Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 30 The Sequel to Peter Pettigrew

What is that?

Redemption, despair, soul—I know every single word, but putting them together makes me feel like an illiterate person.

Loren's questions remained unanswered. After giving some instructions, Dumbledore exchanged pleasantries with Nico and then left with Loren.

"Principal, I have some questions."

The two walked back onto the wet street. Loren simply followed Dumbledore blankly, his thoughts in turmoil.

"Isn't it every teacher's duty to answer students' questions?" Dumbledore said, enjoying the weather and the environment as if he were on a picnic, his tone cheerful.

Why did Mr. Nicolas Flamel dream of a mysterious person saying to give him the book?

"Loren, there are many things in the magical world that are difficult to explain, and prophecy is one of them. Most prophecies are very obscure and point nowhere, but there are some exceptions."

"You mean, Mr. Lemaître actually made a prophecy?" Loren asked, puzzled.

"To be precise, he made a prophecy passively. Nicole has a talent for prophecy, but prophecies are always difficult to control."

"You will also be studying courses on prophecy in the future. Professor Trelawney, who teaches divination, is an excellent prophet."

Loren ignored the last sentence and continued to ask, "Why is it that even though he's clearly trying to help me, he seems to be deliberately distancing himself from me?"

Dumbledore patted Loren on the head: "This is not your problem, Loren. Those involved in the prophecy should stay away from it or ignore its contents, otherwise it will have unimaginable consequences."

Dumbledore recalled some past events, and sometimes the prophecy itself led to the outcome of the prophecy.

"I don't know what to do, Headmaster Dumbledore," Loren said, still completely bewildered.

The puddles ahead gradually increased, and Dumbledore took Loren's hand: "Focus on your studies, do your homework, that's about it."

Loren grinned at Dumbledore with a "Don't think I'm a kid you can fool" look on his face and said, "Aww~"

He then asked, "What is the redemption of a desperate soul?"

Dumbledore was very patient, always speaking slowly and deliberately: "Loren, you must understand that being older doesn't mean knowing everything. However, I can give you some advice when the time comes."

"You can just say you don't know either," Loren changed the subject. "Is there any news about Peter Pettigrew?"

Dumbledore didn't hide anything and began to talk about the progress of the case.

Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge initially believed that Sirius Black was the culprit, while Peter hiding in the Weasleys' house was a separate case.

However, with the help of Moody, an old friend of Dumbledore, Pettigrew confessed that ten years ago he had sided with the Dark Lord, blew up the streets, and faked his death.

The matter was actually much more complicated than Dumbledore had described. Pettigrew insisted that he was hiding from the Death Eaters at the Weasleys' house, believing that the Dark Lord's remnants were still active and wanted to kill him.

Moody noticed Pettigrew's guilty conscience and his inconsistencies, and interrogated him alone for an entire afternoon in an empty room deep within the Ministry of Magic.

According to the Auror on duty, when he first entered, Pettigrew was loudly arguing, but his arguing quickly turned into howling. Less than five minutes later, Pettigrew began to beg for mercy, but he didn't hear Moody ask any questions. The only sound in the room was howling, which continued for several hours.

Finally, when a newly recruited Auror went in to call Moody for dinner, Pettigrew, with snot and tears streaming down his face, begged that the madman stay away from him and quickly revealed everything that happened back then.

Moody handed the rest of the work over to the others and muttered as he left the room, "I thought he was tough. Pah, cowardly scum."

Strangely, afterward, Little Pettigrew had no injuries, and the Ministry of Magic did not detect what magic Moody had used. The result of the Flashback Charm was that Moody had used several Glowing Charms a day earlier.

The Aurors then interrogated another party involved in the old case, Sirius Black.

Sirius was initially very uncooperative, not saying a word the whole time, his eyes vacant like a dead man.

Some Aurors thought the Dementors had made him stupid, but after learning that Pettigrew had been arrested, Sirius Black was suddenly invigorated, as if he had been reborn. He quickly confessed to the case, and his testimony was basically consistent with Pettigrew's.

Fudge was convinced that this was a miscarriage of justice left by the previous minister, and that helping to find the real culprit and exonerate Sirius would help improve his reputation. Moreover, the Black family might donate a large sum of Galleons to the ministry.

However, Dumbledore didn't tell Loren any of this. He just lamented, "There was a period of great chaos after the war, and I neglected Sirius's affairs somewhat." His tone was filled with guilt.

At the time, he was busy dealing with various matters, comforting the victims' families, punishing Death Eaters, negotiating with some pure-blood families to get them to contribute funds to compensate the victims, and rebuilding after the war.

Sirius Black was wrongfully imprisoned, largely due to his own actions. He laughed like a pervert at the crime scene and did not defend himself after being arrested, resulting in his direct imprisonment.

"The final result is that a public trial will be held next Wednesday to announce Sirius Black's punishment, and Sirius should be able to regain his freedom by then."

Loren thought the result was pretty good, and Harry would be very happy, except that Ron's chestnut wand would probably be gone.

After talking all the way, Dumbledore finally led Loren to a candy store.

At first, Loren thought it might be some kind of secret liaison office of the Ministry of Magic. Just as Loren was about to see what kind of ritual Dumbledore would use to enter a secret base,

Dumbledore expertly pulled out pounds and handed them to the shop assistant: "The usual, a little of everything, and extra hazelnut chocolate."

The shop assistant chatted with Dumbledore while packing candy, appearing quite familiar with him.

Loren's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. So you led me all this way just to buy candy!

He's over a hundred years old, does he have to be so childish?

Dumbledore took the bag of candy and saw Loren's mouth agape in surprise. He picked up a mint and put it in Loren's mouth: "Muggle candy has a unique flavor too. I love the hazelnut chocolate here the most."

The cool, refreshing aroma instantly spread across the tongue, enticing the mouth to water profusely. Loren quickly closed his mouth, savoring the sweet taste of the candy.

Finally, the two arrived at an empty alley. Dumbledore, with a bag of candy in one hand and holding Loren's hand in the other, recited a spell that Loren had never heard before, and the two were instantly transported back to Hogwarts Castle, to the Headmaster's office.

In the office, Loren saw a bird with fiery red feathers—the phoenix Fox.

Although it had a single golden feather, it still looked ugly overall, Loren thought to himself.

Fawkes, who was perched on Dumbledore's desk, suddenly chirped at Loren, "Chirp!" The sound was unlike any bird Loren knew, but Loren inexplicably recognized that it was being insulted.

"Goodbye, Headmaster!" Loren quickly made his escape; otherwise, he'd get shot by birds.

Dumbledore watched Loren run off, then chuckled and fed Fawkes a piece of candy: "Well, he's still just a child."

He smoothed the phoenix's feathers with his hand and wiped the powdered sugar off his hands.

Fox then yelled at Dumbledore as well.

(End of this chapter)