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CLAWS
OF A RAVEN
by Tyde
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Chapter Twenty Eight
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The unexpected visit from Dumbledore had left them all in a bit of shock. The three ex-students and their mentors sat around the table in the kitchen reading with interest letters from Mister Weasley and Hagrid who had both been given new roles in the Order.
"I can't believe Dumbledore overthrew the Ministry," said Harry more to himself than the whole group.
Sirius was nodding matter-of-factly. "I can't say I'm all that sad at Fudge being gone, I wasn't too fond of him last time we met."
"Well that is to be expected – you are a wanted man in the wizarding world"
"The Order of the Phoenix is going to overthrow the charges though, right? I mean, Dumbledore is in control of law and order now. You can stop sneaking around like a...well, like a dog Padfoot. It should be easy as pie."
"Mmm, pie. Lemon meringue pie? Cause I could go a bit of pie right now."
"Stop thinking with your stomach."
"At least I think with something other than my brain...which can get ever so dreary."
"Oh really, that is so childish, do you ever come up with anything new? Honestly."
Suddenly Remus's head shot up and his nose twitched. "Shut up you two!" he growled.
Sirius looked alarmed. "What is it Moony?"
"I can smell an enemy."
The three ex-Hogwarts students pulled their wands out and pointed them towards the door. Sirius took his Animagus form and sniffed, nodding his head in agreement with Lupin.
"It's Wormtail," Remus said blankly. Harry felt the anger rise up inside of him. That snivelling little rat! "He's not alone" Ron gulped but his wand held firm.
A knocking at the door caused them all to jump involuntarily. Hermione was reminding herself of hexes under her breath. It wasn't the commanding knock of a man out for blood nor was it the timid tappings of a neighbouring witch come to borrow a cup of asphodel. It was just a knock. There was a pause as the person on the other side of the door waited for an answer and then it came again.
"Hello? Mister Lupin? Are you home? My name is Sorora Palgetti, I'm a friend of Albus."
Harry relaxed as did his two best friends. Sirius however rose his heckles and growled deeply.
Hermione put her hand out to pat Padfoot on the head. "It's okay Sirius – she's a friend."
As she spoke he morphed back into human form. "She smells like Snape," he wrinkled his nose up. "I don't trust her."
"That's because she is Snape. Or rather she is a Snape – she's his sister."
The ex-professor's voice came through the wooden door again. "Harry? Are you in there? Will you tell them to let me in, please? It's rather cold out here."
Harry looked at Remus. "I trust her. Let her in."
Sirius looked livid. "NO!" he said in a hoarse whisper. "Wormtail is with her – we can smell him. I'd much rather blast the door and it's knocker to smithereens than let him in here. I don't trust this woman Harry. It could be an ambush. The entire Death Eater force could be outside that door."
Harry looked at his godfather carefully, but felt it was his decision to make. "We'll deal with it once we open the door. Ron, Hermione – stunning spells at the ready."
Harry's wand threw open the door to reveal the former professor holding a large bulky package wrapped in brown paper and what appeared to be a dead rat clenched tightly in her left hand. A bag was on the ground at her feet. Sirius rushed at her and knocked her to the ground before she had a chance to do anything.
"Ow" she cried as her head connected with the doorframe. He gruffly wrenched Wormtail out of her hand and returned to his seat at the kitchen table. Hermione kneeled down next to Sorora and helped her to her feet.
"He's not dead – just stunned," Sorora pointed out as she looked over at Sirius. She didn't seem to want an apology for his behaviour although Hermione seemed to be bursting to demand one.
"Where did you find him?"
"He found me actually"
She pushed some hair strands behind her ear and breathed out deeply. Hermione noticed how drained she looked and offered her a seat. With a glare at Sirius and Remus that clearly said 'Leave the poor woman alone can't you see she's tired' the Gryffindor girl bustled about in the tiny kitchen. Soon a cup of tea was resting in Sorora's hands and she was sipping it gratefully.
Remus was sitting on a nearby chair, right on the edge, as if any moment he could pounce. Sirius was holding the still unconscious Wormtail by the back of the neck and looking him over closely. "Alright then. Where did he find you?"
"It's rather a long story. I'll start from the beginning shall I?"
"Very well."
"My husband Julian Palgetti is an Auror."
Remus opened his mouth slightly as if remembering something.
Sorora looked at Remus with a frown. "Did you know him?"
"The name is familiar. I believe he was a few years below us at Hogwarts. A Slytherin if I remember correctly."
"Yes. Well early last year he was set on a mission to Kazakhstan with five of his fellow Aurors. They were searching for dark mystical dangers. He couldn't go into too much detail about it with me just in case. Their group became separated from each other and Julian disappeared. I didn't hear from him for six months but I didn't believe he was dead, just deep undercover. The night of the Butterbeer poisoning I thought I saw Julian in the hallway but just thought I was going crazy. A little while later he appeared in my bedroom, a ghost. For weeks he would come and I would talk with him and it was lovely. I felt like he wasn't really dead, that my husband was still there. Then he dropped a bombshell – he said that Severus had killed him."
"I wouldn't be surprised."
"So I headed to Azkaban to kill my brother," Ron raised an eyebrow. "But Neville came from nowhere and stopped me," Ron raised his other eyebrow, "I spoke with Severus and he figured out pretty quickly what had been going on. An Apparation cloak was being used to shroud my judgement"
"Of course," exclaimed Hermione, "We read about those in Defence Against the Dark Arts. When Professor Figg took the class."
"The only one known to still exist is owned by You Know Who. So I headed back to Hogwarts to confront Julian in his betrayal of not only the wizarding world but his own wife. He attacked me and tried to kill me and then he changed...the Polyjuice potion ran out and he turned into Pettigrew. I didn't know who he was and he was almost too quick for me as he took Animagus form and scampered towards the door but I stunned him. Then I took him to Albus and he told me the story. How Pettigrew betrayed Lily and James Potter, how he killed all those Muggles in the street. I never knew your parents Harry but I used to curse Sirius Black's name every Halloween, we all did," She turned to look at the man who was still holding tightly to the rat. "I'm sorry Mister Black."
He didn't return her smile. Years of torment at the hands of Dementors and his own memories of failure had caused him to be suspicious at everything. "So you're expecting us to believe that story and that Dumbledore trusted you with bringing Wormtail here?"
"Well, I got him here didn't I?"
He relaxed slightly at this comment. "Touché"
"Albus thought it best that I bring him here to you and Mister Lupin while he confronted the Minister about the recent happenings. If Fudge had gotten a hold of Pettigrew he would just throw him straight in gaol and we would get no answers whatsoever. Albus thought he might be instrumental to your research into You Know Who's plan and indeed whereabouts."
"Or we could just kill him," said Sirius calmly.
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Author's note: Coming soon – Sorora comes up against an old enemy and two more people arrive at the cottage to help out.
