CHAPTER 19:

RANTING, REVENANTS AND REVELATIONS

Things progressed as well as they could have over the next month or so. Harry stuck to his new routine, practising the Patronus every so often. As he was able to create a corporeal Patronus, and the Boggart didn't become a Dementor, Remus suggested that he simply do self-practise and study.

Which he did. The spell was taxing, and he hated to think of what it was like while being attacked by a Dementor, but he could manage it with, if not ease, then a surprising lack of difficulty given his age. Many adult wizards couldn't cast a Patronus in the first place, let alone a corporeal one.

Unfortunately, he was also still caught in the middle of Ron and Hermione's snit, and Harry was increasingly taking her side, though he took great pains to explain to Hermione that acting so casually with Crookshanks potentially eating Scabbers was not exactly helping matters. Hermione accepted that, but she also pointed out that cats go after rodents as prey, and Ron should consider getting a replacement, and sending Scabbers back home if he was so concerned about his safety. Harry's offer to fund a new pet for Ron was sullenly rejected by the redhead, out of misplaced pride and envy, Harry reckoned.

His friendship with Ron, he knew, was beginning to crumble. Ron was not a bad person, he just seemed anathema to the values Harry, especially now that he was Henric Stan reborn, held dear. Ron was not exactly open-minded, his attitude towards non-magical things unwittingly condescending. There was no malice, no hatred or odium or xenophobia. He just didn't really give a damn about Muggles and their achievements, and even when Harry pointed out they had walked on the Moon, he called that utter bollocks.

He had to admit, he was pleased at Wood being knocked back by McGonagall about the Firebolt and releasing it back to Harry. While he did ask McGonagall for status updates every so often, he tried not to pester his Head of House. She was under enough pressure as it was, and as he pointed out to her when he came along, he understood that there was a possible homicidal maniac after him. In spite of his doubts about Sirius' guilt, he couldn't know for sure that he was innocent. And Wood's fanaticism had rubbed him the wrong way. Henric Stan enjoyed flying as much as Harry did, and Quidditch was exciting when it wasn't being sabotaged, but Wood was a fanatic, the sporting equivalent of a religious fundamentalist and with about as much a sense of proportion and other people's safety.

Eventually, McGonagall gave him the Firebolt back, much to his delight, and, to Harry's irritation, that of Ron and Wood's. Harry tried to persuade Ron to apologise, which he did half-heartedly. Not quite insincerely, but he was still smarting over Harry all but taking her side, and while his offer to allow his friend to have first go on the Firebolt helped smooth things over, Harry knew that their friendship was still in trouble.

It wasn't helped by Sir Cadogan, the quixotic knight who had replaced the Fat Lady after Halloween, changing the password too often, causing Neville to have to write it down and lose the scraps of paper he had it on. Harry, taking pity on him, decided to teach him some mnemonic techniques later, and resolved to ask Hermione for help. That led into a discussion about Arithmancy that was soon interrupted…


"LOOK!" Ron screamed, shaking the bedsheet at them.

Harry was on the verge of asking, Look at what, you idiot? You're shoving it in our face, and we can't see much. But it soon hit him what Ron was upset about. Blood, covering Ron's sheet.

"SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS!" Ron continued screaming. "BLOOD! HE'S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?!" He threw out a bunch of ginger cat hairs all over Hermione's Ancient Runes homework.

A few seconds later, there was, quite unsurprisingly, a row. Harry cringed back as Ron and Hermione traded vicious verbal barbs. Eventually, he couldn't take it anymore, and just as he did over Christmas, he roared, "SHUT THE HELL UP, BOTH OF YOU! NOW!"

His outburst this time startled them into silence, temporarily, but before Harry could marshal his thoughts, Ron sneered, "Don't you start! Didn't you wish for this to happen back at Christmas?"

"I was angry then, Ron! And I'm angry now! You two are acting like toddlers, and while Scabbers' disappearance is a major issue, there are better ways to go about it than getting into a bloody screaming match!"

"Like what?" Ron snapped back.

"…Get one of the teachers, perhaps Professor McGonagall, to examine Crookshanks, see if there is any sign of that damn cat eating Scabbers. Either she or Professor Flitwick or Professor Lupin…hell, even Snape might know something! There may be charms or something that can tell what's inside a cat. I'm clutching at straws, but it's a better solution than just sitting here screaming." Then, after a moment, Harry realised something, and took the sheet from Ron. "Ron…is this even rat blood?"

