Evan, Harry, and Hermione left the school hospital. When they arrived at the Great Hall, they found that the long tables used by the four Houses were moved to the wall. Only one square table four twenty people, was available in the centre of the room. Those who decided to spend the Christmas holidays in the castle this year were sitting around the table.
Evan did not see Dumbledore. His seat was empty.
Apart from him, Professor McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and Hagrid were all there, as was the caretaker Filch.
Filch had already taken off his usual brown coat and wore a very old and quite outdated tuxedo. Next to Professor Flitwick were two very nervous first-year students, both from Ravenclaw; on Snape's left was a sixth-year student from the sinister Slytherin House.
There was also Ron, sitting alone at the very end of the table. No one wanted to be near him.
Harry hesitated for a moment and walked over to Ron; his face full of worry.
Evan hurriedly pulled Harry. He couldn't just go over. Because of what happened to Professor Lupin last night, Harry had to have a normal reaction. It should look like he hates Ron.
If he was to get close, he would beat the grass and frighten away the snake. That's to say, Peter Pettigrew is a sly opponent and they have to be careful.
The three of them looked at each other, away from Ron, and sat down side by side with Hagrid.
Apart from the erratic smiles on Snape's mouth, the mood around the table was very heavy and depressed; it didn't look much like Christmas. Everyone was eating lunch silently and nobody spoke until…
"Evan, Hermione, how are you two?" asked Hagrid with a gloomy face.
"Don't worry, Madam Pomfrey said we're okay. We just need to…" Before Evan finished his words, he saw three owls flying into the Great Hall.
They had three red envelopes in their mouths, and they flew straight to Dumbledore's empty seat.
"That's enough! Those Howlers, they've been screaming ever since the morning!"
Professor McGonagall stood up. She looked furiously at the three Howlers that the owls threw on the table. The corners of the envelopes were burning slowly.
She pulled out her wand and waved gently to them.
Three blue flames sprang up on the red envelopes, tuning them to ashes in the blink of an eye, and sparing those around the table from their horrible sounds.
"Unbelievable, unbelievable!" said Professor Flitwick in a sharp voice, "Are all these people mad?! They actually sent Dumbledore Howlers. I haven't seen such insanity for years."
"Stupid owls, and equally stupid Howlers!" Snape smirked.
"I noticed that all these Howlers were sent by parents of students from your House, Severus?!" Professor McGonagall said with a grin.
"Thank you for reminding me. I didn't notice that before!" Snape had a grim smile on his lips. "But I can understand why the parents of the students did so. In my opinion, what the Headmaster did was really improper. Who would have thought that the school professor could be a werewolf? And who would have thought that this tamed werewolf would attack his own students? With this lesson, I believe that the Headmaster will definitely be very, very careful when employing staff members in the future!"
"Professor Lupin is innocent!" Harry looked at Snape angrily and shrieked helplessly. "He didn't hurt anyone, he…"
"Quiet, Potter! Five points from Gryffindor." Snape turned to look at Harry and smiled. "I don't want to know about what's between you and that werewolf, but I have to remind you watch your tone. Don't yell at me like an uneducated wolf cub!"
Harry sat down sulkily, and forced himself not to look at Snape.
"Don't worry, Harry! With Dumbledore in there, Professor Lupin will be alright." Hagrid whispered consoling him. But he didn't look very confident. "It's been really awful; I can't count how many owls came before these three with Howlers. They've been coming in steadily!"
"It was like this the whole morning?" Evan asked surprised.
"Yes, you and Hermione weren't there at breakfast so you didn't see that scene. In front of the entire school, more than 400 Howlers exploded at the same time!"
"I told them just now." Harry said weakly. "Hagrid, is there any news from Dumbledore or Professor Lupin?"
"There is indeed bad news," said Hagrid hesitantly. "I just heard that the Ministry is preparing to send Professor Lupin to Azkaban directly!"
"How could they do such a thing without trial?!" Harry glanced at Ron and his eyes quickly shifted back. He whispered, "Ron's accusation is obviously ridiculous. Professor Lupin will be proven innocent."
"I know; it's all Lucius Malfoy. That guy has been playing tricks all along!" Hagrid replied angrily. "Not that I don't believe in Lupin, but if it was me, I'd rather die than go to Azkaban again."
"Is it dreadful there, Hagrid?" Hermione asked cautiously.
"You can't imagine it. I'd been there, fifty years ago, for a couple of months when I was wrongly accused of using the Acromantula to kill a student in the Chamber of secrets." Hagrid said calmly, "Nowhere is that bad, I thought I was going insane, with all sorts of terrible things going through my head. The day I was dismissed from Hogwarts was the day my father died…"
"Because of the Dementors?!"
"Yes, you've seen those monsters this year, but you probably haven't seen thousands of them together, the feeling of horror…" Hagrid closed his eyes and the painful memories showed on his face. "Azkaban prison was built on a desert island far away from the coastline. The island is full of Dementors. If you stay long enough in there, you would no longer know who you are or what it means to live. I still remember that I often wished I would sleep and never wake up when I was alone. When they released me, it felt like I've been revived, and I remembered who I was and why I wanted to live once again. That is really the most wonderful feeling in the world. I Remember the Dementors did not want to let me go."
"But you weren't proven guilty! "Said Hermione.
"Guilty?!" Hagrid grunted angrily. "Do you really think that they value such a thing? They don't care. They've already got 500 people there, and they've been sucking happiness out of all of them. They don't care about who is guilty and who is not."
Hearing Hagrid's words, Harry felt sick to his stomach and was in cold sweat.
"Don't worry!" Seeing Harry and Hermione's face, Evan hurriedly said, "Professor Lupin will not be sent to Azkaban. Tonight, we're going to prove his innocence."
Harry did not speak; he was still thinking about Azkaban.
Suddenly, he remembered that Sirius Black had been held there for twelve years. It must have been terrible for him.