The Rise of an Empire

❛TRAVELING DOWN MEMORIES, PART TWO❜

❝No matter what happens, bad days pass, just like everyone else.❞ — William Shakespeare

AND ONCE AGAIN, the fog was present in the court.

💭💭💭

On an imposing four-poster bed, with dusty curtains, sat Crookshanks, who purred loudly when it saw them. On the floor next to the cat, clutching its outstretched leg at an awkward angle, was Weasley.

[...]

“One moment, please, Croaker…” Madam Bones interrupted quickly, looking at Weasley and the boy's obviously injured leg (the strange angle it was at made it clear what had happened) with a frown before looking at Sirius with questioning eyes. “Sirius, explain why this boy has a broken leg.”

Sirius blushed — like he hadn't done in several years, since he was a little virgin boy.

“I may have bitten his leg in a desperate attempt to catch the rat he was carrying,” Black confessed sheepishly, swallowing hard as he received a not-so-pleasant look from Bones. Understandable under the circumstances, but frightening nonetheless. “But I apologized to the Weasleys and paid them a small compensation.”

Amelia just grumbled, before gesturing for Croaker to release the memory. 

The man quickly complied. 

[...]

Without waiting a second, Granger ran to her friend, while Hera observed the surroundings, finding it strange that she didn't find the damn dog — who dragged them into that obviously ridiculous mess — anywhere.

Her instincts had been trying to tell her something ever since that dog had appeared and dragged Weasley into that psychopathic tree, but ever since she had gone in there it had been much worse. They were beeping and making her nervous.

Something was wrong, they said — and it wasn't Weasley and his broken leg.

“Ron... Are you okay?” Granger asked her best friend, looking worriedly at the redhead. “Is your leg hurting a lot?” Then she blushed, as if realizing how stupid that question was. “We need to immobilize it before it gets worse. What's the spell again? I read about it in a book the other day…”

“M-Mi-one…” he stammered, looking terrified.

“Don't worry, Ron. You'll be fine. I'll help you!” she assured the redhead, without showing even a hint of self-preservation.

Hera frowned, finding them naive — especially Hermione Granger, the school's know-it-all. Didn't she realize the worrying situation they were in? How strange was it for a dog to drag someone to an unknown place only to be nowhere to be found? That they should be more concerned about what was happening and be aware of their surroundings? And where was that damn dog?

Her instincts and magic kicked in even louder when she thought of the dog.

Worried and nervous, Potter asked the redhead.

“Where's the dog, Weasley?” the brunette asked, returning to focus on the most important thing. 

“It's not a dog,” Weasley groaned. His teeth grinded in pain. “Hera is a trap…”

“What are you…”

“He's the dog... He's an animagus…”

Weasley was staring over Hera's shoulder. She turned quickly. With a snap, the man in the shadows closed the bedroom door.

A mass of filthy, tangled hair hung down to his elbows. If his eyes had not been gleaming in sunken, dark sockets, he might have been taken for a corpse. The haggard skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face that he resembled a skull. His yellow teeth were bared in a grin.

It was Sirius Black.

“You!” exclaimed Hera.

“Expelliarmus!” he said hoarsely, pointing Weasley’s wand at the girls.

Hera and Granger's wands flew from their hands and Black caught them. Then he stepped closer. His eyes were fixed on Hera, an unfamiliar emotion shining within them.

The brunette clenched her fists tightly, extremely furious. Her parents' traitor, her damn godfather , was there in front of her and she couldn't take revenge as she wanted because he had her wand. It was so unfair!

“Sirius Black!” Potter scoffed in disgust. “What a surprise to see you here.” Sarcasm slid past her lips like venom as she glared at the older man with hatred shining in her eyes.

If Hera was honest with herself, she wasn't at all surprised by how things had turned out. Despite how much she tried to avoid it, trouble kept coming her way — especially in the last few days of the school year. It was annoying, really.

Breathing heavily, Black caught his attention as he spoke.

“I thought you were coming to help your friend,” his voice sounded like he had lost the habit of using it a long time ago.

“Friends?” — Hera thought with disgust. — “I’m not friends with jealous weasels!”

“We're not friends, Black,” Potter replied, extremely furious with the situation she was in and with the man in front of her. “Believe me when I say that I would rather be anywhere else as long as it's far away from here,” she muttered softly.

But Black ignored her, as if he hadn't heard her.

“Your father would have done the same for me. It took a lot of courage not to run and look for a professor. I appreciate it... It will make things much easier…”

The sarcastic reference to her father echoed in Hera's ears as if Black had shouted it. A burning hatred exploded in her chest, leaving no room for fear. For the first time in her life she wished she had the wand in her hands, not to defend herself, but to attack... To kill . Without knowing what she was doing, she began to advance, but she noticed a sudden movement on each side of her body and two pairs of hands pulled her and held her still.

“You,” she growled, trying to free herself from the hands that held her. She wanted to attack Black, she needed to attack him. “How dare you!” 

“No, Hera!” exclaimed Granger in a petrified whisper; Weasley, however, addressed Black.

“If you want to kill Hera, you’ll have to kill us too!” he said impetuously, though the effort of standing had made his paleness worse and he swayed a little as he spoke.

Hera applauded Weasley's courage — or in this case, sheer stupidity — in facing Sirius Black with a determined look, even in the face of his death. However, she thought he was foolish. Who would ask to die like that, for someone they weren't even close to? Because despite what Granger and Weasley liked to think, they weren't friends .

Something flashed in Black's dark eyes when he heard the redhead.

“Lie down,” he said softly to Weasley. “You will make the fracture worse in this leg.”

“Don't you think you should have thought of that before you broke it, genius?” Hera spoke sarcastically, but was ignored.

“Did you hear me?” Weasley said weakly, though he leaned painfully on Granger to keep himself upright. “You’re going to have to kill all three of us!”

“Excuse me, Ronald Weasley?” Hera asked in disbelief, looking at the redhead as if he were stupid. And maybe he was. “You may want to die today, but I don’t, thank you very much! I’m too young to die.”

“There’s only going to be one death here tonight,” Black said, and his smile widened, irritating Potter.

“Why? Why settle for just one? Why not kill all three of us?” Hera asked vehemently, trying to free herself from Granger's arms, who was still holding her tightly, afraid that she would face Black. After all, even if she didn't want to die, everything the wizard said irritated her, no matter what it was. “After all, you didn't care about that last time, did you? You didn't care about killing all those Muggles to get to Pettigrew... What happened, Black? Has your pleasant stay in Azkaban softened you?”

“Hera!” whimpered the thick-haired one. “Be quiet!”

“How can you ask me to be quiet? How?!” Potter demanded, shaking with rage. “DON'T ASK ME TO BE QUIET WHEN HE WAS THE ONE WHO KILLED MY MOTHER AND FATHER! DON'T ASK ME TO STAY QUIET WHEN HE IS THE REASON I AM AN ORPHAN!” Hera shouted and, with great effort, broke free from the two wizards who were holding her by the arms, and advanced…

Hera had forgotten about magic — forgotten that she was short and skinny and thirteen, while Black was a tall, grown man — all she knew was that she wanted to hurt Black in the most horrible way she could, and she didn't care if she got hurt too...

Maybe it was the shock of seeing Hera do such a stupid thing, but Black didn't raise his wands in time — Hera's hand grabbed his thin wrist, forcing the wand tips down; the hilt of her other hand connected with the side of Black's head and they both fell back against the wall...

Granger screamed; Weasley screamed; there was a blinding flash as the wands in Black's hands sent a stream of sparks into the air that missed Hera's face by inches; Hera felt the thin arm beneath her fingers twist furiously, but she held on, her other hand punching every part of Black's body she could reach. But Black's free hand found Hera's throat…

“Are you going to kill me, godfather ?” She asked cruelly, glaring at the older man with hatred. “Are you going to kill me like you killed my parents?” 

Black hesitated for a second before frowning, determination shining in his eyes. 

“Then I will die today…” — Hera thought bitterly.

“No,” he hissed. “I waited too long…”

His fingers tightened their grip, Hera gasped, her lungs aching inside her chest with the difficulty of breathing.

Then she saw Granger's foot, coming from nowhere, rise into the air. Black let go of Hera with a groan of pain; Weasley had thrown himself at Black's wand-holding hand, and Hera heard a soft thud... She struggled to free herself from the tangled bodies and saw her wand rolling across the floor; she threw herself at it, but...

“Bloody hell!”

Crookshanks had entered the fray; his front pair of claws dug deep into Hera's arm; the girl had pulled free, but now the cat was running for her wand...

“NO, YOU WON’T!” Hera screamed, and aimed a kick at the cat that made it jump aside, snorting; the girl grabbed her wand, turned and… “Get out of my way!” she shouted at Weasley and Granger. “NOW!”

There was no need to be told twice. Granger, panting, her mouth bleeding, threw herself to the side, retrieving her and Weasley's wands at the same time. Harry crawled over to the four-poster bed and collapsed onto it, panting, his pale face now turning green, his hands clutching his broken leg.

Black was sprawled against the wall, his thin chest rising and falling rapidly as he watched Hera slowly approach, her wand pointed at his heart.

“Are you going to kill me, Hera?” he murmured.

The girl stood right above Black, her wand still pointed at his heart, staring down at him. A pale swelling was forming around the man's left eye and his nose was bleeding.

“You killed my parents,” Hera accused, her voice shaking slightly, but her hand gripping her wand firmly. “It would be more than fair, don’t you think? Tell me, why should I let you go, when I can kill you and avenge my parents?”

Black didn't say anything, just looked at her with those deep eyes.

“I don't deny that I killed them, Hera, and I'll carry that guilt to my grave,” Sirius said very calmly. “But if you knew the full story... If you listened to me for a second…”

“The full story?” Hera repeated, her ears throbbing furiously. “You sold my parents to Voldemort. That's all I need to know.”

“You have to listen to me,” Black said, and there was an urgency in his voice now. “You'll regret it if you don't listen to me... You don't understand…”

“I understand much better than you think,” Hera said, her voice shaking more than ever. “You never listened to her, did you? My mother… trying to stop Voldemort from killing me… and you were the one who did that… you were the one who handed them over to the Dark Lord… what did he promise you, huh? That it was worth more than the lives of your best friends, than the lives of your goddaughter? Or did you forget that you were my godfather when you handed us over to that genocidal madman of yours?”

Before either of them could say another word, an orange thing ran past Hera; Crookshanks leapt onto Black's chest and sat there, right on top of his heart. The man blinked and looked at the cat.

“Get out of there,” the man muttered, trying to push Crookshanks away.

But the cat dug its claws into Black's robes and did not move. Then it turned its crumpled, ugly face toward Hera and stared at her with those big yellow eyes... To her right, Granger gave a dry sob.

Hera glared at Black and Crookshanks, her wand grip tightening in her hand. So what if she had to kill the damn cat too? The cat was in league with Black... If he was willing to die to protect the man, it was none of his business... If the man wanted to save him, it only proved that he cared more about Crookshanks than about Hera's parents... Than about her, his goddaughter...

The girl raised her wand. Now was the time to act. Now was the time to avenge her father and mother. She was going to kill Black. She had to kill Black. This was her chance...

The seconds stretched on. And Hera stood there, wand poised, Black looking at her, Crookshanks on his chest.

Weasley's labored breathing could be heard near the bed; Granger was silent.

Then there was another noise...

Muffled footsteps echoed across the floor — someone was walking downstairs.

“WE'RE UP HERE!” shouted Granger suddenly. “WE ARE UP HERE... SIRIUS BLACK... HURRY UP!”

Black made a startled movement that nearly dislodged Crookshanks; Hera clutched her wand convulsively — Act now! , said a voice in her head — but the footsteps were thundering upstairs and Hera still did not act. After all, no matter how angry she was or how much she hated Black, Hera was not a murderer.

