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After Wormtails statement the room got deathly silent. Dumbledore continued his questioning.
"We thought Sirius Black was the secret keeper." The man shook his head.
"Two days before Halloween we changed. Sirius and James thought it was the best way, Sirius would be the decoy, attracting You-Know-Who's attention while I could go safely into hiding." Dumbledore nodded in understanding.
"How comes then that Voldemort found the Potters?"
"I gave their location away, I had been working for You-Know-Who for nearly a year when it happened."
"You're telling us you're a death eater?" Peter nodded. He rolled up his sleeve and proudly showed the dark mark on his arm. Fudge was looking at the man with growing disgust, his expression was matched by Arthur, Bill and Charlie, who had known about the secret keeper. The younger teenagers were looking confused while Molly had buried her head in her hands.
"So you were the one who betrayed the Potters, but who was the one who blew up the street when Sirius found you?"
"I did it. I knew Sirius was the only one who knew the truth, we had not told even Remus because Sirius thought he was the traitor." Hermione felt Padfoot flinch and petted him reassuringly. "When Sirius found me I had my wand behind my back, I started to shout that Sirius had betrayed Lily and James so every muggle passing by could hear me, then I blew up the street, cut my finger and got away transformed as a rat." Fudge frowned.
"About that, since when are you an unregistered animagy?"
"Since my fifth year. We did it so we could be with Remus when he transformed."
"We?" Wormtail nodded.
"James, Sirius and me." Fudges eyes grew huge.
"Sirius? So that's how he was able to escape Azkaban and has been able to elude us for so much time. What form does he adopt?"
"A big black dog." Fudge turned around quickly and locked eyes with Padfoot, who was resting his head on Ron's knee. Dumbledore looked at the minister and then at Sirius.
"Please Sirius, if you would." The dog nodded he stepped away from the two teenagers and with a pop Sirius Black stood before them. Fudge looked at him intently but made no movement to capture him. Sirius silently sat between Ron and Hermione and tried not to glance to wormtail.
"Mr. Black."
"Minister."
"Could you explain to me how exactly you escaped Azkaban?" Sirius nodded and explained how he had done it. Fudge nodded when he had finished.
"But why did you go to Hogwarts? If you didn't want to kill Harry, why go there? And why attack the gryffindor tower?"
"Peter was there." Seeing Fudge looking at him questioningly he elaborated. "The day you came visiting me you gave me the paper, remember?" The minister nodded, everyone else was listening to the two men. "In that paper was an article about the Weasleys winning a prize. And there I saw him, perched on Ron's shoulder was his pet rat, Scabbers, who I recognised as Wormtail." Arthur had become deathly pale. "It also said the boy went to Hogwarts, where I assumed Harry was going too. I may not have been there when the boy needed me but I was not about to let Wormtail get near to Harry."
"I see." Fudge turned to Peter. "Is what he said true?"
"Yes."
"Very well. You obviously knew about this Dumbledore, could you tell me who else knows?"
"I think it's only Ms Granger, Mr Ron Weasley, Remus Lupin, Severus Snape and of course young Mr Potter."
"Harry knows?" Dumbledore nodded.
"Yes he does, if I'm not mistaken he has been in contact with Sirius for the past few years." Ron, Hermione and Sirius nodded.
"I assume you all did find out in third year. I still remember what you told us Mr Black so it wont be necessary to repeat it. What I'm curious about is how you escaped Hogwarts. As professor Snape said that night, you can't apparate out of Hogwarts." Sirius smiled a little.
"Well, to tell the truth I'm not entirely sure, never got the chance to ask, I just know that Hermione and Harry appeared at my window riding an hipogriff named Buckbeak. Hermione unlocked the window and told me to jump up. We landed at another part of the castle, Hermione and Harry jumped down and told me to get away. That's all I know about it." By that time Hermione was blushing profusely and Ron was widely grinning at his friend. Fudge looked at the girl slightly bewildered.
"Well Ms Granger, it seems professor Snape was right after all. Now could you tell me how you did it? Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey said you had been at the infermary all the time and that hipogriff had escaped hours before." Hermione looked at the headmaster who looked encouragingly at her.
