Chapter 231: The Story of Sirius Black
"I imagine, my dear, you've heard a few things about what happened at Hogwarts on Halloween?"
Fudge's voice was very low. They were sitting in a secluded spot, neither too close nor too far from Dylan's group. If they listened carefully, they could still hear everything.
"Oh, a few rumours. You're not saying they're true, are you?" Rosmerta raised an eyebrow, glancing at Hagrid.
Professor McGonagall noticed her gesture, and her brow immediately furrowed. She said to Hagrid with some annoyance, "Just how many people did you tell about what happened at Hogwarts?"
Rosmerta covered her mouth and chuckled. "I would say, perhaps the entire pub."
Professor McGonagall took a sharp breath. "Hagrid!"
Hagrid gave an embarrassed smile, not knowing what to say in his defence. What could he say, really? He could only bear the brunt of Professor McGonagall's glare.
"Minister, do you really think Black is still lurking around here? It's been so long. Why wouldn't he have fled somewhere else?"
In response to her question, Fudge smiled but didn't answer directly. "My dear, I am quite certain he hasn't left."
Seeing that Fudge was unwilling to tell her the specifics, Rosmerta scoffed, and her voice became a little sharper. "I think you must have heard what I said just now, Minister. Those Dementors are giving me a headache! They've been here to search three times in the last two days! What exactly do they have to search for?"
Rosmerta glared at Fudge. "My customers have barely sat down and had a sip of their beer before these creatures scare them away—you must understand that the presence of Dementors is terrible for a pub, isn't it?"
"Haha..." Fudge gave a dry laugh. "That's truly regrettable—I feel for you, my dear, but I don't like these fellows either—I don't think anyone does, do they?"
"What does liking or not liking them have to do with anything? They're constantly showing up in my pub!"
"Rosmerta, my dear, I am truly sorry, but this is a necessary defence." Fudge's tone held a hint of helplessness, and his fingers gently rubbed the folds of his sleeve. "Just now, I ran into a few of them myself. They have quite a grudge against Dumbledore."
"Why?"
"They broke into the school during the Quidditch match at Hogwarts last time, and Dumbledore threw them out."
"The Headmaster was absolutely right to do so!" Professor McGonagall's voice sounded rather prim. "How many students were frightened that day? If we let these ugly and terrifying creatures roam the school freely, then the professors won't need to teach classes—we'd spend every day calming the students down!"
"That's absolutely right!" Professor Flitwick nodded repeatedly.
Fudge coughed. "Dementors don't attack students indiscriminately; they're here to protect the students..."
"Do you believe that, Minister?" Rosmerta raised an eyebrow.
"I certainly do—at the very least, Dementors can prevent you from facing a much more terrifying threat." Fudge looked serious. "You must all be aware of the kinds of things Black is capable of, aren't you?"
At his words, a silence fell over the group.
A moment later, Rosmerta finally spoke quietly. "I never once considered that Black would choose to join the Dark Lord. When I heard about it, I was truly surprised."
Rosmerta's voice was thoughtful and long-drawn-out. "I remember when he was a student at Hogwarts, he would always come to my pub wearing an old Gryffindor scarf to buy a drink."
"If anyone had told me back then that he would go down this path, I would have thought they'd been drinking the students' smuggled mead."
Fudge narrowed his eyes, his voice mingling with the crisp sound of his mug hitting the table. "What you saw was just the foam floating on the mug, Rosmerta." He tapped his slightly thick knuckles on the stain-strewn tablecloth. "No one ever mentioned what he did when he was young—the kind of thing that makes even Dumbledore frown."
"When he was young? Could it be worse than killing all those people?" Rosmerta's eyelashes fluttered, and she leaned forward involuntarily.
"Of course." Fudge took a sip of his drink. "Some evil deeds are simply unspeakable."
"Minister, you have piqued my curiosity. What could it be?"
