Bla Bla Bla (aka Author's Note): Hello again! Once more, this took longer than I anticipated, but it can't be helped. I can't control when I sick so I'll just say sorry and we will move on. This chapter will contain something a lot of you have been asking for ever since Severus gave Harry the Marauders' map (spoiler alert) so I hope I didn't disappoint you!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Wish I did, but life isn't fair so I don't. All the characters belong to J.K Rowling.
Chapter Twelwe: Wormtail Uncovered!
When Harry and Ron came down to the Great Hall, they quickly noticed that they were among the few who stayed at Hogwarts over Christmas. The Slytherin table was almost completely empty, save for a few first years, including Blaise Zabini. Ravenclaw table was a little more stocked but still, there were only like 8 students over there and none of them were in Harry's year. Looking over towards the Hufflepuff table, Harry was glad to spot Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot sitting by themselves. He had known Cedric would be going home over the christmas to spend time with his family, and because he felt he could not completely relax while still in the school. Harry didn't need to look at the Gryffindor table to know that he and the Weasley brothers were the only ones there. All of them were wearing their Weasley Jumpers, though Harry felt a little weird wearing one as he wasn't really a Weasley.
Ron started towards the Gryffindor table, but stopped as he noticed that Harry was moving towards the Hufflepuff table and their friends from that house. Shrugging, he decided to follow him that way instead.
Both girls spotted Harry early on and waved enthusiastically to him as he walked up to them.
"Happy Christmas Harry!" they chanted happily as Harry sat down beside them.
"Happy Christmas Susan, Hannah!" Harry replied happily. Behind him, Ron mumbled something similar.
Both girls smiled brightly at their guests and Hannah was quick to offer them a portion of cereal. Harry nodded his accpetance while Ron ignored Hannah (or perhaps didn't notice her?) and reached for a plate of bacon. Hannah wrinkled her nose in annoyance at Ron's behaviour, but didn't say anything.
"How did you like our presents?" Susan asked with a hopeful smile.
Behind Susan, Hannah suddenly tensed and gave them a nervous smile, as if she was afraid Harry wouldn't like the ink horn. Harry gave her a reassuring smile.
"I loved them both. I didn't think of getting anything for you though..." he said a little guiltily.
However, both Hufflepuff girls shook their heads.
"You didn't need to get us anything so don't feel bad. Besides, I have owed you for saving my locket for almost the entire school year." Susan said with a bright smile while she brushed away Harry's apology.
Harry still felt guilty, but at least Susan didn't appear to be upset. He was just about to return to his cereal when he realized something and turned to Hannah. The blonde girl was starled by his sudden interest in her and her cheeks reddened a little.
"You didn't owe me anything. What's your excuse?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.
Hannah laughed nervously and after swallowing, she met his gaze with her dark blue eyes.
"Do you always need a reason to be nice?" she asked innocently.
It took Harry a moment to realize what she had done and he burst out laughing. Ron, who had been engrossed in his bacon and eggs, looked up and frowned, not getting what was so funny. Susan smirked at her friend while Hannah blushed slightly. When he had regained his breath, Harry explained to Ron that he had said the exact same thing that day when he gave Susan back her locket after saving it from Malfoy.
The four friends ate their breakfast under a casual conversation about what christmas gifts they had gotten and what they thought about staying at Hogwarts over christmas. Ron seemed a little put out when they were talking about presents, becuase like Harry, Susan were from an old wealthy wizarding family and Hannah's parents both had a healthy income and enough to spoil their only daughter badly. Harry, sensing his friend's discomfort with the conversation, decided to steer it away from the deep waters.
"So, why are you two staying over christmas? I thought you said your parents wanted you to come home so you could tell them all about your first half year here?" Harry asked Hannah.
The blonde girl's face flushed slightly when she answered his question. Harry of course, didn't notice the girl's blush, or Susan giving her friend a grin from behind his back.
"Uhm, well Susan told me she wouldn't be going home because her aunt is so busy at work, even over christmas, so she thought it would be better to stay here. So I thought I should stay here too, to keep her company."
"Fair enough." Harry said and returned to his cereal.
Looking around, a few more students had arrived in the Great hall. Percy had joined the Weasley twins at the Gryffindor table and though he didn't seem to enjoy their company overly much, he at least made a point to sit with his family during christmas. A few older students had sat down at the Ravenclaw table, though still no first year. Susan and Hannah were still the only Hufflepuffs and from what he had gathered, there wouldn't be coming any more students to the black and yellow table. At the Slytherin table, Blaise had been joined by two blonde girls, whom Harry didn't know the names of.
"So Susan, what does your aunt do that takes up so much time?" Harry asked to keep the conversation going.
