The Return to Hogwarts

"Back in the house, you said that the guy named Peter wouldn't leave Hogwarts and would stay near Harry, right?"

Sirius stroked his beard, signaling to Amostella to turn it back.

"That's right, I guarantee it's true--"

Human form makes eating easier. Blake grabbed food with both hands and started putting it into his mouth, muttering this as he did so.

“I understand Peter. Leaving Hogwarts means he will no longer be able to enjoy the protection that Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic provide for Harry. He can’t leave here, and he has to make sure he can keep up with the latest news in the wizarding world.”

Amosta nodded noncommittally, a vague idea forming in his mind.

He wanted to know more about Peter, but Sirius Black clearly didn't offer any objective assessment. He just kept saying that Peter was a despicable, shameless scoundrel, a coward who liked to follow powerful wizards around hoping to get their protection.

But is Peter really as bad as Blake says? Amosta doesn't think so.

Meticulous, extremely patient, quite ruthless, and with a certain amount of courage, Amosta offers his opinion of Peter through fragmented descriptions.

"courage?!"

Sirius didn't say anything about the first few points, but he couldn't stand Amosta's final assessment.

"Are you saying that scoundrel is a courageous man, Blaine?" Sirius scoffed. "That's ridiculous. If he had even a tiny bit of courage, he wouldn't have become a despicable traitor!"

“As you say, he is a traitor, but since Peter dared to betray his friend and relayed messages to Voldemort for over a year right under Dumbledore's nose, that's enough to prove he's not a cowardly wizard without any guts, Black—”

Amosta rested his interlaced fingers on his raised knees and said lazily.

Sirius was about to retort, but before he could speak, Blaine suddenly stood up from his chair and waved his wand wildly at himself. Sirius then found himself transformed back into a black cat, about the size of Crookshanks.

"Remus is right outside the door, don't give yourself away."

Remus?!

Sirius's sausage, which was caught in his claws, fell to the ground. He spun around on the sofa and darted under a cushion. However, Crookshanks, who was lying on the sofa, knocked the cushion away with a single paw. Crookshanks's strange gaze brought Sirius back to his senses. He was not in his wizard form or Animagus form, so Remus couldn't possibly recognize him!

"Percy just asked me a question about Defense Against the Dark Arts downstairs, and I learned from him that you've returned to the castle—"

The door opened silently after the knock, and Remus Lupin strode in, his face serious, but his eyes filled with a hint of worry.

"So, Amosta, do you have this cat?"

Remus, who was quickly approaching Amosta's desk, immediately noticed the two cats curled up on the sofa. He was only surprised by Crookshanks' size, but when his gaze fell on the tense black cat that looked particularly nervous, Remus suddenly stopped and his solemn expression subtly changed.

It's strange, why do I feel so familiar with a black cat? I've never dealt with cats before.

When their eyes met in mid-air, Remus, feeling an even stronger sense of unease, thought in astonishment.

Sirius tried his best to avoid eye contact with Remus, but he couldn't help wanting to see his old friend up close. The moment his gaze fell on Remus, an overwhelming sadness welled up inside him, making his cat body tremble.

Remus has aged a lot.

His temples were gray, his cheeks were covered with fine lines, and his body looked very thin and frail. Even his back was a little hunched. He looked like an old man who had already entered his twilight years.

Sirius knows that werewolves are in a bad situation in the wizarding world, but Remus's current aged appearance makes it impossible for him to pretend that these things have nothing to do with him.

"This cat"

Sadness and guilt. Remus could read these two emotions in the black cat's eyes, but that was too strange. How could an animal have such rich emotions? And why did it feel so familiar to him? Remus thought in a daze.

"Where did you get these two cats, Amosta?"

Amosta, who was sitting behind his desk watching the commotion, subtly curled the corners of his lips and calmly replied,

"That yellow cat is called Crookshanks. It's Hermione's pet. Because it's a bit mischievous, Hermione is temporarily keeping it with Hagrid. But it especially loves to go for walks in Hogsmeade. I found it there last night. The black one is Crookshanks' old flame from the wild."

Chapter 242 Whose Fault Is It?

"Perhaps I bumped into him somewhere—"

Remus smiled, looking somewhat disappointed. He finally looked away and said to Amosta, "So, you got nothing last night?"

"That's obviously the case—"

Amostella stretched, walked to the fireplace, took down the scalding hot teapot, brewed herself a cup of tea, and said with her back to Remus,

“I have checked all the secret passages that Filch didn’t know about, and I didn’t find any clues related to Blake. I have sealed the secret passage under the Whomping Willow.”

Remus didn't know whether to be happy or disappointed by the result. In any case, he left looking dejected. He reminded Amosta that he would be transforming again in a few days and asked Amosta to cover his classes then, before leaving the office.

Amosta held his teacup, while Lenny, with his ears drooping in interest, remained silent.

After a while, Sirius asked Amosta to turn him back to normal, and asked in a sullen voice,

"So, you already know that Remus is a werewolf?"