Fudge didn't say anything. Professor McGonagall slowly spoke. "Rosmerta, you mentioned what he was like at Hogwarts, do you remember who his best friend was back then?"
"How could I forget?" Rosmerta gave a low laugh and took a drink. "Whenever you saw them, they were always together, weren't they? I used to think they didn't like girls at all. The last time they were here..."
"—Oh, those two were like a comedy duo. Black would fold a candy wrapper into a toad and toss it into Potter's drink."
"Potter, in turn, would use a quill to draw on Black's body—they had this place in an uproar, but it was a good show. Everyone loved it."
As Rosmerta finished speaking, Dylan noticed a few strands of Harry's hair sticking out from under the Invisibility Cloak next to him. Dylan glanced at him. Harry, in turn, peeked his eyes out from under the cloak, his expression a mix of shock and disbelief.
His father was best friends with an escaped convict? How was that possible?! No wonder Professor Snape had said what he did.
Professor McGonagall nodded. "Yes, Potter and Black, the ringleaders of that little group—they were a real headache for me."
"They were quite good at breaking school rules. Before them, I had never seen students so mischievous!"
"But they were also very gifted and extremely clever—I would even say brilliant."
At this, Hagrid laughed boisterously. "As for Potter and the others, I think only those two Weasley lads have a chance of competing with them now."
Professor Flitwick chuckled. "I think there's a difference. The Weasleys are twins. Potter and Black weren't brothers."
Hagrid said, "But when they were together, who would ever think they weren't brothers?"
Professor Flitwick nodded. "That's true."
"I never thought so either. But there are always unexpected things and truths that are hard to grasp," Fudge said. He sighed heavily. "Everyone knew how much Potter trusted Black—he trusted him more than anyone else."
"And it was the same even after they graduated."
"I remember after Potter married Lily, Black became Harry's godfather, didn't he?"
Hagrid nodded. "Black was even the best man at their wedding. Harry still doesn't know any of this, no one has told him."
Professor McGonagall gave a light snort. "And no one should tell him! If Harry knew, he would be devastated. You know that, don't you, Hagrid?"
"Er," Hagrid scratched his head. "I know that, of course, Professor McGonagall. I've never mentioned Black to him."
Rosmerta looked at them. "This is the first time I've heard any of this—I didn't pay much attention to Potter's wedding."
"But what does this have to do with what you're here to talk about today?"
Fudge set his mug down. "Everything!"
"Everything? Just because Black was in league with the Dark Lord?"
"More than that!" Fudge looked at Rosmerta. "The situation is even worse than that! Rosmerta, my dear, you definitely haven't heard this—and not many people know about it."
"What exactly is it?"
This time, Fudge was silent for a moment before he slowly muttered, "The Potters knew that the Dark Lord was searching for them."
"Dumbledore was fighting against the Dark Lord at the time. He had some informants—very secretive and very capable informants."
"One of them revealed something to him. Dumbledore realised what was happening and immediately sent a message to James and Lily, telling them to hide as soon as possible."
Fudge took another sip of his drink, swallowing with a gulp. "But the Dark Lord's hunt isn't so easy to hide from. There was only one way to conceal themselves."
"The Fidelius Charm?" Rosmerta said.
"Yes, yes, the Fidelius Charm," Fudge nodded.
"How exactly does that spell work?" Rosmerta had never learned such an advanced spell.
Fudge didn't say anything. Professor McGonagall didn't say anything either. Hagrid scratched his head in confusion. It was Professor Flitwick who puffed out his chest.
"This charm is quite complex! But its effect is excellent. It can hide a secret you want to conceal inside a living person's soul."
"Hide a secret inside a soul?" Rosmerta raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I've never heard of anything so..." She couldn't find the right words to describe it.
Professor Flitwick nodded. "Yes, it is that magical."
"The person chosen to guard the secret, the Secret-Keeper, will never reveal it unless they do so voluntarily. As long as the Secret-Keeper doesn't betray the secret, the location of the Potters would never have been discovered by the Dark Lord, even after a hundred years!"
