0291 The Original Path

Had the night not been laden with astonishments, Harry would have marveled at the revelation of the Time-Turner.

"Oh—"

Just then, Hermione came to an abrupt halt, stopping in her tracks, surprised at an office door left open along the corridor.

"He actually forgot to close his office door—"

Hermione whispered, but then she realized she shouldn't make any noise and covered her mouth.

This was Professor Lupin's office, but he was not there. Harry suddenly remembered that at this time, Professor Lupin should be on his way back after washing up, and from the map Hermione had opened, Harry confirmed this.

"We're in the Gryffindor common room, led here by Peter Pettigrew. Look, we're going downstairs now, but his name isn't on the map."

"By the way, how did you find out that Professor Lupin is… is a werewolf?" Among the surprising events of the night, Professor Lupin being werewolf was definitely in the top three. Earlier in the Forbidden Forest, Harry hadn't had the chance to ask Hermione how she discovered this secret, but now, he couldn't help but be curious.

"Do you remember, Harry? Professor Lupin taught us how to deal with Boggarts in the first class. When the Boggart faced Professor Lupin, it turned into a full moon. Later, he took sick leave for a few days every month, and I always wondered about it. Then, before Christmas, I previewed the Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook and saw the description of werewolves--"

Hermione cautiously stuck her head into Professor Lupin's office, but he wasn't there. 

On the Marauder's Map, Professor Lupin had appeared on the staircase on the other side of the fourth floor, and in the Gryffindor Tower location, Ron and Harry's names were intersecting with Percy's.

"That's strange--" Hermione said hesitantly.

"What's wrong??" Harry quickly asked, and Hermione pointed to the Gryffindor common room. Her voice filled with confusion, she said, "Look, Harry, we were lured out of the common room by Peter Pettigrew. You see, we're going downstairs now, but his name isn't on the map."

Harry leaned forward, his eyes fixed on the map spread out in Hermione's hands. And then, he noticed that there was more than just one strange thing happening.

As the clock neared ten, they were chasing after Scabbers down the stairs. But on the map, only their names were displayed, and there was no sign of Scabbers in the castle. Instead, on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Harry saw Hagrid crouching in his hut, while Sirius and Crookshanks were in a small square on the map.

And in the area behind the house, close to the Forbidden Forest, Draco Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew's names appeared faintly.

"We don't have time to think about this, Harry."

Hermione suddenly closed the map, grabbed Harry's hand, and barged into Professor Lupin's office. After leaving the map behind, she urgently pulled on his sleeve and squeezed through the door crack.

"The map in Professor Lupin's hand—" Harry said, puzzled. "Was it the one we left for him?"

"Isn't it obvious, Harry?" Hermione snapped impatiently. "Dumbledore has made it clear enough."

Harry wanted to ask more, but the hurried footsteps from the stairs and the appearance of Professor Lupin on the other side blocked his mouth.

Even though they knew that no one could see them, Harry and Hermione's hearts raced nervously, especially Hermione. Before obtaining the Time-Turner from Professor McGonagall, she had memorized hundreds of prohibitions related to time magic and had read countless cases of wizards causing serious accidents due to misuse of Time-Turners.

Based on the sequence of events, they were safe here. But Hermione couldn't suppress her nervousness.

What happened next could only be described as magical, even for Harry, who was accustomed to the wonders of magic.

He saw Ron and himself appear in his field of vision at the same time, just a few dozen feet away, as they hurriedly chased after Scabbers, who flashed by in their line of sight. Then, Hermione grabbed their collars and pulled them behind the tapestry.

Harry held his breath instinctively, because Professor Lupin had walked over slowly. Harry looked at him sadly, knowing what was about to happen, but even without Hermione's reminder, he knew the serious consequences of intervening.

Click— Professor Lupin, with a tired face, closed the office door. Immediately, the trio behind the tapestry dashed downstairs without a second's delay.

Under the Invisibility Cloak, neither Harry nor Hermione moved, silently waiting for what would happen next.

In just half a minute, the door in front of Harry and Hermione burst open, and Professor Lupin appeared, clutching the parchment. His expression was completely different from when he had entered, no longer showing any signs of lethargy.

Lupin rushed downstairs, clutching the parchment, and Harry knew what he was going to do.

Once Professor Lupin had also rushed downstairs, Harry wanted to follow, but sudden footsteps at the far end of the corridor forced him to press against the window niche, suppressing his anxious heart as he waited for the person to pass.

It was Professor Snape!

His walking speed was faster than usual, causing his robes to billow like a cloak. As he passed by, Harry could even feel the coldness emanating from Snape.

