A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts

Chapter 303: Conversation Inside Hagrid's Hut

Chapter 303: Conversation Inside Hagrid's Hut

"Trapped on the causeway"

"Pettigrew's coming to get Harry, and another Death Eater!"

"Sirius is injured!"

Hermione explained in a fluster until Felix's hand rested on her shoulder. "Calm down, Granger. I have only one question," his eyes bore into her, earnestly asking, "Do we still have time?"

Hermione blinked. "Oh" she stammered, "Of course, that's why I came back. We have... about an hour, I suppose."

"Right, you used a Time-Turner," Felix said calmly. "Let's walk and talk. Where do you think we should go now?"

"Hagrid's hut!"

Hermione answered without hesitation. Felix nodded, tapping Hermione's shoulder with his wand. She felt herself blend into the surroundings, just like the professor. She realized it was the effect of the Disillusionment Charm.

"If we're to do something, we must first conceal ourselves," Felix said.

They hurried toward Hagrid's hut. Felix asked the question he cared about most:

"Did you see the outcome? I mean, did you witness the dire consequences firsthand, like... deaths?"

"No, I only saw them trapped on the causeway, surrounded by Dementors attacking them. The Ministry also sent a group of Aurors, and some students"

"Ministry's Aurors? How did they arrive?"

"The woman in the pink robes, Umbridge! She summoned the Dementors and alerted the Ministry!" Hermione exclaimed sharply.

In the pumpkin patch behind Hagrid's hut, a Thestral with an eagle's head and wings snorted, lifting its head alertly, sniffing the air.

"Buckbeak, easy now, we've met before," a gentle voice said.

"Oh, it's me, Hermione, I've fed you" a slightly trembling female voice said.

Buckbeak stared into the air, recognizing the owner of the voice but unable to see them, which made him impatiently stomp the ground.

The window of Hagrid's hut swung open suddenly, and a voice asked, "Who's out there?" Soon, a furry head poked out, it was Hagrid.

He glanced outside warily, and Felix and Hermione were hiding behind a large pumpkin. Combined with the Disillusionment Charm, Hagrid could only see Buckbeak's restless behavior. He shouted in the direction of the Thestral, "Don't let strangers come close, Buckbeak!"

Hagrid pulled his head back in, and his roaring voice came from inside the hut, "Explain yourself, Pettigrew! Why did you hide at Ron's for so many years and then attack Harry!"

A trembling voice replied, "No, it's not what you think. I'm worried about Harry, he's in danger... I had to get him out of the school!"

Lupin's calm voice added, "It's strange. If I'm not mistaken, your fugitive friend is wearing a Death Eater's hood."

The frightened voice stumbled, "It's, it's a disguise..."

Outside Hagrid's hut, behind a large pumpkin, Felix asked Hermione, "Now, can you tell me what happened?"

Hermione collected her thoughts and began, "This afternoon, Harry returned from the Quidditch pitch, around five o'clockit was Professor McGonagall's request. He couldn't practice too late."

"I know about that, but you were there too?" Felix inquired, knowing Hermione wasn't particularly interested in Quidditch training.

"Um, we had plans, a serious mistake. We intended to visit Hagrid. To avoid being seen, I used Harry's Invisibility Cloak."

In reality, Harry and Ron were bound too tightly, and they wanted to chat with a friend. So, they made preparations in advance, concealing themselves with the Invisibility Cloak.

"And then?"

"We heard noises near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, two people talking. They were discussing taking Harry to someone," Hermione paused, "But later we found out they intended to bring Harry to the mysterious person."

"And one of them was Pettigrew, the rat."

"Yes," Hermione said sadly, "They mentioned Harry's parents and Neville's parents, they said a lot. The other person mocked Pettigrew for being a coward, betraying the Potters and pretending to be good."

"Who's the other person?"

"Not sure, they had a hood on," Hermione shook her head, "Likely another Death Eater."

Felix contemplated, "No wonder we couldn't track down Pettigrew for so long. I thought he was laying low, but it seems he used this time to find his old master. And now he has a new companion..."

Hermione continued, "Harry saw this as an opportunity. He wanted to ambush these two individuals, to force out the truth from the past. We were close to succeedingthree Stunning Spells hit Pettigrew, and he fell unconscious without a fight. However"

She widened her eyes, "The other one retaliated swiftly, their spells were fast and powerful. We were utterly outmatched. Ron's leg got injured, and we could only retreat among the trees in the Forbidden Forest."

"In the urgent situation, a tree trunk in front of us suddenly came to life, like a Whomping Willow. Its branches bound us."

"The Death Eater became less vigilant. He gloated, saying he would bring Harry to the Dark Lord, and that the Dark Lord would resurrect through him, and he would be the hero."

