Surrounded by rough stone walls, the kitchen is as dark and deep as a cave. Most of the light comes from a large fireplace at the end of the room, which was lit to warm up the space by Amomsta. Smoke billows out of the pipes, filling the air. If the battlefield smoke, heavy iron pots and pans hanging from the black ceiling on a dirty day, appear terrifying and grotesque in the smoke.
Sirius's silver-snake-tied was gone, but he still didn't get up, but lay on the floor with a twitching expression, looking at Amomsta with unrestrained anger in his eyes.
Today, the news that Amomsta heard was revolutionary, so he couldn't just take Black's word for it. In just that moment, he turned in Black's mind to make sure he wouldn't be deceived by these absurd words.
"Alright, Mr. Black, stop pretending like you're sad--"
Amomsta cleared his throat and said with irritation,
"Did you really expect that, after hearing your so-called 'truth,' I would believe you without any suspicion? I always have to verify the truth!"
The principle is still the same, but, Sirius still couldn't help being angry. That's only natural! Anyone who invades your mind without your consent, peeks into the most painful memories you'd rather forget, would be angry too.
"Now that you know the truth, Brayne,"
Sirius trembled as he leaned on the table leg to stand up, then he pulled out a chair and sat down, panting and staring at Amomsta across the way, speaking in a gloomy and resentful tone.
"Now what are you planning to do?"
"What can we do?"
Amomsta glanced at him sidelong, his gaze akin to that of a mischievous young wizard facing a parent after getting into trouble.
"Of course, it's necessary to find that little guy called Peter, bring him to the Ministry of Magic and see if we can get some reward money... cough cough, I mean, let the Wizengamot judge him and clear your name."
Sirius:.....
"I don't care about innocence or not, Brayne!"
After a brief silence, Sirius waved his hands and roared.
"I just want to send Peter to hell, since I learned that this miserable bastard was still alive, I've been thinking about it day and night for months, dreaming of taking his life. Since you've already found out that I'm innocent, Brayne, can you help me get into Gryffindor's dormitory and catch that rat? I want to chop it into pieces by myself!"
"It's all too easy to say--"
Amomsta laughed coldly.
"In my opinion, there are two urgent problems that need to be solved."
"There are no problems that are more important than killing Peter, Brayne!"
After staying in Azkaban for twelve years, Sirius has been tormented by hatred until he has become unrecognizable as a human. The only reason he hasn't collapsed is that he wants to avenge James and Lily.
Even though he knows Black was just falsely accused, Amomsta can't help but dislike this guy. On the other hand, Black doesn't like Brayne either, who is powerful in magic but cruel... and seems to be particularly obsessed with galleons. Especially, Amomsta Brayne seems to have a close relationship with Snape the snot-nosed... If he could, Sirius would prefer to get rid of him right away!
"The first problem is,"
Amomsta looked deep, pointing his index finger at Sirius,
"Fear not, my dear Sirius, you seem unaware that just two nights after you breached Hogwarts, Ron's pet rat named Scabbers has perished. Ron discovered Scabbers's blood on his bed and found a few hairs from Krakenstern there as well... this incident almost led to Ron and Granger... that is Harry's two best... ”
"That can't be true!"
Before Amomsta could finish, Black shouted out, jumping up and down in anger, his fingernails scratching the table surface with a satisfying click.
"I dare say that's a ruse, that despicable man!"
Sirius couldn't find a way to vent his raging anger, so he could only grind his teeth with a crackling sound.
"He probably escaped by faking his death. When I trapped him on the muggle street before he was imprisoned, it was the same. He must have sensed danger, so he hid himself beforehand, that cowardly and disgusting man!"
"Stop blabbering--"
Amomsta said coldly.
"You think this is the result of who's fault, huh, Mr. Black? Whether it was during the fall of Voldemort or just after you got out of Azkaban for a stroll, Dumbledore had plenty of ways to clear your name and send Peter to Azkaban for life.
But now, we have to find a rat, and it could be anywhere in the world. Mr. Black, maybe your brain is rusty, or perhaps you don't have one at all. But I'd like to ask you what your plan is—spend the rest of your life chasing after a single rat across the globe? Just a friendly reminder: according to statistics from muggle scientists, there are about two hundred billion rats in the world...
I imagine you must be thrilled by this number, because finally, you have something to do with your overly abundant energy!"
Had this happened years ago, Sirius would have undoubtedly taken out his wand to duel with Amomsta. Even now, the thought occurs to him upon hearing what Amomsta says. However, reality is harsh, he has no wand, and... at least until Peter dies, he needs to keep himself alive.
"I know Peter."
Sirius's face turned beet red as he huffed an explanation,
"I bet he's still at Hogwarts. He wouldn't dare leave there because it would mean giving up the protection from the Ministry and Dumbledore."
"So what?"
Amomsta still didn't have a good attitude.
"Demolish Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, dig through every inch of it from top to bottom?"
Sirius fell silent, and then Amomsta raised a second finger.
"And the second thing, how do you think I'll help you, Black? This is your mess, and you've ruined my entire five-thousand-galleon reward... "
I could simply pretend I didn't hear those things from you tonight and kill you directly. No one would blame me. Dumbledore won't, Remus Lupin won't, Harry won't either. Cunningham Fudge would even thank me personally and award me a Merlin's First Class Star, because I've helped the Ministry of Magic solve a big problem!"
Of course, I'm not that heartless. Even knowing you're innocent, I wouldn't take your body to exchange for money... But why should I help you get into Gryffindor and catch Peter... Thank me for my mercy that I didn't kill you!"
Sirius really wanted to shout.
He had never intended to reveal the truth about James and Lily's sacrifice, nor did he expect others to help. Otherwise, he would have found Remus long ago. However, because of his carelessness in being caught by Amomsta Brayne and then handed over to Snape for humiliation, he finally yielded.
But he couldn't say these things, because he realized that Amomsta Brayne was undoubtedly a Slytherin wizard. He wouldn't show mercy to himself just because he was innocent, or offer him his full support in pursuit of justice.
"Let's go to Hogwarts to see Dumbledore."
After a long time, having vented his anger, Amomsta said coldly,
"On account of Harry and Remus, I won't let the murderer of the Potters go free, but how to catch Peter is something you should discuss with Dumbledore and Remus. I have many of my own affairs to attend to. Since it's confirmed that you won't harm Harry, I'll be leaving Hogwarts soon..."
"No!"
Hearing that Amomsta wanted him to go and explain everything to Dumbledore, Sirius had a stubborn look on his face.
"No! I will not tell the truth to anyone else. I do not want to see them before I kill Peter!"
"How?"
Amomsta mocked,
"Now you know how to feel ashamed of your foolishness, I'm sorry, Mr. Black. I can't ignore the information I've heard, and I don't want to waste my time with a boring game of revenge... Be quick about it. I haven't slept all night; I hope to catch up with breakfast at Hogwarts after dealing with your trouble!"
"..."
The Library Reading Room
