A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

"This place isn't really haunted, is it?" Ron said somewhat nervously.

“Absolutely impossible,” Lupin said. “The Screaming Shack has never been haunted. The screams the villagers of Hogsmeade heard were all made by me.”

"When you transform into a wolf?" Aaron looked at him in surprise. "Isn't there wolfsbane potion?"

"I was bitten when I was very young, before wolfsbane medicine existed."

Before the invention of the potion, I would turn into a terrible monster every full moon. If Dumbledore hadn't become the headmaster, I wouldn't even have had the chance to go to school.

The screaming shed, the secret passage, and the Whomping Willow were all prepared specifically for me, so that no one would encounter me during my dangerous period.

"Heh! It seems our old headmaster is really kind!" Aaron said sarcastically. "But we're here to find out the truth, not to listen to your stories."

"But some things have to be told from the beginning."

"Hurry up, Lemos!" Sirius said impatiently.

"Because of my werewolf identity, I would disappear a few times every month, and over time my three good friends noticed it."

Unlike others who distanced themselves from me, they learned to stay with me as Animagus during my transformations, which was the happiest time of my life.

"So, my dad is also an Animagus?" Harry asked in surprise.

“That’s right, they’re unregistered too.” Lupin nodded. “Werewolves are only dangerous to humans. They accompany me as animals: the one with the forked head is a deer, the one with the big feet is a dog, and the one with the worm tail is… a rat.”

"Deer and dogs can control werewolves, allowing us to operate at night. We've figured out Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, drawn a Marauder's Map, and labeled it with our own nicknames."

"How arrogant!" Aaron said speechlessly. "The three of you don't have to worry about werewolves and are fearless, but what about the others?"

"I was young and naive back then," Lu Ping said awkwardly. "Luckily nothing bad happened, otherwise I probably would never have peace of mind for the rest of my life."

Actually, I've been struggling with this idea all year. Nobody knows how Sirius managed to sneak into Hogwarts, but I do know it: Animagus.

However, I dared not tell Dumbledore, because it would mean that I had betrayed his trust in me while I was in school, something I have always felt guilty about.

“Then you really deserve it, Professor Lupin.” Aaron curled his lip. “How should I put it? Based on my understanding of that old bastard, no, based on my understanding of Dumbledore, if you tell the truth, he will probably turn a blind eye and even give you an extra layer of insurance.”

“Aaron…” Hermione swallowed hard. “You just called him ‘old bastard,’ right?”

Everyone else stared at him in astonishment, even Banban forgot to struggle.

"You misheard me. I never said Dumbledore was an old bastard," Aaron said calmly. As long as I wasn't embarrassed, it was others who were.

Everyone:......

"Our headmaster, the great Dumbledore, has a preference for Gryffindor."

However, Professor Lu Ping, you seem rather timid in some ways, to the point that you dare not say anything.

"Perhaps!" Lupin chuckled self-deprecatingly. "In a sense, Professor Snape was right about me; I am not worthy of Dumbledore's trust."

"What does this have to do with him?" Sirius asked, his tone particularly contemptuous.

“Severus Snape is the Potions professor and the Head of Slytherin House,” Aaron said with a smile. “I can tell you don’t get along with him very well, but he is the teacher I respect most.”

So when I get back, I'll tell him all about your current disheveled state in a very dramatic way, so he can have a good laugh.

"you..."

"Don't move." Aaron immediately pointed his wand at him. "You'd better behave yourself until your status as a murderer is cleared."

“Sirius,” Lupin winked at him. “Aaron Gaius is Snape’s prized student.”

"so what?

When he was in school, he would often sneak around trying to find out what we were doing, and he wished we would be expelled.

"To be honest, he is like that now, but the word 'sneaky' is not quite right."

“Yes, he’s openly causing us trouble now,” Ron said with certainty.

"How dare you say that?" Aaron rolled his eyes. "If you guys had no problems, he wouldn't be keeping bothering you."

“Perhaps,” Lupin said, “but he dislikes James more than just a little.”

Harry paused for a moment, then seemed to understand why he had been inexplicably targeted in Potions class.

The son is supposed to pay for the father's debts, but this is just too damn unfair!

"But Dumbledore told me that my father saved his life."

“This…” Lupin hesitated, but looking into Harry’s green eyes, he finally spoke up: “That’s just the result, but I don’t think he told you what happened.”

Harry, Snape, and the others exchanged glances, all instinctively realizing that what had happened was not very friendly to Snape.

"Back then, Sirius, just to have some fun, told Snape that he could quiet the Whomping Willow by poking the knots in its trunk."

Snape tried it out, discovered the secret passage, and then he ran into me... a wild werewolf. James, knowing this, risked his life to pull him back in time.

"It's not unfair at all that you were locked up for twelve years." Aaron looked at Sirius. "You would trick classmates you didn't get along with into feeding werewolves just to have some fun."

