Chapter 9

Before the Order meeting, his grandfather insisted that Harry take a wizard's oath that he would not reveal anything that took place, since all member of the Order had taken the same oath.

In the meeting, they discussed the recent murders of Amelia Bones and Emmaline Vance. The new minister, Scrimgeour, and his desire to have Dumbledore and Harry publicly show their support for him was also discussed. Snape gave a report stating that Voldemort was recovering from the experience at the Ministry. It seems he had been in a great deal of pain after possessing Harry. That, Harry thought, is probably why he hadn't had even a twinge from his scar. Snape had discovered none of Voldemort's plans as yet; he wasn't revealing anything in advance because he didn't trust the Death Eaters. He was also very angry that several of his inner circle had been captured, including Lucius Malfoy. Snape believed that an attempt to rescue the inner circle would be made soon.

When the meeting was over, Charles carefully moved the trunk inside Snape's pocket so they could follow him to his home. To their delight, however, Snape apparated directly from the meeting to Riddle Manor, Voldemort's lair. Charles quickly moved the trunk to the mantle over the fireplace so they would be out of the way and in a position to see the entire room.

Snape knelt before Voldemort. "I have just returned from an Order meeting, my lord."

"And what did you learn, Severus?"

"As you know, after the fiasco in the Department of Mysteries, Fudge was forced to admit that you had returned. Otherwise, they know nothing. They are concerned that there has been little activity and are wondering what plans you may be making. I told them that you were recovering from the battle at the ministry and had not yet made any plans."

"How can he tell him that?" Harry whispered to Remus. "Didn't he take the oath?"

Remus shook his head and whispered back. "His only Oath was to not report the names of the other Order members, with the exclusion of Dumbledore."

"Very good, Severus," Voldemort said. "And what have you learned about Harry Potter?"

"Nothing, my lord. Dumbledore is refusing to allow him to leave his place of residence this summer."

"What about his friends who were with him at the ministry?"

"They are in hiding, and Dumbledore refuses to tell anyone in the Order where they are."

"Even the mud-blood?"

"Yes. She and her parents are in hiding, my lord."

"Dumbledore told you this?"

"He told the entire Order, my lord. Wherever he has hidden them, he believes they are safe. He has not even assigned Order members to protect them. I only know that they are not at Hogwarts."

Voldemort took a moment to think about what Snape had told him. "Very good, Severus," he said at last. "You may leave."

Snape stood, bowed to Voldemort, and left the room. After a few moments, Voldemort shouted, "Wormtail!"

A whimpering little man entered the room. "Yes, my lord?"

"Has Severus gone?"

"Yes, my lord."

"I want you to follow him. Go to his home. Take note of anyone who visits and anywhere he goes. Listen to his conversations and report back to me in a week."

"Yes, my lord." He bowed and left the room.

"Should we follow him?" Sirius asked.

"No. We should capture him," Charles answered. He moved the trunk outside the door of Riddle Manor. Before Pettigrew could get past the anti-apparition wards, he pushed a button on the panel and stunned the little rat. He then pushed another button and transported Pettigrew inside the trunk. He then returned the trunk to the mantle in Voldemort's lair. "Sirius and I will stay here and keep an eye on Voldemort. Remus and Harry, if you'll see that he's scanned and put him in his cell, we'll interrogate him when he wakes up. Stun him again to make sure he remains unconscious until he gets in his cell, and then come back here. Don't let him see you."

Remus and Harry found Pettigrew already locked inside the scanning room. Remus stunned him, and then waved his wand, stripping him of his clothes, then performed the scan. After determining he had nothing on him, Remus transported him to a cell while Harry put his clothes, a small satchel of galleons, and his wand in the storage area. When Harry returned, they checked the cell to make sure Wormtail had arrived. Through the mesh, they could see that he was lying on the cot.

When Pettigrew awoke, he looked around the cell, trying to remember how he had gotten there. Seeing the robes on the bed, he quickly dressed, then sat back down and waited. He continued to look around the room, his foot tapping nervously on the stone floor.

Two hours later, Charles transported the prisoner to the interrogation room, where he appeared already chained to the chair. Voldemort had retired for the night, so they were watching Pettigrew's cell from the control room.

Remus and Harry once again went down to the 8th level to question him. Pettigrew quivered in fear when they entered the room.

"Hello, Wormtail," Remus said. "Having a pleasant evening?" He and Harry seated themselves in two of the chairs in the room and watched Pettigrew's features change from fear to confusion as he tried to make sense of the situation.

"H-how did I get here?" he asked. "Where am I?"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that right now, Wormtail," Remus said, calmly. "There are so many more important things you should be worrying about."

"W-what do you mean?" he asked, his eyes widening in dread.

"We'll get to that later. However, now that you're here, there's something I've been dying to ask you."

"W-what?"

