Hogwarts: I will not become the Dark Lord

Ron clenched his hands tightly, carefully holding the trembling rat and placing it in his pocket.

Harry tore off the Invisibility Cloak and threw it on the ground, quickly drawing his wand, but it was too late—the dog leaped, its sharp front claws already lunging at his chest. He dodged with agility, but could still feel its hot breath and see its inch-long fangs flash before his eyes…

The large black dog rolled over him, and Harry was dazed by the impact, feeling as if his ribs were about to break. He struggled to stand, but heard the dog's roar in place, clearly preparing to attack again.

Ron quickly stood up and, facing the dog's renewed attack, decisively pushed Harry away. The dog bit down on Ron's outstretched leg.

Seeing Harry and Ron injured, Neville rushed forward, trying to grab the dog's fur to restrain it, but the dog effortlessly dragged Ron away, as if Ron were just a helpless doll.

"Jerry, why are you just watching? Come help us!" Harry shouted anxiously, his voice almost breaking into tears.

"Ron will be fine, you guys follow me." Jerry stared at Sirius dragging Ron and disappearing into the tunnel beneath the Whomping Willow, pursed his lips slightly, and sighed deeply.

"Wait, Jerry, be careful!" Hermione quickly grabbed Jerry, reminding him, "That's the Whomping Willow ahead!"

Harry's wand emitted a faint glow, illuminating the stout Whomping Willow ahead. Its branches were swaying warily, as if ready to attack anyone who approached.

"Never mind it." Jerry didn't stop at all, and walked directly towards the Whomping Willow.

The Whomping Willow seemed to sense Jerry's approach, and its crown miraculously rotated a circle, those branches that had been baring their fangs and brandishing in demonstration, now stood upright in unison.

"This, this…" Harry looked at the strange Whomping Willow in front of him, in disbelief.

"Normal," Jerry waved his hand, signaling the others to follow, "This tree might be from France!"

"Jerry, we really need to go back and seek help…" Hermione's tone was calm, but she couldn't hide her anxiety, "It's too risky for just the four of us to face such danger."

"No, Hermione, we really don't have time to hesitate!" Harry retorted, panting, "Ron will be eaten by that thing!"

"Let's go, just keep crawling along the passage!" Jerry decisively interrupted their discussion, too lazy to explain to them. Sirius would explain everything clearly at the Shrieking Shack later. The key was that he had to find a way to get Peter Pettigrew out safely, without anyone else noticing.

Entering the hole, Jerry transformed into a raven, leading the way with flapping wings, Hermione, Harry, and Neville followed closely behind, bending over and crawling cautiously.

"Jerry, where does this tunnel lead to?" Hermione asked, panting, following behind the raven, her voice almost drowned out by her breathing.

"Hogsmeade Village, the Shrieking Shack." Jerry's hoarse and eerie voice came from the raven's body, sending chills down their spines, but the urgent situation at the moment made them unable to worry about these things.

As the tunnel meandered forward, Harry and the others finally felt the terrain begin to rise, and a faint light gradually appeared ahead. When they struggled to crawl out of the hole, what came into view was a messy, dust-filled room.

"This… is this the Shrieking Shack?" Harry struggled to crawl out of the hole, looking around. The room was empty, with only an open door on the right, leading to a dark corridor.

Suddenly, a creaking sound came from above, as if something heavy was moving upstairs. Their hearts tightened, and they quickly followed the corridor to a spacious hall, where a rickety staircase stood before them.

Arriving on the second floor, they found that only one door was half-open. Strange sounds came from behind the door: first a low moan, followed by a cat's meow, the sound filled with an eerie feeling.

Harry swallowed, gripped his wand tightly, and kicked the door open. A luxurious four-poster bed was revealed before them, the curtains around the bed covered in dust.

"Crookshanks, how did you get here?" Hermione's voice was full of surprise.

On the floor next to Crookshanks, Ron clutched his leg in pain, the position of his leg appearing very unnatural. His face was pale, and his forehead was covered in cold sweat.

"Ron—are you okay?" Harry and Neville rushed to his side, their eyes filled with anxiety. "Where did that dog… go?"

