balloongal247 on AO3 gave me this idea. I don't think it's quite what they were looking for, but this is where my brain went.
As always, I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters no matter how much I wish I did.
Hedwig was enjoying her current hunt. The wind beneath her feathers, the rush of freedom... If only her chick could come flying with her more often, even if she found it sad that he had to rely on that big stick.
She wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but she knew her chick was in danger somehow, which was typical. He was always in danger from something, but it seemed different this year. She couldn't quite put her talons on it, but the danger seemed closer then usual.
Because of it, though, she'd refrained from going out and hunting as much as she would have liked. She felt safe enough going tonight, though, because some important humans were supposed to be at the school tonight, which meant that whatever the danger was, surely if it came too close it would go after them instead, right? At least, it better.
She caught movement below, in the brush, and swooped down, silently and swiftly.
The rat didn't even see her coming, or the quick jab to the back of its neck with her beak.
It was only when the rodent was unmoving that she paused to look at it, and clicked her beak in annoyance. It was her chick's red-haired nestmate's companion. What did he say the rat's name was... Scabs? Or Scrubs? Something like that. She didn't pay much attention to the thing, to be honest. Why a human would keep a rat as a companion was beyond her, rats were food after all. He should get an owl, much better. Even a cat would be better then this mangy thing.
She glanced around. They were fairly deep in the forest, she could enjoy her kill here and nobody would ever know...
No, she sighed. She was a good companion, and good companion's did not eat the companions of other humans, no matter what that Crookshanks seemed to think.
She clicked her beak in annoyance again and picked the rat up in her talons before flying back towards the school to deliver the errant thing back to it's human. She probably wouldn't have much time to come back out and properly hunt after this, so it was the boring rat and mouse cages under the big nest tonight it seemed. Her chick better give her a treat, too. She was cutting her hunt short when she didn't have to, after all.
"It will be alright, Black will Kissed soon. You are safe now." The Minister smiled reassuringly at Harry.
"WHAT?!" Harry exclaimed, trying to jump out of his bed, to do what, he wasn't quite sure. "No, Minister, you have to listen to me-" He started to say, desperate not to let this chance escape.
"Black seems to have done a good job on him." Snape said, feigning sympathy while the Minister was looking, and smirking darkly when the Minister wasn't.
"I am NOT confounded!" Harry exclaimed. "I saw Pettigrew, I heard him confess!"
"Now, I'm sure-" The Minister tried to placate Harry again, when they were interrupted.
Hoot
"Hedwig?" Harry asked, blinking when he saw the owl sitting on his pillow cleaning her talons with her beak. Then he saw what she'd brought him. "Hedwig, you brilliant bird!" He breathed, actually picking her up and hugging her as if she were a stuffed animal. She barked in surprise and struggled a bit at first, but settled down quickly enough and basked in her chick's attention (especially the scratches, he always seemed to know just where she needed it).
"Where did she find him?" Hermione asked, amazed. She'd been quiet so far, but she'd been following the conversation closely.
"Who cares?" Harry asked. "This is Peter Pettigrew." He said, settling Hedwig down on his lap, where she nested down. This was turning out to be very interesting.
"Ahem." The Minister coughed and fixed Harry with a look that said 'I'm humoring you because you are a child and you are clearly very confused'. "Mr. Potter, that is a rat."
"No, this is an Animagus. Cast the spell to force him back to his human form. Go on." Harry challenged him.
The Minister gave him a look, clearly still humoring the obviously delusional child, and obligingly pulled his wand and cast the requested spell. And promptly dropped his wand. "Merlin's beard!" He said hoarsely when the rat grew into a man.
Snape's face visibly darkened at the sight of the rat-like man in front of them while the Minister was shaking, whether in terror or rage was anybody's guess.
"But, that's-" He stammered. "No. I'm sure his reasons for hiding are perfectly sound, just look at Black! The man is an Order of Merlin recipient and war hero." The Minister finally decided, and moved to revive Pettigrew before either of the two awake students could protest.
"Expelliarmus!" The Minister's wand went flying across the room.
"Amelia?! What are you doing?" He cried, and started to puff himself up.
