A/N: I don't own Harry Potter. In this chapter, Harry does some research and realizes something is off about Scabbers. So he contacts Madam Bones.
It was October 30th and Harry Potter was reading. There was something wrong about Sirius Black, he had been friends with his parent's so why would he betray them? And then there was what he had heard, Peter Pettigrew's finger had been found, but nothing else. He had tried talking to Hermione, but she had just told him not to worry and just focus on his homework.
But, there were just things that didn't add up. So, Harry had decided to do some more research, so that was why he was in the library and found a book that explained magical protections and he quickly found the Fidelius charm, after reading about the charm, he learned that, the secret keeper couldn't be changed to another person after it was cast. This begged the question; did Sirius even have a trial? If they had changed Secret Keepers before it was cast, they could have changed to Peter, and if HE had betrayed them, cut off his own finger, and faked his death, transforming into an animgus form, and gone into hiding. And he had a suspicion which family he had been hiding out with too; Scabbers was old, too old, even for a magical rat. Harry knew from primary school that rats lived short lives, a year at most, and he was missing a toe. Only one of Pettigrew's fingers had been found after the muggles had been killed.
"Hi Harry."
The voice made Harry jump. Turning, he saw it was Ron's little sister, Ginny. The two had been developing a friendship since the summer when Harry had been talking to her about her experiences the year before. "Oh, hi Ginny."
"What are you reading?"
"It's about the Fidelius Charm, I'm starting to think Sirius is innocent." After telling her what he had found, she nodded. "That makes sense; and I've never told anyone this before, but I've found Scabbers hiding in my room before, I also caught him in the bathroom a couple times while I was taking a shower.
Harry scowled, "Well, who would I talk to about this?"
"Amelia Bones, she's Susan's Aunt, she's the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Susan would probably send her a letter if you asked."
Harry nodded, "I'll do that, thanks Ginny."
She gave him a beaming smile in return. "You're welcome Harry."
After writing the letter Harry went to Herbology, which he happened to share with the Hufflepuffs, who counted among them, Susan Bones. After class Harry called her, "Susan!"
She turned, "Oh, Harry. Can I help you?"
"Yes, I am hoping you would be willing to send this to your Aunt Amelia."
Susan raised an eyebrow, but nodded, "Sure, I'll head to the Owlery and send it right now."
Harry smiled, "Thanks Susan, I really appreciate this."
She nodded, "You're welcome, Harry." With that she left and headed to the Owlery.
Home of Amelia and Susan Bones
Amelia Bones had just returned from a long day at the Ministry and found an owl from Hogwarts sitting on the table. After giving the owl a treat she opened the letter that the owl had been carrying.
"Hi Auntie,
I got a surprise today, Harry Potter asked me to pass along a letter to you. It is enclosed.
Talk to you soon,
Susan."
Amelia was surprised, a letter from Harry Potter? Curious she pulled the other letter out and unfolded it.
"Madam Bones,
I am Harry Potter and I have been doing some research into Sirius Black. Now I have not encountered him yet, but what I have learned has led me to believe that he is innocent. I believe that my parents, James and Lily Potter, changed secret keepers and Peter Pettigrew is actually the one who betrayed my parents to Voldemort. You are asking how I came to this conclusion. Well as you may know the Fidelius charm was used by my parents to hide. I believe that Peter shouted that the Sirius betrayed my parents, and then transformed into his animagus form to escape. Here is how I came to this conclusion, one of my friends, Ron Weasley has a pet rat who has been with the family ever since October 1981, however, rats in the muggle world only live a year at most. Even for magic, his long life is odd.
I ask that you reopen the case and see what you discover.
Sincerely yours,
Harry James Potter"
Amelia thought as she put the letter down, his thoughts made sense, and now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen any trial records. First she found a quill and parchment and wrote a reply.
"Mr. Potter,
You have piqued my curiosity and I will investigate this matter first thing tomorrow morning. If he is innocent I will find out.
Amelia Bones
Head of Magical Law Enforcement.
Once Amelia finished the letter she gave it to the owl which flew back to Hogwarts.
The next morning, Amelia looked for the trial records and couldn't find any. It was then she realized that he hadn't received a trial at all. She then headed to Fudge's office. "Cornelius."
"Amelia, what can I do for you?"
"Sirus Black never received a trial, there are no trial records."
"He is still a menace to magical England and dangerous."
"You're thick Fudge, I am ordering the Aurors to capture Black and bring him in for trial." With that she swept out of his office and sent another letter to Harry.
Meanwhile, at Hogwarts…
Harry Potter was just headed inside from Quiddtch practice when he noticed a black dog watching him. Realizing it was the same dog from when he fled the Dursley's, Harry approached. It was when he was close that he realized that the dog might be Sirius Black. Looking around he didn't see anyone, so Harry asked, "Sirius, is that you?"
Sure enough, the dog transformed into a ragged man, "Harry. It's so good to see you. I'm innocent."
"I thought as much, Ron's pet rat Scabbers, is actually Pettigrew, isn't he?"
"He is, I would recognize him anywhere."
Harry nodded, "Right, here's what we do, I still have that newspaper clipping, I'll take it to Professor Lupin. He was friends with you and Dad."