Even though Harry didn't want to admit it, he had to acknowledge one thing. If it weren't for Snape tonight, they wouldn't have been able to escape from the clutches of the werewolf.

"How did Snape find out?"

When Snape's hurried footsteps became faint, Harry, almost suffocating, took a few deep breaths and then couldn't help but ask, "He didn't have the Marauder's Map, so I've been wondering how he found out."

"Isn't it obvious, Harry!"

After experiencing so much, Hermione was even more anxious than usual. She said impatiently, "That direction leads to Professor Watson's office. Snape saw us chasing after something through those magical lenses. Then he saw Lupin leaving the office and realized something was wrong, so he followed us. Well, let me think about what we should do now."

Hermione furrowed her brow, deep in thought, while Harry was thinking about the person who saved them from the Dementor's Kiss.

'Who could it be?'

Harry remained silent, hoping that his guess was correct, but his rationality told him it was impossible.

"—If you don't know what to do, just follow the original path."

Hermione muttered absentmindedly. Suddenly, she had an idea and pulled Harry, running downstairs.

They crossed the campus along a straight path, without taking any detours or wasting any time. So, when they reached the pumpkin patch near Hagrid's hut, their counterparts from this time period hadn't appeared yet.

They had just hidden in the twisted pumpkin vines when Draco Malfoy suddenly appeared without any warning, with Scabbers perched on his head.

"Scabbers—"

Harry exclaimed, wanting to get up and chase after the rat, but Hermione tackled him to the ground, holding him down firmly.

"Don't you understand, Harry? We're breaking one of the most important rules of magic right now. If someone sees us, we're doomed!"

Hermione squeezed her voice through her clenched teeth.

"Only Hagrid and Sirius—" Harry reluctantly said.

Hermione didn't say anything more because at that moment, Sirius had noticed Draco and Scabbers, just as Hagrid had said. Sirius grew furious, his size instantly increasing. Under Hagrid's watchful gaze as he walked out of the house upon hearing the commotion, Sirius charged towards Malfoy without hesitation.

Seeing this, Malfoy turned around and mounted his broomstick, disappearing into the depths of the Forbidden Forest without looking back.

"Look—" Hermione said, holding her breath. "We're here."

Indeed, at this time, they were attracted by the barking of Fang and ran towards them from the path leading to the gate.

They had personally experienced what happened next, and there was nothing interesting about it. Harry said dejectedly, "Peter escaped and never showed up tonight. If we can't find him, Sirius—"

"Not necessarily, Harry—"

The damp soil and dewdrops on the leaves made Hermione uncomfortable. She adjusted her crawling position and gazed at the commotion happening between Hagrid and the others, slowly saying, "Do you remember the sudden appearance of the Killing curse in the Forbidden Forest?"

The name of this curse seemed to hold a special power. When it was mentioned in the pumpkin patch, Harry felt an invisible chill touch his skin, causing him to shiver inexplicably.

He hadn't heard of this curse before, but when Hermione mentioned it, he immediately thought of the green light that had caused his scar to throb painfully that night.

"Do you think it was Peter's doing?"

"Obviously—"

Hermione quickly said, "I think Peter's original plan was to lure Sirius into the Forbidden Forest. Think about it, if it was just him alone, he would definitely die at the hands of the werewolf. But he didn't expect us to show up later. Professor Lupin and Snape were also dragged there by us. By a twist of fate, so many people now know the truth of what happened years ago. This must have surprised Peter, but as long as Sirius dies there, there will be no evidence."

Surrendering to Voldemort, causing the death of his parents, lurking around the Weasley family and Ron for so long, and now plotting to kill Sirius, to be honest, Harry had never hated someone as much as he hated peter now, except for Voldemort.

Even the cold night wind blowing on the highlands couldn't extinguish the flame burning in Harry's heart at this moment.

The struggle beneath the pumpkin patch finally had a result. Hagrid led them into the Forbidden Forest, where they were met with a thrilling battle.

And just after they left, in the comforting moonlight, a weakened Lupin appeared, panting heavily. He asked Fang for directions and rushed into the Forbidden Forest.

Seeing that the time was almost right, Hermione prepared to get up and follow. They still had a long way to go to reach the location of the battle.

But at that moment, Harry suddenly stopped being in a hurry. He looked around, as if searching for something.

"What are you daydreaming about, Harry? We need to catch up!"

"Wait a minute, Hermione. Someone will come."

Harry knew they didn't have time to waste now, but he didn't move, his face filled with eagerness.

"Harry!"

Hermione got up herself, uncovering the Invisibility Cloak, and stomped her foot in annoyance.

"It's almost time, we have to wait a little—"

Harry also got up and looked around.

"Maybe someone else will come."

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