Chapter 157: The Truth of Black (II)

"So, my three friends couldn't possibly fail to notice my monthly disappearances. 

I made up all sorts of stories, especially worried that once they found out I was a werewolf, they would ignore me. 

But, of course, just like you, Alaric, they, too, realized the truth of the matter, and they didn't ignore me at all. 

Instead, they did things for me, making it not only bearable for me to endure the pain of transformation but also making the transformation period the happiest time of my life. 

They learned how to become Animagi."

"They couldn't accompany me in human form, so they accompanied me in animal form, and werewolves are only dangerous to humans. 

They slipped out of the castle every month under the Invisibility Cloak. 

Peter transformed into a rat, so he could crawl under the branches of the Whomping Willow to press the knot that made the tree still. 

Then they slid down the tunnel to find me. Under their influence, I was less dangerous. My body was still that of a wolf, but when I was with them, my mind wasn't as wolf-like."

"Of course, sometimes I felt guilty, feeling that I betrayed Dumbledore's trust, that while other heads rejected me when I was a child, he accepted me, and he never knew I broke the rules, rules he established for my and others' safety. 

He never knew I led three classmates to illegally become Animagi. 

Every time we sat down to plan our adventures for the next month, I tried to find ways to forget this sense of guilt, and I never changed..."

Lupin's face stiffened, his voice tinged with self-disgust.

"This past year, I've been struggling with myself, undecided whether to tell Dumbledore that Sirius is an Animagus as well—a black dog. 

But I didn't. Why? Because I was too cowardly. 

Telling him meant admitting that I betrayed his trust during my student days, admitting that I once led others to be with me, and his trust was extremely important to me. 

When I was a child, he accepted me into the school, and as an adult, I faced rejections everywhere because I was a werewolf, but he gave me a job. 

So, I convinced myself that Sirius used Dark magic he learned from Voldemort to infiltrate the school and had nothing to do with becoming an Animagus. 

So, in a sense, Snape was always right about me."

"Can you forgive me, Professor?" At the end, he looked at Dumbledore, tears in his eyes.

This man, always so strong, was actually in tears.

"Oh, of course," Dumbledore said with a soft smile, as if looking at a young student rather than his Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. 

"I think they're all remarkable, able to go to such lengths for a friend. I consider it quite an achievement, not letting me know, which isn't easy."

Indeed, Remus Lupin had provided valuable assistance in finding Sirius and Pettigrew. 

He not only revealed many truths but also produced a tool for finding them—the Marauder's Map.

The Marauder's Map was a magical map created by the Marauders during their time at Hogwarts, with the cover reading.

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present the Marauder's Map."

It showed all the information about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, not only displaying every classroom, corridor, and corner within the castle.

But also showing every inch of land on the school grounds, as well as all the hidden passageways, with everyone's location marked with a dot.

The map could correctly identify every person, regardless of whether they were an Animagus, had taken the Polyjuice Potion, or were wearing the Invisibility Cloak. 

Even the ghosts of Hogwarts would appear on the map.

When the Marauders were in their seventh year, the map was confiscated by Filch. Fred and George Weasley "borrowed" it from Filch's office in their first year. 

The map provided a lot of help for the twins' mischief, and they remembered the secrets of Hogwarts.

Later, they gave the map to Harry, so he could go to Hogsmeade on weekends without permission.

Later still, Lupin discovered Harry had the map and confiscated it.

"This was our creation back then," Lupin explained, introducing this item in front of his own headmaster Dumbledore, his expression very embarrassed.

"We were all able to transform, so we left the Shrieking Shack quickly, wandering around the school grounds and Hogsmeade at night.

I don't think any other student at Hogwarts knows the grounds and the village of Hogsmeade as well as we do, so we made this Marauder's Map, signed with our aliases.

I am Moony, Sirius is Padfoot, Peter is Wormtail, and James is Prongs."

"Moony represents the werewolf, Padfoot the black dog, Wormtail the rat, and Prongs the stag, indeed an amusing metaphor." 

After carefully studying the map, Alaric concluded.

"The method used to make the map is quite clever. 

It doesn't operate on ordinary tracking magic but is based on the creators' detailed understanding of the land depicted on the map. 

As a result, concealment and tracking magic lose their effectiveness against this map. 

After all, no matter what kind of anti-tracking magic is used, it cannot conceal the entire landscape."

Lupin gently tapped the Marauder's Map with his wand.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!"

Thin lines of ink, like spider webs, immediately appeared from where the wand had touched. These lines converged and intersected, extending to every corner of the parchment.

The map depicted every detail of Hogwarts Castle and its grounds. 

However, what was truly noteworthy were the tiny ink dots moving along the map, with each dot marked with a name in minuscule letters. 

If Black and Pettigrew were still at Hogwarts, their names would also appear.

Thus, monitoring this Marauder's Map became the new task for the investigation team.

Soon, they discovered that Black's name appeared near the Forbidden Forest, indicating that he had been hiding in the forest all along while Peter Pettigrew's name appeared occasionally and fleetingly near the Whomping Willow's location, but it quickly disappeared.

It seemed that after escaping from Ron's side, he had been hiding under the Whomping Willow's tunnel.

And the Shrieking Shack at the other end of the tunnel—since he was not within Hogwarts' range, his name wouldn't appear on the map.

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