"Peter..." Dumbledore narrowed his eyes.
"Things are getting interesting," Dumbledore looked into Sirius's eyes and asked, "Do you have something to tell me, Sirius?"
"Yes," Sirius swallowed and felt somewhat nervous, but he told Dumbledore what happened that year straightforwardly, despite having repeated the story several times before. Surprisingly, he became much more skillful in recounting it from the first time.
After hearing Sirius's story, Dumbledore fell silent. The truth of the matter required time to sink in, even if he was already ninety percent convinced.
Finally, Dumbledore sighed.
"I want to meet Peter." Despite believing Sirius's account, Dumbledore still wanted to confront Peter Pettigrew face to face. He got up abruptly, tucked the Marauder's Map into his pocket, and left his office. Lupin was about to follow him, but Dumbledore stopped him.
"You two wait in the office. I'll be back shortly." Dumbledore left his office, leaving the two behind.
"Is this to keep an eye on me?" Sirius shrugged.
"It's because you're not fit to appear in public!" Lupin almost wished to smack his friend's head to make him snap out of it.
When Dumbledore had examined the Marauder's Map, he had already taken note of Peter Pettigrew's location: the Great Hall. He headed straight there but didn't enter. Instead, he stopped outside the doors, studying the map with great interest.
"What an intriguing invention!" Dumbledore praised as he closed the map. At that moment, the dot representing Peter Pettigrew began to move along with Ron Weasley. According to the trend, they intended to leave the Great Hall and return to their dormitory.
At that moment, Dumbledore had hidden his inner emotions and didn't appear different from his usual self.
So when Ron finished eating and left the Great Hall, he saw a kindly old man standing in a corner.
"Mr. Weasley, may I have a few minutes of your time?" Dumbledore asked with a smile, as if he were about to offer Ron a bag of sweets.
"Um, sure, Professor. Of course," Ron was surprised and flattered. It was the first time Professor Dumbledore had personally approached him after so long at school!
"Then come with me," Dumbledore gestured for Ron to follow. With curious looks from the others, Ron followed Dumbledore and headed upstairs.
"Did you see that? Professor Dumbledore took Weasley away," someone familiar whispered.
"Which Weasley?"
"Ron Weasley, the third-year. Did he get into trouble?"
"If the headmaster calls him, he's probably getting expelled, right?"
"But why Ron Weasley? If someone's getting expelled, it should have been his twin brothers, shouldn't it?"
"..."
In an instant, after finishing lunch and with full stomachs, the young wizards engaged in lively discussion. Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were also standing near the Great Hall door, laughing stupidly. Their altered memories left them a bit dazed, but their desire to have fun at the expense of others, especially the Weasley family, hadn't changed.
Percy, hand in hand with his girlfriend, approached the edge of the group, observing the wizards engaged in animated discussion, and Percy's inner gossip fire was ignited as well.
"Ahem, excuse me, I'm the Prefect, can someone tell me what's happening here?" Percy raised his head and displayed his badge on his chest.
To his surprise, the wizards present didn't show envy or respect on their faces. Instead, they seemed a bit strange, and if one had to forcefully explain it, there seemed to be a hint of compassion in their eyes.
"Percy... it looks like your brother is about to be expelled," a familiar fellow whispered lowly to Percy.
Percy felt stunned as if he had been struck by lightning. The day he had feared so much had finally arrived! He had always known that his twins were involved in some shady dealings, but he had turned a blind eye. He also understood the financial difficulties at home and could understand that his brothers were making a living that way to help the family.
But now, everything had fallen apart.
Percy felt like his world was crashing down. How was he going to explain this to his mother? If his brothers were expelled from school so early, what would they do in the future? They wouldn't even have their O.W.L. certificates!
"Penelope, wait a moment, I need to take care of some things," Percy said, disoriented, bidding farewell to his girlfriend before heading upstairs.
His steps quickened, and the tumultuous emotions in his mind gradually cleared. Percy found the key to resolving this: Professor Dumbledore. Dumbledore was always willing to give second chances; he would surely forgive Fred and George, Percy thought to himself.
He promised himself that he would do everything in his power to convince Professor Dumbledore, even if it meant sacrificing himself. He would closely watch Fred and George every day during their time at Hogwarts to ensure they didn't make mistakes that would lead to expulsion.
Percy was so worried that he didn't even realize that his friend had mentioned the brothers in the singular, without confirming with his friend which of the brothers would be expelled. Most importantly, Percy didn't consider that Hogwarts rarely expelled students, and only those who committed grave mistakes without the possibility of clemency...
While Percy was in despair, Ron, the "accused," felt quite good. At first, being the center of attention for so many people embarrassed him a little, but soon, a strange feeling overcame him: being in the spotlight wasn't so bad after all!
Of course, this opportunity to be "the center of attention" quickly disappeared when Dumbledore led him to his office.
As he entered behind Dumbledore, Ron felt completely stunned. There were two men in the office, one was Professor Lupin, and the other... resembled Sirius Black?!
It was definitely Sirius Black! How could he be here? Ron had seen the wanted poster of Sirius Black, and he was willing to bet all his pocket money that the unknown man in the office was Sirius Black.
Ron felt a shiver run down his spine, his heart seemed to stop, but he quickly recovered: he had Dumbledore by his side, what could go wrong?
Now they were going to catch Sirius Black! The man who had been baffling the British wizarding world for months was about to be captured, and this charade was about to come to an end.
Ron felt like he was about to witness a historic moment.
But something strange happened. After seeing Sirius Black, Dumbledore didn't seem very surprised; instead, he looked at him.