177: Chapter 177 Before Appearance

"They found the fake rat!"

Draco kept his voice low, but he couldn't stop the table from vibrating. He had just returned from the entrance of the Common Room, his expression tight, followed by Pansy and a terrified first-year. The first-year had only managed to say half a sentence—'Gryffindor is crazy'—before Pansy shoved him into a seat by the fireplace.

Allen did not look up. He placed the knut back on the table, spread out the old map, and circled the location of the Shrieking Shack three times with ink. The relay had just cut out once; the signal had been disrupted by the magic after Snape entered, and it needed recalibration.

Nott sat opposite him, his notebook already half-filled. "Third-party confirmation. The knight portrait on the fourth floor heard the burst of an Expelliarmus inside the passage after Snape chased after them. Professor McGonagall is still in the Castle, and Dumbledore's whereabouts are unknown."

Zabini pushed the candy box toward Draco. "Eat."

Draco slapped it away. "I don't want any candy right now."

"Your hands are shaking."

"I'm cold."

"The Dungeon has been warmed by Allen; don't give me that."

Pansy interrupted them. "Stop arguing. People outside are already saying Black killed Weasley. Filch is running around with a mop looking for blood, and Percy almost charged out of the Gryffindor group before being stopped by Professor McGonagall."

Allen lowered the tip of his wand, and the knut clinked softly. The sound from the distance flooded back in; it was still unclear, but loud enough to hear the argument inside the Shrieking Shack. Snape's voice was the sharpest, Lupin was trying to explain, Black was breathing heavily after being suppressed by spells, and Harry was screaming until his vocal cords grew hoarse.

"Snape really wants to drag them all back." Draco's expression was complicated after recognizing the Dean's voice. "By the rules, he's not wrong."

"Based on the old case, he'll misjudge it," Nott said.

Draco looked at him. "Which side are you on?"

Nott lowered his head to write. "I'm on the side of the evidence."

Zabini added, "The evidence is in Allen's sleeve."

Draco was choked off. He turned his head to look at Allen. "Are you really not planning to send it out?"

Allen tapped the map with his fingertip. "Not yet."

"What do you call 'time'?" Draco lowered his voice. "Black biting off Weasley's other foot? Or Lupin turning into a Werewolf and snatching Harry away?"

"The full moon hasn't reached the critical point yet." Allen glanced toward the window. "Lupin still has his human form."

Pansy frowned. "You're even calculating the moon?"

"Werewolves cannot be managed by prayer."

A sudden burst of chaos erupted in the relay. Harry seemed to have snatched someone's wand, Hermione shouted Snape's name, and Ron gasped. Then, Snape's voice cut off, as if he had been hit by an Expelliarmus and knocked against a wooden wall.

Draco stood up abruptly. "Who dares to lay a hand on the Dean?"

Zabini also put away the candy box. "Harry."

Nott's pen tip paused. "The trio chose to believe Lupin and Black, and Snape has been subdued. The situation has shifted to an interrogation of the old case."

"Crazy." Draco's face went white, then red. "Potter actually hit the Dean."

Allen didn't even lift his eyelids. "He's hit plenty of things he shouldn't have."

"And you're helping him stay alive," Draco gritted his teeth.

"That's why he can keep causing trouble."

Pansy watched the relay knut. "They've started looking for the rat."

The sound coming from the Shrieking Shack became focused. Lupin told Ron to hand over Scabbers, and Ron kept saying "Impossible." Black's voice was intermittent, filled with twelve years of suppressed hatred. Hermione was still pressing for details, and Harry remained silent for a long time.

Allen opened a sliver of his Portable Space.

Peter in the cage had stopped slamming against it. He lay on the ground, his ear pressed against the thin wall, his eyes wide. The space's silence spell prevented him from making a sound, but fear surged out in waves along with the trembling of his shoulders and back. The Void coiled outside the cage, its tail tip pressing down on the fourth layer of the thin wall to prevent his emotions from leaking out.

Allen said in his mind, "Listen."

He lifted the auditory barrier for Peter, but did not lift the silence spell.

Inside the Shrieking Shack, Black roared, "Give it to me!"

Ron trembled in pain. "Don't touch it!"

Immediately after, there was a sound of rummaging. Fabric was torn open, floorboards were kicked, and Ron's screams were mixed with Harry's attempts to stop them. The fake Scabbers likely bolted from Ron's arms, its claws scratching across the floor, making short, sharp sounds.

Lupin shouted a spell.

There was no magical response from an adult Wizard's transformation.

Black's voice sounded as if he were being strangled. "This isn't right."

The Shrieking Shack went quiet for half a second.

Following that was the low hiss of Crookshanks, the sound of the fake rat scrambling to escape, and Hermione's voice filled with suspicion. "It's just a rat?"

Draco finally couldn't sit still. "They've figured it out."

Nott wrote as he listened. "Animagus reveal failed; the target is an ordinary rat. Black confirms the error. Lupin is puzzled. The trio's foundation of trust is damaged."

Zabini looked down at Allen's sleeve. "Is the real Peter listening?"

"He is."

