Chapter 270: The Third Scroll

Lupin and Black prepared to kill Peter Pettigrew directly, but at the moment they moved, Harry stopped them.

"No!" Harry shouted, running forward to stand in front of Peter Pettigrew. "You can't kill him," he said, gasping for breath, "you can't."

Both Black and Lupin were greatly shocked.

Harry, panting, said, "We'll take him to the castle. We'll hand him over to the Dementors. He can go to Azkaban... just don't kill him."

"Harry!" Peter Pettigrew gasped, wrapping his arms around Harry's knees. "Thank you... this is mercy for me... thank you..."

"Let go," Harry spat, disgustingly shaking off Peter Pettigrew's hand. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this because I think my father wouldn't want his best friend to kill someone—especially someone like you."

"Evil-doers will receive their due punishment, but those who have been wrongly accused for over a decade should also have their innocence cleared and their reputations restored," Harry continued.

Except for Peter Pettigrew, no one moved, and no one made a sound. Peter Pettigrew clutched his chest, gasping for air. Black and Lupin looked at each other.

"Mr. Black, I think Harry is right. Peter Pettigrew's existence can prove your innocence. You should return to living in the sunlight, and you should go home," Hermione said softly.

"Home?" Sirius Black murmured, his expression becoming complex, as if wondering what to think.

"Bigfoot, only after your reputation is restored can you better care for Harry. Don't forget you are still his godfather..." Lupin also changed his mind and began to persuade Black.

Harry's expression turned to shock; this was the first time he had heard of this...

"You are the only one with the right to make the decision, Harry," Black said, his eyes moist again. He respected the decision Harry had made.

Lupin's wand shot out a ribbon, and in a moment, Peter Pettigrew was bound up, his mouth stuffed, writhing on the floor.

Harry retrieved his Invisibility Cloak, and then the group prepared to head back.

Fortunately, except for Snape, who had flown off who knows where, no one in the group was injured.

"What about them?" Professor Lupin pointed at the two shapeshifters.

"Right, Allen said not to let more people know about the existence of these shapeshifters," Harry said.

"Wait!" Hermione and Ron began rummaging through their pockets, and they soon found the Poké Balls Allen had given them.

"Come in!" Amidst the surprised gazes of the others, they threw out two red-and-white small balls. Just as the balls were about to collide with the two shapeshifters, they suddenly opened, directly capturing the two shapeshifters inside.

Then they easily picked up the Poké Balls from the ground.

"The scrolls and Poké Balls Allen gave are really useful; it would be great if we had a few more," Ron said, holding the Poké Ball.

"Don't even think about it. Scrolls are very expensive; one costs over two hundred Jin Jin Jialong..." Hermione reminded Ron.

"Oh..." Ron was instantly defeated by poverty.

Lupin and Black quietly exchanged a glance. They hadn't expected this matter to be related to Allen Finis, but on second thought, it made sense.

The group began walking toward Hogwarts Castle. They prepared to hand Peter Pettigrew over to Professor Dumbledore, but given the huge commotion they had just caused with Professor Snape, the school should be on alert by now.

Harry walked with light steps, his mood equally light. Just moments ago, Sirius Black had invited Harry to live with him in the future, which greatly excited Harry.

A cloud drifted away, and suddenly a blurry shadow appeared on the ground; this group bathed in the moonlight.

Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Ron, and others suddenly stopped; Black froze.

He extended his arm, signaling Harry and Hermione not to advance further.

Harry could see Lupin's side silhouette; he became stiff, and then his limbs began to tremble.

"Oh, my god—" Hermione gasped, "he didn't take his medicine tonight! He's not safe!"

Amidst terrible roars, Lupin's head elongated, his torso did the same, his shoulders hunched, hair sprouted on his face and hands, clearly visible, his hands curling into claws...

Sirius Black vanished from beside Harry; he transformed. A huge black dog leaped forward, grabbed the werewolf by the neck, and pulled it backward, moving it away from Ron and Peter Pettigrew.

The werewolf and the dog tangled together, jaw to jaw, claws tearing at each other...

