"The Frozen Rat" by Denise Rushton
for select distribution—2001, resubmitted 2004
Preface--After reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, I could not help but wonder why Scabbers the rat did not make any attempt to hide as Sirius Black recognized him upon viewing the Weasley family photograph on the front page of the "Daily Prophet"; when in previously mentioned photographs, the images in them reacted to the people viewing them. This short story is my attempt to explain what happened.
I'd recommend that you read this only after reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
The inside of the bag was pitch black, and the image of Scabbers relaxed on Ron Weasley's shoulder. He had been rudely awakened earlier when Cornelius Fudge picked up a copy of the "Daily Prophet", which showcased on the front page a photograph of the entire Weasley family enjoying their trip to Egypt to visit Bill. Scabbers, posing as the faithful family pet, was of course included in this cozy family portrait, clinging tightly to Ron's shirt.
The duty of an image in a photograph or painting was rather simple. It was their responsibility to react to when someone focused on them. Most times, a person would only give a cursory glance to the photo and the image would have time to do little more than blink an eye. Sometimes the image was caught dozing or eating or with its' back to the viewer. However, the image would usually give a warm smile and friendly wave to the person whose attention focused on it. That was not the case when this image had recently been viewed by Harry Potter--the Weasley family images nearly broke a collective arm in their enthusiasm to out-wave and out-smile each other to Harry. Their efforts were rewarded by the look of happiness which spread over Harry's lonely countenance, having desperately missed the company of the Weasley family over a long summer trapped with the Dursleys.
Scabbers, for his part, did nothing to earn that smile. He had made the mistake of clinging to the shoulder connected to the arm which Ron was frantically flinging from side to side in greeting to his best friend, and it took all of Scabbers' strength to prevent being thrown off. But there was a more sinister reason why Scabbers did not even flick so much as a whisker in greeting to Harry Potter. The rodent stared at the scar which peeked through Harry's unruly hair; the scar left by Scabbers true master, Lord Voldemort. His eyes narrowed with barely concealed hatred, a look which went completely unnoticed by Harry in his joy to see the Weasleys again.
After a time, Scabbers' likeness sensed that the newspaper he was on was no longer moving, and soon he could hear muffled voices and feel the newspaper being grasped and pulled free of the bag. Scabbers, along with the Weasleys, blinked their eyes and looked around in curiosity. Though the place where they ended up had more light than was inside the bag, it was not much more and it took them awhile to adjust to sight of their surroundings.
The rodent image's beady eyes flashed around the room as the paper was opened up, and he heard a voice explain where the crossword puzzle could be found. He noted that the room was sparsely furnished, with only a few candles, a couple of metal chairs and a table. Scabbers noted that the sole window had bars on it, and he wondered just where he was. Though Scabbers couldn't put his paw on it, a feeling of foreboding crept into his mind.
Scabbers noticed the Weasleys again wave to greet Cornelius Fudge (he thought in passing that again the Weasleys were trying to suck up to the Minister of Magic, what with all their flailing about) as Fudge passed the paper to someone else. Their waves slowed down as they, one by one, noticed the person to whom the paper was handed, and they stared and pointed at him and whispered amongst themselves as to his identity. Scabbers finally caught on that something else had attracted the Weasleys attention, and turned lazily to see who they were looking at. The rodent studied the man's dark matted hair and wrinkled his pink nose in disgust at how his beard was so bushy it obscured almost all of his features. The rat observed cynically that the man had almost more fur on his face than he had.
Uneasily, Scabbers' likeness felt his attention drawn upward and found the man's eyes transfixed on him. The man studied the furry face with its beady eyes and a look of recognition registered across his face. The black orbs shifted their focus downward to Scabbers' paw before he could hide it, and hardened as they confirmed Scabbers' true identity with the sight of the missing digit. At seeing this look in the man's eyes, Scabbers realized with dread that the man was Sirius Black and that Black discerned his true identity. It also hit him that they must be in the prison of Azkaban and that Black, though irate, was far from the insane person which all inmates were to be reduced by the dementors which haunted the prison.
Once Scabbers recovered his senses from the initial shock his reflex was to leap off Ron's shoulder and hide under the border of the photo, but to the rat's revulsion, he found his paws rooted to the spot and his eyes locked with those of Black. A feeling of unspeakable horror filled him as he saw the essence of dementors exude like poison gas from the pores of Sirius Black. Scabbers' image realized that this must be from the dementors which tried and failed to break Sirius Black during his imprisonment, that were now being attracted to the cause of Black's captivity.
