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Chapter 212 Harry's Judgment
🕑 Added 2025-10-20 23:05:38 +0000 UTCLupin, from start to finish, did not offer any of his own evaluations.
As he had said, he was only responsible for presenting the objective facts to Harry. The specific rights and wrongs were for Harry to judge.
Sirius, by this point, had been rendered speechless by Harry's rebuttal.
He couldn't explain to Harry that during that era, almost every student who entered Slytherin was a supporter of Voldemort.
Because from an objective standpoint, Harry wasn't wrong. If Slytherin was a house acknowledged by Hogwarts, then its existence was legitimate, and everyone had the freedom to choose.
Moreover, from another perspective, Harry didn't know the situation in Slytherin now, and the Snape back then probably didn't either. He likely just wanted to join Slytherin because of his parents.
Although Sirius had nothing to say, he was still full of pent-up grievances.
The surrounding scene began to transform again. The train imagery gradually dissipated, reforming into a new scene.
This time, it was inside the castle.
The James and Sirius appearing before them were noticeably taller than they were on the train, clearly indicating that some time had passed since the start of term.
Accompanying James and Sirius were two other boys.
One, pale and with messy hair, was clearly Lupin!
The other, short and stout, looking sneaky and somewhat timid.
Harry didn't need Lupin or Sirius to tell him, as he could guess this was the real traitor who betrayed his parents, the one Sirius mentioned, Peter Pettigrew!
"Hurry up, Sirius, stop dawdling! Last month we sensed someone was following us, right? This time we need to be quick!"
James turned to remind Sirius.
In response, Sirius just smiled mysteriously. He glanced towards a stairwell corner but didn't say much, quickly catching up with James and the others.
Once they reached the lower levels of the castle, Lupin split off from them.
He needed to be taken by Madam Pomfrey to the secret passage under the Whomping Willow, finally reaching a derelict shack outside the school in Hogsmeade to transform into a werewolf and spend the full moon night.
James and the other two, of course, wouldn't go with Lupin. They would wait until Lupin was there and Madam Pomfrey had left before transforming into animals and entering the passage to meet Lupin.
They went to a storage room on the first floor, piled with many odds and ends. Usually, no one came here except the castle caretaker.
This room had a window facing the secret passage under the Whomping Willow, allowing them to see the situation outside at any time.
"The day before yesterday... the day before that... I saw you talking to Snape..."
The speaker was the short, stout boy, his voice just as weak as his appearance.
He was speaking to Sirius. James, hearing this, also turned to look at Sirius.
"Snape approached you? What did he talk to you about?"
Sirius grinned, his expression mysterious.
"You know how he's always trying to cause trouble for us, no matter what. Last month, when we were accompanying Remus, the one secretly following us was him! He discovered we do something strange on this day every month."
"I noticed that and deliberately gave him a little clue!"
James's expression had clearly turned somewhat uneasy by now, but Sirius didn't notice. He was still pointing triumphantly out the window.
"Aha! Look! That Snivellus took the bait! He saw Madam Pomfrey taking Remus into that passage!"
Following his words, Harry also looked out the window. Sure enough, he saw a thin figure in black robes with long black hair, quietly bypassing the non-aggressive Whomping Willow and slipping into the passage!
Sirius was still laughing heartily, and Peter was laughing along with him. Only James stood up, his expression extremely serious.
"We have to stop him from going to the Shrieking Shack! When Remus transformed into a werewolf, he will tear him to pieces!"
"He brought it upon himself!" Sirius said carelessly, "No one told him to go there. He wanted to go himself. Even if he dies there, it's none of our business!"
"But that will harm Remus! If there's a death at the school, the Ministry will definitely investigate. Then they'll find out Remus is a werewolf and that he killed someone!"
James had already hurriedly stood up from his chair and was rushing towards the door.
Sirius still seemed somewhat reluctant, but it was clear that when James made the decision, he would follow. Peter, like a loyal follower, stuck closely behind them.
They rushed into the secret passage but didn't find Snape inside… he had already gone ahead.
The three started chasing after him. As they neared the exit, they heard a terrifying wolf's howl!
James's face became intensely serious and grave. He paid no heed to Sirius and Peter behind him, rushing forward even faster.
"You! You're actually-! No! Don't!"
A scream came from outside the exit. James had already charged out. In Harry's view, less than three seconds after James disappeared, he dragged back a terrified boy and promptly closed the passage exit!
Snape, his face deathly pale and looking utterly terrified, was saved by James.
Everyone present was breathing heavily, Snape from fright, the other three from exhaustion after the run.
"James saved your life! Snivellus!"
Sirius couldn't help but sneer, pointing at Snape.
By now, Snape had recovered from his shock. Not only was he not grateful, he stared at James and the others with hatred.
"You deliberately lured me here! You knew Lupin was a damned werewolf! Yet you kept helping him hide it, hide it from everyone! And you wanted him to kill me!!"
"No, no, it was... it was you who wanted to follow, it has nothing to do with us," Peter shook his head repeatedly.
James also brushed the dust off his robes, giving Snape a cold glance.
"Typical Slytherin. Is that how you treat your savior? No one wanted to harm you. Your own stupidity nearly got you killed!"
"And, it's not us hiding that Remus is a werewolf, it's Professor Dumbledore's decision. If you dare reveal this, Professor Dumbledore will deal with you!"
