21. Meet the Press

"This is the entrance to the holding cells at the Ministry. Jailer Bailey, please notify Director Bones that we've returned. She wanted to be here when we do this. Now, if you four will follow us, we'll just head down the hall to a cell we've already prepared."

Ron was starting to get very frightened. Evidently he thought he'd done something wrong and they were going to put him and Harry in jail.

"I'm sorry Dad. Whatever it is you think I did, I don't deserve to go to prison."

"Relax son. You've done nothing wrong. We are just trying to confirm the identity of the rat."

With those words, the teen visibly relaxed. They were standing outside a cell waiting for the Director to arrive. She was there very quickly and introduced herself to Ron. He was extremely polite to her, still not sure if he wasn't in trouble.

"Dawlish, have you confirmed this cell has the proper wards on it?"

"Yes Director. I also have a pair of magic suppressing manacles to attach for additional security."

"Well, let's get on with it." They all trooped inside and the door was secured. She took a deep breath, "Is everybody ready?" After nods all around, "Very well, Tonks, release the rat."

Tonks opened the cage and the rat scurried out trying to find a hole to crawl through. They had ensured the cell was absolutely escape proof. The Director then asked Auror Dawlish to perform the revealing charm. He pointed his wand at the rat and uttered "Animagus Reveleo."

Where there was once a rat, a little mouse of a man laid.

"What happened to my rat? Who's this man?"

Remus answered, "This is Peter Pettigrew."

"Dawlish, put the manacles on the prisoner." They watched the Auror do as directed.

"But he's dead! Sirius Black killed him!" yelled Ron.

"No, we just thought he did, but I think we'll leave it for the rat to explain," said Remus.

Peter tried to come over to Remus, "Remus, my dear dear friend. It's so good to see you again."

Remus tried to kick the rat-man away, "You're no friend of mine. You killed two of my best friends and then set up the other one to suffer for your crime."

He then turned to Harry, "Harry! You look so much like James, but you've got your mother's eyes. Surely you believe me."

"You killed my parents. I want nothing to do with you."

"Ron. I've been your faithful companion for years. Don't you believe me?"

"You've been living in my house! In my dorm even!" Ron moved back in horror.

The Director moved over to the door, "Jailer Bailey, please notify the Minister that we require his presence immediately."

"Of course Director."

Peter had continued his begging until Dawlish put a silencing spell on him. "It is in your best interest to not say anything more."

After a few minutes wait, the guy with the green bowler hat that Harry and Ron had seen in Hagrid's hut a few months ago walked in.

"What's all of this nonsense about a high risk prisoner being caught, Amelia? Have you finally caught Sirius Black?"

"No, Minister. We have caught Peter Pettigrew," said Director Bones.

"But that's impossible! Peter Pettigrew is dead."

"Dawlish, please remove your silencing spell."

Once that was done, Amelia asked, "Please state your name."

"SSSScabbers."

"Your HUMAN name."

"PPPPeter PPPettigrew.

"Did you betray James and Lily Potter to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

"Yyyesss. But you have to understand, he made me!"

"How did this happen?" asked the Minister.

Remus answered this question, "Peter is an unregistered animagus. His form is a rat. He has spent the time since his supposed death posing as a pet to the Weasley family."

"How did you discover this?"

"When the Weasleys had their picture on the front page of the Daily Prophet a few weeks ago the rat was perched on young Ron's shoulder. I would know that rat anywhere."

"Then Sirius Black is innocent?" the Minister paled.

"Yes, Minister, it appears so," replied Director Bones.

"Summon the Dementors and have them take this man to Azkaban!" stated Fudge.

"No. Not this time. This man will not leave Ministry custody until he has had a fair trial with the use of Veritaserum," stated Director Bones emphatically.

"Yes, yes, I suppose you are right. What should we do now? Sirius Black is missing."

"First, Minister, I suggest you remove the 'Kiss on Sight' order. Then I suggest you go to the news people and let them know that we have captured Peter Pettigrew and that Sirius Black is given immunity from capture if he willingly turns himself in. Finally, I recommend you convene the Wizengamot as soon as possible to provide Mr. Pettigrew a fair trial before we give him to the Dementors to Kiss," said Director Bones. With that last pronouncement, Pettigrew fainted.

Remus asked one more thing, "Before we go further, I would like for you to check his left forearm for a Death Eater mark."

Dawlish yanked up the offending sleeve and there, for everyone to see, was the mark of Voldemort. At this, Minister Fudge wanted to faint.

"Yes, Amelia. I will notify Azkaban immediately to remove the order and I will tell them they are no longer needed to guard Hogwarts this year."