As Scabbers frantically squirmed, trying desperately to free his paws and run, his eyes burned as if aflame from their unbreakable connection with those of Sirius Black. He saw in Black's eyes the freedom from guilt of the crime for which Black was unjustly condemned to Azkaban, and the conviction that he would escape and prove this to the world. Scabbers realized that his representation in the photograph provided the proof needed by Sirius Black to justify his claims of innocence.
The rat's heart raced from panic as he felt his body slowing down, his every movement felt more and more as if his body was being filled with cement as the noxious essence of the dementors seeped under his pelt. He searched his brain for a way to fight off the residue of the dementors. If it was the real Scabbers here he could have waved his wand and shouted "Expecto Patronomus" to counteract this horrific aura. As an image, and one already caught in the hateful glare of the dementors attention, Scabbers' image was powerless to fight. The rodent realized that this radiation from the dementors was going to take away his purpose as an image, just as they would take the happiness away from a living entity.
As his image was being immobilized, the Scabbers' image realized that before he was converted he had to focus his brain to send a message to the living Scabbers. As his body solidified, he focused on connecting with his living host, by repeating to himself the words "Sirius knows you're alive, he's going to get you." over and over until all went dark in his mind and the image, now frozen, toppled from Ron's shoulder into the sand.
Thousands of miles away, a rat woke up with a start from his comfortable nest in Ron Weasley's shirt pocket. His eyes widened with terror from the message which flashed across his brain. His whiskers quivering from the shock of the warning which exploded in his head, Peter Petigrew knew that his disguise as a rodent animorph would provide him no protection should Sirius Black make good on his desire to escape Azkaban; and he knew that Black clearly had the courage of his convictions that helped him survive the prison.
Fuzzily, the rat heard a voice inquire, "What's up, Scabbers? Want a treat?" Looking up at the freckled face of Ron Weasley, it struck Petigrew as ironic that everything should seem as usual even after his whole world had been turned upside down.
for select distribution—2001, resubmitted 2004
Preface--After reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, I could not help but wonder why Scabbers the rat did not make any attempt to hide as Sirius Black recognized him upon viewing the Weasley family photograph on the front page of the "Daily Prophet"; when in previously mentioned photographs, the images in them reacted to the people viewing them. This short story is my attempt to explain what happened.
I'd recommend that you read this only after reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
The inside of the bag was pitch black, and the image of Scabbers relaxed on Ron Weasley's shoulder. He had been rudely awakened earlier when Cornelius Fudge picked up a copy of the "Daily Prophet", which showcased on the front page a photograph of the entire Weasley family enjoying their trip to Egypt to visit Bill. Scabbers, posing as the faithful family pet, was of course included in this cozy family portrait, clinging tightly to Ron's shirt.
The duty of an image in a photograph or painting was rather simple. It was their responsibility to react to when someone focused on them. Most times, a person would only give a cursory glance to the photo and the image would have time to do little more than blink an eye. Sometimes the image was caught dozing or eating or with its' back to the viewer. However, the image would usually give a warm smile and friendly wave to the person whose attention focused on it. That was not the case when this image had recently been viewed by Harry Potter--the Weasley family images nearly broke a collective arm in their enthusiasm to out-wave and out-smile each other to Harry. Their efforts were rewarded by the look of happiness which spread over Harry's lonely countenance, having desperately missed the company of the Weasley family over a long summer trapped with the Dursleys.
Scabbers, for his part, did nothing to earn that smile. He had made the mistake of clinging to the shoulder connected to the arm which Ron was frantically flinging from side to side in greeting to his best friend, and it took all of Scabbers' strength to prevent being thrown off. But there was a more sinister reason why Scabbers did not even flick so much as a whisker in greeting to Harry Potter. The rodent stared at the scar which peeked through Harry's unruly hair; the scar left by Scabbers true master, Lord Voldemort. His eyes narrowed with barely concealed hatred, a look which went completely unnoticed by Harry in his joy to see the Weasleys again.