"It was at that moment Sirius suddenly appeared. Oh, I almost didn't recognize him; he doesn't look much like his wanted poster. But... he engaged the Death Eater quickly. They fought for a while, but the Death Eater woke up Pettigrew. Two against one, Sirius was quickly overpowered; he bled a lot... Later, Professor Lupin and Snape arrived together. Amidst the chaos, they stunned Pettigrew again. The Death Eater took advantage of the confusion and escaped."

"After that, we came to Hagrid's hut, tended to Sirius's wounds, and wanted to question Pettigrew while we had the chance."

Felix began to grasp the events that had unfolded. Notably, the information revealed by the Death Eater indicated that Voldemort's order was to bring Harry to him alive, with the intention of using Harry's resurrection. Felix pondered deeply, considering what kind of magic this could be...

...

Hagrid's gruff voice said, "So, you secretly transformed the Secret-Keeper, allowing this wretched man, this traitor, to find an opportunity to betray. And youSiriusthinking the traitor was dead, chose not to defend yourself due to guilt."

He let out a loud, snorting sniff, grumbling under his breath. At this point, a timid voice spoke from the room, "Oh... Mr. Black, how did you manage to arrive in time today?" It was Hermione, nervously inquiring.

Sirius seemed somewhat surprised, "Uh, you're Granger, right? Because of this" accompanied by rustling sounds, like something being retrieved from a pocket.

"A tattered piece of paper?" Hagrid asked.

"It's not just some tattered paper, it's a crude version of the Marauder's Map created by Felix Harp. It's a bit rudimentary compared to the actual Map, but I can see key individuals. And that's enough... When I had free time, I kept my eyes on it. Today, I unexpectedly saw Pettigrew's name. I thought I must have been mistaken, you can imagine how shocked I was. Then I saw Harry's name getting closer to his. I immediately tried to contact Felix Harp, but there was no response! That guy, he promised he'd be there!"

"Professor Harp?" Harry's puzzled voice asked.

"Yeah, he caught me. Remember that time I tried to give you the Polyjuice Potion and got caught?" Sirius awkwardly explained his less-than-pleasant escape.

In the pumpkin patch, Felix thought for a moment and said, "He asked for my help when I should have been in a safe house, cut off from the outside world."

"Was it the same kind Harry's parents used? The one requiring the Fidelius Charm?" Hermione asked softly.

"That's right."

Inside Hagrid's hut, Sirius continued, "...That's how it went. I was imprisoned in the Black family house, couldn't go anywhere. This afternoon, when I couldn't get in touch with anyone, I realized something was amiss. I used Apparition to get near the Forbidden Forest and, using that lousy map, looked for a few minutes until I finally found you guys. Pettigrew had collapsed on the ground. I really wanted to give him an Avada Kedavra on the spot, to end his wretched life..."

The room echoed with Pettigrew's attempts at justification. With a sobbing voice, he said, "I wanted to be brave like you all, but he caught me, kept pressuring me"

Sirius roared angrily, "So you chose betrayal!" The room erupted into chaos. Accompanied by a bang, Pettigrew let out a painful groan, as if he'd been hit hard. He sobbed softly.

Lupin's soothing voice advised, "Calm down, Padfoot. We need to let Harry uncover the truth."

"Listen to him," Sirius gasped, "I'll continueI intended to kill Pettigrew, but the danger was greater with Harry involved, so I joined the fight. You know what happened next."

Lupin explained why he had come, "I didn't have a replica of that map, but Professor Harp gave me a Galleon linked to the Marauder's Map. If Pettigrew appeared, it would respond. Luckily, I was with Severus at the time."

"How did you end up together?" Harry asked.

"I came to deliver potions to Lupin..." Snape's distinctively cold voice said, "Do you want to know what kind of potions, Potter?"

"I'll explain, Severus. There's no need to keep hiding. It's Wolfsbane Potion, Harry. I'm a werewolf," Lupin said.

"What? Professor, you're..." Harry asked in astonishment.

"That's right, I'm a werewolf. Dumbledore gave me a chance to study and see a wider world. Last year, he invited me to come to Hogwarts and promised to provide the Wolfsbane Potion for freeit helps me endure the full moon a bit better. It's hard to come by outside. I have to thank Severus..."

Felix and Hermione waited quietly for over ten minutes. The door of Hagrid's hut swung open.

Hermione provided commentary on what followed, "Next, we split into two groups. Hagrid took Ron to the hospital wing; the wound on his leg had started to fester. I went with them. The rest of us took Pettigrew to the Great Hall in the castle, ready to hand him over to the Ministry's stationed Aurors."

"Isn't that good? Why did things go wrong?"

"It was Umbridge! She secretly set up a lot of detectors in the school, monitoring every move. She admitted it herself, all to gain favor in front of Fudge..."

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