Chapter 129: Contemplation

"Your father was a Death Eater?" Harry asked. 

Edward did not soften the answer. "For a time. Regulus accepted what his family taught him, joined at sixteen, and learned what those beliefs required in practice. At eighteen, he turned against Voldemort and died taking one of his Horcruxes out of reach." 

Harry looked toward the courtyard, where the last students were crossing beneath the covered walk. "Does Dumbledore know?" 

"He knows the evidence Kreacher and I could provide. The destroyed locket, Regulus's note, and Kreacher's memory are all recorded. I am not asking you to keep that from him." 

That removed one suspicion without making Harry comfortable. He shifted against the stone arch. "Then why tell me?" 

"Because people keep deciding what both of us must become from a name attached to us. They call you the Boy Who Lived and expect an answer to every danger. They hear Black and expect me to repeat my family. Regulus believed an inherited answer until he saw the bodies behind it. His last choice mattered more than the first one." 

Harry studied him. Edward let the silence remain. Trust demanded room for doubt, especially after a year in which a diary had made friendship feel effortless while stealing Ginny's will. 

"You want me to believe you are different," Harry said at last. 

"I want you to judge what I do. Believing me because I told you a tragic story would be another kind of prejudice." 

"That sounds like something Hermione would say." 

"She would use more footnotes." 

Harry nearly smiled. The expression vanished when Edward mentioned the reason he had approached him. 

"There is one thing you should notice without confronting anyone," Edward said. "Ron's rat has lived for roughly thirteen years. Ordinary rats do not." 

Harry frowned. "Scabbers belonged to Percy before Ron. He is old, that's all." 

"Perhaps. Old animals can be unusual without being enchanted. But Scabbers is missing a digit from one front paw, and a man connected to your parents disappeared thirteen years ago after leaving one severed finger behind. That resemblance needs witnesses and examination. It is not permission to accuse Ron or seize his pet." 

Harry's hand tightened on the strap of his bag. "Peter Pettigrew. Everyone says Sirius killed him." 

"Everyone repeats what the Ministry concluded without a trial. Sirius says Peter caused the explosion, killed twelve Muggles, cut off his finger, and escaped as a rat. Sirius may be telling the truth, lying, or remembering badly after Azkaban. That is why Dumbledore has the statement and why no one is supposed to act alone." 

"You have spoken to Sirius." 

Edward held Harry's gaze. "Yes. Under conditions Dumbledore knows. He is alive, injured by Azkaban, and trying to prove what happened. He is also angry enough that he should not face Peter without witnesses." 

Harry stepped closer. "He was my parents' friend. Is he still trying to find me?" 

"He wants to see you. Wanting something does not decide whether the meeting is safe. Dumbledore and Professor Lupin should be present when it happens, and you should be allowed to ask questions without anyone demanding that you forgive or trust him." 

Footsteps sounded behind them. Lupin had kept the distance he promised, but Harry's raised voice had carried along the arcade. He approached slowly, giving both boys time to object. 

"I heard Peter's name," he said. "May I join you?" 

Edward looked to Harry rather than answering for him. Harry nodded. 

Lupin rested one hand on the back of the stone bench. Tiredness showed beneath his eyes, though the full moon was still days away. "Tell me exactly what you have observed, not what Sirius believes." 

Edward gave him the short record. Scabbers had remained with the Weasley family for far longer than a normal rat's life. A front paw lacked one digit. The Marauder's Map, recovered under staff authority, repeatedly displayed Peter Pettigrew beside Ron when the rat was present. Edward had returned Scabbers on the train rather than attempt a transformation in a crowded compartment. Dumbledore had copies of the observations and had ordered a witnessed plan. 

Lupin's face lost colour at the name on the map, but he did not announce a conclusion. "Who else saw the entry?" 

"Sirius through the mirror, Professor Dumbledore, and me. The map may identify an enchanted name, a disguised Animagus, or something we have not considered." 

"It was designed to identify people inside Hogwarts," Lupin said. "James, Sirius, Peter, and I made it. I know of no ordinary animal that would appear under a wizard's name." 

Harry stared at him. "You made the map?" 

"Yes, and that history gives me knowledge as well as a conflict of interest. Peter was my friend. Sirius was too. I should not conduct the examination alone." 

Edward appreciated the distinction. Lupin's recognition strengthened the inference, but friendship could distort a witness in either direction. 

Lupin then asked why Edward had approached Harry before the adults arranged the examination. The question carried no accusation, which made evasion harder. 

"I thought he deserved warning about a danger beside his closest friend," Edward said. "I also wanted him to hear about Sirius from someone who would not demand an immediate verdict. I should have agreed on the disclosure with Dumbledore first." 

"The reason is defensible," Lupin replied. "The timing still increased the risk. Include both in your report." 

Edward agreed. Good intentions were relevant evidence, not a pardon granted in advance. 

"What do we do?" Harry asked. 

"You continue treating Ron as your friend," Lupin replied. "You do not follow Scabbers, corner him, or discuss this where the rat may hear. I will speak to Dumbledore tonight. He can arrange adult witnesses, a secure room, and protection for Ron." 

"What if Scabbers runs before then?" 

"Then you call a professor. You do not chase a suspected adult wizard into a tunnel." 

Harry glanced at Edward. "Is that what you would do?" 

The honest answer embarrassed him. "It is what I have been ordered to do. I have already proved that knowing a rule and obeying it are different skills." 

Lupin's mouth tightened with understanding rather than amusement. "A useful admission." 

Harry asked whether Sirius had truly spent twelve years in Azkaban without trial. Edward confirmed only what the Ministry record showed. He did not turn the answer into a demand for sympathy. If Sirius was innocent, the injustice would remain real whether Harry felt ready to meet him or not. 

"I thought Slytherins protected their own names," Harry said. 

"Too often we protect the name instead of the person," Edward replied. "Regulus was hidden because his choice embarrassed both sides. Sirius was condemned because the accusation fit what people expected of a Black. I would rather preserve records that can survive whoever holds power next." 

The bell for dinner rang across the courtyard. Lupin asked Harry to walk with him to McGonagall's office, where they could request a meeting without mentioning the matter in a crowded corridor. 

Before they left, Harry turned back. "I do not know whether I believe Sirius." 

"You do not have to decide today." 

"But I believe you told me what you think is true." 

It was less than trust and more than Edward had expected. "That is enough." 

He watched them enter the castle, then remained beneath the arch for another minute. Regulus's story had not won an ally or erased a house boundary. It had made one difficult question possible. 

Edward preferred that to a declaration.