Vid slept until dawn, and upon waking up in the morning, seeing his surroundings, he thought he had traveled through time again.
However, the magic wand and pencil case beside him both told him that this guess was absurd; he was still Vid Gray.
Yet Vid couldn't remember how he fell asleep last night, nor why he left his important pencil case so casually by his pillow.
Supporting his head to recall for a moment, the blurry memory began to revive, and Vid sluggishly remembered Dumbledore's line—
"Is it the honey wine bought from the Three Broomsticks... be sure to pour me a cup."
Vid: "..."
He groaned and covered his face.
Wasn't it just pouring wine for Dumbledore?
He thought the one given to him was a honey-flavored drink!
At the time, while talking, Vid didn't think much of it. After all, in his view, adults generally wouldn't pour a whole cup of wine for minors.
Slowly, he even remembered what he did afterwards... no, it might just be that he confused memory with dreams...
With a fluke mentality, Vid opened the wardrobe space, and after entering, several poppet pets ran over, affectionately following him at his feet.
But... the man with the beard... was already gone.
Looking at the empty cell, Vid now really felt like his head was about to split with pain.
The bearded man had no loyalty to their group, only a hatred for having his life destroyed.
Vid kept this man because he thought there might still be something useful, he did think about being honest with the headmaster about part of it to gain Dumbledore's help... but he didn't expect such an exposure!
Vid put away the space, sighed deeply, lay back on the bed, and didn't even want to leave this room.
One night was enough for Dumbledore to extract all the secrets from the bearded man's mind.
For example... how the Acromantula that Vid raised viciously bit down on the man's bushy head.
At this moment, in Dumbledore's mind, Vid felt like he might as well be viewed the same as Voldemort, perhaps even more vicious.
After all, when Voldemort was thirteen, he was still an outstanding student who, at most, bullied classmates and formed cliques.
He indirectly caused Moaning Myrtle's death and killed his uncle himself only in fifth or sixth year.
Vid sighed deeply, furrowed his brow, and absentmindedly played with the pencil case in his hand.
Sitting on the bed, he thought that if Dumbledore started seeing him as a potential criminal, the harmonious cooperation they had would disappear... but the headmaster would surely remain observant first.
Dumbledore always seemed patient enough to wait for changes in the future before reacting.
—He placed the pencil case next to his pillow, instead of dissecting its secrets to investigate Vid thoroughly.
Based on this, Vid believed Dumbledore wouldn't turn against him immediately... but he still felt stuffy inside.
When he first entered the school, Vid couldn't believe Dumbledore was really as selfless, kind, and gentle as portrayed in the original; he always speculated about the headmaster with a conspiracy theory mindset.
But as they interacted more harmoniously over time… the thought of potentially having new, irreconcilable conflicts in the future began to trouble Vid.
With a "bang," the bedroom door suddenly swung open.
"You're awake, Vid."
Harry said happily, "Hurry down, the school's book list has come."
After speaking, he immediately left, and Vid heard the sound of Harry running downstairs.
Vid: Harry came over from the Dursley family early in the morning... well, it makes sense.
Despite Sirius and Lupin living next door, the Dursleys wouldn't dare imprison or kick Harry out, but they surely wouldn't be happy to prepare a sumptuous breakfast for him either.
When Vid went downstairs, he heard Harry sitting at the dining table, talking to Lupin:
"Aunt Marge's train is at ten o'clock this morning; she's staying for a week... I asked Dumbledore, and he said since I've already been staying at the Dursley family for over a month, the magic has taken effect, and I can stay here for the remaining time."
There was an old suitcase at the living room door, clearly containing Harry's belongings.
"Who's Aunt Marge?" Sirius asked while spreading butter on bread, "What did she do to you?"
"She's Uncle Vernon's sister, who has a lot of dogs... seeing Uncle Vernon and Dudley, you can imagine what she's like."
Harry recounted with lingering fear: "In any case... I'd rather grow bones in my arm again than spend even a second with her."
Sirius nodded understandingly and said, "Got it."
"Sirius, how's your investigation?"
Vid entered the dining room and asked.
Sirius shook his head and said, "Nothing fruitful... they said the vampire named Trokka moved away years ago, and recently, no one besides me has searched for him."
His eyes bore signs of heavy fatigue, as if he'd stayed up all night.
"Sirius, how could you possibly compete with so many Aurors from the Ministry of Magic on your own?"
Harry advised, "I think you need a good rest. I don't know about others, but with Lockhart's personality, he won't resist signing autographs on walls for long."
"Yeah, Sirius," Lupin added, "if you don't give yourself some space, you might end up collapsing."
Sirius curled his lips into a smile, but said, "On my way back, I was thinking, even if Lockhart or Gall get exposed, we might still struggle to catch Peter."
"Ah, why?" Harry asked.
"Breaking out together doesn't mean the three of them are stuck together from then on."
Sirius explained, "With Peter's caution, he wouldn't stick with someone like Lockhart."
Lupin slightly nodded, didn't object, clearly agreeing with his point.
Vid, puzzled, asked, "If you know this, why are you still chasing those two people?"
"Because after separating, Peter might hide and watch them, observing the Ministry of Magic's pursuit of the three."
Lupin, thoughtfully, said, "To him, those two are just decoys on the surface."
"So finding them is equivalent to finding Peter. But it requires more stealth, more caution."
Sirius concluded, then fiercely bit into a piece of roasted meat.
While cutting into his fried egg, Vid thought—should he just let Peter Pettigrew "revive"?
And then let him die again in front of Sirius.
Otherwise, Sirius might never be able to let this go in his lifetime.
Even Harry and Lupin… though they rarely show it, probably wouldn't tolerate Peter always "at large".