Chapter 370: Old Friends (Edited)
Sirius suddenly raised his head and stared at Tom.
"Do you know what you're talking about?" he said hoarsely, "Innocent? Me? Sirius Black? I should be as dark and ruthless as my name, an unforgivable criminal."
"The Ministry of Magic should have made that clear, shouldn't they? I'm the cruelest servant of You-Know-Who who has killed countless Muggles..." Sirius showed a more bitter smile than crying.
He no longer cared to justify himself. Reputation can easily be ruined by rumors. The Ministry of Magic still had tremendous influence. Under their relentless propaganda, both Dumbledore and Harry Potter couldn't resist, let alone Sirius.
As for evidence, Dumbledore and Harry had little. In terms of popularity, one defeated Grindelwald, and the other Voldemort. Sirius was far below them in both aspects; was his defense really useful?
No, no one believed him. Over time, Sirius had even given up on the idea of his own innocence. If he hadn't seen Peter Pettigrew still alive, he probably would have chosen to spend the rest of his life in Azkaban. As the saying goes, "there is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."
But today, he heard the word "innocent" from the mouth of an unknown young wizard. That surprised him greatly.
Innocent? How many years had it been since that word had distanced itself from him? Today, someone had related Sirius Black and the word "innocent" in the same sentence, which he found rather uncomfortable.
"Ministry of Magic?" Tom sneered, "Only fools believe what those vermin say."
"Didn't you confide in a large orange cat before? The cat was... my girlfriend's pet, and it was from him that I heard your story. I don't think anyone would be so bored as to lie to a cat, right?"
"That's it!" Sirius suddenly remembered the cat that understood humans, and everything had a reasonable explanation.
"Can you understand what cats say?" Sirius was speechless. How many more things did he not know about this young wizard in front of him? How could he keep surprising him every few minutes?
"It turns out I have a small ancient alchemical pendant that helps me communicate with all kinds of animals."
"Oh, wow, ancient alchemy is really amazing..."
"Yes, there's too much lost knowledge in the magical community."
After joking a bit about inheritance issues in the magical world, they both fell silent.
"If you believe I'm innocent, could you please untie the vines I have on me?" The areas where he was bound were beginning to numb, and Sirius felt uncomfortable.
Tom suddenly displayed selective deafness and didn't respond to Sirius's request; for now, he didn't want to release him. After all, this guy had been in Azkaban for a long time, his mood was unstable, and he evidently had mental issues. It was better to be cautious.
To be honest, Tom didn't understand Sirius's actions. Since he escaped from Azkaban, he never considered contacting someone like Dumbledore, an elder figure, or old friends like Lupin. He had always acted as a lone wolf, and that really puzzled him.
Perhaps the years of imprisonment had made him lose trust in others.
"Why have you been pursuing Peter alone all this time?"
Sirius: ...
Faced with Tom's question, Sirius fell silent. He didn't want to think about that question, nor did he want to answer it, so he chose silence.
"At the very least, you should talk to your old friends, right? If not, you can always rely on Dumbledore," Tom winked at Sirius. "Even an antisocial person like me has an intimate girlfriend. Is it possible that you have no one?"
After giving Sirius a bit of comfort, Tom turned around and left. Watching his figure disappear into the bushes, Sirius was lost in thought: why not find Lupin and talk to him? See if he could still trust his old school friend?
But that was too difficult! Sirius racked his brain for a convincing way to persuade his old friend. Because in everyone's eyes, he was the traitor, the despicable traitor who sold out his friends and killed his brother.
Sirius felt increasingly submerged in despair. The more he thought, the darker his outlook seemed.
Tom was a bit naive, he hadn't considered Sirius's situation and simply believed that if he found his old friends, he would get help and they could capture Peter Pettigrew to prove his innocence. But Sirius was a wanted fugitive right now! Would anyone really believe him?
Imagine you have a high school buddy you were very close to, you both worked at the same company after graduating. After a while, you see in the news that he has been sent to prison for a bombing case. You might be sad for a while, but life goes on. However, more than ten years later, you see this "old friend" again in the news, reporting that he has escaped from prison. You're stunned.
Now that old friend is in front of you, saying he's been wrongly accused and hoping you'll help him catch the real culprit at the school where you work.
Would you believe him? On one hand, you have tangible evidence from the government, and on the other hand, you have only empty promises from an old friend. Do you trust him? You'd probably act hypocritically in front of him, then turn him over to the authorities as a fugitive who's gone mad.
If you can't do something yourself, you can't expect Lupin to do it. So it's understandable that Sirius isn't seeking out Lupin. It's acceptable that Lupin tied up Sirius and took him to the Ministry of Magic.
Sirius stared at the sky, his mind blank. At that moment, he felt the vines that bound him loosen slightly. It seemed that the young man who had walked away from him had cautiously loosened the knots. He shook his body to free himself from the vines and then his gaze landed on an object in the bush: an old piece of parchment.
This parchment was very familiar to Sirius, he almost recognized it instantly. Anxiously, he crawled over to the bush. He stumbled over the vines he still had on his feet, but he didn't care.
Sirius picked up the parchment from the bush and examined it closely. He reached a conclusion: it was the Marauder's Map!
Sirius burst into unrestrained laughter, looking up at the sky.