Suddenly, an incomparably brilliant surge of golden mental energy burst open inside the gloomy Shrieking Shack, making Avada instinctively narrow his eyes—
Dumbledore had arrived. A flawless Disillusionment Charm still cloaked his body.
"Gentlemen."
He observed quietly for a moment. Only after seeing the three men sitting or standing in silence did he reveal himself, startling them all.
"Dumbledore!"
Before Peter and Lupin could even react, Sirius shouted, "Tell me—who leaked the prophecy to Voldemort?!"
"Please, Professor, you must know! Tell me!"
"I'm afraid, Sirius—but before that, could someone help me understand what's going on here? To be honest, I'm rather confused…"
Dumbledore's gaze swept over the three men in the shack, his expression complicated. The shock he felt now was no less than when he had received that letter detailing Voldemort's mental structure two years ago…
Peter Pettigrew wasn't dead?Sirius Black—the fugitive who had just escaped Azkaban—was apparently coexisting quite peacefully with Lupin and the others?And he had learned that someone had leaked the prophecy to Voldemort?
What on earth had happened here?
An hour earlier, when Professor Lupin had come to him during the castle search and told him he had received a note from Peter Pettigrew inviting him to the Shrieking Shack—along with a string of secrets only the two of them could possibly know as proof—Dumbledore had already been deeply startled. Even then, he had worried it might be a ploy to draw him away, deliberately making Lupin wait while he thoroughly checked Lupin's office…
In the end, he chose to trust Lupin—both a member of the Order of the Phoenix and the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. After giving him a feather from Fawkes and instructing him to proceed with caution, he allowed Lupin to go to the Shrieking Shack.
And now, after completing the castle search and noticing that Lupin had been gone for quite some time, he had come here to investigate—
Only to witness this surreal scene.
The dead had returned, and those who should have been mortal enemies were calmly sharing the same room.
"Let me explain, Professor."
Lupin sighed, then slowly recounted everything that had just happened—from the reason for Black's escape, to their Animagus abilities and how they had gained them, to the "truth" of twelve years ago as told by Peter…
As Lupin spoke, Dumbledore's brow gradually furrowed, nearly knotting into a small mountain. By the time the full story had been told, that mountain finally began to melt away.
"Using the principles of Horcruxes to sever the secret protected by the Fidelius Charm…"He closed his eyes, pondering for a long while before opening them again. "I must say—it is indeed a remarkably ingenious idea."
"Everything Peter described should be theoretically possible. Achieving such a thing would require an extraordinarily high level of mastery over the soul—at the very least, over Horcrux-related magic—and Voldemort clearly possessed such capability. Moreover, what Peter said aligns with the intelligence I've gathered. Voldemort very likely created more than one Horcrux…"
"But I do have one question."
"Please, Professor," Peter said calmly, meeting Dumbledore's gaze.
"You said earlier that in order to break the Unbreakable Vow, you were forced to kill twelve people, using the tearing of your soul to strip the vow away. Is that correct?"
"Yes."
Peter's eyes dimmed once more. "I studied it carefully. The Unbreakable Vow is unlike ordinary magical contracts. Its power is rooted in mental energy and life force—it uses mental recognition as a trigger and life force as the target. In other words, the moment the subject's mind acknowledges that they have violated the vow, the vow attacks their life force directly, resulting in death. That is the mechanism behind it."
"Therefore, if I tore my soul apart entirely, the vow rooted within it would naturally be destroyed. That was the method I devised."
"Theoretically sound."
Dumbledore nodded gravely. The three-layer theory of the soul was extremely obscure knowledge. Most people conflated life force, mental energy, and the soul itself—but damage to the soul undeniably affected the other two. For Peter to have conceived of such a method, and actually used it to escape the vow, was entirely possible. The cost, however…
"Since you truly used that method," Dumbledore asked, fixing his gaze on Peter's small eyes, "what is the state of your soul now?"
"…I don't know, Professor."
Peter thought for a long while before answering. "In the period right after I killed those people and fractured my soul, I truly felt weaker than ever before—wrapped in an indescribable emptiness. But as time passed, that feeling gradually faded, and my energy slowly recovered…"
His voice lowered. "That's what frightens me, Professor. I'm afraid that I'll simply forget my crimes. Forget…"
"You feel remorse for the people you killed, don't you?" Dumbledore asked suddenly.
"Every moment of every day."
"…I see."
Dumbledore looked at Peter's rat-like face with an expression of profound complexity. His silver beard trembled slightly, as if he were about to say something—
"Professor."
Sirius suddenly interrupted him. "If everything he said is true… then can you tell me now? Who was the one who leaked the prophecy?!"
"I'm very sorry, Sirius."
Dumbledore looked at him with sorrow. "I already owe you a great debt. I failed to notice what was happening and allowed you to endure twelve years of suffering in Azkaban… But my heart aches, for I must wrong you once more."
"However, I can promise you this."
Before Sirius could erupt again, Dumbledore quickly soothed him. "I promise you—the deaths of James and Lily were never that person's intention. In fact, it ran completely counter to everything they believed. In a sense, they were just like you—the person in this world who least wanted that tragedy to occur."
Sirius stared at Dumbledore in disbelief.
"Perhaps you cannot accept this now," Dumbledore said with a heavy sigh, a deep weariness washing through him, "but I will tell you who that person is—once you have truly calmed down, and I am certain you will not act rashly."
"…All right."
Sirius muttered quietly, and the Shrieking Shack fell into an icy silence.
"Then next," Dumbledore said at last, "Peter, please tell me the location of the Horcrux you discovered."
"Let us see what Voldemort has truly been up to."
"I'd like to return Ron's wand first."
Peter forced a small smile and gestured toward the wand in Lupin's hand. "Breaking through those protections may take some time. I'd rather not have him wake up to find that not only his pet, but his wand has vanished as well…"
"Very well."
Dumbledore nodded. He took the wand from Lupin and vanished from the room in an instant—only to reappear a few seconds later.
"That's done, Peter."
"Thank you, Professor."
Peter took a deep breath and finally spoke. "The Horcrux is hidden in a cave—a cave by the sea."
(End of Chapter)