Care of Magical Creatures: Crups Assignment
Truths
He stared in horror as the lazy, old rat he had known as Scabbers for several long years, turned into a snivelling man with features that were incredibly similar to the rat he had seemed to be only moments before. A supposedly dead snivelling man.
He could barely believe his eyes. Scabbers had been in his family for years, and had never showed even the slightest indication of being anything but a normal household rat that was more often asleep than not.
Sure, Scabbers had lived much longer than any other rat he knew, but that could have been his parents simply giving him a potion to live longer. He knew that no matter how much he had complained about Scabbers, he would have missed the rat had he died naturally.
This was different though.
This wasn't losing Scabbers. This was realizing that there had never truly been a Scabbers to start off with, only an animagus Peter Pettigrew. It was realizing the lie he had been believing for almost his entire life. The rat that had slept on his pillow almost every day for nearly three years was actually a grown man nearly his parents' age, maybe even older. It was slightly disgusting if he really thought about it, and he didn't really want to.
Harry and Hermione's shocked and apologetic expressions were visible just at the corner of his eye. He could not understand why they would be feeling apologetic. They hadn't been the ones to tell this man to become Scabbers. They hadn't been the ones to send Scabbers to the Burrow. They weren't the ones that guided Percy into finding the rat, into wanting to keep the rat. They weren't the ones that told his parents to give him the stupid rat. They weren't the ones that forced him to trust the rat.
He was the one that had chosen to trust the rat.
Hermione had trusted her cat, nearly as smart as Hermione herself was, and definitely more perceptive. They were a good pair.
Crookshanks had been more aware of the entire situation that he could ever have hoped to be. He knew he would have to apologize to the cat somehow. It would make Hermione fairly smug but he knew he had to do it. Not because Hermione would be watching him expectantly, but because Crookshanks did deserve it, and he had been treating her poorly for her efforts.
He didn't know if he would ever manage to move past a betrayal like this one. He almost wished he didn't know about this, and it had seemed like Scabbers had just run away. How could he ever have another pet without wondering if it were an animagus in disguise?
He would only really know once he managed to convince himself to get another pet, and he wasn't quite ready for that yet. He didn't know if he ever would be.