Meanwhile, Gryffindor Tower...
"Listen, kids, don't let this guy fool you. He—Peter Pettigrew—is the real culprit who betrayed James and Lily. I can even go to Kasenhis or Dumbledore to prove my innocence. It's nothing more than drinking a bit of Veritaserum!"
Sirius clutched Peter Pettigrew's neck tightly with one hand, using him as a human shield.
His other hand held Neville's wand—which had been auto-looted—and cast a solid Shield Charm around himself.
"Okay... you put the wand down and remove the Shield Charm, then we'll believe you," Harry said, huddling with his two companions. After unleashing a barrage of spells that failed to crack Sirius's Shield Charm, they'd been forced to retreat helplessly to block the dormitory door.
"Oh Harry, honestly, at this point, you might as well let me cast Avada Kedavra on myself. Saves you the trouble," Sirius grumbled instinctively.
"And seriously, haven't you seen me in my dog form? If I really wanted to hurt you, I've had plenty of chances. I wouldn't even need chances—you're kids, aren't you?"
"Okay. We believe you 'now'," Harry suddenly put away his wand. Neville and Ron, momentarily stunned, noticed Harry's glance toward the window behind Sirius, and promptly followed suit.
Because right now, they were simply waiting for Professor Kasenhis—currently outside the window—to smash through and plant the tip of his pointy leather shoe squarely on this vicious criminal, Sirius Black's rear.
"Oh, I'm so glad you trust me this much, kids," Sirius sighed in relief. "Now, should we go see Dumbledore or Kasenhis? Your choice."
Carefully crawling in through the window, Kasenhis sighed helplessly. "No need for that. If you hadn't come to me, I was about to come looking for you. I knew—knew—you couldn't handle this smoothly."
Hearing this, Sirius flushed red with embarrassment, awkwardly glancing at the still thoroughly bewildered three little wizards.
At this moment, Harry and the others were surprised to realize that… maybe Sirius wasn't the bad guy after all—at least not if Professor Kasenhis trusted him.
Otherwise, knowing Kasenhis's usual zero-frame startup style, if Sirius were truly dangerous, they wouldn't have just seen Kasenhis outside the window. A Wither Skeleton Skull would've already come flying through the glass.
"Professor, what's going on?" Harry asked.
"He didn't tell you?" Kasenhis raised a brow.
Harry scratched his head, "Um.. He did… but most of it sounded like a load of crap from a book created for children."
"Well, that crap… was actually true," Kasenhis nodded seriously.
"???" Harry was momentarily stunned.
"Huh?"
"I mean—Sirius really is your godfather. And the one who actually betrayed your parents… is Peter Pettigrew," Kasenhis explained, glancing toward Peter, who was currently being choked speechless by Sirius.
"Hit him with a Stupefy."
Thud.
The bloated body collapsed to the floor.
"If you want to understand the full story, come with us," Kasenhis said, glancing at the group of young wizards.
Harry and the others exchanged looks, then nodded in unison.
"Come on, then."
They followed Kasenhis all the way to Dumbledore's office. Sitting on the sofa was none other than Severus Snape—who had been summoned back despite supposedly being home for the holidays. He was glaring at the unconscious Peter Pettigrew with a look of sheer disgust.
The three young wizards hesitated and nudged each other until Harry finally braced himself and awkwardly waved, "Good evening… Professor Snape."
Snape sneered at him and then glanced at the other two. "Five points from Weasley, five from Longbottom… for lacking basic manners when greeting a professor. And Potter—ten points for sycophantic flattery."
Harry, Ron, and Longbottom: "..."
Kasenhis awkwardly rubbed his mouth. He used to not understand why Snape had such a deep grudge against Gryffindor—and especially Harry.
Now… he completely understood. Very much understood.
"Let's focus on the matter at hand, Severus," Dumbledore interrupted calmly.
"Before that... where's Karkaroff?" Kasenhis raised his hand.
"Do you really have to discuss that in front of the children?" Dumbledore sighed.
"Alright, we'll hold that conversation for later," Dumbledore nodded.
Then he turned to Harry. "Harry, I believe you need to clear up some misunderstandings with Sirius."
He waved his wand, extracting a strand of memory from both Sirius and Peter Pettigrew's heads. After blending the two memories together, he opened a cabinet.
Inside was an object that looked like a washbasin, covered in strange runes and filled with a shimmering silver liquid.
Dumbledore dropped the memories into it, then waved to Harry and the others. "Stick your heads in. All three of you. It's a pity Miss Granger went home for the holidays—she's going to miss out on a time-travel-style adventure."
As the three young wizards cautiously dipped their heads into the Pensieve, Kasenhis gestured at Sirius to lift the Stunning Spell on Pettigrew.
Soon, Peter's eyelids fluttered a bit—but he still showed no sign of waking.
"Oh... you know, why don't we just skip the interrogation and mince him into tiny bits?" Kasenhis suggested darkly, purely to scare him.
"Er... that's... probably not ideal," Dumbledore said, his face darkening.
"No one has to know," Snape added, standing up with a perfectly neutral tone.
Pettigrew, who had been playing dead on the floor, decided he could no longer keep that act up. With a full-body jolt, his eyes flew open and he scrambled upright.
He wasn't the brightest, but he knew enough about the people in this room. Sirius Black—decent as a friend, terrifying as an enemy. Begging him was utterly useless.
Severus Snape… Yeah, that one probably wanted to skin him alive right now—so this option was not helpful.
Dumbledore... Sure, he looked like a kind old man, but everyone in the wizarding world knew the title White Dark Lord wasn't a joke. He was the scariest one here.
And then there was Kasenhis... Unfortunately, Peter had no idea what mincing someone into paste actually meant in Kasenhis's mouth, so... fine. Dead horse, living treatment. Worth a shot.
"Sir, Kasen—"
Just as Peter opened his mouth, ready to beg Kasenhis for mercy, Snape stepped right in front of Kasenhis—and kicked Peter square in the face.
"Tsk… thanks. He does have bad breath," Kasenhis said sincerely.
"You're welcome," Snape replied coldly, pulling a small vial from his pocket and tossing it to Sirius.
After all, forcing a stinky rat who hadn't brushed his teeth for over ten years to drink a potion was a job best left to someone... sturdier.
Sirius didn't disappoint. He yanked the cork out and cautiously sniffed it—no way he was getting tricked into accidentally killing the rat.
Once sure it was Veritaserum, not poison, he grabbed Peter's jaw, pried it open, and roughly poured the potion down his throat.
"I believe... Peter Pettigrew, it's time we had a very honest little conversation," Dumbledore said as he walked over, voice calm as ever.
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