"Would you like to hear something very interesting?"

"What?"

"Hypothetically, if Peter Pettigrew was still alive, what would you do?" Artemis asked his friends.

"I would scream and run because he's probably an undead spirit," Blaise said. "Why?" He made an exaggerated, bored yawn, and stretched. Grabbing his Animagus book, he flipped through it, showing more interest in the page with the picture of the screaming, pain-stricken wizard stuck halfway between his human form and lizard transformation on it than his conversation with Artemis.

"Because Peter Pettigrew is still alive."

They all dropped their current work, sat straight up in shock, and stared at him. "You're funny, Fowl," Blaise said. "No, seriously though, why?"

"Do I look like I am joking?" Artemis asked frostily.

Blaise paled. "No, of course not! Ha, I would never think that you joke…unlike me…ha…"

"Gives an entirely new perspective on the Sirius Black case, does it not? Peter Pettigrew still being around…it seems to be either very helpful or very suspicious, don't you think?"

"Wait…how do you know?" Draco asked.

"Apparently, Potter has discovered a map that can latch onto any magical living signature inside of Hogwarts," Artemis said.

"The map never lies, even if someone is concealed or disguised. And Peter Pettigrew, who should have been dead twelve years ago, showed up on it."

"Maybe he was hiding all this time from Black, and now he's trying to get into the castle to warn Dumbledore."

"But Black was imprisoned. Would it not be more reasonable for a victim to run free once his antagonist was captured, and then go back into hiding after Black escaped? No one has ever escaped from Azkaban before – surely Pettigrew would not have foreseen it, either," Artemis pondered. "Why would he want people to think that he was dead? Unless things are not what they seem…"

"What do you mean?"

"Think about the possibilities here. Suppose Pettigrew tattled on Black, and in his anger, Black retaliates. Peter Pettigrew then escapes by cutting off his finger and running off, faking his own death so that Black will not chase after him. Later, Black is imprisoned for life in an inescapable jail. Why would he have any reason to keep hiding? He should simply come back, and be a hero to everyone else around him. Now Black breaks out. Why would he have any reason to warn Hogwarts when everyone knows that Black is out to kill Harry Potter?" Artemis asked.

"He could have been looking for Black…"

"And attempt to take him down again after witnessing what he could do firsthand? Pettigrew must have been one crazy man, then."

"So, what do you think really happened?" Draco asked.

"I am not sure. But Potter and Company, whom I sent out to stake down Pettigrew, who was last detected to be hiding within Hagrid's cabin, should be returning right about now. Perhaps they have something."

Theodore stared away, his eyes oddly blank, absently fiddling the little medallion. "Maybe…maybe everything isn't as it seems. Maybe Peter Pettigrew was actually the snitch. He was friends with Harry's parents too. What if they switched Secret-Keepers at the very last second, making it Pettigrew instead of Black, so that the Death Eaters would be fooled? But then it worked against them, because Pettigrew betrayed them, and when Black found out, he went after Pettigrew, so now Pettigrew is in hiding. And he's been hiding in Hogwarts. Which was why Black was going 'He's at Hogwarts.'"

Blaise stared at Theodore. "That has got to be the weirdest explanation ever, Theodore."

Theodore shrugged. "It was just a wild guess."

Blaise sighed. "Theodore, this is real life, not some detective drama."

Theodore sighed. "I know. But it would be cool if that was actually real."

Artemis put his hand on his chin. "As preposterous as that theory sounds, Theodore, it could actually have merit."

Blaise's eyes widened. "Really? Are you sure, Artemis?"

Artemis turned to Blaise. "It sounds crazy, but it's one explanation. I can't think of another story. Right now, it is more likely that Pettigrew is the criminal here, rather than Black. The details might be a bit far-fetched, but until we get either more proof or a confession I will neither dismiss nor accept Theodore's hypothesis. In any event, we should take it into consideration. Theodore has an uncannily accurate intuition, after all, as we found out last year."

Potter was walking back up the courtyard, looking rather dejected, while Weasley looked somewhat pleased.

"Did you find anything?" Artemis asked them.

