Chapter 14.0

Percy


Christmas morning, Ron woke him with his enthusiasm. There was a smile pile of presents on the foot of his bed, and the other three boys had similar piles. Percy had given Harry a little toy Snitch that would let him practice catching it; he gave Ron a bunch of rat tonic and a care kit; he had given Hermione a bunch of colored ink for notes.

He received his usual cobalt sweater, a book on unicorns from Harry, a box of Sugar Quills from Ron, and all three of them had gotten a homework planner from Hermione. What really grabbed their attention was Harry's unexpected present, a Firebolt. They gawked at it, and Harry searched for a tag. Finding none, Ron began to speculate who sent it.

"Maybe Lupin? Everyone knows you're his favorite." That was immediately dismissed, Lupin wouldn't spend that kind of money on gifts when his robes had patches. Dumbledore was also guessed, but also dismissed. The Cloak had been rightfully his, the broom was different.

They went down to breakfast, wearing casual clothes like they always did during break. Percy and Harry wore their Christmas sweaters, and Ron wore a striped shirt. They met Hermione in the Great Hall, and they told her about the Firebolt. She frowned, which was an unexpected reaction.

"Harry, you said there was no tag, right?" Harry nodded, and Percy facepalmed.

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that sooner?" Harry and Ron looked confused, but Hermione nodded.

"It might be from Black." Harry and Ron laughed, but stopped when they saw how serious they were.

"Someone I thought was my friend gave me a pair of magical shoes once. Don't laugh, it's true. Little did I know they were cursed to drag me to my death." They looked horrified, and they seemed to take it seriously.

"As I'm still right here, you probably guessed it didn't work. Lucky for me, I let my friend Grover wear them. His feet were too small, and they slipped off. He's fine, but paranoid old me doesn't trust gifts anymore." Harry agreed to take it to Professor Mcgonagall, who agreed to look it over.

"I'm proud of you for bringing this to me, Potter. That shows real responsibility, Dumbledore was right to let you know what was happening." Harry was a little upset by the loss of his broom, but the other three soon cheered him up with a game of Gobstones.

Winter break was soon over, and they had their first anti-dementor lesson. They went to Professor Lupin's office, and he was waiting for them by the door.

"We're going to find a practice dummy, you two. Follow me." Professor Lupin stode off, and they followed him to an empty classroom.

"There's a boggart in the far cabinet, Filch found it during his winter break cleaning spree. Harry's boggart is a dementor, ao we can use it as practice. Now, you are going to be learning the Patronus Charm, which is incredibly advanced. Don't worry if you can't manage it, many adult wizards can't. The goal is to create a kind of guardian, made of happy memories and warm thoughts. You focus on your happiest memory, and the incantation is 'expecto patronum'." They repeated the phrase back, and Lupin nodded.

Percy thought about what his happiest memory would be, and decided on the underwater kiss.

"Are you ready?" Lupin asked, and the two nodded. He opened the cabinet, and Harry's dementor climbed out. Harry and Percy telled the incantation at the same time, and silver burst from their wands. Harry's was a silver cloud, and Percy had a blurred animal in front of him. It was large, and four-legged. It vanished, as did Harry's cloud. They both stumbled from the dementor's cold aura. Lupin stepped forward, and boggart became his white orb- no a full moon, and went back into the cabinet. He turned to them with a smile.

"Well done, you two! That was fantastic for the first time, and you almost had it Percy! You chose a strong memory, you just have to work on focus and spellcasting. Harry, you managed to focus, but your memory wasn't strong enough. Absolutely splendid for the first time." He gave them slabs of chocolate, and they both left feeling optimistic.

The next Hogsmeade trip had arrived, and Percy decided he was going to go. Not through the dementors, but through one of the secret passages. As he made his way there, he froze. What was he thinking? He rushed to the Common Room, and found the twins.

"Fred, George. Sorry, but I need that map. I'll try to give it back if I can, just trust me." The two twins looked at each other, then handed him the paper.

"Don't worry, little Triplet. We trust you. We know all the passages by now, but the location thing sure is handy. Try to bring it back." Percy nodded and ran to the dungeons, leaping from staircase to staircase. Students yelled in shock as he vaulted past, but he didn't care. He was in a hurry, and this was the fastest and most fun route. He skidded into Snape's office, starting the older man.

