It had been several weeks since the dreaded howler, and things were starting to get back to normal. The second year work was a step up, and while Harry and Hermione were excelling at it, for the most part, Ron was being left behind. He was alright with the theory work, once he sat down to it (after a lot of pestering from Granger of course) but it was the practical work where he really struggled. Of course, working with a broken wand would do that. The spell-o-tape kept it together, but channelling magic through it was difficult. If the spell didn't fizzle entirely, it would come out wrong, or a very underpowered version of the spell.
Then there were the other students, and even some of his own siblings. Malfoy and his goons were being their usual, charming selves, with remarks such as "At least Crabbe and Goyle were smart enough to actually catch the train", or "Even they aren't clumsy enough to break their own wands". Percy was giving him the silent treatment, a nice change from the lectures he was giving up to a week ago, as if he didn't believe a howler was enough. And there was the laughter that came every time he failed to cast a spell. Apart from Harry, Hermione and oddly enough Neville, almost everyone in the class giggled or guffawed when he failed to cast even the simplest of spells.
Things were about to change for Ronald Weasley, though he didn't realise it.
"Could I have your attention please? Right, now, today we will be transforming animals into water goblets. Like so. One, two, three. Vera Verto."
McGonagall wandered around the class, correcting gestures, noting particularly well done transfigurations, and taking notes. Hermione had already managed the transformation perfectly (of course), and McGonagall was about to head over to teach her the counterspell when she saw Ronald's effort, and paused.
Ron was preparing to cast the spell on his pet rat, Scabbers, with a wand covered in Spell-o-tape. The fact that he could get the wand to work at all was miraculous. She watched as Ron tapped the rat once, twice, three times, and then incanted the spell "Vera Verto". A spasm of greenish light shot from halfway up his wand and engulfed the poor rat, which immediately changed into a furry goblet, with tail still visible and moving. Half the class began laughing, and Ron's face turned scarlet. But before McGonagall could say a word, the rat underwent a second change.
The rat-goblet began glowing and grew rapidly in size, dissolving into the shape of a man just as Harry and Ron lept backwards. He was a short, stocky man, with grubby skin, an almost rat-like pointed nose and small, watery eyes. His pale brown hair was long and unkempt, with a bald patch on top of his head. His right hand had a missing finger, and further up his arm sat the Dark Mark. McGonagall recognised him right away, despite the fact that it was impossible, despite the fact that he had been dead for several years. It was Peter Pettigrew.
The whole class stood shocked, except for one Harry Potter, who fired off an Expeliarmus before Peter could get his bearings. Getting over her shock, McGonagall followed up by conjuring rope around him before casting a variety of spells, none of which the students would recognise. A charm to prevent animagus transformation, a stunner spell, a spell cast to remove any lingering trace of Ron's transfiguration attempt, and a charm to alert Dumbledore through the castle wards, as well as a messenger patronus for Professor Snape. Work done, she asked the class to head to their dormitories, except for Harry, Ron and Hermione. The four of them waited in shocked silence for the arrival of someone who may just have the answers.
The capture of Peter Pettigrew became the subject of much discussion, in both the Daily Prophet and amongst the Staff and Students of Hogwarts. As for how it happened, Dumbledore explained it rather simply as a set of crazy coincidences. As an Animagus, Pettigrew in his rat form was, as far as magic was concerned, both human and rat. Spells that relied on him being purely rat would be harder to cast on him, as would spells relying on him being purely human. Alone, this resistance would not have been enough to cancel the transformation. Indeed, the only result should have been a furry goblet. However, when it was done using Ron's damaged wand, the spell was weakened but accompanied by a dose of raw magical energy. As the effect of the intended spell wore off, this extra energy served to pull him back to human form, a disorientating transfer to say the least. Ron was only lucky it wasn't a complete backfire, entirely possible with a damaged wand.
As for Ron, he went from laughing stock to hero, due to inflated stories of how he vanquished a dark wizard hiding as his pet. It was also enough to convince him to ask for a new wand from his parents, though he kept the old one, out of sentiment. Who knows when it will come in handy.
"So George"
"Yeah Fred"
"Did you know this would happen when we slipped him some Felix Felicis"
"How could I?"
"Just thought I'd check"