Yes, Minister (12,000 words)

Upon hearing Harry's words, the professors exchanged glances, hesitating whether to tell Harry what was to come.

They weren't afraid that Harry would confront Black. Harry's strength had already been proven; even a group of hundreds of Dementor couldn't stop Harry. Did you expect Black to fight him?

He doesn't have that ability, you know that?

"Tell him, things can't get any worse anyway." Dumbledore noticed the professors' hesitation.

"Okay, I'll explain."

Professor McGonagall took a couple of quick breaths and said to Harry, "This all started with a Prophecy that said the Voldemort knew that a child born at the end of July would be his Prophecy, so he set his sights on your family."

"As you know, Dumbledore has always been tirelessly opposed to the Dark Lord. He has many capable spies—one of whom told Dumbledore about this, Dumbledore immediately told James and Lily." Professor McGonagall said, grabbing her collar, "Dumbledore advised them to hide. He told them that their best chance was the Fidelius Charm."

"You should know this Charms, Harry," Professor Dumbledore said. "Mr. LeMay's Alchemy Room is protected by this Charms."

Professor Flitwick cleared his throat.

"A very complex spell," he said in a high-pitched voice, "Involving the existence of the soul—this spell uses magic to hide a secret within the soul of a living person, a secret hidden in the heart of the chosen one, or the Secret Keeper, from which it can never be discovered—unless, of course, the Secret Keeper intends to reveal it. As long as the Secret Keeper refuses to speak, even if the Dark Lord searches the village where the Potters have lived for many years, he will never find them, not even if he flattens his nose against the glass window outside their living quarters!"

"You mean—" Harry quickly grasped the crux of the matter. "Sirius Black was my parents' Secret Keeper?"

"Yes, Harry, yes," Professor McGonagall sighed. "Your father James told Dumbledore that Black would rather die than reveal their whereabouts, and that Black himself intended to hide... Even so, Dumbledore was still worried—I remember he offered to be the Potters ' Secret Keeper."

Harry was stunned.

"You mean, Professor Dumbledore offered to be my parents' Secret Keeper?" he asked. "Did my father refuse?"

"Yes, your father believes in friendship," Professor McGonagall said, shaking her head.

Harry took a deep breath.

"Is he an idiot?" he almost roared. "Why not choose Professor Dumbledore as the Secret Keeper— could Voldemort really arrest and torture Professor Dumbledore? Or would Professor Dumbledore betray Voldemort and side with him?"

The professors present all turned their heads away; they didn't want to answer Harry's question.

Now that you mention it...

That makes your dad look really stupid.

Harry found it hard to accept—but since these were the things the professors had said, he had to accept the fact.

It seems Professor Snape was right; Dad has always been that kind of person—arrogant and conceited. If he had been even a little more normal, perhaps Mom wouldn't have died.

"We've had a spy on our side all along," Professor Flitwick exclaimed sharply. "He's been tipping off the Dark Lord, telling him about our movements—at first we wondered who this person was, but then the truth came out."

"Yes, less than a week after the Fidelius Charm was cast—" Professor Sprout said with a sigh, "Black betrayed them, Voldemort found the Potters ' hideout in Godric's Hollow and killed them—and then you know what happened, Harry."

"He failed you, lost his magic, and became extremely weak, so he had no choice but to run away," Professor McGonagall added. "This puts Black in a dilemma. He had just exposed his true colors as a traitor, and his master had fallen, so he had no choice but to run for his life. "Harry sat in his chair, silent.

"Oh, if only we had caught him then," Professor McGonagall said painfully. "It wasn't us who found him, but Pettigrew —another friend of Potter's —who must have gone mad with grief. He knew that Black had been the Potters ' Secret Keeper, so he went after Black himself."

Pettigrew?

Harry looked up from his silence. He felt the name was familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

Where exactly is it? he wondered.

"Pettigrew? I remember him—" Professor Flitwick said in a shrill voice, "That chubby little boy, always following behind Potter and Black, quiet and reserved, a very honest-looking child..."