"Snape! I've got something that'll help with the Black thing. I brought it here because you're the only one who thinks Lupin is suspicious." Snape gestured to the chair in front of his desk, and Percy sat. He pulled out the map, and set it on the desk.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." He said, tapping it with his wand. The map appeared, and Snape's eyes widened.

"Percy. There are passages marked here we didn't know about. Who made this?" Percy pointed at the names of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. Snape's face twisted with fury.

"Those were their nicknames, the names Black and his friends gave each other. This was made by them! Lupin knew about these passages, but didn't tell us that Black knew!" Percy suddenly sat up straight.

"Snape. Look." He pointed at a small dot in Gryffindor Tower, at the name. The name Peter Pettigrew.

"What in blazes does that mean?" Snape asked, and Percy shushed him.

"We might have everything wrong! Listen, just listen. Black knew the end of term feast was that day, he knew because he was a Hogwarts student! He knew Gryffindor Tower would be empty, but he went anyway. Look at the names, Moony Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs. Moony is Lupin, the werewolf. What are the other's names, Snape?" Snape frowned, but answered.

"Potter was Prongs, Pettigrew was Wormtail, and Black Padfoot. Why?"

"The name is next to Ron, who has a rat. A rat missing a toe! That dot is next to Ron, and we know Pettigrew is missing a finger. His name was Wormtail, Snape! What if they were all Animagi?" Snape frowned, but wasn't contradicting him.

"That would explain how he escaped the dementors, animals aren't as affected. Then, this whole time, he's been innocent. We need to get that rat, Percy. That would clear all this up." They left the office quickly, and soon they were at Gryffindor Tower.

They opened the door, only to find Harry sitting alone. He stood when he saw them, but they left as quickly as they came. They rushed to the entrance, only to find the last few students leaving for Hogsmeade. They rushed out the doors, and ran after them.

They found Ron and Hermione, and they gaped at the sight of Percy and Snape running at them. "Ron, stop!" He yelled, and soon they were beside them. Snape was breathing heavily, but Percy had hardly broken a sweat at Snape's pace.

"What's up, Percy?" Percy held up a hand, and Snape got over his fit.

"Ron, hand me Scabbers. Trust me." Ron pulled the rat from his pocket, and the rat was struggling violently. Percy took the rat firmly, and it bit him. He held on, hand bleeding.

"Listen, Peter. If you don't want to die, you'd better play nice. Snape, please Stun him or something." Snape shot a red Stunning spell at the rat, and Ron cried out in shock.

"What're you doing?!" He yelled, but Percy glared at him.

"Ron, trust me. This could change everything!" Snape and Percy ran to the school, and Percy called up to Sir Nick.

"Sir Nick, can you get all the teachers to the staff room? It's incredibly important!" Sir Nick looked at Snape, who was bent over and panting, and nodded. He left, and Percy and Snape continued to the staff room. Snape Transfigured a cage from a chair, and Percy placed the Stunned rat inside. Snape looked at closely, and swore when he saw the missing toe. Soon, Dumbledore, Mcgonagall, Flitwick, Lupin, and Sprout were assembled in the room.

"What's the emergency, Severus?" Asked Dumbledore, and Percy pulled the parchment from his pocket. Lupin gave a little gasp at the sight, but hid it well.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." He said, tapping it with his wand. He set it on a table for them to see, and they raised eyebrows at the sight. Lupin, however, gasped.

"How can this be!" He asked, aghast. Percy pointed at the rat in the cage.

"Would you care to explain, Percy?" Professor Mcgonagall asked, and Snape stepped forward.

"I need you all to be ready. Dumbledore, would you please help me in the spell that turns an Animagi back to his original state? The rest of you be ready if he tries anything." They looked a little confused, but nodded grimly. Dumbledore stepped beside Snape, and Percy opened the cage. The two wizards yelled a spell, and the rat was lifted by a glow. Then, with a flash of light, Peter Pettigrew was before them. Lupin roared with rage, and Percy restrained him.

"You! You killed Lily and James! You scum, I'll kill you!" He roared, but Percy held firm. The Professors forgot their shock, and drew their wands. Then, an odd sound made Percy look to the door. Lupin followed his gaze, and stopped struggling.

Harry stood in the door, horrified.