Chapter 64: Finding the Truth
Somehow, Harry, Ron and I had all performed the same spell at the same moment. Snape flew through the air and hit the wall, landing on the floor unconscious.
In horror, my entire focus remained on Professor Snape. I couldn't believe what we had done. In the moment, it had felt right, but now I recognized the implications. Professor Snape was still a teacher, and he was not going to be happy when he woke up. Then Black and Lupin continued their tale.
As Black explained about seeing Pettigrew in the Prophet article from the summer and how he had cut his toe off before transforming into a rat to fake his own death, I listened more and more intently. The puzzle pieces were all slowly falling into place. It even explained why Scabbers was still alive after all these years when a normal rat would have died by now.
When Black got to the part about befriending Crookshanks, I felt conflicted. Hearing about all the things my cat had done was shocking. And Ron had been right all along. Crookshanks really had been targeting Scabbers. Whether or not Scabbers was really Pettigrew in disguise, I still owed Ron an apology.
Harry wasn't so easily convinced. His rage continued to cloud his ability to accept the story, despite the fact that it was becoming harder and harder to discredit. But if Black wanted Harry dead, Harry could be dead on the floor. There was absolutely no reason to tell such a convoluted story unless he was telling the truth. There was something here. I decided that I believed them.
In order to convince Harry and Ron, Lupin asked Ron to hand over the rat, who'd spent this entire time squirming to escape the confines of Ron's hands. Upon peering closer, I noticed that Ron's hands were littered with scratches and bites and I was impressed that he'd managed to keep his grip through it all.
Ron handed Scabbers over reluctantly and Lupin got a tight hold on him. Even as he was passed over, Scabbers started to wriggle around more frantically and squeak louder. Black took Snape's wand from the bed where it had fallen and walked towards the rat with careful steps, his eyes never leaving Lupin's hand.
Together, the two men raised their wands. There was a bright flash of light and I averted my eyes for a moment. When I turned back, in place of Scabbers there stood a short balding man with a very mousy appearance. I glanced over at Ron worriedly and flinched at the look of horror and disgust he was directing at the man. The betrayal I'd felt realizing what Crookshanks had been up to all year could be nothing to the betrayal Ron must be feeling in this moment.
As Pettigrew told his story, with the help of Black and Lupin, I watched Ron and Harry accept it as truth. I watched as Harry's anger shifted from Black and Lupin to Pettigrew, his anger perhaps even growing knowing how close Pettigrew had lived to him for the past three years.
I asked a few more questions, just trying to fill in a few of the gaps while Harry processed everything. Ron didn't even look like he was capable of speech at the moment and he just focused on his leg, trying not to look at his pet-turned-human. And then finally, Harry nodded at Black, the final acknowledgement. Permission to kill.
Pettigrew fell apart. He began to wail, to beg, to plead for his life. He appealed to Black and then to Lupin, but both kicked him aside like yesterday's garbage. He appealed to Ron, and Ron looked like he was going to be sick as he shoved the traitor away. He scrambled as far away as his broken leg would let him and then Pettigrew stumbled, falling into me.
I suddenly felt a strong sense that my personal space was being invaded and I backed away as quickly as I could until my back slammed into the wall. He pulled himself up all while gripping my robes, and suddenly his face was right in front of mine and I felt a wave of nausea build up inside me. He opened his mouth to say something and I gathered all my strength to wrench my robes out of his grasp. Without the support, he fell down again and to my relief turned away.
I took several calming breaths before I realized he was now approaching Harry. But before he could get to him, Black roared at him to get away and he and Lupin both grabbed him and shoved him unceremoniously away from Harry and onto the floor. Both men stood over them, wands pointed at him, and I could tell from the expression on his face that he knew it was over.
To my complete surprise, Pettigrew burst into tears as though he were little more than a baby. I caught Ron's eye and his face reflected my feelings of surprise. Black and Lupin had no sympathy for him, and they both moved to perform the curse together.
As both he and Black raised their wands to finish him off, I knew I didn't want to see this. As horrible as this man was, I just couldn't watch him be murdered, especially not after what had happened to Buckbeak earlier. I covered my face with my hands and turned away, hoping Pettigrew wouldn't make any noise all while fighting down the wave of nausea that was threatening to overtake me. Then Harry intervened.
As much as I didn't want to watch the murder, I couldn't understand what Harry meant by this. He had placed himself between the two men and Pettigrew, like the traitor's own personal bodyguard. But then Harry explained that he wanted Pettigrew to pay for his crimes in Azkaban, where the whole world could know what he was responsible for.
Black and Lupin glanced at each other, and then lowered their wands reluctantly, agreeing that it was Harry's choice what happened from here. Harry moved aside and cords shot out of Lupin's wand, tying Pettigrew up.
Once that was settled, the atmosphere changed and we began to assess our situation. Ron was still badly injured and couldn't walk. He would need to be brought to the hospital wing. Professor Lupin conjured some bandages, much to my relief and I made sure that they were tight and secure.
As for Professor Snape, he had to be brought back to the castle as well, but we agreed it would be best that he remain unconscious for the journey lest another fight break out. Black took the responsibility of levitating Professor Snape back through the tunnel while Ron and Lupin chained themselves to Pettigrew to ensure that he didn't escape.