"He idolizes Potter and Black," Professor McGonagall's voice was hoarse, as if she had a cold. "You know, Pettigrew seems to have absolutely no reason to play with Potter and Black— you know, he's not very bright, and I'm often harsh with him, but now, you can imagine how—how much I regret it—"

At this point, Professor McGonagall burst into tears.

She reached out and wiped away her tears, letting out two sobs.

"Well, Minerva," Professor Flitwick said in a shrill voice, "You should be glad, because Pettigrew died a heroic death. The witnesses—oh, the Muggle, of course the Ministry of Magic erased their memories afterward—told us how Pettigrew Black. They said he was sobbing. ' Lily and James, Sirius! How could you!' — And then he picked up his wand."

"Of course, Black was faster, and Pettigrew was blown to pieces," Professor McGonagall added, her voice trembling with grief. "My God—we only found his fingers at the scene—..."

At this point, Professor McGonagall sniffed and said excitedly, "Silly boy, foolish boy—he always does terribly in duels; the Ministry of Magic should handle it—..."

"Do you remember their nicknames at school?" Professor Flitwick patted his chair and said, "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs —they were inseparable friends, but what exactly were they?"

"Etc!"

Harry suddenly stood up. Hearing this, he suddenly remembered where he had seen the name Pettigrew.

He quickly pulled the Marauder's Map from his wallet, placed it on the table, and asked Professor Flitwick, "You mean—the four of them—who are they?"

"Let me explain," Professor Dumbledore suddenly said.

Everyone turned to look at Dumbledore.

"The Moony is Remus Lupin, our Dark Arts professor," Professor Dumbledore explained to Harry. "Wormtail is Pettigrew, Padfoot are Sirius Black, and Prongs..."

"It's my dad, James," Harry replied.

"Yes, that's their nickname," Dumbledore said, nodding.

"But I've seen Pettigrew's name before, right here on this map." Harry patted the map.

"What is this?" Dumbledore asked with interest. "Oh, I think I've seen it before. It once belonged to your father, then fell into the hands of those two Weasley family rascals, and now it's back in your hands, hasn't it?"

"Yes," Harry said, unfolding the map. "This is a Marauder's Map —it records in real time any location in Hogwarts and anyone who appears Hogwarts."

With that, Harry extended a finger and pointed it to the center of the map.

"I solemnly swear that I will not do anything bad," he said.

Everyone looked down at the map, and fine, spiderweb-like ink lines immediately appeared from where the wand had touched it. These lines converged and intersected, extending to every corner of the Parchment; then, words began to appear at the top of the Parchment, large, curved green letters:

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, the suppliers of magical prankster aids, proudly present the Marauder's Marauder's Map."

"It certainly sounds like James's invention," Professor McGonagall said confidently. "Good heavens, if I had known James and his friends were making this kind of thing at the school, I would have confiscated it long ago."

"Yes, a solemn oath that I will not do good deeds, what a mischievous masterpiece—" Professor Flitwick said regretfully.

"But what does that have to do with this map?" Professor Sprout asked.

"I've seen Pettigrew's name on this map, right here—" Harry found the Great Hall and indeed found Pettigrew, who was with— Ron?!

The professors crowded around to take a look, and sure enough, that was the case.

But Professor McGonagall frowned and said, "That's impossible, Pettigrew is already dead."

-

We all know about this—... and who knows if there's something wrong with the map—."

"One of the people involved in creating this map is currently at the university," Professor Dumbledore suggested. "Perhaps we could call Professor Lupin in and ask him what exactly happened?"

"I'll go and have Peeves him right now," Professor Flitwick said.

"See you in the Headmaster's Office, Harry," Professor Dumbledore said to Harry. "Perhaps you could ask Miss Grindelwald to come with you to the Headmaster's Office."

"Yes, Professor." Harry nodded quickly.

Veratia was still sleeping in the Slytherin. When Harry walked over, he found her and Cassandra stretching their long legs and kicking each other, making some little fuss.

"Hey." Harry walked over and had just said "Hey" when Veratia grabbed his leg and pulled him down.

"Hmph, you actually delivered yourself to my doorstep." Veratia leaned forward, half-pressing Harry down. "Ready to pay the price, my little...?"

