Chapter 312 The Unacceptable Truth
"Those two scoundrels, they never mentioned the marauder's map to me," Ron said, annoyed. "I'm their own brother!"
"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs..." Aaron couldn't help but smack his lips. "The Magical World truly produces many talents. They must have walked every inch of Hogwarts to create this map. If I'm not mistaken, they must all be Gryffindors. Only Gryffindors would be so bored as to make a map like this."
"You call this being bored?" Ron looked at Aaronindignantly. "This is clearly a genius idea! With this map, Filch and Snape won't be able to catch us."
"Harry won't keep it. He'll give the map to Professor McGonagall."
Pfft!
Aaron couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Hermione, the marauder's map is, to some extent, a treasure. If it were me, I would absolutely not hand it over. Imagine, if a dutiful Professor could know the location of students at any time, then..."
"That would be too terrifying," Ron said with lingering fear. "Harry, you absolutely must not hand over this map. Even if you destroy it, don't hand it over. Just consider it for... for Gryffindor."
Hermione wanted to speak but ultimately remained silent. She also didn't want her location constantly exposed under the teachers' noses; it was too awkward.
"I won't hand it over," Harry said. "Fred and George stole this from Filch's office. If I hand it in, I'd have to explain its origin. Besides, if I hand over the map, the fact that I snuck out definitely won't be kept a secret."
"What about those secret passages?" Hermione asked with some unease. "Sirius must have entered Hogwarts through a secret passage; otherwise, the Dementors wouldn't have failed to find him."
"Hogwarts has seven secret passages. Filch knows four. Of the remaining three, one has collapsed, one is guarded by the Whomping Willow, and one is... the one I just used," Harry said, his voice trailing off, as he also didn't know if Sirius knew about this secret passage.
"No problem for now." Aaron pointed to a message on the announcement board. "Dementors patrol the streets of Hogsmeade every day at sunset until Sirius Black is captured. Even if he knows this secret passage, the Dementors won't give him a chance. As for during the day... I don't think he'd dare to appear openly, would he! But just in case, it's better for you to stay at school and not go out casually."
Harry nodded silently. He should be content with being able to come out once for Christmas, especially since his permission slip wasn't signed.
At this moment, several people appeared at the entrance of the Three Broomsticks (pub): Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Rubeus Hagrid, and Cornelius Fudge.
"Uh oh!" Aaron said, somewhat speechless. "Your luck is truly unparalleled."
Harry instinctively shivered and quickly put on his Invisibility Cloak. Hogwarts' Professor, Principal, gamekeeper, and the Minister for Magic—if they saw him here, detention would be the least of his worries.
"Rosmerta, my dear, I hope your business is booming," Fudge said to the landlady of the Three Broomsticks.
"If your Ministry of Magic didn't have Dementors searching every other night, my business would be much better than it is now."
A hint of awkwardness appeared on Fudge's face. "We have a murderer on the loose."
"Sirius Black came to Hogsmeade," Professor McGonagallsaid.
"But why did he come?"
"For Harry Potter," Fudge said in a lowered voice.
"Harry Potter?" Rosmerta's voice rose a few octaves. Fudgeand the others immediately made a shushing gesture and entered the pub, looking slightly nervous.
"Don't go," Aaron said, pulling Harry Potter's left hand. "Your Invisibility Cloak might not be safe."
"Let go of me, Aaron," Harry tried to shake his arm, but his left hand was as difficult to move as if it were clamped by pliers.
"Sirius came to kill me. I must find out, and this is a good opportunity."
Aaron was silent for a moment, then released him. A row of footprints appeared in the snow, and the door of the Three Broomsticks opened and closed automatically.
"You just let him in like that?" Ron looked in astonishment as the line of footprints disappeared into the Three Broomsticks' doorway.
"What else could I do?" Aaron sighed helplessly. "My ancestor once said that facts always have to be faced, no matter how bloody they are."
"What facts?" Hermione asked, puzzled.
"I hope he doesn't know too much, otherwise, his mental fortitude might not be able to handle it." Aaron picked up Abey and sat on the long bench at the entrance of the Three Broomsticks. "Just wait, he'll come out."
"But what if he's discovered?" Ron asked, worried. "There are all important people in there!"
"Don't worry," Aaron said nonchalantly. "If he's discovered, who knows who will be embarrassed!"
"Aaron, what do you know?" Hermione asked. "What exactly is the relationship between Sirius Black and Harry Potter?"
Aaron remained silent. How much he knew was no longer important; what was important was how much Harry Potterwould know.