Ron closed his eyes tightly, squeezing out a weak groan from between his teeth: "That's not a dog…" He clenched his teeth tightly because of the pain, "Harry, this is a trap…"

"What? You mean—"

"He is that dog… He's an Animagus!" Ron looked behind Harry, a trace of horror flashing in his eyes. Harry immediately turned around alertly.

With a "smack," the person in the shadows quickly closed the door behind them.

"Expelliarmus!" Black's eyes were fixed on Harry, and he shouted the spell in a hoarse and sharp voice, Ron's wand aimed at Harry in his hand.

Harry's wand flew out of his hand in response, flying high into the air, and was steadily caught by Black.

"I knew you wouldn't sit idly by, you would definitely come looking for your friend." His voice was low and hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time, "You are as brave as your father, Harry."

"Thank you, Jerry." Sirius Black suddenly turned to Jerry, his tone full of gratitude, "Thank you for bringing him to me."

Jerry was a little speechless, could you not say such easily misunderstood words.

"Jerry? Why, why are you with this murderer? He betrayed and killed my parents!" Harry's voice trembled, his eyes filled with raging fire, the hatred in his heart was like boiling lava, completely drowning out the fear.

Black's eyes were like deep lakes, hiding unknown emotions. He said calmly to Ron: "Lie down, you shouldn't force yourself like this, it will only make your leg worse."

"Besides, you've all misunderstood," Black's mouth curled into a smug smile, and he said slowly: "Tonight, only one person here will face the threat of death."

Harry glared at him angrily, his heart filled with hatred for Black: "Do you think we'll believe your nonsense? You betrayed your friends! Just like last time, you didn't care about those innocent Muggles, just to kill Peter Pettigrew!"

Harry's sudden and intense reaction startled Black slightly, so that he didn't immediately raise the wand in his hand. Harry seized the opportunity to grab Black's hand holding the wand, skillfully changing the direction of the wand; then, the knuckles of his other hand struck the side of Black's head hard, and the two instantly lost their balance, falling backward and crashing into the hard wall…

Hermione screamed, her voice sharp and terrified. Jerry immediately waved his wand, and a beam of silver light forcibly separated Harry and Black, preventing the impending conflict. Ron seized the opportunity to jump up and pounced on Black's wand-wielding hand with lightning speed, successfully taking back the wand after a struggle.

Black had already lost his balance at this moment, his thin body leaning weakly against the wall, his chest rising and falling rapidly. Harry, holding his wand, approached Black step by step, the cold tip of the wand pointing directly at Black's heart.

Jerry quickly pulled Hermione aside, ensuring she wouldn't be injured by the ensuing conflict.

"Put down your wands!" Jerry said.

"What? Jerry, what are you saying?" Hermione struggled in shock, trying to break free from Jerry's grasp.

"Jerry, you're really helping Black!" Ron and Neville couldn't believe what they were hearing.

"Are you going to kill me, Harry?" Black's voice was low and weak, breaking the silence of their questioning.

Harry stood there, his eyes coldly scrutinizing Black. His wand remained steadily pointed at Black, as if ready to launch a deadly attack at any moment. A bluish-black bruise gradually appeared around Black's left eye, and blood slowly flowed from his nostrils.

"You killed my parents," Harry's voice trembled slightly, but his hand holding the wand was exceptionally firm.

"No, Harry, things are far more complicated than you imagine. You don't know the whole truth," Black's sunken eyes stared at Harry, his voice very calm.

"Complicated?" Harry repeated, his ears seeming to echo with thunderous crashes.

"You sold them to Voldemort, that's all I need to know!" Harry's voice was full of anger.

"Please give me a chance to explain," Black's voice became urgent, "If you don't understand the whole truth—you'll regret it in the future."

"I know more than you think," Harry's voice trembled even more, but every word was full of power, "You never heard her desperate cries, did you? But I did, I heard her… In the end, my mother was still trying to beg, hoping Voldemort would spare me… Yet, you betrayed everyone, you leaked the secret!"

A ginger figure suddenly flashed past Harry. Crookshanks leaped lightly, landing steadily on Black's chest, squatting at the location of his heart, motionless like a statue.

Black squinted, looking down at the persistent cat, "Get off." He murmured, trying to wave Crookshanks away, but the cat was like a nail, fixed to his robes, its claws deeply embedded in the fabric.