“Since Dumbledore brought him in as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, he certainly wouldn’t have kept it a secret from the Board of Governors and the Ministry of Magic. The current professors at the school taught him back then, so they already knew that Remus was a werewolf. As for me…”

Amosta took a sip of tea and smiled.

“I knew him before I became colleagues with Remus.”

Sirius seemed quite interested in this, and Amosta briefly explained it to him.

"--You must know about the underground world deep in Knockturn Alley. For the past few years, Remus has been hanging around there to make a living. Of course, he hasn't done much illegal or criminal work. Every month when he transforms, he goes to the forest or the wilderness to spend those days alone. After the transformation ends, he'll pick up some herbs from the forest to sell. However, he doesn't seem to be very good at it; most of the time, he doesn't sell his stuff for much."

Seeing that Sirius was listening attentively, Amosta thought for a moment and then said...

"In earlier years, I mean when Voldemort had just fallen, the wizarding world had a deep-seated prejudice against werewolves. Remus was forced to work with Greyback for a while, but he clearly couldn't stand Greyback's cruel way of doing things. Slowing down the work. Well, that's about it."

“Back then, I mean when we were graduating from Hogwarts,”

Sirius said with a gloomy expression,

"Remus is not doing so well. He is unwilling to accept my help. Some of James's relatives own businesses and he wanted to introduce Remus to work there, but Remus was afraid of causing trouble for James and refused as well."

Sirius took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind of those unpleasant memories. Then, he looked at the young wizard leaning against the fireplace with a strange gaze.

“I suddenly noticed something, Blaine.”

uh-huh--

Amosta uses a nasal sound to represent a question.

"You graduated from Slytherin, right? That's rare. A wizard from that house actually dares to call Voldemort by his name?"

Sirius said in a mocking tone,

"Back then, Slytherin was practically Death Eater trainees. Many Slytherins we knew became key members of the Death Eaters right after graduation, including Snape, of course. You were on good terms with him, weren't you? Did he ever tell you about his glorious past?"

“I don’t see what gives you the right to mock Severus Snape, Black.”

Amosta said coldly.

"Admittedly, Professor Snape may have made mistakes in his youth, but he has been working for Dumbledore all these years, hoping to atone for the errors he made in his youth. And you, Black, after your foolish advice led to the deaths of the Potters, what did you do? To put it nicely, you went to Azkaban as atonement; to put it bluntly, you were just trying to escape the pangs of your conscience."

In my opinion, Snape is far more courageous than you, Black. If you're truly responsible, why don't you take the initiative to raise Harry? As far as I know, you're also his godfather.

"I did consider doing that!"

Sirius Black stood up abruptly, his cheeks flushed red with humiliation.

"The night the Potters were murdered, I wanted to raise Harry, but Hagrid said Dumbledore wanted to put Harry with his aunt!"

"Just as you wished, isn't it?"

Amosta said with a sneer.

"Compared to the heavy responsibility of raising a child, it is clear that acting impulsively to seek revenge is more in line with your abilities."

Sirius was furious. He couldn't win a fight, he couldn't win an argument, and he couldn't even slam the door and leave. However, Amosta's next words made him pause and fall into a long silence.

“Last summer, I visited Harry’s aunt and uncle’s house for some reason. In private, he told me that before coming to Hogwarts, he lived in a storage box under the stairs. The Potters were obviously very happy to see Harry grow up in such a ‘fair’ environment, right?”

The room fell silent; the argument had come to an end.

Sirius remained motionless on the sofa all morning, showing no reaction even to Crookshank's curious prodding. It seemed he had indeed been struck down by Amosta's sharp words.

"What are your plans for the Christmas holidays, Amosta?"

After the two morning classes, just before lunch, Professor McGonagall left her office and went upstairs to knock on Amosta's office door.

"Well, I'm planning to visit my orphanage, Professor. What advice do you have for me?"

Is he an orphan?

Upon hearing the word "orphanage," Lenny, who was on the sofa, raised his head and looked at Amosta Blaine, who was standing in the doorway speaking, with a bit of surprise. Suddenly, he seemed to realize what was going on.

“That’s right, Amosta,”

Professor McGonagall clutched the parchment in her hand, looking somewhat troubled.

"This is the list of children who applied to stay at school during the Christmas holidays. Considering that Blake is still at large, therefore—"

Amosta blinked. "Who are they?"

“Mr. Potter certainly counts,”

Professor McGonagall sighed and said, "The boy had nowhere else to go. So Granger and Weasley stayed behind with him!"

Malfoy and two of his little followers from Slytherin will not be going home for Christmas this year. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw will also have several upperclassmen staying behind to prepare for the NEWT exams. Gryffindor will be a trio. In addition, Neville Longbottom will also be forced to stay at school this year because of his lost wand.

"Speaking of Neville's wand—"

Amosta suddenly snapped out of his reverie, took his wand out of his pocket, and showed it to Professor McGonagall.