HP: White Lord of Slytherin

Chapter 115: Admiration for the Strong and Cowardice

When Sirius and Pettigrew each insisted on their own opinions, Gloria stood up and said, "No need to waste time. Ask Professor Snape to get some truth serum, and we will know who is telling the truth."

"Don't let that guy waste your time!" Sirius pointed at Pettigrew and said frantically, "You are not hiding from me at all, you are hiding from Voldemort's men. I heard it in Azkaban, I heard it very clearly - not all of his men have been arrested, some are still outside."

He sat on the ground panting, "He got your information and went to James's house, but was defeated and disappeared. That's right... They suffered a lot because of you, how could they not want to catch you!"

"I don't know what you're talking about..." Pettigrew still kept the mouse's movements, with his hands on his cheeks, huddled like a mouse, "Snape hated me when we were at Hogwarts. I can't let him come. Headmaster Dumbledore, Remus, you won't believe the fugitive's crazy talk, will you?"

"If you are innocent, why have you been hiding for more than ten years?" Remus still held Sirius and asked him calmly.

Dumbledore said nothing, but looked at Pettigrew with a scrutinizing gaze.

"I'm innocent! But I'm afraid..." Pettigrew sobbed, "You all know how powerful he was in the past. Even Headmaster Dumbledore couldn't protect me all the time. Look at Sirius, he broke into Hogwarts twice. Even if I had come back and hidden in school, I would have been killed by him!"

"You're still lying!" Sirius struggled hard, veins popping out on the back of his hands. "It's my fault! I persuaded Lily and James to change the secret keeper to you. I was ready to let Voldemort kill me without saying a word, but you -! You gave them to your master!"

The blood in Pettigrew's face completely disappeared, turning a dusty grey. He lowered his head and muttered, "This is ridiculous. Your brain was damaged when you were in Azkaban."

"Can I ask a question?" Hermione's weak voice sounded, and everyone in the office looked at him.

"Ask, Hermione," Dumbledore said gently.

"If he was a traitor, then why didn't he ever hurt Harry in the three years he lived in Harry's dormitory?"

Pettigrew seemed to have found hope and screamed in surprise: "Yes! I have never hurt Harry, and I have even helped them deal with annoying people!" He pointed his finger at Draco.

Draco immediately remembered that he had bitten Goyle in his first year and gave him a sour look.

"Harry spends the whole year in school except for the summer vacation," Dumbledore said leisurely. "During the summer vacation, he was separated from Ron and couldn't get close to him. There were many professors in the school, as well as me."

It is obvious who the principal is leaning towards.

"That's right." Sirius said, "Voldemort has disappeared for more than ten years. How could you take such a big risk for your master who has fallen from power and whose life or death is unknown? You are as cowardly as before and can only hide behind others. Stay at the Weasley's house and eavesdrop on some news. If your master comes back one day, you can use the eavesdropping news to surrender."

Sirius said in a hoarse voice, "Maybe you can rely on Harry and the others to be defenseless against a rat like you, and when Voldemort returns, you can catch Harry by surprise and offer him up to them. Isn't that how you betrayed Lily and James?"

Having said that, the truth is clear.

"Peter, do you have anything else to say?" Dumbledore's words were like a judgment that came down on him, suffocating Pettigrew.

Sirius looked at Harry with his grey eyes moist with water, "Believe me Harry, I would rather die than betray Lily and James."

Harry didn't avoid his gaze, seeing the sincerity in those eyes.

Pettigrew walked around Dumbledore and crawled to Remus, keeping a distance, fearing that Sirius would pounce on him. "Remus, the four of us are best friends. If he changed the secret keeper, why wouldn't he tell you?"

"If he had thought me a spy, he would not have told me," said Lupin calmly.

Sirius grabbed his arm, "Forgive me."

"It's okay, Padfoot." Lupin said, "I thought you were a traitor before."

"That's not the case..." Pettigrew saw that they had restored their previous friendship and crawled to Ron on his knees. "Ron, I'm your Scabbers. You've raised me for several years... Don't let their conspiracy succeed."

"I actually hugged you..." Ron looked extremely disgusted, but when he thought of the annoying Malfoy here, he swallowed the rest of his words.

Pettigrew crawled in front of Hermione again and grabbed her robes, "Good girl, you and Harry are good friends, James and I are also good friends... You must understand."

Hermione pulled out her school robe with disgust, her eyes full of contempt for him. It was precisely because she had good friends that she couldn't feel any sympathy for such a traitor.

"Harry..." Pettigrew turned to Harry tremblingly, "Your father and I were best friends. You look just like him. And these eyes..."

"How dare you talk to Harry!" Sirius roared, and Lupin let him go. "How dare you mention James in front of Harry!"

Pettigrew shrank back, but Sirius did not rush over to strangle him.

He turned around and saw a pair of cold silver eyes. It was Gloria, who rarely spoke in the office.

"Gloria, your father is also..."

"Don't get close to Gloria!" Sirius rushed forward and kicked Pettigrew away, his thin figure blocking the girl, "My brother died heroically fighting Voldemort, don't taint his name with your stinky mouth!"

The place where he was kicked hurt, but Sirius' words made him even more dizzy.

Dumbledore sighed and shook his head, "Peter, Regulus is much braver than you. He woke up in time and made great contributions to the fight against Voldemort, even sacrificing his life."

"How could it be..." Pettigrew muttered.

Gloria said coldly: "Are you trying to say that my father and you are both Death Eaters?"

"Isn't it true, Regulus' Black family, and Lucius' Malfoy family." Pettigrew pointed at Draco, "We all did things for that person, but I was forced..."

"My father is not a coward like you!" Gloria's voice suddenly rose, looking over Sirius, "Seeing Voldemort's ridiculous nature, he took on the responsibility of a good wizard, but what did you do?"

Her pupils were pointed and vertical, like a snake.

Everyone then noticed that Golinia appeared on her shoulder, and her snake eyes met those of Pettigrew.

"Voldemort found you about three months after my father's death." Gloria squatted down to look him in the eye. "With just a Cruciatus Curse, you fell to the ground and kissed his robes, listening to the harsh laughter of the Death Eaters. More than a decade of friendship was thrown behind your back. Until that night, you worked diligently to pass on news about the Order of the Phoenix to Voldemort. Peter Pettigrew, a cowardly man who admired the strong, didn't want to be a follower of Sirius, James and Remus forever, and even fantasized about looking down on them one day."

"Ah——!" Pettigrew screamed miserably.

In the blink of an eye, Gloria's pupils returned to normal and Golinia returned to the pocket of her school robe.

Draco stepped forward to pull her back, but Sirius grabbed Gloria's shoulders and pulled her back.