When Professor McGonagall heard Dumbledore ask her to reveal the truth about what happened twelve years ago, she froze.
"Albus, but..."
"I trust Sherlock's ability to pursue the truth, and I trust Harry's ability to bear the facts."
Dumbledore looked at his old partner with gentle eyes and said slowly.
"Besides, I promised them last time that I wouldn't hide the truth when necessary. Rubeus, please don't leave—you should stay and listen too. I think some things will need your supplementary explanation."
Having said this much, Professor McGonagall naturally saw Dumbledore's determination.
She looked at the sharp-eyed Sherlock and the somewhat confused Harry, and began slowly.
"Among all those who joined the Dark Lord's forces, Sirius was someone we never expected..."
"Not the Dark Lord—Voldemort, Minerva."
Hagrid immediately shuddered.
"Right, Voldemort..."
Professor McGonagall saw Dumbledore's insistence and corrected herself promptly.
Hagrid shuddered again.
At this point, Professor McGonagall seemed to sink into distant memories. After a while, she continued.
"Black's best friend at school was James Potter. The two of them were the leaders of that group. Both were brilliantly clever and exceptionally gifted, though... I've never seen such a pair of troublemakers."
"Professor, um... I think you might have forgotten Fred and George Weasley."
Hagrid suddenly interjected.
He mainly wanted to escape the shadow cast by Voldemort's name and quickly change the subject.
"Quite right, Professor Hagrid—if they didn't look different, sometimes I would even think they were twins. You could say that James trusted Black more than any of his other friends, and this friendship remained unchanged even after graduation. When James and Lily got married, Black was the best man, and later they made Black their son's godfather..."
At this point, Professor McGonagall glanced at Harry.
When she saw Harry's wide-eyed, open-mouthed expression, Professor McGonagall felt pained.
She didn't understand why Dumbledore wanted her to tell Harry about this. For Harry, this blow was simply too great.
But... since Dumbledore had said so, McGonagall steeled herself and continued more quickly.
"Twelve years ago, the wizarding war entered its final year—of course, we didn't know that at the time. Albus, as our leader, had been leading us in struggle against Voldemort. It was then that he received news that Voldemort was going to move against James and Lily. The couple were also key forces fighting Voldemort, so Albus immediately suggested that James and Lily go into hiding.
At that time, Voldemort had almost completely controlled the magical world, so hiding from him wasn't easy. Finally, Albus proposed the Fidelius Charm."
Professor McGonagall paused here, glanced at Hagrid who was uncomfortable from hearing Voldemort's name mentioned repeatedly, gave him an apologetic look, and continued.
"It's a very complex spell that can magically hide a secret within the soul of a living person. In this case, that secret would never be discovered. In other words, as long as the Secret Keeper didn't tell, even if Voldemort searched the village where James and Lily lived for ten thousand years, he wouldn't find them—even if his nose was pressed against their living room window!"
Hearing this, both Sherlock and Harry understood.
Sherlock. "So Sirius Black was Harry's parents' Secret Keeper?"
"It was the natural choice."
Professor McGonagall sighed deeply, looked at the silent Harry again, and continued.
"James told Albus that Sirius would die before revealing their location. On the other hand, Black himself was also preparing to hide. But even so, Albus was still uneasy—I remember you proposed to personally serve as the Potters' Secret Keeper yourself, right?"
The last sentence was naturally directed at Dumbledore.
Sherlock's brow furrowed upon hearing this. "Sir, you already suspected Black at that time?"
"Not exactly, or rather, not entirely so."
Dumbledore shook his head. "In fact, before this happened, I had already suspected that someone among us had betrayed us. Because I had discovered more than once that someone in the Order of the Phoenix was reporting Harry's parents' movements to Voldemort."
"Order of the Phoenix?"
Sherlock instinctively looked toward Fawkes behind Dumbledore.
"Yes, the Order of the Phoenix, an organization I founded specifically to resist Voldemort. Although some members may not look like heroes and are relatively unknown, I believe most of them are brave and fearless people. When I determined there was a traitor in the Order, I suggested that I become Harry's father's Secret Keeper. Unfortunately, he insisted on using Black."