"Good thinking, I'll stay in the secret passage that goes to the Shrieking Shack."
After Harry retrieved the clipping from his dorm, he headed to the Defense classroom, and the office that was behind. After knocking on the door, he heard the Professor tell him to come in. He smiled when he saw Harry. "Ah, Harry. What can I do for you?"
"Can you take a look at this picture, please?"
"Sure. What about it?"
"Take a look at the rat on Ron's shoulder."
The professor looked then did a double take and looked again. "That's Peter. I'd recognize him anywhere!" He got up and said, "Come on Harry, we need to see Dumbledore."
Harry followed the Professor out and followed him to the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to the Headmaster's office. After the teacher spoke the password, "Chocolate Frogs." The staircase appeared and the two walked up to the office. "Come in!" Called the man himself after Harry knocked.
Professor Dumbledore smiled as the two entered his office. "Ah, Harry, Professor Lupin, what can I do for you both?"
In response to the question, Professor Lupin placed the picture on the Headmaster's desk and said, "The rat is Peter Pettigrew, I would recognize him anywhere."
"And he is missing a toe, one of Peter's fingers was found at the scene of the muggle murders. Remus, did you know Peter is an animagus?"
"Yes, he, Sirius, and James learned while we were still here."
"That is a matter for latter, first let us go to Gryffindor Tower and find Peter, then we shall contact the DMLE." The walk to the tower was spent in silence and soon the three were standing inside the Gryffindor Common room. Ron happened to be playing chess with Dean Thomas when they entered, "Professor, what's going on?"
"Mr. Weasley, fetch your rat for me."
"Scabbers? But why?"
"All will be clear in a moment."
Ron nodded, and bolted up the stairs, before returning with Scabbers in his cage. As soon as the rat saw the two men, he squealed and tried to flee, but the Headmaster stunned him. "Let us return to my office." Ron followed and soon enough they were back in the Headmaster's office. The Headmaster headed to the fireplace and threw a pinch of Floo Powder into it, before calling out, "Amelia Bones' office, Department of Magical Law enforcement, Ministry of Magic!"
After a quick conversation, a stern witch stepped out of the fireplace, accompanied by a young witch with purple hair and a bald wizard who looked to be of African ancestry. "Headmaster it is good to see you. Mr. Potter, this is concerning the matter that you contacted me about, I presume?"
Harry nodded, "Yes, Madam Bones." Indicating the cage, he continued. "This is the rat I spoke of." Turning to Ron he said, "Ron, I believe Scabbers is actually an animagus named Peter Pettigrew."
"But Scabbers is just a rat! He's always been missing a toe."
"Ron, rats in the Muggle world live a year, at most. Even for magic, Scabbers' age is odd. When did he come into your family?"
"November 2nd 1981…." Ron trailed off as he put the pieces together. While they had been talking, the two Aurors had opened the cage and set Scabbers on the ground. Madam Bones nodded to them, and they cast a spell at the same time. Sure enough, a balding man was on the floor in Dumbledore's office. The female Auror quickly cast a spell, binding him in ropes. The two Aurors quickly reentered the Floo, Pettigrew in tow; obviously returning to the Ministry.
Madam Bones turned to Harry, "Well Sirius will obviously be found innocent. Once he is found I will personally see to it that he is given a trail." Harry whispered into Remus' ear and he immediately left. Soon enough, he was back with a large black dog in tow. Harry smiled, "Hi Sirius, we just caught Pettigrew." To everyone's shock, (minus Remus and Harry's) Sirius Black was soon standing in front of them. "You did it!"
Madam Bones soon collected herself, "I see the mystery of how you escaped is solved. Well come along, Mr. Black. Headmaster, I will see to it that the Dementors are returned to Azkaban tonight, I shall see you soon for the trial?"
"Indeed, Madam Bones." With that, she and Sirius went through the Floo and were gone.
Now alone, Professor Dumbledore turned to the two students. "Well it has been an eventful day. You may return to your day, but don't inform anyone as to what has happened."
The two boys nodded, "Yes Professor."
The Gryffindor Hufflepuff Quidditch match took place that weekend. While the weather was terrible, the Gyrffindor team managed to win 270-100.
Three days later, on Wednesday, the Daily Prophet had a headline that said, Pettigrew had been captured and Sirius had turned himself in, Sirius had been found innocent of most charges against him; the one charge he had been found guilty of, was being an unregistered animated. The resulting fine was taken out of his substantial compensation for the years of unlawful imprisonments. Hermione didn't say anything, but the smile on her face said it all. Ginny, who had joined them, smiled, "I'm happy for you Harry."
"Thanks Ginny, looks like I'm not returning to the Dursleys." With that food appeared and the four tucked in.
As they were leaving the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall approached, "Mr. Potter."
"Harry turned to the teacher, "Yes, Professor?"
"Mr. Black has signed your Hogsmead permission slip, you are allowed to visit the village."
Harry smiled, "Thank you, Professor."
She nodded, "You're welcome, Mr. Potter. I will see you for my class later."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Wicked, You can come with us!" Ron exclaimed.
Harry smiled. "Bloody brilliant it is!"
With that the group separated and headed for their classes. Harry with a smile on his face, knowing his life was about to get better.