"... Minerva, could you please lower your voice."
Dumbledore, startled, sighed helplessly, but after taking a breath, he realized what William had just said. At this moment, he also looked at William with a puzzled expression—
He had to wonder, for William's actions were too swift. He had originally planned to shut down the entire castle for a week for a thorough "clean-up."
Yet, it was just the morning, with the sun still high above the castle, and William had already completed the task.
Similarly, Lupin had grabbed William's shoulders, his face filled with hope, wishing this wasn't some cruel joke. The Headmaster's Office was packed with people, mostly professors, along with Harry and Ron, the "key parties" involved. Almost everyone was looking at William with inquisitive eyes.—
Actions speak louder than words; William didn't say another word. Instead, he reached out and grabbed Fawkes by the tail.
Fawkes, who was sleeping: "?!"
But under the lure of snacks, Fawkes transformed into a burst of flames and disappeared along with William. After a long wait of ten seconds, William reappeared, with Fawkes standing on his shoulder. The two figures he grasped in his hands attracted everyone's attention.
Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew.
At this moment, Sirius was glaring furiously at the plump man trembling beside him, but William's control prevented him from making any extreme moves—in about half an hour ago, Sirius suddenly noticed Peter Pettigrew, whom he had been yearning for, inexplicably appeared in the cell opposite his.
This unexpected development with no explanation made him almost suspect he was hallucinating, but the trembling man across from him forced him to believe—
It seemed the situation might be turning.
He wished he could immediately tear down the meddling bars and dismember the man, but William, foreseeing this, had controlled the two, allowing them to only exchange harsh words for these ten minutes, naturally making Sirius increasingly enraged.
"Let me go!"
Sirius shouted at William, his voice causing Peter Pettigrew to shrink further, instinctively wanting to retreat, but equally immobilized by William's firm restraints.
"Blake."
Dumbledore's gentle voice seemed filled with magic, calming Sirius's agitated emotions, his expression serene—
"So, it's indeed as you said; Peter Pettigrew is alive," he glanced at the noticeably trembling Peter with a complex look, continuing, "but we need some proof that it was actually he who betrayed the Potters to Voldemort..."
"Huh? Proof?!"
Sirius seemed to have heard some absurd joke. He stared at Dumbledore, his voice laden with disbelief, "What more proof is needed? The facts are right in front of us, Peter used the Blasting Curse to kill dozens of Muggles and then escaped by transforming into a rat Animagus, making everyone believe he was dead..."
"Yeah, you have no proof!!!"
But contrastingly, upon hearing this, Peter Pettigrew seemed to clutch his last lifeline. Originally despairing and trembling on the ground, the plump man, enduring the pain in his spine, propped himself up and shouted loudly, "Clearly, you're the traitor. You cruelly killed those Muggles. I only ran away to prevent your continued violent acts from harming other innocent Muggles, hiding only because I feared your revenge—"
He shouted at Sirius loudly, his completely reversing the truth enraging the latter to the point where if looks could kill, Peter Pettigrew would have been dismembered three thousand times already.
"Professor Dumbledore! What I said is true! I can assure you!"
Peter Pettigrew shouted at Dumbledore loudly, seemingly feeling he had grasped onto hope for survival. His initially chaotic reasoning became clearer, adamantly insisting he didn't understand why Sirius would betray, his small eyes flickering continuously.
"So, you became a rat and hid in a wizard's house for over ten years?"
William squatted down, giving a thumbs up to Peter, "Impressive, I've never seen someone with more perseverance than you." He said as he raised his eyebrows at Ron who was being guarded by Professor McGonagall not far away. The boy already looked unwell, and upon hearing William's comment, he almost vomited.
"Yeah... yeah, actually, because at the time, I knew quite a few secrets of other Death Eaters, I feared they would retaliate against me!"
Hearing William's remark, Peter Pettigrew suddenly had a bad premonition, yet he continued defiantly, breaking into tears, "My family only had my mother left, I could only pretend to be dead so they wouldn't threaten me with my family— I, I was terrified!!"
"Bah!"
Sirius angrily spat at Peter, but Peter didn't dodge, allowing the spittle to land on his face while continuing to tremble, "Sirius was exposed by me, he murdered my best friend James! I was so furious at the time I thought to duel him, but I was utterly no match for him—"
"You're full of lies!"
"If it truly is as you say, Peter, then you should have come to me at the time, I could readily protect you and your mother—"
Dumbledore sighed, seeming to believe Peter Pettigrew's claims. This expression of apparent belief flooded Peter's face with uncontrollable joy and excitement, although he forced himself to restrain those emotions, his face once more displaying profound regret.
"Professor, I was just too scared, I didn't expect even Blake to be the Dark... You-Know-Who's follower! He hid so deeply. I feared there were others like him among us, which nearly scared me out of my wits, ultimately forcing me to hide."