The bedroom door flew open with a spray of red sparks, and Hera turned just as Professor Lupin burst into the room, his face bloodless, his wand raised and ready. Her eyes flickered to see Weasley, lying on the floor, Granger huddled near the door, Hera standing there with her wand pointed at Black, and Black himself, lying bleeding at the girl's feet.

“Expelliarmus!” shouted Lupin.

Hera's wand flew out of his hand once more; so did the two that Granger was holding. Lupin caught them nimbly and advanced across the room, glancing at Black, who still had Crookshanks lying protectively on his chest.

Hera stood there, feeling suddenly empty. She had not acted. She had lacked courage. Black was going to be handed over to the Dementors. It was out of her hands now.

Then Lupin asked in a very tense voice.

"Where is he, Sirius?"

“Him? Who is he ?” — Hera thought, glancing quickly at Lupin. She didn’t understand what the professor meant. Who was he talking about? She turned to look at Black again.

The man's face was impassive. For a few seconds Black did not move. Then, very slowly, he raised his empty hand and pointed at Weasley. Stunned, Hera turned to Weasley, who in turn looked confused.

“But then…” Lupin murmured, staring at Black with such intensity that he seemed to be trying to read his mind. “Why didn’t he reveal himself before? Unless…” Lupin’s eyes widened, as if he were seeing something beyond Black, something no one else could see. “Unless he was the… Unless you had changed… Without telling me?”

Very slowly, with a deep gaze fixed on Lupin's face, Black confirmed with a nod.

“What the hell are they talking about?” — Potter thought in confusion, looking from Lupin to Black again and again, trying to understand what they were talking about. — “What’s the need to speak in riddles? Why not speak clearly?”

“Professor,” impatient and irritated, Hera interrupted their conversation, in a loud voice, “what is happening...? Why are you there, talking normally to this... This traitor ,” she spat, looking hatefully at Black, “when you should arrest him and hand him over to the...?”

But she never got to finish his question, because what she saw made her voice choke in her throat. Lupin was lowering his wand, his eyes fixed on Black. The professor walked over to Black, snatched his wand, lifted him up so that Crookshanks fell to the floor, and hugged Black like a brother.

Hera felt as if the bottom of her stomach had dropped.

“He's a traitor…” — the brunette thought, her heart breaking into small pieces. — “The man who taught me how to protect myself from Dementors, who spoke to me so fondly about my parents, is a damned traitor.”

“I DON'T BELIEVE!” shouted Granger.

Lupin released Black and turned to the girl. She had risen from the ground and was pointing at Lupin, her eyes wide.

“You... You…”

“Granger…”

“... You and him!”

“Granger calm down…”

“I didn't tell anyone!” the girl shrieked. “I've been covering for you…”

“Granger, listen to me, please!” shouted Lupin. “I can explain…”

Hera felt her body shake, not with fear, but with a new wave of fury.

“I trusted you,” she shouted at Lupin, her voice cracking with fury, “and all along you were his friend!”

Hera felt betrayed. 

“How could you?”

“You are mistaken,” said Lupin. “I wasn't friends with Sirius, but now I am... Let me explain…”

“NO!” shouted Granger. “Hera, don't trust him, he's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too... He's a werewolf!”

[...]

“Wait a minute there…” Lord Nott interrupted the memory for the second time, looking furious. And, considering the timing of his interruption, Sirius could already guess what the reason was. “Dumbledore let a werewolf teach our children? He let a mindless beast near our children without telling us? He's crazy!”

“You didn't know that, Lord Nott?” Madam Longbottom asked her colleague, looking at him with an expressionless expression. “It's funny you didn't know that, considering the fact that the information was leaked to the Prophet at the end of the school year and came out at Pettigrew's trial. Where were you, then, to be unaware of it?”

Lord Nott cringed.

Without anyone asking, Croaker presented the memory again.

[...]

There was an audible silence. Everyone's eyes were now fixed on Lupin, who looked remarkably calm, though very pale.

“What you said is not up to your standard of accuracy, Granger. I’m afraid you only got one statement out of three right. I haven’t been helping Sirius get into the castle, and I certainly don’t want to see Hera dead…” A strange tremor crossed his face. “But I won’t deny that I’m a werewolf.”

Weasley made a valiant effort to stand up again, but fell with a groan of pain. Lupin came towards him, looking worried, but Weasley exclaimed, “Stay away from me, werewolf!”

Hera frowned in disgust at the redhead's blatant prejudice. Despite Lupin's blatant betrayal in helping Black, it wasn't right to condemn him for something he was certainly not to blame for — he hadn't chosen to become a werewolf, after all. 

Lupin froze. Then, with obvious effort, he turned to Granger and asked, “How long have you known?”

“For centuries,” Granger whispered. “Since Professor Snape's writing…”

“He’ll be delighted,” said Lupin calmly. “He wrote that essay in the hope that someone would notice what my symptoms meant. Did you check the lunar chart and notice that I always got sick at full moon? Or did you notice that the bogeyman turned into a moon when it saw me?”

“Both,” Granger replied in a low voice.

Lupin forced a laugh.

“You're the smartest thirteen-year-old witch I've ever met, Granger.”

“Lies.” — Hera refrained from rolling her eyes. — “She’s not the top student in our year, despite being in the top three. She’s certainly smart, but books will only take her so far, and the sooner she realizes that, the better it will be.”

“No, I'm not,” Granger whispered. “If I were a little smarter, I would have told everyone who you are!”

“But everyone already knows. At least the professors know.”

“Dumbledore hired Do you even know that you are a werewolf?!” Weasley exclaimed. “Is he crazy?”

“And you’ve only just realized this, Weasley?” — Hera snorted.

“Some professors thought so,” replied Lupin. “He had to work hard to convince certain professors that I was trustworthy…”

“AND HE WAS WRONG!” shouted Hera. “YOU HAVE BEEN HELPING HIM THE WHOLE TIME!” the girl pointed to Black, who suddenly crossed the room towards the four-poster bed and sank into it, his face hidden in one of his trembling hands. Crookshanks jumped up to him and climbed into his lap, purring. Weasley slowly moved away from the two, dragging his leg.

“I haven't been helping Sirius,” replied Lupin. “If you give me a chance, I'll explain... Look…”

The professor separated Hera's, Weasley's, and Granger's wands and returned them to their owners. Hera took hers, astonished.

“There,” said Lupin, tucking his own wand into his belt. “You are armed and we are not. Now will you listen to me?”

Hera didn't know what to think. Could it be a trick?

“If you haven’t been helping the traitor,” she said, glaring at Black, “how did you know he was here?”

“The map. The Marauder's Map. I was in my room examining it...

“And do you know how to work with the map?” Hera asked suspiciously. “How?”

“Of course I know how to work the map,” Lupin said, waving his hand impatiently. “I helped prepare it, after all.” Hera’s eyebrow arched at the statement, unsure whether to be impressed or even more suspicious. Lupin noticed the way she was looking at him and continued. “If you’re wondering about my nickname, I’m Moony, that was the name my friends gave me at school.”

[...]

“What map are they talking about, Sirius?” Madam Bones asked and Black cursed under his breath, not wanting to say what it was.

Finally, he sighed — there was no way to escape it.

“It's a map of Hogwarts,” he said.

“A map of Hogwarts, you say?” Lord Ogden raised his eyebrow, impressed. “I never knew about the creation of a school map.”

“That’s because almost no one knows,” Sirius explained, rolling his eyes discreetly. “Or at least, almost no one knew. My friends and I created the map when we were students.”

“Very impressive!” Madam Longbottom praised.

“Thanks.”

“And when you say ‘my friends and I’, which friends are you referring to?” Lord Abbott asked, frowning. “Besides Mr. Lupin, of course.”

“I mean James, Remus, Pettigrew and me,” he informed the older wizard, who thanked him.

“And where is that map now?” Lord Yaxley asked, his eyes shining with ambition.

Sirius suppressed a grimace.

“With Hera,” the wizard said coldly. “As it should be.”

Before anyone could complain, Madam Bones spoke.

“Croaker, continue the memory, please!”

The Unspeakable obeyed.

[...] 

“Did you prepare...?” the brunette asked the older man in disbelief, who gestured with his hands, wanting to get back to what was most important.

“The important thing is that I was looking at the map very carefully tonight, because I figured Weasley and Granger might try to sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before the hippogriff’s execution. And I was right, wasn’t I? They did sneak out. I just don’t understand what you were doing outside the castle, Hera… Not when you have such a strong reaction to the dementors and know how attracted they are to you.”

“I was gathering some potion ingredients at the edge of the Forbidden Forest,” she explained, without offering many words.

Lupin had begun to pace up and down the room, his eyes fixed on the three teenagers. Small clouds of dust were rising at his feet.

“You could be wearing your father's old cloak, Hera…”

“How did you know about the cloak?” the youngest asked, her suspicions returning with full force. He not only knew about the map, but about the cloak as well?

“The number of times I've seen James disappear under the cloak…” he said, making another impatient gesture with his hand. “The number of times I've disappeared under the cloak…”

[...]

“Let me get this straight,” Lord Yaxley interrupted and Sirius wanted to scream in irritation. “Are you telling me that, in addition to a map of Hogwarts, which clearly shows everyone's position in the castle, from what we can understand between the lines of what Lupin explained, Potter also has an invisibility cloak?”

“Why are they always interrupting?” — he screamed in his mind. — “I want this to end soon! Is it too much to ask? I need to get out of here to find my daughter…”

“So what, Yaxley?” Sirius asked coldly, daring the wizard to continue.

“So what?” Corban laughed in disbelief, his eyes shining with desire. “Is it wise to entrust such things to a fifteen-year-old girl?”

“And what would you like us to do, Corban?” Madam Bones asked her colleague, looking at him with eyes full of reprimand. “Please enlighten us.”

“I don't know,” the man shrugged, smiling scornfully, “maybe remove the map and the girl's cloak? It's a good start, don't you think?”

“And deliver it to who, Corban?” Madam Longbottom replied. “For you?” 

“And why not?” Yaxley questioned, raising his eyebrow. “After all, as an adult, I could find much more appropriate uses for both things than a fifteen-year-old could.”

“Yes, that could even be true…” Madam Bones agreed, making the blonde glow with smugness. Before he could say anything else, however, she continued. “However, the cloak is a Potter family heirloom, considering it belonged to James before it belonged to Miss Potter. Am I correct, Sirius?”

Sirius nodded.

“This means we can't take off Potter's cloak, as it's a family heirloom. Or would you like us to strip you of a priceless Yaxley family heirloom like you plan to do with Miss Potter?” Bones questioned and Corban opened his mouth to defend himself, but the redhead didn't let him. “Besides,” Amelia continued, not caring about the increasingly irritated look on Yaxley's face, “as the map was created by James and Sirius, Hera's father and godfather, it's only fair that she keep it. Now, does anyone else have anything foolish to say or can we continue?” No one said a single word, leaving the eldest (and Sirius) satisfied. “Croaker…”

[...]

“The issue is that, even when the person is using the Invisibility Cloak, they continue to appear on the Marauder's Map. I watched Weasley and Granger walk across the gardens and into Hagrid's hut. Twenty minutes later, the two left and headed back towards the castle, meeting you halfway. But then they were accompanied by someone else.”

“What?!” exclaimed Hera. “No, we weren't!”

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” the professor continued, continuing his walk and pretending not to have heard Hera’s interruption. “I thought the map wasn’t registering it properly. How could he be with you? After all, he was dead.”

“There was no one with us!”

“Then I saw another little dot, walking quickly towards you, labeled Sirius Black... I saw him collide with you; I watched as he dragged two of you into the Whomping Willow…”

“One of us!” Weasley corrected him, angrily.

“No, Weasley. Two of you.”

He stopped walking, eyes on Weasley.

“Do you think I could take a look at your rat?” he asked in a level voice.

“An animagus” — the realization hit her quickly. — “A damn rat animagus!”

“What?!” Weasley exclaimed. “What does Scabbers have to do with this?”

“All. Can I see it, please?”

