Chapter 292: I Was Absolutely Terrified!
Several thick iron chains appeared out of thin air. With a clatter, they firmly locked Sirius Black down. The links wrapped around him, securing his hands and feet, ultimately leaving him suspended in the air, completely immobilized.
That wasn't enough, however. Dylan stepped forward, his wand aimed steadily at the utterly exhausted Sirius Black, whose eyes were vacant and fixed straight ahead. He began to chant a long and obscure incantation. It was the Anti-Animagus Charm, rarely used. Dylan had hardly practiced it after learning it from Professor Flitwick during a tutoring session.
Yet, relying on the increasingly keen talent he had honed by completing achievements, he finished the spell meticulously, executing the wand movement precisely. There were no mistakes. The charm landed accurately on Sirius.
Having finished, Dylan gave his wrist a slight flick. He waved his wand to the side, releasing Professor Lupin, who was hanging upside down, his face scarlet, and his head swimming with blood. Lupin stumbled a few steps upon landing, barely steadying himself by leaning on a nearby tree trunk, then massaged his throbbing temples.
"Professor, should we question them here?" Dylan turned to Professor Snape, pulling a small glass vial containing a clear liquid Veritaserum from his shoulder bag.
"...Forget it." Professor Snape frowned, remaining silent for a moment before rejecting the suggestion, despite how tempting it sounded. He himself was involved in what happened that year; if he hadn't revealed the prophecy to Voldemort... No matter. This matter had to be reported to Dumbledore eventually. He had no interest in having to relay the stories from these three idiots to the Headmaster.
"Right, and Peter Pettigrew..." Dylan said, casually waving his wand in a gesture of misdirection.
In the distance, Peter Pettigrew, who had been lying on the ground, was suddenly lifted by an invisible force, gently floating toward Dylan. Following behind Peter was Sequel the creature previously instructed to keep an eye on him.
"Good boy, Sequel, you did really well." Dylan reached out and gently stroked Sequel's neck fur. He then took a strip of meat from his bag and held it out. Sequel lowered its head, took the meat, and chewed contentedly.
"You should go back now. I'll come see you again in a few days," Dylan murmured.
Professor Snape's gaze swept across the ground, settling on the three figures lying askew. One was utterly drained, sprawled out, staring blankly at the sky, barely having the strength to blink. Another had just been freed from being suspended upside down, his head still spinning, his vision going black, with unpopped pink soap bubbles still clinging to his lips and chin, looking pathetic and comical. The last one, the most severely injured, was covered in blood and scorch marks, already deeply unconscious, his breathing so shallow that his chest barely moved.
"A truly long-awaited 'reunion'..." Professor Snape's voice carried undisguised sarcasm, a cold smile curling his lips.
As soon as he spoke, he gave his wand a slight flick. The three men floated gently into the air, maintaining the positions they were in when they fell, like three soulless puppets.
Having done this, he strode toward Harry, Ron, and Hermione. His black cloak cut a sharp arc behind him. "Follow me," he narrowed his eyes, his gaze resting on Harry's face like a viper. His voice was as cold as the Forbidden Forest's night wind. "I believe Professor Dumbledore will be very interested to hear about your experiences today."
With that, he straightened the edge of his cloak and turned to walk toward the castle. The three floating figures trailed behind him, like heavy objects hanging from an invisible thread, moving slowly with his steps.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione glanced at each other. No one dared to speak or even move until Dylan sent off Sequel and started walking toward them. Only then, as if finding their backbone, did they silently follow, walking alongside Dylan toward the castle. The wind rustled through the leaves, making a shushing sound, emphasizing the silence of the group.
"Dylan, you just..." Harry's lips moved, but he didn't know how to start. A thousand thoughts clogged his throat, leaving him speechless. He knew Dylan could divine, and when Dylan said he was going to take down Sirius, his heart ached, as if it were being squeezed. He felt that Dylan must have divined Sirius's eventual conviction and made that choice accordingly.
But after hearing Dylan's comment about "disturbing his good dreams" right before attacking, Harry suddenly realized that even if Sirius was a good person, he couldn't have avoided this lesson tonight.
So, what he most wanted to know right now was...
"Dylan, how could you attack a professor?" Hermione's voice suddenly cut in, interrupting Harry's long-stalled question. She spoke in a very low voice, unable to stop glancing back at Professor Lupin, whom Professor Snape was magically floating, her eyes filled with worry and confusion.
"That? Hermione, look the moonlight tonight, isn't it bright?" Dylan turned his head, his tone calm as he replied.
"What? Um... yes, the moon tonight is " Hermione didn't immediately grasp his meaning, hesitating a moment before replying. But mid-sentence, she suddenly stopped, her eyes widening as if a crucial thought had struck her. A look of sudden realization dawned on her face. "That's it! Tonight is a full moon! Professor Snape said earlier that Professor Lupin hadn't taken his Wolfsbane Potion today!" she said quickly, a hint of tension in her voice.
"But, what... what is Wolfsbane Potion?" Ron timidly raised one hand. He was tightly gripping the wand he had just retrieved from the grass, clearly not having fully recovered from the earlier chaos.
"It's a potion that was only recently invented, specifically for curbing a werewolf's transformation don't you two ever read the Daily Prophet?" Hermione looked at Ron with a confused expression that clearly said, "You don't know that?"
Harry and Ron both looked enlightened, then fell into an awkward silence. They exchanged a glance, both showing a bit of embarrassment. The conversation about "attacking a professor" had thus been inadvertently steered away.