Amelia Bones, Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, glared at him while Madam Pomfrey fussed at Harry and Hermione a bit while glaring at Peter Pettigrew. She'd stayed in the background during the children's conversation with the Minister, not even speaking up when Severus claimed the children had been Confounded (they weren't, she would have noticed in their scans). But the moment Pettigrew had appeared she'd run straight for the Floo to call her old friend about an unregistered Animagus in her school, masquerading as a students pet.
She knew Scabbers. He'd been in her territory often enough despite her admonishments to both Percy and Ron to stop bringing the rat in the Hospital Wing with them. She didn't care how clean the animal was, she did not want rats in her Hospital Wing, she didn't want pets in there at all. It was a sterile environment, or as sterile as she could make it. And now for him to have been revealed as a grown human man all this time...
He was a grown man that slept with children. No matter what form he was in at the time or what else he may or may not have done, that alone required an Auror presence.
In her humble opinion anyway.
"Don't you dare, Cornelius! Why was I not called when Sirius Black was captured?! You know full well that I wanted to question him about his escape! You know there is no record of an interrogation or trial! You know there are so many holes in his existing case files as to resemble swiss cheese!" As Amelia berated the Minister, a group of Aurors swept past her and straight to the office they were holding Sirius in, having already cast spells to locate him (they were only useful at short-range, unfortunately).
"And now this man appears! One of the alleged murder victims and you don't stop to think that I need answers? You don't stop to think about why he would have stayed in hiding when his supposed killer was locked away in Azkaban? And as a pet to a child! You didn't stop and think about how wildly inappropriate that is?" She continued to berate the Minister who was shrinking further and further on himself.
"Disgusting vermin!" Snape spat, backing away from Pettigrew in disgust, glaring at the man's left arm, which he'd exposed.
"The Dark Mark." Amelia said grimly, eyeing the faded magical tattoo. "This man is a Death Eater, and you were about to let him go with a pat on the back." She shot the Minister another disgusted look, satisfied with the way he paled even further and backed away from the revealed Animagus faster then his feet could move, almost tripping over himself in the process.
"Ha! Hahahhaahahahaha!" Sirius started laughing like a crazy person the moment he was brought into the Wing, a bemused Albus Dumbledore behind them. His facial expression changed minutely, looking more pensive when he saw the gathering in the Hospital Wing, but nobody noticed.
"Sirius!" Harry said, and rushed to the man, relieved that he hadn't already been Kissed. He hadn't been sure with the way the Dementor's had attacked earlier and the way the Minister had been talking.
"Hey, I'm alright." Sirius stopped laughing to smile reassuringly. He tried to put a comforting hand on his godson's shoulder, but it was difficult with his hands currently cuffed behind him and an Auror holding onto each of his arms keeping Harry from coming any closer.
"Take the prisoners and the Minister back to the Ministry. Put them in holding and see him home for the night. It's been a long day, the Minister needs his rest." Amelia looked at Cornelius coldly. Escorting him home would have the added benefit of keeping him out of her way while she got her answers, it should also hopefully keep his pink attack toad out of the way for a little bit longer. Just to make sure, she could see when the Minister's Floo connection was last inspected and repaired. That should shut down his connection for the rest of the night.
One of her Auror's nodded and gently gripped the Minister before starting to lead him away, sputtering. The other two took charge of the prisoners while Amelia set up to take the children's statements.
"... And then Hedwig barked, and she had Pettigrew. I think she was hunting tonight and caught him, but recognized him as Scabbers before killing him." Harry concluded, getting a hoot of agreement from the owl perched on his lap while Harry smoothed a hand over her feathers.
"Well, Hedwig did a very good job." Amelia praised the owl, amused by her regal bearing while still being hugged like a toy.
Hedwig hooted again and accepted the owl treat from the DMLE director gratefully.
Being questioned had delayed her chick in being able to get her anything, and she wasn't about to leave him to go back out hunting or to the Big Nest when he was obviously hurting. (Maybe not physically, but she could tell he was in pain). She didn't mind the delay in getting food, though. If she understood the situation correctly, it had been a long night for her chick and he'd discovered many truths tonight that he perhaps wasn't quite ready to face yet. Her chick was strong, though, and he would get through it like he always did.
"That's about when you came in, after the Minister used the spell to force him to turn back into a human." Hermione concluded their story-telling.
