When the two of them reached the Headmaster's office, Sirius and Peter were already waiting for them there.
There probably wouldn't be any tea brewed by the Headmaster himself this time.
Kate thought it sheepishly, then obediently walked in and called out in the sweet voice only a young girl could manage, "Professor, I'm here."
Off to one side, Sirius's cheek twitched. He shot her a look that was part disgust, part exasperation.
Naturally, Kate ignored it.
Once the three conspirators had taken their places, Dumbledore turned around. His bright blue eyes swept over the three of them, then dropped to Peter on the floor.
"Ladies and gentlemen, would one of you tell me what happened?"
Sirius instinctively started forward, but Lupin beat him to it. "Headmaster, you must know about the armored warrior that appeared earlier. We tracked it all the way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and there we found Peter Pettigrew. From him we learned that the man who blew up more than a dozen people in the street all those years ago was actually him.
When we tried to seize him, he got away. But perhaps the commotion was too loud, because it disturbed some Dementors nearby, and that's how he ended up like this."
The lie was so smoothly done, half truth and half fabrication, that even Kate couldn't help glancing at him.
What surprised her wasn't that Lupin had the nerve. It was the question of whether his Occlumency was up to standard.
Otherwise Old Man Dumbledore would see through him in no time. Did he think the White Dark Lord had lived over a hundred years for nothing?
She didn't even have to guess. One light probe with Legilimency was enough to make her heart lurch.
Oh, no. His mind's defenses were like paper, which was to say he had practically none.
Even if Old Man Dumbledore was a gentleman who wouldn't use Legilimency on him, wasn't that far too risky?
All she could do was close her mouth and wait to see what Dumbledore would do.
To her surprise, though, Old Man Dumbledore only gave Lupin a thoughtful look, then bent down and briefly examined Peter's condition.
He didn't need to say it. Kate knew perfectly well: with the brain damaged and the soul consumed, even if he didn't die, for the rest of his life he'd be nothing but a dazed idiot with no sense of self.
Voldemort could basically forget about using him for the resurrection. Going by the plot, the only one who could take his place was probably Barty Crouch Jr.
Soon Dumbledore straightened up, a layer of probing curiosity in his bright eyes. "Why was the armored warrior in the armor corridor set in motion? Kate, do you know the reason?"
Her scalp prickled. Her mind swiftly weighed the pros and cons of lying against telling the truth, and she decisively chose the latter.
"Scabbers escaped, and I wanted to catch him," she answered calmly. "As you can see, I failed."
David had already told him about the armored warrior's appearance, so there was nothing to gain by lying on this point.
"No, you didn't fail." Dumbledore drew himself up, his expression graver than she had ever seen it. "Are you still not satisfied with the result now?"
Kate's pupils contracted sharply, and her fingers tightened on their own. "Professor, I—"
Sirius suddenly spoke. "I'm the one who wanted to kill him."
He lifted his chin, as untamed as ever. "I've wanted to do it for a long time. If I could, I'd have done it with my own hands."
Dumbledore looked at him deeply. "Mr. Black, I believed I kept you here so that you would not commit murder at Hogwarts."
"I can leave right now. I won't cause you any trouble."
"And Harry?"
Sirius fell silent at once. The rebellious streak that had flared up was crushed in an instant.
Dumbledore sighed. "Professor Lupin, please take Mr. Black away from the school immediately. I don't want to find him anywhere in Hogwarts this term.
Also, please leave Peter with me. I will treat him well, and I will see to it that he stays alive until the Ministry of Magic becomes involved."
"But Harry..." Sirius was frantic. He had finally dealt with Peter, and he hadn't even met his godson properly yet, only to be forced to leave.
"Please look after Harry's side as well, Professor Lupin," Dumbledore arranged in a low voice. "There is a long time ahead. You will meet eventually."
Knowing that his own actions had delayed the meeting with Harry, Sirius hung his head and shut his eyes in pain.
