Chapter 249: The Wolves Are Coming
Snape looked at Sean, who was radiating a fierce aura. Suddenly, the anger in his heart dissipated by more than half. His hatred for Sirius and Lupin hadn't diminished, but at this moment, Snape could handle the situation before him with relative calm.
Waving his wand to cut the ropes binding Lupin, Snape no longer looked at Sirius and Lupin, only saying indifferently: "Take Peter and the children back to school. What happened here needs to be told to Dumbledore for him to handle. Otherwise, let the werewolf and stupid dog continue wandering as fugitives outside."
"Snivellus, you..."
Before Sirius could finish, he was stopped by Lupin.
At this moment, Lupin was obviously touched by Sean's earlier words.
Actually, among Lupin and Sirius's group, Lupin was the only one who reflected on things. Perhaps this was also related to how he had suffered countless discrimination and unfair treatment due to his werewolf identity after graduation. Only those who have suffered can empathise with others' suffering.
However, his previous reflections had only been from his own perspective. Hearing Sean's words just now, Lupin considered their teenage years from another angle for the first time.
The group transported Peter Pettigrew out.
At this point, Peter Pettigrew had recovered from the Veritaserum's effects. Upon awakening and seeing everyone's attitude toward him, he immediately knew he was finished. With a mournful face, he kept pleading with everyone, but knowing his despicable nature, no one would show him any mercy or pity.
Walking out of the Whomping Willow, Lupin stepped forward first to touch the tree's scar tissue, causing the Whomping Willow to quiet down.
Seeing Harry's and the others' curious gazes, he immediately smiled and said: "The Whomping Willow was actually planted by us. You just need to gently touch its scar tissue to make it calm down."
Everyone escorted Peter Pettigrew out from under the Whomping Willow. Harry immediately draped his Invisibility Cloak over Sirius, concealing his presence to prevent the Dementors from discovering him.
"You've all been deceived! You've all been fooled by Black! You've made a terrible mistake!"
Hearing Peter Pettigrew's rambling, Sirius Black under the Invisibility Cloak couldn't hold back and kicked Peter Pettigrew away, sending him tumbling headfirst to the ground.
"Sirius, there's no need for that. He's already finished."
Pulling Peter Pettigrew back up, looking at Peter Pettigrew, who kept thanking him while continuously saying he'd been deceived by Sirius, Lupin said impatiently: "Enough, Peter. You're finished. Don't..."
Before he could finish, Lupin suddenly felt an ominous premonition as he saw a ray of light shooting from behind him. Instinctively turning to look at the moon rising from the distant mountains, Lupin's pupils rapidly dilated, and his body immediately showed signs of transformation!
"Sirius, Severus, quickly, quickly take the children and leave... leave... ah... awoo..."
Seeing Lupin beginning his transformation, Sean cursed his bad luck. With so much happening earlier, he'd forgotten the time and thought it was still afternoon. Moreover, it looked like Lupin hadn't taken Wolfsbane Potion in advance.
Without hesitation, Sean stepped forward, grabbed Lupin's neck, took out a vial of Wolfsbane Potion from his Undetectable Extension Bag, flicked off the cork with his thumb, and poured it directly into Lupin's mouth.
"Professor Lupin, drink this!"
If Lupin were still human or retained some rationality, he could definitely drink the potion. But the current Lupin had already entered a transformation state. Barely one-tenth of the Wolfsbane Potion Sean poured into his mouth stayed down, with most flowing out from the corners of his mouth!
Damn it, this is trouble!
Seeing Lupin beginning to struggle violently, Sean immediately stepped back, drew his wand, and cast a spell at Lupin.
"Thorn Entanglement!"
Under Sean's control, thick vines immediately grew from the ground beneath Lupin's feet. These vines had no thorns and quickly wrapped around Lupin, binding him tightly.
By this time, Lupin had completely transformed. Perhaps due to years of not consuming flesh in werewolf form, the transformed Lupin looked gaunt and weak, but he had all the proper claws and fangs.
"Professor, quickly take them back to Hogwarts. Leave this to me."
"Sean, don't be reckless. It's not your turn here!"
Seeing that Snape wasn't planning to leave, Sean gritted his teeth. With these people not leaving, he couldn't act freely.
Just as Sean and Snape were at an impasse, Sirius immediately transformed into his Animagus form. A black dog the size of a black bear. This was because Sirius himself was thin and weak; if he had properly nourished his body, his Animagus form might have been even more robust.
Of course, this wasn't important.
Sirius transformed into a black dog, preparing to control Lupin and lead him away from Hogwarts into the Forbidden Forest to spend the night.
Seeing this, Snape didn't delay further. He immediately took Harry and the others, preparing to leave with Peter Pettigrew. But when he looked toward Peter Pettigrew, he suddenly discovered that Peter Pettigrew had taken advantage of this critical moment to use his Animagus transformation, becoming a rat and scurrying away in the opposite direction.
"Stop! Don't run!"
Harry grabbed his wand and quickly chased after Peter Pettigrew.
Hermione and Ron also wanted to follow but were grabbed by Snape, who whispered angrily: "Don't add to the chaos! Come back to Hogwarts with me! Sean, you come back too!"
At the crucial moment, Snape was exceptionally qualified as a professor.
Sean looked at Snape and was about to tell him he was going to find Harry, when he suddenly heard a series of wolf howls echoing from all directions. Sean immediately remembered the scenes he had witnessed earlier!
"Professor, take Ron and Hermione and leave!"
Frowning deeply, Snape looked at Sean and was about to say something when Sean said again: "Professor, trust me!"
Looking at Sean, Snape took a deep breath: "Your third-phase thesis isn't finished yet. I don't like irresponsible students."
"Don't worry, Professor. I'll be fine."
Taking a deep look at Sean, Snape said no more and immediately turned to quickly leave with Ron and Hermione.
At this moment, Sean saw pairs of malevolent eyes glinting in the dark forest from the direction of the mountains near Hogsmeade, rapidly approaching toward the Shrieking Shack!