The group entered the headmaster's office.
Dumbledore had been sitting behind his desk, writing a letter. When everyone filed in one after another, his gaze immediately fell on the unconscious Peter Pettigrew.
The white-bearded headmaster walked over with purposeful strides, studying the grayish, disheveled Peter before looking at Lupin and the others.
"If I'm not mistaken… this is Mr. Pettigrew?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, sir," Lupin replied.
They exchanged a look.
Wade felt that, in that instant, Dumbledore must have understood exactly what had transpired.
Without pressing the matter, the headmaster conjured enough chairs for everyone and said, "Sit down. I'd like to hear your story."
Everyone exchanged glances.
The Weasley twins gave Wade a pointed look—they didn't want to reveal the secret of the Marauder's Map and had been trying to figure out how to tell a reasonable story while keeping that part hidden.
But Lupin spoke first.
"When I was in school, James and I created a map that could show the names of everyone in the castle…"
The Weasley twins stared at him, wide-eyed in astonishment.
"You… you're one of the map's creators?"
"That's right." Lupin gave them a small smile. "I'm Moony—that's a nickname my friends gave me back in school. By the way…"
He looked at Harry and said, "James was Prongs, Sirius was Padfoot. And as for Peter…"
Lupin's gaze shifted to Peter Pettigrew and his expression was filled with disgust. "He was Wormtail, because his Animagus form is a rat."
Harry looked from Peter to Lupin, intrigued by the stories of his father's school days but he understood this wasn't the right time to ask more.
He sat quietly beside Lupin, like a child leaning against a father, calm and well-behaved.
Dumbledore's gaze lingered momentarily on Harry but he said nothing.
Lupin continued the story—he had already learned the general sequence of events from Wade before coming here. As he recounted everything in a calm, composed manner, his words carried a quiet, convincing strength.
Since Wade didn't want to draw too much attention to himself, Lupin willingly took on most of the responsibility.
In his version of events, Wade had noticed the name [Peter Pettigrew] frequently appearing in the Gryffindor dormitory of Harry and Ron when using the map.
Knowing that no student by that name was in the same year, he mentioned it to Lupin during one of their message exchanges in the Book of friends.
Fred and George exchanged glances.
Lupin's story made it seem as though he had given the map to Wade himself. This subtly covered up the twins' role in stealing the Marauder's Map from Filch's office and their frequent use of it to sneak around the school.
——What a good man! Fred's eyes seemed to say.
George nodded enthusiastically. Though they hadn't said much, their admiration for Lupin was through the roof.
They had never encountered an adult who understood them so well.
Of course, Lupin hadn't forgotten the name of his old "friend," so he immediately suspected there was a problem.
Unable to enter the school himself, Lupin had asked Wade to capture Pettigrew. Wade then sought the help of the Weasley twins...
"Why didn't you ask me?" Harry asked, puzzled. "Ron and I are in the same dorm; it would've been easier, right?"
"Because you're with him every day, and he's familiar with you," Wade replied casually. "If you accidentally gave away your intentions, he might have turned the tables and taken you hostage."
Harry blinked. "But Fred and George got exposed in the end anyway!"
George cleared his throat. "Wade probably figured… even if we got caught bullying Ron's pet rat, he would just think he had bad luck rather than suspecting he'd been discovered."
Surprisingly, everyone found this reasoning quite convincing!
The twins' mischievous reputation had, for once, been useful in a serious situation.
Percy looked like he wanted to say something several times, but with the professors present, he held back and his ears were reddening in frustration.
Professor McGonagall, on the other hand, was livid.
"Remus!"
She glared at Lupin, and her voice was severe.
"I expected you to show some maturity as an adult—but I never imagined you'd act more recklessly than James in his youth! You have to tell me, what were you thinking, letting a group of children go after Peter?"
"What if… if Peter were… they could have been injured, or even killed!"
Wade and the Weasley twins instinctively shrank back a bit.
"I'm sorry," Lupin lowered his head in apology and took full responsibility without hesitation. "I let my emotions get the better of me and didn't think it through…"
Professor McGonagall's expression softened slightly, and she let out a sigh.
"I understand how you feel, Remus… about James and Lily… but, regardless, children should not have been put in danger. Even if nothing serious happened, I have to say, what you did was absolutely wrong…"
"Yes," Lupin replied sincerely. "I should have contacted you or Dumbledore… but I feared that if we delayed even a moment, he would completely disappear."
McGonagall's gaze was filled with compassion. She shook her head and refrained from saying more.
The "children" who had narrowly escaped a scolding stayed quiet, like quails.
Lupin continued his explanation.
Following Lupin's instructions, Wade captured Peter Pettigrew and brought him to Hogsmeade through a secret passage—
Professor McGonagall, yet again, was gasping with frustration. If Lupin were still a student, she'd likely have deducted two hundred points from her own house.
—Lupin then interrogated Peter and confirmed that he was indeed the betrayer from all those years ago, while Sirius had been framed by him.
The betrayer?
A sense of dread filled Harry as he stared intensely at Lupin, and his heart was pounding wildly.
Betrayed whom?
But Lupin didn't go into detail, he moved quickly to say that he, along with Wade and Peter Pettigrew, had returned to the school to seek Dumbledore's guidance on what to do next.
"So… the Secret-Keeper from back then… was…" Professor McGonagall asked in disbelief.
"It was Peter," Lupin replied, his face etched with pain. "At the last moment, Sirius switched Secret-Keepers, thinking it would be safer this way…"
McGonagall seemed ready to say something, but she held back when she saw Harry's confused expression.
There was no need to burden him with hatred too soon.
"Are we certain that Peter's telling the truth?" Dumbledore asked. "You know, he's been lying for over a decade… How can we be sure he isn't fabricating another story now?"
"I'm sorry, sir," Lupin said with remorse, "but I used Veritaserum…"
Using Veritaserum without authorization was illegal, but everyone present understood Lupin's reasons and chose not to question his actions.
"I think we need to notify the Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore said as he stood up. "Ron Weasley and Wade Grey, please stay. Professor McGonagall, would you kindly escort the other students back to the common room, and then bring Arthur and Molly Weasley here."
"Of course," Professor McGonagall replied.
Harry quickly asked, "Can't… can't we stay too?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid there's not much you can help with in questioning Peter Pettigrew," Dumbledore said frankly.
"Uh..."
Harry had nothing to say. He cast an envious glance at the two who were allowed to stay, then followed Professor McGonagall out.
Ron mouthed to him, "I'll tell you everything later."
Harry nodded slightly, and felt a bit better.
"Professor!" Percy quickly raised his hand and said, "Scabbers used to be my pet. I might be able to provide some information as well."
"We can too!" the Weasley twins chimed in. "We were part of the capture!"
"...I think leaving just one person is enough," Dumbledore replied.
Fred and George still looked unwilling to give up, but Professor McGonagall sternly cut in, "No more nonsense, Mr. Weasleys! The headmaster has made his decision."
Reluctantly, Fred followed the others out, though he mouthed to Wade as they left—
"You have to tell us every single detail later!"
They were itching to be part of this; it was far more exciting than any prank they'd ever pulled.
But the adults, mercilessly and unfeelingly, had left them out.
Wade gave a slight nod, promising he would let them know.
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