"Unfortunately, less than a week after the Fidelius Charm was cast, Black betrayed them."
Professor McGonagall took up Dumbledore's thread and continued. "I suppose Black grew tired of his double-agent role and was ready to openly support Voldemort. However, no one could have imagined that Voldemort would suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of an infant. His first failure—he lost his powers, became extremely weak, and could only flee in disgrace.
This put Black in a very awkward position—just as he exposed his true nature as a traitor, Voldemort fell. He had no choice but to flee disgracefully like Voldemort."
"That despicable, vile, shameless traitor!"
Hagrid suddenly roared, his anger even making him temporarily forget his fear of Voldemort.
"I ran into him! After Lily and James died, I was the one who rescued Harry from their house! I had just carried him out of the ruins when Sirius Black appeared!"
"Calm down, Rubeus."
Reminded by Dumbledore, Hagrid's emotions calmed slightly, but he still said angrily.
"He was riding that flying motorcycle and asked me to give him Harry, saying he was Harry's godfather and would take good care of him! Although I didn't know he was the Secret Keeper, Professor Dumbledore's orders were to take Harry to his aunt and uncle's house, so I refused him.
I argued with him for a long time before he reluctantly agreed, and even gave me that motorcycle, saying he wouldn't need it anymore. I should have realized then!
Why would he no longer need his favorite motorcycle? It was obviously because it was too easy to track!
You all knew he was the Secret Keeper—the Ministry would be after him in a few hours. He deliberately played the good guy just to deceive me! Damn it, if I had handed Harry over to him then..."
At this point, Hagrid couldn't help but shudder, even more frightened than when he heard several people mention Voldemort's name.
Although Hagrid hadn't finished speaking, everyone knew what he was going to say next.
The Headmaster's office fell silent.
"Sorry, I have a question," Sherlock suddenly spoke, breaking the silence.
"Professor Hagrid, why didn't Black just snatch Harry from you right then?"
"Ha!"
Hagrid's beard quivered. "I admit he's a very formidable wizard, but even so, he couldn't snatch Harry from my hands!"
"So, it was because of the disparity in strength between the two sides..."
Sherlock knew Hagrid was strong, but hearing that even Black, who was on the same level as Snape, had no confidence in snatching an infant from him, he felt it necessary to reassess this giant friend's capabilities.
You must understand, according to Hagrid's account, he didn't know at that time that Sirius had already betrayed them. In other words, if Black had been confident, he could have attacked with the element of surprise on his side.
But Black didn't do that.
Either he lacked confidence, feeling he couldn't snatch Harry even with a surprise attack, or he worried that even after taking Harry, he couldn't escape the subsequent pursuit. Most likely, it was both.
"Justice will prevail."
Professor McGonagall said. "In any case, by the next day, Black was caught by the Ministry of Magic."
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Sherlock showed surprise for the first time. "The Ministry of Magic was actually that efficient?"
Professor McGonagall looked at Sherlock somewhat helplessly.
But in fact, this student of hers wasn't wrong to scorn the Ministry of Magic.
"It wasn't the Ministry—the person who found him was Peter Pettigrew, another good friend of James and Lily's. He also knew that Black was the Secret Keeper."
"Peter Pettigrew."
Sherlock repeated the name once.
"Yes, he was a pudgy little boy. At school, he adored Black and James like heroes. Compared to the others in that group, he was always like a follower, following behind them. Of course, his talent couldn't compare with the others, so I was always strict with him. Now when I think about it, I can't help but feel waves of regret..."
At this point, Professor McGonagall's voice became somber.
"I suppose you already know about Black killing over a dozen Muggles? Peter intercepted Black at the time, crying out in front of the entire street. 'Lily and James, Sirius, how could you do this, how could you bring yourself to do it?' Then he drew his wand. Unfortunately, Black was much quicker—he blew Peter to bits."
At this point, Professor McGonagall finally couldn't hold back her sobs.
"That poor foolish boy—how could he possibly be Black's match!"
You can read more than 40 chapters on:
patreon.com/MikeyMuse