Hogwarts starts with stealing power.

Scabbard, who was bound by the immobilization spell, suddenly struggled violently, but the spell Lupin had cast on him was still in effect, and he could only move his body slowly.

Seeing that there was no way to escape Sirius's curse, suddenly, a curse shining with purple light made contact with Sirius's curse first.

The powers of the two spells collided in mid-air, eventually dissipating into nothingness.

The young wizard looked in astonishment at the source of the sudden spell.

Severus Snippar removed his invisibility cloak, and his wand pointed directly at Lupin.

This is truly surprising; no one noticed when Snape arrived.

Even Lin Xia didn't notice.

However, she was more perceptive than others at sensing that the invisibility spell Snape used was extremely advanced.

Her anti-invisibility spell was always active, but she couldn't detect Snape's presence.

The scene where Snape appeared just now seemed somewhat familiar to Lin Xia.

The atmosphere was completely silent.

Lin Xia suddenly spoke up at this moment: "Professor Snape, the thing you're wearing to make yourself invisible, is it Harry's Invisibility Cloak?"

Snape stared intently at Lupin and Sirius beside him before finally finding a topic to discuss, and gave a cold sneer.

"Yes, I found this under a willow tree. Lupin, you probably don't know how I got here. It's quite a funny story."

You didn't come to pick up the wolfsbane medicine tonight, so I went to your office specifically and noticed those strange shadows under the willow tree outside the window.

His eyes flickered, revealing a malevolent glint.

"So I followed along to see what I found. I found a disgusting werewolf on the verge of losing his mind, and a lapdog that should have been hiding in a dark corner forever!"

"Haha, what an amazing combination! With just a flick of my finger, I can spread everything that happened today. The prisoners locked up in Azkaban should be locked up in Azkaban forever!"

Harry couldn't help but retort: ​​"No, Professor Snape, things didn't turn out as the reports say. There's more to the story!"

Without a second thought, Snape said, "No, Harry, you're believing the one-sided story of the murderer who killed your parents. Just because he was your godfather, you've shown him mercy, and your longing for family has numbed your reason!"

However, despite saying that, his wand was always pointed at Lupin, not Sirius Black.

Although Snape was stubborn, Lin Xia guessed that he had been there for some time and had also heard the truth about what happened back then.

He also became suspicious of the mouse, Spotted, who was lying motionless on the ground.

In contrast to Snape's hostility, Lupin remained calm because he knew there was a reason for it all.

He looked at Harry with a gentle gaze and said, "Snape has never liked me, neither in the past when we were in school nor now."

Sirius once played a joke on him that almost killed him, and that joke also involved me.

Blake sneered. "He deserves it! He's always sneaking around, trying to figure out what we're doing. He wants the school to expel us all!"

Snape's face tightened, and Lupin continued, "I've always thought he was jealous, jealous of James's talent on the Quidditch pitch, which is why he's been watching us."

Snape once saw me one evening as Mrs. Pomfrey and I walked across the field, and she led me to the Whomping Willow to transform.

Sirius told Snape that if he touched the scar on the tree trunk with a long stick, he could follow him into the tree hole. Sirius thought it was... well... very interesting, and Snape, of course, tried it.

If he actually goes into the house under the willow tree hole, he will encounter a complete werewolf.

When your father, James, heard what Sirius had done, he followed Snape and pulled him back, risking his own life in the process.

The end result was that Snape still saw me; he found me at the end of the tunnel. Dumbledore forbade him to tell anyone, but from that moment on, he already knew what I was.

The others finally understood the real reason for Snape's hostility towards Lupin.

It turns out that it wasn't just a matter of different species; Snape almost lost his life because of it.

Snape chuckled and pointed his wand at Lupin.

"Have you finished reminiscing about the past? Let's get down to business. Perhaps starting today, I can send two people to Azkaban!"

The little wizard stood there, unsure of what to do or who to trust.

Snape looked into Lupin and Sirius's eyes as if they were sworn enemies.

It was at this moment that Hermione, who had been questioning Sirius, suddenly hesitated and took a step toward Snape.

She took a deep breath and said, "Professor Snape, listen... keep listening... it won't hurt, will it?"

“Miss Granger, you are in danger of having your studies suspended.” Snape proudly raised his head and glanced at the others with disdain.

"You, Potter, Ron, and Lin Xia have gone too far, associating with a proven murderer and a werewolf. Keep quiet. This is the only chance I'll ever give you in your life!"

Lin Xia suddenly said, "Professor Snape, I don't know how long you've been here, but I think you should know very well that this rat is indeed very special."

She pointed to the rat, Banban, lying on the ground, a half-smile flickering in her eyes.

"Although I know you've been hit by Professor Lupin's immobilization spell, I know it won't hold you for long. You should be able to move now and escape."

As soon as the words were spoken, Lupin, Sirius, and Snape all reacted, and they all drew their wands in unison.

The little wizard thought they were aiming at each other, but to his surprise, all three of their wands were aimed at Scabbers, the mouse lying on the ground!

Banban let out a shriek, like a mouse whose fur had been blasted by lightning, and instantly sprang into the air, darting outside with lightning speed.

"Reveal yourselves immediately!"

The mouse, Spotted, dodged the spells of the three adult wizards, and even the young wizards took out their wands and cast spells on him, but none of them hit him.

Only Ron's casual remark, "Show yourself quickly," had an unexpected effect.

This was clearly a non-offensive spell, but after it was launched, it turned into a creepy green light, making it look like a very vicious spell.

Moreover, the launch angle was also severely off.

Although the arrow was clearly shot to the west, the spell flew eastward instead.

Even Lin Xia was somewhat amazed by this operation.

But this absurd curse struck Banban, who was leaping out of the tree hole. In that instant, his body changed; his thin limbs gradually stretched outward, and soon, a fat human appeared before everyone.

This person is very short, not much taller than Harry and Hermione.

His thin, light-colored hair was messy and bald, and he looked like an obese person who had lost a lot of weight in a short period of time.

The wrinkles on its body seemed to be squeezed out, its skin was sagging, and its complexion looked very dirty, almost like its mottled fur.

His pointed nose and watery little eyes even had the characteristics of a mouse.

The man looked at everyone, breathing rapidly and weakly. He would occasionally reach out and scratch the back of his hand. Everyone noticed that the back of his hand had a lot of coarse and long hair, somewhat like rat hair.

“Hello, Peter,” Lupin said cheerfully, as if he often had friends who turned from mice into old classmates. “Long time no see.”

"Little Sirius... Lu, Lu Ping."

Peter Pettigrew's voice was also high-pitched, and his eyes quickly glanced toward the door, making it clear to everyone what he was about to do.

Even though he transformed from a rat into a human, his behavior remained very much like that of a rat, making no attempt to conceal his desires.

"My friends—my old friends—hello, it's been a long time."

Black raised his arm to take the wand, but Lupin grabbed his wrist, gave him a warning look, and then turned to Peter Pettigrew, speaking in a relaxed and casual tone.

“We were just chatting, Peter was talking about what happened the day Lily and James died. You were just screaming, so you might not have heard some details—”

“Lupin!” Peter Pettigrew interrupted breathlessly.

Harry saw large beads of sweat on his pale face; he was very nervous, a clear sign of guilt.

Peter's voice was shrill, thin, and urgent, "You don't believe him, do you... He tried to kill me then, Lupin..."

“We’ve heard,” Lupin’s voice was somewhat cold now. “I want to ask you about a couple of small things, Peter, if you’d like—”

"He's here again trying to kill me!" Peter Pettigrew suddenly screamed, pointing at Black. Harry noticed he was using his middle finger, because his index finger was broken.

"He killed Lily and James, and now he's trying to kill me. You have to help me!"

As they talked, Lin Xia placed her wand behind her back and gently twirled it.

She positioned herself in an extremely discreet manner, slightly turning her body towards Peter the Pettigrew.

Because Peter was in front of Lin Xia, he didn't notice the little wizard's actions behind him, or perhaps he didn't care.

Blake stared at Peter Pettigrew, his gaunt face making him look like a skeleton in human skin.

“Nobody wants to kill you until we figure out a few things,” Lupin said.

"Get to the bottom of this?" Peter Pettigrew screamed, looking around frantically again, noticing the boarded-up windows and glancing once more at the single door.

“I knew he was pursuing me, I knew he would come back to me, I’ve been waiting for this for 12 years!”

"You knew Sirius Black would escape from Azkaban?" Lupin frowned. "Haven't people ever escaped from there before?"

“He has methods we don’t even know!” Peter Pettigrew shrieked. “Otherwise, how could he have escaped from there? I suspect that person whose name we can’t even mention taught him some special magic!”

Upon hearing this, Blake suddenly burst into laughter—a terrifying, emotionless laugh that filled the entire room.

"Voldemort, teach me magic?"

Peter Pettigrew as if Black had whipped him.

"What's wrong? Are you afraid to hear your former master's name?" Blake said. "I don't blame you, Peter. His men didn't like you much, did they?"

“I don’t know, I don’t know anything, what are you talking about, Sirius…” Peter mumbled, sweating even more profusely, his whole face covered in sweat.

He was scratching the back of his hand very frequently.

Lin Xia noticed that even though the back of his hand was already bleeding from scratching, he kept scratching it.

He was extremely anxious, so much so that his body could feel it, but he himself was completely unaware of it.

“For the past 12 years, you haven’t been avoiding me,” Blake said. “You’ve been avoiding Voldemort’s former supporters.”

He sneered, his expressionless eyes devoid of warmth.

“I heard some things in Azkaban. They all think you are dead, or you have to give them an explanation.”

I heard them screaming in their dreams, saying all sorts of things. It sounded like they thought the liar had deceived them, that Voldemort had gone to the Potters' house based on your information, and that he had failed there.

Not all of Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There were still many here, waiting for their chance, pretending to have realized their mistakes.

If they get wind of you being alive, Peter… well, I’m really curious what they’ll do. If I weren’t so impatient, I’d be happy to hand you over to those lunatics.”

Peter Pettigrew shook his head frantically, his voice even higher than before.

"I...I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know anything!"

He wiped his face with his arm, and the blood from his scratching stuck to his face, but he didn't notice.

Peter looked at Lupin earnestly, "Don't believe this madman, Lupin, he... he's gone mad!"

“But Peter, I have to admit, I can’t understand why an innocent person would be willing to spend 12 years turning into a mouse? Living in hiding, preferring to be a mouse rather than a human!”

Lupin said calmly.

This question was also on the minds of the young wizards.

In their eyes, Peter Pettigrew was dead, but he had come back to life and had been hiding in Ron’s house as a pet.

Although pets don't have many worries, they are not comfortable at all.

Humans are humans, and pets are pets. Once a human has been treated like a pet for too long, their mind will degenerate and gradually turn into animal instincts.

"I'm innocent! I... I was just terrified!"

Peter Pettigrew shrieked, "If Voldemort's supporters are after me, it's because I sent one of their most capable men to Azkaban—that traitor is Sirius Black!" (End of Chapter)