The Return to Hogwarts

Remus's aggressive attitude ignited Sirius's stubbornness. Although Remus had his wand pressed against his forehead, he was no longer the submissive boy he had been moments before. He proudly raised his chin, staring defiantly into Remus's eyes.

"You think Blaine is covering for me, helping me infiltrate the castle, but why don't you consider why he's doing this, huh? To kill Harry, James and Lily's son, or is he planning to help me wreak havoc in the castle?"

"Isn't this what you painstakingly planned to achieve by escaping from Azkaban? Kill them all quickly, so that when Voldemort rises again, you can..."

Remus blurted it out, but he realized something was wrong halfway through.

Two weeks ago, Amosta learned from Harry about their former secret base, the secret passage under the Whomping Willow, and Sirius Black returned to Hogwarts with Amosta that very night.

For the entire two weeks, Albus was away from the castle most of the time. If Sirius and Amosta's goal was to harm Harry, they would have succeeded long ago, or even fled far away by now.

"You've realized something's wrong, huh?"

Sirius Black keenly caught the hesitation in Remus's eyes. He snorted angrily, not because of Remus Lupin's attitude towards him, but because of Amosta Blaine. He suddenly realized that Amosta had probably wanted to get rid of him for a long time, which was why she asked Remus if he wanted to adopt 'Lenny' on the day Remus had his episode.

"I'll never be able to fathom the schemes and plots in your head, Sirius!"

Remus said coldly, and suddenly, he took a few steps back. A thin rope shot out from the tip of the wand that had been pulled back from Sirius's forehead. The rope quickly spun around Sirius's body, binding him tightly from head to toe in the blink of an eye.

"But I do want to hear what you're trying to justify yourself with."

Lu Ping said with a cold and stern expression.

Sirius's gaunt face turned completely black; he had treated himself the same way the night Blaine discovered him.

To be honest, revealing the truth about what happened back then didn't fit into my plan at all.

From the moment Azkaban successfully escaped, his goal was to kill Peter. He was absolutely determined, and no one could stop him, not even death.

But there are indeed some things Sirius doesn't want to face, namely, seeing those familiar faces from back then before avenging James and Lily.

It wasn't just because he was desperate and didn't dare to believe that his former friends were still reliable, but also because he couldn't face the fact that his stupidity had caused the deaths of the Potters. This guilt was also the reason why he was unwilling to face those acquaintances. He could tell them the truth, but at least after he had completed his revenge!

However, Amosta Blaine, this young Slytherin wizard, completely ruined his plans!

"That traitor wasn't me, Remus. It was Peter who leaked James and Lily's whereabouts!"

Sirius finally growled out those words, his voice filled with resentment, directed at Peter Pettigrew and also at Amostella Blaine.

Sirius's roar struck Remus like a thunderclap, leaving him completely stunned. Unconsciously, he murmured something.

"It's impossible that Albus himself said that James and Lily didn't want him to be the Secret Service; they wanted you, Peter. He's dead, isn't he? Dead at your hands, so many Muggles saw it."

The next ten minutes will be for answering your questions.

Sirius, bound by ropes, lay on the ground, recounting untold truths. This time, he was experienced; before Remus could question him, he took the initiative to tell some stories, such as why he had willingly stayed in Azkaban for twelve years, why he had suddenly escaped from there, how he had escaped, and the cause and effect of his capture by Blaine.

Sirius recounted all of this, perhaps because he had already told Blaine these things once before, and he felt somewhat numb as he spoke of them again.

"Finally, Blaine reluctantly agreed not to hand me over to Dumbledore or you. I can no longer use my Animagus form because you'll recognize me, so Blaine turned me into a cat and took me back to Hogwarts—"

Sirius said wearily.

The ashes floating in mid-air finally landed, and the moment they touched the bricks and stones, they burst forth with the last bit of brilliance in their lives.

Remus stared intently at Sirius, and at some point, the hatred in his eyes disappeared, replaced by confusion.

