Wizards were the classic glass cannons. Their magic was extraordinary, capable of overturning common sense itself, but wizards themselves were only a little healthier than Muggles.
So in fights between wizards, it was common wisdom that whoever struck first could usually end the battle cleanly.
Of course, that assumed the gap between the two sides was not too great. And it also assumed you were actually the one striking first.
Leonard had long since heard Tonks's heartbeat pounding beneath the floorboards like a drum. In other words, not long after climbing out of the secret passage, Leonard had already noticed Tonks.
Tonks thought she had not been discovered, but in reality, Leonard had only pretended not to notice her.
Using the same method again, he dragged Tonks out from under the floorboards with the Levitation Charm and pulled her over beside Lupin and Sirius.
"She didn't seriously think I hadn't noticed her, did she?" Leonard looked at Tonks with amusement. "Out of the three of you, her heartbeat was the loudest."
Lupin and Sirius fell silent, both suddenly wanting to turn their heads and pretend they did not know her.
Leonard brushed dust off the front of his clothes, though there was none, then gave a casual wave and lowered the three of them back to the ground.
Sirius hauled himself upright shakily. More than a decade of malnutrition and Dementor torment, on top of months of sleeping rough, had left him in terrible shape. After being yanked around by the Levitation Charm, he felt sick enough to vomit.
He took a long time to recover before finally looking at Leonard.
"Did you have something you wanted to say to me?" Leonard asked.
"Uh..." Sirius took another moment, waiting for the dizziness to pass before speaking. "You're Leonard William?"
"The genuine article. Professor Lupin can vouch for me," Leonard said, pointing at Lupin, whose expression had become somewhat awkward.
Lupin felt awkward, of course, because of Leonard's identity. Leonard was clearly his student, yet at this moment he was the one in control, which gave Lupin the surreal feeling that he must be dreaming.
But he was not actually asleep, so after hearing Leonard's words, he nodded and said, "He is Leonard William."
"All right, then I'll say it. Someone asked me to pass on a message. He said a monster is after you, so you need to be very careful," Sirius said.
"Who said that?" Leonard raised a brow.
"Harris Raymons. He said you know him." Sirius shrugged. After spending more than ten years in prison, he knew nothing about the complicated history between Leonard and Harris Raymons. He was only there to pass on the message.
"Is that so?" Leonard looked completely unconcerned, but in reality he activated the plant seed he had left on Sirius and "watched" everything Sirius had recently experienced.
Leonard had no intention of trusting Sirius's word alone. The seed he had planted in advance was for exactly this moment, to let him obtain the most reliable information directly.
"Oh, right. He also said that if I told you this, you'd be willing to help me." Sirius had no idea Leonard was currently rifling through his privacy, and when he brought it up he looked a little embarrassed.
As a Gryffindor, asking for repayment after doing someone a favor made him deeply uncomfortable, but he really did need help now.
"Help..." Leonard's tone turned strange.
Not only had Leonard ruined Harris Raymons's plan to explore the Chamber of Secrets, he had also left him bedridden in the Hogwarts Hospital Wing for most of the term. And even so, Harris Raymons still thought Leonard was a good person. Truly moving.
Harris Raymons did not know that Leonard had been the one who used the Basilisk's eyes to Petrify him, but Leonard threatening him had definitely happened.
"Is... is there something wrong with that?" Sirius asked, unable to stop himself. Leonard's tone had been too strange.
"No, of course I'll help. I'm the kind of person who repays favors, after all." Leonard smiled. "How do you want me to help?"
"I want you to help me find someone. His name is Peter Pettigrew," Sirius said.
The moment he said the name, hatred filled his face.
"Sirius..." Lupin frowned. Asking a student to get involved in something like this was outrageously irresponsible. This was Peter Pettigrew, the man who had once destroyed an entire street and killed over a dozen Muggles.
Sirius glanced at Lupin, and the determination in his eyes stopped Lupin from saying any more.
"Of course, I know I'm asking too much. You may never even have heard that name before, but I swear that if you can help me find him, I'll do anything for you," Sirius said solemnly.
Although Lupin had no reason to stop Sirius from asking, his professional ethics would not allow him to sit by and watch his student get dragged into something dangerous. "Mr. William, you don't need to take this too seriously. Peter Pettigrew is extremely dangerous. I would strongly advise you not to..."
"Peter Pettigrew?" Leonard said with a smile. "I know where he is."
Lupin froze. Sirius froze too. Only Tonks did not, because she was still unconscious, blissfully at peace in her ignorance.
"You know where Peter Pettigrew is?" Sirius could barely get the words out straight. "Where is he? Tell me, where is he?"
That last sentence came out as a roar, echoing through the Shrieking Shack with a force almost like Lupin's voice after transforming into a Werewolf.
...
"He's at Hogwarts, living a leisurely life of eating, sleeping, sleeping, eating, and occasionally having someone keep him entertained," Leonard said, summing up Peter Pettigrew's daily life in the simplest possible terms.
Sirius nearly ground his teeth to pieces. He had assumed that even if Peter Pettigrew had escaped, he would be living in constant fear, hiding everywhere, surviving in a state of panic.
He had never imagined the man was living that well. Compared to Sirius, it was practically paradise, and he even had company to amuse him.
Unlike Sirius, who had been blinded by rage, Lupin immediately caught the problem.
Leonard's description was far too specific. Specific enough that it sounded as though he had seen Peter Pettigrew with his own eyes.
"You've seen Peter Pettigrew?" Lupin asked.
Leonard smiled and pulled out a sheet of parchment.
"The Marauder's Map? It's actually in your hands?" Lupin and Sirius both recognized the alchemical item they themselves had created.
"Yeah, someone gave it to me." Leonard waved the Marauder's Map back and forth like a fan. "It's pretty useful."
Lupin and Sirius fell silent, both wondering what kind of person could fail to recognize the importance of the Marauder's Map and casually hand it over to someone else.
Even if all you used it for was spying on the movements of the person you liked, it was still an incredibly rare treasure.
As the creators of the Marauder's Map, Sirius and Lupin felt very complicated indeed.