"Did you break school rules to go see an Auror because you wanted to experience getting arrested? Planning to build up some experience for future lawbreaking?" Leonard rolled his eyes.
"It's... not that serious, is it?" George swallowed.
"I'm not exaggerating at all." Leonard openly resorted to alarmism. "Haven't you read the news lately? Mundungus is dead. You two are the only Hogwarts students who ever had any contact with him. Running over there now, are you trying to make people suspicious of you?"
George and Fred immediately shook their heads like rattles.
Being connected to Mundungus was bad enough already. If their mother found out they might be tied to Mundungus's death and get hauled off by the Aurors for questioning...
George and Fred both felt their lives were in danger.
"Anyway, stay away from that place for now. Put the flying robes on hold for the time being and work on something else," Leonard advised.
After finally sending the two little daredevils on their way, Leonard let out a sigh of relief, but when he tried to go back to reading, he found he could not focus at all.
He had already made himself stop paying attention to what was happening over in Hogsmeade Village, but George and Fred's interruption had made him think, involuntarily, of his future self.
"Being kept in the dark like this really is irritating," Leonard muttered.
It was not as though he blamed his future self for clearly knowing everything and still refusing to tell him even the slightest bit of it...
Well, all right, maybe there was a little resentment, but nothing serious.
Leonard understood himself well enough to know that he would never recklessly cross the Time-Turner's red line, whether it was the present him or the future him.
Still, the thought of knowing absolutely nothing about what was happening in the neighboring village made his skin itch.
"No. I have to go take a look." Leonard rubbed his chin and made up his mind.
If for no other reason, then at least so that when he later arranged for a double to go back into the past, he would not be completely in the dark.
"As long as I make sure I don't die, that's enough, right? If other people die, whatever."
After giving himself that spectacularly irresponsible excuse, Leonard immediately found his motivation. He packed up and left the library at once.
He planned to make a trip to the Forbidden Forest greenhouse first.
For the sake of his own safety, he had to make thorough preparations.
Meanwhile, in the forest outside Hogsmeade Village, a consciousness spread throughout the woods gathered together.
"By this point, [I] probably couldn't resist coming over, could I?" Leonard, whose consciousness covered the entire forest, watched the Raichels gradually gathering nearby and spoke with a faint smile, his words vague and indistinct.
"...It's time to die."
...
"That liar deserves to die!"
After hearing Sirius's explanation in the Shrieking Shack, Tonks was so indignant she looked ready to grab Peter Pettigrew on the spot and execute him where he stood.
Sirius stared blankly at the Auror, who seemed even more worked up than he was, then shot Lupin a suspicious look.
What exactly had you fed this girl? She's an Auror. How is she trusting a wanted fugitive this much?
Even Sirius had not expected that while his old friend was still in the stage of doubting him, this Auror would believe his side of the story without a shred of evidence.
Or were girls these days really just that easy to fool?
Lupin sent him a helpless look, did his best to ignore Tonks, who seemed ready to run off that instant and capture Peter Pettigrew, and said to Sirius, "I do have my suspicions too, but I have one question. How did you know Peter Pettigrew was still alive?"
Now and then, he handled intelligence matters among the Werewolves, but he had never heard any news about Peter Pettigrew. So how had Sirius, sitting in Azkaban, known?
"A raven told me," Sirius said, pausing for a moment, apparently worried Lupin might think he had lost his mind. Then he added, "His name is Harris Raymons. I suspect he's an Animagus."
"Harris Raymons?" Lupin froze for a moment. The name sounded familiar. He felt as though he had heard Dumbledore mention it before.
"Last year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?"
"I think so. Do you know him well?" Sirius asked.
"I've never met him." Lupin shook his head, though his expression turned strange.
The moment he heard about a raven, he was reminded of the Raven organization that had infiltrated the Werewolf settlement the year before. It was supposedly a very dangerous organization. He had no idea whether it had any connection to this Harris Raymons.
If it did, then would that not count as a major achievement on his part? Was this information worth a vial of perfect Wolfsbane Potion?
"Anyway, that's the situation. A man who used to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor told me Peter Pettigrew was still alive." Sirius spread his hands. That was all he knew about Harris Raymons. Lupin might actually know more than he did.
"I'll ask Dumbledore about it later. He's the one who always invited the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors, so he should know about Harris Raymons," Lupin said after thinking it over.
Not just for Sirius's sake, but for his own as well.
"That would be best. Otherwise, having some unknown person out there with unknown motives makes me uncomfortable," Sirius said with a nod.
By then, Tonks had finally calmed down. She looked curiously at Sirius and asked, "Then do you know where Peter Pettigrew is?"
Sirius was briefly at a loss. "Not really."
"That makes things difficult," Lupin said, shaking his head. "Then what exactly are you doing at Hogwarts?"
"I wanted to find a chance to see Harry," Sirius said.
"Now? Are you joking?" Lupin shot back. "If you appear in front of Harry now, all you'll do is scare him half to death. If he's heard certain 'truths' from other people, the only thing he'll want to do is kill you."
"That's his right, isn't it? My arrogance got James and Lily killed," Sirius said.
"But right now, you're his only family..." Lupin said. "He has the right to know the real truth. If he really killed you because of a misunderstanding, he would never be able to forgive himself either, would he?"
Sirius opened his mouth, then silently accepted Lupin's reasoning.
It was true. Throwing everything away and using his life to make up for his mistakes would be foolish.
"But what can I do? How am I supposed to clear my name?" Sirius said painfully.
Clearing his name would be extremely difficult.
Other people were not Lupin, and they were certainly not that Auror who did not look especially bright. His word alone would never be enough to convince them.