After a time, Scabbers' likeness sensed that the newspaper he was on was no longer moving, and soon he could hear muffled voices and feel the newspaper being grasped and pulled free of the bag. Scabbers, along with the Weasleys, blinked their eyes and looked around in curiosity. Though the place where they ended up had more light than was inside the bag, it was not much more and it took them awhile to adjust to sight of their surroundings.
The rodent image's beady eyes flashed around the room as the paper was opened up, and he heard a voice explain where the crossword puzzle could be found. He noted that the room was sparsely furnished, with only a few candles, a couple of metal chairs and a table. Scabbers noted that the sole window had bars on it, and he wondered just where he was. Though Scabbers couldn't put his paw on it, a feeling of foreboding crept into his mind.
Scabbers noticed the Weasleys again wave to greet Cornelius Fudge (he thought in passing that again the Weasleys were trying to suck up to the Minister of Magic, what with all their flailing about) as Fudge passed the paper to someone else. Their waves slowed down as they, one by one, noticed the person to whom the paper was handed, and they stared and pointed at him and whispered amongst themselves as to his identity. Scabbers finally caught on that something else had attracted the Weasleys attention, and turned lazily to see who they were looking at. The rodent studied the man's dark matted hair and wrinkled his pink nose in disgust at how his beard was so bushy it obscured almost all of his features. The rat observed cynically that the man had almost more fur on his face than he had.
Uneasily, Scabbers' likeness felt his attention drawn upward and found the man's eyes transfixed on him. The man studied the furry face with its beady eyes and a look of recognition registered across his face. The black orbs shifted their focus downward to Scabbers' paw before he could hide it, and hardened as they confirmed Scabbers' true identity with the sight of the missing digit. At seeing this look in the man's eyes, Scabbers realized with dread that the man was Sirius Black and that Black discerned his true identity. It also hit him that they must be in the prison of Azkaban and that Black, though irate, was far from the insane person which all inmates were to be reduced by the dementors which haunted the prison.
Once Scabbers recovered his senses from the initial shock his reflex was to leap off Ron's shoulder and hide under the border of the photo, but to the rat's revulsion, he found his paws rooted to the spot and his eyes locked with those of Black. A feeling of unspeakable horror filled him as he saw the essence of dementors exude like poison gas from the pores of Sirius Black. Scabbers' image realized that this must be from the dementors which tried and failed to break Sirius Black during his imprisonment, that were now being attracted to the cause of Black's captivity.
As Scabbers frantically squirmed, trying desperately to free his paws and run, his eyes burned as if aflame from their unbreakable connection with those of Sirius Black. He saw in Black's eyes the freedom from guilt of the crime for which Black was unjustly condemned to Azkaban, and the conviction that he would escape and prove this to the world. Scabbers realized that his representation in the photograph provided the proof needed by Sirius Black to justify his claims of innocence.
The rat's heart raced from panic as he felt his body slowing down, his every movement felt more and more as if his body was being filled with cement as the noxious essence of the dementors seeped under his pelt. He searched his brain for a way to fight off the residue of the dementors. If it was the real Scabbers here he could have waved his wand and shouted "Expecto Patronomus" to counteract this horrific aura. As an image, and one already caught in the hateful glare of the dementors attention, Scabbers' image was powerless to fight. The rodent realized that this radiation from the dementors was going to take away his purpose as an image, just as they would take the happiness away from a living entity.
As his image was being immobilized, the Scabbers' image realized that before he was converted he had to focus his brain to send a message to the living Scabbers. As his body solidified, he focused on connecting with his living host, by repeating to himself the words "Sirius knows you're alive, he's going to get you." over and over until all went dark in his mind and the image, now frozen, toppled from Ron's shoulder into the sand.
Thousands of miles away, a rat woke up with a start from his comfortable nest in Ron Weasley's shirt pocket. His eyes widened with terror from the message which flashed across his brain. His whiskers quivering from the shock of the warning which exploded in his head, Peter Petigrew knew that his disguise as a rodent animorph would provide him no protection should Sirius Black make good on his desire to escape Azkaban; and he knew that Black clearly had the courage of his convictions that helped him survive the prison.
Fuzzily, the rat heard a voice inquire, "What's up, Scabbers? Want a treat?" Looking up at the freckled face of Ron Weasley, it struck Petigrew as ironic that everything should seem as usual even after his whole world had been turned upside down.