did it do?
It took them a few seconds to realize the absurdity of his words, and then Ron said what Harry was thinking: "You're both crazy."
"Peter Pettigrew is dead!" Harry said. "He killed him twelve years ago!"
Hermione took a step back abruptly, her eyes filled with shock.
"Impossible!" she whispered, her voice almost trembling. "You're saying—you're saying Bambi is Peter Petillo? How could that be? He—how could he possibly be Peter?"
Lupin nodded, his expression growing more serious: "I know it sounds absurd, but it's true. Peter Pedilú,"
He's been disguised as this rat, hiding among you for years. He not only betrayed Harry's parents, but also caused their deaths.
"This is impossible!" Ron stood up excitedly, completely ignoring the pain in his leg.
His face was flushed, and his voice was almost hoarse. "You're wrong, Lupin! You don't understand at all! That rat, Scabbers—he's just my pet! How could he possibly be a Death Eater? He can't possibly be Peter!"
Lupin raised his hands and pressed them down at the same time, trying to calm the red-hot Ron down: "You have to hear me out, Ron."
"It's not Peter, it's Scabbers!" Ron shouted angrily again.
"There were witnesses to Pettigrew's death," Harry added from the side. "Everyone on the street saw it—"
"What they saw wasn't what they thought!" Blake rudely interrupted Lupin. "Spotty isn't an ordinary rat; he's Peter Petillo!"
"Everyone thought Sirius killed Peter," Lupin continued, nodding. "I believed it too, until—"
He turned to look at Sirius, who, despite his impatience, cooperated again by lifting Scabbers high in the air to clear his name. "Peter is alive, and Sirius is holding him, Harry."
Harry paused, looked down at Ron, his eyes filled with confusion.
This sense of confusion only appeared during their first divination class this semester.
But just like the psychological shift that occurred after class, the two exchanged a brief glance and silently reached a consensus—Blake and Lupin (Trillaun) must have something wrong with their heads; what they were saying was utterly absurd.
How could Scabbard be Peter Pettigrew? That's impossible! Azkaban must have driven Black insane—but why does Lupin say that too?
Why did he agree with Blake?