Peter's words were extremely sincere, accompanied by perfectly timed trembling, his performance at least earning an Oscar nomination.
"Dumbledore?!"
Seeing his most esteemed Professor actually trust the nonsense coming from Peter, Sirius opened his mouth wide but had no idea how to begin, because he suddenly realized, Peter Pettigrew had just spoken all his lines!
"But..."
Dumbledore suddenly changed his tone, looking at Sirius with a calm voice, "Everything Black has said overturns all his previous confessions, so this matter might require another Wizengamot Court hearing. Peter, you'll need to attend, you have no objections, right?"
"Of course!"
Peter Pettigrew agreed ecstatically, seeing a hope for survival, and now this hope was growing...
"Wait, objection!"
Just when everything seemed settled, Lupin's trembling voice suddenly sounded from behind them, seemingly shaking with anger, his bloodshot eyes fixating on Peter Pettigrew, whose smile instantly vanished and face turned pale, he murmured, "Remus..."
But Lupin merely took a deep breath, furrowing his brows, looking at Dumbledore, "Professor, that matter happened over a decade ago, now, not to mention letting Black or Peter Pettigrew try to find evidence, even if the Ministry of Magic wanted to retry the case, it would be very difficult if..."
Lupin's words clearly indicated his distrust in the Ministry, which was well-founded — a Merlin Third-Class Order recipient might actually be the true criminal, which would be too much of a shock for the Ministry of Magic, and someone might resort to foul play during this—
"Rest assured, Professor Lupin, I can completely ensure the safety of Black and Mr. Pettigrew."
Finally, a short, stout man wiped his sweat as he squeezed through the crowd, standing beside Peter, glancing at the sharp-nosed short, stout man, an imperceptible annoyance flashed across his face before he earnestly looked at Dumbledore, "Professor, rest assured, we..."
"...No, Fudge, I'm not assured."
Dumbledore shook his head, not giving any face.
"..."
Fudge opened his mouth wide, seemingly not expecting Dumbledore to say that, his face became stiff.
"Cornelius, I do wish to believe you, but as Professor Lupin said, this matter seems to have too many connections, like what Peter Pettigrew just mentioned, he knows some Death Eaters' secrets, there might be something in between... So, maybe keeping them at Hogwarts..."
Dumbledore didn't complete his sentence, but everyone understood — he referred to those "loose ends" from the past.
But back then, Fudge was not the Minister of Magic, so this matter had nothing to do with him, yet the man's face was still unsightly, he gritted his teeth and continued, "No, Dumbledore, Hogwarts is not a prison, what you're suggesting doesn't comply with procedures—"
"...Tsk."
Watching the two begin persuading each other, William, who had already retreated to the side, couldn't help but rub his brow.
He probably guessed why Dumbledore behaved that way just now; this case was indeed an old miscarriage of justice, reopening it was hard, but with Dumbledore's status and means, it was still possible, except...
Fudge arrived too soon.
Who knows how this fat man got the news, almost as soon as Peter was captured by him, Fudge was already at the school.
And upon arriving at the school, he proposed taking Sirius Black back to Azkaban, which Dumbledore naturally was unwilling to do. The two had already been "playing tai chi" for half a day, and it's the same now; if Fudge took Sirius away, he might take some "emergency measures" to keep his term "clean."
Like giving Sirius a Dementor's Kiss and then declaring it an accident externally.
However, Dumbledore couldn't just oppose Fudge without any reason, he at least needed a pretext, so he showed confidence in Peter Pettigrew to stabilize Fudge, demonstrating he had no intention of reopening the case to lower Fudge's vigilance.
Then let Lupin raise objections, trying to keep Sirius in the castle under their watch.
The method was convoluted, but as Dumbledore said, if you want to deal with Fudge, you must do it this way.
But clearly, Fudge seemed unwilling to cooperate; he was determined to take Sirius away, evidently, his trust in Dumbledore was not like before...
Just as the two were conversing, William suddenly felt his garment being tugged, instinctively lowering his head to find Harry looking up at him confusedly, the boy opened his mouth but didn't make a sound, yet William seemed to understand his question—
Who really is the "culprit?"
"..."
William didn't answer, he lifted his head, frowning again as he looked at Fudge, still going back and forth with Dumbledore, he felt an inexplicable irritation build within him, dealing with such a fool was far too troublesome, so he simply stopped enduring and directly rolled up his sleeves, then moved forward and patted Fudge's shoulder.
"...Who are you?"
Fudge turned his head, somewhat confusedly looking at William, instinctively asking.
"I found you seem uninterested in reasoning, but that's okay, I know a bit about fists."
"Bang—"
William threw a punch directly at Fudge's fat face, and the man's chubby face quivered, creating a faint "ripple."