Below the Whomping Willow was a narrow tunnel that extended forward continuously. Kael had been walking for a long time but hadn't seen Harry and the others ahead.
"Are they running so fast?" Kael couldn't help but quicken his pace again.
After walking for about ten minutes, the tunnel began to slope upward, and after a while, Kael saw a small patch of dim light.
He knew that he had reached the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade, as this secret passage ultimately led there.
It was a messy, gray room with sealed windows, and only a few dim oil lamps on the walls.
The light he had just seen was from the oil lamps, though dim, it was enough for this cramped room.
When Kael walked in, the room was filled with tension, and the atmosphere was very tense.
Kael stood on the side under the Disillusionment Charm, the flickering oil lamp casting his shadow on the wall, but everyone there failed to notice him... including Professor Lupin and Sirius Black.
They were in the corner near a table, arguing heatedly.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood on the other side. They seemed to finally recognize their predicament and began to feel afraid.
Ron's expression was complex, as he wanted to retrieve his rat but dared not.
"When Scabbers bit me, I should have thought of it," he said weakly. "Scabbers ran away, but Lupin trapped it with just a charm... Would the professor brandish his wand to find us? Even Snape wouldn't!
He must have planned this long ago. Damn, why didn't I realize it sooner..."
"But why do they want your rat, Scabbers?" Harry asked, puzzled, while warily watching Lupin and Black.
"I don't know," Ron said. "Maybe they enjoy killing other people's pet rats."
But Harry and Hermione didn't think so; an ordinary pet rat wasn't worth the risk.
And as the arguing grew more intense, Harry heard a very familiar name.
"I didn't betray James!" Black roared, revealing the thing he always wanted to tell everyone.
"Peter is the real Secret-Keeper... we switched; I thought this would fool You-Know-Who. As long as he chased me, James and Lily would be safe."
Black's voice trembled, seemingly wanting to cry, but after twelve years of Dementor torture, tears were a luxury.
With bloodshot eyes, he clutched Scabbers tightly and shook it.
"But I never imagined that this damn, cowardly traitor would tell You-Know-Who the location the second day after becoming the Secret-Keeper."
"You must have been pleased then..." Black raised his hand, gazing at the struggling rat with a vicious smile. "What reward did your master give you!"
"Enough, you're mad, both of you!" Ron suddenly shouted. "He's not Peter; he's Scabbers, my pet rat!"
He mustered the courage to step forward, "I've heard enough; give Scabbers back to me!"
"Sorry, I can't let you leave until the truth is revealed," Professor Lupin said, snatching the nearly-squeezed-to-death rat from Black.
"This is the truth!" Black appeared even more frantic.
"I told you when I first met you, you only need to find the Marauder's Map, and you'd see Peter's name on it... it's in Filch's office!"
"You think I didn't look?" Lupin said expressionlessly. "After your second infiltration of the castle, I visited Filch's office, but the map was gone!"
At this point, Harry only felt his head was in a whirl.
He knew Peter Pettigrew; Minister Fudge had mentioned him at the Three Broomsticks before.
But wasn't he already dead? Killed by Black himself!
A Minister of Magic couldn't possibly lie.
Thinking this, Harry couldn't help but speak, "You can say anything now, because Peter is already dead, witnessed by the whole street!"
"What they saw wasn't what they thought," Black said roughly, "He used deceitful means to fool everyone!"
"But Scabbers can't be Peter," Ron still refused to believe, "He's lived with us..."
"Twelve years!"
Black said, "You think an ordinary rat can live that long?"
"That's because Kael has been brewing rat tonic for him," Ron retorted. "Ever since he was in Percy's hands, for years now."
"Who is Kael..." Black hesitated momentarily, evidently not expecting Ron's response. He felt he'd heard the name somewhere before but couldn't recall it.
"A very smart child," Lupin explained, "And extraordinarily knowledgeable."
"Just a kid not yet graduated..." Black said indifferently. He had thought Ron was talking about some Master of Fantastic Beasts.
"That's just a coincidence; he encountered an Animagus and thought it was his tonic's effect!"
Kael, standing on the side, raised an eyebrow.
Though the words were true, coming from Black's mouth, why did they sound so grating?
When had he been so self-assured?
Furthermore, all those tonics had been meticulously concocted by him.
At this point, Black continued patiently with Ron, "Isn't he missing a finger?"
"So what," Ron said.
"They only found a finger..." Harry thought of Fudge's previous words.
"Quite so, that coward cut his finger at the last moment of transformation," Black said. "After I cornered him, he screamed for everyone on the street to hear that I betrayed Lily and James, and before I could cast a spell, he blew up the street with a wand hidden behind him, slipping into the sewers with the other rats..."
"Maniac!" Ron exclaimed, as if hearing an utterly absurd story.
Hermione also spoke, her voice trembling, trying to remain composed, "But Professor Lupin, Scabbers can't be Peter Pettigrew, you must know that."
"Why do you think it's impossible," Lupin calmly asked.
"Because if Peter Pettigrew were an Animagus, people would know... the Ministry of Magic has records... there have only been seven Animagi this century, and Peter Pettigrew's name isn't among them."
"You're correct, Hermione," Lupin said. "But what the Ministry doesn't know is, there were three unregistered Animagi active at Hogwarts."
"How can you prove it!" Harry only felt more confused. "Prove that Scabbers is Peter Pettigrew!"
"It's simple, and it's what I'm about to do." Lupin glanced deeply at Black, "I hope you're not deceiving me, otherwise..."
His tone turned cold, then he suddenly tossed Scabbers to the ground, pointing his wand at it.
The wand emitted a blue light, enveloping Scabbers' head...
Black smiled, and his sunken eyes suddenly shone brightly...
Harry, Ron, and Hermione also watched the rat on the ground nervously.
However, nothing happened...
Scabbers remained as he was, scurrying madly on the ground, until Ron grabbed him.
Black's smile froze, while Ron displayed a victorious stance.
"See, I told you they were mad, how could Scabbers be Peter Pettigrew."
Harry silently looked at Lupin.
He saw Lupin's face dark as night, turning his wand towards Black, "What do you have to say, it's laughable, I chose to believe you, a traitor!"
"No, it's not like that..." Black said dazedly. "Your spell must be wrong... he is Peter Pettigrew... he is... I can't be mistaken..."
"Keep such words for the Dementors," Lupin said without any emotion.
Watching this scene, Scabbers, held in Ron's hand, stopped struggling, eyes filled with post-crisis glee.
"No... Remus, it's not like that..." Black collapsed and lunged, "There must be a mistake, please lend me your wand... let me..."
"Don't even think about it!" Lupin pointed his wand at him, "Don't come any closer..."
But before he could finish, Black plunged forward, knocking him to the ground while grabbing the wand.
Another burst of blue light, but equally ineffective,
"Impossible... this is impossible..." Black muttered madly.
Reacting, Harry immediately raised his wand.
But before he could cast a spell, a faint voice came from the corner, very familiar.
"Expelliarmus."
Kael, who had dissolved the Disillusionment Charm, stepped out, catching the flying wand.
...