"It's urgent," Harry said quickly. "I've found information about Sirius Black." Hearing Harry's words, Veratia sat up abruptly.

"You mean Black, the one who wanted to kill you?" she asked. "Where is he?"

"Come with me to the Headmaster's Office first," Harry said, then added, not forgetting to ignore Cassandra, "Cassandra, you're coming too."

"It's rare that you still remembered to invite me, Potter," Cassandra said casually, lying on the ground. "I thought that philandering cat had blinded you to everyone else."

To be honest, that's a difficult question to answer.

Harry coughed twice and said to her, "Come on, let's get together."

When the three of them arrived at the Headmaster's Office, they happened to see Lupin and Snape, who looked travel-worn.

Unsurprisingly, Snape showed extreme disgust the moment he saw Lupin.

Harry now understood why Snape treated Lupin this way, not only because of the previous incident where Boggart Snape was dressed in women's clothing, but also because Lupin was part of his father's clique.

"Professor Lupin, Professor Snape," Harry greeted them politely.

"Harry." Professor Lupin smiled gently, but his face betrayed his exhaustion.

It's clear he's been really tired lately—nobody knows what he's been doing.

After everyone was seated, Dumbledore took out the Marauder's Map.

"Remus," he said, "You should recognize this map, shouldn't you?"

Upon seeing the map, Professor Lupin's face showed a look of reminiscence.

"Of course I remember," he said gently. "This is a map that James and I made together—I must say, it would be hard to find such outstanding young men as them. This map is truly a masterpiece, and it's all thanks to the potion that James stole from the Potter Family's vault."

Upon hearing Lupin's words, everyone involuntarily cursed him as a spendthrift.

Everyone knows that a potion capable of creating Marauder's Map must be extremely rare; otherwise, it would be impossible to create such a map that can display a person's location in real time.

"Harry told me he saw a name on this map," Professor Dumbledore said, "The name of a dead man."

Lupin immediately shook his head in denial. "Impossible, absolutely impossible—if you look closely, you'll find that the map doesn't even show the names of ghosts, so how could it show people who are already dead?"

Who is that person?

Dumbledore uttered a name that was both unimaginable and something he was eagerly anticipating.

"Pettigrew," he said.

Professor Lupin's dark gray pupils contracted sharply. He froze on the spot, then pressed his hand to his chest and gasped for breath.

Even Snape was similarly stunned, standing there in a daze.

After a long pause, Professor Lupin finally came to his senses and asked in a hoarse voice, "You mean—you saw Peter on this map?"

"Yes, he's in the Great Hall of Hogwarts right now," Professor Dumbledore said confidently. "According to the map, he's right next to Ron Weasley— " "I think the map might be wrong," Professor Snape suddenly said. "I just checked around Mr. Weasley, and there's nothing around him except that silly girl and his Little Parrot —I don't think that fat Pettigrew from Gryffindor would be with him."

"No!" Professor Lupin suddenly said.

Everyone turned to look at him, only to find him bracing himself on the stool, staring intently at the location of Peter on the map.

"Back then— James and the others practiced Animagus together for my sake— James ' Animagus form was a stag, Sirius was a big Black Dog, and Peter was a mouse."

Upon hearing "a big Black Dog," a chilling glint immediately flashed in Veratia's eyes.

She remembered the big Black Dog that had repeatedly interrupted her good time...

It seems it's time to find it in the Forbidden Forest, Veratia thought with a dangerous expression.

Lupin remained intently focused on the map: "If Peter were now Animagus— "

"I remember now!" Harry exclaimed suddenly. "Scabbers! Ron's pet—I remember him telling us that Scabbers had lived with them for twelve years!"

"Yes, can a house mouse live for twelve years?" he added. "But I didn't think about it at the time—besides, Professor Flitwick just mentioned that the explosion caused by Sirius Black detonated an entire street, and Peter's body was never found; all that was discovered was his fingers."

"Ron's Scabbers— " Veratia murmured, "And he's missing a finger on his front paw too!"