Susan, who had just finished her breakfast, turned to him and stretched her arms in the air to get rid of some remaining stiffness from her sleep.
"Aunt Amelia is the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It is one of the most important and influental positions one can hold in the wizarding government. Its just natural that it takes up a lot of time." she answered.
With that, she and Hannah stood up to head back to their common room. Ron didn't seem to mind them leaving, but then again he hadn't really participated much in their conversation either. Before they could leave though, Harry talked them into meeting outside in an hour to have a snowball fight, which both girls accepted with happy nodds.
Harry finished his own breakfast not long after and sat, waiting for Ron to finish. While he sat there, he looked over towards the Slytherin table with a thoughtful look. Over the last weeks, the conflict within Slytherin had become all the more obvious. Malfoy and his gang was still an overwhelming majority, but there was a small group of first years that kept to themselves. Blaise seemed to be the leading figure in that group and he and Malfoy had gotten into disputes in the corridor and in classes more than once since that time during their flying lesson. Most people in the smaller group simply appeared to be neutral, but Blaise was never late to challenge Malfoy if he disagreed with what his housemate.
Harry still didn't know exactly what caused the conflict, but from what he knew, Blaise did not agree completely with Malfoy's view that purebloods were equal to gods in wizarding society. On a deep level, Harry had to admit that he respected Blaise for standing up to the majority of the Slytherin house the way he did, but at the same time he was a little unsure what view Blaise himself really held. He was still a Slytherin after all.
Perhaps he could try and find out a little more over the christmas break, now that Malfoy wasn't here? Rising from his chair slowly, he mumbled to Ron that he would be right back and sneaked over to the green and silver table. Blaise was just leaning forward to say something to one of the girls that had arrived late.
"...can't believe she would actually send me a book about pureblood supremacy for christmas! I mean, it's not like she have never been involved with people who weren't pureblooded!" Blaise finished in a slightly upset voice.
One of the girls, the one to the left, leaned back with a sigh, indicating that she had been talking about this with him at more than one occasion.
"That may be, but you can't really expect anything else when you have spoken out against purebloods as clearly as you have since you got here Blaise. I'm not saying what you are doing is wrong, I feel the same way as you but you know your mother does not."
Blaise gritted his teeth in frustration. Harry stopped a little distance away. Something told him this was not a conversation he should interrupt.
"I guess you are right, Daph. I just feel like maybe she could be a little more supportive of her own son!" Blaise said and leant forward to bury his head in his hands. He sighed with irritation.
Harry scowled at what he was hearing. He didn't know Blaise very well, but the boy had certainly made a positive impression on him. In a way, Blaise was even more impressive than most people he knew, going against what appeared to be the stream of his house. Most Slytherins gave the impression of being like Malfoy and for Blaise to openly defy that, it was a wonder he hadn't been hexed in his sleep yet.
"Don't take it so hard Blaise. In the end, you're doing what you feel is right." the other girl said.
"Yeah I know." Blaise groaned, obviously still angry at his mother.
Deciding this was as good a time as any to break into the conversation, Harry moved over to where the three Slytherins were sitting and tapped Blaise on the shoulder. He spun around to look over his shoulder and scowled when he saw who it was. The girls seemed surprised to find Harry there, though they didn't glare at him like Pansy Parkinson or Milicent Bulstrode, the two girls from Malfoy's circle, usually did. Harry took that as a good sign.
"What do you want, Potter?" Blaise growled as he sent Harry a calculating look.
Harry tried to put on his best smile to show that he didn't mean any harm. As if to underline his message, he held up his hands in a protective gesture in front of him.
"Relax, I'm not here to cause trouble." he said.
The girls on the opposite row appeared to relax a little at this statement. However, Blaise looked far from convinced as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave Harry a withering glare.
"Quit stalling, why are you here?" he growled.
Harry raised his eyebrows at Blaise's hostile attitude, but decided to let it slip for now. After decades of archrivalry between their houses, he couldn't really blame him for being on his guard. He would probably have reacted the same way if it had been Malfoy who had come over to the Gryffindor table without warning. Well, he did actually react that way whenever Malfoy came over to the Gryffindor table to cause trouble.
"I was wondering if you and your friends would be interested in going out onto the grounds for a snowball fight? So far, it's me, Ron and Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff, but we can mix up the teams to even it out." he asked hopefully.
Now it was Blaise's turn to raise his eyebrow. It wouldn't take a genius to see that he was sceptical to Harry's claim.
"You seriously want me to believe you don't have an ulterior motive? Why would a Gryffindor want to spend time with a Slytherin?"
Harry sighed. That damn rivalry was so damn stupid!
"I really don't have anything against Slytherins. The only one I really dislike is Malfoy, and possibly Marcus Flint for his foul play with the quidditch team." he tried to reason with Blaise.
