Chapter 145 — Why Not Take Vesey With You?

Chapter 145: Chapter 145 — Why Not Take Vesey With You?

Chapter 145 — Why Not Take Vesey With You?

Filch looked at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore nodded helplessly.

"That’s the situation. That’s why I asked her not to say anything. Since there is a better way to save Mrs. Norris, we shouldn’t use a method that could potentially turn a child into a Squib."

Filch was speechless.

He looked at Vesey and opened his mouth, as though he had finally remembered something.

This girl had always politely called him "Mr. Filch."

He also remembered how she would secretly leave cat food for Mrs. Norris, and how Mrs. Norris’s fur had become so glossy because of it.

He even remembered the several times Mrs. Norris had scratched Vesey.

In fact, he had been the one who told Mrs. Norris to do it.

He had never believed that any student could genuinely like his cat. He had wanted to expose Vesey’s true colors.

But Vesey had never done anything to Mrs. Norris.

She had even kissed Mrs. Norris reassuringly.

And just now, when he had pushed the child down, Vesey had lied and said she simply hadn’t been standing firmly enough.

He also remembered Vesey wiping his tears with a handkerchief.

Filch wanted to say thank you.

But the words simply wouldn’t come out.

At that moment, Snape, who had watched enough of the spectacle, suddenly looked into Harry’s eyes.

Harry was reminded of the Deathday Party and the stiff body of Mrs. Norris.

Snape’s expression immediately changed.

"Filch, if you investigate carefully, you’ll find that Vesey only heard about the incident and hurried over after most of the students had already gathered.

"As for the students who were there from the beginning, I think you should ask Mr. Potter."

Harry always felt that Snape seemed to have seen his memories, but he had no proof.

And this time, Snape was telling the truth.

Harry nodded honestly.

"That’s right. We were actually there before..."

Filch immediately forgot the words of thanks he had wanted to say to Vesey.

He looked at Harry in shock.

"He did it! He did it! I knew it was him!"

Harry froze.

Vesey immediately spoke firmly.

"Mr. Filch, I can guarantee that my brother didn’t do anything. He isn’t that kind of person, and he would never do something like this!"

But Filch had already decided that Harry was the culprit.

His face turned purple.

"He saw it... You all saw the writing on the wall, didn’t you? Enemies of the Heir, beware...

"He knew! He knew I was a Squib! He read the letter on my desk... and right after he read it, my cat was petrified!"

Harry was helpless.

"Headmaster, I didn’t do it. I don’t even know what a Squib means..."

Snape interrupted him from the side.

He knew Harry was telling the truth.

But so what?

He simply didn’t like looking at that face.

And he had seen something else in Harry’s memories.

The mysterious voice Harry had heard...

That was not a good sign.

Most importantly, Snape had also seen Harry deliberately trying to hide the matter.

That made him even more disgusted.

Harry was just like his father—reckless, stubborn, and determined to make his own decisions regardless of the consequences.

If James and Lily had entrusted Dumbledore with everything back then, how could anything have happened to Lily?

And when Snape saw Dumbledore give him a subtle look, he understood immediately.

Dumbledore wanted him to play the villain and force Harry to reveal the truth.

Snape didn’t mind that task at all.

He rather enjoyed seeing that face suffer.

Snape let out a breath.

Then he looked at Harry maliciously.

"If I may, Headmaster, perhaps Mr. Potter and his friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"But I do wonder—why didn’t they attend the Halloween feast? Why didn’t they return to the Great Hall?"

Vesey immediately spoke up.

"Professor, my brother and the others were going to attend the Deathday Party—the one hosted by Nearly Headless Nick!"

Snape snorted.

Remembering how slowly Vesey had been eating earlier, he asked angrily,

"Then why didn’t they take you with them?"

Before Vesey could explain, Harry answered angrily,

"There were so many ghosts there. It wasn’t safe for Vesey to go. I’m not an irresponsible brother!"

Harry spoke loudly.

He had expected Snape to become furious.

But for some reason, he noticed that Snape didn’t seem particularly angry.

There was even a strange feeling that Snape seemed to approve of him.

Harry immediately dismissed the thought.

What am I thinking? Snape is obviously just trying to make things difficult for me.

And the very next second, Harry completely abandoned the idea that Snape might actually like him.

Because Snape spoke again.

There was a sneer on his lips.

"Well, what a touching brother-sister relationship. Even if you really did it for Vesey’s sake, then why didn’t you hurry back after the Deathday Party? Didn’t you know your sister was waiting for you?"

Harry opened his mouth, unable to think of an answer.

They had heard the mysterious voice and then found Mrs. Norris.

That explanation already sounded rather weak.

So he hesitated before saying,

"We were very tired and wanted to go back after the party. I thought Vesey would understand us!"

Vesey immediately nodded vigorously, pretending to understand Harry and the others.

Harry and Ron secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Maybe they could get away with it...

No.

They were overthinking it.

Snape clearly didn’t believe their lies.

He asked sinisterly,

"Weren’t you going to have dinner? I heard you didn’t eat anything at the Deathday Party. Could my information be wrong? Were you actually full after eating there?"

Harry and the others froze.

They wanted to make up an excuse and claim that they had eaten at the party.

But when they remembered the Deathday Party—the moldy food crawling with maggots—they genuinely had no idea how they were supposed to explain what they had eaten.

"We’re not hungry!"

Ron shouted.

But at that exact moment, their stomachs betrayed them with a loud growl.

His claim that they weren’t hungry instantly became a joke.

The sneer on Snape’s face grew even more pronounced.

He looked at Dumbledore.

"It’s obvious, Headmaster, that they are hiding important information. I think we should take away some of Mr. Potter’s privileges until he tells us exactly what happened.

"For example, we could ask him to quit the Quidditch team."

Just thinking about the annoyance, anger, and despair that would appear on Potter’s face if he were forced to leave the team almost made Snape laugh.

So you have your day too, Potter.

Serves you right.

He sincerely hoped Dumbledore would agree to his suggestion and force Potter to tell the truth.

But before Dumbledore could say anything, Professor McGonagall had already spoken sharply.

"Honestly, Severus! There is no evidence that this child caused Mrs. Norris’s condition simply because he was playing Quidditch!"

Snape had known she wouldn’t agree.

After all, Potter was one of McGonagall’s star students.

He simply looked at Dumbledore.

Perhaps Dumbledore’s desire to uncover the truth was strong enough that he might actually agree.