ᴅɪsᴘᴇʟ ᴍʏ ʙᴏʀᴇᴅᴏᴍ | ᴍᴀʀᴀᴅᴇᴜʀs' ᴇʀᴀ

Chapter 24: Midnight Deal

"Really?" he said, but immediately wilted under his daughter's gaze. "I wanted to discuss the situation in the wizarding world..."

Arthur looked at Black, but he only raised his eyebrows inquiringly. I'm not going anywhere, his eyes said, and werewolf decided not to argue.

"You see, the Dark Lord─"

"I have to listen about this sleezebag again?"

"Beata!"

"All right, all right."

"So, five clans of werewolves sworn their allegiance to the Dark Lord─"

"Including you?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Should I repeat the question, or you'll respond voluntarily?"

"Yes, including me," Arthur sighed. Beata spat contemptuously.

"So what? I didn't get your curse. I don't have to swear allegiance to him like you."

"Natural sorcerers want to support the Lord, and Lord promises a deliverance from the curse to those chosen who will faithfully serve him. Even to those whose curse is in sleeping form."

Sprinkles jerked her head up, staring at her father. "And you... Do you really believe that this self-centered bigheaded misanthrope is telling the truth?"

"He already did it once," her father said softly. "He helped me."

"Delivered you from werewolf curse?"

"Not really... But now I can shift on my own will and keep my mind."

"It's not the same thing!" Beata jumped up in a rage. "You just bought into his sweet talk about freedom, justice and power, you took the bait and now you believe him! That's not gonna happen!"

Sprinkles rushed out of the house and literally dissolved into the air. Black looked puzzlingly at the place where she had just disappeared and bad suspicions crept into his head.

He was alone in Gwendolyn Cavendish' house who was robbed this morning by a witch who looked exactly like him... Gwendolyn coughed dryly, drawing Sirius's attention to herself, and her look didn't promise anything good.

✨ ✨ ✨

Near Hogwarts

"And you know!" Sprinkles paced back and forth. "This ghoul says: You'll be free! The whole world will be your-"

"I doubt he said that," Emily stopped Lily and James with a hand. "Let her talk," she whispered, "otherwise you won't get any information."

"Maybe not exactly like that! But the essence was precisely this - liberation from werewolf curse and... Remus, why are you twitching?"

"I? I-uh..."

"He's also afraid of werewolves, like you," Parker said, leaving Lupin to sit with an indignantly open mouth. "But you have nothing to do with this!"

"In my blood, among other things, there is also a werewolf's gene - got as a gift from daddy. Natural sorcerers call it the sleeping curse."

"Your father was a werewolf?" Emily asked weakly. "Why do I hear about this only now?"

"Because!"

"Yeah, I see. What does 'the sleeping curse' mean?"

"It means that it can manifest itself under certain conditions, Parker! What's the matter with you?"

"But it's impossible. If werewolf's gene didn't manifest itself at birth-"

"But I'm a natural sorcerer! I must have an animal hypostasis, the right to which I receive when I come of age!"