Weasley hesitated, then reached into his robes. Scabbers appeared, struggling desperately; Weasley had to grab him by his long, hairless tail to stop him from running away. Crookshanks stood on Black's leg and hissed softly.

Lupin approached Weasley. He seemed to be holding his breath as he examined Scabbers closely.

“What?” Weasley repeated, holding Scabbers closer with a terrified look. “What’s my rat got to do with anything?”

“This isn't a rat,” Sirius Black said suddenly, his voice hoarse.

“What are you saying... Of course it's a rat…”

“No, he’s not,” Hera confirmed calmly. “He’s an Animagus, isn’t he?” Potter asked, looking intently at the two surprised wizards, who seemed unsure how to react to her answer. “He’s an Animagus like you.”

“That's right, Hera. He is an Animagus,” said Black, “who goes by the name of Peter Pettigrew.”

“So that's why I couldn't catch him that night,” Hera muttered to herself quietly, not caring if they could hear her or not. “Because he was a damn rat and I was looking for a person or a ghost…”

It took a few seconds for Weasley and Granger to absorb the absurdity of this statement. Then Weasley said aloud what Hera would be thinking if the possibility did not exist.

“You are all crazy.”

“Ridiculous!” exclaimed Granger softly.

“Peter Pettigrew is dead!” said Weasley. “He killed him twelve years ago!” the boy pointed to Black, whose face shook convulsively.

“I had the intention,” shouted the accused, his yellow teeth showing, “but the little rat got the better of it... But not this time!”

And Crookshanks was thrown to the ground as Black charged at Scabbers; Weasley screamed in pain as Black's weight fell on his broken leg.

“Sirius, NO!” shouted Lupin, throwing himself forward and pushing Black away from Weasley. “WAIT! You can't do it like this... They need to understand... We have to explain…”

“We can explain later!” Black growled, trying to get Lupin out of the way. He still had one hand in the air, with which he was trying to reach Scabbers, who, in turn, was squealing like a little pig, scratching Weasley's face and neck, trying to escape.

“They… Have… A… Right… To… Know… Everything!” Lupin gasped, still trying to restrain Black. “He was Weasley’s pet for years! And there are parts of this story that even I don’t quite understand! And Hera… You owe her the truth, Sirius!”

Black stopped resisting, though his deep-set eyes remained fixed on Scabbers, held firmly beneath Weasley's bitten, scratched, and bloody hands.

“All right, then,” Black agreed, his eyes never leaving the rat. “Tell them whatever you want. But do it quickly, Remus. I want to commit the crime I was arrested for…”

"You're both nuts," Weasley said shakily, looking for support from Potter and Granger. He found it only in Granger — because deep down Hera knew they were telling the truth, crazy as it was. "I've had enough. I'm out."

The boy tried to stand up with his good leg, but Lupin raised his wand again, pointing it at Scabbers.

“You will listen to me until the end, Weasley,” he said calmly. “I just want you to keep Peter safe while you listen to me.”

“IT’S NOT PETER, IT’S SCABBERS!” shouted Weasley, trying to push the rat into his robe pocket, but Scabbers resisted with all his strength; Weasley swayed and lost his balance, but Hera caught him and pushed him back onto the bed. 

Then, without paying attention to Black, Hera addressed Lupin.

“If he really is Peter Pettigrew, I'd like to know how he survived. After all, there were witnesses who saw Pettigrew die,” she said. “A street full of them…”

“They didn't see what they thought they saw!” said Black fiercely, still watching Scabbers struggle in Weasley's hands.

“Everyone thought Sirius had killed Peter,” confirmed Lupin, nodding his head. “I believed that myself, until I saw the map tonight. Because the Marauder's Map never lies... Peter is alive. In Weasley's hand, Hera.”

Granger looked down at Weasley, and when their eyes met, they both agreed silently: Black and Lupin were delusional. And Hera was believing them both. Their story made no sense at all. How could Scabbers be Peter Pettigrew? Azkaban, after all, must have driven Black mad — but why was Lupin playing his game? And why was Hera believing their story?

Then Granger spoke, in a shaky voice that was intended to be calm, as if trying to get the professor to speak sensibly.

“But Professor Lupin... Scabbers can't be Pettigrew... It can't be true, you know it can't…”

“And why can’t he?” Lupin asked calmly, as if they were in class and Granger had simply raised a problem regarding an experiment with grindylows.

“Because…” the girl seemed to think for a few minutes about how she could explain why before continuing full of determination. They were wrong, she knew that. Scabbers was not Pettigrew, she would know if he was. “Because people would know if Peter Pettigrew had been an Animagus. We studied Animagi with Professor McGonagall. And I looked for more information when I did my homework. The Ministry of Magic keeps track of witches and wizards who are able to transform into animals; there is a register that shows what animal they transform into, what they do, what their identifying marks are and other data... And I went to look for Professor McGonagall's name in the register and saw that there have only been seven Animagi in this century and Pettigrew's name was not on the list…”

Unable to resist, Hera began to laugh loudly, drawing everyone's attention in the place. How can this girl be so naive , she thought, huffing, exasperated by the girl's statement, it's incredible that she thinks she's the smartest witch of our generation if she thinks so naively like that .

“If you think everyone who turns into an Animagus registers, you’re quite naive, Granger,” Hera said, rolling her eyes. “Not all of them will register with the Ministry, as you can clearly see from Sirius Black. Besides, they were at war at the time, so they would keep any advantages they could get to themselves, as long as they could get out of it alive. And being an Animagus is a great advantage to have in a war, especially if the enemy doesn’t know you’re one or does know but not what animal you turn into.”

Granger quickly fell silent, blushing for not having thought of that possibility.

“She never thinks outside the box” — Hera Potter thought, sighing. — “It’s frustrating even for me, who’s not her friend… She’d be so much smarter if she didn’t rely so much on books.”

“Unfortunately, as much as the Ministry of Magic would like to think that they have control over all witches and wizards who transform into animals, that is a lie, Granger!” Professor Lupin exclaimed, after a moment of silence that had fallen upon Hera’s words. “As Hera so kindly said, there are wizards who do not inform the Ministry that they have managed to transform into Animagi, wanting to keep this advantage for themselves. And because of this, the Ministry never knew that there were three unregistered Animagi on the loose at Hogwarts.”

"If you're going to tell the boys the story, hurry up, Remus," Black growled, still watching Scabbers's every desperate move. "I've waited twelve years, I won't wait much longer."

“Okay... But you need to help me, Sirius,” said Lupin, “I only know the beginning…”

Lupin stopped. They had heard a loud creak behind him. The bedroom door opened by itself. The five looked. Then Lupin went to the door and peered out onto the landing.

“There's no one out there…”

“This place is haunted!” commented Weasley.

“No, no,” said Lupin, still watching the door with intrigue. “The Shrieking Shack was never haunted... The screams and howls that the villagers used to hear were mine.”

He brushed the gray hair off his forehead, thought for a moment, and said, “That's where it all started, with my transformation into a werewolf. None of this could have happened if I hadn't been bitten... And if I hadn't been so reckless…”

He looked sober and tired. Weasley was about to interrupt him, but Granger said, "Shhhh!" She was watching Lupin very closely.

“I was still a little boy when I was bitten. My parents tried everything, but at that time there was no cure. The potion that Professor Snape has prepared for me is a very recent discovery. It keeps me safe, you see. As long as I take it a week before the full moon, I can retain my mental faculties when I transform, I can think like a human even during my transformations... Basically, I can curl up in my room, a harmless wolf, waiting for the moon to change,” the man sighed and Hera couldn't help but feel empathy for him. It must be hard to be a werewolf in such a prejudiced society. Maybe there was something they could do to change that? To improve the lives of people like Lupin? “But before the Wolfsbane Potion was discovered, I would transform into a perfect monster once a month. It seemed impossible that I would be able to attend Hogwarts. Other parents wouldn’t want to expose their children to me, and I wouldn’t want to,” Remus explained softly, and in a way, she understood (even though she thought it was all nonsense , bullshit ). “But then Dumbledore became headmaster and he took pity on me. He said that if we took certain precautions, there was no reason for me not to attend school…” Lupin sighed and looked directly at Hera. “I told you a few months ago that the Whomping Willow was planted the year I entered Hogwarts. The truth is, it was planted because I entered Hogwarts. This house,” Remus looked sadly around the room, “and the tunnel leading to it were built for my personal use. Once a month I was brought here from the castle to be transformed. The tree was placed at the mouth of the tunnel to prevent anyone from finding me during my dangerous period.”

Hera couldn't imagine where the story was going, but she listened raptly anyway. The only sound, other than Lupin's voice, was the frightened squeaks of Scabbers — or Peter, she finished in her mind.

“That is, if they’re not just mistaking Scabbers for another rat…” — Hera thought, glancing at the said animal from the corner of her eye. Unable to contain herself, the brunette shuddered. — “Which makes it pretty disgusting that a man would live for twelve years as a rat because he’s a coward.”

“My transformations back then were... They were terrible. It's very painful for someone to become a werewolf. I was separated from people so I could bite at will, so I would scratch and bite myself. The villagers would hear the noise and the screams and think they were hearing particularly violent souls from the other world. Dumbledore encouraged the rumors... Even today, since the house has been silent for years, the residents of Hogsmeade don't have the courage to approach it... But apart from my transformations, I had never been so happy in my life. For the first time, I had friends, three great friends. Sirius Black... Peter Pettigrew... and, of course, your father, Hera... James Potter.”

The werewolf explained and she couldn't help but smile when she heard her father's name.

“Now, my three friends couldn't help but notice that I disappeared once a month. I made up all sorts of stories. I said my mother was sick, that I had gone home to see her... I was terrified to think that they would abandon me if they found out what I was, after all, there was a great deal of prejudice surrounding werewolves back then, and it still is today. But of course they, like you, Granger, found out the truth... And they didn't abandon me. Instead, they did something for me that not only made my transformations bearable, but also gave me the best time of my life. They turned themselves into Animagi.”

“My father too?” asked Hera, amazed and a little amused.

“Hmm… Maybe I’ll become an animagus too” — a Potter she thought playfully. 

“Of course. It took them nearly three years to figure out how to do it. Your father and Sirius were two of the brightest kids in the school, which was lucky, because turning into an Animagus can go horribly wrong, which is one of the reasons the Ministry keeps such a close eye on those who try it (although they don’t keep an eye on everyone). Peter needed all the help he could get from James and Sirius—he wasn’t very strong magically, you see, and he didn’t do very well in class. Finally, in our fifth year, they managed it. They could turn into a different animal whenever they wanted.”

“But how did that help you?” asked Granger, intrigued. 

Hera didn't blame her, as she was just as interested in the answer as the Hogwarts know-it-all.

“They couldn't keep me company as humans, so they kept me company as animals. A werewolf only poses a danger to people, because they see people as prey to werewolves, unlike animals. So they would sneak out of the castle every month on the nights of the full moon, hidden by James's Invisibility Cloak, and transform... Peter, being the smallest, could slip under the aggressive branches of the willow and push the button to immobilize it. The other two could then slip through the tunnel and join me. Under their influence, I became less dangerous. My body was still that of a wolf, but my mind became less wolfish when we were together, because I recognized them as my pack.”

[...]

“That’s an interesting thought, isn’t it?” Lord Greengrass muttered, overheard by everyone in the courtroom. Dolores, the frog-faced woman with a terrible obsession with the color pink, scowled quickly, muttering in disgust about creatures and half-breeds, filthy beasts. “We never thought about how werewolves don’t react to animals, even if they are Animagi and not true animals.”

“It's impressive,” Madame Longbottom agreed with the wizard, “that four teenagers could think of something like that, when not even adult wizards, who have studied lycanthropy for centuries, could think of it.”

Sirius smiled.

“Who came up with the idea for the Animagus transformation, Sirius?” Madam Bones asked, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

“James,” he replied.

“Interesting,” the redhead murmured, “very interesting. And there haven't been any problems since they started?”