Remus interrupted, "You were going to have Dementors guarding Hogwarts? Are you insane Minister?"

"No need to get nasty, now, is there?" Fudge said. Remus just gaped at him.

"I will have my assistant summon the news members for an announcement at four. I would ask all of you to be present since you had a hand in his capture. I do not want Pettigrew paraded before the crowd. We can't risk him getting loose again. Have the jail photographer provide a copy of his photograph for distribution."

"Of course, Minister. We have placed manacles on him which prevent him from transforming into his rat form and this cell is warded as well. We will be putting manacles on his legs for additional insurance," said Director Bones.

With that, the group left the cell. Director Bones gave specific orders to the jail staff concerning Pettigrew's treatment. No one other than the Director and Auror Dawlish were allowed to move the prisoner. Auror Trainee Tonks was allowed access in the company of either the Director or Dawlish. Once the jail photographer had his picture, a copy was to be made available to the Minister's office immediately. While Director Bones was talking, Tonks sidled up to Harry, "Wotcher, Harry! I hear I might be getting a little brother. Do you know anything about that?"

Harry smiled, "I heard I might be getting a big sister. We're still working things out. I haven't had a chance to get with your parents since the reading of the will."

"Hope to see you soon then."

The group headed up to the Minister's office. Arthur wanted to bring his whole family to the announcement so he floo'd back to the Leaky Cauldron to gather them and Hermione up. Tea was brought up for them all while they waited for the press conference to begin. Ron was still baffled with everything that had happened.

"Harry, did you know about this?"

"I knew they suspected him but there was no way to tell until we had him captured."

"Why didn't you tell me? I slept with that, that killer last night!?"

"We didn't want to tip the rat off that we suspected anything. It was brilliant when you said you needed to take him to the Magical Menagerie."

Remus walked over, "How are you two doing?"

"I'm glad this worked out like we hoped, but Ron's a bit put out we didn't let him in on the plan."

Remus sat down in front of Ron, "Don't blame Harry for this. We needed to keep as few people involved as possible. If there had been any hint that we had a plan to capture him, he could have gotten away. Did you see how that cat came after him? I think he knew there was something off about the rat. If you need to blame someone for keeping secrets, blame me."

"No, I guess it's OK. I was just surprised. What happens now? Will I have to go to court or something?"

"I don't know. It may be that your father's testimony about how the rat came to join your family will be all that's needed. Rest assured you have absolutely no blame in this. If I hadn't seen that picture of your family in Egypt, he would probably still be free."

Arthur, Molly and the rest of the Weasleys along with Hermione entered at that point and the volume in the room rose exponentially.

Arthur spoke up, "Kids! Keep it down! You are in the Minister for Magic's office!"

With that admonishment the volume dropped to a dull roar. The Minister came out of his office then and approached Arthur, "And who do we have here?"

"This is my son Percy. He is in his last year at Hogwarts and is the Head Boy." Percy shook the Minister's hand proudly.

"These two are the twins, Fred and George. They are in their fifth year." The twins puffed up their chests in a good imitation of Percy,

"So happy to meet you Minister," said Fred (or was it George?).

"Good day Minister," chimed in George (or was it Fred?).

"Yes, Yes."

"My son Ronald whom you met downstairs. He is in his third year along with Harry Potter."

Ron was still a bit shaky but took the Minister's proffered hand.

"This is Ronald and Harry's friend, Hermione Granger."

"Miss Granger." She took the Minister's hand.

"My youngest child, Ginevra."

She also took the Minister's hand.

"I'm not sure if you remember my wife, Molly."

"Of course! So good to see you again, Molly."

"You too Minister."

"Well, shall we all go up to the Atrium? Arthur, if you and Remus would stand on either side of me with your family off to the left behind you. Harry, if you'd stand with us too. I'll also have Amelia with us."

Harry's eyes narrowed and hands clenched into fists. He knew the Minister was using his fame as a bonus chip for the papers to make the Minister look better.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Remus whispered.

"I'm being used for a publicity stunt again."

"It won't be long and it's worth it to get Sirius cleared. Just remind yourself of that."

"Minister, I would also like for Ronald to stand with us as it was his rat," said Remus.

"Oh yes. Certainly!"

Harry felt a bit better at that. Ron deserved to get a little recognition for this.

The group trooped to the lifts and set off for the atrium. They had hastily set up a platform for the Minister and his entourage. A crowd had gathered hoping to be in on whatever big announcement the Minister had (in reality, it was a crowd of Ministry employees hastily gathered to provide a ready-made audience). There were several people in the front row that appeared to be members of the press. The Minister cast a Sonorus charm and began speaking:

Thank you! Thank you! I have a brief announcement to make, but first let me introduce you to the people standing with me. On my right are Harry Potter and Remus Lupin, a professor at Hogwarts. On my left are Arthur Weasley from the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office and his son Ronald, and Amelia Bones, the Director of Magical Law Enforcement. Behind Arthur are members of his family. Earlier today, a combined effort of these people resulted in the capture and imprisonment of Peter Pettigrew.

