316 Vigil, Regulus, join
The full moon hung in the black night sky, and there was silence in the entire Hogwarts Castle. Only in the distant screaming shack of Hogsmeade village was the shrill howl heard again.
In the dark secret passage, James and Sirius were hidden under the invisibility cloak. Both of them looked worried.
Peter did not come with them. Compared to the three of them, even Remus, who was nearing the full moon, Peter's body was much weaker than theirs. He still looked sick until now. It was a cold. Peter had not fully recovered from the aftereffects of the potion, so he did not leave the dormitory tonight.
However, this may also have been the reason for sneaking out of school that night - Peter was frightened.
Not only him, but even Remus had been living on tenterhooks in the past few days, fearing that the news that he was a werewolf would accidentally be leaked.
And this is exactly why James and Sirius wandered in the secret passage - they were worried that Callan and Snape were only temporarily hiding it, and would announce the fact when they found conclusive evidence.
"Are you really planning to spend the night here tonight?" Sirius yawned slowly: "Not everyone can find a way to solve the Whomping Willow. They may not necessarily find this secret passage, and there is no connection here. There isn’t even a bed.”
James nodded with firm eyes, he had made up his mind.
"At least we have to wait until tonight." He said: "We can't really leave Remus here alone. It's hard for him to deal with Sangster and Snape alone in his current state, and I will never allow it. Let them find the evidence, and we won’t give them the chance to kick Remus out of school.”
When he heard the familiar name "Snape", Sirius rarely teased James because he knew how long James had been angry about things in Hogsmeade.Later, helping Snape in front of the Slytherin students was just James trying to make himself feel better, but in the end, he only became more and more outrageous, and James hated the idea in his heart.
Sirius also felt uncomfortable in his heart. He hated this passive situation very much - maybe at some point, Callan and Snape would publicize Remus's werewolf identity, but he and James Ning I would rather die than ask the other party in a low voice.
The attentive Remus also did not make this suggestion, but his inner anxiety still inevitably showed up, which was why Sirius did not really return to the warm dormitory.
As time passed, the two of them found a recessed place to hide in the secret passage. In order to avoid accidentally falling asleep, they chatted for a while and soon brought the topic to the experience of that night. above.
However, neither of them mentioned that unpleasant thing, and the werewolf who came to rescue did not arouse much interest in them. They focused more on Black Mist.
"Could that be sent by Principal Dumbledore?" James' expression was still a bit apprehensive: "But what exactly is that? And why didn't the principal be notified of the fact that a few of us were at the scene?"
Sirius frowned and shook his head: "I'm not sure, but I always feel that the black mist does not look like a righteous party, but seems a bit evil - believe me, if you live in the Black family, then You will see this clearly soon."
James was already used to Sirius' self-deprecation. He asked: "By the way, speaking of the Black family, how is it going between you and Regulus? Has he written to your parents? Did he mention the mystery? people?"
This was the method that Sirius came up with after the Christmas vacation. Now that he knew that Regulus was afraid of the mysterious man, he would naturally not fight for anything.
But Sirius just laughed mockingly again.
"Regulus did write the letter himself, but the old stubborn couple didn't believe what he said at all, and told him to stay away from me. It's really ridiculous!"
James was surprised: "Why? How could your parents not trust Regulus? Didn't you say that he has always been the pride of your family?"
Sirius sneered: "That was before they learned that the Aurors were sent to Hogsmeade. You should still remember Andromeda, right? My favorite cousin, she has been expelled from the family. As a result, I My parents thought that the letter Regulus wrote was instigated by her, and I was there to help."
"How could they do this?" James frowned.
"This is them." Sirius shook his head and said, "This is the eternally pure Black family. Now you should know why I hate them so much."
James patted his shoulder, and Sirius spread his hands helplessly.
But in the next second, their movements suddenly stopped at the same time.
A sound of footsteps gradually came from the direction of the entrance of the secret passage. The two looked at each other silently, and they immediately cheered up!
finally come!
Fortunately, they were prepared to stay here in advance, but they didn't know who would appear next - Snape or Sangster?
When they thought of Sangster, they glanced around subconsciously. Unfortunately, the old secret passage was full of stones, making it impossible for them to hide.
The two had no choice but to tighten their grip on the wands in their hands. They had decided to take a preemptive strike to avoid falling into a disadvantage in front of Karan.
Gradually, the footsteps came closer. The person holding a wand in his hand, a ball of light quietly emerged in the darkness.