“No,” Black quickly denied, before remembering the situation with Snape. “At least, not when we were in our forms animagas.”

“Very well,” Bones nodded, before gesturing to Croaker. “That’s certainly a thought we should keep in mind as we research a cure for lycanthropy… But we can talk about that later, let’s continue with the memory…”

[...]

“Hurry up, Remus,” growled Black, who continued to watch Scabbers with a kind of voracity on his face.

“I'm getting there, Sirius, I'm getting there... Well, extremely exciting possibilities opened up for us the moment we managed to transform. It wasn't long before we began leaving the Shrieking Shack and wandering the school grounds and settlement at night. Sirius and James transformed into animals so large that they could control the werewolf. I doubt that any Hogwarts student has ever discovered more about the school grounds and the town of Hogsmeade than we have…” Remus explained and the brunette listened attentively. Despite being the daughter of James and Lilian Potter, Hera did not know almost nothing about your parents. Scratch that, she didn't know absolutely nothing ! All she was told about them was that she was the carbon copy of your father, with the eyes of your mother. It was really tiring hearing the same thing every time, even though she liked to look like them. “And that's how we ended up preparing the Marauder's Map, and signing it with our nicknames. Sirius is Padfoot, Peter is Wormtail, and James era Prongs.”

“What kind of animal...?” Hera started to ask, but Granger interrupted her.

“Rude!” — Potter thought.

“But even with all that, what you were doing was still really dangerous! Walking in the dark with a werewolf! What if you had run away from them and bitten someone?”

“It’s a thought that still haunts me,” Lupin replied dejectedly. “And we often had narrow escapes. We laughed about it later, we didn’t realize the consequences that would come upon us at the time. We were young, irresponsible, carried away by our intelligence,” he said, and she understood. Young people, especially teenagers, do rather stupid things sometimes. As a teenager, a teenage witch , she recognized that. “Sometimes I felt remorse for betraying Dumbledore’s trust, of course... He had accepted me into Hogwarts, even though I was a dangerous werewolf, something no other headmaster would have done, and he didn’t even suspect that I was disobeying the rules he had established for the safety of others and for my own safety. Merlin knows that expulsion would be the least of my worries if I had hurt someone or worse; I could have died. Dumbledore never knew that I had tricked three of my classmates into illegally transforming into Animagi, and if he did, he never reprimanded us for our foolishness. Yet, despite how irresponsible what we were doing was, I always managed to forget my regrets whenever we sat down to plan the next month's adventure. And I haven't changed…”

“Funny that Dumbledore only let you study here, isn’t it, professor?” — Hera thought, her instincts pinging loudly at what her professor had said. — “If he’s so pro-creatures, why don’t other werewolves, vampires, and other beings study here?”

Lupin's face had hardened, and there was disgust in his voice. “All this year I struggled with myself, wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. But I didn’t. Why? Because I was too much of a coward. Because it would have meant admitting that I had betrayed his trust while I was at school, admitting that I had influenced others… And Dumbledore’s trust meant everything to me. He had admitted me to Hogwarts as a boy, and given me a job when I had been shunned all my adult life, unable to find gainful employment because of who I am. So I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school through the dark arts he had learned from Voldemort, that the fact that he was an Animagus was not the issue… So in a way, Snape had been right about me.”

“Snape?” Black said hoarsely, looking away from Scabbers for the first time in minutes to look at Lupin. “What does Snape have to do with this?”

“He's here, Sirius,” replied Lupin seriously. “He's a professor at Hogwarts too,” unfortunately , Hera completed for him. Remus then looked up at her, Weasley and Granger. “Professor Snape attended school with us. He was very opposed to my appointment as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. He’s been telling Dumbledore all year that I can’t be trusted. He has his reasons… You see, Sirius here played a trick on him that nearly killed him, a trick I unwittingly participated in…”

Black made an exclamation of disdain.

“Serves him right,” he scoffed. “Spying, trying to find out what we were up to… Hoping we’d get kicked out…”

“Severus was very interested in where I went every month, quite determined to find out the Marauders’ damned secret,” Lupin told Hera, Weasley, and Granger. “We were all in the same year, you see, and we didn’t… Um… We didn’t like each other very much. He didn’t like James at all, and I must say it was quite mutual. They really hated each other and fought each other at every opportunity, curses and spells or not… Anyway, Snape knew what I was after he saw me walking through the gardens with Madam Pomfrey one full moon night when she was taking me towards the Whomping Willow to transform. Sirius thought it would be… Um… Amusing, to tell Snape that all he had to do was tighten the noose on the tree trunk with a long stick to get in after me. Well, of course, Snape went to try it, and if he had gotten to the house he would have found a full-grown werewolf... But your father, who had heard what Sirius had done, went to find Snape and pulled him out, risking his own life... Snape, however, saw me at the end of the tunnel. Dumbledore had forbidden him to tell anyone, but he had since learned what I was…”

[...]

“If this is what Black calls teenage pranks, is it wise to release this man (who has been driven mad by Azkaban, no doubt) into the wizarding world?” Dolores Umbridge asked the Wizengamot, and Sirius hated her even more. “Who knows what crimes he might commit after spending so many years around the Dementors. He must be insane!” 

“Insane?” Lord Greengrass asked softly, looking at Sirius with eyes shining with amusement. “He doesn’t seem the least bit insane to me, Dolores.”

Some laughter echoed throughout the place, making the pink frog blush with anger.

“What are you trying to imply, Dolores?” Madam Longbottom asked, arching her eyebrow at the toad woman. “That Sirius should go back to Azkaban, even though he’s innocent? Just because of something that happened years ago when he was still a teenager?”

“And why not?” Umbridge retorted, looking at him with her frog eyes completely bulging. I don't think I've ever seen and never will see a woman uglier than that , Black thought. “Black has already shown himself capable of committing murder in his teens, what guarantees us that he won't commit one this time?”

“I may be partly to blame for Snape finding a fully transformed werewolf,” Sirius said, his expression as cold as his tone, “but don’t take Snape for being innocent, Umbridge. He made himself as guilty as I was by deciding to go after Remus knowing exactly what he is and what could happen.”

“I agree,” Lord Greengrass exclaimed, looking at Dolores with a serious expression.  “I may not agree with Black's actions, but Snape knew that Remus was a werewolf and he still went after it. He was a fool!”

“In any case, the fact is not relevant to this case, Dolores,” Madame Bones commented. “And it's not important. Now, can we continue?”

Everyone nodded and the memory continued.

[...]

“So that's why Snape doesn't like you,” said Hera slowly, “because he thought you were in on the joke?”

“That's right,” sneered a cold voice from the wall behind Lupin. Severus Snape removed the Invisibility Cloak and held his wand pointed directly at Lupin.

Granger shouted. Black jumped to his feet. Hera rolled her eyes, not at all surprised by the Dungeon Bat's intrusion.

“I found this by the Whomping Willow,” said Snape, throwing his cloak aside, but being careful to keep his wand pointed directly at Lupin's chest. “Very useful, Potter, thank you…”

“Bloody hell!” — Hera grunted. — “I knew I was forgetting something…”

“I am very happy to be of assistance to you, professor ,” Hera said, mocking the title. Severus Snape was no professor. All he did was humiliate students, mocking their failures when he didn't teach anything. Throughout her years at Hogwarts, Hera heard Snape call her father a bully, when he himself was nothing more than one.

Despite the furious glare she received, Snape did nothing more upon hearing her mockery of him, which made her wonder, before finally understanding. Snape was slightly out of breath, but his face expressed restrained triumph as he looked at Lupin and Black.

“Bastard!” — the girl scoffed, rolling her eyes. — “Will this man never grow up?”

“You might be wondering how I knew you were here,” he said with shining eyes. “I just passed your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I decided to bring you a chalice. And it was lucky... Lucky for me, I mean. I found a certain map on your desk. One look told me everything I needed to know. I saw you run down that passage and disappear from sight.”

“Severus…” began Lupin, but Snape ran over him.

“I told the headmaster several times that you were helping your old friend Black get into the castle, Lupin, and here I have the proof. Not even I could have dreamed that you would have the nerve to use this ancient place as a hideout…”

“Severus, you are making a mistake,” said Lupin with urgency in his voice. “You don't know everything, I can explain, Sirius isn't here to kill Hera…”

“There’s no point arguing, Professor” — Potter thought, looking at Snape in exasperation. And he still has the audacity to say that her father never matured when he still remains a bitter and stagnant man even after more than a decade. — “He’s seeking revenge on his childhood tormentors. He’ll never listen to you like that!’”

“Two more for Azkaban tonight,” said Snape, his eyes now shining with fanaticism. Stupid and childish idiot , Hera thought furiously, preferring to turn the wrong man over to the Dementors for revenge rather than seeking the truth , she thought, looking at him with disgust. “I'll be curious to know how Dumbledore will take this... He was convinced that you were harmless, you know, Lupin... A tame werewolf…”

“You fool,” said Lupin mildly. “Is a child's resentment enough to send an innocent man back to Azkaban?”

BANG!  

Thin, snake-like ropes spouted from the tip of Snape's wand and coiled around Lupin's mouth, wrists, and ankles; he lost his balance and fell to the ground, unable to move. With a roar of anger, Black charged at Snape, but Snape pointed his wand between Black's eyes.

“Just give me a reason,” whispered the professor. “Just give me a reason, and I swear I'll do it.”

[...]

“Is this the kind of wizard who teaches our children?” Lord Greengrass asked in disgust, and Sirius didn’t blame him.

Sirius may hate Snape — given everything that had happened between them during their school days it was hard not to — but that didn't make him take his anger and hatred out on others like the Potions professor seemed to do. Especially Hera . It was frustrating, irritating and infuriating to know that because of him and James — because of what they had done to Snape at school (not that the idiot was innocent, because he wasn't ) — Snape hated his daughter and took out on her everything he couldn't take out on them.

“I'm sure Albus has a good reason for letting that man teach the students,” Daedalus Diggle (a member of the Order and a great supporter of Dumbledore) commented, making Sirius roll his eyes.

“Is that so?” Lord Nott asked coldly, looking at Diggle with an expressionless face. “And what reason would that be?”

Daedalus did not respond.

“Oh, he has a reason, yes,” Madam Longbottom muttered in disgust. “And I know very well what that reason is! I’ve been trying for years to talk to Dumbledore and make him see reason, but the man won’t. He says he trusts Snape and that’s enough,” she informed, making many hiss in anger, Sirius included. “That’s Dumbledore’s reason: to trust Severus Snape. Complete nonsense, in my opinion.”

“What?!” Lord Abbott exclaimed in disbelief. Sirius didn't blame him. “ That's the reason? Seriously?!”

“Yes,” Madam Longbottom said in disgust, “ that is Dumbledore’s reason, and in his opinion it is a perfectly plausible reason. No matter how incredibly low the number of students passing their Potions O.W.L.s is, or how much the number of Aurors and Healers has been greatly reduced by not having a Potions N.E.W.T., Dumbledore will not change his mind. The Board of Governors have tried every year to get him to sack Snape, especially with the absurd amount of complaints from the students (and looking back on these memories, I completely understand them), but he will not have it. He is stubborn.”

“But that is not a good reason to keep a hateful man near children!” Lord Shaqif exclaimed, looking disgustedly at Snape's figure. “Look at the way he treats these three children. If this is how he treats students, this man should not be even ten feet away from our children.”

“You are most welcome to speak to Dumbledore,” Madam Bones commented dryly. “I tried and I couldn't. Augusta tried and failed. Trying to make that man see reason is a waste of time.”

Before anyone could comment further, Croaker released the memory once again.

[...]

Black froze. It would have been impossible to tell which of their faces betrayed more hatred. Hera had known they had been arch enemies since their teenage years — she had heard about it only a few minutes ago — and that they truly hated each other, but seeing it first hand was terrifying. They both looked as though they could kill each other without remorse, and from the way Snape held his wand, he seemed to want to.

