Chapter 376: Doubt and Conflict (Edited)

Neville's bad luck aside, Sirius, who had slipped out of the castle, was feeling really unlucky.

It's the worst-case scenario!

He'd gone to all that trouble to get to Hogwarts, nearly been killed by a three-headed dog, and finally managed to sneak into the Gryffindor common room, only to find that Peter Pettigrew had already escaped?

What a waste of time he'd had all this time!

But where was he going to find Peter Pettigrew after he left Hogwarts?

Sirius hadn't forgotten that he was still wanted by the Ministry of Magic, and if he dared to show up to ask about Peter's whereabouts, he would only be sent back to Azkaban....

Or have his soul sucked out by a Dementor.

I guess we'll have to contact Lupin after all....

Sirius was still hesitating.

It wasn't hard to contact Lupin, just go to the Shrieking Shack during the full moon and wait in the secret passageway under the Boxing Willow, or just leave a message inside.

And even though Lupin was a werewolf, he had always been the calmest and most forgiving of the Marauders. Sirius was sure that if he approached him, he would give him a chance to explain himself.

As much as he didn't want to involve his old friend again, Sirius had no better way now.

It was a pity that the full moon had been short-lived and he would have to wait until next month to get in touch with Lupin. But the way things were going, Sirius didn't mind waiting a little longer.

With the decision made, Sirius thought better of it and headed straight for the Boxing Willow, he certainly wasn't going to wait in the Shrieking Shack for Lupin to arrive, that would still be too risky, he was just going to leave Lupin a message and give him time to calm down and think.

Just as Sirius entered the Shrieking House, Hogwarts started a big search again and Fish, just like last time, joined the search party.

However, just like last time, no one found anything.

"Damn it nya!" the kitten said angrily, shaking his fist, "If Fish hadn't gone to the Forbidden Forest tonight, Black wouldn't have had a chance to escape!"

?(? `ω′?)?

"Hehehe," laughed Dumbledore, stroking his beard and coaxing the kitten, "Maybe Black dared to enter the Gryffindor dormitory because you weren't there."

The words were not meant to be heard.

Fish blinked and said, "Right! How did he know I wasn't in my dorm? Fish doesn't go to the Forbidden Forest much lately."

∑(?ΦДΦ?)

It was a bit of a coincidence that Black had picked up Neville's note and knew he wasn't in the dorm right after finding it.

Fish was quick to express his doubts.

Almost all the professors looked puzzled, and several unconsciously glanced at Professor Lupin, though they quickly withdrew their gaze, but they couldn't hide it from Fish.

And Snape even showed such an expression, "I said it a long time ago!"

He snarled at Dumbledore, but his eyes shifted to Lupin.

"I told you... Someone inside the school is backing Black!"

Snape stared at the pale Lupin, gritting his back teeth and saying one word at a time.

"Severus," Dumbledore frowned, "I trust Remus."

"Yes, and you used to trust Black, didn't you?" Snape snorted, for once no longer intending to engage.

The teachers around them let out a gasp, as if disgusted by Snape's disrespectful behavior towards the Headmaster, and Professor Lupin's face grew even paler.

Dumbledore's face was expressionless, simply staring silently at Snape with those blue eyes, through his half-moon spectacles, and Snape returned his gaze unfazed.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense, and even Fish, the naughty little cat, sensed that something was wrong, clinging to Professor McGonagall's arm and glancing nervously at Dumbledore and Snape.

|?ˇ?ˇ??)

"We can use Veritaserum," Snape finally conceded after a long silence, lowering his eyes slightly as he began, "I have a supply of it, and it only takes three drops to find out whether or not Lupin is Black's accomplice."

"Veritaserum is not entirely effective, Occlumency will render it useless, I think you know that all too well, Severus."

Dumbledore declined Snape's offer.

"Of course, but I can try to disable your Occlumency, Mr. Dumbledore."

Snape was still not giving up, being the potions master and master of Occlumency, he had research in this area....

The fact that the method was far-fetched and had not been practiced was deliberately ignored by Snape.

"I will not allow you to do that, Severus." Dumbledore showed a hint of anger, and with his knowledge, he could probably surmise the methods Snape used. "We can't treat your companions the way you treat criminals!"

"Partners?" Snape let out a laugh, "A werewolf?"

"That's enough, Severus!"

Professor McGonagall finally relented, stepping forward to stop Snape's rudeness towards Dumbledore.

"Professor Lupin doesn't know that Fish isn't in the dormitory tonight!"

"Well...actually he does..." Lupin spoke sardonically, "I ran into Fish on my way out."

But he defended himself, "But I went back to my office after that, I didn't get a chance to deliver the message to Black, the portrait in the corridor will attest to that... and yes, and Peeves, I ran into him on my way back, he was smearing glue on the doorknob of Mr. Filch's office door."

"Heh, who knows if there's any special contact between you and Black." Snape sneered disdainfully.

"I don't think it's likely that Professor Lupin was Black's infiltrator," Professor Flitwick sided with Dumbledore, not in Lupin's favor, but based on his own analysis, "Lupin, as a professor, had too many opportunities to do something to Potter, but he didn't do anything, did he?"

Lupin's candor and Professor Flitwick's analysis convinced the other professors to dispel any doubts they might have had and come out in Lupin's favor.

"Hmph!" Seeing that he hadn't gotten any support, Snape growled and rolled down his sleeve with a grimace, "Just don't regret it when Potter dies at Black's hands!"

And with that, he walked away without looking back.

"Let's all go back to bed..." Dumbledore pinched his forehead wearily, "Remus, don't take Severus' words to heart."

"Of course, Headmaster," shrugged Lupin, smiling bitterly, "I got used to it a long time ago."

When all the teachers had left, Fish tugged gingerly at Professor McGonagall's sleeve.

"Minerva, what about Severus and Lupin? why do you insist that Lupin is helping Black? just because he's a werewolf?"

(??ω??)?

"Don't ask questions about that," Professor McGonagall didn't like to talk behind people's backs, so she hesitated to tell Fish about Snape and Lupin's feud, but sent him back to bed, "Go back to your dormitory, you have classes tomorrow. "

"If you don't tell, don't tell, Fish will ask Severus tomorrow nya."

?(〃｀3′〃)?

It wasn't the first time the kitten made an angry face at Professor McGonagall and stomped off to his dormitory.

Professor McGonagall didn't take it personally, though....

With Snape's awkward temper, how could he tell Fish about this?