Attempted murder at Hogwarts, however, was no small matter. That Dumbledore had merely driven him out of the school and kept him from Harry for now was already generous.
Reckless as he was, when facing someone as worthy of respect as Dumbledore, he was still willing to use his head.
A moment later he turned into a black dog and followed Lupin out.
Now only Kate was left to face Dumbledore. She watched the hundred-year-old man pace back and forth. In her memory, Dumbledore had never been this agitated.
And it was all because of her.
"Professor, I shouldn't have worried you so much. I'm sorry. Please punish me."
She lowered her head and apologized sincerely.
"The point of punishment is to make a person remember the lesson of their mistake, so they won't repeat it. But I think that even if I punished you, your resolve would not change."
Kate said nothing.
Of course. The only one who understood her mind best was Old Man Dumbledore.
She was willing to take any punishment, because acting at Hogwarts was extremely risky and could well have dragged Dumbledore into it. But asking her to give up revenge was absolutely out of the question.
Dumbledore stopped pacing. His voice sounded several years older than before. "Child, I have begun to wonder whether I was right to tell you about what happened back then, and to tacitly leave you to find your own solution."
Kate looked up, almost in disbelief, and met those clear, caring eyes. "Professor, you did nothing wrong."
These were things she would have to face sooner or later.
"But the result of your free choice has surprised me."
After living so long, what had Dumbledore not seen?
The moment he saw Kate appear together with the three Marauders of those days, he had guessed most of what lay behind it.
He had discussed revenge with Rand long ago, and had long since tacitly allowed Kate to choose her own methods.
He had watched Kate grow up over these years, and he understood well that her resolve was beyond that of an ordinary child.
Still, Kate was only fifteen. She was not like Grace had been, nearly thirty with a settled personality and will.
On one hand, he didn't want Kate, so young, to be blinded by the fire of vengeance. On the other, he knew this was a fate she could not avoid.
So he had agreed with Rand long ago: at school, he would watch over Kate, and at home, Rand would look after her.
He just hadn't expected Kate to pick Peter as her first target.
Peter deserved to die, true, but Dumbledore feared that if he let things go on unchecked, Kate would slide into the abyss.
"Black and Lupin are both shielding you. They believe they were the ones who made the choice and you were only a helper.
That's why Lupin lied for you, and why Black cleared you of responsibility without even meaning to.
But you and I both know that at the scene, the only one who could have led the whole process was you. You alone had the ability to do all this.
So can you tell me what you were thinking when you did it?"
Faced with his earnest question, Kate found it hard to say no.
"Professor," she said, looking straight at Dumbledore, her eyes gradually reddening, "you are one of the people I want to protect too."
"I can't let people with malice get the chance to hurt me and the people I treasure most.
Peter spent three years at our side as a rat, and my grandfather is my own flesh and blood, yet they have all hurt me, my friends and my family.
So that someday the people around me won't have to face the choice I face now, I have to do this. Even if you disapprove, I've already made up my mind."
The next time she used the same method on her grandfather, she'd be prepared and wouldn't be shaken as badly as she was today.
Dumbledore was faintly moved. "So you have thought it through thoroughly."
"Yes. I must protect those people, even if it costs an extraordinary price. Please let me bear all the sins."
She held her neck stiff and quietly waited for Dumbledore's verdict.
But after a long while, the stern old man showed a look of relief.
"I am surprised that you have such resolve."
He walked to his desk, took out a yellowed letter, and handed it to her with solemn care. "With this, the task your mother entrusted to me before she died is complete as well."
Kate stared in astonishment at the envelope in her hands, where "To My Daughter" was written in delicate, graceful handwriting. For a moment even her hands trembled.
"This letter was written a month before your mother died. The Death Eaters were running wild then, and she feared she didn't have long to live, so she gave it to me.
She asked me that if one day you learned of the Curse and had the will to face it, I should give you this letter."