Albus discreetly checked his watch. If the children didn't get going soon, they wouldn't be able to go far enough back to save Buckbeak and stop the Dementor attack. They wouldn't need to save Sirius or have him ride off to continue a life on the run... far away from Harry. He would need to revamp his plans surrounding Sirius, he just had to convince the man to not pursue Harry's custody. Easier said then done, really.
"Just to clarify, though. You and Black were surrounded, but a massive Patronus chased them away." Amelia said, going back through her notes. "Did you happen to see who cast it?"
Harry shifted uncomfortably. "I- my dad. I think it was my dad. What little I saw of his face, they looked like the pictures I'd seen of him." Hermione blinked before opening her mouth, probably to berate him for saying such crazy things or remind him that the man was dead, but Amelia stopped her. She was eyeing the two children in front of her, mind racing with possibilities.
"You said that Professor Lupin was teaching you the Patronus Charm?" She asked, pursing her lips. Harry and his father looked remarkably similar, especially from a distance such as what Harry would have seen his rescuer from. Up close he had a bit more of his mother's features then most people probably realized, but from afar... And she recognized the exhaustion on Miss Granger from the times she and her Aurors had needed to use a Time-Turner during a crisis.
"Yes, ma'am." Harry said quietly.
"Right... Albus Dumbledore! You absolute fool!" She turned on the aged Headmaster with another glare, ignoring Hermione's squeak of surprise and indignation. "Miss Granger, I have to ask you to stay here. We will discuss the absolute recklessness in giving a child access to a Time-Turner when we return." She stood, ignored Hermione's gasp of surprise, and led Harry out of the room.
The last thing she wanted to do was take Harry with her, but if he had truly seen himself, then she didn't have a choice. She had to avoid splintering the timeline any more then it probably already was at this point.
Besides, this way was better then sending two children out on their own, which she had no doubt was exactly what Albus Dumbledore was planning on doing. She wasn't as blind to the old man's actions as much as he thought she was.
"Ah, but-" Albus cut himself off when he was fixed with another glare. "Don't forget Buckbeak, my dear boy." He said instead, knowing that it would earn him some more points when he didn't let the Hippogriff die. With one last glare, Amelia pulled Harry out of the room, trusting Poppy and Severus to keep the old fool occupied.
After a moment, she sighed. "I suppose that we must save the Hippogriff." She muttered, knowing who Buckbeak was from the children's statements and the report she had read earlier about the beast's 'appeal hearing' and scheduled execution. She also knew how attached Hagrid was to his pets and figured it would be a good way to ensure Lucius Malfoy didn't get his way for once. She didn't like letting an innocent creature be killed just because Lucius Malfoy knew how to throw money at people, either.
"How?" Harry asked, confused about what was happening. How were they supposed to save Buckbeak, he was already dead, wasn't he?
"Do you know what a Time-Turner is, Mr. Potter?" She asked, expecting him to say yes. Harry shook his head, to her surprise. She would have thought his friend would have told him about it, or that he would have caught her using it at least once. "Well, it's a device that we can use to go back in time, but only a few hours, twelve at the most if you really want to push it. In fact, here." She glanced at her watch, pulled out her own Time-Turner, threw part of the chain over Harry's head, and turned it back eleven hours. It paid to know when things were scheduled, she knew exactly when to go back to.
That done, she cast privacy and Notice-Me-Not charms around the two of them. "We have just gone back eleven hours. That means we have a half-hour to get to Hagrid's, free the Hippogriff, and then wait for the Dementor attack." She explained with a sigh.
"Really?" Harry asked, surprised.
Amelia nodded. "Now, as to what you saw by the lake, I don't believe it was your father. I think it was you, using a Time-Turner." She said gently. "Which is the only reason I am bringing you along instead of doing this myself or ignoring it completely."
Not even the Unspeakables would be reckless enough to test what would happen if a loop wasn't completed and the person died as a result.
She had no doubt that that Patronus saved not only Sirius Black and Harry Potter's lives, but also Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and possibly Severus Snape's as well since they were out on the grounds tonight near the scene of the attack. There were just too many Dementor's, it was a miracle that the single Patronus Harry saw was enough to drive them away. She didn't know what that would do to time if those five died when they should have lived, and she didn't want to find out.
"Me? But- I've never produced much, only some wisps and... And barely a shield!" Harry protested.
