Though he was only twelve years old and had never experienced the brutal wars of the past, Harry could now so easily speak words that would end a life… a traitor's life… and have him brought before him.
Was it because of the mysterious experience that made Harry a shaman?
Or was it—
"What's wrong, Sirius?" Seeing Sirius remain silent and motionless, Harry raised an eyebrow and said, "Can't do it? Or should I?"
"No, absolutely not," Sirius said with a shudder, shaking his head firmly. "No matter how powerful you are, you're not old enough to kill."
"Wait, Sirius, why do you make a caring remark sound so odd?" Lupin interjected, unable to resist. "If someone who didn't know us heard that, they might think we're some kind of assassin family."
"That's definitely your problem, Lupin," Sirius said with certainty. "Enough talk. Are you with me or not?"
"Absolutely with you," Lupin replied without hesitation.
Stepping past Harry, Sirius and Lupin stood before Peter, each drawing their wand and pointing it at the man cowering on the ground.
"…Please… don't…"
Peter Pettigrew whimpered, crawling forward on the ground, trying to get closer. But bound as he was, he could barely move, wriggling like a maggot, his bloated, tear-streaked face smeared with snot.
After his illegal Animagus status was exposed, Peter could no longer transform and slip away unnoticed. He'd been forced to drink a potion that suppressed his magic, and the chains on his wrists and ankles were enchanted to prevent him from escaping in his Animagus form.
A complete and utter dead end.
"You're finished, Peter," Sirius said softly.
His expression was unexpectedly calm—no lunging to tear at Peter, no beating or spitting on him, just the detached gaze one might give a stranger.
This wasn't Sirius at all.
"James… James wouldn't have the heart, Sirius…" Peter hadn't given up, still frantically searching his mind for words that might sway them. "He was so kind… he'd forgive me… Harry, Harry's here too… he's just a child…"
"I don't even feel anger when you mention James anymore, Peter," Sirius said, as if he hadn't heard Peter's pleas for survival. His voice was eerily calm. "You're just a pathetic wretch. A damned wretch."
"James would never forgive you. Neither would Lily, nor Remus, nor I. So go ahead and cling to your desperate desire to live—and die with it forever… Remus?"
"I'm ready," Lupin nodded. "Three?"
"Two," Sirius said, suddenly smiling.
"One."
"Avada Kedavra."
There was no gut-wrenching scream, no surge of intense emotion. Amid Peter's increasingly frantic pleas, two green flashes lit the air, and his stuttering voice stopped abruptly.
His eyes bulged, his face twisted with unwillingness, his mouth still open as if about to speak again. But Peter's existence froze in that moment, like a wax figure.
Lowering their wands, Sirius and Lupin stared at Peter's body in silence for a long time.
No matter how Peter truly felt about them deep down, for Sirius and Lupin, he had once been a friend they would have entrusted their lives to—once.
"…It's over," Sirius said, taking a deep breath. As if unable to believe it, he nudged Peter's body with his foot, flipping it over. There was, of course, no response.
"Yeah, it's over," Lupin echoed, but before he could say more, their eyes widened in shock—another Peter had risen from the corpse.
It was Peter, identical in appearance, clothing, even the bloodstains on his shirt, but with a translucent, pearlescent body.
Peter Pettigrew had become a ghost.
Still adjusting to his new ghostly form, he seemed disoriented, his memories incomplete. His eyes were filled with confusion, and he didn't immediately use his ghostly body to sink into the ground and escape.
Then, in the next second, a ghostly blue arrow pierced through the heart of Peter's ghost. The bewildered expression on his face turned to agony as he clutched the pierced spot, unable to make a sound. With a final, pained wail, Peter's ghost curled into a ball and vanished without a trace.
Sirius: "…"
What just happened?
Not only Sirius but Lupin and Lucius, standing nearby, were also gaping, still processing what had occurred. They turned to Harry, who calmly lowered his raised hand.
"That was called a Soul Arrow," Harry said evenly. "I don't particularly like seeing his ghost lingering in the real world… I assume you feel the same, right?"
"Of course, we definitely don't," Lucius Malfoy responded, quick as ever, snapping to attention the moment Harry finished speaking.
"I—well, I don't have any objections," Sirius said with a sigh, shrugging. "Honestly, the fact that Peter came back as a ghost after dying… was he that desperate to keep living?"
"Maybe," Lupin said, shaking his head. "His life boiled down to just that one word… living for the sake of living… Ha!"
Peter's ghost flickered and was gone, unnoticed by anyone. His body wasn't simply kicked into the sea to feed the fish. Out of the last shred of friendship from years past, Sirius and Lupin dug a shallow grave nearby and buried him.
They even left a small stone marker with a single line: Here lies a despicable traitor. No need to remember his name or his past. No one cares.
After bidding farewell to the two Beaters and Lucius, Fawkes once again transported Harry, Sirius, and Lupin back to Hogwarts.
