Chapter 271: Time Intertwines

"Professor, Black is telling the truth. We saw Peter Pettigrew..."

"--He ran away when Professor Lupin turned into a werewolf..."

"--He was a rat..."

"--Peter Pettigrew's front paws, I mean, fingers, he cut them off..."

"--Peter Pettigrew attacked Ron, not Sirius..."

But Dumbledore raised his hand to stop the endless explanation.

"It's your turn now, and I beg you not to interrupt me, for time is short," he said calmly. "There is no evidence to support Black's story, except your words--and the words of two thirteen-year-old wizards will not convince anyone. A whole street of witnesses swore that they saw Sirius Black kill Peter Pettigrew. I myself gave evidence to the Ministry of Magic that Sirius was the Potters' secret keeper."

"Professor Lupin can tell you..." said Harry, unable to control himself.

"Harry!" said Fan Lin, he stopped Harry's irrational behavior. Dumbledore was right. No one would be convinced by two thirteen-year-old wizards, and he was the same. Three little wizards, even if they were replaced by three adults, would be in vain.

"Professor Lupin is currently deep in the Forbidden Forest and cannot tell anyone anything. When he turns into a human again, it will be too late. Sirius' fate will be worse than death. I might add that most of us don't trust werewolves, so his words won't carry much weight - not to mention that he and Sirius are old friends -"

Dumbledore explained, he didn't look at Harry, he turned his eyes to Fan Lin.

"But -"

"Listen to me, Harry. It's too late, do you understand? You must understand that what Professor Snape said is far more convincing than what we said." Fan Lin said, he looked back at Dumbledore, he seemed to want to avoid Dumbledore's gaze, but this was not a solution, he would have to face it sooner or later, so he had to look at Dumbledore.

"He hates Sirius," Hermione said desperately, "all because Sirius played a stupid joke on him..."

"Sirius didn't act like an innocent person either. The attack on the Fat Lady. Entering Gryffindor Tower with a knife... Without Peter Pettigrew, whether alive or dead, we have no way to overturn the verdict on Sirius."

At this point, Fanlin seemed to have grasped something crucial, and his mind kept replaying the memory of another person. There was a prop that could help him achieve what he said.

"You believe us, right!" Harry said, looking at Dumbledore.

"Yes, I believe you..." Dumbledore said calmly, "but I don't have the power to order others to see the truth, or overthrow the Minister of Magic..."

Harry stared at the serious face. He felt as if the ground under his feet was falling apart. He had become accustomed to the idea that Dumbledore could solve any problem. He had expected Dumbledore to come up with a solution to the problem out of thin air, but no... The last hope was shattered.

"What we need now," Dumbledore said slowly, his light blue eyes moving from Harry to Hermione, "is more time."

"But..." Hermione began. Then her eyes widened. "Oh!"

"Now, pay attention," Dumbledore said, his voice low and clear, "Sirius is locked in Professor Flitwick's room on the 1st floor, the thirteenth window from the west tower. If all goes well, you can save more than one innocent life tonight. But remember this, all three of you. It must not be seen. Miss Granger, you know the law. You know what is dangerous... must not be seen by others."

"I don't think we need to know that Sirius is there, Professor..." Van Lin said, "I think it would be better to let Peter come over!"

"Oh? "Dumbledore looked over again, his eyes seemed to want to penetrate Fanlin's whole body.

"But, didn't Peter already..."

Harry looked at Fanlin in confusion, his brain circuit was a little confused.

"But..." Hermione said, "We can't show up, just like Professor Dumbledore said, it's very dangerous, and it's against the law, and it's an Animagus, we..."

"It's okay, Hermione!" Fanlin said, "I think there's no problem, believe me!"

"You look very confident!" Dumbledore said, he seemed to be thinking, and Harry looked at several people with a confused face.

"Okay..." Dumbledore seemed to have decided something, "I can let them go some at night... but..."

"Drink this, it will allow you to recover. "Dumbledore handed a bottle of light blue potion to Vanlin. Vanlin drank the potion in one gulp without hesitation. Before Harry could figure out what was going on, Dumbledore had turned around and turned back when he reached the door. "I locked you in here. It's now--" He looked at his watch, "five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, just turn three times. Good luck to you." "Good luck?" Harry repeated, as the door behind Dumbledore closed. "Three times? What is he talking about? What should we do?"

Fanlin pulled Harry with his hand, and Harry walked towards Hermione without knowing why. Harry was completely confused. He didn't know what to do now.

Hermione pulled the gold chain out of her neck completely. Harry saw a small, shiny gold timer hanging under the gold chain. "Here--" She put the gold chain around his neck. "Are you ready?" She asked breathlessly. "What are we going to do?" Harry said, he was completely confused.

"Check the time now!" Hermione said. She and Fanlin stretched out their wrists together.

"Harry!" Hermione shouted somewhat dissatisfied.

"Oh, okay..." Harry stretched out his wrist in a hurry.

Hermione looked down at the time on her watch, "It's five minutes to midnight now, we have to hurry."

When everyone adjusted their watches, Hermione took out the golden pocket watch in her palm.

Harry was a little curious, he stretched out his hand, as if he wanted to touch the pocket watch, but Hermione slapped Harry's hand aside without any hesitation.

Hermione turned the timer three times.

Fan Lin held his breath and concentrated, and when Hermione's hand dropped, Fan Lin saw that the surrounding scenery began to become blurry. It was still dark at first, but in a few breaths, the sky outside the window turned into sunset, and then bright. (To be continued)