"Professor Dumbledore!" Lupin exclaimed immediately. "I suspect there's something fishy going on—if Sirius betrayed Lily and James, why would Peter hide his identity and stay in the Weasley family as a rat?"

"Good heavens!" Phineas in the portrait suddenly cried out, "I knew it! I knew my great-grandson couldn't be that kind of person —Dumbledore! Please—he may be a disgrace to the Black family home, but Black family home's the only heir left—"

Dumbledore nodded at the portrait of Phineas.

"Severus," he glanced at Snape, "I think you should prepare some appropriate things to deal with what's going to happen in a little while."

"Truth Serum, is that it?" Professor Snape grinned slyly, then turned to Harry and reached into his pocket to pull out a small vial.

He glanced at Veratia and Cassandra sitting behind Harry, and said in a sinister tone, "I think you've heard of this potion, haven't you? Potter? Just a tiny drop, in your Pumpkin Juice —and your secret of who you prefer will be revealed to everyone—."

Harry would swear to the lamp that Snape did it on purpose.

He did this so that the two girls behind him would have a problem with him!

However, Snape gave him a sinister smile and placed the bottle of Truth Serum on the table.

"Let's go to the Great Hall," Professor Dumbledore said. "If Ron's mouse is indeed Scabbers, right? If Scabbers is Pettigrew, then—we might be able to clear an innocent person's name."

They went together into the Great Hall and came to Ron, who was whispering to Hermione.

"Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonagall said, "Come with us."

Ron raised his head, trembling, and saw an all-star lineup— the Headmaster and the deans of the four colleges.

Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor...

Good heavens, I was just whispering a few words with Hermione, did they really need to send so many people to arrest me?

What exactly did I do wrong—what crime?

"Where's your mouse?" Dumbledore asked. "Its name is Scabbers —right?"

"Here it is." Ron pulled the soundly sleeping Scabbers out of his sleeping bag. "It's asleep, oh my god."

It's too old.

"Bring him to the Headmaster's Office with us. We have something to ask you," Dumbledore said. "Also, Hermione, I know you're worried about Ron, so—if you're not in a hurry to go to sleep, you can come with us."

Hermione's gossipy nature was now impossible to hide, and her eyes widened like saucers.

Upon hearing Dumbledore's words, Hermione did not hesitate for a moment and immediately climbed out of her sleeping bag.

Why would Hermione refuse an opportunity to be there in person and witness the drama firsthand?

As they approached the Headmaster's Office, Scabbers slowly woke up.

It seemed to be a little drowsy, turning around and looking around. When it saw Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, it involuntarily shuddered.

When it saw Lupin, it began to struggle violently.

"Hey hey squeak...

The sound was like that of a pig being led to the slaughter, struggling and even biting Ron.

Ron cried out in pain and let go of her hand. Scabbers fell to the ground and began to run away quickly into the distance.

"It bit me!" Ron said in disbelief. "It actually bit me, oh my god—"

"Accio!" Lupin flicked his wand and caught the fleeing Scabbers in his hand.

Once held in Lupin's hand, Scabbers stopped struggling, seemingly resigned to its fate, trembling in Lupin's grasp.

They walked all the way to the Headmaster's Office. Ron kept looking at Lupin, but he realized that Lupin had no intention of returning Scabbers to him.

"Professor Lupin," Ron asked tentatively, "Could you please give me back Scabbers?"

"Oh, child," Lupin said with some regret, "I'm afraid that's not possible, because we are discussing an important case, and perhaps the rat in my hand—your pet of twelve years, Scabbers —is the mastermind behind it all."

The mouse screamed again, like a pig being slaughtered.

"Scabbers?" Ron immediately looked incredulous. "How could that be? It's just a mouse."

What kind of cases can it handle?

"This is a case from twelve years ago, Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonagall said solemnly. "Your pet Scabbers —well, allow me to clarify, it's not a mouse, it's a person."

It's Animagus!

"Yes, he is a 'friend' that I, Sirius, and Harry's father all share."

1

"—" Lupin emphasized on "Friends": "Pettigrew!"