An Audience with the Headmaster
Inside the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts, the atmosphere was so heavy it felt like it could be wrung out. The portraits of the former headmasters on the walls were all silent, their gazes fixed on the center of the room.
Professor Dumbledore sat behind his large desk, his fingers lightly intertwined, his knuckles gently rubbing. His deep-set eyes, framed by half-moon spectacles, rested calmly on the figure tightly bound in the chair opposite him Peter Pettigrew. Peter was curled up in the chair, trembling like a leaf, his head bowed low, afraid to make eye contact with anyone.
To Dumbledore's left, Sirius Black stood quietly. Though still tired and pale, he was much better than before, and his chains had long been removed. He was leaning slightly forward, his voice low, recounting the long-sealed past word by word how they had switched the Secret-Keeper, and how that decision led to the irreversible tragedy. With every sentence, his tightly clenched fists grew tighter, his eyes churning with years of suppressed pain and fury.
To the right of the desk, Professor Snape stood with his arms crossed over his chest, his black robes hanging like ink. His face was devoid of expression, but his jawline was tightly clenched. His gaze swept coldly from Sirius to the trembling Peter, filled with unconcealed disgust.
Dylan, standing next to him, appeared much calmer. His hands hung naturally at his sides, his eyes clear. He looked like an innocent bystand who happened to be present, listening to everything.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were originally in the office. Professor Dumbledore had given them a few simple instructions and then dismissed them. The focus of the night was clearly not on them. Ron and Hermione exchanged a look of relief. "Glad we didn't lose any Gryffindor points," they muttered softly as they quickly left the office.
Only Harry insisted on staying. After repeated requests, he was permitted to stand to the side. He stood a little distance away now, listening to Sirius's account with bated breath, his eyes wide with confusion, eagerness, and scrutiny. This was the truth about his parentage and their deaths. The more he listened, the more a strange fury burned within him.
Harry's hands were clenched tightly, his fingers pressing into his palms, his nails practically digging into his skin. His gaze was like white-hot steel needles, fiercely fixed on the deeply unconscious Peter Pettigrew. His rigid posture suggested he might draw his wand or lunge forward at any moment to vent his inner rage with his fists.
As for Lupin, he was not part of the conversation.
"I generally understand the sequence of events." Professor Dumbledore slowly blinked after Sirius Black's narration, his clasped fingers moving slightly. "However, these matters can wait a moment." His gaze swept over the room, finally stopping on two strikingly obvious presences. His tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable demand for an explanation. "Perhaps someone can explain to me... how these two individuals came to be in their current state?"
The "two individuals" Dumbledore referred to were Peter Pettigrew, who was slumped and barely breathing in the chair, and the giant block of ice huddled in the corner of the office. The ice was highly transparent, its edges irregular and sharp. Through the crystal-clear surface, Lupin could be seen inside. His mouth was slightly open, and tiny air bubbles were still frozen around his lips. Clearly, they hadn't dispersed before he was encased in ice.
"Why is a professor from our house spitting bubbles in a block of ice?" Old Dumbledore asked, thoroughly perplexed.
At this, a complex expression flashed across Sirius Black's face a mix of awkwardness and helplessness. He instinctively turned his head, his gaze landing on Dylan. Dumbledore followed his line of sight, turning his attention to Dylan as well.
"Oh, right, Mr. Hawkwood." He spoke gently, with a well-placed curiosity. "I haven't asked you yet, why were you there at the time?"
"Professor Dumbledore, the situation is this," Dylan met Dumbledore's gaze, his tone calm as he explained his reason for being there. "Because of the Buckbeak situation you were there today and witnessed the entire thing I was a bit worried, so I went to the Forbidden Forest to find Sequel." He paused, adding, "Sequel is the Hippogriff I met in Care of Magical Creatures. We're friends."
"I was worried that today's events might upset him. What if he got sick or got into a conflict with another creature? So I wanted to check on him." Dylan looked sincere. "I imagine, Professor, you can understand my concern for a friend, right?"
"Oh, of course." Dumbledore's smile remained gentle, his eyes crinkling. His voice carried a tone of approval. "While school rules are important, some things are more valuable than rigid adherence to them, and true friendship is one of them." He nodded softly, his thoughts seemingly drifting. "Ah, that reminds me of my own student days, when I also had experiences rushing to help a friend... But, never mind that for now, what happened next?"
"Later, as Sequel and I were enjoying dinner in the clearing, this man and Professor Lupin emerged from the nearby bushes one after the other." Dylan raised a hand, pointing to the lifeless Peter Pettigrew slumped in the chair. "He was a stranger I had never seen in the castle, and as soon as he appeared, he didn't hesitate to cast a Blasting Curse at me. My goodness, I was absolutely terrified."
Dylan's voice was still even, but he patted his chest with a straight face.
Snape's lip twitched, and Sirius looked at the young boy before him with a complicated expression.
"Faced with such a sudden attack, I naturally couldn't just sit and wait, so I quickly Disarmed him and returned a Blasting Curse." He quickly added, " Of course, I controlled the power, just enough to temporarily incapacitate him." He continued to recount the subsequent events. "After that, Professor Lupin and I hadn't even had a chance to exchange more than a few words when we heard sounds of fighting from a distance, punctuated by the sharp clash of spells."
"I thought it might be some unidentified person trespassing on school grounds, so Professor Lupin and I rushed over together."
(End of Chapter)
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