"No," Potter said disappointedly. "We scoured Hagrid's entire cabin. We didn't find any sign of Pettigrew. And Hagrid knows that his hut is built on solid foundation. He helped us look everywhere, without a single sign of Pettigrew."

"So why are you so happy?" Artemis turned on Weasley. Weasley smiled.

"We found Scabbers!" he said happily.

"Well, then, make sure you go apologize to Granger."

"I will. Sheesh, you're acting like she's your girlfriend or something," Weasley said.

Artemis groaned and blushed, and it didn't help that Blaise was elbowing him and wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Quiet, you," he snapped, pushing Blaise away with the tip of his wand.

"Speak of the devil and she shall come," Blaise whistled, seeing Granger advancing on them in the distance. Sure enough, the girl was walking towards them, back bent and arms full of books and papers, as always. She looked much thinner and more tired than Artemis had ever seen her.

"Hi, Hermione," Potter said. "Listen, uh, Ron wants to say sorry."

She looked up. "What? Oh, okay. Thanks," she stuttered nervously, sounding quite unsure of herself.

"No, I mean it, Hermione," Weasley said uncomfortably. "We found Scabbers in Hagrid's cabin and I want to say sorry for being a git over the entire broom incident and then accusing Crookshanks of killing my rat."

Granger visibly brightened. "Really? Well, that's great. I'm glad that we're friends again."

Artemis watched the entire scene casually. He was not exactly that concerned about Weasley and Granger's relationship. What he was more concerned about was the case of Black and Pettigrew, which was growing more and more twisted and strange every time they found a clue. Rather than completing the clue, it just made it larger, showing how much they didn't know.

Wait a second.

"Did you say you found Scabbers in Hagrid's cabin?" Artemis interrupted.

"Yeah, why?"

"And Scabbers has been in your family for how long?"

"Twelve years. What are you getting at?" Weasley asked apprehensively.

"Let me see that rat."

"Why?"

"Just give him to me!" Artemis yelled. Weasley jerked back, a bit alarmed.

"Whoa, calm down! Here, I'll give him to you, okay? Just don't kill him!" he said, handing the rat over.

Scabbers was struggling and squirming in his grip, squeaking pitifully. Artemis sucked in his lip. He hated rats, unless they were his lab rats, which he treated relatively well. It glared at him with beady little eyes, flailing its tail and tiny little claws, and more than once tried to bite him. Under normal circumstances, he would have thrown it across the room, as far away from him as possible (which was not very far, admittedly; he had never been a good athlete), but these were not normal circumstances. Of course, circumstances were never normal if you were Artemis Fowl II. If his suspicious were correct, then Scabbers was not even a rat.

"I will give you a few seconds to draw your conclusions. Here are our clues: Pettigrew was supposed to be hiding in Hagrid's cabin. The only thing there was this rat. This rat has been in Weasley's family for twelve years. Work together, now," Artemis told both sets of his friends.

"I don't get what he's trying to say," Weasley said, looking at the Slytherins helplessly. "You guys know him better than I do."

They shrugged. Artemis began to doubt the Gryffindors' intelligence once again – the answer could not have been any more obvious. Well, Hermione seemed to be on the verge of comprehension, so perhaps they weren't that hopeless. On the other hand, Theodore, Blaise, and Draco's mouths had fallen open in understanding. While he was distracted, Scabbers took another attempt at biting Artemis. His finger certainly would have been gone if he hadn't experimented with rats so much when he was little and known where to hold them so that their own anatomy prevented them from turning their heads all the way.

"That's it," he snarled. "Stupefy!" Then, for good measure, Artemis hit the rat with a Tagging charm. Just in case.

The jet of red light hit the struggling animal, and it went limp in his hands, mouth still open as it had prepared to take another bite out of Artemis' fingers. Disgusted, Artemis held the animal by the tip of its naked little tail, checking its paws one by one.

Back feet: five toes each. Front foot: a nub and four toes. Other front foot: a nub and…oh – oh, this was interesting. Only three toes on that one.

"Scabbers! What did you do to him?" Weasley wailed.

"I stunned him. He was having a bit of a panic attack, you see, so I used a little bit of magical anesthesia. Don't worry…he'll wake up…eventually."

