Chapter 153: Peter Pettigrew is captured
"You're crazy! Give Scabbers back to me!" He rushed over, trying to snatch Scabbers away, but Hermione took a step back and hid Scabbers behind her back.
"Scabbers is not a rat, Ron. He is a human being, an illegal Animagus! He is also involved in the murder of Harry's parents!" Hermione said seriously.
"What are you talking about?" Ron looked ridiculous but still stopped.
"This is the truth that Mr. Cyrus told me. I'll explain everything in detail when all the professors are present, okay?" Hermione comforted.
"For now, let's find Professor McGonagall. Harry has already gone to find Professor Lupin. With two professors around, nothing unexpected will happen."
The two of them arrived at Professor McGonagall's office, and the stern witch looked at them in surprise.
"Is there something you need, Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley?"
"There's something very important, about Sirius Black..." Hermione said.
"What did you find out?" McGonagall quickly stood up and walked briskly to Hermione's side, concerned. "Don't tell me he's infiltrated the castle!"
"No—well, I think it would be best to explain in front of the headmaster."
"If it truly concerns Black, then I agree. Follow me." McGonagall nodded solemnly. She stepped out of her office and ran into Harry and Lupin.
"Potter, Lupin?" McGonagall didn't seem surprised to see them.
"Harry said there's something important," Lupin said quietly.
"It's related to Black," McGonagall said. "Let's head to the headmaster's office."
The group hurried to the headmaster's office. Harry and Ron were still completely in the dark, both of them confused about what was happening.
Even Dumbledore looked a bit surprised to see so many visitors in his office at once.
"Albus, Miss Granger has something she wants to discuss with you, regarding Black," McGonagall said.
Dumbledore's bright eyes turned to Hermione.
He seemed to have an idea of what this was about, but he remained silent, listening patiently as Hermione recounted everything from start to finish.
After a long silence, everyone was left speechless by the story. Lupin, both ashamed and anxious, said to Hermione, "Let me see that rat!"
Hermione released her grip, and Scabbers fell to the floor, stiff and lifeless. Ron looked torn between pity and disgust.
"Revelio!" Lupin's spell hit the rat, and Scabbers immediately began to transform, swelling into a filthy, disheveled, short, and fat wizard.
The petrified man lay on the ground with his limbs stiff, his face displaying fear and a pleading expression, attempting to appear ingratiating.
'I've been sleeping with that thing for two years?' Ron almost retched.
"It seems the truth has finally come to light," Dumbledore said softly. He turned his gaze to Hermione. "But I'm curious, Miss Granger, how did you come to know these things?"
"It was..." Hermione found it hard to come up with a suitable explanation.
Fortunately, Dumbledore provided an escape: "I believe it was Cyrus, wasn't it?"
"He wrote us a letter," Hermione said, bracing herself.
Dumbledore didn't press further, but Professor McGonagall looked very concerned. "Albus, can we trust what that man says?"
"Trust doesn't depend on what he says but on whether the truth aligns with his words," Dumbledore replied calmly.
He showed no emotional reaction, like a deep, steady river.
"At the very least, we should find Black and convene the Wizengamot. I believe the law will provide us with justice."
"But it didn't, did it?"
Harry, who had been silent since entering the headmaster's office, suddenly spoke up. His voice was filled with a fiery anger that made his throat feel like it was burning.
"It didn't give Sirius Black a fair outcome, did it?" His voice was hoarse.
After hearing the story, his first thought wasn't hatred, but rather how much suffering an innocent man endured in Azkaban.
Harry had seen Sirius's wanted posters; he was barely recognizable.
"Harry, the law is just, but people are not always so," Dumbledore said gravely. "What placed the shackles on Sirius Black was not just the law, but also his own action of self-punishment. I believe that during these twelve years, he has been trapped in constant self-reproach. Of course, we now know that he was not at fault.
"And I think you can help him break those shackles, granting him both physical and spiritual freedom."
....
After his conversation with Hermione, Cyrus no longer concerned himself with the matter, trusting that she could handle things properly.
Besides, overturning Sirius Black's conviction wouldn't happen overnight.
He quietly walked up to the second floor of the Potter house.
The Potter family was wealthy, but this house wasn't particularly large. Then again, unless they were intentionally trying to appear grandiose, wizards had little need for large houses.
It could be imagined that this house had once been enchanted with the Undetectable Extension Charm, but since the caster had died, the magic had faded.
However, as Cyrus walked through the house, he felt a bit disappointed. Most of the Potters' books or other magical items were missing. Perhaps they had been taken by the Ministry of Magic or stored away by Dumbledore in the Potter family vault.
As he wandered, he found nothing but a few nests of doxies and a ghoul lurking in the attic, which had tried to jump out and scare him as he approached the room destroyed by the curse.
Naturally, it ended up being incinerated by a bolt of lightning from Cyrus's wand.
The room's furnishings appeared much as they had before. Harry's childhood crib still stood in the center, though now covered in dust.
Cyrus could almost imagine the scene from years ago: the Dark Lord, uninvited, killing Harry's father, James, in the living room before entering this room, where Lily stood protectively over Harry, pleading for her child's life.
But the Dark Lord had no mercy.
In the end, the ancient magic Lily Potter had researched, fueled by her intense love, took effect. Voldemort's Killing Curse rebounded, destroying the room, his body, and even his soul!
The only survivor was the Boy Who Lived.
The entire house was "dead."
Cyrus referred not only to the death of life but also to the death of magic. The damage inflicted within this house by the Killing Curse was irreversible through magic.
He walked around the room, accidentally kicking a broken picture frame with his foot. Bending down, he picked it up; the glass was shattered, and the photograph inside was missing.
Eventually, he found the missing photograph in a corner, though only two-thirds of it remained. It showed James Potter holding Harry, while Lily's part had been torn away.
There was no doubt in Cyrus's mind that this was Snape's doing. No one else would have done such a thing.
But beyond that?
Was there nothing else worth noting here?
Had Lily Potter left nothing valuable behind regarding her research on that ancient magic?
Cyrus gripped his wand, his eyes emitting a faint golden glow in the darkness. In his vision, the broken house was dotted with blue glimmers, remnants of the curse cast all those years ago.
But they were only remnants.
He raised his wand, tracing an "R" shape in the air:
"Revelio!"
His magic instantly enveloped the entire house, aiming to unmask any remaining secrets.
But the spell had no effect.
Cyrus stood in one corner of the blasted ceiling, gazing through the opening where lush ivy had already begun to creep inside.
He pondered.
From Fudge's words, it was clear that Lily's research on the magic of love was not stored in the Ministry of Magic; otherwise, Fudge wouldn't have asked those questions in the hospital.
If it wasn't here, where could that magic be?
It wasn't hard to guess. One person immediately came to mind—
Dumbledore.
If anyone in the world understood the "love" spell best, it was Dumbledore. Many of his plans were based on the premise that the spell still worked on Harry.
Why did Dumbledore know so much about this magic?
Even Voldemort, the unfortunate soul killed by this magic, knew nothing about it.
Dumbledore knew that Voldemort couldn't harm Harry and that the spell needed to be maintained through a blood relationship. He even foresaw that after his first defeat, Voldemort would choose to use Harry's blood to resurrect himself, as that was the only way to circumvent the spell's effect.
Cyrus acknowledged Dumbledore's wisdom, but his knowledge of the spell was almost as if he had cast it himself. This was beyond mere intelligence.
Voldemort's magical talent was no less than Dumbledore's.
Having personally experienced the spell's power in the dark jungles of Albania and while inhabiting those wretched creatures, didn't he wonder why he had fallen to such a state?
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