bioinnovel Chapter 198 Believe or Not
Chapter 198 Believe or Not
Chapter 198 Believe or Not
When Belvina saw Harry again, it was noon the next day.
On the first day of the Christmas holidays, snowflakes were still falling outside the window, and Belvina was curled up lazily on the sofa.
Not long after lunchtime, there was a knock on the door of the lounge. Belvina turned her head and called out, "Come in."
The wooden door to the common room opened with a click, and Harry stood dejectedly in the doorway, the empty classroom behind him. Clearly, he had come alone.
"The classroom door wasn't locked. I just pushed it gently, and it opened," Harry explained, his face pale and his voice hoarse, as if he were ill.
"Come in and have a seat," Belvina said, maintaining her casual demeanor and not changing her attitude at all because Harry had learned the "truth."
Harry obediently went into the common room, closed the wooden door behind him, and sat down dejectedly in an armchair by the fireplace.
His face was filled with worry.
Just as Belvina had predicted, the so-called truth did indeed have a great impact on Harry, plunging the scarred boy into confusion with two completely different versions of the story.
According to Cornelius Fudge and others, Sirius Black was a despicable informer and the murderer who killed James and Lily, a truly heinous crime.
But according to Belvina, Sirius was wronged, and someone else betrayed James and Lily.
Which version of events is true? Who is the despicable informant? And why did Sirius Black escape from prison?
One question after another tormented Harry's heart, and hatred spread through his body like a virus, eroding his mind and affecting his judgment.
Harry could almost see Sirius laughing wildly in the darkness, see him blast Peter Pettigrew to pieces with his wicked magic, see him excitedly boasting to Voldemort—
Suddenly, the image of Belvina appeared in Harry's mind again.
In her first year, Belvina defeated Quirrell, who was possessed by Voldemort, and successfully protected the Philosopher's Stone.
In her second year, Belvina killed the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets of Slytherin, successfully thwarting Voldemort's plot.
This summer, when Harry wandered aimlessly along Magnolia Crescent Street, it was Belvina who reached out to him.
These were all Harry's personal experiences, not stories he'd heard from someone else. Harry didn't believe Belvina would deceive him.
After a sleepless night of tossing and turning, Harry, who had been struggling to fall asleep, finally began to clear his head. His virus-like hatred slowly subsided, and he finally drifted off to sleep as dawn broke.
Upon waking, Harry didn't even remember it was a day off. He immediately left his dormitory, walked through the empty common room, and...
They ran over without stopping.
In the warm, simple teachers' lounge, the fire crackled in the fireplace, and snowflakes continued to fall outside the window. Harry stared blankly at the fire, speechless.
Or rather, Harry didn't know where to begin.
"You don't look well," Belvina said, standing up and walking toward the cabinet against the wall.
Belvina, who has two house-elves, never lacks food in her lounge; she can never finish it all.
Belvina opened the cupboard door, picked and chose some items, and then put a few small cakes on a plate. Perhaps fearing that Harry would laugh at her, she also brewed a pot of tea.
"You look really pale," Belvina repeated. "Eat up, it's what Dobby sent."
Distracted, Harry blankly accepted the tall plate of cake, grabbed a piece, and stuffed it into his mouth without any suspicion.
Belvina breathed a sigh of relief. Judging from Harry's performance, even if the truth shocked him, the impact wouldn't be too great, and it should be easily resolved.
After a while, Harry, who had eaten three pieces of cake, was finally no longer overwhelmed by hunger. He picked up a warm teacup, but the hot tea made him stand up, and it took him a long time to recover.
Belvina shook her head helplessly, a wry smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
No matter how much misfortune Harry had experienced, he was still just a thirteen-year-old wizard, and the mind of a teenager was inevitably a bit impetuous. "Belvina," Harry began slowly, without addressing her by title, "Do you know what I see and hear whenever a Dementor gets close to me?"
“You told me,” Belvina said, “that you would remember the scene of your parents’ brutal murder, and that you would hear your mother’s screams.”
Harry shook his head gravely and said, "I heard my mother screaming, I heard her pleading. I can't forget her screams before she was killed; that sound keeps echoing in my head."
Even though Harry was only a little over a year old when the tragedy happened, the horror of his parents being killed by Voldemort was still deeply etched in his subconscious and was his deepest fear.
Normally, Harry can't recall memories buried deep in his subconscious, but the appearance of the Dementors stirred up his deepest fears and activated that unforgettable memory.
