Hogwarts 'opening dinner this year was not as lively as it used to be. The professors and students did not look too good, and some people were left in the infirmary because of shock. []
They had already sat down for more than ten minutes, but the sorting ceremony had yet to begin. The new students were all drenched and shivering in front of the teachers 'table. After the dementor incident, they probably had a terrible first impression of Hogwarts. Professor Sprout waved his wand to dry their clothes, then returned to the staff table and sat down beside Professor Flitwick.
Many of the students noticed a familiar face at the teachers 'table, recognized by newspaper readers as Fudge, the Minister of Magic. He was dressed in an exquisitely crafted black suit, and still wore his lime green bowler hat. Fudge was sitting on Dumbledore's right, talking to him in a low voice, while Professor McGonagall listened gravely on the other side. Mr. Longbottom was happily chatting with Snape. Although Snape looked impatient, he would still give him a simple response. His usually cold and empty eyes revealed a rare hint of gentleness. Harry had to marvel at his affability, and if there was a prize for the Wizarding world's most popular, he would be a well-deserved winner. At the long Hufflepuff table, a short wizard with a black camera was sitting at the head of the table. Harry recognized him as the photographer for the Daily Prophet, the man he had seen at Lockhart's book signing.
Dumbledore rose to his feet, the voices below fading, pushed up his glasses, and opened his hands."Welcome to Hogwarts in the new year, children, we would like to invite today's guest to say a few words before the Sorting-" He sat down and looked at Fudge with the rest of the hall.
"Good evening, everyone, I'm Cornelius, Minister of Magic." Fudge."
The short photographer took a picture of him with his camera. After the blinding flash, the camera spewed purple smoke.
He cleared his throat and went on,"The dementors have just searched the Hogwarts Express, and it's been a bad influence on you, a bit of a disturbance-" He glanced in Harry's direction."I hope you understand.”
Harry's expression was calm, ignoring the many furtive glances that fell upon him.
The photographer was taking pictures of Fudge from all angles, quite professionally, and there was a cloud of smoke in front of the staff table.
"The Ministry has decided to station a team of dementors at Hogwarts," said Fudge."Such a defense is necessary while Black is still at large. They would be stationed at all the entrances of the school to check on people entering and leaving. The dementors would take action against anyone who left the school without permission, and the Ministry was not responsible for his safety.”
After Fudge finished his brief speech, he straightened his hat and sat down again. The students began to discuss among themselves, their voices getting louder and louder.
"Like Black's going to come to our school.”Neville muttered.
Hermione looked at Fudge disapprovingly. The Ministry shouldn't be so irresponsible. What if dementors break into the school?”
Harry glanced at Avery, who was still sleeping in Ginny's arms, and could not help smiling.
When he'd met Fudge at the Leaky Cauldron, he'd given him a mental cue to come down to Hogwarts personally to inform him of the matter when school started, and to bring along the newspaper. Because of the importance of this matter, his actions were not very abrupt.
Black's escape from prison had been a huge affair, and the Ministry had already been condemned and pressured by wizards from all over the world. Even if someone came forward to reveal the truth, it would probably be covered up. Just like the resurrection of Voldemort in the original novel, if they had not seen it with their own eyes and witnessed it by too many people, they would not have admitted any facts that were not good for their reputation. So Harry had never intended to use legal means to solve Sirius's problem in the first place. What if the Ministry doesn't admit it and kills them just like they did with the Death Eater?
He picked the best day, the right time, the right place, and the right people to neatly put the truth in front of everyone. He wanted to see how those people would shirk their responsibilities. []
Fudge and Dumbledore talked a little longer, then stood up and shook hands. Harry's hand moved slightly in his sleeve.
"Scabbers-come back-" Ron whispered suddenly, and a gray rat emerged from his pocket, jumped onto the long table, knocked over a few bottles of pumpkin juice, and sped away.
Hermione whipped out her wand."Wingardim Leviosa-"
Putting his wand back in his pocket, Harry was glad he didn't have to do it himself.
Scabbers struggled pitifully in the air, dripping pumpkin juice.
"Ron! Keep your rat in check, or I'll give it to Crookshanks for dessert.”said Hermione, looking disgusted.
