Chapter 290: Professor
Perhaps it was precisely because the trio were there. Although Snape and Sirius Black had no idea what the other was thinking, they were clearly controlling the intensity of their battle. They weren't using immensely destructive dark magic, and the power of their spells was noticeably restrained.
The reason for the whole incident wasn't complicated. Professor Lupin, single-mindedly chasing Peter Pettigrew, had rushed ahead. Sirius Black stayed behind, desperately trying to persuade Harry and his friends to leave and not get caught in the danger. But as everyone knows, protagonists are not afraid of danger.
Even if they're a liability, they'll stick with their companions. Of course, the main reason was that Harry and his friends desperately wanted to get to the bottom of the truth, so they didn't listen at all.
Sirius's pleas were clearly useless and wasted a lot of time. Just then, Snape the Great Bat appeared. He had noticed that Lupin hadn't taken his Wolfsbane Potion today and, worried that this might endanger the students, he had followed his trail here. He came upon them and, upon seeing Sirius Black, he didn't hesitate for a moment. He suddenly emerged from behind a tree, and without a word, launched an attack. The two began to duel.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were stunned. They wanted to speak up and tell them there was a misunderstanding, to stop fighting and talk things out. But as everyone also knows, no one listens to little kids. At the same time, when mortal enemies meet, tempers flare. Professor Snape and Sirius Black's duel grew more intense. The light from their colliding spells grew brighter, and the cracking sounds louder.
As they dueled, they began to hurl personal insults at each other. Snape called Sirius a runaway mad dog from Azkaban. Sirius taunted that Snape was still a snivelling coward who only hid in the shadows and was now a complete old bat. As their verbal jabs grew fiercer, so did their spells. They had no time to listen to the children.
Professor Lupin and Dylan arrived at this very moment. They pushed through the final thicket, their hurried footsteps alerting the duelers. Snape and Sirius both noticed their intrusion.
When Professor Snape saw Lupin, he frowned slightly, a look of confusion and wariness in his eyes, wondering why Lupin was here. But when his gaze swept to Dylan behind Lupin, his brow slowly relaxed, and a faint smile even curved at his lips. He seemed to feel he had an ally to corner his opponent.
In contrast, Sirius Black looked even more anxious upon seeing Professor Lupin. His pupils contracted sharply, and his grip on his wand tightened. A terrible thought filled his mind. Why would Lupin turn back at this point? Did he lose Peter Pettigrew? Or had Peter already escaped? Damn it! He shouldn't have wasted time fighting this old bat! He thought this, and couldn't help but glance behind Lupin, as if searching for Peter's silhouette.
Dylan's gaze shifted between Professor Snape and Sirius Black, finally settling on the wand in Sirius's hand. The wand looked familiar. With a second thought, he realized it was the one Ron usually used. He raised an eyebrow, also noticing Professor Snape's silent signals.
He cleared his throat. "Sirius... what's going on here? Is this another one who needs to be dealt with?" Before he even finished speaking, Dylan had already raised his wand, its tip pointed at Sirius, ready to cast. The light at the end of his wand was sacred and luminous.
"What spell is that? Wait, no, I mean, wait, Dylan he's not " Professor Lupin was startled by the sight, a little curious, but then he quickly tried to intervene. He stopped halfway through his sentence. He had belatedly remembered. Sirius Black was, in everyone's eyes, still an escaped convict from Azkaban. It was only natural for Dylan, who didn't know the full story, to be hostile towards him. He opened his mouth, unsure of what to say, and could only frown in distress.
As everyone also knows people in the middle of a plot often lose the ability to speak.
Having just witnessed Peter Pettigrew's miserable state, Professor Lupin's heart clenched when he saw Dylan's movements. Fearing that Sirius Black would suffer a similar bloody fate, he acted on pure instinct, casting a Finishing Charm before he could even explain. The spell shot through the air and slammed into Dylan's unknown curse. The two forces collided with a muffled roar, then burst into a blinding white light. The air around them seemed to shake.
Before Lupin could sigh in relief at having prevented potential harm, a sudden sense of being disoriented swept over him. His ankle was gripped by an invisible hand, and he instantly lost his balance. With a whoosh, he was suspended in mid-air upside down. His hair hung down, and the hem of his robe flipped up, revealing its worn lining. Lupin felt all the blood rush to his head, and his vision momentarily went black.
Before he could react to the sudden situation, a fierce tingling sensation shot up his wrist, and his fingers gripping the wand instantly lost all strength. The wand dropped to the ground. It was a Disarming Charm!
"Professor Lupin." Dylan's voice was calm and without a hint of emotion. His gaze landed on the upside-down Lupin, with a clear warning. "Considering your special circumstances, you're a potential danger. Please watch your actions and don't do anything that makes me doubt your position."
As he spoke, he maintained the Incarcerous spell. At the same time, he gave his wand a slight twist, and a Stupefy spell shot out precisely to the other side. Just now, Sirius Black, seeing the opportunity, had prepared to strike first. A spell had already formed on his tongue, and the tip of his wand had started to glow. But Dylan's faster Stupefy Charm instantly nullified it, like a stone thrown into water, scattering the nascent spell.
"Sectumsempra!" Dylan's voice suddenly turned sharp. Before the word was fully spoken, an invisible blade, barely perceptible to the naked eye, shot through the air. Its speed far outpaced the rhythm of the incantation. In the blink of an eye, it was in front of Sirius Black.
