Chapter 15.0

Percy


Harry let out a small choking sound, and the man on the floor whimpered. He turned to Lupin, who snapped back to look at him.

"Remus, you're my friend. You know I'm innocent." Pettigrew whimpered, crawling towards him while begging. Remus looked disgusted, and yelled at him.

"We're not friends! You betrayed me, you betrayed Lily and James! You turned us all against Sirius, who told us all those years ago he was innocent! I hate you, I hate you!" Percy kept a firm grip on the older man, who had furious tears in his eyes. The Professors looked horrified, and Snape was looking as furious as Lupin.

"Snape, don't do anything rash. You hear me, you old slimeball?" Snape glared at him, and Percy could imagine he heard the sound of Snape gritting his teeth.

"What the hell is going on here!" Harry yelled, and they all turned to him. Pettigrew took the chance to try to escape, but Dumbledore stepped in front of Harry. His face was cold, furious in a way he'd never seen the man.

"Peter Pettigrew. You sold out your sworn friends, Lily and James Potter, to Voldemort. You framed another of your sworn friends, who spent years in Azkaban as an innocent man. You orphaned the boy standing behind me. You are no longer the quiet student who once attended this school, you are vile in ways I would not bother naming. You will not be leaving." Pettigrew whimpered, then lunged forward. Stunning spells shone in the air all around, but he turned into a rat and vanished into the hall. Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout had both been Stunned, but the rest of them thundered into the hall in pursuit. After two hours of searching, they met back at the staff room.

"We placed wards around the school that prevent him from leaving." Said Flitwick, who had recovered from the Stunner well over an hour ago.

"We need to find Sirius." Lupin said, "We didn't believe him for all these years, he's been living in hell for twelve years." Head bobs all around, but Harry was strangely quiet. It seemed he was trying to process everything, still. Percy didn't blame him, it takes some time to get used to utter madness. And that's exactly what this situation was.

"As we currently have no proof that Pettigrew is alive, and thus Sirius is innocent, we cannot expect help from the Ministry. We will concentrate our efforts on finding Pettigrew before we find Sirius." Lupin relented, and the Professors began to talk strategy. Percy took Harry, and led him to the Common Room. Inside, Ron and Hermione were waiting. Percy quickly explained what had happened, and if it weren't for the look on Harry's face, they might not have believed him.

"I swear on the Styx, it's all true, Ron. I'm sorry, but we need your help. You know your rat the best, where would he hide?" Percy said, looking at Ron.

Ron had been horrified by the revelation, but Percy thought having a goal would help him move forward. He was right, Ron started making a list of possible places with inspiration. Harry and Hermione helped, as they knew more about the castle than Ron did. Percy left, to go warn the house elves.

Soon it was time for the second Quidditch match of the year. School had continued as normal, and the only visible difference was the occasional poster asking for information on a lost pet rat. Rumors about Percy's sanity had grown increasingly, but Percy found it utterly hilarious.

"Hey, Jackson! What's a mad bloke like you doing here? This isn't an asylum, you should run back to America! You could snap your wand and join the Muggles while you're at it!" Malfoy called out, as they were entering the Great Hall. Aeto snarled, and his friends drew their wands. Percy started laughing.

"Oh you bet I'm crazy! And this place is just as mad, it'll do for an asylum! Thanks for the laugh, slimy snake!" Still laughing, he and his friends went to their table. Aeto cuddled him reassuringly, but Percy was wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. Hermione was disapproving, Ron and Harry were still furious at Malfoy.

"You guys need to chill out. They can say what they want, we just don't give them the reaction they want. Honestly, being called crazy is nothing. My girlfriend calls me 'Seaweed Brain' more often than my own name, and she loves me. Name-calling doesn't bother me at all." Hermione was still irritated, but Harry and Ron laughed at "Seaweed Brain".

"I still think it's wrong, Percy. And I don't think you're crazy, and neither do Harry or Ron." Hermione shifted a little as she finished, and by the look on Ron's face, she'd stomped on his foot. Percy smothered a snicker, trying to pretend he hadn't seen it.

"Yeah, you might be a little thick, but not crazy." Percy laughed at that, then explained what "thicc" means in American. Ron looked horrified, but Harry and Hermione joined him as he laughed. Fred and George walked past, and Percy discreetly slipped a piece of parchment into George's pocket. George gave a slight nod, and Percy's friends hadn't seen a thing.

The weather was clear, and the whole team was excited. Oliver had even gotten over his depression from losing the last match, bellowing inspiration to his team. They were soon in the air, and the Ravenclaw Chasers were fast. Percy loved the challenge, showing his best flying yet. He was hit by a Bludger, but hooked his legs around his broom, and scored an upside down goal. The cheers were deafening, and the game was in Gryffindor's favor.

There were shouts as Harry and the Ravenclaw Seeker both saw the Snitch, but they were shouts of horror. Looking down, Percy saw two dementors standing in the field. He drew his wand, and saw Harry doing the same.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" they both roared in unison, and two massive silver animals shot from their wands. Percy watched in awe as his silver pegasus dove towards the dementors, who had…. gotten tangled in their cloaks?

Harry's deer arrived at the same time as the pegasus, and they disappeared after charging the dementors. Cheers rang out as Harry caught the Snitch, and Percy joined his teammates as they gave him a massive pile up hug mid air. When they landed on the pitch, Lupin was waiting for them with a smile.

"Those were some impressive Patronuses." Harry and Percy high-fived, grinning. Dumbledore walked forward as well, also smiling.

"Quite some Patronuses indeed. I've never seen a pegasus myself, and a stag is quite an impressive Patronus Harry." Harry blinked, and Percy laughed.

"He didn't even see his own Patronus, he was too busy winning the game!" Harry grinned sheepishly, and Lupin laughed.

"What happened to the dementors, Professors?" Harry asked, and Percy looked for himself. He was then beside himself with laughter, looking at Malfoy stuck in the robes.

"There was no dementor, after all. You gave Mr. Malfoy and his friends quite a scare, you two." Dumbledore said, and Harry joined a wheezing Percy in laughter. Oliver and the rest of their teammates went with a crowd of celebrating Gryffindors to their Common Room.

Percy heard from Fred and George that Malfoy and his goons lost twenty points each, and had detentions. Everyone cheered at that, and Percy joined the twins as they went through the secret passage to bring back butterbeer.


You would not believe how many times I re-wrote this chapter. This chapter is why it took me longer than usual to upload, and I'm sorry for the delay. I needed to think about how this should end, how I wanted the story to go. As always, input is welcome. I can't grow without criticism. Thank you all for reading.