"Where's Harry when you need him?" She shook her head and sighed. "Ok, here goes. After you and professor Snape left we told the Headmaster all what happened. Luckily Sirius had already done so, because I don't think we made much sense. The headmaster told us it was to late, and that no one would believe us. Then he said we needed more time. What nearly no one knew, not even Ron and Harry, is that that year I had a time-turner to keep up with my lessons. I understood what Dumbledore meant, he told us where we could find Sirius and Harry deduced we also had to save Buckbeak." She then told in more detail how Harry and her had saved Buckbeak and Sirius. When she finished Fudge nodded.
"I understand. I need to go to the ministry to arrange the papers for Mr Black." Dumbledore looked up but shook his head.
"Not yet Cornelius, I have not finished with Peter." The minister looked at him questioningly but nodded in acceptance and sat down again. "Now Peter, please tell me what happened during the tri-wizard tournament." Fudge paled a great deal but nonetheless listened intently to the man. When Peter finished explaining how Harry had got away, the minister was slumped in his chair, his head in his hands. Everyone was silent for a while till Fudge spoke.
"What now, Dumbledore?"
"First make sure Sirius is freed, someone needs to watch over Harry. I know physically he's safe at his uncle's house due to all the protections that surround the house. Mentally I'm not that sure, I would prefer if he stayed with his godfather." Fudge nodded. "After that remove the dementors of Azkaban, they are a great danger for us. The giants have already been warned and have decided not to side with us but they will not go with Voldemort either so I guess that's good."
"What about the press? The population should be informed." Dumbledore looked pensive for a moment.
"Don't you have someone in your grasp who would only write what you say, so we could stop rumours from spreading to much? It should also be someone well known, someone who reaches a lot of people." Fudge sighed.
"I don't know if I have someone like that." Ron and Hermione exchanged a look and the girl spoke.
"Sir, would Rita Skeeter be good enough?" Dumbledore's eyebrows shoot up.
"Rita? Well she's certainly well known, and people believe her often enough, but there's probably no way to control what she says." Ron and Hermione grinned evilly and Sirius smiled at them.
"Ok you two, what aren't you telling us?"
"You still have her?"
"Sure, wait a second." Hermione dashed out of the room to the kitchen where her things still laid. Moments later she came back with the jar that held a little beetle.
"Headmaster, minister, may I introduce you to Ms Rita Skeeter, unregistered animagy?"
To be continued...
Author's notes: Thanks for all reviews.
Free
After Wormtails statement the room got deathly silent. Dumbledore continued his questioning.
"We thought Sirius Black was the secret keeper." The man shook his head.
"Two days before Halloween we changed. Sirius and James thought it was the best way, Sirius would be the decoy, attracting You-Know-Who's attention while I could go safely into hiding." Dumbledore nodded in understanding.
"How comes then that Voldemort found the Potters?"
"I gave their location away, I had been working for You-Know-Who for nearly a year when it happened."
"You're telling us you're a death eater?" Peter nodded. He rolled up his sleeve and proudly showed the dark mark on his arm. Fudge was looking at the man with growing disgust, his expression was matched by Arthur, Bill and Charlie, who had known about the secret keeper. The younger teenagers were looking confused while Molly had buried her head in her hands.
"So you were the one who betrayed the Potters, but who was the one who blew up the street when Sirius found you?"
"I did it. I knew Sirius was the only one who knew the truth, we had not told even Remus because Sirius thought he was the traitor." Hermione felt Padfoot flinch and petted him reassuringly. "When Sirius found me I had my wand behind my back, I started to shout that Sirius had betrayed Lily and James so every muggle passing by could hear me, then I blew up the street, cut my finger and got away transformed as a rat." Fudge frowned.
"About that, since when are you an unregistered animagy?"
"Since my fifth year. We did it so we could be with Remus when he transformed."
"We?" Wormtail nodded.
"James, Sirius and me." Fudges eyes grew huge.
"Sirius? So that's how he was able to escape Azkaban and has been able to elude us for so much time. What form does he adopt?"
"A big black dog." Fudge turned around quickly and locked eyes with Padfoot, who was resting his head on Ron's knee. Dumbledore looked at the minister and then at Sirius.
"Please Sirius, if you would." The dog nodded he stepped away from the two teenagers and with a pop Sirius Black stood before them. Fudge looked at him intently but made no movement to capture him. Sirius silently sat between Ron and Hermione and tried not to glance to wormtail.
"Mr. Black."
"Minister."
"Could you explain to me how exactly you escaped Azkaban?" Sirius nodded and explained how he had done it. Fudge nodded when he had finished.
