I Will Forgive Neither of You

"Headmaster Dumbledore, they are Loren's parents, right?" Hermione asked in a hoarse voice.

"I think so," Dumbledore said softly, his voice filled with deep sorrow.

Hermione's heart ached. She had no other thoughts at the moment, only wanting to return to Loren's side immediately and give him a hug with all her might.

Arthur scratched his head, looking at the two of them somewhat bewildered. "Headmaster Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore shook his head at him without explaining anything.

Exit of the Magic Department Hall.

Arthur saw the two of them outside, his face filled with worry. He wanted to say something, but didn't know how to express it.

He deduced something from the surname Morgan: that Loren had done a great favor for his family by finding Wormtail Peter, who had been hiding in their home, as soon as he enrolled in school.

Ron's two best friends are Loren Morgan and Harry Potter.

Upon suddenly learning that Loren's parents had died because of Sirius Black and Wormtail Peter, one being their benefactor and the other a fellow member of the Order of the Phoenix... Arthur didn't know how to describe his current thoughts, and sighed incessantly the whole way.

Dumbledore, holding Hermione as she looked dazed, said softly, "That Flying Car has a loud horn, and they always park it in the Forbidden Forest. Many animals want to get rid of it as soon as possible."

Arthur looked on in astonishment. "George and Fred said it was torn to pieces by the Whomping Willow— "

He suddenly realized what was happening and said angrily, "Don't worry, Professor, I'll handle this as soon as possible."

"Those two mischievous boys, I wonder how they managed to convince Percy to help them keep it a secret..."

Arthur kept muttering to himself until Dumbledore nodded at him, and a crisp popping sound filled the air.

"Bang!"

Dumbledore and Hermione disappeared from the spot, and Arthur stared blankly at the place where the two had disappeared. After a long while, he sighed.

"Merlin..."

Back in the Headmaster's office, the clear chirping of the Fawkes the Phoenix snapped Hermione out of her reverie. She unconsciously turned her head left and right, and the familiar furnishings made her feel her empty heart slowly return to solidity.

"Headmaster, I want to go see Loren," Hermione said, her voice soft and ethereal, like the sound of wind passing through a valley on High Mountain.

"I'd like to speak with you first, Hermione." Dumbledore pursed his lips, gripped his wand, and flicked a beam of silver light out the window.

Hermione heard a cry outside the window that sounded just like Fawkes's, but she didn't care what it meant.

"Professor, please speak." Hermione stood ramrod straight beside the desk, her body as taut as a beech tree.

Dumbledore paused for a moment, and the little Witch herself was unaware that her unconscious body language was urging the conversation to end as soon as possible.

The old headmaster took off his hat and overcoat, sat back down behind his desk, poured her a steaming cup of black tea, and guided the little Witch to calm her anxious emotions through his actions.

"You and Loren have a deep bond, and I know you care about Loren. Because of this care, we need to make some plans."

Still reeling from the news she'd recently received, Hermione didn't have time to think it through. She looked up blankly and asked, "What does that mean?"

"I don't know if you've noticed, but the bloodshot in Sirius Black's eyes hasn't gone away. Madam Pomfrey told me that he hasn't been able to get a good night's sleep since he came to Hogwarts." Dumbledore poured two more cups of tea, placing one in front of him and leaving the other to cool.

"You mean, Loren cursed Professor Black?" Hermione's face paled even more.

Dumbledore's deep blue eyes gleamed with an inexplicable light, his gaze profound. "It's not a curse. In order not to alarm Loren, I didn't dispel the strange Magic Power hidden in Sirius Black, but I could sense that it wouldn't harm his life."

For some reason, Hermione felt a sense of relief but also a growing anxiety, and her eyes welled up with tears.

Even though the person who killed Loren's parents was right in front of him, he still maintained restraint while casting the spell.

Thinking about all this, Hermione felt her heart was like a piece of chewing gum, being stretched, twisted, and bent... a heartache that twisted and turned endlessly.

Dumbledore, equally conflicted, took a sip of tea and carefully began, "I would like to ask for your help in mediating the feud between Loren and Sirius Black, or at least, at least in calming Loren down... I hope he will be willing to accept Sirius Black's compensation."

"Professor," Hermione looked directly at him, "I cannot agree to this."

