Chapter 4 ~ Innocence Proven
The Aurors' office was full of people when she arrived, Wormtail floating behind her, wrapped so tightly in invisible cords that the skin of his arms bulged in odd patterns. The room fell silent when she appeared, which wasn't surprising, since no one was really sure whether they should arrest Wormtail, or Muriel herself. In the back of the room, someone apparated instantly to Fudge's office, and reappeared with him a moment later. Still no one spoke. Finally she said, "Good to see you all again too. I understand there is work enough to be had here, but I've got my own job. This, however," she gestured to Wormtail, "was personal. You will notice who this is, of course." She waved her wand, and Wormtail fell to the floor. Several of the Aurors gasped.
"It will not take you long to conclude, as I did, that if Peter is alive, then Sirius was innocent. Here is the man who murdered all those muggles." The office exploded into a great deal of noise at once, so that she had to shout over the excited ministry workers to be heard. "He's an animagus, you know." This declaration brought about silence again, allowing her to explain that he was held now in binds that would constrict to the size of whatever they were binding, even if he should become a rat again. The Aurors looked at her appreciatively, but still said no words of welcome. At last, Fudge stepped forward, formalizing her return to the cheers of the others by saying, simply, "Welcome back, Deesia."
Muriel released the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. The other Aurors, freed from constraint by Fudge's acceptance of her, crowded around her, asking her about her life since she'd left. But she had only enough time to explain that the sorting hat had brought her, and that she had another task to perform before she could be free to come back to visit with them.
* * * * * * *
It was finally Friday, the end of the first week of term. Owl post had arrived, and Ron and Harry were looking through a catalog from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes when Hermione gave an audible gasp and looked up at Harry through glistening eyes. "Look at this!" she exclaimed.
First Death Eater caught since return of You-Know-Who
"The Ministry is happy to announce that one of our Aurors has
successfully apprehended Death Eater Peter Pettigrew," said
Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Thought to have been
killed shortly after Lord – er - Thingy's overthrow, Pettigrew's
arrest, and subsequent trial have, in fact, proven that it
was he who was responsible for the single curse, which killed
twelve muggles. This has cast the escape of Sirius Black in
a new light. It appears that his goal, according to
Pettigrew, was to find and kill him, rather than Harry
Potter, whom the Ministry had assumed would be Black's
target. The Ministry has issued a complete pardon to Mr.
Black, and the dementors who remain in our service have
agreed not to harm him.
Harry finished reading and passed the paper silently to Ron. When he had read it, he looked up and caught Harry's eye. He opened his mouth, but closed it again at the look Hermione was giving him, over Harry's shoulder. They finished breakfast in silence, each of them marveling at the unfairness of it all. As they got up to leave, they heard Collin chatting with Ginny, "Not that I'm complaining, but I wonder what ever happened to Peeves? I haven't seen him all week."
"And he's not all," Ginny replied, gesturing around the Great Hall, "all the house ghosts are gone too!" Harry, Ron, and Hermione puzzled over this on their way to Hagrid's cabin for the Magical Creatures lesson. "Do you know, we haven't seen Professor Deesia all week either," Harry said suddenly. They stopped short at the sight of Malfoy's antics up ahead. He appeared to be doing a fair impression of someone being stunned and falling backward. Hermione and Ron each grabbed one of Harry's arms and steered him away before he had any chance to get at Malfoy. Harry was seething. When he was finally able to shake them off, he left. Hagrid had arrived, and looked as though he might call him back to class when he caught sight of Hermione shaking her head violently at him. He decided to hold class without him and ask Hermione about it later.
As he mounted the stairs, Harry ran into the one person that he did NOT want to meet while he was obviously skiving off class. Professor Snape's eyes rested on him only briefly before he continued on his way, not stopping even to take points from Gryffindor for Harry's infraction.
The Aurors' office was full of people when she arrived, Wormtail floating behind her, wrapped so tightly in invisible cords that the skin of his arms bulged in odd patterns. The room fell silent when she appeared, which wasn't surprising, since no one was really sure whether they should arrest Wormtail, or Muriel herself. In the back of the room, someone apparated instantly to Fudge's office, and reappeared with him a moment later. Still no one spoke. Finally she said, "Good to see you all again too. I understand there is work enough to be had here, but I've got my own job. This, however," she gestured to Wormtail, "was personal. You will notice who this is, of course." She waved her wand, and Wormtail fell to the floor. Several of the Aurors gasped.
"It will not take you long to conclude, as I did, that if Peter is alive, then Sirius was innocent. Here is the man who murdered all those muggles." The office exploded into a great deal of noise at once, so that she had to shout over the excited ministry workers to be heard. "He's an animagus, you know." This declaration brought about silence again, allowing her to explain that he was held now in binds that would constrict to the size of whatever they were binding, even if he should become a rat again. The Aurors looked at her appreciatively, but still said no words of welcome. At last, Fudge stepped forward, formalizing her return to the cheers of the others by saying, simply, "Welcome back, Deesia."
Muriel released the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. The other Aurors, freed from constraint by Fudge's acceptance of her, crowded around her, asking her about her life since she'd left. But she had only enough time to explain that the sorting hat had brought her, and that she had another task to perform before she could be free to come back to visit with them.
* * * * * * *
It was finally Friday, the end of the first week of term. Owl post had arrived, and Ron and Harry were looking through a catalog from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes when Hermione gave an audible gasp and looked up at Harry through glistening eyes. "Look at this!" she exclaimed.
First Death Eater caught since return of You-Know-Who
"The Ministry is happy to announce that one of our Aurors has
successfully apprehended Death Eater Peter Pettigrew," said
Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Thought to have been
killed shortly after Lord – er - Thingy's overthrow, Pettigrew's
arrest, and subsequent trial have, in fact, proven that it
was he who was responsible for the single curse, which killed
twelve muggles. This has cast the escape of Sirius Black in
a new light. It appears that his goal, according to
Pettigrew, was to find and kill him, rather than Harry
Potter, whom the Ministry had assumed would be Black's
target. The Ministry has issued a complete pardon to Mr.
Black, and the dementors who remain in our service have
agreed not to harm him.
Harry finished reading and passed the paper silently to Ron. When he had read it, he looked up and caught Harry's eye. He opened his mouth, but closed it again at the look Hermione was giving him, over Harry's shoulder. They finished breakfast in silence, each of them marveling at the unfairness of it all. As they got up to leave, they heard Collin chatting with Ginny, "Not that I'm complaining, but I wonder what ever happened to Peeves? I haven't seen him all week."
"And he's not all," Ginny replied, gesturing around the Great Hall, "all the house ghosts are gone too!" Harry, Ron, and Hermione puzzled over this on their way to Hagrid's cabin for the Magical Creatures lesson. "Do you know, we haven't seen Professor Deesia all week either," Harry said suddenly. They stopped short at the sight of Malfoy's antics up ahead. He appeared to be doing a fair impression of someone being stunned and falling backward. Hermione and Ron each grabbed one of Harry's arms and steered him away before he had any chance to get at Malfoy. Harry was seething. When he was finally able to shake them off, he left. Hagrid had arrived, and looked as though he might call him back to class when he caught sight of Hermione shaking her head violently at him. He decided to hold class without him and ask Hermione about it later.
As he mounted the stairs, Harry ran into the one person that he did NOT want to meet while he was obviously skiving off class. Professor Snape's eyes rested on him only briefly before he continued on his way, not stopping even to take points from Gryffindor for Harry's infraction.