Hera stood there, analyzing, not knowing what to do in the face of the Dungeon Bat, a hateful and mean man, as she realized once again. She looked at Weasley and Granger. The redhead looked somewhat confused, while still trying to hold back a rebellious Scabbers, still unable to believe the story that Lupin and Black were telling, but not wanting to agree with Snape — after all, the Potions professor was truly hated by three quarters of the school — which she understood. 

Granger, however, stepped forward hesitantly towards Snape and said, breathing heavily, “Professor... It wouldn't hurt to hear what they have to say, f... Would it?”

“Miss Granger, you're already facing suspension,” Snape snorted. “You, Potter and Weasley are outside the school limits in the company of a convicted criminal and a werewolf. For once in your life, shut up.”

“But if... If there was a mistake…”

Hera mentally applauded her for her courage. It was truly brave of her to face the Dungeon Bat when he was in that mood.

“STAY QUIET, YOU ASS!” shouted Snape, suddenly looking very upset. “DON’T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!”

[...]

Everyone grumbled indignantly at Snape's exaggerated reaction to being questioned by the student, but they did not interrupt the memory.

[...]

Some sparks came out of the tip of his wand, which was still pointed at Black's face. Granger fell silent. 

“Damn, he really is a spiteful idiot” — Hera thought, smiling scornfully in the direction of the potions professor.

“Revenge is very sweet,” Snape whispered to Black. “How I wished I had the privilege of catching you”

“You're the one who's going to make a fool of yourself again, Snape,” Black growled. “If this boy takes his rat to the castle,” and indicated Weasley with his head... “I'll go without making a fuss…”

“To the castle?” Snape replied, in an insinuating voice. “I don't think we need to go that far. All I have to do is call the Dementors when we get out of the willow. They will be very pleased to see you, Black... Pleased enough to give you a little kiss, I would venture to say…”

What little color there was in Black's face disappeared.

“You... You have to listen to what I have to say,” he said, hoarsely. “The rat... Look at that rat…”

But there was a maddening gleam in Snape's eyes that Hera had never seen before. The professor seemed unable to hear.

“Come on, everyone,” Snape snapped his fingers and the ends of the ropes tying Lupin flew into his hands. “I pull the werewolf. Maybe the Dementors have a kiss for him too... “

Before she realized what she was doing, Hera crossed the room in three strides and blocked the door, glaring at the older man.

“Get out of my way, Potter, you’re in enough trouble as it is,” Snape growled. “If I hadn’t been here to save your skin…”

“Professor Lupin could have killed me a hundred times this year,” said Hera. “I was alone with him many times, taking defense classes against Dementors. If he was helping Black, why didn't he kill me right away?”

“Don’t ask me to imagine how a werewolf’s mind works, because I’m not one,” Snape hissed. “Now get out of my way, Potter, or I’ll have you expelled for this stunt.”

Unable to resist, Hera screamed everything that was kept inside her mind. “YOU'RE A PATHETIC IDIOT!” shouted Hera. “JUST BECAUSE YOU AND THEY HAD A RIVALRY AT SCHOOL, YOU DON'T EVEN WANT TO LISTEN, EVEN WHEN THERE'S THE POSSIBILITY OF AN INNOCENT MAN BEING KISSED... YOU TALK SO MUCH ABOUT MY FATHER, BUT YOU'RE MORE OF A BULLY THAN HE EVER WAS. AS MEAN AND ARROGANT AS YOU LIKE TO CALL ME.”

[...]

Sirius suppressed a smile at his daughter's fierceness. Hera was a great girl — and a strong defender of those she loved. Knowing that he was included in that small group of people both embarrassed and delighted him — because after everything he had done, all the harm he had caused her (intentionally or not), he did not deserve her love, and yet he received it anyway.

[...]

“SHUT UP, YOU SPOILED GIRL! I CANNOT ALLOW PEOPLE TO TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!” shouted Snape, looking madder than ever. “Like father, like daughter, Potter! I just saved your neck; you should thank me on your knees! It would have been well done if Black had killed her! You would have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you could have made a mistake with a friend... Now get out of the way, or I'll make you leave. GET OUT OF THE FRONT, POTTER!”

Hera made up her mind in a split second. Before Snape could even take a step towards her, the girl raised her wand.

“Expelliarmus!” she exclaimed, but her voice wasn't the only one to scream. 

There was an explosion that made the door rattle on its hinges; Snape was lifted up and thrown against the wall, then slid down it to the floor, a trickle of blood running beneath his hair. He had been knocked out.

Hera looked around. Weasley and Granger had also tried to disarm Snape at exactly the same moment. The professor's wand flew through the air in an arc and landed on the bed, next to Crookshanks.

“You shouldn't have done that,” reproached Black, looking at Hera. “I should have left it with me…”

“Yeah, well?” Hera scoffed, looking him up and down. “And what would you do against him, huh? Weak as you are and without a wand… That would be pure stupidity.”

Hera avoided Black's gaze. She wasn't sure, even now, that she had done the right thing, despite what her magic seemed to tell her.

“We attacked a professor... We attacked a professor…” Granger whimpered, looking scared at the unconscious Snape. “Oh, we're going to get into such a big mess…”

Lupin struggled to free himself from the ropes. Black quickly bent down and untied him. The professor stood up, rubbing his arms where the ropes had hurt him.

“Thank you, Hera,” he thanked.

“Don’t thank me,” the girl said. “After all, I didn’t do it for you.” Hera took a deep breath, looking at Black, who was staring at her with an unknown emotion shining in his eyes. “Now continue with the story before I change my mind, please.”

“You're right,” Lupin smiled, before looking away. “Then it's time to present you with some proof. You, boy... Give me Peter, please. Now.”

Weasley hugged Scabbers closer to his chest.

“Don't even come,” said the boy in a weak voice. “Are you trying to say that Black escaped Azkaban just to get his hands on Scabbers? I mean…” and he looked at Hera and Granger for support, “okay, let's say Pettigrew could turn into a rat, there are millions of rats, how would Black know which one he's looking for if he was locked up in Azkaban?”

“You know, Sirius, it's a fair question,” said Lupin, turning to Black with a slight frown. “How did you find out where the rat was?”

Black reached one of his claw-like hands into his robes and took out a crumpled piece of paper, which he smoothed out and showed to the others. It was the photo of Weasley with his family, who had appeared in the Daily Prophet last summer, and there, on Weasley's shoulder, was Scabbers. 

“Where did you get that?” Lupin asked Black, perplexed.

“Fudge,” said Black. 

[...]

More than one person looked at Fudge with pure disapproval in their eyes, making the Minister shrink in his chair — after all, even if that had not been his intention, he had induced a dangerous criminal (convicted or not) to escape from Azkaban. It had been his good fortune that Sirius was, in fact, innocent and had not sought to harm anyone — apart from Pettigrew, of course.

[...]

“When he went to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me the newspaper he was carrying. And there was Peter, on the front page... On this boy’s shoulder... I recognized him at once... How many times had I seen him transform? And the caption said that the boy was going back to Hogwarts... Where Hera was... I had to do something to protect my pup.”

“My God,” exclaimed Lupin softly, looking from Scabbers to the photo in the newspaper and back to the rat. “The front paw…”

“What's wrong with the paw?” Weasley said in a challenging tone.

“He's missing a little finger,” said Black.

"Of course," muttered Lupin. “So simple... So brilliant... Did he cut it himself?”

“Just before he turned,” Black confirmed. “When I cornered him, he screamed to the whole street that I had betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could cast a spell on him, he blew up the street with the wand hidden behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet, and fled into the sewer with the other rats…”

“You've heard of it, haven't you Weasley?” asked Lupin. “The biggest piece of Peter's body they found was his finger.”

“Look here, Scabbers definitely had a fight with another rat or something! It's been in my family for centuries, right…”

“Twelve years, to be exact,” said Lupin. “Have you ever found it strange that he lived so many years?”

“We... We take good care of him!”

“But he's not looking very healthy at the moment, is he?” said Lupin. “I imagine you've been losing weight since you heard that Sirius ran away…”

“He’s been terrified of that crazy cat!” Weasley said, nodding toward Crookshanks, who was still purring on the bed.

But that wasn't true, it suddenly occurred to Hera... She remembered her stay at the Leaky Cauldron and the meeting she had had with the entire Weasley family when she had stayed there for the summer. Scabbers had already looked ill before he had met Crookshanks... Ever since Weasley had returned from Egypt... Ever since Black had escaped...

“Stop being so silly, Weasley,” Hera huffed, clutching her wand tightly between her fingers. If he really is Peter Pettigrew and was my parents' secret keeper , the brunette thought furiously, I will kill him . “All the facts are against Scabbers. And don't blame Crookshanks for chasing that stupid rat.”

“The cat's not crazy,” said Black hoarsely. He reached out a bony hand and stroked Crookshanks's furry head. “It's the smartest cat I've ever met. It instantly recognized what Peter was. And when it found me, it realized that I wasn't a dog. It took a while for it to trust me. In the end I managed to tell it what I was looking for and it has helped me…”

“Like this?” muttered Granger.

“It tried to bring Peter to me, but it couldn't... Then it stole the Gryffindor Tower passwords for me... From what I understand, it took them from a boy's bedside table…”

Hera wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the statement, but Crookshanks was a magical cat and magical creatures were much more intelligent than normal creatures.

"But Peter knew what was happening and he ran away..." Black said. "This cat... Crookshanks, was that the name you gave it?... It told me that Peter had gotten blood on the sheets... I suppose he bit himself... Well, playing dead had already worked once..."

These words shook the torpor Hera's mind.

“And do you know why he pretended to be dead?” the girl asked impetuously. “Because he knew you were going to kill him like you killed my parents! After all, this whole story is incredible and credible, yes, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t kill them, Sirius Black! Directly or indirectly. Everyone said you were their secret keeper!”

“No,” said Lupin. “Hera…”

“And now you've come to finish him off!”

“It's true, I came,” said Black, giving Scabbers an evil look.

“Then I should have let Snape take you!” shouted Hera.

“Hera,” said Lupin quickly, “don’t you see? All this time we thought Sirius had betrayed your parents and Peter had chased him… But it was the other way around, don’t you see? Peter betrayed your mother and father… Sirius chased Peter…”

“IT'S NOT TRUE!” Hera screamed furiously. “HE WAS THEIR SECRET KEEPER! HE SAID THAT BEFORE YOU SHOWED UP. HE CONFESSED THAT HE KILLED MY PARENTS!”

The girl pointed to Black, who shook his head slowly; Suddenly his deep-set eyes became excessively bright.

“Hera… It was the same as killing them,” he said hoarsely. “I convinced Lily and James to give Peter the secret at the last minute, convinced them to use Peter as their secret keeper instead of me as just another way to protect them… It’s my fault, I know… The night they died, I had arranged to look for Peter to make sure he was okay, but when I got to the hiding place, he wasn’t there. But there were no signs of a struggle. I thought it was strange. I was terrified. I ran straight to your parents’ house right away. And when I saw the destroyed house and their bodies… I realized what Peter must have done. What I had done. It was all my fault.”

His voice broke. He turned his back.

“Enough,” said Lupin, and there was an adamant tone in his voice that Hera had never heard before. “There's a way to prove what really happened. Weasley, give me that rat.”

“What are you going to do with him if I give it to you?” asked Weasley, tensely.

“Force him to reveal himself,” said Lupin. “If it really is a rat, it won't get hurt.”

Weasley hesitated. Then he finally reached out and handed Scabbers to Lupin. The rat began to squeak without stopping, twitching, its little black eyes bulging out of its sockets.

“Are you ready, Sirius?” asked Lupin.

Black had already picked up Snape's wand from the bed. He approached Lupin and the struggling rat, and his wet eyes suddenly seemed to burn into his face.

“Well, if my best friend did that to me, I would be the same way,” — Hera thought, feeling empathy for Black.

“Together?” he asked in a low voice.

