Magic? || Years 1-5

Peter Pettigrew: Year 3

"Look, Scabbers probably had a fight with another rat or something! He's been in my family for ages, right -- " Ron started.

"Twelve years, in fact. Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?" Lupin pointed out.

"We -- we've been taking good care of him!" Ron protested though the falter in his voice gave way to his doubts.

"Not looking too good at this moment, though, is he? I'd guess he's been losing weight ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose again..." Lupin replied.

"He's been scared of that mad cat!" Ron argued, glaring at Crookshanks, who was purring on the bed.

"This cat isn't mad. He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognized Peter for what he was right away. And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It was a while before he trusted me... Finally, I managed to communicate to him what I was after, and he's been helping me..." Black croaked.

"What do you mean?" Hermione couldn't believe her ears.

"He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn't... so he stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me... As I understand it, he took them from a boy's bedside..." He replied. Neville. "But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it... This cat -- Crookshanks, did you call him? -- told me Peter had left blood on the sheets... I supposed he bit himself... Well, faking his own death had worked once..."

"And why did he fake his death? Because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed my parents!" Harry shouted furiously.

"No, Harry -- " Lupin started.

"And now you've come to finish him off!" Harry went on as if there hadn't been any interruption.

"Yes, I have," Black agreed, glaring fixedly at Scabbers.

"Then I should've let Snape take you!" Harry shouted.

"Harry, don't you see? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down -- but it was the other way around, don't you see? Peter betrayed your mother and father -- Sirius tracked Peter down -- " Lupin started once more.

"THAT'S NOT TRUE! HE WAS THEIR SECRET-KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU TURNED UP. HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!" Harry was verging on screaming, pointing at Black with such a fire in his eyes Amisty was surprised the house hadn't caught spark.

"Harry... I as good as killed them. I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me... I'm to blame, I know it... The night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was scared. I set out for your parents' house straightaway. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies... I realized what Peter must've done... what I'd done..." Black's voice broke and he trailed off, not facing them.

"Enough of this. There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat," Lupin's voice had grown hard.

"What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?" Ron asked distractedly.

"Force him to show himself. If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him," Lupin replied calmly.

Ron hesitated, eyes shielded, and then he handed over the rat. The second Scabbers touched his grasp, he was squeaking and squirming even more than he had before.

"Ready, Sirius?" Lupin asked lowly.

Black was already ahead of him, picking up Snape's discarded wand from the bed. His eyes, though still damp, were harder, angrier.