Harry and the other two all paled at Professor Babbling's words.
With everything that had happened, they had almost forgotten that Lupin was a werewolf, and tonight happened to be the night of the full moon. All three youngsters immediately looked at Lupin nervously.
"Of course. Professor Slughorn brought it over first thing this morning," Lupin said. "It's really wonderful to have him here."
"Good, then. Carry on." Professor Babbling nodded and fell silent again.
But the atmosphere had already been broken...
Looking a little awkward, Lupin took a breath and turned back to the uneasy Peter. "Peter, could you give me an answer to my question?"
"I, I... I don't understand. Remus, don't you see? Sirius is trying to kill me now. He's going to kill me! You have to protect me. You're the only one I can rely on, Remus." Peter babbled, seemingly trying to muddy the waters.
"No one will kill you before we've cleared everything up. I promise," Lupin said calmly.
"Clear everything up..." Peter finally seemed to get his tongue under control, and his words became much clearer. But in his haste, he still spoke too quickly to be easily understood:
"What else is there to say? Him, it was him." He pointed at Black. "He's trying to kill me. He was trying more than a decade ago, and he still is now. He killed Lily and James, then tried to kill me. I knew. I knew all along, so I hid. I've been hiding for twelve years. I knew he'd come again..."
"You knew Sirius could escape from Azkaban?" Lupin raised his eyebrows and interrupted Peter. "That's rather strange, considering no one had ever managed it before."
"But he could. He certainly could. You know, that man-he has dark magic beyond anything we can