"Why did you do it, Wormtail? Why did you betray James and Lily? Why did you set Sirius up to take the fall? They were your friends. They would have died for you!"

Wormtail was trembling. "You don't understand, Remus. I'm not as strong as you and Sirius and James."

"You mean you're a coward!" Harry said, angrily.

Wormtail looked at Harry and spoke softly. "Yes, I am."

"Do you like your life now, Wormtail?" Remus asked. "Do you like crawling on your belly before Voldemort?"

A pained look came over his face, and he shook his head. "No," he whispered. "I hate it!"

"Then why did you bring him back?" Harry asked.

"I-I didn't have anywhere to go. I needed someone to protect me from Sirius."

Harry and Remus looked at him with disgust. "Take him back to his cell," Remus said, and suddenly Wormtail was gone from the chair.

Harry grinned. "He's got to be wondering how we're doing all this great magic," he said.

Remus nodded. "Yes, it's probably scaring the devil out of the little rat."

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At his grandfather's urging, Harry wrote five letters that night and sent Hedwig out to deliver them immediately. All the letters held the same message:

It is urgent that you meet with me in the upstairs room of The Three Broomsticks tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 pm. –Harry Potter

The letters went to Dumbledore, Scrimgeour, Moody, Shacklebolt, and Tonks.

To Dumbledore's, he added one sentence:

Please bring Professor Snape and a bottle of veritaserum with you.

To Scrimgeour's he added:

Please bring the head of the DMLE with you.

The next afternoon, Harry and Remus appeared in the upstairs room at The Three Broomsticks. The others appeared shortly after. Charles and Sirius were also there watching from the control room of the trunk.

Dumbledore did not look happy to see Scrimgeour. He had been avoiding the man since his appointment. Harry was not happy that Scrimgeour had brought Percy Weasley along. Moody seemed content to be where he was, but Shacklebolt and Tonks were a bit uncomfortable at having been summoned while their bosses were there. Snape just looked as if he were annoyed at having been summoned by Harry Potter.

"Thank you all for coming," Harry said, setting a small wooden box on the table. "I have asked you to come here today because I have something important to show you, but before I do, I have a request. Mr. Scrimgeour, as Minister of Magic, you are the person who can grant my request."

Scrimgeour looked annoyed. "What request would that be, Mr. Potter?"

"If I can prove that my godfather, Sirius Black, was innocent of all the crimes he was accused of, will you clear his name immediately and make a public announcement?"

"Your godfather is dead, Harry. Why would you waste my time with something so trivial when our world is in the midst of war?"

"Because, Sir," Harry said, his voice shaking with emotion. "This is not a trivial matter to me. My godfather was an innocent man who spent 12 years in Azkaban for crimes he didn't commit. The former Minister of Magic accused him of being a Death Eater—Voldemort's right hand man. The truth is that my godfather fought on the side of the Light. He risked his life for my parents, yet he is accused of betraying them. He was a man capable of more love than most people could ever imagine, and yet his name has become a curse and an example of evil. This is a man who gave his life to protect me. I owe it to him to have his name cleared."

Scrimgeour looked as if he were considering the matter. "And if I give you this guarantee, should you present the proof of his innocence, what will you give me in return?"

"I would give you my gratitude, although I'm sure that the reward of knowing you did the honorable thing would be more valuable."

"Harry, the papers are calling you the Chosen One. Your opinions carry a lot of weight in our world. If you publicly acknowledged your support for me, it would go a long way in helping our world to feel safer. Don't you want our world to feel secure, Harry?"

"No, sir. A false sense of security is a dangerous thing. It's better to know the truth and prepare accordingly. You may think that the number of people you are arresting is making people feel secure, but arresting people for Death Eater activity who are not Death Eaters is not going to do that. Everyone who has ever ridden the Knight bus knows that Stan Shunpike is no more a Death Eater than I am, and yet he's sitting in Azkaban prison. Why is that, Minister?"

"It gives the public hope to know that I'm doing something, Harry. The number of arrests has caused the public to feel safe."

"How safe would they feel if they knew that the people you were arresting were innocent? How many would wonder if they would be next?"

The minister sighed. "What would it take for you to support me, Harry?" he asked.

"Professor Dumbledore once told me that we must choose between what is right and what is easy. By arresting innocent people to make an unsafe world feel safe, you have chosen to do what is easy. When you choose to do what is right, I'll support you."

The minister gave him a hard stare. "Is this your final answer, Harry? Even knowing that I have the power to clear your godfather's name? If I tell you that I'll only clear his name if you show your support for me, what will you do then, Harry?"

"I'll wait until we have a minister who doesn't resort to blackmail before making the request again, and I don't think I'll have to wait that long. You see, I believe it's my duty as the Chosen One to make sure the Wizarding world knows the kind of man you really are."

Scrimgeour nodded. "I see."

Harry sighed. "I'm sorry I wasted everyone's time," he said, taking the box from the table and walking toward the door.