"Your name?"
"Sirius Orion Black."
"Your purpose for coming to Hogwarts?"
"To avenge the Potters and kill that traitor. [Read the latest chapter]"
"Who is the traitor?"
"Peter Pettigrew."
Hermione shuddered upon hearing this, involuntarily taking a step back, accidentally stepping on Crookshanks' fluffy tail, causing the large cat to shriek.
"Why do you say he's the traitor? Everyone says you were the Potters' Secret-Keeper, that you're the traitor," Hermione asked, her voice trembling. What Black said was even more unbelievable than her suspicions.
"The original decision was for me to be the Secret-Keeper, but at the last moment, it was changed to Peter Pettigrew. It was my suggestion to the Potters; I thought it was the most foolproof plan... a brilliant scheme... Voldemort would definitely come after me, but I didn't expect Peter Pettigrew to betray the Potters." He still answered expressionlessly, but Hermione saw two streams of clear tears flow down Black's face.
She had also drunk Veritaserum before. Under the effects of the potion, the person taking it would hardly resist the questioner, nor would they reveal any emotions. Yet, Black still had such strong emotional fluctuations.
Hermione hadn't expected that her little trick to delay time would actually work. This brutal "criminal" actually drank her potion without hesitation.
But what shocked her even more was the "truth" Black spoke under the influence of Veritaserum.
"Then what really happened on the street that day? If you're innocent, why didn't you seek justice in Azkaban? You could have asked for help from Headmaster Dumbledore. After the Dark Lord fell, even some Death Eaters cleared their names and are still at large. Why were you locked up inside for twelve years?" Hermione continued to ask, needing more information to judge the truth.
"I drove Peter Pettigrew into a corner that day, and he shouted loud enough for the whole street to hear, saying that I had betrayed James and Lily. Then, before I could curse him, he used the wand hidden behind his back to blow up the entire street, killing everyone within twenty feet of him, and then he escaped into the sewers with the other rats… As for Azkaban, I indirectly caused the death of the Potters, perhaps this is another form of punishment for me."
Hermione didn't know what to say now. If Black wasn't lying, from her point of view, this was too foolish. Punishing yourself for someone else's mistake, while the real culprit roams free, does such atonement really have meaning?
She was thinking that if Sirius was telling the truth,
then maybe Harry's childhood wouldn't have been so painful.
Perhaps he couldn't be entirely blamed. Hermione searched through the memories in her mind—Sirius Black had been thrown into Azkaban without a trial.
"Then why were you locked in a cage before?" Hermione shook her head, trying not to think about those messy things. Now her purpose was no longer to delay time, but to obtain more information from Black.
"I…" Black was about to answer when his eyes gradually cleared. He realized his consciousness had returned. When he was answering before, he felt like an outsider. He couldn't imagine that one day he could describe the story of that year in such a calm tone.
"What a terrible potion. I heard that the Ministry of Magic also wanted to use this potion to try me, but it is said that the opinions were too divided, and it ended up unresolved. Today, it was actually used in this situation." Black's expression was surprised, his eye sockets were even more sunken, looking very haggard.
"Harry's friend, can you trust me now?" Black then asked.
Hermione's heart was in turmoil, constantly analyzing the truthfulness of Black's words from various aspects.
She had personally tested the true effectiveness of Veritaserum.
Logically speaking, if he really wanted to target Harry, there was no need to go to such lengths to gain her trust. Knocking her out and taking her hostage would have completely achieved his goal.
Plus Crookshanks' unreserved help for him.
And some other evidence, such as Hermione taking advantage of the time she stole "Powerful Potions"to read many books about Animagi. This was a very profound spell, and maintaining it required extremely high concentration. Peter Pettigrew saying he had amnesia and could only maintain his rat form was completely untenable. If he really lost the ability to cast spells, he should revert to his original form at any time.
And her intuition, deep down she was willing to believe this scruffy, disheveled, thin man, because Hermione felt sincerity in Black, which was especially strong when compared to the pretense she felt in front of Peter Pettigrew before.
"Not entirely." Hermione shook her head and said, "But now I'm willing to verify the truth with you." Despite her words, Hermione was actually already convinced.
"I can confront that traitor face to face, but he won't dare. He's probably reveling in his heroic role right now." Black answered Hermione while walking towards Malfoy's desk and starting to rummage through it.
"Mr. Black," Hermione said politely, "We don't have time now, and I still have a question, which is the question that wasn't finished just now, why were you in that cage?" If Black's words were true, then how to explain this iron cage?
"What a nostalgic feeling." At the desk, Black touched a blank, old piece of parchment with his slender hand, his eyes full of reminiscence, seemingly not intending to answer.
"Mr. Black, please answer my question, even without Veritaserum, this question is crucial, it could be a conspiracy," Hermione repeated seriously.
"Okay, admitting that I was defeated by a student and a Squib is indeed a shameful thing." Black shrugged, only half-covering up the answer to the question, while showing a hideous smile.
"I found his location." Black pointed to the small ink dot on the Marauder's Map, saying while moving his body, his hands trembling excitedly, looking like he was about to rush out of the room directly to confront Peter Pettigrew.
Of course, the greater possibility was to directly seek revenge, ending the traitor's life with a green light.
"Are you just going to rush over like this? Do you know how many Aurors are around the school right now? I don't know if that thing you're holding that looks like a map is really effective, but whether it's true or false, rushing out like this now will definitely not achieve your purpose. The best way for us now is to find Professor Dumbledore, he will solve all of this." Hermione said calmly, spreading her arms, firmly blocking Sirius's path, but just after she finished these words, her face suddenly turned ugly, because Professor Dumbledore had been away from the school for quite some time.
The only teacher she could completely trust was not at Hogwarts!
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