Professor McGonagall walked around Peter's corpse, her brow tightly furrowed.
"This matter must be reported to the Ministry of Magic."
"I agree." Dumbledore stood up and walked down from the dais. His robes dragged slightly on the floor.
"But before that, we need to clarify a few things."
His gaze fell upon Charlie, his eyes gleaming with inquiry.
"Charlie, how did you discover that Scabbers was Peter?"
Charlie had already prepared his explanation.
"At first, I didn't know he was Peter; I just felt that the rat was a bit off."
"What was off about him?" Professor Flitwick pushed up his spectacles.
"He lived too long," Charlie said.
"Can an ordinary rat live for over ten years? I just tried using the Reversal Charm, wanting to see if it was an Animagus."
Professor McGonagall nodded.
"That certainly is a suspicious point."
"And then?" Dumbledore asked.
"Then it changed back into human form." Charlie shrugged.
"That's when I realized it was Peter Pettigrew."
Dumbledore stared at Charlie for a few seconds, then didn't press the matter further. He turned toward Black.
"Sirius, I need you to tell me exactly, from start to finish, what happened that year."
Black took a deep breath and recounted the events of twelve years ago from the beginning.
From his suggestion to change the Secret-Keeper, to Peter's betrayal, and finally to his imprisonment in Azkaban. By the end of his story, his voice was trembling slightly.
The Great Hall was terrifyingly silent.
Professor McGonagall's face was pale, and Professor Flitwick took off his spectacles and polished them repeatedly. Even Professor Sprout covered her mouth.
"So you were wrongly accused." Professor McGonagall's voice was choked.
"You spent twelve whole years in Azkaban."
Black nodded silently.
Dumbledore was silent for a long time. He looked at Black, his eyes filled with guilt and sadness.
"I am very sorry, Sirius."
"It's not your fault." Black shook his head.
"I was the fool, for trusting Peter."
"Don't say that; none of us can truly see into a person's heart," Dumbledore said.
"What we must do now is prove your innocence."
"How do we prove it?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Peter is already dead."
"That means we need to search thoroughly before the hearing. We must be prepared for the Ministry of Magic not wanting to admit this, as it would be a scandal for the Ministry of Magic."
"Then what about me now..."
Black asked cautiously.
"I will notify the Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore said.
"But until they arrive, you had best remain at Hogwarts. It is safer here than outside."
Black nodded. He paused, looking at Harry. "May I speak with Harry for a moment?"
Dumbledore glanced at Harry and smiled gently.
"Of course."
He deliberately stepped back, giving the two some space.
Harry stood rooted to the spot, feeling awkward. He looked at Black, unsure what to say.
Black was also nervous. He opened his mouth, his voice slightly dry.
"Harry."
"Hmm." Harry responded.
The two began an awkward, halting conversation.
Seeing that his business here was concluded, Charlie bid farewell to the Professors and left the Great Hall...
The next day, students were still discussing the events of the previous night.
The shock of the headless corpse was simply too great; this topic could stay on the school's trending list for at least a month.
At the Gryffindor long table, several lower-year students were discussing heatedly.
"When I saw that head roll on the floor, I didn't blink once, not scared in the slightest."
"You're lying, you were clearly hiding under the table then."
"Never mind that, just tell me if I blinked or not."
"Hmph, carrying a dead rat in your pocket and pretending to be a hunter. Thinking you're Senior Charlie, huh?"
The students were discussing with great enthusiasm, but only one person didn't participate at all, keeping his head buried low.
That was Ron.
His favorite chicken leg now tasted like chewing wax, and Ron's ears were so red they looked ready to bleed.
Although he had known before that Scabbers was likely Peter Pettigrew in disguise.
Seeing how disgusting Peter Pettigrew actually looked yesterday made it difficult for him to accept that he had lived with Peter for so long.
Those images kept flashing through his mind.
He had slept with Scabbers next to his pillow.
He had fed Scabbers food.
He had even carried Scabbers inside his robe to keep him warm.
Ron took a deep breath, left the long table, and found Charlie.
"Charlie." Ron pursed his lips, his eyes holding a hint of pleading.
"That... Scabbers..." His voice was trembling slightly.
"Was he really Peter? Could there have been a mistake?"
He hoped Charlie would tell him that Peter Pettigrew wasn't his Scabbers, so he could continue deceiving himself.
But Charlie was merciless.
"No, Scabbers was definitely that old man."
Ron stood dumbfounded.
Charlie continued:
"And you ate, lived, and slept with that old man for a long time. Stop deceiving yourself and face reality."
Ron was completely heartbroken and devastated.
It was unclear when Snape returned to the Castle; he had disappeared after killing Peter yesterday.
When class started today, Charlie immediately noticed something was wrong.
Snape had heavy dark circles around his eyes, and he looked utterly distraught.
His body was still brewing a Potion in the classroom, but his eyes were completely vacant.
Clearly, yesterday's events had triggered his memories of Lily.
Charlie sat in his seat, watching him with a look of pity.
Snape was just about to start lecturing when his peripheral vision caught sight of Charlie's face, and he froze.
That look was too glaring, as if he were looking at a pathetic wretch.
Snape's temples were throbbing fiercely.
He had been too emotional yesterday to notice, but it seemed Charlie had also heard about him and Lily?
"Charlie." His voice was very low.
"What is that look?"
Charlie didn't speak, he just sighed softly, his gaze becoming even more pitiful.
He even shook his head slightly and sighed softly, as if saying: "Alas, how pitiful."
The veins on Snape's forehead bulged, and his fingers gripped his wand tightly.
"It's alright, Professor," Charlie murmured softly, his tone never having been so gentle toward Snape.
"It's alright, I understand everything."
Snape took a deep breath.
He truly wanted to hit Charlie with an Avada Kedavra and send him off directly.
But he couldn't.
He could only grit his teeth and say, word by word: "Ten points from Hufflepuff."
Charlie nodded, his expression becoming even more understanding, his eyes seeming to say: "It's okay, as long as you vent it out."
Snape nearly spat blood right there.
He turned around, his back to the students, his shoulders trembling slightly, purely from anger.
By the end of the class, all he could do was deduct some House points from Charlie, which did nothing to deter Charlie's pity for him.
This was worse than killing him outright.
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