"He could have pressed his nose against the window of their living room and he would have seen nothing!"
Dylan almost choked on his drink, holding back a laugh. Oh, my dear professor~ Voldemort doesn't have a nose, does he? He quickly took another sip of his butterbeer to suppress his laughter.
"From what you're saying..." Rosmerta blinked, her voice soft. "It sounds like Black was Potter's Secret-Keeper?"
"Exactly. The Secret-Keeper of the Fidelius Charm must always be the person most trusted by the person who casts it," Fudge nodded.
Professor McGonagall also took a deep breath before exhaling. "Potter was so sure of Black, he trusted him absolutely. Even if he died, he wouldn't reveal Potter's secret."
"Why didn't Dumbledore become the Potters' Secret-Keeper?" Rosmerta asked.
"The Headmaster did suggest it. He was wary of Potter choosing anyone else as the Secret-Keeper," Professor McGonagall shook her head.
"Did Albus suspect there was something wrong with Black then? If so, why did he let Potter choose Black as the Secret-Keeper?" Rosmerta frowned.
"No, Dumbledore didn't know," Professor McGonagall shook her head again. "But he suspected that there was someone close to the Potters who was leaking information to the outside world! Someone was reporting their every move to the Dark Lord!"
"And then..." Rosmerta's voice trailed off as she realised what happened next.
"And then, at Potter's insistence, he still chose Black as the Secret-Keeper and told him to hide," Fudge's voice was heavy. "But within a week of the Fidelius Charm taking effect, the Potters' location was revealed, and the Dark Lord found them." Professor McGonagall sighed.
By Dylan's side, Harry's entire face was now exposed from under the cloak, his expression blank, with a hint of pain in his eyes. He knew all too well what the Dark Lord had done after he found his parents. His father had died without a sound. His mother had begged the Dark Lord to spare him, but in the end, she also died from the green flash of light. The last thing he heard was the Dark Lord's laughter—a horrible sound.
"It seems Black eventually grew tired of being a double agent and no longer wanted to play that role. So he publicly declared his support for the Dark Lord, and..."
Fudge paused.
"It seems he announced it at the very moment the Potters died." He shook his head. This was the view of Black held by the entire wizarding world.
"But later..." Rosmerta smacked her lips.
"Yes, we all know what happened after that." Fudge nodded.
When Voldemort was defeated by baby Harry and fled, losing his powers, Sirius Black was instantly trapped. He was accused of betrayal just as his master suddenly fell. He had no time to defend himself and could only flee, a hunted man.
Dylan listened with great interest. Even though he knew the general gist of the story, it was still very interesting to hear it told firsthand. The idea of a Secret-Keeper had many different possibilities. And the more possibilities, the more uncertainty there was. Even if it wasn't Sirius who had directly leaked the secret to the Dark Lord, in a sense, he was still the one who had leaked it.
—If it hadn't been for Sirius's sudden idea to switch Secret-Keepers, Peter Pettigrew would never have had the chance to tell Voldemort where Harry's dad was.
"If a wizard were powerful enough, they could be their own Secret-Keeper. But then again, if a wizard were truly powerful enough, there would be no need for a Secret-Keeper to guard any secrets," Dylan mused to himself.
Of course, his own situation was rather unique. He was a wizard whose strength was "very strong," not too strong, yet also very strong. The entire wizarding world might not have a second person like him. Therefore, he could easily be his own Secret-Keeper.
Because no one would be able to catch him and question him about his secrets. Furthermore, even if someone suspected he had a secret and tried to use Veritaserum or a spell to pry it out of his mind, he had more than enough countermeasures.
In fact, he had developed so many new techniques to protect his mind. In the entire wizarding world, only a handful of people, like Voldemort, Snape, and Dumbledore, would pose a threat to him.
.....
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