#167 - Section 167

Snape and Lupin, or Snape with Harry and Ron, would allow for some guesses, but now everyone is together, and Ethan is here too.

Oh right, there's also a big black dog on the ground.

This looks a bit like an Animagus, and with a little thought, you know who this big black dog is.

The Black family crest has two dogs on it, and Sirius's Patronus was also a dog; his identity is self-evident.

"The issue of Sirius and Peter, let Lupin explain the specifics."

Snape didn't want to explain it himself and directly pushed it to Lupin.

The big black dog then transformed into a human shape, grabbing Lupin's shoulder.

"I'll explain!"

Seeing this, Lupin nodded and took a step back; it was indeed more appropriate for Sirius to explain.

Dumbledore was also acting as if he was all ears, with no intention of taking action.

He had suspected that Sirius had some hidden reason in that matter, but he was unwilling to say, so there was no way to understand it.

At the same time, Ethan also saw Phineas Nigellus Black's portrait move slightly, probably excited to see his great-great-grandson.

They only had Sirius left in their line; if this last seedling was imprisoned in Azkaban until death, the Black family, which had been passed down for thousands of years, would be cut off.

When he heard that Sirius had escaped from prison, he was quite happy but also worried that something unexpected might happen to him.

"When James set up the Fidelius Charm, the initially chosen Secret-Keeper was indeed me, but because I..."

Facing Dumbledore, Sirius dared not hide anything and directly began to tell the story from the very beginning, all the way to the deal with Ethan, and the entire process of Peter's escape just now.

During this period, everyone was listening attentively, only when talking about the deal between Ethan and Sirius did Dumbledore give Ethan a surprised look.

"Ethan, can I take a look at your Marauder's Map?"

After listening to everything, Dumbledore was quite interested in the Marauder's Map.

Could he also create a similar alchemical work? Relying solely on portraits and ghosts to monitor Hogwarts was too outdated; it was slow and many places couldn't be monitored.

Ethan could also guess some of Dumbledore's thoughts; he probably wanted to make one for himself, but Ethan had no need to refuse.

When he was in Hogwarts Castle, he was very well-behaved, only occasionally going to the Room of Requirement, wandering around the Forbidden Forest, or occasionally leaving school, all of which Dumbledore knew.

After taking the parchment, Dumbledore cast a spell to test it before returning it to Ethan.

"Peter disguised himself as Ron. Ethan, have you seen him contact anyone on the Marauder's Map?"

"It's unlikely that he obtained Polyjuice Potion himself; he probably contacted that Death Eater again."

At this time, Dumbledore began to ask about serious matters.

Dumbledore still took the hidden Voldemort faction in his school somewhat seriously.

To plot successfully, one needs sufficient intelligence support.

"I haven't noticed. Actually, I rarely use the Marauder's Map and don't pay much attention to him."

Ethan was telling the truth; he used it more in the first year, and after that, the Marauder's Map was basically gathering dust.

"I think I know this. About two weeks after the start of this school year, a large portion of the ingredients in my potions classroom were lost, some of which were for making Polyjuice Potion; all of these were taken away."

Snape was furious when he discovered this at the time.

He didn't expect that someone in Hogwarts would actually set their sights on him.

Later, Snape also placed many spells in the place where he stored potion ingredients, but after that, there was no movement at all.

That guy only did this one thing and then stopped, leaving Snape clueless at the time.

Snape, unable to catch the thief, didn't mention the matter, as it wasn't very honorable.

So, until today, apart from Peter's theft, no one knew that he had lost potion ingredients.

"The timing is right; it seems that Peter stole the potion ingredients and brewed them himself."

Dumbledore could now rule out the idea that Peter had an inside man in Hogwarts; it was just Ron's actions that made him very worried.

This Weasley kid had caused him a lot of trouble.

Chapter 210: Ron Passes the Buck

"Ron, why did you let Peter go again?"

After a moment of silence, Dumbledore looked at Ron, who had been hiding behind everyone since he came in.

He really didn't know what the reason was; did he develop feelings for the rat?

Would he do something unexpected because of this later?

As for the reason for the fight between Snape, Lupin, and Sirius, Dumbledore didn't want to ask.

There were too many entanglements between them; according to Sirius's identity, it would have been abnormal if Snape hadn't attacked him immediately after being discovered.

"I... I couldn't see Scabbers being sent to the Ministry of Magic for execution."

Ron said tremblingly.

At this moment, Ron was also somewhat dissatisfied with Dumbledore; why was he the only one being singled out to speak?

He knew that this trouble he had caused was very big, but his feelings for Scabbers really couldn't bear to see him die!

Moreover, this couldn't be just his responsibility alone.

If Snape hadn't fought with Lupin, if Sirius hadn't gone to help, Peter wouldn't have dared to make a sound to arouse his sympathy, leading him to let him go.

Even if he did make a sound, with Lupin and Sirius here, they could have stopped Peter from escaping.

Ethan too; if he and the others had escorted Peter to the Headmaster's office together, so many problems wouldn't have occurred.

He was indeed at fault, but weren't they also at fault?

This couldn't just be blamed on him alone!

"Sending Peter to the Ministry of Magic for execution is what he deserves."

"He is known to have betrayed James and his wife as an undercover agent, leading to their deaths and Harry losing his parents. It is unknown how much information he has leaked to the Death Eaters."

"Several of your mother's brothers also died during that period, and the culprit was the Death Eaters. Now that you have let Peter go, do you think it is appropriate?"

Dumbledore was not a Holy Mother; he knew very well who should die and who could live.

Although he didn't think that Peter's escape would be a bad thing at the moment, according to the known information, Peter wouldn't attack Harry; he still had the feelings he had with James and the others, and maybe he could play some role later.