"Animagus?" Hermione was stunned. She racked her brains, trying to remember, and defended Ron, "Impossible, Professor! If there were such an Animagus, people would know! You taught us about it in Transfiguration Class, and I looked it up when I finished my homework— the Ministry of Magic monitors wizards and witches who can transform into animals, and there are records showing what animals they've transformed into, as well as their markings and possessions—I checked the records, and there are only seven Animagus this century, and Pettigrew's name isn't on that list!"

Professor McGonagall smiled with satisfaction; this was undoubtedly the happiest thing for her that evening.

"If this were in class, I would give you extra points, Miss Granger." Professor McGonagall nodded with satisfaction. "But now I need to teach you something that books won't teach you, which is—illegal Animagus exist in this world, that is, unregistered Animagus —including Harry's father, Sirius Black, and Pettigrew."

"But Scabbers is Scabbers!" Ron still couldn't quite accept it. "It's my pet mouse, it's been living in my house for a while now—."

"Twelve years, right?" Professor Lupin said. "Can a normal mouse live for twelve years?"

After saying that, he put the mouse on the ground.

Professor McGonagall drew her wand, pointed it at Scabbers, and cast a counter-spell on Animagus.

The wand emitted a blue-white light, and Scabbers, under the influence of the Charms, was suspended in mid-air, its small black body writhing wildly.

Ron cried out in distress—after all, it was the mouse he spent every day with, the mouse he even cuddled while sleeping.

The mouse fell to the ground, and then there was another dazzling flash, like a fast-forwarded shot of a tree growing. A human head appeared on the mouse's body, and soon after, its limbs also emerged.

A little while later, a man stood where Scabbers had been, trembling and wringing his hands.

This man was very short, not much taller Professor Flitwick— only about a head taller.

His thin, light-colored hair was disheveled, and he had a large bald patch on his head, making him look like an obese person who had lost a lot of weight in a short period of time.

Moreover, his skin looked very dirty, almost like his Scabbers fur, and his pointed nose and watery little eyes had the characteristics of a mouse.

He looked at everyone, his breathing rapid and weak.

"Oh, hello there, Peter," Lupin said cheerfully, as if it were common for mice to turn into old classmates around him. "Long time no see."

Ron, who had been standing, plopped down on the ground, covering his mouth with one hand and pointing at Pettigrew with the other, making a "" sound, too shocked to speak.

Anyone would find it hard to remain calm upon discovering that their pet has turned into a bald, middle-aged, sleazy man, let alone Ron.

"Remus?" Pettigrew's voice was high-pitched, like a mouse's. "My old friends—and the professors, it's been a long time—"

"We need to get some things sorted out, Peter," Lupin said seriously. "Now that we've brought you to the Headmaster's Office —you know what that means, right? We know what you've done. You betrayed James and Lily? Right? You sold them out to the Dark Lord?"

"Oh—" Pettigrew rolled his eyes. "How could this be? How could this be? You all know that James and Lily's Secret Keeper is, is, Sirius— "

As he spoke, Pettigrew turned to look at Harry.

"Harry, Harry, right? My goodness, you look just like James, just like your father—"

"How dare you mention James!" Lupin said coldly. "How dare you bring him up!"

"James is—" Pettigrew's eyes darted around, "but he's my friend,

Why—

Lupin stared at him coldly, and after a long while, he sighed as if he was exhausted.

"Severus," he said.

Without saying a word, Snape walked up to Pettigrew and picked up the bottle of Truth Serum from the Headmaster's Office's desk.

"Snot—.— Severus—." Pettigrew looked at Snape in horror.

However, the moment he uttered "snot" without adding the last word, Snape's eyes instantly flashed with extreme disgust.

Without saying a word, he pinched Pettigrew's mouth shut and poured the entire bottle of Truth Serum into it.

After being force-fed like that, Pettigrew coughed for a while and it took him a long time to recover.

"Tell me," Lupin asked first, "How did you betray James and Lily? Why did you join the Dark Lord's faction?"

"I didn't want to—I didn't want to!" Pettigrew cried, "You know, that Dark Lord — the Dark Lord is very powerful, he has power that ordinary people can't match—even you would be afraid, right?"

