The room suddenly quieted down, and the figures on the walls opened their eyes to check what was going on.
Evan and Dumbledore sat silently at the ends of the table, neither of them spoke.
Dumbledore closed his eyes and no one could figure out what he was thinking; Evan looked like he was staring at the curious silver instruments on the table that were emitting little puffs of smoke.
But in fact, he was thinking about Peter Pettigrew. Peter was in Hogwarts. With Harry’s father James Potter, Sirius Black, and Professor Lupin, they were a small group of four, just like himself now with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
The relationship between the four of them was very good, but due to Peter’s betrayal, the other three's fate was very tragic.
Dumbledore has just said that that was mainly due to his fault. What did he mean by that?
Was it just simple regret or was there something deeper?
Evan waited a while and saw that Dumbledore was still not talking. He had to try and say, “Although I don’t know how it all went down, Professor! But I don’t think you need to blame yourself for Pettigrew. We all choose our own paths, and we all have to walk down those paths and bear the joy and sorrow that they bring. If one loses his path, he'd have only himself to blame!"
"Though it is true, but as an elder, before you walk, I should help you as much as possible and guide you to the right direction. That is my duty!" Dumbledore opened his eyes and continued, "You must know that choosing the right path is much more important than the effort put into walking! Peter Pettigrew initially wanted to find courage, but he eventually lost his way in his pursuit of power.”
Evan was startled as what Dumbledore just said was not much different from what he heard from Luna last year.
"Evan, when are you and Sirius going to start?" Dumbledore asked all of a sudden.
“At eight o’clock tomorrow evening, he will come to Gryffindor’s Common Room. I plan with him.”
“Well, you only need to do what you think you should, and leave the rest up to me!” Dumbledore didn't ask Evan for any more details.
“Wait a minute, Professor!” Evan hurriedly said. “I don’t understand. Why don’t we just proceed directly to catching Peter? He’s in Ron’s bedroom right now. Ron is still under his control. I think the sooner we act the better!”
"That is indeed a good suggestion. But sometimes, simple and effective methods are not suitable for dealing with complicated issues." Dumbledore looked at Evan and said calmly, "What's worrying me more than Black and Peter right now is Ron!”
“You're worried about Ron?!” Evan said. He didn’t understand what Dumbledore meant.
If he was so worried about Ron, why didn't he just interfere when they were in Lupin's office? Why didn't he tell Ron that he was under the effect of the Imperius curse?
And now, he doesn't want to go straight to catch Peter and rescue Ron!
"As I just said Evan, I made mistakes when dealing with Peter. Some mistakes we commit are one that we never get the opportunity to correct, but they still leave important lessons behind for us so that we never commit them again." Dumbledore said, "I don't want Ron to become another Peter."
“Professor, you mean…”
"The best way to fight back the Imperius Curse is not finding out about it. It is having the strong will to resist its invasion." Dumbledore looked at Evan, "Unlike you and Harry, Ron doesn't have enough willpower. I hope that the two of you can help him."
“Help Ron?” Evan repeated. “What do you need me to do?”
“You just have to do what you think you should.” Dumbledore looked at Evan’s eyes. “Along with Tom, you are the best young wizard I've ever met. I believe in you."
“Okay, I'll try!” Evan sighed.
Looking at Dumbledore, he knew that he had been already counting on him. It is no wonder that he focused on Peter Pettigrew and blamed himself for what happened with him. He was waiting for Evan here, hoping that this conversion would end up with them talking about saving Ron.
Evan sighed as things seemed to have become more and more troublesome. All he thought he needed to do was catching Peter Pettigrew and clearing Black's name. Now, in addition to those things, he also must help Ron resist the Imperius curse.
In his opinion, this was making things more risky. It complicates simple issues, and makes accidents more probable.
Although Dumbledore had said that everything else could be left to him, Evan still felt bad about this.
Peter Pettigrew was not a simple opponent. He has to be cautious! However, since it's Dumbledore who's asking him, he had no way to refuse.
Besides, what Dumbledore said makes sense. Evan can't just watch Ron become a Dark wizard selling out his best friends to Voldemort just like Peter, and then end up probably dying at the hands of his new master. Yes, maybe he doesn't have much affection for Ron, but for Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley's sake, he cannot just watch as Ron continues to fall.
This is the second time that Ron is being controlled, it seemed like there was no guarantee that he won't just be controlled by other Dark wizards.
As an extremely evil Dark Magic, the Imperius Curse definitely leaves its permanent marks on its victim's soul. The more times it's used on Ron, the less he'll be able to resist it in the future. And Ron wasn't becoming an idiot because of the curse; it was actually making him look more like a Dark Wizard!
Judging from the storyline that he knows, with the return of Voldemort, the situation in the next following years should get increasingly grim.
"Hold on!" Evan thought, "Why should I wait for Voldemort's return before thinking of ways to defeat him?
After all, that just seems like the most dangerous way to think. Over two years of experience made Evan convinced that relying on the original storyline to predict what's going to happen is no longer a safe bet.
Yes, he did know how the events developed in the original story, but that's not the case for his life as well. Every word you say, everything you do, has either a good or bad impact on the people around you. They will also react and things will go differently.
Peter Pettigrew is a perfect example: In the original story, he never controlled Ron.
And compared to Voldemort, he is nothing.
Perhaps, after dealing with this year's incident, he should face the future less passively.
After all, he was doomed to change the future anyway. He had to catch Peter Pettigrew and clean the name of Sirius Black. So why not go all out and try to prevent Voldemort's return from ever happening?
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T/N: Hey there this is Translating_Wizard. I wish you like the story so far and are happy with the releases, I just posted the chap 192 in Patreon! If you’re interested in supporting me and reading more chaps hit the button below ^^
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