Since entering Hogwarts, Hermione has always held the school's professors in the highest esteem, but this time, she refused the headmaster's request without hesitation.

"Loren's parents have been murdered. We cannot, should not, and must not make any decisions for him lightly, even if it is in his best interests."

Dumbledore wanted to try to persuade her again, but Hermione didn't give him a chance to speak, saying seriously, "Professor, those are his parents! They've been murdered."

Dumbledore stunned and could say nothing more.

A silent stillness fell over the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore had turned the portraits of past headmasters on the wall sometime during the night. Fawkes, huddled in the Sorting Hat on the shelf, only occasionally peeked out, peering at the two. The various silver items on the desk had also been put away, making room for them.

Hermione's wish was not fulfilled. She saw Dumbledore get up, go into the cubicle, pick up a Stone Basin, walk to the table, and place it in the empty space of the silverware.

The shallow Stone Basin, its rim carved with mysterious runes, contains a substance that exists in a form between liquid and gas, like a piece of bright silver, constantly swirling, coalescing, and dispersing like clouds and flowing water, or ripples on a deep surface. It is light transformed into liquid, yet also wind solidified into solid.

"This is the Pensieve. I think Harry may have mentioned it to you. I once took him on a tour of some memories from the last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened," Dumbledore said.

If it were Hermione in her normal state, she might have asked questions about the principles of magic with great interest, or tried to decipher the Runes engraved on the outside of the Stone Basin.

But now, Hermione simply raised her head and looked at Dumbledore with a puzzled expression.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, Sirius Black's voice came from outside. "Headmaster Dumbledore, it's me!"

"Please come in."

"What do you want from your Patronus?" Sirius Black walked in from outside, panting. His clothes were disheveled, and although his eyes were bloodshot, he was in good spirits.

Hermione guessed that he had just been playing around with Harry and Ron, maybe even chasing Flying Motorcycle on Flying Car.

The little Witch stared intently at him, making it impossible for Sirius Black to miss her. "Hey! Miss Granger, why are you looking at me like that?"

Hermione didn't answer, Dumbledore picked up the conversation, gesturing for him to sit down in front of the cooled cup of red tea. "Sirius Black, we need your memory of Wormtail Peter blowing up the street and killing twelve Muggle."

Sirius Black then noticed the Pensieve on the table, and he was somewhat puzzled.

"Wormtail? That was 12 years ago. What happened?"

Trusting Dumbledore completely, Sirius Black expressed his doubts while pulling his wand from his robes and pressing the tip against Sirius's temple, attempting to extract that fragment of memory from his mind.

The extracted memories were somewhat strange. Looking at the silvery-white substance on the tip of the staff, with streaks of crimson blood showing through, Sirius Black frowned. "Why is this happening? Did the Dementor damage my brain?"

Dumbledore looked at the crimson streak with a complex expression. What exquisite soul magic, what a brilliant design and ingenuity...

He took the wand and flicked it a few times, and the blood-red impurities dissipated into the air.

Then, the wisp of silvery-white substance was added to the Pensieve. Without any hindrance, this wisp of substance merged with the original substances in the basin. They slowly rotated in the basin, emitting a faint glow.

"Where should we begin?" Sirius Black looked up at Dumbledore.

"Come on, you go in first." Dumbledore sighed. "Let's take a walk on that street full of misfortune."

Sirius Black picked up the cold red tea on the table and swallowed it in one gulp. He leaned forward and plunged headfirst into the silvery substance.

Hermione looked up and saw Dumbledore nodding encouragingly at her. Hermione suppressed her racing heart, took a deep breath, and, mimicking her earlier movements, plunged in.

She felt her feet leave the office floor, and before her eyes spun darkness as she fell, fell, fell... Suddenly, deafening hawking cries erupted from all directions, and when she adjusted, Dumbledore landed beside her.

Following Sirius Black's perspective, they chased after Wormtail Peter all the way to the end of that bustling street...

Hermione immediately noticed the young couple chatting and laughing, and their child with a candy in their arms.

She instinctively moved closer. At that time, Loren had black hair and black eyes, and the curly hair on his forehead was still very fine and messy.

Seeing him groan twice and then turn over to sleep, Hermione's heart trembled, and that agonizing feeling welled up again.

... The explosion turned the street upside down. When blood soaked through her sky-blue dress, Hermione could no longer hold back. Large tears fell continuously, splashing on the ground like silvery water droplets.