Should I say you were young and ignorant? Or should I say you were... ruthless?

Sirius: ......

"I just wanted to scare him, that's all."

Forget it!

Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened; otherwise, a genius wizard and potions master would have died young.

"Professor Snape dislikes you because of this?" Harry exclaimed, suddenly realizing. "He thinks you were involved in that prank?"

“That’s right.” Snape removed his invisibility cloak and appeared behind Lupin.

Snape's sudden appearance left Harry, Alan, and Black speechless. Aaron's lips twitched, and Black took a step back in astonishment.

"No wonder that door suddenly opened." Aaron slapped his forehead. It was only because Abe wasn't there that he would have been able to spot Snape under the Invisibility Cloak.

"Disarm you." Snape used a disarming charm to knock Lupin's wand away, then pointed it at Sirius Black. "Revenge is so satisfying. I've finally got my hands on you."

"System, is it too late for me to abandon this task now?"

"It's not very dangerous, but it's too complicated. It's enough to make a whole mahjong table," Aaron thought to himself, feeling truly exhausted.

Trying to sort out grudges from ten or twenty years ago with only 500 magic points is a waste of brain cells; it feels like a poor trade-off.

"You can abandon the mission you've already accepted," the system replied.

That's really too...

"However, double the mission reward will be deducted. Do you wish to give up?"

Before Aaron could even utter the word "okay," he was dealt a heavy blow by the doubled "penalty for breach of contract."

"Ahem!

We will not give up, of course we will not give up.

"I like to finish what I start." Aaron was on the verge of tears, but in order not to lose money, he had to continue no matter how troublesome it was.

Chapter 321 The Missing Finger, A Miraculous Transformation

“Potter, I have to thank you.” Snape threw the Invisibility Cloak on the ground and sneered, “I found this under the Whomping Willow. It’s very useful.”

"Severus."

Lupin was about to say something when Snape pointed his wand at him and said, "I told Dumbledore you were helping an old friend get into the castle, and this is the proof."

Even I didn't expect you to still dare to use this old place as your refuge.

“Excellent, Snape,” Sirius scoffed. “Your keen insight has failed you again, leading to another wrong conclusion.”

"We won't keep you company any longer; Lemos and I still have unfinished business to take care of."

Before Sirius could finish speaking, Snape's wand was pressed against his neck. "Give me a reason, a reason to attack, and I swear I won't hold back."

“Severus, you’ve really misunderstood,” Lupin said urgently. “You’re a little late.”

“Not too late, just in time,” Snape said smugly. “They’re all here, caught red-handed.”

"No, you didn't hear the whole thing. If you understood the cause and effect of the matter, you would know..."

“You’ll find out there are two more people in Azkaban tonight,” Snape interrupted. “I’d like to see Dumbledore’s reaction. He’s convinced you’re harmless and has vouched for you.”

"Lupin, he's always been stupid. Explaining to him is a waste of time." Sirius looked at Snape with disdain. "You should go back to playing games and brew your potions!"

Snape poked Sirius's neck hard. "I could kill you, but I'll ask the Dementors to do it for me. They've been waiting to see you!"

Upon hearing this, Sirius couldn't help but tremble and involuntarily backed away.

He wasn't afraid of Snape, but Dementors were definitely his nightmare.

He had witnessed the horrors of those creatures in Azkaban; they would drain the happiness of prisoners, and were even more cruel to those on death row, sucking their souls.

A person without a soul is just a walking corpse, worse than dead.

You seem a little scared.

A Dementor's Kiss, just imagine it!

That must have been unbearable; some say the scene was truly horrific, but I still want to feast my eyes on it.

Seeing this, Harry slowly picked up his wand.

"What do you want to do?" Aaron asked with amusement. "This is Professor Snape's personal grudge. Letting him vent his anger shouldn't be a problem!"

Harry was speechless for a moment, and more importantly, with Aaron watching, he didn't even have a chance to make a move.

“Professor Snape,” Hermione said timidly, “wouldn’t it hurt to hear them finish speaking?”

“Miss Granger, I advise you to shut up.”

You're already facing a suspension from school, and you still dare to plead for a murderer and a werewolf.

"But there really is a misunderstanding." Hermione was extremely anxious, then looked at Aaron, who was standing to the side, full of interest, and grabbed his arm and shook it. "You'd better tell me the truth!"

"Sigh!" Aaron sighed. "Professor Snape, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but please let them finish speaking!"

“Aaron, you shouldn’t bother me.” Snape frowned slightly. “I can vouch to the headmaster that you won’t be punished for capturing Sirius.”

“Severus,” Sirius’s voice trembled slightly, “if you bring that rat back to the castle, I will go with you to see Dumbledore.”

“That won’t do. Dumbledore is too kind. I still think you should be handed over to the Dementors directly.”

“Professor,” Aaron said helplessly as he walked up to him, “let him finish what he has to say. It concerns the truth about the murder of Harry Potter’s parents.”