"So how did you betray James and Lily?" Lupin asked again.

"Ah, ah—" Pettigrew his neck. "Well, it's not my fault—it was Sirius. Sirius thought he'd be targeted by the Death Eater, so he took it upon himself to suggest I be the Secret Keeper because I'm a coward and won't attract attention—that big idiot James actually thought our friendship was unbreakable, so he agreed to Sirius's suggestion, and the Secret Keeper was secretly changed to me—oh my god—."

Harry clenched his fists tightly, forcing himself to refrain from throwing out any Harmless Minor Curses.

Veratia reached out and took Harry's fist, gently patting his hand to calm him down.

"Then why didn't he hurt Harry?" Hermione asked, frowning. "I mean, we all know that someone under the influence of Truth Serum won't lie, so why didn't he harm Harry even after he sided with the Dark Lord and lived in the Gryffindor Common Room for almost three years?"

Hermione said this, and everyone looked at Pettigrew with curiosity.

Suddenly, Pettigrew looked terrified.

"My God, silly girl, maybe only you think that way—" Pettigrew said, trembling, "Harm Harry? I doubt any normal person would even consider that. I saw him fight the Dark Lord with my own eyes—back when you were in your first year, he used the Cruciatus Curse the moment he saw the Dark Lord —and the second time he encountered the Dark Lord, he used Avada Kedavra without hesitation—otherwise, how do you think Quirrell died? Believe me, silly girl, this kid is more terrifying than the Dark Lord— "

Hermione looked at Harry with an "e. cue" expression.

They all knew that Harry had defeated Professor Quirrell, who was under Voldemort's control, in his first year.

But no one knew that Harry, almost without a frame, gave Professor Quirrell —or rather, Voldemort —a greeting gift: Avada Kedavra.

"Because it wouldn't do him any good, Hermione," Lupin concluded. "The Dark Lord is dead, and his master can no longer reward or punish him—because what drove him to the Dark Lord's side wasn't anything else, but fear—."

It must be said that Lupin, as expected of a friend of the mouse, hit the nail on the head.

Upon hearing Lupin's words, Pettigrew's teeth began to chatter, making a loud clattering sound.

"I'm afraid we'll need to call our Minister for Magic." Professor Dumbledore looked at Pettigrew in front of him with a glint in his eyes. "I'll send Fawkes to Cornelius. Hopefully he's still awake and can catch this show."

Pettigrew's expression suddenly turned terrified. He looked at Dumbledore with trembling eyes and knelt on the ground.

"Headmaster, Headmaster— " he kept saying, "I don't want to go to Azkaban, please, please—"

Seeing that Dumbledore was not moved by his words, he turned his gaze to Professor McGonagall.

"Professor McGonagall, how can you bear to watch your student—"

"I don't have a student like you!" Professor McGonagall roared angrily, like a lioness.

She was truly heartbroken—she had trusted Peter so much before, but reality had slapped her hard in the face.

It was this cowardly Peter who betrayed her favorite student!

"Ron, I'm a good pet, aren't I?" Pettigrew turned to Ron and stammered, "Merciful child, kind master—please don't send me to Azkaban, please save me, because I'm your mouse—."

Ron gave a polite but dismissive look and turned away.

Good heavens, you really know how to bring up the most sensitive topics!

"I hope everyone will keep this a secret," he pleaded. "If my two older brothers find out, they'll laugh at me for the rest of their lives—good heavens, sleeping with a mouse in my arms—..."

Snape, clutching the bottle of Truth Serum, had a slight smile, the first time his expressionless lips had curled into one.

"Take it easy, Ron," Harry said. "Percy did the same thing, didn't he?"

Ron's expression softened after hearing Harry's words of encouragement.

"If you put it that way, I can accept it a little better," he said.

"But I think Fudge won't help us clarify the truth so easily," Professor Dumbledore added. "As we've said, he cares more about his position as Minister for Magic than principles, and he'll run away at the first sign of trouble."

