In Hogsmeade Village, Lupin walked through the village alone.
The atmosphere felt oppressive. There were few people on the streets, and even the occasional passerby wore a tense expression, as if afraid of running into some kind of monster.
It was all because of Mundungus. The thief who often loitered around The Hog's Head had disappeared, and it had now been confirmed that he was dead.
Many people were saying that Sirius Black was the one who killed Mundungus. That cunning criminal had never really fled. He had fooled everyone and secretly made his way to the area around Hogwarts.
Everyone was guessing that Harry Potter was his target, and that he had killed Mundungus because Mundungus had discovered him.
The rumors were detailed and convincing, as if they had already been confirmed as fact.
When Lupin heard the news, his heart felt heavy. Whether his old friend had betrayed James or not, murder was unforgivable.
He couldn't sit still any longer, so he had deliberately chosen a time when he had no classes and come to Hogsmeade Village to gather information. If he was lucky, he might even run into Sirius himself.
He just didn't know whether the person he would meet would be his old friend, a madman, or a Death Eater loyal to Voldemort.
The last two hardly seemed any different.
"Please don't let it be you, Sirius," Lupin sighed as he headed deeper into the village.
Dumbledore had recommended the owner of The Hog's Head to him, saying that the man would, for his sake, give Lupin some reliable information.
Before long, Lupin arrived at the pub's entrance. Perhaps because of the Aurors, business was poor, and the place looked almost deserted.
At the counter, an elderly man who was clearly the owner was wiping down glasses. Standing in front of him was a girl who looked like an Auror.
She kept chattering away, asking question after question, while the owner's reaction remained flat and faintly impatient.
"I've already told you everything I know. No matter how much more you ask, you won't get anything else out of me," the owner said without even looking up.
"I'm just following procedure, boss. Don't take it personally," the girl said breezily.
"Hmph. You've been wasting my time here for a whole week. You come by every day. You may not be tired of it, but I certainly am. Look at this place. Empty enough for rats to race through it. Because of you, no one wants to come in anymore," the owner complained.
"Anyone who sees an Auror and is too scared to even walk into a pub ought to be hauled off to Azkaban. Even if they haven't broken the law, anyone coming here is suspicious anyway." The girl curled her lip, then suddenly seemed to hear something and turned toward Lupin at the door.
Lupin paused where he stood, awkwardness written all over his face. Going in felt wrong, but so did turning around and leaving.
"I'm really not suspicious," he said quickly, raising a hand to show he meant no harm.
Before he started working under Midgard, Lupin had suffered more than his share of prejudice, so he instinctively put on an air of harmlessness.
"Haha, you're pretty funny. Nobody said you were suspicious." The girl flashed him a bright smile, then turned back to the owner. "See, boss? Your empty pub has nothing to do with me. I'm still here, and now you've got a customer, don't you?"
The owner, Aberforth, lifted his head, glanced at Lupin, and let out a cold snort. "Pity it isn't exactly a welcome one."
He set a glass down and asked, "Want a drink?"
"Ah... no, sorry, I'm not here to drink. Actually, I..." Lupin had barely started when Aberforth cut him off brusquely.
"I know exactly what you're here for. Now shut up."
He pulled out a bottle of brandy from under the counter and poured a glass. "Come sit down. Then drink it."
Lupin looked troubled. "I don't drink."
Before he started taking Wolfsbane Potion, every time Lupin transformed into a Werewolf, it felt as though his mind were slipping away. The sensation was very similar to being drunk, and because of that, Lupin hated alcohol.
"Heh... you don't drink?" Aberforth shook his head, then looked at the girl beside him. "You should leave."
"Huh? Wait, why do I have to leave? I'm an Auror. I'm the one asking questions here," the girl said in surprise.
"If you don't leave now, I'll file a complaint against you. As I recall, probationary Aurors get dismissed after three complaints, don't they?" Aberforth threatened in a mild tone.
The girl glared at him, eyes wide with anger, and her short pink hair suddenly turned red.
Lupin looked at her in surprise, realizing that she had to be a very rare Metamorphmagus.
But even turning her hair red wasn't enough to change Aberforth's mind, and his threat clearly worked on her.
Still fuming, the girl turned to leave. Then she glanced at Lupin, as if struck by an idea, and looked back at Aberforth and the glass on the counter.
With lightning speed, she snatched up the glass and downed it in one gulp, so fast that even Aberforth stared at her in stunned silence.
A full glass of strong liquor hit her stomach, and her face instantly flushed bright red. She started coughing violently from the burn.
"I drank that for you. No need to thank me." The girl gave Lupin a thumbs-up, then ran out of the bar as if fleeing for her life. A moment later, the sound of vomiting came from outside.
An awkward silence settled over the two men in the pub, until Aberforth was the first to recover. Half amused and half exasperated, he picked up the glass.
"Well, your luck's not bad, Mr. Lupin. Someone drank it for you," Aberforth said. "Sit down first, then tell me what you want to know."
Lupin froze for a moment and looked at him. "You know me?"
"Yes. And I know you don't like drinking. I was just trying to disgust you. That's what you get for coming here on his behalf." Aberforth tossed the girl's used glass into the sink.
Lupin sat down at the counter in confusion. He truly had no idea what kind of grievance lay between this old man and Dumbledore, but his instincts told him their relationship was complicated, and that he should keep his mouth shut.
Better to get straight to the point.
"I'm here to ask about Mundungus," Lupin said.
His ears twitched, and when he turned his head, he caught sight of a head disappearing from the window.
Aberforth noticed the mischievous little eavesdropper too, but said nothing. He took out a pipe from beneath the counter, packed it with tobacco, and continued from where Lupin had left off.
"You're here to ask whether Mundungus's death had anything to do with Sirius Black, aren't you?"
Lupin instinctively clenched his fist, then slowly relaxed it. "You really do know a lot."
"Very little happens around here without me knowing about it..." Aberforth lit his pipe and took a puff. "I can tell you plainly. Sirius Black didn't kill him."