Snape's face visibly turned green and white. He glared furiously at the three of them, his voice still sharp and angry.
"You fools! Sheltering a werewolf and claiming it's Professor Dumbledore's idea! I won't listen to your lies anymore! I'm going back now! I'm going back to tell the professors everything you've done!"
He turned and started walking back the way they came in the passage, still cursing incessantly.
"You'll be expelled! You'll be kicked out! Everyone will know what you did!"
Sirius, also panting, stood up from the ground. He said loudly,
"We have to stop him! Take him to see Professor Dumbledore! We can't let him reveal Remus's secret before he sees the professor!"
The three immediately got up and chased after him again.
They struggled in the passage. Snape kept running forward. James and the others were already exhausted from running to find him, so now they couldn't catch up on the way back.
Fortunately, they finally caught up with Snape near the entrance to the passage. Then, after some discussion, they decided to take him to Dumbledore.
The memory scene ended here, and the surroundings began to change again.
After this memory ended, Sirius, like Lupin, didn't speak further. They just looked at Harry, waiting for his evaluation.
"You have a big problem."
Harry turned to look at Sirius. That gaze made Sirius feel somewhat flustered and dazed, giving him the illusion that James himself was standing there looking at him!
"I won't take sides. Professor was definitely in the wrong in this incident. If he hadn't been so intent on causing trouble for you, this wouldn't have happened."
"But what were you trying to do? You wanted Remus to kill Professor! That would not only have cost the Professor his life but also ruined Remus! He would definitely have been taken away by the Ministry Aurors! Expelled from Hogwarts! You would have destroyed his future! And damaged the reputation of Professor Dumbledore, who made the compassionate decision to allow a werewolf to attend school!"
"When you made these decisions, you didn't consider the consequences at all!"
Faced with Harry's accusation, Lupin's face showed only appreciation. He actually didn't care what kind of change of opinion Harry would have about Severus after seeing the past scenes. He wanted to see how Harry would judge these conflicts and contradictions.
And from the looks of it, Harry was indeed very clever and had clearly learned a lot from being with Severus.
Harry could judge rationally, think more deeply, and understand the consequences of events. This was already far beyond what a normal 10-year-old boy was capable of.
The scene changed again. This time, it was inside a Hogwarts common room.
Judging by the color of the surrounding banners and the lion patterns, this was clearly the Gryffindor’s common room.
Many Gryffindor students were gathered around the fireplace, surrounding a girl in the middle. She was covered in festering, ugly boils and was crying, covering her face.
The Marauders were also there, along with Lily.
"It was Avery and Mulciber!" The girl in the middle shouted, "They used a spell on me! It was Dark Magic!"
Sirius chimed in from the side.
"I know them. They have a friend, right? Severus Snape."
Upon hearing this name, almost everyone in Gryffindor turned their gaze towards Lily.
This made Lily feel deeply ashamed.
Everyone knew that during this period of heightened tension between Gryffindor and Slytherin, Lily Evans, a Muggle-born, had a friend in Slytherin.
That was Severus Snape.
Facing those gazes, Lily took a deep breath, still trying to find a solution.
"Don't be upset, MacDonald. I'll go find Professor McGonagall. She'll definitely help you."
Saying this, she quickly ran out of the Gryffindor’s common room.
After she left, many Gryffindor students fell into discussion.
"I really don't understand why she's friends with that sort of person."
"Doesn't she know they all want to become the Dark Lord's followers, to eradicate all Muggle-born wizards? She is one herself."
"Evans is usually so smart, but she's lost her head in this matter."
"You should talk to her, make her stay away from those people."
The scene shifted again, showing other different victimized students. Some were from Gryffindor, others from Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff.
But without exception, these students were all from Muggle families and had been teased, or even used for Dark Magic experiments, by Slytherin students.
And among these incidents, many involved people close to Snape.
When these things happened, it could be heard from others that Snape, while not directly participating in many of them, didn't consider such behavior particularly vile, instead calling them just ‘little jokes’.
Finally, all the memory scenes ended there.
They returned to Lupin's bedroom. The atmosphere was quiet for a moment. Sirius just looked at Harry. After a moment, he spoke.
"By the end, you should be able to see why we resisted people who wanted to join Slytherin from the very beginning! I don't know about Slytherin now, but back then, there was hardly a single normal student there!"
"If your mother had been persuaded by him back then and gone to Slytherin, I guarantee she would have suffered constant bullying there!"
Harry remained very calm. He didn't fully agree with Sirius's words, or perhaps agreed only half.
"You're not wrong, but you can't judge based on the outcome. It's clear that when you were on the train just starting school, no one knew what Slytherin was really like, or what Gryffindor was really like. It was just based on their own assumptions."
"But Snape did become like that later! Just like the others in Slytherin, he was a scoundrel! A sinister snake!" Sirius, thinking Harry would defend Snape no matter what, shouted angrily.
However, to his surprise, Harry actually nodded in agreement at this point.
"You're right. Professor was indeed a bad person later. He condoned his friends using fellow students for Dark Magic experiments, tried to join a vile, evil organization. He really didn't do any good during that time."
"I can somewhat understand why you've always been unwilling to trust him and why your hostility towards him is so great."
