Just then, Professor Lupin rushed over.
He and Sirius Black worked together seamlessly.
They fired off several spells, forcing Peter Pettigrew to retreat repeatedly until he had no choice but to make a desperate run for it.
The two men paused, but before they could exchange a few complete sentences, they began a short but intense conversation.
To Harry, Ron, and Hermione, the dialogue was completely fragmented and nonsensical.
For example:
—"That's impossible..."
Professor Lupin's brow was furrowed, his voice full of disbelief.
Sirius Black responded, "Unless he was the one who..."
He stopped halfway through his sentence.
Professor Lupin urgently pressed, "Did you two change the...?"
It wasn't so much a conversation as it was Professor Lupin asking a series of rapid-fire questions.
Sirius Black, for his part, would nod, shake his head, and occasionally interject a word or two.
When their conversation was over, they looked at each other.
Then, they suddenly embraced tightly.
This left Harry and the others utterly confused.
The hug was filled with both the excitement of a long-awaited reunion and the weight of their shared past.
After releasing each other, they didn't say another word and immediately chased after Peter Pettigrew in the direction he had fled.
And so, after all that commotion, Harry and his friends were still left with only the little bit of information they had already deduced.
—There was more to the story of what happened that night, Peter Pettigrew wasn't dead, and Sirius Black seemed to have been framed.
But what was the full story?
They were still completely in the dark.
The mystery that hung over them was both urgent and bewildering.
They wanted to ask, but they couldn't get a word in.
They could only watch as Lupin and Sirius, who were too busy with their own reunion to explain anything, vanished into the depths of the woods.
Although Professor Lupin was willing to vouch for Sirius Black, both Hermione and Lupin had mentioned something.
They both knew one thing.
—Lupin was a werewolf.
It seemed that both Professor Snape and Dylan also knew this already.
During the chaotic scuffle, Peter Pettigrew had tried to attack them to distract Sirius Black.
Sirius Black had protected them in time.
Because of this, they still had some trust in Sirius.
But as for the exact details of what had happened...
They were still clueless.
They had gone through all of that effort for a long time and ended up understanding nothing!
"Can't you see? What we say doesn't matter at all."
"They—and I'm talking at least about Dylan and Professor Snape—don't want to hear any explanations!"
Hermione's brow was furrowed, her voice full of exasperation. "I think they probably already know the whole story."
She had tried to persuade Professor Snape to listen to Sirius Black's side of things, but as soon as she opened her mouth, he had cut her off sharply.
His icy stare still sent shivers down her spine.
"But if this keeps up, will Sirius get hurt by Snape, or even..."
Harry's voice trailed off, unable to bring himself to finish the sentence. He just stared anxiously in their direction.
At that moment, he remembered the calm expression on Dylan's face when he had told him about Peter Pettigrew.
Hermione was probably right; Dylan might have known something all along!
After all, his Divination skills were so good that even the professors acknowledged them.
It wouldn't be surprising for him to know things in advance.
"I don't think so... right?"
Ron scratched his head, his eyes shifting nervously. It was clear he wasn't so sure himself.
"Didn't Dylan say he'd capture Sirius first and then question him thoroughly? Logically, they're in the right here. It's a fact that Sirius broke into Hogwarts."
Ron had been reading a lot of legal documents to help overturn Buckbeak's case.
The information on legal statutes had given him a little bit of clarity.
Harry clenched his fists, his gaze fixed on the three people facing off against each other. His heart was in his throat.
He was worried about Sirius but didn't know what he could do to change the situation.
Could Sirius Black really be a good person?
Harry stood to the side, his brow furrowed, as he wrestled with the question.
If it was true, as Professor Lupin had said, that Sirius had been framed...
Would that mean he could have a godfather?
The thought made his heart skip a beat, and his fingers unconsciously picked at the hem of his robes.
"Sirius, you should be very aware of your current situation," Dylan said to the man, his tone steady and full of persuasive reason.
"It's two against one; you clearly have no chance. Just give up and put down your wand."
He paused, his eyes fixed on Sirius. "If you are truly innocent, we will not unjustly punish you."
Professor Snape didn't so much as blink at Dylan's words. He was noncommittal.
He simply gave Sirius a cold side glance, his grip on his wand not loosening at all.
"Heh." Sirius Black gave a wry smile.
He turned his head, his eyes passing over Snape with clear mockery.
"My boy, you have no idea how deep the grudge is between me and the man beside you."
"If I actually put my wand down, I'm afraid this... 'Professor' Snape..."
He deliberately emphasized the word "Professor," drawing out the last syllable, his tone full of undisguised scorn and contempt.
"...would immediately summon the Dementors to give me a 'gentle' kiss."
When he said this, a flash of exhaustion and bitterness appeared in his eyes.
He was clearly very tired, but he knew Snape's character all too well. He would never put down his wand.
Upon hearing Sirius's words, Professor Snape still showed no reaction, but his lips tightened into a hard, cold line, and his grip on his wand became even firmer.
"Alright..."
Dylan let out a soft sigh.
And as soon as the sigh left his lips, Sirius Black's body tensed instantly, like a crouched leopard. He raised his wand slightly, adopting a defensive stance.
His eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, locked on Dylan and Snape. It was clear he was ready to face an attack at any moment.
"I already warned you, Black. It seems you want to suffer a little more."
Dylan's shoulders shrugged slightly, his voice devoid of emotion as he stated a simple fact.
"So, for your unauthorized entry into Hogwarts, and for all those times you've disturbed my sleep, it's time to pay the price."
What?
Sirius Black froze, his hand tightening on his wand.