"Why?" Ron asked, stunned. "Shouldn't this be a cause for celebration? We've finally cleared a name of wrongdoing? Good heavens, Sirius has been wrongly accused for so many years—"

"That's exactly why he's upset," Hermione sighed, explaining to Ron, "It's a heavy blow to the Ministry of Magic's prestige—just think about it, letting a good person stay in Azkaban for so long for no reason—"

"Was Fudge the one who handled this case back then?" Harry suddenly asked.

"No, it's Barty Crouch the Old Barty," Professor Dumbledore said. "Most of the Death Eater were tried and convicted by him."

"Are he and Fudge on good terms?" Harry asked again.

"Not really," Professor Dumbledore said vaguely.

Harry looked around, then approached Professor McGonagall and whispered, "Professor McGonagall, do you know anything about what happened between Minister Fudge and Old Barty Crouch Sr.?"

"Oh, child." Professor McGonagall wiped away her tears and began to explain to Harry the past grievances between Fudge and Old Barty.

A short while later, Fudge arrived in the Headmaster's Office.

Albus.

He said, and then he saw so many people in the Headmaster's Office.

"It's so late, yet it's still so lively? I heard from your Phoenix Message that there's been some progress on Sirius Black's matter?"

"Yes," Dumbledore nodded, "It all has to do with this Pettigrew."

Fudge paused for a moment upon hearing Dumbledore's words.

"Pettigrew? Isn't he dead?"

"It turns out he faked his death," Professor Dumbledore explained. "He was an unregistered Animagus who had been living as a rat in the school for years, acting as a pet to some unnamed student."

As Ron lowered his head, Hermione reached out and hugged him, gently comforting him.

"We only discovered this recently," Professor Dumbledore concluded. "In short, this is the truth: the one who truly betrayed James and Lily was Pettigrew; and your so-called Azkaban fugitive Sirius Black is an innocent man—the charge against him for murdering Muggle and Pettigrew is also unfounded."

Fudge nodded stiffly, glanced at Pettigrew, and then at Lupin standing to the side.

"But just because Pettigrew alive doesn't mean Black is innocent, does it?" Fudge said, frowning.

really.

When Harry saw Fudge's behavior, he immediately understood why Dumbledore had said those things earlier.

He preferred to bring the fugitive Sirius to justice rather than arrest another Pettigrew and force him to admit the Ministry of Magic's mistakes, rather than the truth of the matter.

"I caused the explosion to Black," Pettigrew said weakly, the effects of the Truth Serum still lingering. "The truth is, only he knows that I'm James and Lily's Secret Keeper. As long as he gets into Azkaban, I'll be safe in this world—"

"One-sided testimony alone cannot clear Black's name," Fudge reiterated. "You should know that this is an established case! The Ministry of Magic has proper procedures to exonerate Black, not just rely on the words of this Pettigrew —we don't even know if we've confirmed he is Pettigrew yet!"

"Hello!"

Phineas's portrait had barely uttered a "hello" when Dumbledore intercepted it to prevent him from unleashing a torrent of abuse and unnecessarily angering Fudge.

"Can't any of us prove his identity?" Professor Sprout asked, frowning. "We are his professors, aren't even our testimonies enough?"

"But the law is the law, Lady." Fudge remained unmoved.

Harry suddenly stood up and walked over to Fudge.

Professor Dumbledore gave Harry a barely perceptible frown and shook his head, signaling him not to do anything foolish.

However, Harry gave him a reassuring look, walked over to Fudge and said, "Greetings, Minister."

"Oh, it's Harry." Fudge rubbed his eyes. "You've had a really tough time lately. Listen, son, with the Ministry of Magic around, we'll make sure you don't get hurt by Sirius Black— "

"May I speak with you in private, Your Minister?" Harry asked softly.

"Of course, my child," Fudge said with a smile as he stood up.

The two walked to a corner and Harry spoke first.

"Minister, I remember, the person who handled the Sirius case was Old Barty Crouch the Elder, wasn't it?" Harry asked in a low voice.

"Yes, my son, it was indeed Old Barty who handled Sirius Black's case." Fudge tried to appear kind, but he couldn't help but frown when he mentioned Old Barty.

Seeing Fudge's expression, Harry felt reassured.