How absurd reality is.

Remus thought wearily, realizing that he had been brooding over this for twelve years, and that things had turned out this way.

Sirius Black wasn't the one who killed James and Lily; he was innocent. But the truth isn't much better than it used to be, is it?

"That's just your side of the story, Sirius. There's no evidence to prove it—" After a long silence, Remus shook his head and said, "I can't find any flaws in your story, Sirius, but this is a serious matter. You must provide evidence to prove that what you've said isn't a carefully crafted lie—"

Remus had already come to believe it; he just felt helpless and lost. War was cruel, but the human heart was even crueler.

"If you want to see my memories, then take them, Remus—"

Sirius lay on the ground as if all his bones had been removed. Faced with Remus's distrust, he didn't even have the strength to be angry. Of course, he had no right to be angry with Remus, after all, this was the root of all the tragedy, stemming from his foolish advice.

"You know, Sirius—"

Remus rubbed his stiff cheeks with his palm.

“I’m not as good at Legilimency as Amostella. If you don’t mind, Snape is doing it right now.”

Seeing Sirius's sudden change in expression, Lupin changed his tune.

“I can write a letter to Albus; he will surely have a way to prove the truth of what you said.”

“If you insist on doing this, Remus—”

Sirius Black shifted from lying on his side to lying flat on his back. He stared at the dark brown ceiling and said lifelessly,

"Then go and call Dumbledore over. Maybe Blaine is right, I really am a hopeless idiot. Maybe it's time to end all this quickly."

Upon hearing this, Remus suddenly softened.

The once spirited and talented Bigfoot seemed to have died; what appeared before him now was merely a shell driven by hatred.

"All right--"

Remus suddenly sighed. Sirius was an extremely proud man, and he could imagine how much torment Sirius had suffered over the years, which was why he was so obsessed with killing Peter. He himself wanted to do the same, to kill Peter with his own hands, so that this evil would end in the hands of the four of them, and not let Peter's filthy soul harm others, including Albus Dumbledore.

"Don't tell Albus for now—"

Remus took a deep breath, waved his wand, and shoved Sirius, who was staring wide-eyed at his decision in surprise, onto the bed. Then, Sirius rushed to his desk, grabbed a piece of parchment, and began to scribble furiously. Two minutes later, Remus folded the parchment, covered in neat handwriting, and slipped it into an envelope.

“I’m sorry, I can’t let you go right now. I wrote a letter to Amosta, asking him to come back temporarily and personally verify what you said.”

Then, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious!

After knocking Sirius down with a Stunning Charm, Remus checked the ropes binding him again to make sure they were secure. Then, he hurried out the door. He was going to the Owl Hut to mail the letter to Amosta.

The spell was broken, and the door creaked open.

Just before leaving, Remus paused, turned to look at Sirius lying unconscious on the bed, and then, a pale smile appeared on his lips.

"Anyway... welcome back, Bigfoot--"

Chapter 255, Section 253: The Owl's Shack

To prevent his letters from being intercepted, Remus didn't write anything about Sirius in them; he only vaguely mentioned:

I'm sorry to disturb you and your family's Christmas, Amosta. Do you remember that house-elf named Lennie? He suddenly came back to me and shared some secrets that surprised me greatly. I can't tell if they're true or not, but he told me that you know those things are true. So, could you please come back as soon as possible and talk to me about them?

Even though he was still in the weakened phase of his werewolf transformation, Remus strode forward like the wind, descending to the first floor and then crossing the corridor toward the west tower.

Throughout the journey, he pondered what might be the oversight in this short letter, so that if it fell into the hands of someone else, it would be reminiscent of Sirius Black.

Reaching the bottom of the eighth floor of the West Tower, Remus leaned against the rough stone wall, panting, large beads of sweat trickling down his pale cheeks from his forehead.

