Author's Note: Whew, the next chapter at last. Hope everybody is staying safe in these crazy times. All recognizable characters and locations belong to JK Rowling, no copyright infringement is intended. Read on!
Chapter 2: The Truth
When Harry got back to Gryffindor Tower, Hermione was waiting for him. He could just imagine her glaring at him with her hands on her hips.
"So," she said. "Why did you go to Hogsmeade?"
"Not now Hermione, Professor McGonagall already lectured me," Harry said. "I need to talk to you and Ron about something."
"What's up, mate?" Ron asked.
"Not here," Harry said. "Let's go to an empty classroom."
The trio headed to the same room Harry had just left.
"So?" Ron asked impatiently.
"I got this map from Fred and George a few days ago. It's a map of the castle and it shows you who's in it and who is where."
"That's so cool!" Ron exclaimed. "I want to see it!"
"You can't," Harry said sadly. "It was taken from me."
"Wait, did you use it to get into Hogsmeade?" Hermione asked.
"Yes," Harry said. "But that's beside the point. I saw a name on the map that I didn't know, Peter Pettigrew. Then when Scott saw it, he took the map and now is talking to the headmaster."
"Peter Pettigrew?" Ron asked in disbelief. "He's dead! Sirius Black killed him along with all those muggles!"
"Then why is he on the map?" Hermione asked. "That makes no sense to me."
"Why would Scott want to take it to the headmaster?" Harry asked. "I'll just get in trouble for having it!"
"Harry, this is serious," said Hermione in her no nonsense tone. "If Peter Pettigrew's alive, then everything we've known could be wrong!"
Meanwhile, Albus Dumbledore sat in his office, inspecting the map in fascination. He determined it would show only living creatures and ghosts, so how could someone supposedly dead be present.
"Should we call for Remus?" Scott asked. "He was a friend to both Sirius and Peter. Perhaps he will know what's going on."
"I will call all the heads of houses," Albus said, sending a patronus to the staff.
Moments later, Professors Lupin, McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout walked into the headmaster's office. Remus was surprised to see the classmate he had not seen since his own Hogwarts days.
"Scott?" Remus asked.
"Hello Remus. It has been a long time."
"Get on with it," Severus snapped. "What are we doing here? I was working on potions in my lab."
"Now Severus," said Albus. "There is a very good reason why you are here. Now that everyone is here, I will hand it over to Scott, who is the one who brought a surprising discovery to my attention."
"After Harry saw Minerva, I spoke with him, and found out that he had a map of the castle. I do not know where this map came from, but it's very handy, if I do say so myself."
All the staff saw the map that Scott was holding up. Remus gasped. He grabbed the map. "How did this map get braille on it?" he asked.
"I do not know. I thought it might have came that way, for blind and sighted people," Scott said.
"No, this most certainly did not have braille on it before," Remus said.
"You know this map?" Minerva asked sharply.
"Yes I do," said Remus. "But why are we all here just to look at it? Albus, why does all the staff need to be here?"
"Because," said Albus. "There is a name on there that will surprise all of you."
Remus and the other staff started looking at the map. At almost the same moment, all the staff yelled, "What? How?"
"How is this possible?" Minerva asked, shocked.
"This is why I brought this to Albus' attention," Scott said. "I do not know how Peter Pettigrew's on that map."
"He's dead," said Pomona weakly.
"Wait, was there any body found?" Scott asked.
"Well, no," said Remus. Suddenly, he realized what Scott was suggesting. Scott had been the only other person they had told about being animagi. "Wait, Peter was a rat. He could have easily slipped away!" he said.
"But where is that rat now?" Severus snarled. "Let's capture it!"
"Just a moment. We need to think through this a little more," Scott said. "According to what I heard, a finger was left behind. Meaning, the rat must have a missing toe."
