A Snake in the Nest, Chapter Seven
A.N. Votes are as follows:
Fred/ George: 2
Scabbers (NOT Peter): 1
Luna Lovegood: 3
Sirius Black: 3*
Remus Lupin: 2*
James Potter: 1*
Peter Pettigrew: 1*
Peeves: 1
* This person voted The Marauders. So they managed to get four votes.
When he walked inside, Albus was surprised to see that there were no children in the room. But besides himself and Remus, there was only a photo in the room. He glanced at it as Remus gestured for him to sit.
It was of the Common Room, and Peter Pettigrew sat and played cards by himself.
"Ah. The heart of the issue." Remus saw him looking as he sat across the room, and chuckled.
"This photo is?" He looked closer. It appeared normal, though the fact that Peter played the card game by himself was odd.
"Yes- a rather odd accident, really. Cooro spilled a potion on it this morning, along with several other ingredients that we can't identify. It produced a… interesting effect." He leaned forward, and Albus was put under the impression that he was being theatrical on purpose.
"The occupants can talk, Albus. Or at least the ones that were there at the time. Though they aren't there right now. It was me, James, Lily and… Sirius Black." Albus raised an eyebrow. He was rather brilliant, but for the life of him he couldn't see where this was going.
"And? Did Black claim his innocence, or begin to laugh madly? I don't see where this is going." Remus was smiling happily, though there was a hint of malice in it.
"He didn't protest; he simply told. Albus, he wasn't the Secret Keeper. They switched to Pettigrew." Albus started, and stared at the photo once more.
Peter? The traitor? Yet it made far more sense than Sirius, when he thought about it. After all, Sirius had hated everything to do with the Dark Arts, had ran away from his home to get away from them. Why would he have turned?
As he sat there, the sound of voices began to filter through the photo. Remus, for his part, ignored it and continued his narrative.
"I went to see him this morning. Sirius. And I gave him the only other photo that was coated with potion. I suppose we can hear about it in a moment; it sounds like they are returning." Albus shook his head, but smiled. After all these years, it was nice to see Remus returning to the impulsive boy he'd never really had a chance to be. The war had done far more damage to its survivors than anyone had imagined.
"And then I said- Oh, hello, Professor." The occupants had indeed returned, and were now standing within the frame. James and Lily had claimed an armchair to share, and the other two stood behind the couch. The photo Remus laughed a bit.
"That punch line doesn't make much sense, Pads. I do believe you've lost your touch." Sirius, turning away from the window, leapt on him, and the two engaged in a violent tussle, but there was laughter as well.
Albus chuckled as James finally pulled them apart, reminding them both of their observer. The photo Remus looked up.
"Good evening Professor. I suppose you want to hear what happened?" Dumbledore shook his head.
"I believe I understand, for the most part. But, can you tell me how this business of being a photo works?" They all took turns explaining it, adding several times that it was impossible for any noise to be heard inside a regular photo. Dumbledore only asked a few questions regarding traveling between, and was otherwise silent.
Finally, he looked up at Remus, a slight frown on his face.
"You know that this can't be used to get Sirius out. The Wizengamot will believe it is a simple trick to help him escape." This made Remus knit his brow in slight confusion.
"How did he get convicted? I don't remember a trial…"
"There was no trial. People assumed that he was the Secret Keeper, and the witnesses all thought they'd seen him blow up the street. Though, I do wonder…" He glanced at the photo again, where the boys shifted a bit awkwardly, as though knowing what question would come next.
"How would he have escaped? I believe someone would have noticed him Apparating out." Sirius scoffed, evidentially finding this unlikely, but didn't answer. James beat him to it.
"He's a… we're all Animagaus, sir. Been since fifth year. I would guess that he escaped in his rat form."
Remus, both in the photo and in real life, recalled Dumbledore being surprised all of twice. Once in school, when he took responsibility for something that was obviously James' idea, and once when he revealed he'd finally made contact with the werewolves.
This made three.
"You three were, are, Animagi?" More nods, and Remus looked at him carefully. Albus was still addressing the photo.
"May I ask, why? And exactly what are your forms?" Remus looked down, and knew that in the photo, that version of himself was doing the same. He was only half expecting it when Sirius answered.
"To help Remus during the full moon. The books we read said that the werewolf would be less violent if there were other animals around it. I'm a black dog, and Jamsie here is a stag."
"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. Finest Messers Hogwarts has ever seen." James intoned solemnly, before grinning.
"Sorry we never said anything, Professor. It's slightly illegal, is all." There was a moment of tense silence, then Albus chuckled.
"I should have known you wouldn't allow your friend to suffer without trying to help in some way. And this explains quite a bit of the mischief that you four got up to in school."