"I have complete faith in you. You clearly have the power levels, you merely need more positive emotion behind it." She gave him a small smile. Susan may not have really known what she was seeing, but her description of the ghostly silver stag that charged down the Slytherin students pretending to be a Dementor at the Quidditch match sounded just like a Patronus to her, as did Susan's opinion that it came from Harry somehow.
Harry bit his lip, but didn't protest any further. Instead, he looked thoughtful.
Positive emotion? Not necessarily a happy memory? Well, he supposed that happy memories usually had positive emotion behind them...
"Here." Amelia stopped them beside the pumpkin patch and crouched down beside a giant pumpkin. "Now, in order to ensure Hagrid does not get in trouble, the Minister and the rest of the committee has to see Buckbeak. Once they go inside, I will free him and we'll hide him in the forest for now. I can get in touch with a friend who works on a wild-life preserve about integrating him in a herd there." She explained.
Harry nodded and didn't protest her plan. It was a good one, after all. And she'd already made it more then clear that she didn't want to have brought him along at all. No need to annoy her or make her think he couldn't handle himself by whining.
"There's Scabbers!" Harry exclaimed, and started to get up to rush into the hut, intent on getting the traitor before he could escape, but Amelia grabbed him and yanked him back down.
"Think!" She snarled quietly in his ear. "We will catch him, your owl already did that. If you barge in there now you may risk all of that." She sighed when he went still. "And I forgot to explain earlier, while we are back in time, we must go as unseen as possible, especially to our past selves. There have been reports of terrible things happening to those who see their other selves while messing with time." She explained grimly before he could get it into his head that the risk of letting Scabbers go was worth it. "Do you understand?"
Harry swallowed, and nodded his agreement, eyes fixed on the hut where he knew Peter Pettigrew had just been found after going missing several weeks ago from Gryffindor Tower.
"... Go!" They heard from Hagrid's hut, and looked up to see Hagrid shooing the Trio out of his hut.
"Hagrid, it'll be alright." younger Harry tried to reassure his giant friend, making Harry blush when Amelia looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Go on!" Hagrid urged them again, and waited until the three kids disappeared under Harry's Cloak before going back in his hut and greeting the Ministry officials and Dumbledore at the door. Amelia narrowed her eyes when she saw Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flash towards where the students had disappeared under the Invisibility Cloak before he went inside.
The moment the door was closed behind them, she urged, "Did you three stick around?"
"No, we went straight back to the castle." Harry admitted. "Hermione didn't want to risk still being here and seeing it." And then, of course, Padfoot attacked halfway there, and they were too busy dealing with that to pay any attention to what was happening at Hagrid's hut.
"Good enough." She muttered, and slipped out of their hiding spot to approach the Hippogriff. She approached as quickly as she dared before stopping to bow at the creature, getting his permission to approach before untying him and tugging him towards the trees. He snapped his beak and resisted, but she got him moving, and just in time. "I'm too old for this." She muttered to herself. She may have kept up her skills and she still went on her share of raids and missions, but she was mostly desk-bound these days.
Needless to say, this was also not her first time rescuing an innocent creature from the corrupt committee. It was a favorite pastime of some of her Aurors, as a matter of fact.
"Buckbeak." Harry murmured, bowing to the creature with a small smile. The Hippogriff bowed back easily and was obviously enjoying the scratches Harry was giving him, making her shake her head with a small laugh.
"Come on, we need to get somewhere to watch the Whomping Willow." She instructed after a moment, and Harry nodded before taking over the rope and urging Buckbeak to follow them. "Here." She decided, stopping just inside the forest with a good view of the tree in question. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a bag full of food just for situations like this. "You need to eat." He hadn't eaten in a while and they would be out here for a while yet.
They couldn't return to the Hospital Wing until after the time when they used the Time-Turner, either.
She turned to eye the tree. "I think we just missed you and your friends." She noted. "Where did you get that Cloak?" She asked.
"It was my dads." Harry said quietly. "It's the only thing I have of my parents." He picked at the sandwich she'd handed him and missed her startled look.
That wasn't right, he should have access to all kinds of heirlooms and his parents school things at least. She would have to look into it later.
"There's Professor Snape." Harry said suddenly, and growled when the professor found the Invisibility Cloak that his other self had left behind in his haste to get to Ron.