She felt as if a piece of her chest had been ripped out, as if someone had stabbed it away with a knife.

That child whose Magic Surge... Sirius Black stood still, opened his mouth, his expression shifting several times, but he couldn't say anything.

"Now, there are no more questions..." Dumbledore sighed, grasping Hermione's elbow and giving it a gentle tug.

In the blink of an eye, Hermione flew higher and higher in the darkness as if weightless, and finally landed steadily back in the Headmaster's office. The daylight from outside shone in through the window, making her feel a little dazed.

Sirius Black slumped into his chair, muttering dejectedly, "I... I almost killed Loren."

Gryffindor Common Room.

The window was half-open, leaving a gap of about half a hand's width, and a comfortable breeze blew in, turning the pages of the parchment book.

Loren lay on a single sofa, listening to the rustling of pages as he made up for his early morning drowsiness.

Silver light flew in through the window, and a tiny Phoenix Patronus landed on his shoulder, cautiously approaching and pecking at his ear.

Dumbledore's deep voice rang out. "Loren, come to my office."

Loren opened his eyes and blinked a few times. Ignoring the sound of the mirror shattering beside him, he slowly got up and walked towards the Headmaster's office.

The moment he pushed open the Oak Door, a beautiful figure rushed towards him and hugged him tightly. Even through her clothes, he could feel the softness of her body.

"Loren, Loren ..." Hermione repeated his name in a tearful voice, "I don't know, I don't know..."

The scalding steam from the girl's mouth and nose warmed his heart, but the little Witch's grip on his back was so tight that Loren was both amused and exasperated.

Loren patted the girl on the shoulder and teased her softly, "You can hug her when we get back; there are people watching."

Hermione was so angry she wanted to bite him twice.

Loren released his embrace, pulled the girl behind him, and calmly looked at the two people at the table. "What do you need me for, Headmaster Dumbledore?"

"It's not me, it's Sirius Black," Dumbledore said softly, turning his gaze to Sirius Black.

Sirius Black tried to force a smile, but he just couldn't manage it.

The thought that he had destroyed a wizard's family lingered in Sirius Black's mind.

"I'm sorry, Loren. I didn't know you and your family were there at the time. By the time I realized you Magic Surge and become a wizard, it was already too late. I was so angry then, all I could think about was chasing that damn Wormtail Peter ..."

Sirius Black hurriedly offered a long explanation.

Loren remained calm as if he hadn't heard a thing, his gaze fixed on Dumbledore, his tone enigmatic. "Headmaster Dumbledore, what do you want me to do?"

His tone was flat and monotone, Hermione took his hand with some concern.

Dumbledore seemed to have made up his mind. "Although I hoped you could resolve this peacefully, Hermione convinced me that none of us have the right to advise you on any decision, so—"

He stretched out his hand, took a few steps back, and stood against the wall of the Headmaster's office, leaving the main space of the room to Loren and Sirius Black, indicating that they should handle the matter themselves.

Despite sensing that something was wrong with Loren's attitude, Sirius Black still held onto a sliver of hope. "I'm willing to pay any price to atone for my mistakes. I sincerely beg for your forgiveness, Mr. Morgan."

"Stop your hypocritical act. Fake apologies are just ugly and disgusting!" Loren said calmly. "If you were truly remorseful, you wouldn't be plagued by nightmares every night, and your eyes wouldn't still be bloodshot."

"I lived in a children's Fawley for several years. It was in a remote location and was short of funds. There was a dangerous neighborhood nearby. During those years, drug addicts, thieves, robbers, and hippies were always coming and going in that neighborhood. You could always see the police chasing criminals."

"No matter how important the criminal is, the police will slow down when they chase them to a crowded place. They are worried that the criminals will panic and make desperate attempts to escape. Because mistakes made by criminals during the chase will be blamed on the police and the government, Muggle police care about the lives of Muggle."

"Mr. Black, you have no remorse for killing Muggle. If I hadn't become a wizard, you would never have thought of those twelve unlucky guys on the streets of Hampshire in November 1981."

Sirius Black seemed to have been struck, his body trembling slightly. A secret he hadn't even been aware of himself had been exposed, laid bare before everyone's eyes.

"I will not forgive either you or Wormtail Peter."