While having breakfast, at the Gryffindor table, Neville kept looking at Percy. He just looked very upset. Apparently, he was not the only one who noticed.
"Percy," Hermione said, "is something the matter?"
"Yes. When I got up, Scabbers was missing. McGonagall later pulled me aside and informed me that your cat caught him, brought him to her, and scared him into turning into a man. She took him to the ministry. Apparently, he's an unregistered animagus, and a criminal, whose been in hiding for many years."
There was a long moment of silence, as everybody was shocked.
"I'm so sorry, Percy," Hermione finally said. "At least you still have Hermes."
"Yeah, but I can't believe I brought that guy into our house, years ago. Worse, I even gave him to my little brother."
"Well, you shouldn't feel too bad. Your parents didn't figure that out either."
Over Christmas break, Neville picked up the daily prophet. The front page headline read;
Sirius Black, An Innocent Man
Neville glanced over at Trevor, who was hopping around on the floor. He then glanced at Ingrid, who was perched on the back of a chair. "Well, at least we'd never have a pet who was really a criminal in disguise," Neville said.
"I can't believe anyone would not notice that," his grandmother said, "especially not for seven years."