"Don't." Amelia grabbed his arm, not wanting him to run out there. "Let everything play out until it's time to stop the Dementor attack. Then we will find somewhere inside the castle to hide until the time when we came back." Inside the castle would be much, much safer then out here while there was a werewolf on the loose. "You will get the Cloak back." She'd seen it poking out of Harry's pocket after witnessing his past self using it with his friends.
He grumbled, but sank back on his heels, watching the tree intently.
"How long were you in there?" She asked, just wanting to be sure.
Harry hummed and chewed thoughtfully. "It took maybe five minutes to get through the tunnel, another fifteen or so for Sirius and Professor Lupin to convince us and for Pettigrew to confess, a few more to gather everything and deal with Ron's leg so he could walk, another ten to walk through the tunnel... about a half hour?" He guessed. It wasn't like he was watching the clock while they were in there.
She nodded her understanding and returned to watching the tree, alternating between that and checking on the Hippogriff they'd freed.
"Here we go." She said suddenly as the tree went unnaturally still. Harry tucked away the remainder of his food and led her towards the lakeshore where he'd seen the Patronus come from. "Remember, positive emotion, the happiest you have ever been, the most peaceful, anything that's good." She whispered, stepping back and glancing around while they waited for Black and younger-Harry to be swarmed. Harry stood there, eyes closed, mentally preparing himself.
He thought of the happiest moment, but he couldn't think of anything that would work, not even Sirius offering for him to come live with him. Then he started thinking of Ron, and Hermione, and of Sirius. Of their friendship, and the home that Sirius offered.
Behind him, Amelia was starting to fidget. The Dementors were beginning to swarm, young-Harry had just arrived and was already making attempts at the Patronus, but was only accomplishing wisps of a shield that was getting weaker and weaker.
Just when she was getting ready to step in, screw the time laws, Harry's head and wand snapped up.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" He bellowed, and a massive stag flew towards the Dementors, making Amelia huff in amazement as the creature caught the dark creatures on it's massive antlers and threw them away from their intended victims. The Dementors scattered, screeching in protest, but they knew better than to stick around with something so painful to them nearby.
Dementors gone, the Patronus turned around and returned to its master, nuzzling him gently. Harry reached out and touched the antlers in front of him in reverence. "Prongs." He whispered, to her confusion. She brushed it off, though, and clapped him on the shoulder proudly.
"Come on, let's get back. I think there is a lot we need to talk about." She said after a moment. A moment in which Severus Snape appeared with two stretchers floating beside him, conjured two more stretchers, and took off towards the castle with four stretchers bobbing along behind him.
For the next three hours, they did nothing but discuss Harry's home life and things that she had been wanting answers on for a while now, like what really happened with Quirrell and the basilisk.
She'd heard about the rumors from Susan, but obviously Susan wouldn't have known the entire story, and any attempts to question the Headmaster were met with misdirects and empty platitudes.
Needless to say, she was not happy.
Hedwig flew to her chick, wondering how he'd gotten outside the Hospital Wing when he'd just been standing right next to her. She clicked her beak in concern and shrieked at the woman next to him, flapping her wings in agitation at how tired he suddenly looked.
"I'm fine, Hedwig, really." Harry ran his hand over her back, trying to calm her down while the woman stepped away from her warily.
Clicking her beak again, she barked at her chick and grabbed the fabric of his robes in her talons, trying to pull him towards the bed without tearing anything. He'd not been happy about the last two robes she'd torn holes in while doing this, he'd cut her off her bacon as punishment.
The woman chuckled. "I think that's a hint." She sounded amused, making Hedwig turn to glare before her chick finally started moving. "Mr. Potter, I will be back in the morning to escort you and your friends to the Ministry so you may sign your statements and if we have any further questions." She promised him and moved away, ignoring the Headmaster's claims that that was unnecessary. Instead, she clamped her hand around his arm and dragged him out of the room.
She'd already made plans to take all three of the students to the bank before the Ministry, but what Dumbledore didn't know could hurt him a lot.
Right now, she was going to get answers. If she had to ram Truth Serum down his throat to get them, that was what she was going to do.
Hedwig hooted impatiently and glared at Harry until he got in bed and Madam Pomfrey was bustling around his bed. She waited until he was asleep before returning to her hunt, if she hurried she might be able to catch something.
Catching that not-rat hadn't taken as much time as she'd thought it would, after all.