“I think it's better,” Lupin confirmed, holding Scabbers tightly in one hand and his wand in the other. “When I count three. One… Two… THREE!”

Blue-white flashes erupted from the two wands; For a moment, Scabbers stopped in the air, his little gray body twisting wildly — ​​Weasley screamed — the rat fell and hit the ground. Another dazzling flash followed and then…

It was like watching a film of a growing tree. A head appeared above the ground; limbs sprouted; a moment later there was a man where Scabbers had been, clenching and wringing his hands. Crookshanks was huffing and growling in bed; the hairs on its back stood on end.

He was a very short man, about the same height as Potter and Granger. Hera thought he looked more like a rat than a man.

His fine, bleached hair was unkempt and the top of his head was bald. He had the flabby appearance of a chubby man who had lost a lot of weight in a short time. The skin was wrinkled, almost like Scabbers' fur, and there was a rat around his thin nose and very small, watery eyes. He looked at those present, one by one, breathing shallowly and quickly. Hera saw his eyes dart to the door and back.

“Well, well, hello, Peter,” Lupin greeted him politely, as if rats often turned into old schoolmates around him. “How long!”

“S... Sirius R... Remus,” even Pettigrew's voice resembled a squeal. Again his eyes darted to the door. “My friends... My old friends…”

“Really pathetic” — Hera snorted in disgust.

Black's wand rose, but Lupin grabbed him by the wrist, giving him a reproachful look, then turned back to Pettigrew, his voice light and careless.

“We were having a little chat, Peter, about the events of the night Lily and James died. Perhaps you missed the details while you were squealing in bed…”

“Remus,” Pettigrew gasped, and Hera saw beads of sweat forming on his pale face, “you don’t believe him, do you…? He tried to kill me, Remus…”

“That's what we heard,” replied Lupin, more coldly. “I would like to clarify some things with you, Peter, if you want to have…”

“He’s come to try to kill me again!” Pettigrew screeched suddenly, pointing at Black, and Hera realized that the man had used his middle finger, as he was missing his index finger. “He killed Lily and James, and now he’s going to kill me too… You have to help me, Remus…”

Black's face looked more skull-like than ever as he fixed his sunken eyes on Pettigrew.

“No one's going to try to kill him until we sort some things out,” said Lupin. 

“Shall we resolve some things?” Pettigrew squeaked, once again looking desperately around, registering the nailed-down windows and, once again, the only door. “I knew he would come after me! I knew he would come back for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!”

“Did you know Sirius was going to escape Azkaban?” asked Lupin, frowning. “Knowing that no one has ever done this before?”

“He has dark powers that we can only dream of!” cried Pettigrew in a high-pitched voice. “How else would you escape from there? I guess He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has taught him a few tricks!”

Black began to laugh, a horrible, joyless laugh that filled the entire room.

“Voldemort taught me some tricks?”

Pettigrew flinched as if Black had brandished a whip at him.

“What happened, were you terrified of hearing your old master's name?” asked Black. “I don't blame you, Peter. His people aren't very happy with you, are they?”

“I don't know what you mean by that, Sirius…” murmured Pettigrew, breathing more quickly than ever. His entire face glistened with sweat now.

“You haven't been hiding from me these twelve years. You've been hiding from Voldemort's followers. I've heard some things in Azkaban, Peter... Everyone thinks you're dead or they would have called you to account by now... I've heard them shouting all sorts of things in their sleep. It seems they think the traitor has betrayed them too. Voldemort went to the Potters' house trusting in information from you... And Voldemort lost his power there. And not all of his followers ended up in Azkaban, did they?” Black sneered, enjoying scaring Pettigrew with his words. “There are still many out there, biding their time, pretending to recognize their mistakes... If they ever find out you're still alive, Peter…”

“I don't know... What you're talking about…” replied Pettigrew, more squeaky than ever. He wiped his face on his sleeve and looked up at Lupin. “You don't believe this... This madness, Remus…”

“I must admit, Peter, that I find it difficult to understand why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years in the form of a rat.”

“Innocent, but terrified!” squealed Pettigrew. “If Voldemort's followers were after me, it would be because I sent one of their best men to Azkaban, the spy, Sirius Black!”

Black's face contorted.

“How dare you?” he growled, suddenly sounding like the bear-sized dog he had been a short time ago. “Me, Voldemort’s spy? When have I ever been stalking people stronger and more powerful than I? Now you, Peter, I’ll never understand why I didn’t realize from the start that you were the spy; you always liked big friends to protect you, didn’t you? You used to keep us company… Me and Remus… And James… And your Animagus form… How I missed that I’ll never understand.”

Pettigrew wiped his face again; was almost panting, without air.

“I, spy... You must have lost your mind... Never... I don't know how you can say one…”

“Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it,” Black hissed, so venomously that Pettigrew took a startled step back. “I thought it was the perfect plan... A bluff... Voldemort would have come after me for sure, he never dreamed they would use a weak, talentless fellow like you... It must have been the finest hour of your unhappy life when you told Voldemort he could hand over the Potters to him.”

Pettigrew was muttering in dismay; Hera could hear words like “extravagant” and “insane,” but she couldn’t help but pay more attention to the paleness of Pettigrew’s face and the way his eyes kept darting to the windows and the door. If he was as innocent as he claimed, why did he seem to be looking for ways to escape the Shrieking Shack like a criminal on the run?

“Professor Lupin,” said Granger timidly. “Can I... Can I say something?”

“Of course, Granger,” said Lupin courteously.

“Well... Scabbers... I mean, this... This man... He slept in Ron's room for three years, close enough to go after Hera if he wanted to. If he's working for You-Know-Who, how come he's never tried to harm Hera before?”

“There!” Pettigrew shrieked, pointing his mangled hand at Granger. “Thank you very much! See, Remus? I’ve never touched a hair on Hera’s head! Why would I do that?”

“I'll tell you why,” said Black. “Because you never did anything, to anyone or for anyone, without knowing what you could gain from it. Voldemort has been on the run for twelve years, they say he is half-dead. You wouldn't kill right under Albus Dumbledore's nose, over a dying wizard who lost all his power, would you? No, you'd want to make sure he was the school bully before returning to his side, wouldn't you? Why else did you look for a family of wizards to take you in? To keep your ears open for news, right, Peter? If his old protector regained his former strength and it was safe to join him…”

Pettigrew opened his mouth and closed it again several times. He seemed to have lost the ability to speak.

“Um... Mr. Black... Sirius?” said Granger.

Black was startled to hear someone treat him like that, with such politeness, and stared at Granger as if he had never seen anything like it.

“If you don't mind me asking, how... How did you escape Azkaban, if you didn't use the dark arts?”

“Thank you very much,” exclaimed Pettigrew, nodding frantically in the girl's direction. “Exactly! Precisely what I…”

But Lupin silenced him with a look. Black frowned slightly at Granger, but not because he was bored with her. He seemed to be considering the question.

“I don't know how I got away,” he said slowly. “I think the only reason I never lost my mind is because I knew I was innocent. This wasn't a happy thought, so the Dementors couldn't suck it out of me... But it served to keep me lucid and aware of who I was... It helped me retain my powers... And when everything became. .. Excessive... I could transform myself in the cell... Turn into a dog. Dementors can't see, you know…” He swallowed. “They approach people, feeding on their emotions... They realized that my feelings were less... Less human, less complex when I was a dog... But they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like all the prisoners there, so they didn't mind. But I became weak, very weak, and had no hope of fending them off without a wand…”

Sirius took a deep breath and Hera watched closely, not wanting to miss anything.

“But then I saw Peter in that photo... And I understood that he was at Hogwarts with Hera... Perfectly placed to act, if the slightest news reached him that the dark party was gathering forces again…”

Pettigrew shook his head, muttering silently, but all the while his eyes remained fixed on Black as if he were mesmerized.

“... Ready to strike the moment he was sure he had allies... And to hand over the last Potter. If he handed over Hera, who would dare say he had betrayed Lord Voldemort? Peter would be welcomed back with full honors…” Black explained. “So, you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew he was still alive... I was the only one who knew the danger my pup was in…”

Hera remembered what Arthur Weasley had told his wife: “ The guards say he's been talking in his sleep... Always the same words... 'He's at Hogwarts.' I just don't understand why he thinks Hera Potter is a boy. Maybe Azkaban made him crazier than we thought... ”

“It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the dementors couldn't destroy it... It wasn't a happy thought... It was an obsession... But it gave me strength, it cleared my mind. Then, one night when they opened the door to bring me food, I walked past them in dog form... It's so much harder for them to perceive animal emotions that they were confused... I was thin, very thin... Enough to fit through the bars... Still as a dog, I swam to the shore... I traveled north and snuck onto the Hogwarts grounds, as a dog,” Sirius explained, making Hera nod in amazement. It was simple, but brilliant. “Since then, I've lived in the forest, except for the hours when I went out to watch Quidditch, of course. You fly as well as your father, Hera... He and Lily would be extremely proud of you. I know I am!”

[...]

“The fact that it’s so easy to escape from Azkaban is worrying,” Madam Bones commented, frowning in concern. “But we can talk about that after we’ve sorted this whole situation out.”

[...]

Black turned to the girl, who didn't avoid his gaze.

“Believe me,” he said hoarsely. “Believe me, Hera, please. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died rather than betray them. Rather than betray you.”

And finally, Hera believed it. Her throat too tight to speak, she nodded.

“No!”

Pettigrew had fallen to his knees as if Hera's nod was his death sentence. He crawled to his knees, humbled himself, hands clasped before his chest as if he were praying.

“Sirius... It's me... Peter... Your friend... Don't you…’

Black kicked the air and Pettigrew flinched.

“He really is a coward” — Hera thought with disgust.

“There's enough dirt on my clothes without you touching them!” exclaimed Black.

“Remus!” Pettigrew shrieked, turning to Lupin, begging on his hands and knees on the floor. “You don't believe that... Wouldn't Sirius have told you if they had changed their plans?”

“Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter. I presume that’s why you didn’t tell me, Sirius?” he asked, uninterested, over Pettigrew’s head.

“Forgive me, Remus,” said Black.

“All right, Padfoot, my old friend,” replied Lupin, who was now rolling up the sleeves of his robes. “And will you forgive me for believing you were the spy?”

“Of course,” and the shadow of a smile crossed Black's bony face. He, too, began to roll up his sleeves. “Shall we kill him together?”

“I think so,” agreed Lupin grimly.

“You wouldn't kill me... You won't kill me!” Pettigrew cried in despair.

And ran to Weasley.

“Weasley... Wasn't I a good friend... A good pet? You're not going to let them kill me, Weasley, are you... You're on my side, aren't you?”

But Weasley looked at Pettigrew with absolute disgust.

“I let you sleep in my bed!” he exclaimed.

“Good boy... Good owner…” Pettigrew crawled over to Weasley and Hera felt even more disgust for the wizard than before. He disgusted her. The fact that he was the keeper of her parents' secret and, indirectly , their murderer, made it worse. “You won't let them do this... I was your rat... I was a good pet…”

“If you were a better rat than you were a man, that's nothing to brag about, Peter,” said Black sharply. 

Weasley, turning even paler in pain, pulled the broken leg out of Pettigrew's reach. Still on his knees, he turned and staggered forward, grabbing the hem of Granger's robes.

“Sweet girl... Smart girl... You... You won't let them... Help me.”

Granger pulled the robes out of Pettigrew's hands and backed away against the wall, horrified.

Pettigrew remained kneeling, shaking uncontrollably, and slowly turned his head towards Hera.

‘Hera... Hera... You're just like your father... just like…”

“HOW DARE YOU TALK TO HERA? HOW DARE YOU EVEN LOOK AT MY GODDAUGHTER?” Black roared. “HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HER WHEN YOU WERE THE ONE WHO CAUSED HIS DEATH?”

“Hera,” Pettigrew whispered, crawling toward the girl, hands outstretched. “Hera, James wouldn't want them to kill me... James would have understood, Hera... He would have had mercy…”

Hera felt disgusted .