Sirius let out a barking laugh, throwing an arm around Remus.
"And you said he'd be angry for us keeping it a secret!" Remus blushed a bit, but grinned good-naturally as James joined in the laughter.
"Now, I believe we should discuss your findings regarding the Ministry official…"
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That was when Nana stopped repeating everything she heard and stopped listening. Ignoring the disappointed voices of the boys, she let her ears go back to normal.
"That isn't our business. If we need to know, then Remus will tell us later. I want to know what an Animagaus is." Ron gaped at her.
"You'll eavesdrop on a conversation and then tell us that the most interesting part isn't our business. I'm appalled."
Nana glared at him, but Cooro giggled, remembering that she would also steal weapons from the military mostly because she hated the commander. Husky jumped in to stop what appeared to be a fight.
"An Animagaus is a person that can turn entirely into an animal, remember? Like McGonagall." She blinked, evidentially remembering the conversation with Dumbledore and Remus at the beginning of the year.
Senri glanced outside, noticing that the moon was almost full. He ignored the others as the conversation turned to exactly how difficult it was to become an Animagaus, and how long.
Instead, he gazed out at the window, wondering how long until he could go to sleep.
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Sirius shuddered as another dementor glided past his door. Trying to ignore it, he nibbled on the chocolate, willing himself to remember who it came from. They couldn't make him forget that it was there, so instead they sucked away who it was from. He clutched the letter tight in his hand, putting the bar under his bed for now. Hopefully, he wouldn't forget it was there.
Azkaban did strange things to the memory.
He reread the letter again, then looked at the photo. It was still empty, and he told himself for the thousandth time that it wasn't a prank, that the occupants were elsewhere, that Remus wasn't lying…
But another dementor passed by, and he found himself saying that he was hallucinating it, that his innocence hadn't been enough and he'd gone insane…
A cough came from the photo, and he looked down with a wild expression.
His younger self looked up at him, along with Remus. Both were startled by his expression, Remus more so.
"Jeez, I though you said you were sane… You okay, mate?" Remus looked at him closely, or as closely as a photo could. Slowly, he nodded.
"So… this morning…"
"Wasn't a prank or a hallucination. Would you really hallucinate more scars on poor Moony? He had enough at school." Photo Sirius, who had the singular ability to read the real one's mind, answered all of his questions without blinking, and sat down on one of the dorm beds. Sirius a bit, wondering when he'd ever acted like that.
"Ten years ago, mate. Nearly eleven." Remus shook his head, sitting on another bed.
"It's annoying that I can only hear half of this… Anyway, we're here to a few things. One is to ensure your sanity."
"And the other is, of course, to figure out how you're getting out of here."
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It wasn't until nearly noon the next day that anyone noticed there was something wrong.
Remus, when he read the newspaper the day after that, chuckled a bit at their horrible security. Dumbledore flooed him to Hogwarts to ask if he'd had anything to do with this mess; Remus told him that he had no direct way of contacting anyone in Azkaban.
Harry and Ron had been sent, or summoned home, of course, after the news got out, with strict instructions on not telling anyone what had transpired, except maybe Hermione and Neville. And that was a stretch at best.
Remus didn't feel like driving them out to Surrey, but, having little other choice, did exactly that, leaving the other four back at home.
Everyone except Cooro, who hid in the trunk and refused to go back. Now they were dragging Harry's school trunk (Complete with finished homework and family photos; Remus hadn't found any new ones, but promised he'd keep looking) up to the door, where Mrs. Dursley stood, looking in every direction in worry that someone would see them.
Finally tired of dragging, Remus hefted the thing up into the air and walked through the door, followed by Cooro and Harry.
"Hello, Mrs. Dursley. Where should I put this?" Remus was probably the only person who could sound so polite while carrying something as big as himself. Petunia pointed at the cupboard, and Harry quickly stepped forward to open it, while she turned to regard Cooro.
"Hi! You must be Harry's aunt! It's nice to meet you!" Cooro held out his hand, smiling brightly.
You'd never know he had to be held down to prevent him breaking something when I said I used to sleep under the stairs. Maybe he should be an actor. Do wizards have any need for actors? While Harry pondered this, Petunia eyed the hand warily, as though it was some kind of insect. She didn't grab it, and Cooro retracted it slowly, his smile fading.
"Well, I'll see you at school, Harry. Try to write, kay?" Harry nodded, and they left. He turned to see Petunia watching them, with an unfathomable expression on her face. He ignored it and went upstairs to unpack the few things he was allowed to touch before September.
Well, it's short, but I did say by today, and I wanted to end it here. Just to clarify, yes, Sirius escaped a year early, and yes, both Harry and Ron know the real reasons. Also, this is about a week before Harry's birthday. Just to help you out.