"What does Scabbers have to do with any of this?"

"Everything."

Harry was still in deep thought. Suddenly, he perked up. "Wait…are you saying that the rat is Peter Pettigrew?" he said, shocked.

"I am glad to know that one of you red-shirts has a little bit of lateral thinking skills," Artemis drawled, still holding the rat by the tail. "Would you all care to check his front paw, and tell me what you see?"

They did so. "What's wrong with his paw?"

"He's missing his finger."

Suddenly, they processed what had just been observed. "Oh my…"

"How did you even figure that out, Fowl?" Weasley asked incredulously. That boy could be so easily surprised by the simplest of things. Or, at least, things that Artemis considered to be simple.

"Elementary. I am a genius…but then again, it should not take a genius to simply notice simple commonalities and put them together," Artemis said smugly. "Think about it. We found out that Pettigrew was still alive. However, he was in hiding, and

in Hogwarts of all places, though he had no reason to be. Your rat is suspiciously old – and not just any age; he appeared in your family the exact year that the Potters were killed and Black was imprisoned. And both Pettigrew and Scabbers have an uncanny talent for faking their own deaths and blaming someone else while they make a clever escape."

They were awed. "I can't believe this is happening."

"You mean…my rat is an actual guy? What?" Weasley breathed, still in shock.

"No…your rat is a woman…Of COURSE that is what I mean!"

Weasley looked at the limp form of the rodent, still in Artemis' hands. He began to hyperventilate.

"Ron?...Are you all right?" Potter asked.

"I let him sleep in my bed!" Weasley said in horror. Potter gave him an uncomfortable pat on the back.

"What should we do with it – him, now?" Hermione asked. "Take him up to Professor Dumbledore?"

Artemis looked at her. "I suppose, this time, the involvement of the teachers should be fine. They need to question him."

"Is there something wrong?" Professor Dumbledore asked, peering at the seven students that had just tumbled into the hallway, breathing heavily.

"It depends on how you look at it," said Potter. "It's about Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew."

The old man sighed. "I suppose you should come with me, then." He led them over to the stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to his office. "Treacle tart."

The gargoyle leapt aside, and Artemis noted to himself that all of the passwords seemed to have something to do with sweets. Not exactly the most secure method of protection-setting. (At the very least, he should have chosen some obscure, archaic pronunciation from a rare foreign language intertwined with the five-digit approximation of the square root of the year of some famous historical event converted into hexadecimal numbering, like that one millionaire he had robbed when he was ten).

"Lemon drop?" the Headmaster asked, offering them a porcelain bowl full of the small yellow candies. They all denied politely.

Professor Dumbledore put the bowl away and folded his hands on his desk. He looked like the stereotypical, wise old grandfather. "Now, what is it that you wanted to tell me?"

Artemis cut to the chase and held out the Stunned rat. "Peter Pettigrew is still alive, we are seriously doubting the role he is claimed to have played in the official version of the Black case."

Raising his eyebrow slightly, Dumbledore took the unconscious animal into his hands and examined it. "How did you come across this conclusion?" Once again, Artemis was forced to explain his thinking, pointing out the missing finger and why Black had seemingly been attacking Weasley that night instead of Harry. He decided to leave out the map for now.

"The most striking thing about Ronald Weasley's rat, however, is that it has been living in his family for a remarkable twelve years – and Sirius Black had been convicted of betraying the Potters twelve years ago. Only very advanced magic could have prolonged the life of a common garden rat for so long, and I do not think that Ronald (or even the rest of his family) would have had the time or training to do so. This made me suspect that perhaps Scabbers was much more than a mere rat," Artemis said, "completing" his explanation.

Professor Dumbledore nodded gravely. "Very well. You all may leave now. I will contact the rest of the teachers and inform them of the new procedures. If all goes well, then we should be able to recover Peter Pettigrew and his information."

"Of course." Artemis and the others got up to leave.

"Oh, and Mr. Fowl?"

Artemis turned back around, facing his Headmaster.

"Thank you. Twenty points to Slytherin for your remarkable skills of deduction, and five points to everyone else for your strong senses of justice." His eyes twinkled.