Chapter 123: Hard Times

For the first time, Harry knew that Black was his father's best friend when he was alive.

So far, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Mr. Weasley, Cornelius Fudge... none of them had mentioned the fact that Harry's parents had died because his best friend had betrayed them.

Harry felt very angry thinking that his parents probably didn't believe until they died that it was actually their best friend who betrayed them.

He tried to imagine their feelings. If Ivan, Ron or Hermione sold him to Voldemort, that would be the saddest way to die.

He felt distraught and broken, and wondered if his father felt the same way before he died.

He spent the rest of the afternoon in his empty room. He found the photo album Hagrid had given him two years ago, which was filled with pictures of his mother and father. She sat down on her bed, drew the curtains around her and began to turn the pages, searching, until.....

She stopped on a photo from her parents' wedding day. His father was waving at him, beaming, the messy black hair Harry had inherited was standing in every direction. There was his mother, dazzling with happiness, in his father's arms. And there.... That had to be him. His godfather.... Harry had never thought of him before.

If he hadn't known it was the same person, he would never have guessed it was Black in this old photograph. His face was not sunken and waxy, but handsome, full of laughter.

Harry couldn't help but wonder if he had already been working for Voldemort when this picture was taken. Was he already planning the death of the two people next to him? Did he realize he was facing twelve years in Azkaban, twelve years that would make him unrecognizable?

But those Dementors had no effect on him. Harry tried to carve the beautiful smile from the photo in his mind.

Immediately after, he flipped the page. He saw a picture of his father's graduation. Four people appeared in it.

Besides his father, there was a young Professor Lupin, and Black, who still had that smile on his face, there was a small, fat, cowardly boy hiding behind them. He looked a bit like Neville Longbottom.

He should be Peter Pettigrew, the wizard who was killed by Black.

Professor Lupin told him that after his father's death, only Peter Pettigrew went after Black everywhere. He wanted to avenge his parents, but he was no match for Sirius. He paid the price with his life. After killing Harry's parents, the murder of Peter followed.

"Dirty, stinking traitor!" Harry clenched his fist.

A hatred such as he had never known before was coursing through Harry like poison. He could see Black laughing at him through the darkness, as if someone had stuck the picture in the album in his eyes.

He watched, as if someone was playing a movie for him, Sirius Black blowing Peter Pettigrew to smithereens. He could hear a low, excited murmur. "It has happened, My Lord.... The Potters have made me their Secret Keeper" and then, someone else's voice, this time laughing raucously.

It was when the Dementors approached, that he first heard that voice, Voldemort's laughter!

Harry knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to find Sirius Black. He wanted to avenge Peter Pettigrew and his parents.

Even though Professor Lupin repeatedly warned him not to look for Black, and promised him he wouldn't; but when he thought of Black's impunity, the thought of sitting there doing nothing almost made him sick.

Harry made his decision in secret at the time. But then, suddenly, he heard a loud noise coming from outside the Great Dining Hall.

In a few moments, people turned pale.

They were all students who had just returned from Hogsmeade. They entered one by one, their faces devoid of the usual cheerfulness that accompanies returning from there. The expression on their faces made it clear that something terrible had happened.

Harry felt his heart in his throat, could it be that Sirius Black had turned up in Hogsmeade?

He saw Neville panting in front of him with a scrambled face, a large scarf bent around his neck, a few bags of Honeydukes candy in his hands, and even his cloak that he hadn't found time to take off. Harry hastily grabbed him by the shoulders.

"What happened?" asked Harry excitedly.

"It was a werewolf!" Neville gasped, shivering and saying, "There was a werewolf in Hogsmeade, and it attacked Ivan and Hermione."

"What?!" Harry's heart sank into his stomach. Ivan and Hermione were confronted by a werewolf? He couldn't imagine what happened next.

"How are they?" Harry looked into Neville's eyes. "Did something happen to them?"

"I don't know, Harry!" Neville was almost breathless. "I was in the corridor and I saw the teachers running with both of them to the school hospital. Hermione was still crying, but she looked fine. But Ivan was unconscious in Hagrid's arms. His robe was stained with blood."

Hearing Neville's words, Harry felt cold all over his body.

He no longer had time to think about Black. He should go to the school hospital to see Ivan, 'Although Ivan is very powerful, it is impossible for an underage wizard to defeat a werewolf. I hope his injuries aren't too serious'

As soon as Harry stood up, he saw the huge figure of Hagrid burst into the Great Dining Hall.

Hagrid's face was streaked with tears. Ever since he had received the letter from the Committee for the Removal of Dangerous Creatures, telling him that Buckbeak might be executed, Harry had never seen Hagrid so sad.

He called out his name and tried to contact him to ask about Ivan and Hermione. But to no avail, the whole Hall was in such a mess. Everyone was talking loudly about the werewolf attack in Hogsmeade.

Hagrid burst into the teachers' table and spoke to Dumbledore, who quickly got up and walked downstairs. Everyone looked at him and expected him to have a few words explaining the current situation.

But he didn't. Dumbledore whispered a few words to Percy as he walked past him. He then followed Hagrid and hurriedly left the Great Dining Hall. He seemed to be heading for the school hospital.

"Quiet!" As Dumbledore and Hagrid left, Percy immediately shouted. "As head of the student body, I can guarantee everyone's safety. Please believe me, no monsters can enter the castle."

No one heard him, and the chaos continued.

Suddenly, everyone realized that there was no teacher in the Great Dining Hall tonight and that the Headmaster had just followed Hagrid. Professor Sprout went home early to take care of some family problems. Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Snape and Lupin were not there. It was as if they had agreed beforehand. They all disappeared.

Without the teachers keeping order, the noisy arguments in the Great Dining Hall were louder than ever. Percy could do nothing to control the scene.

However, a few minutes after that, something happened. Immediately they quieted down, and everyone fell silent.