Harry's Godfather Is Completely Innocent / The Real Culprit from Back Then Is Still at Large

"Harry, it's getting late. Let Mr. Crouch lead us inside quickly," Dumbledore, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder and speaking in a low voice.

"Okay." Harry nodded, his expression quickly returning to normal.

The most important thing tonight is to see Sirius. As for those messy things from back then, we can talk about them after we see him.

"Come with me."

Mr. Crouch, oblivious to Harry's change in mood, turned and led the two through the prison gates, which resembled the gates of hell.

To Harry's surprise, yet also understandably so, there wasn't a single wizard stationed in the entire Azkaban prison. Instead, Dementor in black robes roamed the narrow passageways.

They seemed to be completely blind. Mr. Crouch used an audible letter to explain his purpose, and one of the Dementor sniffed the three of them almost touching them before reluctantly growling and leaving.

"Azkaban's prison doesn't need wizards to guard it. With these Dementor around, no matter what power a criminal possesses, they absolutely cannot escape..." Mr. Crouch, who was briefly introducing the prison's situation, seemed to hesitate for a moment, "That's right. Since Azkaban was used as a wizarding prison for over three centuries, not a single criminal has ever been able to escape!"

It's clear that Mr. Crouch is very confident in the Dementor's defensive capabilities.

"We've arrived," Mr. Crouch stopped in front of a solitary cell located quite far inside, pointing to the prisoner inside. "That's Sirius, the one you wanted to see."

"Is it him...?"

Harry stared at the man before him, who slumped against the wall, his black hair disheveled and his face deathly pale.

Harry never actually met Sirius, but in his memory, his father James always said that Sirius was a handsome man who was very popular with girls at school.

But the man before him, so emaciated, was quite different from the godfather Harry had imagined.

"Sirius Black... your godson Harry Granger, along with Albus Dumbledore, has come to see you."

"What?!"

Upon hearing Mr. Crouch's words, the man slumped in the corner seemed to be startled at first. But after seeing Harry's appearance, he suddenly mustered the last bit of strength in his body and lunged towards the cell door!

He whimpered and roared incoherently, waving his arms wildly like a madman, and finally even slammed his head against the sturdy railing.

"What do you want to do?!"

"Roar!"

The sudden turn of events startled Mr. Crouch and Dumbledore that they immediately drew their wands. Several Dementor had been on guard nearby, rushed over at the first sign of trouble. They used their rotting, corpse-like claws to force Sirius's body to the ground, emitting long, slow, gurgling breaths as they greedily sucked blood from his face.

"Ugh... Ughhhh!" Sirius let out a shrill, hoarse scream, but the sound quickly faded away.

"Mr. Crouch, get rid of them!" Harry quickly turned to Crouch, urging him to drive away these meddlesome demons immediately.

"But..."

"I said get rid of them!!"

With a deep, angry roar, Harry's voice carried a powerful magical energy that reverberated throughout the entire prison.

The Dementor, who had been clinging to Sirius and feeding on his emotions, all stopped their disgusting actions and turned to face Harry.

At this moment, these terrifying creatures, who only knew how to feel emotions, suddenly realized that they had smelled the most delicious food in the world!

Chapter 217 Harry's Godfather is Absolutely Innocent

Greedy panting could be heard coming from beneath the black cloak. Some of the Dementor in the cell began to drift towards Harry with suppressed urges, while others seemed reluctant to part with Sirius, their meal, and lingered in place.

Even so, their faces still occasionally turned towards Harry.

In that brief moment, they felt an extremely high level of emotion emanating from Harry, which caused every taste bud on their bodies to fully open, making them want to devour the delicious food in front of them.

The emotions Harry possesses—anger, protection, and expectation—are far more intense than the happiness found in the prisoners of Azkaban. If you could inhale his scent, you'd get more than a dozen prisoners produce in a year!

"Are you sure you want to cause trouble?"

Seeing that these ugly monsters not only did not leave immediately, but seemed to have designs on him, Harry's face instantly became even more gloomy, and large wisps of black mist rose around him!

Indeed, Harry hasn't mastered the Patronus Charm yet, but that doesn't mean he's afraid of Dementor!

"Barty, your Ministry of Magic really needs to take a better look at the guards here in Azkaban." A silver light shone from the tip of Dumbledore's wand, and the Phoenix Patronus on his shoulder spread its wings and instantly expanded to more than ten times its original size.

This move silenced the restless Dementor, who huddled in a corner of the cell to avoid the Patronus's light, but they still refused to give up and leave.

"This child hasn't broken any rules, so put away your greedy thoughts!"

Barty Crouch also pointed his wand at the Dementor, and only then did the greedy creatures finally retreat.

However, before flying away, they circled in Harry's direction for a while, seemingly extremely unwilling.

However, Harry was too lazy to pay any attention to their threats. He first took out his wand and cast several Mending Charm on Sirius, and then took out a piece of chocolate that Hermione had given him before she left and used Levitation Charm to deliver it to Sirius.

"Eating it should make you feel better."

"Hmm..."