"Will he go crazy?"

"No." Allen looked at the cage. "He knows how to survive better than most."

Peter's hands pressed against the thin wall, his nails scratching white marks into it. He heard Black shout "He was switched," heard Lupin ask "When," and heard Ron, with a tearful voice, calling them all crazy. Every sentence told him that Death had walked out of Azkaban and was already right outside his door.

Allen suddenly lifted Peter's silence spell for ten seconds.

The man in the cage opened his mouth first, making no sound, before squeezing out a broken plea.

"Don't let him see me! Allen, please, don't let Sirius Black see me! Not Remus either, they'll skin me, they'll hand me over to the Dementors!"

Allen remained expressionless. "Listen to what's outside."

Peter shook his head frantically. "I can testify, I can write a confession, I can talk about Malfoy, about Crouch, about everyone! Just not today, don't throw me out!"

Inside the Shrieking Shack, Black enunciated every word. "Someone took Peter first."

Lupin asked in a low voice, "Who would know?"

Harry's voice cut in. "Dumbledore?"

Hermione immediately retorted, "There's no evidence."

Black panted. "Whoever it is, he's hidden Peter away."

Peter's pupils shrank to pinpoints, and his hands slid down the thin wall. He finally heard Black's deduction and finally understood that the fact of his disappearance itself had become a new clue.

The ten seconds ended.

Allen sealed his mouth again.

"It is not yet time for you to appear."

Peter lunged forward but was pushed back by the shrinking cage. His face was pressed against the transparent wall, his eyes full of pleading. The Void moved closer to the cage door, its silver eyes staring straight at him, its tail tip resting on the parchment labeled "Peter Pettigrew."

Draco's Adam's apple bobbed. "You are truly ruthless."

Allen closed the entrance to the Portable Space. "He deserves it."

Pansy did not argue. She had seen what Ginny looked like after being drained by the diary, and she had seen Harry's state after the Chamber of Secrets. As for traitors, she didn't have much sympathy.

In the relay, the argument escalated.

Black insisted someone had intercepted Peter, and Lupin began questioning the timeline. Ron said Scabbers had always been with him, but Hermione hesitantly mentioned that the fake Scabbers had been unusually quiet recently and that Crookshanks had chased it many times. Harry asked Black what exactly had happened back then, and for a while, the only sounds in the Shrieking Shack were the breathing of the few people there and the creaking of floorboards.

Nott wrote faster and faster. "Granger is beginning to suspect the rat was replaced. She will look into the Christmas holiday, the Gryffindor dormitory, and Ron's pet records."

Draco turned his head. "Can she find out about Allen?"

"She will find many blanks," Zabini said. "When there are too many blanks, she will look at Allen."

"She's already looking at him," Pansy added sharply.

Allen pressed the third knut onto the table. "So let her look at the other side."

"Which side?" Draco asked.

"Snape."

Draco was stunned. "You want to push the Dean out?"

"Snape and Lupin's old grudge is now public; Snape chased them into the passage and was knocked out by Harry. Tomorrow morning, everyone will be discussing why he was chasing Lupin, why he was obsessed with Black, and why he was trying to claim the credit." Allen put the knuts away. "No matter how smart Granger is, she has to explain the Professor in front of her first."

Nott nodded. "At the same time, Black will cast his suspicion on Dumbledore, the Ministry of Magic, and Snape. Allen is still in the Dungeon, with multiple people to testify."

Draco looked at the Common Room. A few younger students were huddled by the fireplace, and Flint didn't dare come over because Pansy was staring at him. Zabini was leaning lazily against the back of his chair, and Nott's pen hadn't stopped moving.

They were indeed all there.

This presence, in a way, made one's back tighten.

Suddenly, a low, wolf-like growl came from the Shrieking Shack—very soft, but carrying a disturbing tremor as it passed through the relay. Allen's fingers paused. Lupin's voice had diminished, Black's voice had dropped, and Harry had asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Pansy looked out the window. "The moon?"

Nott flipped through his calendar. "It's close to a full moon tonight; the time is almost here."

Draco cursed. "He's not going to transform in the Shrieking Shack, is he?"

Allen put away the map. "He will."

"You just said the critical point hadn't been reached!"

"It's almost here now."

Draco almost threw the candy box. "Can't you finish your sentences in advance?"

The sounds in the relay suddenly descended into chaos. Lupin let out a suppressed gasp, Black shouted his name, and Hermione screamed. Floorboards were kicked open, Ron cried out in pain, and Harry yelled for everyone to back away.

Allen cut off the relay.

The Common Room fell instantly silent, with only the sound of the lake water lapping against the walls.

Pansy spoke first. "Why turn it off?"

"You don't need to listen to the next part." Allen tucked the knut into his sleeve. "You need to see it."

Zabini sat up straight. "Are you going to make a move?"

"Not yet." Allen looked toward the Black Lake outside the window. "Once the Werewolf is out, the Black dog will protect the students. Then they will be driven to the lakeshore."

Nott lifted his pen. "The lakeshore?"

Allen took out a new sheet of paper and wrote down a few coordinates. "Time will fold there."