"Even though I'm back on my 'throne,' I still can't quite believe it—Peter's just… gone?" Sirius said, sitting by the fireplace, his voice tinged with disbelief. "It feels like we just went out for groceries or something, not like we were in Azkaban—"
"Feels too easy?" Lupin said, bringing over a cup of hot tea with a smile. "I don't think you need to overthink it. Harry's got it handled… Clearly, Harry has some secrets even Dumbledore doesn't know about—and no, I'm not prying."
"No need to be so tense, Remus," Harry said, shaking his head. "So, what are your plans now?"
"Plans?" Sirius sat up straighter, glancing around. "Remus and I… aren't we your assistants?"
"That was temporary, just to help you adjust to society and recover," Harry said, exasperated. "And by 'assistant,' do you mean sleeping until eleven every morning, eating lunch, and then wandering the castle playing games with students? Adult work isn't that easy."
"Ahem! That's just—er, I'm just imparting life experience to them," Sirius said, a bit embarrassed at being called out by his godson.
"You both need lives of your own," Harry said seriously. "I know you're wealthy now, Sirius, but money alone isn't enough. You need something to do, or you'll end up bored and empty. Same goes for you, Remus, though I don't think I need to lecture you—you're way more mature than Sirius."
"True," Lupin said with a laugh. "He's still a big kid."
"Hey! Lupin! I'm not letting that slide!" Sirius protested. "A 'simple big kid' couldn't survive twelve years in Azkaban."
"Sure, sure, you're the toughest," Lupin said, brushing him off with no sincerity before turning to Harry. "So, any suggestions?"
Having witnessed Harry's many accomplishments, especially that spell piercing Peter's ghost, Lupin no longer saw Harry as a child.
"It depends on what you want to do. Any ideas about work you'd like to pursue?" Harry asked.
"Nope, I absolutely don't want to work," Sirius replied without hesitation.
"You know my situation, Harry," Lupin said with a wry smile. "As a werewolf, it's hard to find a job that pays well… otherwise, I wouldn't have ended up with that werewolf pack in the forest."
"Hm… let's put Sirius's situation aside for now. You sound like you know forests well?" Harry asked thoughtfully. "How were your Herb.say Herbology grades?"
"Excellent!" Sirius answered for Lupin. "Lupin's grades were always the best among us. We survived by copying his homework. Herbology? I think it was an O, right?"
"Correct," Lupin confirmed. "I'm quite familiar with the forests of Britain, and Albania too, though I haven't spent much time in Germany or France. You know, being a werewolf, I worked with Dumbledore during the war to keep the werewolf packs from joining Voldemort. After the war, I wandered a lot… so yeah, I know forests pretty well."
Lupin seemed to feel a spark of that old interview nerves, stumbling over his words a bit.
"Relax, Remus, I'm not some Diagon Alley shopkeeper," Harry said with a hint of exasperation. "You know I'm a professor at Hogwarts now, and I spend a lot of time studying wizarding magic and training my apprentices, so I can't handle everything myself."
"You need a helper," Lupin said confidently.
"Exactly, a helper," Harry nodded. "But it's not limited to one specific task. For example, I need someone to gather fresh herbs for me. The ones in shops are too expensive, and I feel bad always using Snape's. Plus, some rare herbs aren't even available in stores—they get snatched up by Potions Masters through private channels."
"You need me to gather herbs in the forests?" Lupin said with a smile. "That's no easy job."
"Don't worry, I'll pay well."
"No, no, that's not what I meant, Harry," Lupin shook his head. "I mean, there's no one better suited for the job than me. Plus, in the forests, I don't have to worry about hurting anyone during the full moon."
"Sounds exciting, Remus!" Sirius said, perking up. "Can I come along? A forest adventure—we used to dream about that as Gryffindor students!"
"If you can handle sleeping rough and eating questionable food," Lupin said with a shrug. "I'll warn you, the forest isn't Azkaban, but it's not exactly cozy either."
"Worse than Azkaban?"
"No way."
"Then what's the problem?"
The two burst into laughter.
"Hold on, I said my helper's got a lot to do," Harry said, scratching his head. "I also need someone mature, reliable, and steady to handle goblin-related matters."
"Goblins?" Sirius blinked. "How'd you get mixed up with them?"
"It's a partnership," Harry explained. "You're familiar with the abilities of a shaman, right? Especially divination."
"Of course," Sirius grinned. "Your divination helped us catch Peter."
"The goblins want divination too?" Lupin asked.
"Yeah, they want me to divine locations of gold mines or other mineral deposits, and even predict Muggle economic trends. They're also interested in working together to train some goblin shamans," Harry said, sounding a bit troubled.
"Absolutely do not agree to that, Harry," Sirius said gravely. "You don't want to see the goblins start another rebellion, do you? Voldemort's mess isn't even sorted yet. If the goblins got hold of your kind of powerful, wandless magic, it'd be chaos."
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my pa-treon:
pat reon .c-om/windkaze