Chapter 150 Hero
"In what way should I be?," Ron looked coldly at Harry.
Harry was astonished. He didn't know how to respond. Tears streamed down his cheeks uncontrollably.
"Ron!" Hermione softly cried, crystal tears swirling in her eyes.
Her mind went back to the moment Ron accused her of Crookshanks eating Scabbers. She also remembered the Common Room that afternoon. Ron looked awful back then. First, he criticized her, then fought with Evan. Ron was acting very unusual at that time, but his current expression made Hermione feel stranger than ever.
"I saved you last night. I uncovered the vicious werewolf. I am your hero!" Ron didn't look at Hermione. He fixed his gaze on Harry with determination in his subdued voice.
"Hero?," Harry and Hermione groaned, wondering why Ron was saying that.
"Yes, I am a hero! But now you say I shouldn't be this way?," Ron didn't seem under the Imperius curse; he felt unfairly treated. He shouted angrily, "How do you think I should be? Should I inherently be a sidekick to the famous Savior? A cowardly and disposable follower, with a comical and dispensable existence?"
"Ron, I didn't..." said Harry sadly.
"That's enough, Harry!" Ron broke free from Harry's grip. "I have nothing to say to you. I know all of you despise me! I will prove who I really am with concrete actions. I will personally apprehend Sirius Black. I want to achieve things no one else has done."
"Apprehend Sirius Black?!" Hermione took half a step back, looking scared, a vague feeling emerged from the depths of her heart, panicking she asked, "What do you intend to do?"
"Do what a hero should do!"
"I will not let you go until you wake up." Harry grabbed Ron's robe again. "Wake up, Ron, think about our last three years..."
Harry hadn't finished his words when two powerful red lights crossed the Common Room, hitting Harry and Hermione respectively with a crash. They fell and lay still on the floor. Seeing Harry and Hermione unconscious, Ron seemed indecisive. He approached them a little, then stopped abruptly.
"Come on, dear boy, my kind Master!" A shrill voice suddenly resounded in the room. "It's time to do what we must! They simply fainted. After capturing Black, they will acknowledge your greatness."
In Professor Lupin's office, Evan saw on the Marauder's Map that Ron was actually standing behind him. He hurried back, but it was too late. Just as he turned around, the office door was violently flung open, and Ron clumsily entered, with great momentum, throwing himself onto him.
They both fell to the ground, grappling and tangling with each other.
Evan tried to use magic, but Ron didn't give him a chance.
He firmly grasped Evan's right hand, with tremendous force, disregarding his own safety.
He seemed more like an unfeeling sandbag, impervious to pain, and Evan couldn't wriggle free from him.
His wand emitted flashes of light, shattering the water tank in the corner, and the Grindylow fell to the ground writhing.
"Let go of me, Ron!" Exclaimed Evan angrily, "Do you know what you're doing?"
He saw Peter Pettigrew, not far from him, transforming. Peter's body quickly shrank, taking the form of a rat.
He was freeing himself from his magical binding, and the tightly tied rope began to slide to the side.
"This is bad!" Evan hastily shoved Ron aside with his knees and dealt him several blows with his free hand.
Ron staggered a little from the pain and stepped back.
Seizing the opportunity, Evan pointed his wand at him. The light shone brightly. Ron was sent flying and crashed into the wall behind him.
Before he could turn to look at Pettigrew, a red light had flown from one side to the other.
With a loud bang, he struck Evan's hand. His wand traced a parabola in the air and landed at Pettigrew's feet.
"Dear boy, this charade should truly come to an end!" Peter picked up Evan's wand with a ghastly expression on his face. "And in the end, I EMERGE AS THE VICTOR!"
Evan said nothing. He watched Ron crawling back, his face bruised.
"Tut tut, look at your wand," Pettigrew caressed Evan's wand, like a child with a new toy, a cheerful smile on his face. "Well-kept, more beautiful than my little master's."
Peter returned Ron's other wand and aimed Evan's at him.
"Evan, I'll give you another chance. You just have to..."
"You can change your tune very fast, Peter," Evan interrupted with disdain. "Moments ago, you were on your knees in the dirt, begging me, willing to give everything for a new life, and now this."
"Because I am cunning, cunning folks often get to laugh in the end," said Peter Pettigrew with a strange smile. "It happened fifteen years ago. My three foolish Gryffindor friends, all brainwashed by Dumbledore, were about to fight the Dark Lord. What's the point in doing that?"
"So you betrayed them and turned into a traitor!"
"Don't say it so bluntly, I just chose the strong side to stand with," Peter continued. "Let me tell you, Evan. For common folks, the most crucial thing is choosing the strong side to gain the best benefit. The Dark Lord's power is something you could never imagine."
"A strong power? Sounds like a Slytherin's tone," Evan remarked softly. "I heard the Sorting Hat say you asked to be in Gryffindor at the time, trying to find the courage you lacked."
"That's what my mother expected of me. My father was a brave and bold Gryffindor."
Peter closed his eyes, seeming to be reminiscing.
"But you have disappointed your mother."
"I don't think so; I compensated her with the Order of Merlin, First Class," Peter said slowly. "As I grew up, I gradually understood everything, my mother does not wish for me to be courageous like my father. She needs honor that makes her proud."
"But those honors are not rightfully yours; you deceived everyone!"
"Does that make a difference?!" Pettigrew laughed. "As long as I am a hero in the eyes of others, that is more than enough!"