Meanwhile, Harry followed Rosmerta and the others upstairs in the pub. The Professor and the Minister for Magic ordered their favorite drinks and began to talk.
"Many years ago, when Harry Potter's parents found themselves being hunted, they went into hiding, remember?" Professor McGonagall said. "No one knew where they were, but Black knew. He told You-Know-Who."
"That night, Black took You-Know-Who to the Potters' house and also killed Peter Pettigrew," Fudge added.
"That short, plump boy?" Rosmerta asked in surprise. "I think I remember him."
"He always followed Black, inseparable from James and Black. Peter wanted to warn Potter's parents and could have succeeded, but he ran into an old friend, which was Black."
"Black was vicious and cruel. He didn't kill Peter but destroyed him." Fudge held up his right pinky finger. "One finger, Peter was left with only one finger."
"That's not the worst of it." Professor McGonagall sat down and said in a low voice, "The worst part is that Sirius Blackwas, and still is, Harry Potter's godfather."
...Harry Potter didn't know how he finished listening to all of this. He was still in a daze when he came out of the Three Broomsticks pub.
Hearing the door open and seeing two rows of footprints appear in the snow, the three of them didn't disturb him but quietly followed behind him.
Arriving at an open space, the three heard the sound of crying coming from a stone and couldn't help but look at each other. It was the first time they had seen Harry Pottercry so miserably.
"Harry," Aaron asked hesitantly, "How much do you know?"
"Everything." Harry took off his Invisibility Cloak and looked at Aaron seriously. "Did you know too?"
"I only knew a little bit, and it was Draco who told me. But even that little bit, I didn't dare to tell you," Aaron spread his hands helplessly. "I was afraid you'd go and fight Black to the death."
"You should have told me," Harry said, his eyes red. "You shouldn't have stopped Malfoy then. I had a right to know about this."
"Uh..." Aaron chuckled. "Actually, I also thought about telling you, but many people, you know, many people chose to hide it. The Professor at the school, the Minister for Magic, even Rubeus Hagrid, I don't think I considered more than them."
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked, confused.
Harry paused, then told the three of them the things he had heard that were enough to shatter an ordinary person's worldview: the ins and outs of his parents' death.
"That's why our family doesn't play with the Fidelius Charm, and we never set up a Secret-Keeper," Aaron said with a bitter smile. "Gaius's most powerful talent might be drawing up contracts. I used to think it was a tragedy, but now... I don't think so anymore. At least the two parties to the contract won't betray each other."
"Sirius should have been my parents' best friend, but he betrayed them. What kind of friend is that?" Harry roared furiously. "I hope I can find him. I'm going to kill him."
"No, you can't do such a foolish thing," Hermione said quickly. "The Ministry of Magic will take care of this. The Dementors will definitely catch him and take him to Azkaban. You can't take risks; that's exactly what Blackwants. Your parents wouldn't want you to do this either."
"Don't talk about my parents," Harry shouted. "When the Dementors attacked, I heard my father's voice telling my mother to take me away, and then my mother's pleading, begging Lord Voldemort to spare me. I had never spoken to them before, and finally, I heard their voices, but they were screams before death. If it were you, could you bear it?"
"No, I couldn't," Aaron said truthfully, then changed the subject. "But even if you can't bear it, you have to. I'm not trying to spoil the mood, but if you confront him, you'll be the one to die. Sirius Black is a genius Wizard. Even if he's been locked up in Azkaban for twelve years, killing a third-year Wizard like you is simply too easy."
"You... a third-year Wizard?" Ron looked at Aaron blankly. "I know you're stronger than us, but don't talk as if you're not a third-year."
"That's not important." Aaron waved his hand. "What's important is that Harry can't beat Sirius Black. And he's in the dark while we're in the light. He knows Harry is at Hogwarts, he knows the location of the Gryffindor common room. As long as he finds an opportunity, he can kill Harry. But what about Harry? He has no advantage at all and is even getting extra attention from the Dementors."
"He has the marauder's map," Ron reminded him in a low voice.
"Okay, that's the only advantage. But you have to watch that map constantly; otherwise, you won't even know when Black sneaks into Hogwarts."
"I know," Harry said, clutching the marauder's map tightly and speaking with unwavering determination. "I'll get familiar with this map as soon as possible. As long as I can do that, even if Black gets into Hogwarts, he won't be able to catch me. Also, I'll ask Professor Lupin to teach me the Patronus Charm. He wasn't feeling well before and couldn't teach me, but it should be fine after school starts."