"So, you're a brat," Moody looked at me sternly. "Knocked out two squads of skilled wizards just out of idleness? Do you realize you've jeopardized an important operation?!"
At the end of the sentence, he was literally screaming.
"You shouldn't have relaxed," I smiled calmly in response, "if you took up the fight with the Dark Lord. Your Constant Vigilance is useless if you are unable to analyze and predict a wide variety of threats."
"Are you aware," Moody continued to pester me with questions, "that witchcraft outside of Hogwarts is prohibited and punishable by a fine, and considering how many times you've done it, by expulsion?"
"Oh!" I threw up my hands. "And you, as I see here, are all observing the laws, assembling an illegal organization with a forceful way of resolving the conflict. Here he is, for example..."
I pointed my hand at a chubby little man with the face of an Italian mobster and a fancy dark suit with various embroideries, monograms, and stuff. But the clothes were old, not particularly well-groomed, from different sets. He looked like a glamorous tramp.
"He is," I repeated. "A thief, a crook, and a swindler. Isn't that punishable? Who knows what crimes are on this man's conscience? Moreover, even now, you have the opportunity to look at his reaction and say with certainty that he is a coward."
"What?! I..." the short man jumped up, rubbing his bowler hat nervously in his hands. "You! He..."
"Or here," I spoke again, looking at Lupin, who was clearly looking at Tonks. "Remus Lupin. Do you know that his place is in Azkaban?"
"Huh? Why so?!" exclaimed Tonks. "Remus is a decent wizard, albeit a werewolf. Well, that's not news to anyone, is it?"
"Oh, really, Nymphadora?" grinned, looking at the outraged girl changing her hair color, and turned my gaze to a pale Lupin. "Didn't Remus tell anyone that, in a fit of his forgetfulness, he didn't drink one cunning potion, and a year and a half ago, having turned into a full moon, he bit an innocent student. Fortunately, that student was able to fight back and at least keep himself alive."
"Mr. Knight," the headmaster frowned. "If such an egregious incident had happened at Hogwarts, I would certainly know about it. Please do not slander Mr. Lupine."
"Exactly!" Tonks warmly supported the headmaster, and the others nodded in agreement.
"He's not very polite at all," remarked Mrs. Weasley.
"Molly, dear..." the red-haired, plump man in the suit and a small pointed hat, Mr. Arthur Weasley, sitting on the side, looked reluctantly at his wife, and the topic was closed.
"Didn't you say?" I looked at Remus again.
"I don't know what you mean, Mr. Knight?" Lupin regained the equanimity of his face.
"Remus is my friend," Black spoke suddenly, pouring whiskey into an empty glass. "I vouch for him."
"So, not wanting to upset the headmaster, Lupin didn't report the incident. Didn't report that he almost killed the student who, by the way, saved his friend from the Dementors? Despite being wounded."
"Excuse me, Mr. Knight…" the headmaster frowned again. "As far as I know, you were the one who saved Sirius from the Dementors. There, on the shore of the lake."
"An amazing coincidence, isn't it?"
"So, Mr. Knight, you're a werewolf?"
"Have you ever seen me turned into a wolf? Maybe I wasn't feeling well before and after the full moon? Maybe I was disappearing somewhere? Well, yes, the latter is not relevant. I study a lot on my own."
"Indeed..." pondered the headmaster.
"I told you!" jumped Sirius, pointing his finger at me angrily. "Bullshit! Remus is a great wizard and a good friend!"
After draining the glass in one gulp, Sirius sat down, and Mrs. Weasley, judging by the look, did not approve of alcoholism and was obviously thinking how to hit Black more comfortably with a frying pan spatula that she still held in her hand. The rest ... As extras, they tried not to get involved in the brewing conflict.
"So good that he left his friend's son to the mercy of fate, forgetting about his existence? So good that he immediately believed the newspaper stories about your betrayal, Sirius? So good that as soon as Harry fell out of his sphere of interest, the boy was instantly forgotten? So good that for the sake of your friendship in so many years, he couldn't solve his problem?"
"What would you know about how hard it is to be a werewolf!" Remus finally burst out.
"I solved the problem a month before I first turned into a werewolf."
Still sitting calmly in my seat, I must have smiled extremely annoyingly at any remark, thereby further infuriating my interlocutors.
"Unfortunately," in feigned sadness, I spread my arms to the sides. "This method is only suitable for me."
"No one bit him!" Sirius jumped up and started waving his hands vigorously.
All this time, I have been following Lupin's behavior in order to be able to draw some conclusions about his personality. What can I say? There is more harm from such allies than from enemies.
"Be that as it may," the headmaster spoke loudly, calming everyone down and drawing attention to himself. "We have gathered here for a completely different reason. So…"