"…What the hell do you mean, is it rat blood? That's Scabbers' blood!"

"It's blood, that's all I can say. I know some people who can analyse it, and if it's anything but rat blood, then you owe Hermione an apology."

"I owe her nothing! Go on then, take her side, like you always do lately!" Ron snapped, before storming up the stairs.

"…What are you thinking, Harry?" Hermione asked, looking shaken.

"…It seems too convenient, Hermione. I know a little about cat behaviour, thanks to Mrs Figg, a babysitter of mine. Some cats tend to show off trophies of their kills to their owners. Crookshanks hasn't shown off Scabbers to you, has he?"

"Why would you even say that, Harry?"

"Hermione, you've been blasé about this whole mess, it's little wonder Ron jumped to this conclusion. And it's not an unreasonable conclusion. But one cannot convict a criminal without proof. In fact, you'd think it'd be a lot messier than just some blood and some hairs from Crookshanks. Maybe flecks of guts or skin." Harry frowned. "I'm getting a weird sense of déjà vu, and I don't know why…"

"…Harry, you mentioned your thoughts on Sirius Black's innocence to me before in private, right?" Hermione said quietly. "Supposedly, all that was left of Peter Pettigrew was a single finger. Supposedly, they found fragments of Pettigrew's body afterwards, and yet…I've done a little research on the side. Only a few bits of robe and that finger. It's possible the curse Black used annihilated his body, but why was a finger left behind?"

Harry's frown deepened. "…That's odd. It seems like…almost a similar style to…never mind." He pulled out the Marauders' Map, and began checking the various floors of Hogwarts. "I'll see where the nearest teacher is, get them to check Crookshanks, and…" His eyes widened. "…What the actual fuck?"

"Language, Harry," Hermione chided, before looking at the map herself, her own eyes widening. "…Impossible!"

"I didn't think ghosts appeared on here," Harry muttered. "I've looked at it once or twice, and I've never seen Nearly-Headless Nick or Moaning Myrtle or any other ghost on here…" He met Hermione's eyes. "I've got to see Professor Lupin, right now!"

"You're not going after him?"

"Hermione, he's already on the grounds, leaving. And something tells me it's not a coincidence that Scabbers disappears at the same time we saw this," Harry said. "I need to ask Professor Lupin about how this thing works. Because if this thing is correct…then I know why Sirius Black is trying to infiltrate Hogwarts…"


Harry nearly got into trouble heading to see Remus when he nearly ran into McGonagall. He filled her in on the Scabbers situation, and asked her to use some charms on Crookshanks. McGonagall acquiesced, but wanted to know why Harry was looking for Remus. Harry was loath to reveal what he knew, saying it was an emergency that only the DADA professor could handle. McGonagall eventually let him go, but warned him to make it quick, lest curfew began too soon.

Thankfully, Remus wasn't far, and Harry bade him come with him into an empty classroom. "What is it, Harry? If you are out beyond curfew…"

"It's an emergency, Remus," Harry said, before pulling out the Marauders' Map. "Can this thing show dead people? Ghosts and the like? I didn't think it could, but…"

"No, no…we never gave it that capacity, not for lack of trying," Remus said. "But what relevance does this have?"

"…I saw Peter Pettigrew's name on this map. Bold as brass, Remus."

"…Impossible. It is…"

"I saw it, and so did Hermione." Harry activated the Map, and began scrolling through the parts of the map, before pointing. "There was where he was, near the edge of the map. He's gone now, where, I don't know. But I know what I saw, Remus. And something else happened, something which I don't think is a coincidence. I don't know why, but somehow, it is nagging at me. Ron claims his pet rat, Scabbers was attacked, but…"

"…Wait a moment. Did you say…a rat?"

The sharpness in Remus' tone got through to Harry, and he met the werewolf's amber eyes. "…You know something," Harry said. "What is it?"

Remus took the Map from him, and tapped on it, getting it to show the logo of the Map. "…If you're right…damn him. DAMN HIM!" he snarled. "DAMN YOU, WORMTAIL!"

And then, it clicked. The name, Wormtail. Like the tail of a rat, pink, bare and worm-like. Harry's eyes widened. "Son of a bitch…he's an Animagus, isn't he? Peter Pettigrew was a rat Animagus! He was missing a claw on his paw, and…"

"That's what happened," Remus said, running a hand through his hair, pacing around. "If he was innocent, he would have made himself known and…damn him…he could have been the traitor after all. If that's the case…Sirius is…"

"Sirius is what? Remus, I know you're a werewolf, and Pettigrew was a rat Animagus. But the other Marauders…were they Animagi too?'