Harry stood frozen, terrified by the scene, while at that moment Peter Pettigrew went to retrieve the wand Lupin had dropped...

By the time Harry came to his senses, Peter Pettigrew had completed his Animagus transformation...

Ron and Hermione cast two spells at him, but he dodged them both. He quickly darted into the bushes and disappeared...

Harry turned and saw the werewolf fleeing; it was running toward the Forbidden Forest.

"Sirius, he got away. Peter Pettigrew transformed!" Harry shouted. The big dog was bleeding, with wounds on its muzzle and back, but upon hearing Harry's words, it got up again. In an instant, it ran toward the direction where the rat had disappeared, vanishing from the trio's sight soon after...

"Ron, send your shapeshifter to chase Peter Pettigrew. Sirius is injured," Hermione said quickly. The next moment, she threw out her Poké Ball and commanded the Mage Shapeshifter to find Professor Lupin and restrain him to prevent harm to others and himself. The Mage Shapeshifter spread its wings and flew up, disappearing into the night sky.

Ron did the same. The Stealth Shapeshifter lowered its head to sniff the scent on the ground, then quickly chased after them, disappearing into the dark Forbidden Forest.

Harry realized that now only the three of them remained.

Just as they were at a loss, they heard a bark and a whimper from the darkness; a dog barked in pain...

"Sirius," Harry murmured.

From the sound, it seemed Black was in trouble...

Harry took off running, with Hermione and Ron close behind.

The barking seemed to come from across the lake. They ran desperately toward that direction. Harry ran with all his might, feeling cold, but didn't stop to think what feeling cold meant—

The howling suddenly stopped. When they reached the lakeside, they understood the reason—Sirius Black had transformed back into a human.

He lay by the lake, hands raised before him, while the Stealth Shapeshifter was nowhere to be seen...

"No, no, no," he groaned, "no, no, no... please, don't..."

Then Harry saw them.

Dementors, at least a hundred of them, a black mass, gliding toward them around the lake.

He turned quickly. That familiar cold sensation penetrated his very core. Mist began to blur his vision. These creatures were surging from the darkness on all sides; they were surrounding them...

The Dementors quickly surrounded them, hovering heavily above their heads...

They felt overwhelming pressure and cold...

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry tried to think of happy things, but only summoned a small wisp of silver light, swaying like mist before him.

"The shapeshifters are too far away..." Hermione and Ron struggled to say this before collapsing in front of him. But they also knew that even if the shapeshifters were present, their abilities and current state could not deal with so many Dementors...

Harry realized he was alone now...

He frantically cast the Patronus Charm to resist the Dementors, but the silver mist he summoned grew smaller and smaller...

He saw a Dementor stop, very close to him; a long, dead hand slid out from beneath its cloak, it lowered its hood, and where eyes should have been there was only thin, crusted gray skin monotonously stretched over empty sockets, but it had a mouth... a shapeless hole, sucking in air with the sound of a throat at death's door...

It was moving closer to Sirius, wanting to kiss him...

Harry, filled with terror, stood paralyzed, unable to move or speak; the silver mist he had summoned flickered and went out...

He could not accept such an outcome!

He suddenly felt something hard in his robe pocket—it was the scroll Allen had left him, also the most powerful scroll of all.

Hope flared in his heart again; with the last of his strength, he took out the scroll, aimed it at a stone nearby, and unrolled it...

The scroll was successfully cast!

That stone began to change rapidly...

Soon, a strange creature appeared in his line of sight—most of its body was orange, two long ears stood upright on its head, very much like a rabbit's ears; its eyes were large and round, like two black gems; its nose was very small, so small it was hard to notice; most striking were the two red blushes on its cheeks; its limbs were short and thick, chubby and very cute; its tail was thick and long, shaped like lightning.

It gave the impression of being very cute, very weak, and only capable of acting cute, and now it was staring at Harry with a pair of watery, bright big eyes, looking puzzled...

Harry and it stared at each other, big eye to small eye, for a moment not knowing what to say...

"Pika-pika-pikachu!" that strange creature broke the silence first...