Cursed: The New Order of Merlin Book 2

12. Honesty

The team grumbled in agreement and moved on, leaving Jack Nix behind. Unlike the others, he wasn't shivering or hunched over even though he was just as wet and his white hair was plastered to his face.

Peeves the poltergeist popped into existence right in front of him. "Jack-Friend!"

"Peeves! I had a blast today! The weather is crazy and it made it so much more fun!"

Peeves flipped in the air and shook a finger at him. "Jack-Friend has been naughty. Peevsie knows."

Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "But Peeves, they love my tricks."

Peeves' grins stretched from ear to ear. "Do you want Peevsie to help you?"

Jack laughed. "I'll tell you when it's time for some mischief-making. What have you been up to?"

Remus leaned on the wall and crossed his arms, amused at this interaction. He had never seen anyone chat with the poltergeist as if he was just another Hogwarts student.

Peeves rubbed his hands together. "Peeves is planning something explosive. Wanna watch?"

"Yeah!"

Peeves floated over to grab Jack around the waist and they immediately vanished. Remus blinked, unsure if he had seen that correctly. What had Peeves done? He knew that the spirit could make himself invisible or appear and reappear wherever he wished but had never heard of it being able to take someone along.

Remus used his keen senses to detect him. Jack's signature scent which was shared only by his sister, was no longer there. He really had disapparated with Peeves.

Remus promptly ran to his office and added an extra page to the letter he had started earlier. There was no more knowledgeable expert on spiritous beings than his father who devoted his life to studying them. Maybe he could make sense of what Remus had witnessed.

On his way back from the Owlery, he was stopped by Argus Filch who held his ancient growling cat in his arms.

"Professor," he grimaced as if he found it difficult to say, "all teachers have been called to the Headmaster's office."

Remus thanked him and rushed to Dumbledore, hoping he wasn't late. He found that everyone was already there, standing around the office or sitting on the sofa. He stood behind Professor Flitwick who grinned cheerfully. "You're just in time."

Dumbledore paced around his office slowly, his hands behind his back, deep in thought.

"As we all feared, Sirius Black has come to Hogwarts." He didn't look at them yet but turned to the other side of the spacious room. "I ask that you discreetly continue to watch over Mr. Potter until the prisoner is captured."

"Of course," someone said.

"It will be no problem."

The professors agreed but Dumbledore didn't look placated.

"Headmaster," Flitwick chimed in, "should we announce..."

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, Filius, we should. It is now official that a Ravenclaw student, Sue Li, has gone missing." A murmur went through the room and he raised his hand to quiet them. "I ask that you not alarm the students though the news will soon spread anyway."

"Did Black kidnap her?" Snape asked.

"There is no evidence of that though the timing is suspicious. She was last seen the afternoon before the Halloween feast."

"Could she have helped him get in?" McGonagall asked.

Flitwick gasped. "I can vouch for my student. She is a victim."

The gathered began to argue, some siding with McGonagall, some with Flitwick. Snape remained quiet and glared at Remus.

"If I may have your focus," Dumbledore said loud enough for them to quiet down. "There is no reason to suspect Miss Li at the moment and we shall treat her as a missing student. Filius, Minerva, and I shall handle that issue. I need the rest of you to focus on the riddle of how Sirius Black might have gotten into this school."

The teachers whispered among themselves but no one offered theories.

Dumbledore continued, "We've sealed all known hidden passages in and out of the castle. It worries me that there might be another one we had not discovered yet."

Remus had already inspected all secret passages he knew but did not find his friend's scent there. It appeared that he walked right through the front door.

Dumbledore added, "No human should be able to pass by the Dementors. Does anyone have a theory?"

No human.

Someone might have put a freezing charm on Remus for the ice he felt in his stomach. Yes, no human could get past the Dementors, but could an animagus? Sirius could turn into a dog. This was how he was able to survive Azkaban and escape it. Why had Remus not thought of it before?

"Remus?" Dumbledore was suddenly in front of him. "You knew Sirius Black best. Can you think of anything?"

Remus almost said it but stopped himself just in time. The four of them kept this secret for a very important reason. Sirius, James, and Peter had learned how to become animagi for Remus, so they could keep him company on the full moon, so he wouldn't have to be trapped in the Shrieking Shack. They broke him out of there every month, and in their animal forms, they roamed the Hogwarts grounds, the Forbidden Forest, and even the castle.

It was a risk to trust that they could control him, a risk Remus overlooked because it allowed him to be a happier werewolf and brought him closer to his friends. If he told the story to Dumbledore, he would have to reveal that he had betrayed his trust, that the plan to keep a werewolf student contained within the Shrieking Shack had failed. In the end, werewolves were untrustworthy.

"I have no idea," Remus answered, his heart thumping loudly in his ears. "I'll tell you as soon as I think of anything."

Dumbledore's gaze penetrated deep into him like brilliant-blue lie detectors.

"I trust you will. Harry's life might depend on it."