Compared to Harry, Hermione's relationship with Sirius Black is not as intimate.
However, during the summer vacation, they lived together for a period of time at the Weasley family home, and coupled with Harry's relationship level, Sirius Black can be considered a trustworthy friend. Moreover, as a half- Muggle, Hermione considers Sirius Black to be an elder in the wizarding world.
Hermione poured out the pressure and strange looks she had been under, gradually, her shoulders began to twitch slightly, and while Harry listened quietly to Hermione's troubles, unconsciously, a surge of anger rose in his heart.
Harry was well aware of what Hermione was facing now; it was all something he had experienced himself.
"I understand –"
After Hermione finished her complaints, Sirius spoke softly,
"I know better than anyone what it feels like to be misunderstood, Hermione. It's truly tormenting, but no matter what, as long as you persevere, there will always be hope. You can't let those who persecute you have their way..."
Wiping away the glint in her corner of her eye, Hermione looked at Sirius with a bit of surprise and then remembered that her grievances were insignificant compared to Sirius's. Sirius was falsely accused and betrayed to sell Harry's parents. He was imprisoned in Azkaban for twelve years. To capture the murderer, he chose to escape from prison, facing the risk of being killed at any moment as he said. With the help of some people, he finally got rid of suspicion and was accepted by people.
"Thank you, Sirius..."
Hermione pursed her lips and expressed her gratitude.
"Do you have any leads, Sirius?" Harry asked immediately.
"I'm not sure..."
Sirius heaved a sigh,
"I do have some ideas, but since both Amortrus and Dumbledore have chosen to remain silent——"
Sirius's statement was quite peculiar, and neither Harry nor Hermione were quite sure what he meant.
Aware that he shouldn't reveal too much worry in front of the two children, Sirius straightened his demeanor and spoke solemnly,
"Hermione, I need you to tell me everything about what happened after you were chosen as one of the warriors. This will help me make an accurate judgment."
Hermione had already shared the argument in the room behind the Great Hall with Harry, Ron, and Ginny once before. Recounting the old story brought back her feelings from that time — although not as desperate as before, her heart still raced wildly.
"--Bartemius Crouch finally confirmed my status as a warrior, he told the headmasters of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons that if they felt it was unfair, then the score of Hogwarts would be the average score of me and Cedric Diggory, and that was the end of it..."
Hermione couldn't speak too loudly; she had to be careful not to be overheard. The bar was busy with people coming and going, so her narrative was interrupted and disjointed. It took her about a quarter of an hour before she finished telling the events that occurred in the Great Hall that night.
"What did you find?" Harry couldn't wait any longer. He immediately asked, "Did you find anything, Sirius?"
"It's quite obvious..."
Sirius fell into deep thought, and as he pondered, his grey eyes occasionally flashed with sharp, rational light, indicating that his career as an auror had made him more perceptive. Two minutes later, under the eager anticipation of Harry and Hermione, Sirius spoke in a low voice,
"The person who put your name in the Goblet of Fire, Hermione, was in that room that night."
Hermione's fist tightened immediately, and Harry, filled with anger, almost stood up from his seat. Fortunately, Hermione caught him in time.
"How did you figure it out, Sirius?" Hermione breathed heavily, looking tense.
"Why would I need to make a judgment?" Sirius smiled. "Amortrus has already given the answer, hasn't he? Normally, the Goblet of Fire would only choose one warrior from Hogwarts, but instead, both your name and that of Amort's son were plucked out of the Goblet. That can't be a coincidence unless someone interfered with the Goblet, and the person with such power was in the room that night..."
The headmasters of the three schools, Professor Blaine, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Professor Moody, two high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Magic, and the four warriors—Hermione's mind flashed over everyone in the room for a moment.
"I thought Professor Blaine said that just to help me."
"Clear the suspicion?"
Sirius smiled and finished Hermione's unfinished sentence.
"Adults aren't as simple as you think, kids. In that situation, every word they say has a purpose. Of course, Amortus saying that was indeed partly to clear your suspicion, but I think he was also telling the murderer hidden in the shadows that he had identified the target and to warn the murderer not to act lightly any more."
"But who could it be?"
Hermione asked urgently.
Harry didn't speak, but Sirius glanced in the direction of Harry's seat.
"I know you suspect who it might be, Harry, but unfortunately, I don't think it was Snape who did it."
Sirius was well aware that Harry might argue, so he quickly added, "He had nothing to gain from it. There's no way he would jeopardize the entire school's safety just to see you in trouble. He's not that kind of man."
"We all dislike that Snivellus, Harry, but that's a different matter. I know him, and this isn't his style. If he wanted to cause trouble for Hermione, he would more likely tamper with the ingredients for a potion in class and then blame Hermione herself, saying she violated the rules or something like that."
Harry huffed and remained silent.
"That night..."
After getting Harry to shut up, Sirius fell back into deep thought, pondering as he slowly spoke.
"Moody said that the person who put your name in the Goblet of Fire either wanted to kill you or cause trouble for Hogwarts." Sirius mused, "Hermione, did you notice when Moody said this, did he look at anyone in particular?"
"The headmaster of Durmstrang, Professor Karkaroff—"
Hermione merely needed a moment to recall the answer, and then her brow furrowed in confusion,
"You're suggesting that the headmaster of Durmstrang put my name in the Goblet of Fire, but why?!"
"Oh..."
Sirius took a sip of his drink and shrugged,
"Not only me, Moody is clearly suspicious as well. Don't underestimate Alastor Moody. He's retired now, but he was a legendary Auror with an exceptionally sharp sense of smell. Many villains were afraid of him. He's much more useful than current Rufus Scrimgeour."
"But that night, Karkaroff was trying to refute my status as a warrior. He... he didn't seem like..."
Hermione hesitated, if the headmaster of Durmstrang was the killer, then his acting skills were impressive. And he would not have done that to kill himself. Hermione knew she had never met the headmaster of Durmstrang before, but if he wanted to make Hogwarts a laughing stock, why did he choose her out of so many Hogwarts students?
"Like what?"
Sirius gave a slight smirk, as if showing disdain.
"If I was the killer, I would definitely try my best to make myself look like nothing to do with this. Hermione, those with malicious intentions are more cunning than you can imagine. Especially someone like Igor Karkaroff."
"Do you know him?"
Even Harry detected the implication in Sirius's words and asked in surprise.
"Oh, Harry--"
The disdain in Sirius's smile grew heavier.
"It's hard for me not to know him, Igor Karkaroff is much more famous than you might think, I mean, at Azkaban—"
Sirius looked over at the stupefied Durmstrang students at the bar, his face darkening.
"I'll just tell you two straight up. Igor Karkaroff used to work for Voldemort, he's a Death Eater. There's no doubt about it, there's clear evidence, and he also admitted it himself in the Wizengamot trials. The reason why he wasn't sent to Azkaban like me was because he firmly told the Ministry of Magic that he had reformed. Then, in order to atone and regain his freedom, he listed a lot of 'old colleagues' names, which directly resulted in those people being sent to Azkaban."
Sensing the shock of the two young ones around him, Sirius chugged a big mouthful of beer and coldly laughed.
"Oh, I forgot to mention. It was Moody who caught him!"
(End of chapter)
