I went to Snape's office and poked my head in. "Hey Professor."
"Do not greet me as if we are friends, Miss Griffin, I am your professor." The emphasis on the last word made very clear that we were, indeed, not friends. But I called him professor, so I don't know what his problem was.
I cleared my throat. "Right. I was wondering something."
"And what could possibly so important that you disturb me?"
"Can I have at brewing a Wolfsbane Potion?"
His eyes twitched. "You are on very thin ice, Miss Griffin, if I had half a mind, I would report your misplace curiosity to Professor Flitwick."
"But can I?"
He took a sharp breath. "Do what you wish!"
"Thank you!" I sang, grabbing a book from the shelf.
He eyed me as I began using a cauldron on one of the empty desks, carefully doing each step. When I stopped in what I was doing, his eyes went to my cauldron to see what step I was on.
Say what you want about Snape, but he was excellent at potions. Knowing the steps to making a potion off the top of your head and what the potion looked like during each step was a different kind of impressive.
Once I finished, I looked curiously at Snape, who stood and tried to hide the fact that he was checking my cauldron as he approached the nearby bookshelf. His gaze flickered to it, but he said nothing to criticize.
"So it's good?" I asked.
"It is adequate."
"Would it work?"
Being friends with Draco certainly had its perks. Snape definitely had some form of soft spot for Draco (sort of) so my friendship with him was probably the only thing keeping him from saying, "Fifty points from Ravenclaw."
He stared at me, then at the potion. "Yes. I saw no error in your brewing process." His eyes narrowed. "Bring it to Professor Lupin." He rather aggressively placed a goblet on the desk in front of me. "The Wolfsbane Potion is also found in your Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook. He shall be your secondary judge."
I filled the goblet and made my way to Professor Lupin's office, making sure that I wouldn't run into any curious students. While I did want to try and make such a helpful potion, I also really just wanted to see Professor Lupin.
"Professor," I poked my head into Professor Lupin's office and smiled, earning a smile in return.
"Is there something you need?" he asked, rising from his desk.
"There's something you need." I placed a smoking goblet on his desk and he stared at it in surprise. "Did you... make this yourself?"
"Yes, but check if there's something wrong first. I made it but I might have made a mistake, although I'm pretty sure it's unlikely. If it weren't for Hermione, I'd be second in Potions."
"Second?"
"Draco. Snape plays favourites, you see." I sighed. "Anyway... Christmas holidays are in a bit and my dad said that I should give presents to professors that I like. I normally give gifts to Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Sinistra, but..."
I dug my hand into my bag and placed a gift bag on Lupin's desk. "I'm giving one to you and Hagrid this year."
My gift to Hagrid was assistance with Buckbeak's trial.
Professor Lupin stared at the present, stars and constellations covering it as my signature. A bright grin that lit up the whole room appeared on his face.
"Thank you, Y/N," he said.
"Not a problem, sir."
As I left, I took out a piece of parchment and noted down all the ingredients I used in the potion.
•••
Because of Sirius Black, Amos and my father were holed up at work, even during the holidays. They didn't fail to give us presents but the "Christmas Spirit" wasn't quite there.
Instead, Cedric's mother was taking care of us.
"Studying during Christmas break?" Cedric questioned, aghast. "You can't be this serious about Care of Magical Creatures, can you?"
"It's not studying!" I insisted. "It's for Buckbeak!"
My arms lifted the pile of books and dropped them all into the open bag on my floor, each disappearing into the fabric in an instant.
I rushed across the library and reached up, trying to grab a book from the top shelf.
"Are you sure it's not studying?" Cedric pulled the book off the shelf and gave it to me. "You're doing that thing where everything you say is quick and loud - that normally means you're stressed."
"For Buckbeak!"
I stopped, noticing all the newspapers that my dad had kept, each neatly folded and filed into a labelled shelf.
My dad only kept newspapers he found interesting or curious. Some of them were cases that were concluded but he felt the conclusion was incorrect; some were about people he liked; some were the ones that I solved before the Ministry of Magic.
But in the shelf labelled 1981, there was a singular newspaper, yellowed from its age but readable all the same. Sirius Black is Arrested.
I pulled it out and sat on the floor, prompting Cedric to sit beside me and read over my shoulder.
On November 1, Sirius Black, the killer of James and Lily Potter, has finally been apprehended. After cornering Peter Pettigrew on a street in London, Peter Pettigrew was heard by muggle bystanders.
He said, "How dare you kill the Potters! They trusted you!"
Before he could get away, Sirius Black set off a powerful explosive curse, killing both Peter Pettigrew and twelve muggle bystanders. Only Peter's finger remained.