There were shouts all through the Atrium of "But he's dead!", "How can this be?" "Did someone resurrect him?"

Quiet please. All will be explained to you shortly. Remus recognized the traitor Peter Pettigrew in a photograph of the Weasley family in the Daily Prophet several weeks ago. He then came to Director Bones with his suspicions. Remus was a friend of Pettigrew as well as Sirius Black and James Potter. He was aware that Mr. Pettigrew was an unregistered animagus whose form is a rat. Realizing that Pettigrew was still alive, he and Mr. Potter came to Director Bones with his discovery. Due to the fact the Weasleys were out of the country at the time, the Director was unable to make an immediate arrest. This morning, with the assistance of Arthur, his son Ronald, Harry and Remus, the DMLE was able to capture the rat, er man, and bring it to the Ministry where the animagus revealing charm was cast, forcing Pettigrew to resume his human form. After verifying his name, the DMLE verified that Pettigrew was marked with the Dark Mark.

Gasps were heard throughout the audience.

I am requesting the Wizengamot to convene on Sunday in order to try Peter Pettigrew for the murder of James and Lily Potter by revealing their location to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the murder of thirteen muggles in his attempt to avoid prosecution. In addition, the charge of being an unregistered animagus will be added. I have rescinded the Kiss on Sight order for Sirius Black and ask that he turn himself in so that we may give him a proper trial. We are granting him immunity from capture if he does so. It remains to be determined his guilt or innocence in this matter. Now, I'll entertain any questions you may have.

"Why weren't we told of this activity beforehand?" asked one person.

"What's going to happened to Sirius Black when he's cleared?" asked another.

"How long was Pettigrew with the Weasleys?" still another.

"One at a time please. Miss Skeeter, please ask your question.

A witch with blond hair, glasses lined with precious stones and a green robe responded, "How long was Pettigrew with the Weasleys?"

"Arthur?"

"I believe he joined us about twelve years ago. My son Percy found him and realized he was more than just your ordinary garden rat. We've kept him ever since. When my son Ronald started Hogwarts two years ago, Percy passed the rat to him to keep as a pet."

The minister pointed to a man with blond hair and yellow robes, "Mr. Lovegood?"

"Yes, thank you. Mr. Potter, how do you feel having slept with the betrayer of your parents for the last two years?"

"Creepy." The audience chuckled at that.

"Mr. Wilding,"

"Why did the wards at Hogwarts allow an animagus to live in the castle?"

"I believe we are going to have to ask Albus Dumbledore that question but I understand that at least one professor, Minerva McGonagall, is an animagus and uses this as a teaching example for her classes."

"Minister, you mentioned that you wanted to bring in Sirius Black in order to give him a proper trial. Did he not have one when he was sent to Azkaban," asked Rita Skeeter.

"Ah, Amelia?"

"No he did not. I researched his case after Mr. Lupin brought his information to me and discovered there was no record of a trial."

"Who signed the order to send Mr. Black to Azkaban?" asked Mr. Wilding.

"According to the records, the order was signed by Bartemius Crouch, Albus Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge."

Again, a loud murmur cascaded across the audience. Another witch raised her hand.

"Madam Abbott?"

"Minister, how will the Ministry compensate Sirius Black for his time in Azkaban?"

"That will be for the Wizengamot to determine."

Rita asked, "Will you all be available for interviews after this?"

"Not at this time. We will see if the group wants to answer further questions after we have this all sorted out."

"Now, are there any more questions?" Nobody raised a hand, "Very well. Thank you for coming."

Everyone started rushing back to their offices in the Ministry or back to their offices at their news outlets. The Weasleys, Harry, Remus and Hermione moved off the platform and to a corner. Director Bones walked over to them, "Thank you all for your help. Remus, Arthur, we'll need you to be available to testify to what happened. I don't think we'll need any of your children to testify, but please feel free to bring them to the trial since Pettigrew has been living with them. It should be a relatively short trial once we give him the Veritaserum. I don't think I need to ask you what sentence you would like handed down."

"No," said Remus and Harry together.

"Again, thank you for your help. I will be in contact if anything else comes up. You are all at the Leaky Cauldron now, correct?"

There was a nod of assent by everyone present. The group lined up at one of the floos and traveled back to the Leaky Cauldron.