“Dwarfism, and the ability to transform into a rat as an Animagus? Is there really such a person?”
The Auror standing behind James couldn't help but exclaim.
James had no time to joke with his colleague; he asked loudly:
“Has Ruben brought the two people I asked for?”
“Not yet! The stands are too big, James, you need a little more patience!”
Weilan looked at James, whose forehead was sweating, and even felt a little sorry for him.
Because James really did know such a person.
Dwarfism, an Animagus who could turn into a rat.
Unfortunately, he was also one of James's closest friends—Peter Pettigrew.
Just as Weilan was clicking his tongue, there was a sudden rush of footsteps from outside, accompanied by a man's whistle.
“James! What on earth happened? To call Peter and me here in such a hurry!”
The first to enter was a tall, handsome man with a pair of grey eyes beneath his messy Black hair.
He was Harry's godfather, James's other good friend—Sirius Black.
Behind him, a short man with sparse hair and shifty eyes cowered.
He was only about five feet tall, but the wrinkles symbolizing old age had already crept onto his face.
This was Peter, but he didn't look to be in very good condition.
From the moment Peter entered, Weilan noticed his repeated rubbing of his fingers, intermittently disordered pupils, and occasional convulsive trembling.
“Something very important concerning Peter.”
James's serious voice and uncurved lips made Peter's finger-rubbing even more frequent, and Black vaguely sensed that something big was amiss.
He pulled his hands out of his pockets and dropped his cynical demeanor:
“What's going on, James?”
James tried hard to think of a relatively gentle way to express himself:
“It's like this: there's been a murder, and I believe Ruben has already explained it to you.”
“When we investigated the scene, we found various signs, here, these are them...”
James pointed out the clues to Peter one by one.
He didn't expose Peter's secret of being an Animagus.
He believed, or rather, he hoped, that Peter, as his most trusted friend, could give him a reasonable explanation.
Unfortunately, his hope was destined to be in vain.
Although the temperature inside the stadium was cool, large beads of sweat streamed down Peter's forehead and neck.
Weilan looked at Peter's soaked shirt, then at Peter's increasingly pale face, and then at James's increasingly doubtful and disappointed gaze.
He knew that without him needing to act, the blame had already been directed at Peter!
Thump—
When his nerves were stretched to the limit, Peter finally couldn't hold on anymore.
His legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground.
Black tried to help him up, but he pushed him away.
And his watery little eyes were now looking at James:
“I'm sorry... James, I admit, I killed Rowan.”
“But James, I had my reasons, please, please... We've been brothers for so many years, you have to help me one more time!”
Under the huge discrepancy between expectation and reality, James exploded:
“If you had your reasons, you could have told me! Not gone and killed someone!”
Seeing the bad turn of events, Black quickly stepped forward to dissuade James:
“Stay calm, James, now is not the time to vent your anger.”
“Since Peter has already confessed his crime, the immediate priority now is to organize an interrogation and clarify the entire process of the case!”
In fact, as Black said this, Carson had already begun to assign interrogation-related tasks:
“Jack, you take two people and set up the security room at the East entrance to temporarily serve as an interrogation room.”
“Hayes, you're responsible for recording.”
“William, you're responsible for...”
After everything was arranged, they led Peter to the interrogation room.
Weilan followed behind.
Having calmed down, Weilan repeatedly replayed the scene of Peter's confession, and no matter how he thought about it, it seemed extremely strange.
The Peter in the original story was a quite cowardly timid person; even causing the death of the Potters was done indirectly by betraying secrets.
To have such a coward, alone, kill a strong player who exercised regularly...
Weilan felt that the motive behind this, at the very least, would not be from Peter's subjective will.
Confundo? Imperio? Monetary temptation? Or... threats and coercion?
Weilan vaguely had new conjectures in his mind.
As Weilan followed the Aurors towards the interrogation room, the competition on the field seemed to enter a white-hot stage, and the cheers of the audience diminished considerably.
They were all anxiously awaiting the outcome of the fierce battle between the Ireland team and the Bulgaria team.
“Merlin's beard! Who would have thought that the Ireland team would tie the score after conceding 6 goals at the start!”
The commentator's voice was hoarse with excitement:
“The Golden Snitch can't hold back anymore; this mischievous little thing has been repeatedly provoking our two Seekers. It has appeared three times within ten minutes!”
“Now, whichever Seeker can catch the Golden Snitch first will end the game and secure victory!”
...
The interrogation room was located at the stadium entrance, actually temporarily repurposed from the security room at the entrance.
When Weilan arrived outside the interrogation room, Mr. Malfoy was being escorted out of the interrogation room by the Aurors.
His wife and child had long been waiting outside the door. Almost at the same time he came out, they gathered around him.
The Aurors surrounded the Malfoy family, and coupled with the distance, Weilan couldn't hear what they were discussing.
So Weilan waited for a while, and when James returned from his colleagues, he asked curiously:
“Did Mr. Malfoy confess anything?”
James shook his head: “No, he insisted he had no time to commit the crime and was innocent.”
Weilan was even more puzzled:
“How could that be? Don't you have... I mean, I've read in books that there's a Potion called Veritaserum.”
“Didn't you use that?”
James's lips twitched helplessly:
“Firstly, the Ministry of Magic has regulations that Veritaserum cannot be used for routine interrogations, only for special cases. Forced use of Veritaserum is considered an infringement of personal will.”
“Secondly, how could we carry such a complex Potion that only Potion Masters can brew?”
Weilan nodded understandingly:
“That's indeed difficult then. By the way... can I get a copy of Peter's interrogation record?”
He carefully explained to James:
“I think Peter's sudden confession is suspicious; he doesn't seem like a ruthless man who would meticulously plan and murder someone. There's likely something else involved behind this.”
“If someone is truly hiding something during an interrogation,”
“Then the lies he narrates will be very difficult to make logically watertight.”
James understood Weilan's thoughts and continued for him:
“So you think you can find Peter's logical loopholes and uncover the involvement behind this?”
Weilan's sincere Black eyes gazed at James, answering for him.
“Alright, fine. After all, you've already proven your observational skills and logical reasoning ability.”
James finally agreed.
Although he did not participate in Peter's interrogation to avoid suspicion, it was easy for him to bring Weilan a copy of the interrogation record.
Weilan watched Carson and several other Aurors escort Peter into the interrogation room.
Before Peter's interrogation results came out, Weilan felt it was necessary to ask James about another person:
“Mr. Potter, what did Mr. Black say?”
According to Weilan's observation, Sirius seemed to have given up the noble privileges of the House of Black and chose to sit in the general audience section with Peter.
Therefore, his testimony regarding Peter's whereabouts became very important.