Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 129 The Truth is Like a Knife

Inside the Shrieking Shack, Harry and Hermione shielded the injured Ron behind them.

The two men raised their wands, aiming them at the tall, emaciated man before them. He was filthy, with long, black hair that covered half his face. He held Ron's new wand, pointing it directly at Ron.

"You need to calm down, Harry." Sirius's voice was hoarse, with a strange feeling, somewhat tired, and filled with deep hatred.

"I'm calm!" Harry shouted. "You traitor, murderer!"

"Say what you will..." Sirius Black took a step forward. "Now, get out of the way!"

"Impossible!" Harry and Hermione stood firmly in place, blocking Ron from behind. "You killed my mom and dad, and now you're going to kill my best friend!"

"You will pay for this, I swear! I will make you pay for what you've done!"

Sirius suddenly laughed, but no one could see what his face, hidden by his hair, actually looked like.

"Disarm you!"

Hermione launched a preemptive strike, but Sirius easily blocked it. Harry, on the other hand, charged forward shouting, though he didn't cast any spells despite holding his wand.

In his rage, Harry completely forgot he was a wizard; all he wanted to do was punch Sirius Black hard and beat him up.

He succeeded.

Sirius Black's wrist was grabbed by Harry, and he took a hard slap to the face, the force of which made him stagger. Harry also used all his strength, and the two of them slammed into the wall together before tumbling to the ground.

"You killed my parents!"

"You monster!"

"traitor!"

Harry screamed at the top of his lungs, his fists raining down on Sirius. Sirius seemed stunned, his wand falling to the ground from his hand.

She didn't resist, letting Harry's fists fall on her.

"Enough, Harry!"

"Kill him, Harry!"

Hermione and Ron shouted, but Harry showed no sign of stopping. They grabbed Harry's arm, but he quickly broke free.

"Hold Harry back with me! He should be sent to Aurora!" Hermione shouted to Ron.

"Kill him! Kill him!" Ron kept shouting, gripping Banban tightly with both hands, even though his fingers were bitten until they bled.

"Damn it! Let go of that stupid rat and grab Harry!" Hermione used all her strength to barely pull Harry away from Sirius, but that was all she could do. Harry let out a low growl like a wild beast and struggled incessantly, and Hermione couldn't control him at all.

Perhaps startled by Harry's appearance, Ron finally reached out his right hand and grabbed Harry's arm, while his left hand still gripped Scabbers.

But clearly, this still couldn't stop Harry.

"Use both hands! Damn it, both hands!"

An enraged Hermione silenced Ron, finally releasing her grip on his left hand. Meanwhile, Scabbers, who appeared lifeless, suddenly took off on all fours and vanished into the darkness in the blink of an eye.

"No!"

"What have you done! What have you done!"

Sirius cried out in despair as he struggled to his feet, waving his arms wildly in the air.

"They'll all be petrified!"

Suddenly, a spell pierced through the wall and struck the darkness with a loud "bang," like a stone hitting a wall.

"Creak..."

The broken wooden door was pushed open from the outside, and Lupin walked in, wand in hand.

Harry seemed to have recovered somewhat and shouted, "Professor Lupin! That's Sirius! Grab him!"

Lupin glanced at Harry, the other two, and then at Sirius Black standing to the side.

"Disarm you!"

"Wand flying!"

Hermione's wand flew out of her hand, and the two wands that Harry had thrown to the ground and those that Hermione had knocked away also flew up and were caught by Lupin.

"You believed it, Remus?"

Sirius's hoarse voice rang out, sounding somewhat relieved.

"Not enough, Sirius." Lupin pointed his wand at the group, then quietly slipped into the darkness and picked up Scabbers, who was under a petrification spell.

"Hahaha... It's him, it's him!" Sirius laughed wildly.

"This doesn't fully explain it..." Lupin said, looking at the spotted figure in his hand with a puzzled expression.

Suddenly, his eyes widened.

"You...you...you switched them! And you didn't tell me!"

He saw Sirius's head droop slightly, grabbed him, and slapped his back hard with his right hand.

"Why didn't you tell me! Why didn't you tell me!" Lupin's voice was filled with pain and regret.

"Hahaha...cough cough...I deliberately didn't tell anyone! I didn't tell anyone!"

Sirius's tears fell onto Lupin's shoulder, flowing freely, yet there wasn't a trace of a sob in his voice.

Hermione and the other two watched as the two embraced and wept, as if petrified. In a fleeting moment, Hermione suddenly released her grip on Harry's arm, pointed at Lupin, and cried out, "You...you and him..."

"I haven't told anyone! I've kept it a secret for you!"

"Calm down, Hermione," Lupin said, but Hermione didn't listen to him at all.

"I trusted you so much! Harry trusted you so much! But..."

"You're friends with him!" Harry suddenly shouted, and Ron, who had finally managed to get up, yelled back, "You helped him sneak into the castle!"

"Accomplice! Accomplice!"

"Calm down, I didn't!" Lupin shouted, his sudden increase in volume startling the three of them.

After calming down a bit, he said, "I didn't help Sirius infiltrate the castle, and I don't want Harry to get hurt."

"Until this moment, I did not consider Sirius a friend. You have misunderstood..." he said, taking a step forward.

"Don't come any closer! Werewolf!"

Lupin's second step abruptly stopped mid-air, a look of difficulty on his face: "You...you know? Hermione?"

Hermione nodded: "Ever since I finished the homework Snape assigned..."

"You're the smartest witch I've ever met," Lupin sighed. "That's his purpose; he wants someone to realize it..."

"But it seems only you guessed it..."

"No, that's not it." Hermione shook her head, but didn't say anything more.

"I won't hurt you, not even Sirius." Lupin slowly walked towards the group again, handing them the three wands. "Here, returning the wands to you is enough proof."

"But how could he have sneaked into the castle without you?" Harry glared at Sirius Black.

"I don't know, but I certainly didn't help him."

Before Harry could speak, Hermione suddenly asked, "How did you know we were here?"

Lupin looked at Hermione with admiration and took an old parchment from his robe.

"Do you remember this?"

"The Marauder's Map!" Harry exclaimed in surprise. "You know how to use it?"

"Of course I'll use it," Lupin said impatiently. "I was involved in its production; I'm the moon face..."

"But……"

Lupin abruptly waved his hand, interrupting Harry.

"The point is, I saw someone on the map who shouldn't be there!" Lupin suddenly raised his voice, then slowly lowered it. "Today is the day Hagrid's hippogriff was executed, and I imagine you'll all go to comfort him..."

"I saw you cross the lawn and go into Hagrid's cabin. About twenty minutes later, when you left, there was someone with you..."

"Who is it?" Ron suddenly asked.

"I couldn't believe my eyes. I thought the map was broken. After all, it's been around for so many years. How could it be with you?" Lupin said to himself.

"Then, I saw another person. He moved quickly toward you, then collided with you, dragging two of you into the Willow Tree..."

"One! It's one!" Ron was furious.

"No, there are two." Lupin shook his head and took out the petrified Scabbers. "It's not a mouse."

"He's certainly not a rat!" Sirius grinned maliciously. "He's a wizard!"

"Animagus! He's Peter Pettigrew!"

(End of this chapter)