Dylan's words made his brows furrow instinctively, and a look of confusion flashed in his eyes.
Disturbed his sleep?
The phrase was so abrupt that it took him a moment to process it.
But now was clearly not the time to be distracted.
Sirius Black immediately pushed away the stray thoughts and focused all his attention on the situation at hand.
But even with his full attention, the situation didn't get any better.
Dylan had practiced in duels more than once.
He used to go to the professors for training.
Later, he would use Tom as a punching bag.
And after every fight, he would go back and carefully analyze his performance.
These practice sessions had made one thing very clear to him.
Of the offensive spells he knew, only a few of the max-level Dark Arts spells could be cast nonverbally, and that was not nearly enough.
And of those Dark Arts spells, the only one he could use openly now was the Sectumsempra curse...
While it was undeniably cool to cast spells with a crisp incantation, when it came to a real fight, if you couldn't defeat your opponent with a single strike or if you couldn't reveal other Dark Arts spells.
It would be a pain to have to say a spell for every action.
That's not cool at all.
Not to mention that the time it took to speak the spell might not keep up with the opponent's casting pace.
Just constantly blabbering on like a machine gun...
It would make you look like a fool.
So, to maintain a sense of calm and grace in a fight...
—To put it simply, for the sake of looking "cool," which was a very important matter.
—Dylan had specifically used his free time during the holidays to repeatedly practice several spells that ordinary students could use, until he could cast them quickly and nonverbally.
For example, the Explosion Curse and the Disarming Charm he had just used.
And now, he was about to use the Blasting Curse and the Full Body-Bind Curse.
These spells were also on his practice list.
Especially after receiving guidance from Rowena Ravenclaw, his spell-casting had improved significantly.
On the field now, the battle had begun.
Professor Snape was the primary attacker.
He waved his wand with a frantic speed, casting one spell after another in a constant stream toward Sirius Black.
Red, green, and blue lights intertwined in the air, making a whooshing sound as they shot through the air.
These spells had no rhythm or order, and there was no sense of defense.
It was less of a duel and more of an opportunity for him to release the years of pent-up resentment he had towards Sirius.
Faced with such a concentrated attack, Sirius Black, despite his exhaustion, handled it with relative ease.
After all, in prison, he often had to deal with troublesome individuals.
He was used to it.
Sirius dodged nimbly, stepping to the side.
His wand spun quickly in his hand.
He always managed to cast a defensive spell in the nick of time, deflecting Snape's spells one by one.
Occasionally, he even had a moment to return a spell or two, temporarily forcing Snape to back off.
The real pressure came from Dylan.
With a flick of his wand, the shield created by the Shield Charm was unbreakable. Any spell that tried to get through was blocked.
When a tricky surprise attack came his way, a Finite Incantatem would always appear at just the right moment, neutralizing the offense.
What made it even harder to defend against was that Dylan would always find a fleeting opening when he was busy dealing with Snape.
He would then suddenly launch an attack!
Every spell he cast was surprisingly powerful.
This forced Sirius to use most of his energy to constantly keep an eye on him.
He couldn't understand it.
How could a student be more difficult to deal with than Snape?
The pressure he put on him was even more astounding than Snape's!
And what was more, he felt that the boy wasn't even using his full power yet!
Whoosh!
A spell from Sirius came flying toward them.
Dylan gave a light flick of his wrist, and his wand traced a small arc in the air, diverting the attack to the side.
Immediately after, he fired a Blasting Curse.
Sirius quickly crouched down.
"BOOM!"
A large tree nearby exploded into fragments, sending wood splinters flying everywhere.
He then barely managed to dodge a spell from Snape, and sweat trickled down his cheek.
But he didn't even have time to wipe it off. He immediately raised his hand, returning with a defensive spell to block another of Snape's fierce attacks.
Gasp... gasp...
His chest heaved with his ragged breathing.
His counter-spells became weak and ineffective.
The duel didn't last very long.
But the area around them, as well as the area in front of Harry and his friends, was already in shambles.
The ground was covered in pits of varying depths.
Many trees had been snapped in half or blasted to smithereens by spells.
The air was filled with the smell of dust and burnt wood.
Signs of spells colliding and being deflected were everywhere.
Dylan knew that Professor Snape had already suspected that there was more to the story.
So their teamwork was less about carrying out their duties and more about using the opportunity for some open and shameless revenge.
Dylan certainly didn't mind helping Professor Snape teach the boy who had bullied him in school a lesson.
Even if he was Harry's godfather?
So what?
After this, Sirius might even cry and beg for him to be his godfather.
At this moment, the unspoken understanding between Dylan and Snape was unrivaled.
As Sirius's movements became more uncoordinated and the speed of his wand slowed down, every dodge became a struggle.
Professor Snape and Dylan looked at each other. Instead of launching a final, all-out attack, they slowed their assault.
They kept their attacks at a very deliberate pace.
—Just enough to keep Sirius running, giving him no time to breathe, making him look pitiful and clumsy, but not enough to seriously injure him.
They were like patient predators, quietly waiting for their prey to run out of all its energy.
Until it finally collapsed, helpless, at their mercy.
Sirius's wand-holding hand began to tremble uncontrollably, and he couldn't cast any effective spells.
The wand he had taken from Ron fell into the grass with a loud 'clatter.'
His body, which had been on the run and in a fight with Peter Pettigrew, could no longer support him.
His legs gave out, and he collapsed heavily onto his knees.
He then fell forward, lying on the ground, unable to move.
Seeing this, Dylan and Snape finally stopped.
Dylan saw that the time was right and cast the Incarcerous curse.
Whoosh!