But it is necessary to figure out Ron's psychological journey, to know what he is thinking and what he will do in the future.

Otherwise, when the critical moment arrives, if Ron stabs Harry in the back, then all the calculations will be in vain.

This is something that Dumbledore absolutely cannot allow.

Even if Ron is his staunch supporter, a child of the Weasley family.

On the contrary, Snape's actions today, although indirectly allowed Peter to escape.

But Dumbledore can be sure that when necessary, for Harry, Snape can give his life.

This is the most essential difference between the two.

And after hearing Dumbledore's words, Ron trembled all over.

Ever since the words he wrote in Voldemort's diary last year were exposed, coupled with causing Percy to become disabled, his family's attitude towards him has not been as good as before, whether it is his other brothers or his sister Ginny.

Only his parents, although they blamed him a lot, still treated him equally and expressed concern for him during the summer vacation.

If they knew that he had let a Death Eater go, his mother would definitely not be able to accept it, as she hates Death Eaters and Voldemort the most.

He can't let her know this, and he can't take the blame, he can't afford to.

"I don't know, and you can't blame me for this. I only found out about all of this today. Scabbers has lived with me for three years, and I can't just watch him die."

"Ethan, he obtained the Marauder's Map and knew Scabbers' Peter identity a long time ago. Not only did he not say it, but he also concealed it so deeply. If he had told you earlier, when we didn't have such a deep relationship, everything wouldn't have become like this."

"Now, Ethan should bear the main responsibility."

"If he wasn't greedy for the Black family's property, maybe he wouldn't have revealed Scabbers' identity even today. If there's a problem, you should go to him."

Ron directly turned the gun on Ethan.

He was already jealous of everything Ethan had, and later he would even get half of the Black family's wealth. Even if he took out one percent of it, it would be a sum that he could never hope to reach in his lifetime.

Why is this? Why is he handsome, strong, talented, and rich, and also welcomed by most wizards?

While he is despised and hated by most wizards.

He now wants to drag Ethan down and expose Ethan's true colors to the public.

"So, you're saying it's all my fault?"

Ethan glanced at Ron and said indifferently.

Without Hermione's assistance, and after being bewitched by Little Tom, Ron's jealousy is even greater than in the original book, and his dark side is also much larger.

"That's right, it's all your fault. If you could have revealed Scabbers' matter earlier, without coveting the Black family's property, and directly told the headmaster here, none of this would have happened."

Ron became more and more confident as he spoke, and at this moment he had already stood in front of everyone.

Looking righteous and confident, as if Peter's escape had nothing to do with him.

"So, it was me who let Peter escape, not you, Ron, right!"

Ethan was a little speechless.

Knowing this would happen, he should have let Little Tom directly kill Ron to save trouble, so as not to leave him here to disgust people.

"Putting that aside, are you saying you have no fault at all?"

Ethan wanted to open Ron's head and take a look. Is this still Ron?

Could it be that he was possessed by a transmigrator!

Lupin, Sirius, and even Dumbledore looked at Ron in surprise, never expecting Ron to say such a thing.

They directly put aside the matter of him letting Peter go, so what else can they talk about?

Dumbledore was also thinking about what strategy to use to treat Ron in the future. Mixing with someone like this, how can Harry be the savior? He's afraid he'll be directly scrapped.

"The Marauder's Map was initially in Fred and George's hands, and they gave it to me. Besides, why would I pay attention to you and your rat for no reason? Even if I saw Peter Pettigrew's name, who knows if it was your prank and you gave him that name."

"After all, you are such a person, jealous of everything that is more outstanding than you. And Peter is also a Hufflepuff, and he is also a recipient of the Order of Merlin, First Class. Maybe you are jealous of him, so you gave your rat such a name."

"As for why I went to find Sirius after discovering the truth instead of going to find the headmaster, it's very simple, I wanted to make money, okay? It was a voluntary transaction, so what, are you jealous again?"

"Finally, you let Peter go, isn't it also because you are jealous of Harry, unable to see him avenge his parents, wanting him to live in pain, while you have both parents alive, to satisfy your perverted sense of satisfaction?"

Ethan wouldn't show any mercy to Ron.

Since he can throw the blame on himself, then why can't he expose his little thoughts and also blacken him a bit.

After all, someone who can be jealous of Harry, who has helped him so much, really doesn't have a big heart. Ethan didn't plan to have any friendship with him from the beginning.

"You're talking nonsense, I'm not jealous of you and Harry, and I wouldn't have let Peter go because of that."

Ron's face turned red, and he tried his best to refute.

But his appearance only confirmed this point even more. Even Harry looked at Ron with a hint of disgust.

This also reminded Harry of the day he went home for summer vacation in his second year when Ethan said that Ron was jealous of him and wrote a lot of his problems in the diary.

He didn't pay too much attention to it at the time, so what if he did? But now it seems that he should have paid attention to it.

If Ron really valued his friendship with him, he wouldn't have let go of Peter, who killed his parents. This is a life-and-death feud.

This shows that the importance of the rat Scabbers is still above his and Ron's friendship.

Moreover, what Ethan said is not impossible. He is just jealous of himself and wants to find a sense of superiority, so he deliberately let Peter go.

He thought he regarded him as his best friend, but this is how he treats me?

Ron naturally noticed Harry's gaze.

Now he is very sensitive to other people's gazes.

"But why didn't you come with us to escort Peter here later, and instead went on a date with those girls?"

Ron was still trying to shirk responsibility.

"Ron, are you jealous that I can date several beautiful female classmates at the same time, while you are disliked by everyone in Gryffindor, and no one likes you, so you said that?"