Kate was still dazed, unable to say what she felt. Her impressions of her mother in this life were very faint.
If she hadn't seen her mother's memories in the Pensieve, she might have forgotten even what her mother looked like by now.
Yet knowing that her mother had specially left her a letter before she died, a sour ache spread through her chest.
With trembling hands she opened the letter. The moment she unfolded it, lively, playful words greeted her:
"Dear daughter, I don't know how old you are as you read this. I hope it's no more than forty. If you're older than I was, it'll be awkward to lecture you."
She smiled soundlessly. When she looked up, she found that Dumbledore had quietly stepped aside and seemed utterly absorbed in making tea.
"It's nine at night right now, and you've just fallen asleep. Ever since your fever broke half a year ago, you haven't been as fussy and tearful. It's as if you grew up overnight.
As the person who gets up every night to look after you, I'm relieved, but as your mom, I still wish you'd be a bit livelier.
I hope that once you've read this letter, you'll go play and make mischief as much as you like. Of course, that's on the condition that the Curse hanging over the two of us gets lifted first."
The smile on Kate's face faded. She turned slightly aside and read on.
"I imagine Headmaster Dumbledore talked to you about the magic of love and soul erosion and all that before showing you this letter?
When I first heard it, I took it for nonsense. All I could think about was finishing off your grandfather, and after that we'd have peaceful days.
But when I actually found him, I finally understood what Dumbledore had meant.
Corbin, your grandfather. Just as I was about to kill him, that madman told me a fact.
The Curse affects our souls. It only shows up in the body in different forms.
An ordinary person's soul is pure from birth. Even if they do wrong, such as killing, their soul really can be eroded by darkness, but the chance is rather slim.
We're different. Because of the Curse, our souls themselves hide darkness. If we kill, if we snuff out another's Vitality with our own hands, it will stir up the darkness deep in the soul.
Then our chance of being eroded by darkness will be several times that of an ordinary person.
Dumbledore knew the true nature of the Curse, and that's why he tried to talk me out of it.
You weren't born yet then, and your father and I were living happily. I was greedy for that warmth and didn't want to damage my soul over a piece of scum, so I chose to let him go.
But it turned out that the bastard's lower limit was even lower than I imagined. The Curse passed through the womb to my only daughter.
Only then did I begin to regret it. Why hadn't I just killed him? Even if my soul had been eroded, that would have been better than watching my daughter suffer like this.
Sadly it was too late. Voldemort has risen now, and Corbin's whereabouts are unknown. We have no strength left to go looking for him.
If you're reading this letter now, it means you know about the Curse and your will is strong enough, which is the only reason I dare tell you its whole nature.
If the Curse frightened you and you didn't dare to choose, this letter would be of no use.
Think of it as Mom setting you a hard problem: whether to find him, and how to lift the Curse. As for all of this, Mom has already made her choice. Now it's your turn to choose.
Forever loving you, and forever regretting, your mother."
After finishing the letter, Kate's first reaction was to take a deep breath. Her mind raced as she digested the information.
"Finished?" Dumbledore had already drunk three cups of tea. Hearing a sound, he turned around and looked at the girl whose eyes were now rimmed with red.
Kate silently folded the letter and nodded.
"I gave you this letter in the hope that you could see clearly the road beneath your feet," Dumbledore said gently.
She pressed her lips together. "Professor, if the Dementor had really killed Peter today, would my soul have been eroded by darkness?"
Dumbledore was silent for a while, which was rare for him. "Child, there is a risk, because your soul..."
"As long as the Curse is lifted first, it'll be fine, won't it?" Kate cut him off. "My mother spent half her life in regret. I will make him pay."
"So if I can lift the Curse, drive the darkness out of my soul, and become like an ordinary person, then I can avenge her better, right?"
After a moment of meeting those bright blue eyes, she bowed. "I understand. Thank you, Professor."
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