Although he felt incredibly tired, as Remus gazed through the arched window at the undulating, snow-white forest, he suddenly felt a surge of exhilarating emotion welling up from the depths of his heart, burning every inch of his skin.

Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew—are ultimately different.

A minute later, Remus, having rested, straightened up and, after passing through a narrow spiral staircase, finally saw the round stone house.

The windows of the owl hut were not fitted with glass to allow the owls to come and go, so the hut was very cold and damp in the dead of winter. The straw, owl droppings, and rat bones that the owls had spat out on the gray-brown stone floor made Remus feel nauseous even from thirty feet away.

Sirius Black was still unconscious in his office. Although he couldn't break the spells that bound Amostra and his own closed office without his wand, Remus couldn't feel at ease unless he kept a close eye on him.

He opened the wooden door, rushed inside, and pointed to the school's owl, which he quickly picked from a high perch to mail the letter, but...

The moment Remus rushed in, the startled owls flapped their wings and took flight. In the midst of the dark owl shed, in front of several collapsed frames, three students suddenly stood up. They turned around and stared at Remus, who had barged in, their stiff, pale faces bearing extremely unnatural expressions.

Draco Malfoy, Gregory Goyle, and Vincent Crabbe—these were Snape's third-year students. Remus raised an eyebrow, instinctively wanting to hide the envelope behind his back, but then realized they were just three students. He chuckled to himself and stopped what he was doing.

"What are you doing here—"

Before Professor Lupin could even offer a greeting, Malfoy asked the question first.

Malfoy's tone was dry and impolite, but Remus wasn't surprised. As a seasoned wizard who had been in the wizarding world for nearly twenty years, he had noticed the blond, gray-eyed boy's disdain and contempt for him when he first joined the profession. This was to be expected; it was only natural for a descendant of the Malfoy family, renowned in the wizarding world for their wealth and shrewdness, to look down on a poor and down-on-his-luck wizard.

"Ah, it's the three of you—"

Even under normal circumstances, Remus wouldn't be angered by Malfoy's offense. He smiled and said, "I thought this was a place to mail letters, Mr. Malfoy."

Remus waved the envelope in his hand and said, "And I happen to have a letter that needs to be mailed."

"To whom is it sent?" Malfoy asked again.

This question was so rude that even the good-natured Remus frowned almost imperceptibly upon hearing it.

"It's for Professor Blaine, Mr. Malfoy. He's gone back to spend Christmas with his family and friends, and unfortunately, I have some urgent business with him—"

However, after a brief moment of thought, Remus still answered the question. He looked at the indifferent Malfoy and the two stunned big guys next to Malfoy, and a thought suddenly struck him.

The previous night, during a casual conversation, Amosta had mentioned Malfoy to him.

The reason for discussing Malfoy is that after that substitute teaching session, Malfoy's unexpected behavior in class led to him being subjected to cold treatment by the Slytherin junior wizards. Amosta thought Malfoy would be able to get out of the embarrassing situation quickly, but he later learned from Snape that Malfoy seemed to be completely devastated.

Amosta wanted to offer Malfoy some help, but Snape repeatedly advised him against trying to change the rules within Slytherin, which bothered Amosta somewhat.

Thinking of this, and looking at the lifeless little boy in front of him, Remus's eyes showed a hint of sympathy, and his voice became even softer.

"So what are you all doing here? Oh, please don't misunderstand, I don't mean to pry into your little secrets, but I think you should choose a more cheerful way to spend Christmas. I happen to know that Professor McGonagall is preparing to host a small banquet in the Great Hall at noon. Gentlemen, if you don't have anything urgent to do, I suggest you go and take a look. After all, a fragrant steak and delicious pudding are much more pleasing to the eye than a stinking owl's hut, aren't they?"

Remus's long-winded speech did not move Malfoy and his companions in the slightest; they simply stood there staring at Lupin as if on guard against him.

That's so strange. What are these three little guys doing staying in the bird shed?

"We're not hungry--"