The little surprise was obviously a great delight to many people. Harry chuckled along with everyone else, keeping an eye out of the corner of his eye in the direction of the teachers 'table. Fudge watched with interest, Dumbledore looked thoughtfully at the rat, and Snape frowned sharply.
Ron said irritably,"Now, Hermione, put it down. This damned rat…"
When Scabbers landed on the table, a large ginger cat pounced on him and held him in its mouth.
"Crookshanks!" exclaimed Hermione, who didn't really want to kill Ron's pet.
"Meow…"
Crookshanks flung Scabbers off suddenly, squealing in pain, and fell off the long table. Hermione ran to pick him up.
Scabbers had fallen into a plate of soup and Ron was about to reach for him when he saw, to his horror, that his pet was beginning to change. Its head rapidly expanded and turned into a human head. Amidst the screams of the girls, four limbs grew out. After a while, a man appeared where Scabbers had been.
The students around them all stood up and staggered to the side. All eyes in the dining room were on them. Harry covered his mouth and stared, trying to look as shocked and confused as they were.
The man stood on the long table and looked around with a confused expression. He was very short, with a large bald patch on his head, and his thin, pale hair was soaked in soup. After her watery little eyes saw the surrounding environment clearly, her pupils suddenly constricted and she subconsciously looked towards the teacher's seat.
Dumbledore watched the chaos without batting an eyelid. Fudge looked as if he had been struck by lightning. Hagrid's large glass slipped from his hand, spilling beer all over him.
"Pettigrew? Peter?" Professor McGonagall's voice had never risen so high before.
Snape got to his feet, looked at him with great hatred, and said in a frighteningly cold voice,"What a pleasant surprise. Peter, are you here to visit your alma mater?”
The photographer was keenly aware that there was news inside, and the camera began to work non-stop.
"Professor..." "It's been-it's been a long time-"
"It has indeed been a long time!" Professor McGonagall strode toward him, her face cold as she waved her wand. A few ropes appeared out of thin air and bound him tightly." I think you should explain to us why you didn't die, but instead sneakily turned into a mouse at Hogwarts!”
Harry lowered his eyes to hide a flash of blue.
"I... I'm innocent..." "I didn't... I didn't betray James and Lily, it was Sirius, not me... I didn't do anything..."
Hagrid stared blankly, then suddenly roared," If you didn't do it, why are you hiding?”
"I... Sirius informed the Dark Lord... I didn't do it... I was just scared..."
The students who were whispering to each other fell silent at the mention of the Dark Lord. In the quiet dining room, his sharp voice sounded particularly ear-piercing.
"And you call him the Dark Lord?" Professor McGonagall gritted her teeth."I thought... I thought you were a good boy... More than once I regretted being too hard on you... you damned..."
Dumbledore looked at him quietly and said nothing. Harry cursed the old fox in his heart and looked up with a very confused expression." Professor, he just mentioned my parents..."
Professor McGonagall stared at him with a pained look."Harry-"
Her voice was stuck in her throat and she did not know how to explain.
Pettigrew? Looking down at Harry as though he had seen his savior, Peter called eagerly,"Harry, you're Harry, aren't you? You and James look so..."
Before he could finish, a green light knocked him onto the table, knocking a few plates and cutlery onto the ground.
Mr. Longbottom withdrew his wand, his lips tightly pursed, his face unprecedentedly grim and cold.
"You still have the face to talk to this child!”Hagrid was so mad that if Professor McGonagall and Mr. Longbottom hadn't held him back, he would have run over and smashed the rat. Traitor!"
"Harry, it really wasn't me..." Peter struggled like a jumping fish, rolling from the table to Harry's feet, and Snape pulled the bewildered Harry to his side, glaring at him.
"Get lost!"
"Believe me, I didn't betray James... I swear..." He looked pitifully at Harry, then turned to Ron, whose mouth was wide open."Master, kind master, you tell them I'm a good pet.. a good rat..."
said Ron, backing up abruptly, shaking his head in disbelief."I don't know…what are you? Where have you taken me, Scabbers?”
"Obviously our Mr. Weasley has a troll brain and doesn't know what's going on," said Snape, looking at him mockingly."If you had any common sense, you would know that he's your rat, an Animagus.”
