Sirius strode over to Peter and forced his sleeve open, only to find nothing on Peter's meaty wrist.
'It's not here!' Sirius was not surprised. As an undercover agent, Peter could not have placed the Dark Mark in such an obvious place.
He then roughly ripped Peter's shirt off and tried to examine his chest and arms, but Peter struggled and screamed.
As if he had broken through a certain threshold, Peter's body began to shrink and he transformed into a rat. The ropes binding his body automatically fell off…
'Change back, Peter, if you don't want to die already!' Sirius hissed, reaching out to grab the grey rat by the tail.
Peter tried to dodge in terror, but the debilitating spell Ivan had placed on him was still working, making him much slower than the average mouse.
Suddenly, there was a flash of red light, and Sirius, caught off guard, was thrown back against the low wall…
"Who?"
Everyone was shocked by the sudden turn of events. Ivan immediately waved his wand and shot a magical beam of light towards the door, where the red light had come from…
A transparent barrier of magic rose slowly from the empty doorway, warding off the beam.
However, the surge of magic caused the Disillusionment Charm to break, and Snape, dressed in a black robe, appeared.
"Professor…Snape?" Hermione stammered.
"Very well, come and see what I have found!" Snape said, ignoring Hermione. He glanced around the room, his eyes resting briefly on Sirius, then on Ron, who was tied up and Harry, who had been crying.
"Lupin! I was right. You were the one who helped Black sneak into the castle. I just didn't expect you to be so bold as to use this old place as your sanctuary… It took me a while to find you."
"But you were very clever, and chose your time well! If Malfoy hadn't been so quick-witted as to discover who you were and come to tell me where you were going so suspiciously, you might have succeeded!"
Snape's face was filled with uncontrollable glee. After enduring for half a year, he finally had something on Lupin!
Not surprisingly, Lupin and Sirius will be sent to Azkaban together today, and the Dementors will probably be happy to give them a kiss!
Nothing would please him more than this!
Lupin's face fell at Snape's words. He had not expected Snape to be following him.
It was the bottle of wolf venom!
Lupin soon realised this, as he had been weakened by the Wolfsbane Potion Snape had given him.
He did not notice that he was being followed.
"Severus, you've got the wrong idea! I'm guessing you didn't hear us when you arrived, Sirius didn't come to kill Harry, Peter did everything…"
A look of eagerness came over Lupin's face, but he was interrupted by Snape.
"Don't try to trick me, Peter's dead, and so is James! It's just the two of you, and when I've finished with you, there won't be any more nonsense!" Snape shouted.
"Professor, Professor Lupin didn't lie to you. Peter is the real traitor…" Harry tried to speak up.
"Shut up, Potter! As I recall, you're supposed to be in Hogwarts Castle, under the noses of all the professors!
I think it's time you grew a brain and believed the words of a werewolf and murderer, and now you're crying when something goes wrong!"
Snape gritted his teeth and looked at Harry, disappointed in him. Harry had broken the school rules time and time again, and now he had come outside without permission. If he had known this would happen, he would have cast a spell to lock Harry in the school.
Harry was so angry that he could not speak for a long time, as he had his own ideas and judgement, and did not need to be kept as a baby!
"Professor Snape, didn't you hear Peter outside? He's an Animagus, and now he's turned into a rat…" Ivan said anxiously, his eyes, unlike the others, fixed on Peter's movements.
The grey-black rat was slowly crawling towards the exit, its body weak. Ivan raised his wand, ready to strike.
However, this struck a nerve with Snape, as he was standing at the exit and Ivan's wand was vaguely pointed at him.
"That's enough! Do you think I'll believe this nonsense? You'd better not move around! When I've tied you all up, I'll consider listening to your explanations…"
Snape snapped, pointing his wand at Ivan and Lupin, not wanting to be distracted, his attention on them, certainly not looking down at any rats…
Although he was able to knock Sirius out in the first instance, the two people in front of him were quite a threat. If he was not careful, he might be hit.