Chapter 96: The Imperius Curse Reappears
Chapter 96: The Imperius Curse Reappears
“Stop it, stop it, Ron!” Hermione shrieked loudly, trying to separate them.
Evan hadn’t reacted yet, and he took a bad punch to the stomach. He used his knees to hold Ron back, while his right hand subconsciously reached for his wand.
A bright red light flashed and Ron flew away.
His body smashed the table and he fell to the ground, struggling twice to stand up and continue to rush toward Evan. Fred and George pulled him quickly.
“Ron, what do you have with Evan?!” Fred said with surprise.
“Yes, do you really realize what you were doing?!” George said.
Ron gasped and looked at Evan with his eyes all red.
Everyone held their breaths and stared at Ron. The whole Common room was stunned by what happened.
Evan’s clothes got all messed up. His right hand was holding his wand tight, pointing against Ron. His left hand was gently patting Hermione’s shoulder. She was standing by his side sobbing uncontrollably.
“What the hell are you doing guys?!” Percy walked through the crowd and stared at Ron, he looked like Mrs. Weasley. “Ron, I know you’re sad to lose the rat, but it’s not Evan who killed it.”
“It’s him, it’s him!” Ron shouted. “It was him who asked Hermione to buy the cat. If it wasn’t for that damn cat, Scabbers wouldn’t have died.”
“It was not Crookshanks who killed Scabbers…” Hermione argued weakly, and her eyes were full of tears.
“Ron, you’re crazy! For a rat, you…” Ginny, who came over to comfort Hermione, whispered. She turned to Ron and stared at him angrily.
“Rat? Scabbers is my friend!” Ron interrupted Ginny, and he roared angrily. “My best friend is dead. Both of them and that damn cat killed it. You’ve been supporting them all the time. Has anyone ever thought about my feelings?!”
Aside from Ron’s roars, there was no sound, only dead silence in the Common room.
“In fact, your rat is not dead at all, and nobody touched it!”
Evan let Ginny take care of Hermione and rushed to the corner of the lounge to pull a struggling rat out of the gap, and then he threw it to Ron.
Watching the trembling Scabbers in his hands, Ron suddenly quieted down.
He looked stunned. He wanted to say something, but he could not find anything to say. He could not explain it to others. The rat was just a fuse. When he exploded out of anger and rushed at Evan, the only thing he had on his mind was Evan image as he had Hermione’s arm in his hand when entering the common room.
“Well, Ron, things have been cleared up, and your rat is actually not dead.” Percy said with a tight voice “Apologize to Evan and Hermione at once.”
Ron was annoyed by Percy’s words.
He gasped and stared coldly at Evan and Hermione.
Reason told him that he should apologize, but there was a voice in his heart that kept whispering that if someone needed to apologize, it would be them. It was clearly their fault.
He suddenly remembered what Tom Riddle had told him last year. His fists got tighter and all his body shivered.
If he could choose, he would rather rush over and fight Evan again.
“Say sorry, Ron!” Ginny whispered anxiously to remind him.
Ron woke up suddenly and he saw everyone looking at him. He took a deep breath and vaguely said: “Yes, I’m sorry!”
After that, he turned and ran back to his Dormitory.
In the dark bedroom, Ron was alone.
He laid on his four-poster bed and pressed his head against the pillow. Tears flowed out uncontrollably.
He must have lost his mind a moment ago. He unexpectedly yelled at Hermione and fought Evan…
Ron couldn’t tell why he wanted to do that; maybe it was too hard to suddenly lose Scabbers. Perhaps Tom Riddle’s words from last year played a role, or maybe it was the feeling he had during the day that was a mix of envy, jealousy, and unsavory hatred.
In a word, the more he looked at Evan, the worse he felt.
Thinking of what everyone had just done to support Evan, Ron felt really lonely.
If it was just everybody else, he could’ve let it go easily; but with them were Percy, Fred, George, and Ginny. These are all his family. None of them stood on his side.
And Hermione… Ron became more distressed just by thinking about her.
Ron tried not to think about her. He thought of Harry, his best friend. If Harry was here this evening, would he support him?!
Ron hesitated. At first he believed that Harry would support him. He did it against Malfoy, but that was different. Harry and Evan’s relationship was also very good. He might also be like the others and support Evan.
He had already lost Hermione, and when he thought he could lose Harry, Ron was indescribably upset.
He always treated Harry as his best friend, but does Harry think the same way of him?!
Harry is not only a famous savior but also the Seeker for the Quidditch team. Harry has always been surrounded by the elite. Ron was on the other hand just a normal guy. What would make Harry pick him as his best friend?!
Perhaps, in Harry’s eyes, he’s just a follower.
“I’m all alone!” Ron murmured. “No one will support me. I’m a downright loser. Everyone looks down upon me.”
His body curled up in pain, and a moment later, he felt something shivering in his coat’s pocket. It was Scabbers!
Ron wiped his tears and got up to take the rat out.
It looked terrified, its body kept shivering and its small eyes were filled with fear.
In fact, Peter Pettigrew was really frightened. He hid according to his plan. This certainly would not fool Sirius, but it could buy him some time.
However, the plan did not go smoothly. He benefited from the opportunity of the Quidditch match when all the students were out and searched Filch’s office but found nothing. The Marauder’s Map was not there.
When he graduated, the map was certainly confiscated by Filch, and the latter would have certainly kept it. It shouldn’t be lost. But, after all, that was twenty years ago. That’s a long time in which anything could happen.
Pettigrew returned to the Gryffindor Common room. He wanted to redress a plan to lure Sirius out and let the people inside the castle find him.
Since Sirius thought he was close to Ron, he’d better stay around and wait for the opportunity.
However, Peter Pettigrew did not expect that he would be found by Evan.
That was impossible. How did he find him?!
When he hid in that gap, there was obviously no one in the Common room.
It stands to reason that the boy should not be able to find him.
Peter Pettigrew was scared, and Evan surely had some way he didn’t know. If Sirius Black knew the same method, Peter’s life would certainly come to…
“Scabbers, you’re the only left for me. You are definitely supporting me, aren’t you?” Ron put the rat on the pillow.
When he heard Ron, Peter Pettigrew woke up of his daze. He felt that there were too many variables in the plan he had thought of before. He couldn’t fight against Sirius Black and Evan alone. He needed a helper, one hidden in the dark.
“Those people think of me as a footman, as a joke!” Ron said bitterly. His expression was slightly grim. “Those who despise me, I will make them regret it. I want to make them pay the price.”
“Yes, I will help you!” A sharp man’s voice suddenly could be heard in the room. “I will make those who look down upon us pay the price.”
“Imperio!”
A strange light flashed across the bedroom which was quickly restored to peace. Only Ron was alone in the bed with tears. His eyes were full of confusion and emptiness.