Vid nodded, "It should be the Muggle organization working behind the scenes."
"Then... won't those people be punished?" Harry said angrily, "Those Muggles experimenting on Werewolves, creating hormones..."
Although Harry grew up in Muggle Society, he had little sense of identity with Muggles due to his harsh living conditions.
He was a Wizard, and his parents and friends were Wizards as well. As for his Muggle relatives, the Dursley family, they were among the three people he hated most in the world.
But after Harry finished speaking, he found the room went silent, and no one spoke.
Harry looked around in confusion, seeing Sirius and Lupin both with ugly faces, and Vid with an enigmatic expression.
"Isn't it right?" Harry looked at everyone, stubbornly continuing, "I don't believe the Muggles are innocent in this matter! Even if threatened by Vampires, such a technique as hormone extraction isn't something ordinary people can grasp..."
"Harry," Vid said, "According to the information I have, the Muggle organization is not just a participant—they're the leaders. The Vampires you think are the culprits are actually under their control."
Harry was stunned, "But... how could it be? Those are Vampires! Muggles can't use magic..."
"There are many ways to control people, not necessarily with magic," Vid said, "Money, power, beauty, family... as long as people have desires, it's easy to put a leash on them, whether they have magic or not."
Lupin and Sirius were both taken aback.
Sirius paused, suddenly asking, "Vid, are you meeting with Machioni later?"
"Yeah."
"Oh..." Sirius turned to Lupin, saying, "You go with Vid... Otherwise, I'm worried that hyena will spread his filthy thoughts everywhere..."
This time, Lupin didn't refute Sirius's bad habit of giving people random nicknames, instead, he nodded seriously.
Vid: "..."
"Don't change the subject!" Harry angrily asked, "Shouldn't the Muggles behind this be investigated? They must still be holding more of that kind of hormone, which I think is the most important and dangerous thing right now!"
"Harry..." Lupin sighed and said, "It's not that it's not being taken seriously, it's just that investigations involving Muggles must be conducted with great caution..."
Harry looked at him, his eyes somewhat confused.
Sirius reached out and patted his head, ruffling his hair like he would with a little dog.
"Harry, these aren't things you need to worry about. We'll handle it—aren't you hungry? Want a Madeleine? I bought it this morning from a French pastry shop in London."
Harry knew he was being brushed off, his expression evidently annoyed, but when the aroma of butter and lemon reached his nose, his stomach growled honestly.
Sirius couldn't help but laugh.
Vid noticed that as the time spent together increased, Sirius had started to show more of those "fatherly" qualities, making him seem much more mature.
Perhaps because of the affairs of James Potter and Regulus, this free-spirited man had finally begun to learn to grow and understand what responsibility meant.
When Harry picked up the Madeleine, his eyes glanced at Vid nearby, and a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
He stopped insisting on getting a straight answer from Lupin and Sirius, and began to savor the food seriously.
——Since Vid didn't find the attitude of the two adults surprising, it meant he knew the cause of it. Harry even suspected that Vid had more information than Sirius.
In that case, why should he persist with the two adults who brushed him off? After returning to the school, wouldn't it be the same to ask Vid?
...
After lunch, Lupin really did accompany Vid out.
He had just recovered from a severe illness, looking particularly thin in the sunlight, and people they passed on the road greeted Lupin with concern, worried he might be ill.
"I've indeed caught a cold recently," Lupin responded gently, "But it's okay, I'm already recovered."
Vid felt thankful seeing this—thankfully, when Carrel and his group acted, they chose nighttime, so the people of Hogsmeade didn't realize that the mad Werewolf was Lupin.
Lupin seemed to know what he was thinking, and naturally said, "We're going to The Hog's Head Inn—Madam Rosmerta seems to have realized it, she's been very scared to see me recently."
Vid paused his steps towards the Three Broomsticks, then changed direction.
"She didn't say anything?"
"Mm... yeah, right... she's probably not sure, just suspicious."
"Is she conducting an investigation on you?"
"Not that... but if I don't show up around the next full moon, she could confirm it... Here we are, come in."
Vid looked up at the dilapidated sign, and the greasy lambskin hanging beside it, taking a moment to gather his courage before stepping in.
A strong smell of mutton hit his nose, the windows were coated in thick grime, and the stone floor seemed to have never been cleaned, nearly turning into mud.
The bar had several guests sitting with their faces tightly hidden; at the sound of the door, they glanced over but, seeing just an ordinary man and a child, lost interest and turned away.
The bartender came out from behind the counter, asking gruffly, "What do you want?"
He sounded as if saying, "What are you looking at?"
Vid carefully looked at this man, hidden between a mess of grey beard and long hair, deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, with only the glasses on his nose being clean.
This was Dumbledore's brother—Abeforth Dumbledore.
It was hard to imagine these two were actually brothers.
But with preconceived notions, the more one looked, the more they seemed quite similar in appearance.
"A room upstairs, please," Lupin said.
Abeforth looked sharply at Vid for a moment, then intensely at Lupin, without replying.
"We're meeting someone," Lupin lowered his voice, "Marco Marchioni."
——Though Lupin's house was nearby, they wouldn't invite someone home when discussing business.
Hearing this name, Abeforth's gaze softened, muttering, "Three Galleons, pay first."
Lupin placed the money on the counter, Abeforth tossed it into the cash register, and then led them upstairs. The staircase creaked, appearing very rundown.
As they ascended the stairs, Vid suddenly stopped.
He saw a painting of a young girl above the fireplace in the bar. She was slender and pale, looking quiet and well-behaved.
Vid had seen her in an illusion crafted by Dumbledore—Ariana Dumbledore.
"What's wrong?" Lupin asked, looking back.
"Nothing."
Vid said, catching up with the two ahead.