"Oh god..." Cedric winced, placing his hand over his mouth. He glanced at me, noticing my drawn together brows. "What, you're going to investigate something that was solved thirteen years ago?"
I stared, truly contemplating it. There was something my dad found interesting about the newspaper. None of the newspapers he found interesting were about something so gruesome, so it wasn't that. I was one year old when the incident occurred, so it couldn't have been because we solved the case either.
Was he doubtful about the conclusion?
"If only dad didn't have to work!" I groaned.
Because of Sirius Black, every single member of the Ministry of Magic was on high alert, even my dad. He was looking through every prophecy, every bit of research trying to find something about Sirius Black.
Cedric's dad was occupied with issues involving house elves that once belonged to the Black Family.
So, naturally, Cedric and I were alone, when I needed them to be there.
I rubbed my fingers along my chin, staring at the open newspaper in front of me.
The name Peter Pettigrew was so clearly in my mind, right beside Ron's name. I hadn't bothered looking into common rooms or dormitories since then, since I had no reason to look at them.
Now, however, I was frustrated that I hadn't before Fred and George gave the Marauder's Map to Harry.
Maybe I could figure out a way to recreate it?
I wanted to make sure that my mind wasn't playing tricks on me and took out a piece of parchment from the desk in the corner of the library.
"What are you doing?" Cedric wondered, startled from my sudden break from my thinking statue.
"Sending a letter to Fred and George."
"Why?"
"I need to make sure that my memory serves me right."
"Y/N, if this is about that newspaper, I want you to drop it. Sirius Black is dangerous, you can't get involved with him in any way."
"Ced, if you never question things, you'll never learn anything. There are a lot of unanswered questions in this world, and I'd like to answer at least one."
The question of what exactly happened on the night of November 1, 1981.
•••
A day later, I got a letter back from Fred and George, saying that we did, indeed, see a Peter Pettigrew suspiciously close to Ron on the Marauder's Map.
"He had no children," I mumbled, remembering what Lupin said. I glanced back at Hogwarts: 1971-1972. "No siblings. And I don't remember ever meeting a Peter Pettigrew at school."
"Why'd Sirius Black go after Peter Pettigrew?" Cedric wondered after being coerced into this investigation with me.
"Not sure. But from the quote on the Daily Prophet, Sirius and Peter were close with Harry's parents. Maybe they were close as well?"
"But what does Peter have to do with anything?"
Right, and since Professor Lupin was friends with James and Peter, he was probably close with Sirius as well, but Sirius didn't go after him. Was he planning on doing so afterwards? But why stand there and allow himself to get arrested if he still had another target?
I rubbed my eyes - sometimes I curse my brain for having so many thoughts, yet I still find it the greatest blessing.
I glanced at Cedric, who was staring at a book with his head nodding. "Ced," I said softly, slowly taking the book out of his grasp. "Don't fall asleep on the desk."
He mumbled something and slowly got to his feet, making his way to the guest bedroom.
"Brush your teeth!" I called before peering into the book that he had open. He seemed to be studying for Transfiguration, his book talking all about Animagi. I closed the book and placed it on the side of the desk.
I opened my notebook and began scribbling out all my thoughts with a quill.
Peter Pettigrew was detonated on November 1, 1981.
In 1991, he was seen on the Marauder's Map by me, Fred, and George.
The Marauder's Map displays humans, ghosts, and animagi.
The explosion resulted in 12 muggle deaths.
Sirius Black went after Peter Pettigrew the day after he killed Lily and James Potter.
The likeliness of Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, and Lily Potter knowing each other personally is high.
I sighed and glanced at the newspaper spread open on the floor. Why was I even trying to solve something that has had a conclusion for nearly thirteen years?
My mind strayed to Professor Lupin, his glossy eyes when I mentioned Peter, and I looked back at my notebook.
That was why. Because someone was still questioning. I'd never leave someone in that state.
I returned to my books about hippogriffs and pulled out a stack of parchment.
After a couple of hours, the door to the library opened and Cedric's mother poked her head in. "Y/N. It's four o'clock in the morning."
"Lovely. Two more hours and I can see the sunrise."
"Y/N."
A deeper, much more serious voice, came from the doorway and I let out a heavy sigh and turned. "Hi dad."
"What's got you up so late?"
Cedric's mother took this as a sign to leave and he entered the library, closing the door behind him.
He looked over my shoulder, his eyes scanning the endless pages of evidence that I had about hippogriffs. "Impressive."
"Not nearly enough."
"And you'll do even better with a good night's sleep." He took my under my arms and dragged me off the chair I was seated on for the past four hours.
I groaned. "Come on, dad!"