Chapter 147 "Black Catching Black"

"That cat is very smart. It can understand me and can express to me clearly what it sees."

"He tried to catch Peter countless times before but couldn't find a chance. Later, Peter fled from the boy again, and he told me all about the situation and even helped me steal a note with the password to enter the Gryffindor common room so I could go in and confirm it myself."

"I sneaked into the Gryffindor common room the other day, and Peter did escape. He was no longer with the boy."

Hearing Black's story, Sherlock frowned, "If Peter escaped, would he be staying at Hogwarts?"

"Yes, he definitely didn't leave yet!" Sirius said gloomily, "Not only can the cat feel that he is still here, but according to his senses, he will not escape from here!"

"When I was in Azkaban, the other Death Eaters who were locked in gritted their teeth with hatred for him. Thinking that it was because of his action that Voldemort was killed and they were caught."

"Peter himself knows this, and with his character, he will definitely find the safest place for him. If Voldemort returns later, he can use Harry as an insurance for his place on his side. Harry is another life-saving option for him, and he won't let him go so easily."

Sherlock rubbed his chin in thought, "We can use the Marauder's map. We didn't think Peter would be in the castle before, so we didn't pay attention to whether his name appeared on the map. But if he is still in the castle, he will definitely appear on the map. If he isn't on the map…"

Sherlock turned his gaze back to the Forbidden Forest, and Black and Lupin followed his gaze. 

"Then the most likely place for him to hide is here." Lupin said in a deep voice.

Black stared at them and asked, "The Marauder's map? Didn't Filch take that thing long ago? Not long after we finally left school?"

Sherlock looked at Sirius, "Did you get this map when you were in school?"

Lupin shook his head wryly, "I'm sorry, Sherlock. I haven't had time to tell you about it. We made the Marauder's map. After Sirius and the others learned Animagus, Hogwarts was our territory. We went through all the secret passages, drew them all, used magic on it, and finally created the Marauder's map."

Sherlock suddenly realized, "It turns out that the makers shown on the map are the four of you: Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail, and Prongs."

Lupin then helped answer Black's questions.

"The Marauder's map then fell into the hands of the Weasley twins, who then gave it to Harry. Snape caught Harry using the map to sneak to Hogsmeade. He called me over, and I took the opportunity to take the Marauder's map."

"Snape? He's at Hogwarts, too?"

"He's the head of the Slytherin house and the potions professor."

Black doesn't show any good mood. His attitude towards Snape has not changed even with age, much less Lupin, for what happened back then.

"Well, this is not the time to talk about these things. We should go back to the castle immediately and use the Marauder's map to see if we can find Peter's trace." Lupin suggested.

Black looked a little hesitant. He didn't know if he could go back to the castle with Sherlock. He apparently spotted the problem and drew his wand.

"You should go back to being a dog first, and I'll change something for you so that you won't stand out too when you enter the castle with us." 

Sirius returned to the form of a black dog. Sherlock tapped his wand at him, making his hair fluffy and changing its color to gray and white.

"In this way, you won't be seen as a black dog. After we bring you to the castle, we can claim that we brought you in to catch Black because dogs have a better sense of tracking."

Lupin complimented Sherlock for his idea, "Perfect. We're using Black to catch Black, and no one will doubt that the dog that's tracking him is actually Black himself."

They took Black away from the Forbidden Forest and returned to the castle. At this time, it was six o'clock in the morning, and the castle was still empty, and there were no students that got up so early.

Sherlock and the others go to Lupin's office first, unfold the Marauder's Map, and look for Peter's name on it. But they scanned the whole map carefully, and they didn't see any name belonging to Peter Pettigrew.

"Is it possible that Peter found an opportunity to erase his name from the map?" Sherlock hypothesized.

Lupin and Black all shook their heads together. "It's Impossible. No one can erase their name from the map; even someone wearing the invisibility cloak will be displayed on the map."

Sherlock shrugged, "But I can erase my name there."

Hearing him say this, Lupin and Black discovered that the office they were in had only the names of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, and Sherlock didn't show it on the map.

Lupin looked at Sherlock in shock, "How did you do it?"

"Actually, it was just a simple trick." Sherlock took out his wand and tapped on the names of Lupin and Sirius on the Marauder's map.

The next moment, as if an eraser were slowly erasing their names, the two of them suddenly disappeared from the map.

"The magic you used to make this map is amazing, but the technique is a bit too old. You only need to use a combination of two spells to get rid of the name on the map." Sherlock explained, "At that time, I also discovered it by accident, and it was a success when I tried it."

The magic spells used in the method Sherlock showed them are not difficult, and a normal wizard can learn them. But the combination of these two magic spells and applying them to the Marauder's map is unthinkable.

"Even if the names on the Marauder's Map could be removed, he is unlikely to have thought of it, and he probably didn't even know that the Marauder's Map was in Harry's hands." 

Lupin guessed, "If his name is not here, it is very likely that he is hiding in the Forbidden Forest like Black before him."

Sherlock touched his chin and asked hesitantly, "Do you want to tell Dumbledore about it? If he knows about it, it will undoubtedly be much easier to find him in the Forbidden Forest."

Black suddenly changed back from his form. They had previously agreed that he would remain in the form of an animal after entering the castle, but this problem with Sherlock forced him to change back to a human form. 

"You can't tell Dumbledore!" he said sullenly.

Lupin and Sherlock looked at each other. They had both agreed to tell Dumbledore about it. Given his authority at Hogwarts and influence on the Ministry of Magic, if Peter was hiding in the Forbidden Forest, it would undoubtedly be easier to find him later.

"Why can't we tell Dumbledore?" Lupin asked.

There was a light called hatred in Sirius's eyes, "If all the truth is told to Dumbledore, even if Peter is caught, he will definitely be handed over to the Ministry of Magic."

Lupin frowned and looked at him, "Isn't that a way to clear your name and let Peter be punished?"

"That's not enough." He shouted, "If he gets caught by the Ministry of Magic, at best, he'll be locked up in Azkaban. Those Dementors might be dangerous for normal wizards. But for wizards who have learned Animagus, they are no different from normal guards at all. They are only interested in human emotions but ignore animals. This is why I was locked there for more than ten years and managed to escape."

Black's eyes were red, "I'm going to kill him with my own hands!"

Sherlock sighed and waved, "You two need to make a decision. This is mainly a matter between the four of you. If you decide not to tell Dumbledore the truth, then I will keep it a secret for you."

Lupin looked at Black with a serious look on his face, "Just think about it, if you don't hand Peter over to the Ministry of Magic, your crime cannot be cleared. The Ministry won't even give you a chance to use Veritaserum; as long as you are caught, you will be dead by the Dementors, and you are destined to be guilty of your sentence for the rest of your life."

Black clenched his teeth, causing his left cheek to twitch slightly from being too hard, "I know that I'm always guilty. Even if I get caught in the end, I'll gladly accept it. But Peter must die."

Lupin patted Black on the shoulder and sighed, "I won't let you be handed over to them. Since you've made up your mind, I respect your decision."

Just when they were finally about to continue, Sherlock interjected, "I want to remind you, don't forget Harry. Maybe you don't care about your own future, but he needs you more than ever now."