With just a few words, Sirius, who was sprawled on the ground, lost control of his emotions again. He trembled as he glanced at Harry several times, and finally even chewed the chocolate, wrapper and all, in his mouth, without even noticing that saliva was dripping out of his mouth.

"Eat slowly, if you're not full, I have more." Seeing that the other person had swallowed the whole piece of chocolate in a few bites, Harry quickly took another piece out of his pocket.

This time, however, Sirius didn't wolf down his food.

He gripped the chocolate wrapper tightly with trembling hands, scrutinizing Harry over and over again, as if trying to see every detail on Harry's face.

"Thirteen years have passed. I can't believe how much you've grown. You look exactly like James, but your eyes are like Lily's. That's wonderful..." Sirius's cloudy eyes seemed to be filled with reminiscence as he looked at Harry.

He tentatively reached out his hand to Harry, but after a moment of stiffness, he awkwardly withdrew it. "Harry Potter... when we adopted you as our godson, you weren't even fully awake yet..."

"I've changed my last name to Granger now," Harry said softly. "It's the name of my adoptive parents, who have always been very good to me."

"Changed?... Ha, it's good that you changed~" Sirius chuckled self-deprecatingly. "This might make things easier for you, otherwise your past would be very painful. And all of this... damn it, it's all because of me!"

As he spoke, he was overcome with endless self-blame and remorse. "It's all my fault! If it weren't for me... you bastard! I killed your parents, James and Lily... I killed them!!"

He excitedly tore at his dirty, tangled hair with both hands, and even frantically slammed his head against the ground, making loud thuds.

"Hmph! Someone like you, do you think you can even repent?" Barty Crouch scoffed disdainfully. "And do you think that even genuine repentance can bring back the Potters' lives? And what about those twelve innocent Muggle, and Peter Pettigrew Peter, whom you so cruelly murdered...?"

"Enough! Don't mention that name to me again!!"

Sirius seemed very agitated upon hearing Crouch's words, and kept baring his teeth and roaring at him.

"Mr. Crouch, I have something I'd like to say to him. Could you please refrain from interrupting later?"

Harry looked at Crouch seriously and asked, but Crouch snorted unhappily and turned his head away.

He sensed Harry's resentment. As Harry's godson, he should have been the main character at today's prison visit; hadn't he noticed Dumbledore standing there silently?

In comparison, Barty Crouch, who was only there to help, did seem to be stealing the show.

"Sirius, since you're my godfather, you must be very curious about my story." After Crouch fell silent, Harry looked at the agitated Sirius again and began to tell him about his experiences.

"After my parents died, I was sent to the Dursley family because someone insisted that I live with my only relative. So I endured nearly nine years of abuse. I was beaten and verbally abused by my aunt and uncle, forced to wear my cousin's hand-me-downs, frequently locked up and starved, and sometimes Dudley would shove his head down the toilet..."

"What did you say? That family...how dare they? Dumbledore, why did you send Harry to a place like that?!"

Sirius's anger was reignited by Harry's words. He pounded on the cell bars like a madman, even trying to tear them off with his arms and legs, but this time his target was Dumbledore.

"I trusted you, which is why I allowed that Half-blood- Giant to take Harry away! But you never told me... that he lived that kind of life!!"

"Sirius... I also feel very sorry for Harry about this." Dumbledore's face showed some shame as he brought up the old matter again.

Harry, however, calmly continued speaking.

"Then, I entered Hogwarts, and in my first year, I had to confront Voldemort, who had returned."

"Then came the second year, when Voldemort's diary opened the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts, and I was forced to confront Chamber monster within..."

"Stop it... Harry, stop it! Dumbledore, is this how you protect James and Lily's child?" Sirius screamed frantically, even biting at the fence in front of him. "Let me out... let me out right now! I'm not going! Hogwarts, Harry ... we're not going!! Dumbledore, Crouch ... let me out... do you hear me?!!"

"So... Mr. Headmaster, and Mr. Crouch, if I were to say now that my godfather Sirius Black, is absolutely innocent, would you believe me?"

Harry's words left the three people inside and outside the cell in a state of shock.

Chapter 218 The real culprit from back then is still at large.

To determine whether Sirius is good or bad, one only needs to test his attitude towards Harry to get a general idea.

When Harry suddenly brought up those tragic experiences, Sirius, caught off guard, immediately turned his anger towards Dumbledore instead of offering feigned concern for Harry... This shows just how furious he was about Harry's ordeal.

If that's the case, then what reason would he have to frame Harry's parents?

"Harry, what...what did you say?" Sirius, now imprisoned, choked with emotion. "You really know I'm innocent? But how could this be..."

"I only have doubts, which is why I insisted on coming to see you." Harry first shook his head at Sirius, then looked at the other two. "Headmaster, Mr. Crouch, what are your thoughts?"

"I respect your decision, Harry. You will definitely handle this well." Dumbledore smiled and took a step back, demonstrating his stance through his actions.

"Granger, this guy is a cunning and treacherous murderer. How can you be sure he wasn't just acting to fool you?"

Crouch, however, was not as easy to talk to as Dumbledore. He was the one who had imprisoned Sirius, and if Crouch agreed with Harry's opinion today, it would mean he was going to overturn his past decisions. Without solid evidence, Crouch would not easily believe a child's nonsense.