"Crookshanks," Hermione shouted anxiously, while trying to break free from Jerry's restraint, "Jerry, let me go!"

At this moment, the atmosphere in the room became even more tense, and a low, heavy footstep sounded on the floor, indicating that someone was approaching from downstairs.

The door of the room burst open with a violent crash. Harry quickly turned around and saw Professor Lupin rushing in, his face as pale as paper, his wand raised high, ready to attack at any moment.

"Expelliarmus!" Professor Lupin shouted, his spell quickly taking effect, and Harry's wand once again flew out of his hand, drawn by an invisible force towards Lupin.

Before everyone could recover from the shock, Lupin's voice sounded low and heavy, filled with indescribable complex emotions: "Where is he, Sirius?"

Harry hurriedly turned his gaze to Lupin, his face full of confusion. Who was the "he" Lupin was referring to? He turned to look at Black, only to see Black expressionless, silent for several seconds, as if frozen in time.

Finally, Black slowly raised his free hand, his fingertip pointing directly at Ron. Harry's heart was full of confusion, and he turned to Ron, only to see Ron also looking bewildered and terrified.

"Another riddler," Jerry muttered to himself, but his patience had run out.

"Ron, give me your pet rat!" Jerry suddenly released Hermione's hand, walked quickly to Ron, unceremoniously took the trembling rat from his pocket, and quickly put it into an old box on the nearby table.

"He's Peter Pettigrew's Animagus, he was the one who betrayed them back then!"

"Wait, Jerry, are you mistaken? Scabbers? How is that possible!" Ron's voice was full of disbelief.

"He's not wrong," Black's voice was full of excitement, his eyes flashing with hatred, "Peter Pettigrew betrayed us back then, faked his death, and then turned into a rat and hid until now!"

Harry felt a wave of confusion, swaying uncertainly: "But, Peter Pettigrew is dead!" He pointed at Black, trying to find a trace of truth in this complex dispute, "You were the one who killed him twelve years ago, weren't you?"

"I did think about killing him, but he escaped!" Black's face instantly twisted, revealing a mouthful of uneven yellow teeth.

"Sirius, calm down!" Lupin's voice was calm and firm, trying to calm the tense atmosphere, "We must let Harry and them know the truth, this is also for your innocence!"

Although Black stopped struggling, his sunken eyes were still fixed on Peter Pettigrew, who was imprisoned in the wooden box.

Lupin nodded and said in a deep voice: "All along, everyone thought Sirius was the murderer, and I used to think so too. But tonight, when I re-examined the Marauder's Map, everything became clear. Because the Marauder's Map never lies… Peter, he's still alive."

"How do you know how to use the Marauder's Map?" Harry asked with some suspicion.

"Of course I know how to use it, the Marauder's Map was made by us," Lupin replied, a faint smile appearing on his face, "My nickname at school was 'Moony'; Sirius was called 'Padfoot'; Peter Pettigrew was 'Wormtail'; and your dad's nickname was 'Prongs'!"

Hermione gradually calmed her inner turmoil, and she turned to Jerry beside her and asked in a low voice: "Jerry, everything you just said, is it true?"

"But, but… the Ministry of Magic strictly controls Animagi, they record the types of animals everyone transforms into. I asked Professor McGonagall before, and she said that there are only seven registered Animagi this century, and Peter Pettigrew is not among them."

Hearing this, Lupin smiled slightly: "Hermione, the question is actually very simple. Jerry is also an Animagus, do you think the people at the Ministry of Magic know? Would you report it to the Ministry of Magic?"

"This…"

Hermione was speechless, how could she do such a thing.

Harry was still skeptical, unable to completely believe all of this, and Ron was even more disbelieving. If what they said was true, to think that he slept in the same bed with a middle-aged wizard every day, and even kissed Scabbers' mouth… Thinking of this, Ron almost vomited.

"Look who I've caught!" A cold and mocking voice suddenly sounded, Severus Snape tore off the Invisibility Cloak, revealing his cunning face, the tip of his wand pointing directly at Lupin.

Finally here, my dearest Dean! Jerry gently patted the wooden box containing Peter Pettigrew, secretly delighted in his heart. In order to lure Snape over, Jerry deliberately left Harry's Invisibility Cloak outside and left a route from the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack.