Black American Comics: Start with a Snap

Chapter 199 Goblin Rebellion
By the time the two arrived at Hogwarts, it was already dawn.

Along the way, Su Ze was not idle. He told Sirius Black in detail about the world outside the wizard prison, and also told him about his own experience from other universes.

After hearing that Tom Riddle had mastered the energy sufficient to control time, Sirius was a little overwhelmed.

They had failed to defeat Voldemort, who had started the wizarding war back then, and now that the other party had acquired even greater power, he really couldn't see any hope of winning.

But no matter what, I would accept death as long as I could see Harry Potter with my own eyes at this time.

With Su Ze leading the way, Sirius Black entered here without any obstruction. However, many students along the way looked at the dirty big black dog curiously.

But they were just taking a look. These students were quite familiar with Su Ze. They knew very well that Su Ze often said strange things and brought some strange things into the school.

Perhaps because of some Muggle technology and Rocket Raccoon, the students' ability to accept things has improved a lot. Now even if the dog starts to speak human language, they will not be surprised at all.

Sirius Black, who returned to his alma mater, was somewhat sentimental at this moment.

During the years in Azkaban, he was always reminiscing about the past. The days he spent in school with James, Lupin and others were the happiest time of his life.

It was precisely this past that allowed him to persevere in that hellish place, Azkaban, for so long.

Now, he is finally free. Although he is still a fugitive, he is very satisfied to be able to walk in Hogwarts openly.

He quickly brought Sirius to the headmaster's office, where Dumbledore had been waiting for a long time.

"It seems that you are not surprised at all by our arrival."

As soon as he entered the door, Su Ze noticed that there were a lot of desserts on Dumbledore's table, which was obviously not enough for one person to finish. There was also a wizard robe hanging on the hanger at the door, but judging from the size, it was not Dumbledore's own model.

Hearing this, Dumbledore just smiled slightly.

"A large number of Aurors have just surrounded Diagon Alley, and at the same time, the Ministry of Magic has announced martial law in the wizarding area. It is estimated that in half an hour, the latest Daily Prophet will be delivered to most people."

"The news spreads pretty fast." Su Ze curled his lips.

Obviously, the troll incident that happened in Diagon Alley this morning has been known to the people above, and judging from the actions of the Ministry of Magic, they seem to be very concerned about this matter.

Dumbledore shook his head, and then he turned his gaze to Sirius Black, and the smile on his face became much more intense.

"Sirius, long time no see."

Unlike the smiling Dumbledore, Sirius Black's expression was a little complicated. He suddenly transformed back to his original appearance, staring at Dumbledore with a pair of deep eyes.

Su Ze also noticed that the atmosphere between the two was a little strange, so he did not speak to disturb them.

After a moment, Sirius Black spoke faintly, his tone calm.

"That was not what I did."

"I know." Dumbledore said without any hesitation.

"I would never betray my friends."

"I know."

"But I was wrong, totally wrong. I mistakenly trusted someone who was not trustworthy. It was me who killed James and Lily."

Sirius Black's voice was choked up.

This time, it was Dumbledore who fell silent.

To be honest, Sirius' situation was very complicated. Even Dumbledore, who was shrewd and resourceful, did not expect that he would be able to temporarily replace the secret-keeper.

The most crucial thing is that Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew did not tell anyone about the change of secret-keeper. It would have been fine if they did not inform other members of the Order of the Phoenix, but they did not even tell Dumbledore.

From their point of view, this might be the best way to conceal the Death Eaters, but this approach directly exposed all friendly forces.

At that time, everyone thought that the secret keeper was Sirius Black, including Dumbledore and Snape who had just defected. In addition, Peter Pettigrew faked his death and escaped, which made the matter defined in this way in that chaotic era.

It stands to reason that after something like this happened, it is impossible for the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix to simply label Sirius Black a traitor without any investigation. However, what is outrageous is that after Sirius Black was arrested, he did not defend himself at all.

Not to mention stating the truth, he simply said "I killed them", which sounded like an admission of guilt to the other Aurors.

In addition, the Black family is a thoroughly dark wizard family. They were in the wrong position during Grindelwald's time, and they fell into darkness again during Voldemort's time. People from such a family cannot be said to be all crazy, but there are still some prejudices, especially when Sirius Black almost killed Snape during school.

Various evidences and supporting documents piled up together, and Sirius himself did not make any excuses. In the end, even Dumbledore was convinced that he was the traitor who killed Harry's parents.

Since then, Dumbledore never mentioned Sirius Black again.

He wasn't angry or for any other reason, he was just completely disappointed.

The righteous and fearless Gryffindor, he is the only traitor in thousands of years.

It was not until this time that Suze personally brought Sirius Black back to Hogwarts that Dumbledore finally figured it all out.

He didn't completely believe in Sirius Black. Compared to this, he just trusted Su Ze more. If Sirius was really the traitor back then, what Su Ze would bring back would be his dog head.

After pondering for a moment, Dumbledore's expression gradually became serious.

Looking directly at Sirius in front of him, seeing his current appearance that was neither human nor ghost, Dumbledore believed that in order to escape from prison, he must have starved himself to the point of being able to pass through the guardrail.

"I know you blame yourself for what you did, but running away can't solve all problems. Do you think that locking yourself up in Azkaban is a form of atonement?"

Dumbledore did not look kind at all at this moment. The two of them were as if they had returned to decades ago, when the professor was educating his students.

"You were originally Harry's godfather, but what have you done over the years? If you really want to atone for your sins, you should stand up and correct your mistakes instead of punishing yourself in an even more wrong way."

Sirius lowered his head, unable to utter a word.

Just listen to Dumbledore continue. "If the Death Eaters hadn't escaped this time, would you have stayed in Azkaban forever? Is this what you learned from Hogwarts?"

Hearing this, Sirius' eyes turned red. He didn't know what was wrong, but looking back on the past, it seemed that he had never made any right choice in his life.

Closing his eyes in pain, Sirius took a deep breath and then let it out slowly.

At this time, Su Ze couldn't help but frowned. "You already know about the Death Eaters' jailbreak?"

"Fudge was terrified. After I learned about Tom's situation, I asked Fudge to send someone to check the situation in Azkaban, but we were still a step too late."

Dumbledore nodded slightly and continued.

"More than a dozen Death Eaters have escaped from prison. The Aurors are still tracking down their whereabouts, but no one can tell who caused the escape at this time."

Hearing this, Sirius raised his head sharply. "I know who it is, he's not dead, I thought he was dead, we all thought he was dead, but he's not dead, I saw him release those Death Eaters from Azkaban with my own eyes."

"Peter." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

From the moment Dumbledore learned that Suze had returned to Hogwarts with Sirius Black, he almost instantly figured out what had happened that year. He also knew who could help them escape after the Death Eaters were caught.

Sirius has been ruled out as a suspect, and Lupin has been staying at Hogwarts since Lockhart left. Now, the only one missing from the small group of marauders is Peter Pettigrew.

But thinking of this, Dumbledore sighed again. "The problem now is not with him, nor with those Death Eaters who escaped from prison."

"Is it related to the troll in Diagon Alley?" Su Ze picked up a piece of lemon snowman and put it in his mouth.

"This is a piece of armor made by goblins, and it is extremely sophisticated equipment. It has not appeared on the market for a long time. The goblin who made it is definitely a senior forging master."

Dumbledore noticed Suze's action, pushed other plates of pastries in Suze's direction, and continued.

"But as far as I know, this equipment does not belong to those goblin masters. It was made by some other existence."

"Could it be a replica made by other wizards, or maybe it's an antique taken out from some ruins or ancient castle?" Sirius frowned slightly.

"Other races can't imitate goblin equipment. Maybe we can't tell the difference, but those guys in Gringotts can tell at a glance whether the equipment is genuine." Su Ze reminded.

Dumbledore nodded slightly. "And the equipment is all new. It looks like it was just taken out of a burnt-out stove."

Listening to the two people's explanation, Sirius's expression changed. Looking at Su Ze beside him, a bad guess slowly emerged in his mind.

Just as he was hesitating whether to tell his fantastic guess, Su Ze spoke first.

"It looks like we may have to prepare for another goblin rebellion."

(End of this chapter)