Harry's already pale face showed a hint of fear as he continued, "Their friends betrayed them, sending Voldemort to hunt them down, and then—"
Harry couldn't continue, burying his head deeply in his arms. Harry couldn't imagine how desperate his parents must have been when they learned he had been betrayed, when they saw Voldemort.
Death and betrayal came together.
"What do you want to do?" Belvina asked calmly. "Find that despicable informant and avenge your parents?"
Belvina crossed her legs, one leg raised, changing her posture from curled up on the sofa to sitting with her legs crossed. She continued, "It's not that I look down on you, but with your current level, seeking revenge will only make people laugh their heads off."
Harry didn't answer. He didn't know what he wanted to do either; he only knew one thing: the informant was still at large, and he couldn't do anything about it, which he couldn't stand.
After a while, Harry spoke again, saying, "I saw Sirius in my mom and dad's wedding photo."
Blake was very handsome, with smiling eyes and a very happy expression.
"Not to brag, but the Black family is known for its beauties," Belvina said inappropriately, her relaxed demeanor bordering on casual conversation.
The key point is that Belvina is unreliable, which is to be expected, but Harry, who is preoccupied with his own thoughts, actually nodded in agreement.
These two are both outrageous.
"I hate him," Harry said. "After hearing what the Minister and Professor McGonagall said, I hate him! Was he already planning to betray his friend at his wedding?"
"You have reason to hate him," Belvina said. If her prediction was correct, Sirius Black could indeed be considered one of the main culprits in the Potters' deaths.
"Then I thought of you again." Harry looked up. "I still remember your help, your care, and your sheltering me for the summer—and the words you said on my first night in Fertile Ground."
In the treacherous wizarding society, trust is an extremely expensive luxury, the price of which is death.
James and Lily placed their trust in the wrong person, and Sirius also trusted the wrong person, resulting in the deaths of the Potters and Sirius, and Sirius being trapped in Tutu's clutches.
As the son of James and Lily, Harry once again chose to trust Black. His trust in Belvina did not appear out of thin air, but was accumulated little by little.
"Remember when I told you that Sirius ran away from home when he was sixteen?" Belvina said. "After he left home, your grandparents took him in. I shouldn't be telling you this."
Belvina glanced at Harry's emerald green eyes. She didn't know Lily Potter personally; they were just schoolmates.
Naturally, they wouldn't have any particular opinion about those eyes.
She continued, "After you were born, your parents decided that Sirius would be your other father, your godfather."
Harry listened silently to the person his parents were willing to risk their lives for, the person Belvina, who had repeatedly protected him, also believed in.
Was Sirius Black really that despicable snitch?
If Harry had only heard Fudge and Professor McGonagall's accounts, he wouldn't have been so conflicted; he would have simply hated Sirius and that would have been it.
But it was only because Belvina, James, and Lily took turns adding weight to the other side of the scale that Harry was so conflicted, and his once unshakeable hatred was constantly being shaken.
From the moment Harry began to struggle with his conscience, he already believed that Sirius Black was not the snitch, but he hadn't yet convinced himself of it.
"Please forgive me for not being able to tell you everything I know right now," Belvina continued. "When the truth comes out, someone will explain everything to you. I believe that day is not far off."
"Why can't you tell me now?" Harry asked. "I'm not a child anymore."
Belvina laughed as if she had heard a funny joke, saying, "The fact that you said that shows you're still a child."
"But this concerns me, doesn't it?" Harry asked again. "And wasn't Sirius's escape aimed at me?"
"He's not after you. If he were, he wouldn't have waited until now," said Belvina Keeps Her Mouth Like a Bottle Black. "I shouldn't be telling you this."
Belvina winked playfully. She always seemed to intentionally or unintentionally reveal information to Harry that she shouldn't have, both in Fertile Ground and at Hogwarts.
Belvina always believed that there were some things that shouldn't be kept from Harry, but rather that he should be told everything and let him make his own decisions.
A young person's decisions may be hasty and may lead to mistakes, but only in this way can the scarred boy grow up quickly and become a true anti-treasure.
Of course, there was a possibility that Belvina's idea might completely ruin the savior, but she felt it was much better than the current childish game. A sapling that is always under protection cannot withstand the wind and rain.
"Harry, look me in the eyes," Belvina said.
Upon hearing this, Harry looked up and stared directly into those bright eyes—the same bright eyes Sirius Black in his parents' wedding photo.
Belvina continued, "Don't listen to what others say, but look at what they do."
Harry nodded blankly, then fell into deep thought.