Minerva suddenly paled. "Oh no," she muttered before rushing out of the room.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione returned to the tower, and were just about to play exploding snap when Professor McGonagall entered the common room. "Mr. Weasley," she said sternly. "Come with me, now."
Ron gave Harry and Hermione a confused look. Ron hurried after his head of house. He found himself in front of the entrance to Professor Dumbledore's office. Professor McGonagall turned on him as soon as they entered the room.
"Mr. Weasley, please hand your rat over to me, immediately," she demanded.
"But," Ron said, confused. "Why?"
"Just do it," the Transfiguration professor said sternly. Ron took Scabbers out of his pocket and handed it over to her, telling her not to hurt Scabbers.
Professor McGonagall cried out in pain as the rat bit her finger. The staff watched as she placed the rat on the floor and waved her wand. There was a blue light then in the rat's place was a man. Ron's mouth dropped open.
"It can't be," said Professor Flitwick. "He... he was supposed to be..."
"My friends!" said Pettigrew, getting to his feet. "My dear friends."
Pettigrew yelled in surprise when he saw Professor Snape whip out his wand and point it at him. After sending a stunning spell his way, he turned to the headmaster. "We don't know what really happened. We can't trust whatever he says."
"Severus, get the strongest truth potion you have," said Professor Dumbledore. "Minerva, please call an auror and the Minister of Magic. Scott, can you go get Harry please? He has the right to know what's going on."
"What do you suppose is going on?" Harry asked Hermione. "I hope Ron's not in trouble because of me."
"Don't be silly Harry," said Hermione. "Ron did nothing wrong."
"But people can still get in trouble, even if they don't do anything wrong," Harry said.
"Let's do our homework," Hermione, said, trying to change the topic.
Ten minutes later however, a voice called out, "Is Harry in here?" Harry stood up quickly.
"I'm here," he said. "What's going on?"
"You need to come with me," said Scott. "No, you're not in trouble. But the headmaster wants you to join us."
On the way to the headmaster's office, Scott filled Harry in on what was going on. Harry couldn't believe that Ron's rat was Peter Pettigrew.
"Hey mate," Ron said to Harry when he entered the office. "Did you hear what happened? I asked why I couldn't get you here myself, because I'm your best mate, but they said that they wanted to make sure that you got here, and that if I had came to get you, you could have convinced me not to bring you here."
"I heard what happened," Harry said. "And who told you that?"
"Snape, that greasy git," Ron muttered.
"Mr. Weasley, ten points from Gryffindor," said Professor Snape. "No more name calling, or muttering under your breath."
Ron was about to say something, but Professor Dumbledore cut him off. "Now that we're all here, can I please have Auror Shacklebolt administer the potion?"
Pettigrew was then given the truth potion.
"Your name?" Kingsley asked.
"Peter Pettigrew," Pettigrew said.
"Did you fake your death?"
"I blew up the street and cut off my finger before transforming into my rat form and escaping the scene. I blamed him loudly so people would think he betrayed the Potters."
"Did he kill the muggles?"
"No, I did."
Everyone in the room gasped.
"Was Sirius Black the Potters' secret-keeper?" Kingsley continued.
"No, they changed it to me."
"You betrayed the Potters?" Snape asked.
"Yes."
Kingsley waved his wand and thick ropes wrapped around Pettigrew.
"Sirius Black will be given a fair trial," said Kingsley. "This man, however, will be going to Azkaban."
"I would suggest making it so he can't transform into a rat, so he can't escape," said Scott. "After all, I read somewhere that dementors don't notice an animal's presence. He could easily escape."
"So that's how Black escaped," Snape snarled. "By turning into an animal!"
"Goodbye Scabbers!" Ron called. "Oh, I'm sorry, Pettigrew." He snorted before turning to leave the room.
The meeting broke up as everyone went his or her separate ways. Remus quietly folded the map and stashed it in his pocket while nobody was looking. Scott prodded Harry to get moving then walked with him to find a room wherein to finish their previous discussion.