Ron looked too shocked to think."Animagus?! Merlin…"
Harry was shaking all over, looking helplessly at the people around him.”
The professors all quieted down and turned their faces away to avoid his questioning gaze.
Pettigrew? "Harry, Sirius is the traitor..."
No one stopped him; everyone seemed to want Harry to hear it from someone else, though only part of it was true.
"... he's been pretending to be friends with your parents, but he's actually a spy sent by the Dark Lord, secretly feeding information to the Death Eaters..."
Don't be rash. It would be too easy for him to die like this. Harry pursed his lips and told himself coldly.
"... He told the Dark Lord James and Lily's address and helped him kill them..."
Idiot, you keep calling yourself the Dark Lord, like you're afraid no one knows you're a Death Eater. Was there any side effect to the technique he used? Did he hurt his brain?
Harry bit his lip, his voice trembling as he fought back his grief and resentment." You mean, Voldemort was able to kill my parents because of the betrayal of a friend?”
Pettigrew? Peter trembled." Yes."
"You said you're innocent?"
"Yes." Pettigrew? Peter looked at him tearfully.
Harry was silent for a moment, then suddenly sneered." An innocent person would be willing to hide and be a rat for more than ten years?”
Pettigrew? Peter screamed,"I was scared! If the Dark Lord's supporters are after me-because I sent that spy into Azkaban-"
"Enough!" Mr. Longbottom cut him off coldly." It's easy to know the truth, Severus. Lend me your Veritaserum.”
Fudge, who had been ignored for a long time, coughed suddenly."Frank, I think I should remind you that the Ministry Decree states that the use of Veritaserum must be approved by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and recorded by a Ministry official.”
"I think it's obvious enough, Fudge. If he was really innocent, why didn't he come to us all these years?”Dumbledore said coolly."When the Ministry arrested Black, there was no trial. Maybe we should reopen the case-you see, the victim isn't dead, is she?”
"A new trial?" Fudge's face went green and white."But Black's escaped, and there's no one to accuse. Are we going to convict Mr. Peter because he's been hiding for more than a decade in fear of retribution from the Death Eaters?”
Avery "happened" to wake up in Ginny's arms and looked around blankly. Peter was stunned for a moment. After a few seconds, it reacted and pounced on him with its teeth bared.
Ginny looked terrified and was about to call it back when Hermione pulled her back quickly.”
The crowd, who had originally thought that they were already numb from the shock, could not help but gasp when they saw Avery's transformed appearance.
"Sirius? Blake?"
Sirius still looked as thin as a living skeleton after a summer's rest. He was glaring at Pettigrew with a murderous look in his dark eyes. Peter rushed over.
Before anyone could react, Fudge shouted,"Quickly catch him! Catch him! That's Black!"
Snape's face twisted strangely, and he pointed his wand at Sirius.”
Harry was sweating inside as he was knocked to the ground by what looked like bullets. He had thought Snape had used the Avada Kedavra Charm and had almost saved him.
Sirius was bound by Snape's swinging rope and began to struggle. Let me kill that traitor! Pettigrew? Peter! No matter where you run to, I will find you and kill you with my own hands! James and Lily are watching from above, you'll never, ever die a good death!”
His hoarse shout was filled with endless hatred, causing the surrounding people to shiver.
The Daily Prophet photographer, however, was so excited that he took one picture after another with his camera, ignoring Fudge's frighteningly green face.
Big news, big news. No matter which of these two is the real murderer, the front page of the Daily Prophet tomorrow will definitely not escape my grasp. The photographer was so touched that tears welled up in his eyes. His hands that were holding the camera trembled unprofessionally.
"Voldemort's dog! Despicable traitor!" Sirius was still cursing.
Harry felt a surge of pride when he finally heard someone other than Dumbledore call out Voldemort's name, and that person was his godfather.
Er-well, the occasion was not right.
The students 'expressions changed from horror to confusion, not knowing whose words to believe. Professor McGonagall and the others were all staring coldly at Pettigrew? Peter had already determined that he was the murderer. Only Snape, whose face was twisted with hatred, could not tell which of the two people on the ground he hated more.
Dumbledore looked at the chaotic scene and finally sighed, looking satisfied." I think we should talk somewhere else.”
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