Sirius's pupils contracted sharply! A sense of mortal danger, born of pure instinct, seized him. He instinctively dodged to the side, his wand a blur. A defensive spell was hastily formed. Despite this, he only managed to deflect the invisible blade slightly the next second, there were several thunderous crashes. Several trees with trunks the width of bowls fell to the ground. The cuts were as smooth as glass, as if they had been sliced.
Sirius's back was instantly soaked in cold sweat. Before, he hadn't given this seemingly ordinary third-year student a second thought. He now realized how gravely he had erred! A spell of this power was far beyond what a normal student could wield!
"Well done." A flicker of a smile appeared in Professor Snape's cold eyes. The boy's ruthless and merciless execution was perfect for dealing with these idiots!
At this moment, Professor Lupin, still hanging upside down, felt his head throbbing with blood. Hearing the loud thuds and the giant crash of trees nearby, he grew even more anxious. He twisted his body, trying to get a better view of the situation below. He opened his mouth, no longer even trying to form a coherent sentence. The people on the field had completely unequal information. Where could he even begin to explain all this?!
"Wait! Everyone wait please, let me explain!" Lupin's voice was distorted by urgency. "There's more to what happened back then! Black didn't come to kill Harry! He really didn't!"
"Save your breath, Lupin." Professor Snape stood aside, a cold, mocking smile on his face, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt and satisfaction. He looked at the disheveled Lupin hanging in the air, his tone carrying a sense of vengeful glee. "It seems two more people will be taking up residence in an Azkaban cell tonight, won't they?" He deliberately emphasized the word "two," his gaze sweeping between Lupin and Sirius, clearly believing them to be in league.
"I'm quite looking forward to seeing Dumbledore's reaction when he learns of all this. Didn't he always insist you were trustworthy... saying you were a tame werewolf... Hmph " Snape's voice was laced with ice, a sneer curling his lips. He unhurriedly straightened his sleeve, then his tone suddenly shifted, with a hint of deliberate warning. "Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you something. You haven't taken your Wolfsbane Potion today. Were you planning to use your identity to do something nefarious?"
Professor Lupin paid no mind to Snape's sarcasm. All his attention was on Dylan. His body, hanging in the air, twisted violently in his eagerness. His hair fell messily over his forehead, and his bloodshot eyes were locked on the inverted figure in his vision. His voice, too, was hoarse from the blood rushing to his head.
"Dylan! Dylan! You must have seen that man just now, the one you subdued! He's Peter Pettigrew! Has Harry ever mentioned that name to you? He's a disguised villain! He's an Animagus! You know what an Animagus is, don't you? With your intelligence, you must understand what this means... Mmm glug glug glug mmm "
He hadn't even finished speaking. Lupin's eyes suddenly widened. Without warning, a string of pink soap bubbles began to pour from his mouth. The bubbles continued to tumble out, covering his chin, preventing him from uttering another complete syllable.
"Peter Pettigrew?" Dylan's brow furrowed slightly at the name, as if trying to recall it. "There was indeed such a person." He looked up at Professor Snape, his tone calm as he confirmed. "He just tried to attack me, but I have already rendered him unconscious."
Upon hearing this, Professor Snape's brow immediately twisted into a knot, his sharp gaze lingering on Dylan's face for a few seconds. A moment later, he looked away, and said coldly, "Regardless of the truth, the top priority is to subdue this intruder first. We can question him later." As he spoke, his gaze swept toward Sirius Black, his wand still pointed steadily at him.
As Dylan spoke with Professor Snape, his right hand remained steady, his wand tip locked on Sirius Black, without the slightest tremor.
"Perfect, Professor Snape. I happen to have some Veritaserum and other marvelous potions with me." Dylan's words were calm and placid, yet they struck a chord with Professor Snape. Snape's lips curled into a subtle, almost imperceptible smile. A flash of approval passed through his eyes; he was clearly very pleased with the suggestion.
Sirius Black looked at the two in front of him. One with a cold face, the other with a calm expression. Both had their wands firmly pointed at him, and a wave of panic swept over him. It wasn't that he was afraid of Snape, but his current condition was truly terrible. The long imprisonment in Azkaban had left him gaunt and skeletal. His eye sockets were sunken, and his cheekbones were high.
After escaping Azkaban, he had been a fugitive, constantly on the move. He was lucky to get a decent meal, and a good night's sleep was a distant luxury. The best meal he had was a dry, hard chicken leg, thanks to Crookshanks. Earlier, when he was dueling Peter Pettigrew, he had already been struggling. He was only holding on with a burning desire for revenge and slightly superior magic skills.
Now, facing a two-on-one assault, he felt completely outmatched. Snape alone was a headache. Now there was a student who could take down Lupin in a single move! What was going on with this student?! How could he be stronger than a professor? And from what they just said, was it this kid who defeated Peter Pettigrew, too? This is just too ridiculous!
"Should I go up and stop them from fighting?" Harry stood to the side, his brow furrowed in conflict. His hands unconsciously clenched the hem of his robe. Although the trio had vaguely deduced that there was more to the story of his parents' death, they knew nothing of the specifics. Since they had found Sirius Black, they hadn't had a chance to ask him anything. He had immediately snatched Ron's wand and started dueling the suddenly appearing Peter Pettigrew. Everything had happened too quickly and too chaotically.
(End of Chapter)
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