Harry Potter's Coolest Aunt

Moonlight

"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat," said Lupin evenly. "Innocent, but scared!" squealed Pettigrew. "If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban --
the spy, Sirius Black!" Black's face contorted.

"HAHAHAH A SPY FOR VOLDEMORT?" Regulus laughed " I was his death eater before I got these spells on me.... Sirius ran before he was marked to be a death eater."

" I, a spy for Voldemort?" Sirius said "When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter -- I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us... me and Remus... and James and Karan...."

Pettigrew wiped his face again; he was almost panting for breath. "Me, a spy... must be out of your mind... never... don't know how you can say such a --" "Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it, "Black hissed, so venomously that Pettigrew took a step backwards. "I thought it was the perfect plan... a bluff... Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless thing like you... It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters." Pettigrew was muttering distractedly; Harry caught words like "far-fetched" and "lunacy," but he couldn't help paying more attention to the ashen colour of Pettigrew's face and the way his eyes continued to dart toward the windows and door.

"Professor Lupin?" said Hermione timidly. "Can -- can I say something?" "Certainly, Hermione," said Lupin courteously. "Well -- Scabbers -- I mean, this -- this man -- he's been sleeping in the castle for three years. If he's working for You-Know-Who, how come he never tried to hurt Harry before now?"

"There!" said Pettigrew shrilly, pointing at Ron with his maimed hand. "Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair of Harry's head! Why should I?" "I'll tell you why," said Black. "Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort's been in hiding for fifteen years, they say he's half dead. You weren't about to commit murder right under That old coot's nose, for a wreck of a wizard who'd lost all of his power, were you? You'd want to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn't you? Why else did you find a wizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren't YOU, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him...." Pettigrew opened his mouth and closed it several times. He seemed to have lost the ability to talk.

"Er -- Mr. Black -- Sirius?" said Theo. Black jumped at being addressed like this and stared at Theo as though he had never seen anything quite like him.

"If you don't mind me asking, how -- how did you get out of Azkaban if you didn't use Dark Magic?" "Thank you!" gasped Pettigrew, nodding frantically at her. "Exactly! Precisely what I --" But Percy silenced him with a look. Black was frowning slightly at Theo, but not as though he were annoyed with him. He seemed to be pondering his answer.

"I don't know how I did it," he said slowly. "I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the dementors couldn't suck it out of me... but it kept me sane and knowing who I am... helped me keep my powers... so when it all became ... too much... I could transform in my cell... become a dog. Dementors can't see, you know...." He swallowed. "They feel their way toward people by feeding off their emotions... They could tell that my feelings were less -- less human, less complex when I was a dog... but they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand...."