Black and Lupin rushed forward at the same time, grabbed Pettigrew by the shoulders and threw him backwards onto the ground. The man stood there, writhing in terror, staring at the two of them.

“You sold Lily and James to Voldemort,” said Black, who was also shaking. “Do you deny that?”

Pettigrew exploded in tears. The scene was terrible, he looked like a big bald baby, cowering.

“Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark Lord... You have no idea... He has weapons you can't imagine... I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you, Remus and James. I never wanted this to happen... He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me…”

“DON'T LIE!” Black yelled. “YOU'VE BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!”

“He was taking power everywhere!” exclaimed Pettigrew. “What did I have to gain by refusing what he asked of me?”

“What did you have to gain by fighting the most evil wizard who ever lived?” asked Black, with a terrible expression of fury on his face. “Only innocent lives, Peter!”

“You don't understand!” cried Pettigrew. “He would have killed me, Sirius!”

“THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!” roared Black. “DIE INSTEAD OF BETRAYING YOUR FRIENDS, LIKE WE ALL WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!”

Black and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised.

“You should have realized,” said Lupin in a controlled voice, “that if Voldemort didn’t kill you, we would. Goodbye, Peter.”

Granger covered her face with her hands and turned to face the wall.

Then, faced with the prospect of Pettigrew's death, Hera realized something. Sirius, her godfather, was innocent . And she could live with him — no more putting up with the Dursleys every damn summer, like endless torture. No! She could live with Sirius, meet her godfather, her father's best friend. And if he killed Pettigrew, as he was surely planning to do, he would be back in Azkaban in a heartbeat. She couldn't let that happen. She wouldn't let her!

So, she made the decision to intervene, no matter how much it pained her heart to protect the indirect killer of her parents.

“NO!” Hera exclaimed. She stepped forward, placing herself between Pettigrew and the wands. “You can’t kill him,” she said hastily. “You can’t.”

Black and Lupin looked shocked.

“Hera, that worm is the reason you don't have parents,” Black growled. “That coward would have watched you die without lifting a finger. You heard what he said. He valued his disgusting skin more than your entire family.”

“I know, believe me, I know ,” Hera gasped. “But as much as I want him dead, he’s worth a lot more to us if he’s alive. So that’s what we’re going to do… We’re going to take Pettigrew to the castle. We’re going to hand him over to Dumbledore. As much as I distrust the useless old man, he might give Sirius a trial. As for Pettigrew, he might go to Azkaban… But don’t kill him, he’s not worth it. He’s not worth your freedom or your life, Sirius.”

“Hera!” exclaimed Pettigrew, and threw his arms around Hera's knees. “You... Thank you... It's more than I deserve... Thank you…”

“Get your filthy hands off me,” Hera snapped, pushing Pettigrew’s hands away in disgust. “I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing this because I don’t think my father would want his best friends to turn murderous… Because of you. But believe me, Pettigrew, if it were up to me, I’d kill you myself for what you did to my family.”

No one moved or made any noise except Pettigrew, who was breathing in gasps and clutching his chest. Black and Lupin looked at each other. Then, with a single movement, they lowered their wands.

“You're the only person who has the right to decide, Hera,” said Black. “But think... Think about what he did…”

“He can go to Azkaban,” Hera repeated. “If anyone deserves that place, it’s him…”

Pettigrew continued to pant behind the girl.

“Besides, you deserve to have your freedom, Sirius.”

“Very well,” said Lupin. “Get out of the way, then.”

Hera hesitated.

“I'll tie him up,” said Lupin. “That's all, I swear.”

Hera moved out of the way. Thin ropes came out of Lupin's wand this time, and the next moment Pettigrew was tossing and turning on the floor, bound and gagged.

“But if you turn, Peter,” Black growled, his wand also pointed at Pettigrew, “we will kill you. Do you agree with that, Hera?”

Hera looked at the pitiful figure on the ground and nodded so that Pettigrew could see her.

💭💭💭

Suddenly, after seeing their memories of that day at Hogwarts, a buzz arose throughout the court, everyone very surprised and outraged by everything they had seen.

Madam Bones, as stern as he remembered from his Auror days, banged her gavel, calling for order from the court. Quickly, everyone fell silent, unlike when Minister Fudge called for order.

“But he's an idiot, so it doesn't count” — Sirius thought, mocking the British Minister for Magic.

“Since Pettigrew wasn’t captured back then, and we didn’t know he was actually alive before Miss Potter captured him after the Third Task, I assume something went wrong?” Madam Bones asked, and he nodded. “And what exactly went wrong, Sirius?”

“It was a full moon night,” he answered simply. “Remus forgot to take the Wolfsbane potion and with all the confusion, Pettigrew escaped in his animagus form,” again , he finished in his mind.

“I understand,” Amelia said, before nodding to herself.

For a second, everyone was silent, and then Madam Bones sighed. Sirius couldn't be sure from so far away — the lights of the courtroom were obscuring his vision — but she looked exhausted. And considering everything that had been revealed in that hearing, perhaps she really was exhausted.

“As you can see, esteemed members of the Wizengamot, the recollections offered by Sirius Black corroborate the testimony given by Peter Pettigrew,” Madam Bones said, her voice echoing throughout the room. “Therefore, I say with great shame that this body made a terrible mistake fourteen years ago in imprisoning Sirius Black, an innocent man, in Azkaban without proper investigation and, worse still, without a trial.”

Suddenly, a red spark draws everyone's attention to Madam Longbottom, the regent of Lordship Longbottom.

“This body recognizes Madame Augusta Longbottom, regent of the Heir Neville Longbottom.”

“Thank you very much, Madam Bones,” the woman thanked the Head of DMLE, before turning to him.

Sirius, almost thirty-six, had to suppress a shudder. Madam Longbottom was still as scary as when he was just a boy.

“I am also ashamed of the disservice we have done to you, Sirius. As members of the Wizengamot, responsible for dispensing justice and governing the Ministry of Magic in conjunction with the Minister of Magic, we have failed terribly in our duty and for that I am the first to apologize to you,” Augusta said, her expression showing regret and Sirius sent her a gentle smile, acknowledging his faults, but forgiving them all the same. For him, the greatest culprits of his suffering in Azkaban were Bartemius Crouch Senior, Minister Millicent Bagnold and Albus Dumbledore. In his opinion, it was them and not the Wizengamot who failed him all those years ago. And even Minister Cornelius Fudge is more to blame than the Wizengamot, for not listening to three teenagers when they claimed their innocence and wanting to kiss him without a trial. “However, I am confused. Why were we not informed of this?” The older woman asked and he raised an eyebrow, not understanding. Seeming to sense his confusion, Madam Longbottom rephrased her question. “Why weren’t we informed about the possibility that you were an innocent man when you were captured at Hogwarts? Cornelius may have tried to hide what happened, but something like this, of this magnitude, shouldn’t be so easily hidden.”

Sirius raised his eyebrow, looking at the woman impressed.

“You know, you’re right, Augusta.” Madam Bones frowned, looking suspiciously at Fudge, who swallowed hard. “Why weren’t we informed of this, Cornelius? What reason did you have for keeping this from us? From me, the Head of the DMLE?”

“He really didn't tell you anything, Madam Bones?” Black asked, looking intensely at Bones, before looking at the minister with a sneer. “He was tremendously pleased with my capture at Hogwarts. And when I tried to talk to him, Fudge didn't listen to me, didn't even give me a chance to defend myself.”

Madam Bones scowled, glaring at Cornelius, as did the other members of the Wizengamot. The minister, seeming to realize the bad situation he was in due to his foolish decisions, shrank into his seat.

“As I said before and as I say again now, we have not been informed of anything, Sirius,” Bones replied. “This is the first we’re hearing about it.”

“Hem, hem…” a clearing of the throat was heard throughout the courtroom and suddenly, Sirius was looking at the ugliest witch he had ever seen in his entire life. Dolores Umbridge. “Do you have proof of your claims, Sirius Black? Can you prove that Minister Fudge ordered you to kiss before you escaped from Hogwarts? Or are you just lying about all this to get revenge for the Minister's unwitting participation in your stay in Azkaban? Because that last memory only shows us how unbalanced you became after Azkaban.”

Sirius raised his eyebrow, looking at her in disbelief.

“I feel quite balanced at the moment, thank you,” he replied coldly.

“Who does this pink frog think she is?” — Black wondered in the privacy of his mind, disliking the woman as much as he disliked the minister. They were disgusting, both of them . — “Is she really accusing me of this? Hah!” — he snorted. — “As if I would do something so low as lie about it, when telling the truth is so much better . I’m not that idiot Fudge, after all, much less a liar like Rita Skeeter.”

“That’s a question I’d like to know the answer to as well, Sirius Black,” Lord Nott commented, looking genuinely disgusted with himself for agreeing with Umbridge. Looking at the frog woman before him, Sirius agreed with Nott. “Do you have proof?”

Sirius nodded.

“Yes, I have proof of my claims, Lord Nott,” he said. “But the memories are not mine. While I was trapped at Hogwarts, in Professor Flitwick's office, about to receive the kiss, my goddaughter Hera was in the infirmary and heard a very specific conversation between Minister Fudge and Severus Snape. The next memory is hers.”

“And how can we be sure that the memory is true?” Lord Yaxley questioned, raising an eyebrow in his direction. Sirius, however, was not intimidated by the man, sending a mischievous smile in response.

“I'm sure that as the Head of the Unspeakables, the Unspeakable Croaker has ways of telling whether a memory is true or not, right?” Black exclaimed, looking curiously at the nameless man. Croaker, in response to his indirect question, nodded. “Excellent!”

“Very well,” Madam Bones said. “Hand over the memory, Sirius.”

Without waiting much longer, Sirius took from his robes the vial with Hera's memory, which he had received from her through Dobby shortly before she disappeared — they both had a feeling that someone might try to prevent his freedom and they were right .

Croaker received the vial with zeal and without waiting long, cast spells on the vial. With immense relief, releasing the breath he didn't even know he was holding, Black watched the unspeakable nod in affirmation. The memory was true.

Without further ado, the Head of the Unspeakables placed Hera's memory in the pensieve and before Sirius could blink, for the last time the mist rolled through the court.

💭💭💭

“A shocking story... Shocking... Miracle that no one died... I've never heard anything like it... By the thunder, it was lucky you were there, Snape…”

“Thank you, minister.”

“Order of Merlin, Second Class, I'd say. First Class, if I can convince them.”

“Thank you very much, minister.”

“That's a nasty cut you have there... Black's work, I suppose?”

“Actually, it was Potter, Weasley and Granger, minister…”

“No!”

“Black had put a spell on the students, I could tell at once,” he explained. “A Confundus spell, judging by their behaviour. They seemed to believe there was a chance the man was innocent. They were not responsible for his actions. On the other hand, their interference might have allowed Black to escape... The students obviously thought they could capture him themselves. They’ve gotten away with a lot of mischief so far... I’m afraid it made them feel superior... And of course Potter has always been given extraordinary leniency by the headmaster...”

“Oh, well, Snape... Hera Potter, you know... We're all a bit blind when it comes to her.

“However... Is it good for her to receive so much special treatment? Personally, I try to treat her like any other student. And any other student would be suspended, at the very least, for putting her classmates in such a dangerous situation. Consider, Minister: against all school rules... After all the precautions we have taken for her protection... Outside the school grounds, at night, in the company of a werewolf and a murderer... And I have reason to believe that she has been visiting Hogsmeade illegally, too…”

“Well, well... we'll see, Snape, we'll see... The girl was certainly foolish…”

Hera was lying down with her eyes tightly closed. She felt very dizzy.

The words she heard seemed to travel very slowly from her ears to her brain, so it was difficult to comprehend. Her legs and arms felt like they were made of lead; her eyelids were too heavy to open... She wanted to lie there, in that comfortable bed, forever...

“What surprises me most is the behavior of the Dementors... Do you really have no idea what made them retreat, Snape?”

