Chapter 138: The plan begins

"Don't make excuses for that guy, Hermione!" shouted Harry, feeling a surge of anger burning in his chest. "I've seen him as a friend a long time ago. Like Sirius Black, he used to be my father's best friend, he's still my godfather, but who would have thought he'd sell my parents out to Voldemort in the end? Ron and Black are the same, I always thought Ron was my best friend, but last night he betrayed me and he betrayed Professor Lupin."

Being overly agitated, Harry's body was shaking all over.

To his eyes, what Ron did last night was not so different from what Black did to his parents twelve years ago.

He sold him and Professor Lupin out to Snape and Lucius Malfoy!

Such a deed is absolutely unforgivable!

"Harry, Black didn't betray your parents, he-", Hermione had not yet finished her words, and was abruptly interrupted by Harry.

He said violently, "You don't know anything, Hermione! Yesterday morning, Professor Lupin told me everything, twelve years ago, it was Black who sold my parents to Voldemort. He also killed..."

"Peter Pettigrew!" Ivan whispered.

"Yes, him!" Harry groaned, and turned to look at Ivan and continued, "Peter was my father's good friend before his death. He went to Black to avenge my parents, but he didn't oppose that despicable villain."

"He's not as noble as you think," Ivan said slowly. "He didn't avenge your parents. In fact, Peter is not dead."

"What?!" Harry looked up in confusion.

He didn't understand what Ivan meant - how could Peter Pettigrew possibly be alive?

"You heard me right, Harry!" Ivan raised his head and looked around. Madam Pomfrey returned to her office. Only the three of them were in the room. She said whispering. "Yesterday afternoon, Hermione and I met Sirius Black in Hogsmeade..."

Ivan told Harry the whole truth of the Black and Peter incident.

Now that Dumbledore knows about this matter, there was no longer any need to hide the truth from Harry.

He just had to be careful not to let Ron know. Now that Dumbledore not only wants them to catch Peter, but also wants them to help Ron resist the Imperius Curse, he felt it was an impossible mission without Harry's help.

"Peter's still alive, he's actually Ron's rat!" Harry couldn't believe it when he heard Ivan's words.

It was absolutely unthinkable and completely different from what he heard from Professor Lupin.

"Yes!" Ivan lowered his voice again. "And he's still controlling Ron. That's why Ron acted so abnormal last night and also why he accused Professor Lupin."

"What?" Harry immediately stood up and said excitedly. "No wonder I've always felt that Ron had something wrong with him. I remember he was controlled by Tom Riddle last year. He must have been under Peter's control all this time. That's why he sold Professor Lupin out. We must save him."

Harry had his doubts about what the two told him, but that was only until he found out that Ron was being controlled.

Deep down, Harry couldn't believe that Ron would betray him.

Everything became clear, Peter is the ultimate culprit. He was the one who killed his parents and framed Sirius Black in Azkaban for the past twelve years. Now he had framed Professor Lupin again by controlling his best friend.

It was simply unforgivable. All grudges old and new melted away and Harry felt unprecedented hatred flowing through his entire body.

He had to get Peter Pettigrew, he wanted to avenge his parents, he wanted to clear Black's name and he would save Ron.

"Wait a minute!" Ivan rushed to stop Harry, "We can't rush like this. It's too easy to have an accident and give Peter a chance to escape. I spoke to Professor Dumbledore last night. We will catch Peter. But at the same time, we must also help Ron resist the Imperius Curse. If he doesn't wake up alone, this dark magic will affect his soul."

"What must we do to save Ron?" said Harry eagerly.

"If you simply want to undo the curse, there are many ways." Ivan thought for a moment and continued, "But if you want a cursed man to wake up, there is only one way. That is to rely on his own willpower. His willpower must be strong enough."

"Willpower enough?" Harry repeated with a puzzled expression. "How exactly do you do that?"

"I don't know exactly how to do it." Ivan sighed. "Maybe, before we get Peter, we can try to tell Ron something. Then Ron will have to choose between us and Peter Pettigrew! I think he can wake up on his own. When the Basilisk was about to attack Ginny last year, Ron broke free of Tom Riddle's grip."

"Ivan, will Dumbledore help us?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"Maybe he will!" Ivan muttered.

In fact, I had no idea what the director's plan was, nor was I sure what he meant when he said last night 'Leave the rest in my hands!'

Did he mean he would protect them in secret? This sounds like Dumbledore's style. In Harry's first year, to make him stronger, he turned a blind eye to all of Quirrell's abnormal behavior, but quietly kept an eye on Harry and his two friends without them knowing.

Dumbledore was not currently at Hogwarts, perhaps deliberately to give Pettigrew a false sense of security.

"Dumbledore will come to help us at the crucial moment. Before that, Black and I already had a plan." Ivan looked at Harry and Hermione. "Now, we just have to make sure that both Ron and Peter are in the common room."

"When I left this morning, Ron was still in bed." Harry spoke up, "Remember that today is the first day of the Christmas holidays. Everyone else is going home for the holidays. There will only be four of us in Gryffindor Tower."

They waited nervously for the entire time that followed. The three of them went over the details of the plan again and again.

Madam Pomfrey examined Ivan and Hermione and waited until lunch before allowing them to leave.