"But why did you go to Hogwarts? If you didn't want to kill Harry, why go there? And why attack the gryffindor tower?"
"Peter was there." Seeing Fudge looking at him questioningly he elaborated. "The day you came visiting me you gave me the paper, remember?" The minister nodded, everyone else was listening to the two men. "In that paper was an article about the Weasleys winning a prize. And there I saw him, perched on Ron's shoulder was his pet rat, Scabbers, who I recognised as Wormtail." Arthur had become deathly pale. "It also said the boy went to Hogwarts, where I assumed Harry was going too. I may not have been there when the boy needed me but I was not about to let Wormtail get near to Harry."
"I see." Fudge turned to Peter. "Is what he said true?"
"Yes."
"Very well. You obviously knew about this Dumbledore, could you tell me who else knows?"
"I think it's only Ms Granger, Mr Ron Weasley, Remus Lupin, Severus Snape and of course young Mr Potter."
"Harry knows?" Dumbledore nodded.
"Yes he does, if I'm not mistaken he has been in contact with Sirius for the past few years." Ron, Hermione and Sirius nodded.
"I assume you all did find out in third year. I still remember what you told us Mr Black so it wont be necessary to repeat it. What I'm curious about is how you escaped Hogwarts. As professor Snape said that night, you can't apparate out of Hogwarts." Sirius smiled a little.
"Well, to tell the truth I'm not entirely sure, never got the chance to ask, I just know that Hermione and Harry appeared at my window riding an hipogriff named Buckbeak. Hermione unlocked the window and told me to jump up. We landed at another part of the castle, Hermione and Harry jumped down and told me to get away. That's all I know about it." By that time Hermione was blushing profusely and Ron was widely grinning at his friend. Fudge looked at the girl slightly bewildered.
"Well Ms Granger, it seems professor Snape was right after all. Now could you tell me how you did it? Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey said you had been at the infermary all the time and that hipogriff had escaped hours before." Hermione looked at the headmaster who looked encouragingly at her.
"Where's Harry when you need him?" She shook her head and sighed. "Ok, here goes. After you and professor Snape left we told the Headmaster all what happened. Luckily Sirius had already done so, because I don't think we made much sense. The headmaster told us it was to late, and that no one would believe us. Then he said we needed more time. What nearly no one knew, not even Ron and Harry, is that that year I had a time-turner to keep up with my lessons. I understood what Dumbledore meant, he told us where we could find Sirius and Harry deduced we also had to save Buckbeak." She then told in more detail how Harry and her had saved Buckbeak and Sirius. When she finished Fudge nodded.
"I understand. I need to go to the ministry to arrange the papers for Mr Black." Dumbledore looked up but shook his head.
"Not yet Cornelius, I have not finished with Peter." The minister looked at him questioningly but nodded in acceptance and sat down again. "Now Peter, please tell me what happened during the tri-wizard tournament." Fudge paled a great deal but nonetheless listened intently to the man. When Peter finished explaining how Harry had got away, the minister was slumped in his chair, his head in his hands. Everyone was silent for a while till Fudge spoke.
"What now, Dumbledore?"
"First make sure Sirius is freed, someone needs to watch over Harry. I know physically he's safe at his uncle's house due to all the protections that surround the house. Mentally I'm not that sure, I would prefer if he stayed with his godfather." Fudge nodded. "After that remove the dementors of Azkaban, they are a great danger for us. The giants have already been warned and have decided not to side with us but they will not go with Voldemort either so I guess that's good."
"What about the press? The population should be informed." Dumbledore looked pensive for a moment.
"Don't you have someone in your grasp who would only write what you say, so we could stop rumours from spreading to much? It should also be someone well known, someone who reaches a lot of people." Fudge sighed.
"I don't know if I have someone like that." Ron and Hermione exchanged a look and the girl spoke.
"Sir, would Rita Skeeter be good enough?" Dumbledore's eyebrows shoot up.
"Rita? Well she's certainly well known, and people believe her often enough, but there's probably no way to control what she says." Ron and Hermione grinned evilly and Sirius smiled at them.
"Ok you two, what aren't you telling us?"
"You still have her?"
"Sure, wait a second." Hermione dashed out of the room to the kitchen where her things still laid. Moments later she came back with the jar that held a little beetle.
"Headmaster, minister, may I introduce you to Ms Rita Skeeter, unregistered animagy?"
To be continued...
Author's notes: Thanks for all reviews.