He walked very carefully, not daring to make too much noise.
James and Sirius finally saw each other's faces clearly.
Not Snape, not Callan.
But Regulus!
He had a cautious and fearful expression on his face, but he still insisted on moving forward in the secret passage, still muttering in a low voice: "Where are the people? Where have they gone? Come out quickly..."
James suddenly lifted the invisibility cloak, and the sudden appearance of the two men startled Regulus, almost making him scream.
But when he thought of the werewolf at the end of the secret passage, Regulus still suppressed the urge to shout, and just made a strange muffled sound in his mouth, as if he had been hit.
"Why did you come here?" Sirius stepped forward and asked, "And how did you know this secret passage? And the Whomping Willow, were you not hurt?"
He forced Regulus to turn around in a circle with rough hands and feet, checking whether there were any injuries on his body.
After finally regaining his balance, Regulus found that Sirius's face was literally right in front of him. His eyes were staring at him tightly, and his frown had never been so deep.
"What happened to you?" Sirius asked.
Regulus wanted to say that he came here because of the inexplicable incident in which James and others helped Snape that day. In addition, this incident happened just the day before the incident in Hogsmeade, which made him feel vaguely. It was not good, but in the past few days, he had never had a chance to talk to Sirius. Even Snape rarely saw him. This made him take the risk to come to the secret passage leading to the Shrieking Shack in person. Take a chance - because he remembered that James and the others had been here with each other for a while when he first discovered that Remus was a werewolf.
It's just that there are some things that he can't tell yet - after all, he has agreed with Karan to keep them secret.But this goes against the reason why he came here: Regulus felt that helping Snape was a good opportunity, which might allow James and the others to settle their differences with Callan. In that case, he would There is no need to suffer torture for this secret.
So, after coughing twice, Regulus said: "First of all, tell me why you are here - oh, no, why are you helping Snape? Aren't you originally sworn enemies? ?”
In front of Regulus who asked the question confidently, Sirius almost laughed in anger, and James's face darkened immediately after hearing Snape's name.
"Go back quickly!" Sirius ordered angrily: "This is not the place you should be!"
[What's not to come? Isn't there a werewolf at the other end of the secret passage...]
Regulus stubbornly refused to leave. He didn't want to toss and turn all night and couldn't sleep, nor did he want to hear Sirius say something to keep him away from Karan.
Just before Sirius was about to become surprisingly angry, James suddenly stepped forward and pulled them all over one by one, and then skillfully put the invisibility cloak on their skins.
"Shh-" He put his finger on his lips to remind: "I heard something moving, just in the direction of the entrance to the secret passage."
Then James immediately turned to look at Regulus, and Snape was also glaring at him angrily.
"I definitely didn't cause it." Regulus realized that he had been misunderstood, and he quickly clarified in a low voice: "I checked around carefully before coming here, and there was no one nearby."
Sirius sneered and said: "Unless the other party has an invisibility cloak."
Regulus was stunned. He couldn't figure out who else in the school would have an invisibility cloak besides Karan and James.
However, he was soon horrified to find that James and Sirius raised their wands in front of him at the same time and pointed them in the direction of the entrance.
"Don't cause trouble for a while." Sirius warned: "Otherwise you will be in trouble."
Regulus snorted dissatisfiedly. This was one of the reasons why their brothers had never been close - Sirius's attitude was really bad.
Gradually, the second sound of footsteps gradually approached them, but this time it seemed that it was not just one person, but two footsteps side by side.
Definitely Snape and Sangster!
This thought came to James and Sirius at the same time.
But after waiting patiently for a while, they discovered that they had guessed wrong again.
It was two figures, one big and one small.
After getting closer, they finally saw the face of the tall figure clearly.
Professor Leal - Remus' father!
Next to him was a female student. Judging from the style of her witch robe, she seemed to be from Slytherin College.
"That's Saoirse." Regulus reminded him softly, his heart filled with confusion.
"Saoirse Greengrass, she's a freshman like me."
As the two got closer, the three of them could no longer continue the conversation. They all held their breath for fear of making any noise.
Professor Lear and Saoirse walked directly in front of them and did not notice the existence of the invisibility cloak.It wasn't until they heard the footsteps slowly disappearing that the three of them finally relaxed again.
[Professor Leal and a Slytherin student, why did they appear in the secret passage at this time? Is it because of Remus? 】
James and Sirius looked at each other silently. They both wanted to catch up and take a closer look at what would happen next.