"He didn't know I was coming to visit him in prison... Even if he did, he would only think I hate him to the core, and there would be no need for him to put on an act to gain sympathy." Harry shook his head noncommittally, but his tone had become incredibly certain. "Besides, the case back then was full of suspicious points, and there must be some clues pointing to the truth that have been overlooked until now!"

As he spoke, Harry had already taken a letter out of his pocket and cast Recording Charm with his wand.

"Harry Granger, you..."

"Barty, please watch Harry's performance with me." Crouch seemed to want to stop him, but Dumbledore intervened, "Think about the fingerprint evidence from before, my friend... Harry, that kid, always manages to surprise us!"

"Fingerprints... Could it be?!" For a moment, Crouch was also at a loss.

He's even starting to doubt if he was really wrong... Was there really more to what happened back then?

Meanwhile, Harry calmly began questioning Sirius: "Godfather, I need you to calmly recall what exactly happened back then, and then tell me as many details as possible, is that alright?"

"Okay... the one who leaked the secret back then wasn't me, it was that wretched Peter Pettigrew Peter! I went to James and Lily and, in my cleverness, changed the Secret Keeper of the Fidelius Charm from me to Peter, thinking that this would make Voldemort and the Death Eater focus their attention on me, the fog, and thus better protect your family's safety..."

Harry's words seemed to possess a special magic; sensing the other's composure, Sirius's previously chaotic emotions gradually began to calm down.

He began to recount the events of that year to Harry, as well as to Dumbledore and Crouch, who were also present.

"Peter was the one who leaked the information. When I found out about James and Lily's accident, I knew it must have been him who shamelessly betrayed our friendship!"

"I started searching for him that very night and finally cornered him in a crowded Muggle neighborhood... But just when I thought I had him in the bag, he suddenly detonated his wand, obliterating himself and twelve Muggle on that block..."

"No trace of his body... Mr. Crouch, I remember Peter Pettigrew Peter left behind a finger?" After Sirius finished recounting the details of what happened, Harry turned to look at Barty Crouch.

"There was one finger, but it has already been sent back to his mother as part of his remains."

"So... did you do any forensic examination of that finger or the crime scene at the time?"

"Forensic...forensic evidence?" Crouch was taken aback by Harry's question. "You mean the fingerprint evidence you submitted earlier?"

"Forensic analysis involves analyzing and identifying all the evidence in a case, and fingerprint identification is just one part of it," Harry explained meticulously. "For example, if I could see that finger, I could roughly determine whether it was blown off, broken off, or severed by looking at the degree of burning on the finger bone and the fracture marks... And once these clues are confirmed, we can further reconstruct what Peter Pettigrew did when the explosion occurred."

"Harry, are you saying Peter Pettigrew isn't dead?" Dumbledore immediately understood what Harry meant.

"Headmaster, I'm almost certain he's not dead!" Harry explained with a serious expression. "The explosion that destroyed everything, yet left behind a finger, is illogical in itself. If we assume the Godfather is telling the truth, then Peter Pettigrew's actions are undoubtedly a frame-up, and the purpose of leaving behind a finger must be to tell others... that the one who was killed in the explosion was him Peter Pettigrew Peter!"

"But let's think about it: if he really wanted to die, would he care if his identity were discovered after he died? His emphasis on his identity shows that he was faking his death to escape, leaving himself a way to survive the explosion!!"

"Even if you're right, that explosion destroyed an entire city block, so how did Peter Pettigrew disappear so mysteriously?" Crouch was starting to waver, but he still couldn't figure out some of the details.

"That'll have to ask my godfather again," Harry said, turning back to Sirius. "Could you tell us about Peter Pettigrew, what's so special about him?"

"Oh... Peter is a bit timid, but he's honest and obedient. He always likes to follow James and me around, and over time we became friends. By the way, he also studied Animagus Transformation back in school..."

"Ahem~" Harry coughed twice, interrupting Sirius, "Godfather, could you tell me more about Peter Pettigrew's Animagus?"

Harry used the Recording Charm in front of Barty Crouch in hopes of producing a statement that would be accepted by the Ministry of Magic, so there were certain things he couldn't let Sirius say out loud.

As a legally registered Animagus, Harry knew that the Ministry of Magic had only registered eight Animagus in the entire 20th century, including himself, and the only one Harry knew was Professor McGonagall.

Therefore, if Peter Pettigrew also mastered Animagus Transformation, he would definitely be illegal.

Judging from Sirius's words, they might be the Animagus who secretly practiced together at school, which would mean that his godfather was also an outlaw... and perhaps his deceased father was too.

Now that Harry has confirmed his godfather's innocence, the next step is definitely to find a way to get him out of Azkaban. If it is revealed at this point that Sirius is an illegal Animagus, he will probably have to be imprisoned again on a different charge.

So you see, why didn't you register after completing the course? Now you're in big trouble!

"A rat... Peter's Animagus is a rat!"

"That's right~"

A knowing smile appeared on Harry's face; he had finally heard the information he needed most!