"…Yes. Your father was a stag, just like his Patronus. And Sirius…he was a dog. A big black dog…"

"…Like a Grim," Harry murmured. "Remus, Sirius has been tailing me since I left the Dursleys last year. All he had to do was attack me quickly at Surrey, and nobody would be the wiser. But he didn't. And he was watching that Quidditch match, the one where the Dementors attacked. He's not after me, he's after Pettigrew!"

"But how would he know that Peter was still alive?" Remus asked.

Harry's eyes widened in realisation. "The Daily Prophet! Ron sent me a cutting from an issue where he and his family won a lottery, and used it for a trip to Egypt. They were in a photo…which included Scabbers! That must've been the one Sirius asked to take off Fudge during his visit! He's at Hogwarts! Not me, but Pettigrew!"

"…The problem is, we don't have any evidence for this, Harry," Remus said gently, cutting across his excitement. "Beyond your word and Hermione's that you saw Pettigrew on the Map. The testimony of two children would not hold up in a court of law."

"No, but it can get the ball rolling. Something's been bothering me about this affair, and if Sirius is innocent, we can't do it through direct channels. I'm going to try and get the Duke onto it, maybe arrange a meeting with Amelia Bones. I've got a bad feeling about bringing it up around Fudge."

"What about Dumbledore? Harry, I understand that you're suspicious about him, but…"

"Remus, I know, and I may be doing him a disservice. But you are literally the only adult in this castle I can trust to this degree. And my instincts are telling me not to trust him, not with this, and not with anything big. And as you said, we don't have evidence. The biggest proof we can offer anyone is Pettigrew himself, and he's buggered off. I wonder why. Maybe Crookshanks' attacks on him got to be too much, or…he knows Sirius might attack again, and decided to lay low for a while. Remus, I have to ask…do you have anything that Pettigrew might have left DNA on?"

"No, not a thing. His mother died not so long ago, and his possessions were thrown out before then anyway. I doubt a wizarding court would accept DNA fingerprinting anyway. I know what it is, but few wizards would."

Harry grimaced, looking at the bloodstained sheets he still had with him. "Still, I should be able to tell whether this is human blood or not. I hope. You know his blood type?"

"Yes, actually. Lily insisted on having us tested, in case we had to go to Muggle hospital. Peter was B+."

"I think that's a relatively rare one in this country," Harry mused. "So if this blood is B+…well, it's not proof, but it's further proof…"


And as it turned out, it was. The blood was indeed B+. Which didn't quite mean that much, as a little under ten percent of the population of Britain shared the same blood type. But it was still evidence that Peter Pettigrew might be still alive.

That being said, Crookshanks was not off the hook, as far as Ron was concerned. McGonagall's tests meant little to the short-tempered redhead, and even Harry's offer to let him try out the broom tomorrow during training helped little. It was last-minute training before the match against Ravenclaw.

Still, the match itself would be eventful. And so would the aftermath. Because it would bring Harry into contact with the man responsible, even if indirectly, for a lot of his misery this year. A man who was either his loyal godfather, or intended to kill him. Namely, Sirius Black…

CHAPTER 19 ANNOTATIONS:

There you have it. Another blowup that could be potentially crippling Harry's friendship with Ron, even when Harry made some actual sense. And now, thanks to them checking the Marauders' Map at the right time, Harry, Hermione and Lupin now know the truth. Oh shit…

Anyway, this may be the last chapter for a while. The next one is partially written, but I'm suffering from burnout, frankly. Still, you got one hell of a good run so far, huh?

Review-answering time! I am gratified at the response to the previous chapter's revelations. I liked figuring out an interesting and yet tragicomic backstory for the Duke, as well as giving an interesting possibility for the Merchant.

SentinelSlice: It took Regulus a few weeks to regain his memories, and by that time, he realised he didn't want to make himself known that he had survived. Regulus 'died' in 1979 according to the wiki, so Voldemort was still around, and his family certainly was too. He trusted that Kreacher could destroy the Horcrux, and has since made himself a new life. Of course, once he discovers the truth about Sirius, the two brothers will reconcile…and prepare to deal with the Horcrux once they learned Kreacher hasn't managed it.

edboy4926: What the hell does the Hulk have to do with anything?

No numbered annotations this time.