“No, minister... When I came to, they were returning to their posts at the entrance…”

“Extraordinary. And yet, Black, Hera, and the girl…”

“All unconscious when I arrived. I bound and gagged Black, naturally, conjured stretchers and brought them directly to the castle.”

There was a pause. Hera's brain seemed to be working a little faster, and as it did, there was an unpleasant feeling in the pit of her stomach...

The girl opened her eyes.

Everything was slightly blurry. Someone had taken her glasses off. She was lying in the dark hospital wing. At one end of the ward, she saw Madam Pomfrey with her back to her, bent over a bed. Hera squinted her eyes. Weasley's red hair was visible under Madam Pomfrey's arm.

Hera turned her head on the pillow. In the bed to her right was Granger. Moonlight bathed the bed. Her eyes were also open.

She looked petrified, and when she saw that Hera was awake, she put her finger to her lips and pointed to the infirmary door. It was ajar, and the voices of Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, and Severus Snape, her potions professor, came from the corridor. 

Madam Pomfrey was now walking briskly through the dark ward to Hera's bed. The girl turned to look at her. The nurse brought the biggest chocolate bar he had ever seen in his life. It looked like a boulder.

“Oh, you woke up!” she said excitedly. She placed the chocolate on Hera's bedside table and began breaking it into pieces with a hammer.

“How is Ron?” asked Granger, while Potter remained silent, absorbing everything he had discovered that night.

“He'll survive,” replied Madam Pomfrey with a frown. “As for you two... You will remain here until I am convinced that... Potter, what do you think you are doing?”

The girl was sitting up, putting on her glasses and picking up her wand.

“I need to see the headmaster,” he said.

“Potter,” said Madam Pomfrey soothingly, “it’s all right. They’ve got Black. He’s locked up there. The Dementors will give him the Kiss any moment now…”

“WHAT?” she cried, her voice breaking at the last moment. How could they give the kiss to Sirius, her godfather — when she had just received him?

No. Not at all. She wouldn't let it happen. She would stop it at any cost , damn the consequences.

Hera jumped out of bed; Granger had done the same. But her scream had been heard in the corridor outside; the next second, Cornelius Fudge and Snape had burst into the hospital wing.

“By whose order?”

“The Minister’s, of course,” Madam Pomfrey replied, confused by her reaction. Shouldn’t she be happy about the death of a traitor and a murderer, the one who had betrayed her parents to the Dark Lord? The woman didn’t understand.

Hera, however, didn't care about her confusion, not when the man she disliked most at the moment appeared, having heard the noise and confusion she had made moments before.

“Hera, Hera, what happened?” asked Fudge, looking agitated. “You should be in bed! She already ate the chocolate?” the minister asked Madam Pomfrey anxiously.

“Minister, listen!” asked Hera. “Sirius Black is innocent! Peter Pettigrew faked his own death! We saw him tonight. You can't let the Dementors do that to Sirius, he…”

But Fudge was shaking his head with a small smile on his face.

“What a stupid man, by Merlin!” — Potter cursed, knowing just from her convincing smile that the minister wouldn't listen to anything she had to say, taking her for just a little girl.

“Hera, Hera, you are very confused, you went through a terrible ordeal, lie down, now, we have everything under control…”

“You don't have any, minister!” exclaimed Hera. “You got the wrong man! Sirius Black is innocent!”

“Minister, please listen,” said Granger; she had run to Hera's side and looked pleadingly into Fudge's face. “I saw him too. It was Ron's rat, he's an animagus, Pettigrew, I mean and…”

“You see, Minister,” said Snape. “Confused, both of them… Black did a good job…”

“WE ARE NOT CONFUSED, YOU RIDICULOUS BAT!” Hera screamed, glaring at the Potions professor. Merlin, how she hated him. “Minister, you cannot listen to Snape! He hates Sirius, everyone knows that, and the thing he would like most, without a doubt, is for Sirius to be killed!” Hera tried begging once more, even though Fudge looked at her as if she were crazy. “Please, Minister. Call the Aurors, take Sirius to the Ministry and give him a trial! I am sure you will see that I am right in my statements…”

“I won't do such a thing,” the minister exclaimed, looking at her with an incredulous expression. “Sirius Black is a dangerous killer. Giving him the Dementors' kiss is the best decision you can make! The world will definitely be better without him .”

“MINISTER, YOU ARE MAKING A GREAT MISTAKE!” Hera screamed, terrified at the prospect of losing her godfather when she just got him back. 

“Minister! Professor!” said Madam Pomfrey, annoyed. “I must insist that you gentlemen leave. Potter is my patient and she must not be distressed!”

“I'm not distressed, I'm trying to tell them what really happened!” said Hera angrily. “If they would only listen to me…”

But Madam Pomfrey suddenly threw a piece of chocolate in Hera's mouth; she choked, and the nurse took the opportunity to force her back into bed.

“Now, please, minister, these children need medical attention. Please leave…”

💭💭💭

As soon as the fog cleared, chaos ensued throughout the courtroom.

“CORNELIUS FUDGE!” Madam Bones exclaimed, turning to the Minister and glaring at him with all the fury that only a Hufflepuff — and a redhead — could summon. Fudge, recognizing the danger he was in and the foolishness of his actions, shrank even further in his chair. “By what authority do you dare to give a Dementor’s Kiss to someone, whether they are a criminal or not? Much less when there is a possibility that they are innocent? Are you a fool, or do you simply overestimate the powers that come with being the Minister?” Amelia questioned the Minister at length, and Sirius applauded her for not cowering before a foolish and cowardly man, even if he was the Minister for Magic . “Did you happen to become Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and I didn’t know about it? Or else you must have been hired as Head Auror and the fact simply slipped my mind.”

“You shouldn’t have done what you did, Minister,” Lord Abbott was quick to back Madam Bones up, and Sirius reveled in seeing the Minister being berated like a child in front of the most important people in the British wizarding world. “You may be the Minister for Magic, Cornelius, but even the Minister doesn’t have the power to bring justice without the help of the DMLE, the Aurors, or the Wizengamot.”

“I vote that Cornelius Fudge be removed from his position as Minister for Magic,” Lord Ogden exclaimed, his strong, firm voice attracting the attention and support of several members before he had even finished speaking. “We already know that the Minister is quick to deliver justice without first consulting this esteemed body, as we saw firsthand when he kissed Barty Crouch Junior at Hogwarts without consulting us first. If he tried to do this to Sirius Black, and did it once in the past to Crouch, what guarantee do we have that he won’t try to do it again?” Tiberius Ogden questioned the members of the Wizengamot, receiving even more support than before. “Therefore, I vote that he be removed as Minister for Magic, before he does something even worse than what he has already done. We are already more than enough of a laughingstock to other countries, we don’t need more.”

“Supported,” Madam Longbottom was quick to agree.

“Supported!” Lord Greengrass spoke.

“All in favor of removing Cornelius Oswald Fudge from his position as Minister for Magic, please raise your wands,” Madam Bones exclaimed, and immediately, almost all the wands rose in agreement. At the sight, Cornelius sank into his chair, his face extremely red — from embarrassment or anger, Sirius couldn’t tell which. “Please lower your wands. All against, please raise your wands.” Only three people raised their wands. “With only three people voting against, the decision to remove Cornelius Oswald Fudge from his position as Minister for Magic has been approved!” Amelia commented, and without hesitation, she banged her gavel, signing Fudge’s downfall. “After the trial, we will decide who will be the Acting Minister for Magic. Now, I call for a vote on the case of Sirius Black.” Sirius held his breath. “All in favor of acquitting him, please raise your wands.”

One by one, the wizards and witches present raised their wands, until all had their wands raised.

“By unanimous decision, Sirius Orion Black has been found innocent of all charges and will therefore have his crimes expunged from his criminal record,” once again, Amelia banged her gavel and Sirius wanted to cry with relief. He was free . “The Dementor's Kiss ordered by Minister Fudge will be rescinded and compensation for your twelve years in Azkaban will be agreed between the Ministry and Gringotts. You will be forgiven for not registering as an Animagus with the Ministry, but I ask that you do so when you leave this court,” Madam Bones said, with Sirius nodding with every word. “The Daily Prophet will publish about this body's decision and your innocence in tonight's evening edition and tomorrow's morning edition, but you have nothing to worry about from us, Sirius. You may go, you are a free man! As you should always have been.”

“Thank you very much,” Sirius thanked, a huge smile on his face.

He was free, he was a free man. He no longer had to worry about the Aurors dragging him back to Azkaban, or the Dementors giving him the Kiss, no. He could almost scream in relief, to let everyone know how happy he was to be a free man once more. He wanted to celebrate his freedom.

However, he couldn't do that, because there was still something that needed to be done, something much moreimportant than celebrating his freedom.

He had to find his daughter.

He had to find Hera .

And he would do it, if it was the last thing he did.

133 AD — UNKNOWN PLACE

With a jolt, a black-haired teenager woke up irritated, her pink eyes staring at the clear sky full of fluffy white clouds with absolute hatred; and not even the fact that she found it strange to be in the open sky made her any less irritated with her current condition.

“Damn portkeys!” the girl complained, lying on the floor for a few minutes to calm down and catch her breath. “Damn wizarding means to travel! Couldn't those stupid wizards create something more decent than this nonsense they created?” Hera exclaimed irritably, grunting in pain as she sat on the floor. “And they call themselves intelligent…” The Potter mocked her magical brothers, before remembering the situation she was in, quickly becoming worried.

“And once again, I find myself in an unusual situation…” — the black-haired woman thought, frowning. — “That’s so like me!” — she mocked herself, mumbling.

“And I don't even know where I am. Isn't that wonderful?” Hera exclaimed, smiling mockingly at the unfavorable situation she found herself in. Again . “But before I complain about anything, I need to know where I am... Finding that out is the most important thing, for now,” Potter said to herself, before getting up from the floor and looking around.

The first thing Hera Potter thought about the place she was in was: heavenly , even though it was in ruins, completely in ruins, as she could see. But, even though it was obviously destroyed, there was no other word to describe that place. And Hera was sure that, if that place wasn't as destroyed as it was, it could pass for paradise , it would be wonderful to live there.

Unconsciously, Potter found herself thinking of her ancestors, the Pevēriūn. What had the place they had lived in been like before the Doom of Valyria happened? Was it a magical castle — in every sense of the word? Or was it just another castle? What kind of castle had that name , anyway?

Because even though she couldn't even imagine what that place was like before it was destroyed, she could see how impressive it could have been before all the destruction fell upon it.

The whole place was so bright . Hera could feel the sun's rays kissing her skin in an intimate caress and it made her happy, even though she was worried about how she would get back home — her portkey was one-way. However, here , in this open and airy place, where the winds ran over her skin and made her hair fly with the cold — but not freezing — breeze, where she could almost taste the clouds, Hera felt like she didn't need to worry about any of that. It was irrelevant at the moment.

The second thing that came to her mind was: she was in a hall . A very beautiful and very large hall. It was huge, in fact, and quite extravagant.

Deciding to investigate the place further, the black-haired woman began to walk in a random direction, letting her feet guide her as they pleased, simply moving forward . Everything there shone, there was no other way to describe it all. The walls were white, pure — without any other color staining them —, with some cracks in some places — and even they did not take away from their beauty — and they were adorned with gold. They were beautiful. She had never seen anything like it.

However, Hera could see small, shimmering points of light that sparkled and reflected when the sunlight hit its walls. Curious, she approached one of the glowing points and realized with amazement what they were.

Diamonds .

The place was full of diamonds.

And suddenly, she knew very well where she was.

“Valyria.” The portkey brought her to her ancestral home. And yet, she wasn’t as worried as she should have been. “I’m in bloody Valyria ,” Hera whispered in disbelief, clutching the pendant around her neck tightly, unable to wrap her mind around the fact that she was not only far from Surrey, but in another world, a world far removed from her own. “I’m in my ancestors’ castle.”

She was so, so far from home.