Poor, Innocent, and Evil Peter

Peter's tragic death did not elicit much sympathy from the crowd, and Sirius managed to keep him alive despite his murderous intent.

Lupin, on the other hand, looked at Harry and the others with gratitude. He did not expect them to trust him even after his identity as a werewolf had been exposed.

In an attempt to completely clear up the misunderstanding, Lupin and Sirius gave Harry a detailed account of the incident, leaving little to chance other than the fact that it was inconvenient to talk about the Order of the Phoenix…

Harry listened to all of this in tears, and it took him a while to calm down. He looked at Peter, who was tied to the ground and covered in blood, and asked him in confusion.

"Why did you suddenly choose him to be the Secret-Keeper?"

According to Sirius and Lupin, Peter was cowardly, weak, and useless. Even if the Secret-Keeper had to be changed, it should be Lupin!

"You should have heard what Peter said earlier. There was a traitor in the resistance against Lord Voldemort, and he was feeding information to You-Know-Who.

Because of his status as a werewolf, I suspected him, and thus excluded him from the selection of a Secret-Keeper…" Sirius explained, looking at Lupin apologetically.

'I beg your forgiveness, Remus.'

"It's okay, I doubted you too! We're even…" Lupin shook his head.

With that, the two looked at each other and smiled bitterly. It was this suspicion that made Peter the Secret-Keeper, the least suspicious of James's friends…

Undercover usually requires a great deal of courage and a good mind, neither of which Peter fits.

It was supposed to be the safest move, but it ended up sending James and Lily straight to hell.

'Anyway, it's all my fault… Harry! I'm so sorry. I was the one who suggested James get a replacement,' Sirius said, looking at Harry with remorse.

"No, you didn't!" Harry shook his head with conviction. "It was Peter Pettigrew, who betrayed you and my father, and his friends!"

There was a moment of silence, except for Hermione, who thought of the best thing to do at the moment.

"Now that everything is clear, let's go and tell Professor McGonagall to inform the Ministry and clear Mr Black's name!"

Harry nodded quickly, not wanting to wait a moment longer.

"We can't do that! Not now." Ivan stopped them.

"Why?" Harry looked at Yvonne in surprise and confusion. "And I've been meaning to ask, if you knew, why didn't you say so?"

"Of course they're worried about the Ministry of Magic getting in the way…" Ivan sighed, then proceeded to explain to Harry and the others what was at stake.

The Ministry of Magic does not slap itself in the face, and in the face of such a major scandal, without outside help, they would rather hide it than admit it.

"It can't be that bad, can it? It's the Ministry of Magic…and we've got Peter Pettigrew. There's so much evidence. Wouldn't it be obvious if we gave him a dose of Veritaserum?" Hermione said hesitantly, pursing her lips.

Everything Ivan had just said hit her hard, and Hermione, accustomed to rules, found it hard to swallow.

"The Ministry of Magic is not as fair as you think, Hermione! The truth of the matter does not matter to many politicians, they only care which outcome works in their favour! It is what they do best to turn black into white!"

Ivan cruelly tore Hermione's imagination to shreds and laid the cold, hard truth before the thirteen-year-old witch.

Harry and Ron, who also had their views of the world reshaped, found it hard to believe that the Ministry of Magic would distort the truth.

"Cough, cough…"

Sirius cleared his throat to attract the attention of Harry and the others, as he felt that this was not the sort of thing a child of Harry's age should know.

"We have come to a decision regarding this matter. We will simply wait for Dumbledore to return and leave it to him."

"How long do we have to wait? What if Professor Dumbledore doesn't come back for months?" Harry frowned, worried.

Ivan shrugged, unable to reply. As Headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore was unlikely to be absent for months on end.

"Very soon!" Lupin said suddenly.

Everyone turned to look at him in surprise, and Lupin told them the truth.

"I've just received word today that Professor Dumbledore should be back by tonight! To be on the safe side, we'll only have to wait here for one night, then we can go and see him early tomorrow morning!"

"Really? That's great!" Harry said happily.

Hermione, Ron, and even Sirius were relieved to hear the news, as if a weight had been lifted from their shoulders.

This is also true of Ivan, who has always been reluctant to meet Dumbledore, although he has to admit that Dumbledore has a wonderful sense of security.

It was as if he didn't have to worry about anything as long as he was around…

Ivan turned to Peter Pettigrew, remembering something that needed to be confirmed.

"Peter has defected to You-Know-Who, so he should have the Dark Mark on him. If he can't use the Veritaserum in court, this will be enough proof!"

If he remembered correctly, the first thing Lord Voldemort did after his resurrection was to use the Dark Mark on Peter to summon Death Eaters.

Instead, Voldemort, having lost his powers prior to his resurrection, most likely did not give Peter the Dark Mark.

It could only have been inscribed thirteen years ago, when Peter defected to Lord Voldemort!

Sirius soon thought of the Death Eater's symbol, too, and with a grin on his face, he advanced on Peter Pettigrew…

Peter's face was a mask of terror. His body was curled up in a corner, and he was crying and begging like a weak victim…

He naturally had the Dark Mark that Ivan mentioned!

This is a reward for his undercover work, for betraying James and Lily, and for being trusted by the Dark Lord!

However, what he had worked so hard for had now become his death warrant!