However, Regulus was still watching them, and he still seemed to have no intention of leaving. His eyes kept blinking, completely ignoring the change in Sirius' expression that was about to become angry.
James looked around at the two brothers, and suddenly raised his eyebrows: "How about asking Regulus to join us?"
Sirius was stunned: "What did you say?"
Regulus also looked puzzled.
James simply said directly: "I have had this idea for a long time. Although Regulus is a Slytherin, he is also your biological brother, and your recent relationship is much better than before. He is completely You can join us, so that we no longer have to hide some things from him, and there is not so much time for us to waste now, so don’t miss this opportunity for Professor Lear to speak.”
Sirius frowned, still hesitating.
After James thought about it for a while, his expression suddenly darkened.
"Sangster also has five people, but we only have four." He said in a deep voice: "At least at this point, we can't lose."
This time, it didn't take long for Sirius to agree immediately.
Regulus was still silently counting the five people James mentioned: Callan, Snape, Lily. Could it be that Steve and Gaspard were also counted?
Although he was unfamiliar with the latter three, Regulus still knew them and could often see them together with Karan.
There was no chance that Regulus would refuse the so-called joining. The two were eager to pursue Professor Lear and Saoirse. Regulus himself did not refuse. He was still waiting for the so-called secret, secretly hoping that Maybe it had something to do with helping Snape.
"Remus Lupine, he is a werewolf." James said solemnly: "He is at the other end of the secret passage now. You must not call out suddenly for a while."
Regulus's expression didn't even change. He had known this secret for a long time, and he was also patiently waiting for more secrets.
But James didn't continue, because he and Sirius would still have the wrong idea.
"Isn't he frightened?" James asked in a low voice.
Sirius's face suddenly became a little strange - although Regulus was stubborn, he was not so stupid, but he also couldn't understand why Regulus was indifferent to werewolves.
"It seems possible." He whispered back in an uncertain tone: "But don't worry, I will find an opportunity to persuade him to go to St. Mungo's Hospital of Magic. It seems that the sequelae left by the mysterious man are not serious."
It was only after following the two of them silently for a while that Regulus finally realized that the so-called werewolves were all secrets.
This was completely different from what he expected, so he continued to ask why the two of them were staying here tonight.
James didn't go into details, just gave a general explanation.He and Sirius were carefully exploring the front to avoid a sudden encounter with Professor Lear, which prevented them from noticing Regulus' strange expression.
He felt that James and Sirius' worries were completely unnecessary. Callan had long discovered the fact that Remus was a werewolf. He had too many opportunities to publicize this fact, but he did not do so. But it was concealed from the beginning.
Just as Regulus was thinking about how to persuade them not to really stay there all night, there was a sudden sound of conversation in front of them, which made the three of them take more cautious steps.
Professor Leal and Saoirse Greengrass did not go to the Shrieking Shack, but stopped far away, which allowed them to hear Remus's howling clearly without committing any crime. The werewolf was so angry that he completely lost his mind.
"Just stop here, Professor Lear." Saoirse said in an ethereal voice. She seemed to have no fear of werewolves: "I believe you did not deceive us - Remus Lupin is really a werewolf. .”
Professor Leal was still hesitating, and Remus's howl pierced his body like a needle.If he could, he would rather become a werewolf than Remus, but himself.
Saoirse admonished: "If this makes you feel better - the bearers of the blood curse usually do not live past the age of 40. It makes the bodies of our family members fragile - especially the female members, which is even It makes it extremely difficult for the family to continue.”
Professor Lear closed his eyes in pain, but Saoirse's tone was full of envy: "At least Remus can live for a long time - as long as he is willing, and there is no hereditary lycanthropy in the magical world. precedent.”
"Save him..." Professor Lear asked in a hoarse voice: "Whether it's you or the Greengrass family, I beg you to save my child..."
Saoirse sighed softly, and she said slowly: "I have received a letter from my parents. They are willing to help you, because this is also helping ourselves."
"It's just that there is little hope, Professor. Otherwise, the blood curse would not have troubled our family for so many years, and it has not been completely solved until now. And wolf disease and the blood curse are not exactly the same..."
At this time, the werewolf transformed by Remus once again let out a miserable roar. This sound echoed continuously in the secret passage, shocking the hair of the three people under the invisibility cloak behind them to stand on end.
At the same time, Professor Lear murmured in a voice that only he could hear: "Since there is little hope..."
"Then let the culprit pay the price!"