It's a strange thing, Harry thought to himself when faced with questioning.
Professor Brewer did not pursue the matter of how he discovered those secret passages, but when Professor Lupin learned about it, he expressed great concern, even to the point of following Harry to the Gryffindor common room to question him about it at this late hour.
Harry and the three others exchanged glances, not knowing what Professor Lupin was up to.
"Oh, well, this--" Harry shrugged his shoulders, doing his best to look innocent, "a few were discovered by us."
Tonight, Harry had already lied to two of the close professors who were dear to him, but he couldn't help it. Freddie and George had kindly entrusted him with the life and death map, and he couldn't drag them into it.
Professor Lupin stared sharply at Harry, completely unlike his usual polite demeanor, and did not accept or reject Harry's explanation but continued to ask.
"I think... you must have received some help from something else, Harry, right?"
Could it be that Professor Lupin knows about the map?
Harry's heart suddenly quickened its pace, and he couldn't help but think this way.
"I'll just come out and say it straight, Harry."
Professor Lupin was not prepared to beat around the bush. His pale cheeks, painted with the reddening glow of the fire, tightly focused on Harry's emerald eyes as he asked,
"Professor Brewer told me that of the three secret passageways unknown to Mrs. Fletcher, one of the entrances is not in the castle but under the Beater Willow on the playground... I beg your pardon for being curious, Harry, but in normal circumstances, do you think it's likely that you should know this?"
Ron and Hermione stood behind Professor Lupin. As he asked the question and stared into Harry's eyes, their eyes met in mid-air, both reflecting confusion.
Professor Lupin had gathered everyone to come find Harry specifically to ask him this?
"Hmm... because..."
Harry furrowed his brow, struggling to come up with an excuse to brush off the question, but Professor Lupin added sternly,
"I'm sure the truth you tell me is true, right, Harry?"
Harry had nothing to say; he could no longer continue weaving lies.
"Because of that car, Professor--"
Ron gathered the courage to stand up, facing Professor Lupin's suspicious eyes, he spoke in a crisp voice, "It's because of the car, professor. And we found it by accident."
"I think you may have heard about that incident, Professor. When we started the second year, Harry and I arrived at Hogwarts in a flying car."
"The Prophet Daily reported some...," Professor Lupin's eyes flashed with memories, slowly saying, "Mrs. Weasley also mentioned it to me twice, she said, that your car collided with the Beater Willow?"
You're a genius, Ron!
From the glance Harry cast his way, Ron read that phrase, and it bolstered his confidence, making him speak with more assurance.
"Oh, yes, Professor!"
Ron spoke with a tone of despair, saying,
Ron spoke with a tone of regret, saying, "That was a very painful lesson, Professor. Harry and I don't particularly care to remember it either. That car... it finally lost control and collided with the Beater Willow. You see, that tree has a temper, we tried our best to dodge it but in the end, we escaped at the cost of breaking two ribs and a wand!"
Hermione's cheeks flushed red, unable to adapt to the lie of telling a story to fool the professor, though she herself had done this many times before.
"So that's when you discovered the secret passage there?"
Professor Lupin's furrowed brow relaxed a bit, Ron's words sounded quite reasonable, at least, there were no obvious flaws.
"Yes, Professor!"
Ron, whose mind was now working faster, said,
"But at the time, we were in a hurry to escape and didn't have the time to investigate... Later, we did want to do so, but we couldn't get any closer to it!"
"Alright, that sounds like the truth."
Professor Lupin let out a breath, his shoulders drooping. However, before Harry could relax, Professor Lupin grew serious again and stared at Harry, saying,
"Professor Brewer told me that last week after practicing the Patronus Charm with me, you secretly sneaked out of the school gate and ran to Hogsmeade to drink. Frankly, Harry, I was shocked because I thought the sound of a dementor nearby would make you exercise more self-restraint."
Harry wanted to explain, but Lupin didn't give him a chance.
"You should not have repaid your parents' sacrifice with such recklessness, Harry -- risking their lives for a few pints of beer."
Professor Lupin left, and his last disappointed look made Harry feel even more uncomfortable than in Professor Brewer's office. Seeing him in that state, Hermione opened her mouth, but didn't say anything. Although she heartily agreed with the two professors on Harry's education.
As they slowly climbed the spiral staircase to their dormitory, Harry suddenly spoke in a muffled tone, saying,
"I suddenly feel like my actions have been incredibly foolish all along."
"Oh, don't think that way, Harry--"
Ron patted the despondent Harry on the back and said,
"Professor Brewer and Professor Lupin are adult wizards, you can't compare life experience with them -- they might have done more damned things when they were our age than we can even count!"
......
The night is devoid of light, and the fine snow flakes falling for a week turn the world outside Hogsmeade into a white canvas.
The dry, cold cave, with a large dog reminding of a black bear crouched on a heap of dried straw shivering, below which lies a pile of darkened vole bones stained with blood.
The cold, whirling wind slipping through the narrow entrance, the dark cave echoes with ghostly wails. The large black dog lifts its head and sees a sharp black shadow leap onto a dark stone at the entrance of the cave and arch its back, vigorously shaking off the snow from its furry body.
A piece of bread?
When Harry saw what Crouch Sr. had in his mouth, the previously exhausted large black dog suddenly jumps up, emitting an excited whine.
The bitter cold and unbearable hunger has made it difficult for the large black dog to think about where Crouch Sr. had got that object from. It ferociously charges at Crouch Sr., seizing the frozen hard round bread with its mouth and bites into it without thinking twice.
Crunch!
The cave, filled with the wind's howling, suddenly echoes with the sound of something breaking. The starving large black dog spits out a broken tooth and blood, and also, the piece of bread brought by Crouch Sr.
Hagrid's rockhide bread...
The large black dog, tears in its eyes and a look of despair, finally recognized what the thing was.
...
Reading Room