I was going to protest, tell Ron not to strain himself with his leg and take his place, but his face was set and I knew there was no changing his mind when he was determined. Instead, I walked at the back of the procession with Harry, keeping an eye on him to make sure that he really was alright. A lot had happened, after all.
It took a while to return to the Hogwarts grounds. The journey back was certainly longer than the journey to the shack. I also hadn't realized how long we'd been in the shrieking shack, but I was pretty sure I'd missed my appointment with Professor McGonagall to return the time turner. The sun had already set and the moon was high in the sky, blocked only by a few stray clouds.
We started walking back towards the castle, and I was vaguely wondering whether I could be forgiven for missing my appointment because I was busy uncovering the truth of Black's past which the Ministry had failed to do twelve years ago when suddenly Lupin went stiff and Snape floated right into his back.
Before I could do anything, Black had flung his arm in front of Harry and me, and I came to an abrupt halt. I peered over Black's arm to see that Lupin was trembling and his eyes were fixed on the full moon in the sky.
I gasped, realizing what was happening. It was the reason Snape had been in his office, the reason why he saw him on the Marauder's Map and came after us. Black told us to run, but I couldn't. Ron was chained to Lupin through Pettigrew and unable to do much with his injured leg. Harry seemed to have had the same thought, because he made to go help him, but Black stopped him again. He transformed into his Animagus form and jumped at the werewolf.
Somehow, during the transformation, the werewolf had gotten itself free of the manacle binding him to the other two and Black pulled him away from Pettigrew and Ron, giving them the chance to get away.
I took a step towards them with the intention of helping Ron to get away from the werewolf when Pettigrew suddenly reached down and grabbed Lupin's discarded wand from the ground. Ron toppled over, unable to balance on his own and I screamed. There was a burst of light then, and Ron was motionless.
Harry screamed the incantation for the disarming charm, pointing his wand at Pettigrew. Lupin's wand flew out of his hand, but it didn't matter. Pettigrew had transformed and was scampering away faster than any of us could follow him.
Harry screamed something at Sirius, but I wasn't paying attention. I ran to where Ron lay and shook him in the hopes that he would wake, but he didn't. I was petrified. I didn't know what to do. Too much was going on, I didn't know what or where was safe to be, and I was terrified that Ron wasn't going to wake.
Harry fell to his knees on Ron's other side and tried to help me wake him, but it was no use. I reached for his wrist and tried to feel for a pulse, but my heart was beating so rapidly that I couldn't tell if I was feeling his heart beating or whether it was just my own. Then there was a loud moan and Harry's head snapped up, recognizing it as Sirius. In a flash, he ran in the direction of the howling.
I was torn. I didn't want to leave an unconscious Ron alone here with only an unconscious Snape to protect him, but at the moment Harry was in more danger than Ron was. With dread in my heart, I raced after Harry, hoping I wasn't already too late.
Black was lying on the ground at the edge of the lake. There was no sign of the werewolf, but he was surrounded by dementors. Dementors that, I realized, had direct orders to give Black the kiss on sight.
Harry screamed at me to think of something happy as he raised his wand. I didn't know why, but I copied him and wracked my brain for a happy thought. Ron was unconscious... he might die... the dementors were coming and Harry and I might die too... my parents were afraid of me... Professor McGonagall was going to be so mad at me when she saw me next... I'd betrayed her confidence all year... I'd been alone all year... Harry and Ron probably still hated me for everything, especially now...
Harry was yelling something and I tried to focus on the sound of his voice.
I remembered what I was supposed to be doing and raised my wand, which had fallen to my side. I tried to copy the spell Harry was doing, but I was unfamiliar with it and the despair was closing in around me. I fell to my knees. I was supposed to be thinking of something happy, I remembered, but I just couldn't. Not with all the dementors around.
"LOOK AT WHAT YOUR CAT DID HERMIONE" Ron cried, brandishing a bloodstained sheet in my face. As the sheet waved in front of me, the bloodstain grew bigger and bigger until the sheet was completely red, blood dripping onto the floor. "LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"
"N-no, I didn't..." I tried to say, but Ron kept going.
"YOU'VE NEVER CARED ABOUT SCABBERS, YOU HATE SCABBERS. I BET YOU'RE GLAD HE'S DEAD!" Ron screamed at me, his face morphing into that of his rat.
"YOU ALWAYS HATED ME. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? ARE YOU? ARE YOU?" the rat asked as tears began streaming down my face.
The face morphed back to Ron's as he threw the sheet aside. "I BET YOU WISH I WAS DEAD TOO!" he cried. "TOO BAD YOUR CAT ISN'T BIG ENOUGH TO EAT ME, HUH?"
The tears became more forceful now as I denied this new accusation.
"YOU NEVER LIKED SCABBERS AND YOU NEVER LIKED ME," Ron shouted. "WELL SCABBERS IS GONE NOW, WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT?"
I tried to tell him I never wanted Scabbers to die, but the words wouldn't come.
"I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT. YOU WANT TO GET RID OF ME TOO, RIGHT? WELL NO PROBLEM, YOU WON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH ME ANYMORE," Ron cried. "WE'RE NOT FRIENDS ANYMORE. DID YOU HEAR ME? I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU OR TALK TO YOU AGAIN. I HATE YOU!"