The knowledge I learned at the Malfoy Manor a hundred years ago rushed into my mind all at once.

"If I remember correctly," Harry said with a chuckle, "Mr. Crouch was once your rival for Minister for Magic?"

Fudge's expression darkened slightly at the mention of this, but he held back and said in a cheerful tone, "It was just political competition. I still respect Mr. Crouch's character very much—you know, even his son Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch., was sent to Azkaban by him!"

Yes, of course I know.

Harry thought to himself, "It's precisely because of this that I can't compete with you for the Minister for Magic. Otherwise, would you still want to be Minister for Magic?"

Dream on!

In fact, even today, Old Barty remains his political enemy.

"What an incorruptible person he is—" Harry said with admiration. "If it were me..."

I can't help but be captivated by his personal charm.

Fudge's face darkened even more upon hearing Harry's words.

However, Harry's next words made Fudge's heart skip a beat.

"But that's impossible, Minister," Harry said, changing the subject. "You know that..."

He was instrumental in the wrongful conviction of my only family member in the world—my Godfather —who spent twelve years in Azkaban. Even if he were charismatic and incorruptible, I would never support him.

These are all political tricks that Mr. Septimus taught him back then—you should learn them.

This kind of thing can be left unsaid, but if it's said directly— Fudge would absolutely not accept it.

But if we go around in circles like this...

Fudge's breathing became rapid, as if he had grasped something.

Yes, what do I have to do with the Ministry of Magic's past wrongful convictions?

Besides, this case was handled by Barty Crouch Old Barty., and I, Cornelius Fudge, had no say in it at the time. If anyone should take the blame, it should be you...

Everyone knows that taking the blame yourself is absolutely unacceptable, but making your political enemies take the blame—"

Even a political idiot understands what this really means.

Once he's branded with this false accusation, it means he'll never be able to get his hands on the Minister for Magic again.

The possibility of being threatened in one's position...

Seeing that Fudge was gradually becoming interested, Harry continued to fuel the fire.

"Of course, I know that Your Minister has always taken the happiness of ordinary wizards as your own responsibility and has never cared about any empty fame." Harry's words were eloquent, his lips as sweet as honey. "But if Minister Excellency could exonerate a wrongful conviction from more than ten years ago, I think that would let all wizards in Britain, and even the world, know the nobility of Minister Excellency's character—that you would rather risk the Ministry of Ministry of Magic's reputation being ruined than fail to uphold the truth and exonerate the poor wizard who has been wronged for so many years—what a great and noble character that is!"

"On that day, no one will forget that in the Ministry of Ministry of Magic's offices, there was a warm heart beating," Harry continued, adding fuel to the fire.

"Well, although it doesn't follow procedure in principle, I think there should be an exception to everything."

Fudge was actually quite tempted, but he still had to maintain the composure befitting Minister.

However, he still had some concerns: would this damage his personal reputation?

Harry had already sensed Fudge's concerns, so he continued, "Perhaps after all this is over, you should give a speech to the students in the Great Hall on the theme of how to maintain a human-centered conscience—I think inviting an influential newspaper like the Daily Prophet would be a good choice, don't you think?"

"That's true, Harry." Fudge seemed to have already imagined how important and glorious that moment would be for him.

Just imagine: Great Hall filled with flowers and applause, and the praise from the Daily Prophet— and most importantly, the gratitude of the Savior Star.

Harry delivered the final, deadly blow, which was also the one that made Fudge make up his mind.

"I also happen to have a Unicorn friend," he said.

No one can resist a Unicorn —because they only gravitate towards those with the purest souls.

To witness the arrival of Unicorn under the flashing lights—

Let alone Fudge, even Grindelwald couldn't resist this temptation, okay?

"Well," Fudge immediately turned around and said loudly to everyone in the Headmaster's Office, "As Minister for Magic, while I do sometimes have to consider the Ministry of Magic's reputation, I still believe that sometimes we shouldn't be too concerned about these gains and losses—what's more important is to clear the names of those who have been wronged, isn't it?"

His response was met with a unanimous reply from the Headmaster's Office.

"Yeinister (Yes, Minister)!"

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