The boy in question still looked sceptical. His eyes seemed to scan Harry for any sign of dishonesty. He opened his mouth to answer, but was beaten to it by one of the girls who was sitting on the other side of the table.
"Even if you don't have an ulterior motive, why would you want us to come?"
"Why not? It's not like any of you are part of Malfoy's gang and the more the merrier, right?" he said.
For a moment, Harry thought that the answer sounded a little bleek. It didn't really answer her question, but he couldn't come up with anything better at such short notice. After a moment of studying him, the girl nodded.
"Fair enough." she said, to the surprise of all those present, even Harry.
Blaise spun around to look at the girl in shock.
"You can't seriously be thinking of going, Trace?" he spluttered.
The girl sighed and stood up, stretching to ease some of her muscles.
"Why not? If they do anything funny, we just go to Professor Sinistra and tell her. It's not like we have anything else to do today, is it?" she said as she got out from her seat and waited for the other girl to rise.
Blaise eyed them both for a moment as the other girl dried her mouth with a handkerchief and rose from her seat.
"Very well, when are you going outside?" he said finally.
Harry felt relief rush over him. He hadn't really known what to expect from this meeting, but it sure had turned out well. Or as well as it could. He could see Blaise was still reluctant, but at least he was giving it a shot.
"We're going to meet in the great hall in an hour."
Blaise just nodded in confirmation that he had heard. The girls however, offered Harry a brief smile before the three Slytherins left the great hall. His quest accomplished, Harry made his way back towards the Gryffindor table, where Ron was waiting with a scowl on his face.
"What the hell were you doing over at the Slytherin table?" he asked with a restrained voice, showing that he had been aware of Harry's actions but decided not to intervene, for which Harry was grateful.
"I just invited Blaise and his friends to join us for the snowball fight." he said simply as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
This did nothing to calm Ron down and he looked utterly betrayed. As Harry began walking towards the exit of the great hall, Ron hurried up behind him.
"Are you out of your mind?" he hissed. "They're Slytherins! They'll just ruin everything!"
Harry and Ron kept on bickering about the Slytherins all the way to the Gryffindor tower. Harry began to grow tired of Ron's stubborn mindset that all Slytherins were bad. While Blaise hadn't exactly been friendly towards him when he had asked, he hadn't been all that unfriendly either. He had just been alert to the possibility that Harry had been looking to cause trouble, which he really couldn't be blamed for after decades of archrivalry between the Gryffindors and Slytherins.
"Listen Ron, if you think this will turn out to be a catastrophe, you don't have to come!" Harry growled as he reached inside his trunk to try and get ahold of the Marauders' map. He wanted to see if there was any other first years left at Hogwarts. Perhaps they could get someone else to join them.
Ron looked shocked that Harry would even suggest something like that.
"Of course I'm coming! Slytherins or not!" he said.
Harry just shook his head as he finally pulled out the parchment he was seeking.
"Then quit complaining. I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." Harry answered and tapped the map with his wand.
While the map drew itself out, Harry heard Ron mumble something as he went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Harry didn't bother listening as he was pretty sure it was not something he wanted to hear. Instead, he watched as the map drew out the lines for their dormroom. And then he felt his heart stop in his chest. He wasn't alone in the room. Over by Ron's bed, a name was written out. Peter Pettigrew.
He took a few shaky breath and looked over towards Ron's bed, expecting to find someone sitting on it. But the bed was empty. He frowned and rose from the floor and walked over to where the name was written on the map. But the bed really was empty, save for Ron's rat Scabbers, who was snoozing on the bedsheats. He looked back down on the map. Could it be that the map was wrong? No, it hadn't been wrong anytime before so why would it be now? Then could it be Scabbers it was reacting to? No, the map didn't react to Hedwig or other pets so why would it do so to Scabbers? Unless...
"Ron, I just remembered I got something I need to do before we meet down in the Great Hall. See you down there!" Harry said as he turned around and ran down the stairs to the common room. He heard Ron give a mufled answer to the best of his abilities with a toothbrush still in his mouth.
Harry exited the common room and ran down the stairs towards the Great hall. Hopefully, the one he was looking for was still there. For the first time since the start of the school year, the path to the Great hall felt too long. He usually enjoyed taking his time walking to the great hall. There was always something new to find but now, he just wanted to get down there.
As soon as he was back in the Great hall, he spotted the one he was looking for. Severus Snape was sitting at his usual place by the staff table, just finishing his breakfast. Stopping to think twice, Harry realized that perhaps it would be better if he kept this between Sev and himself. He didn't know how many of the other teachers knew about the Marauders' Map, not to mention that even if they did he was pretty sure they would not approve of Severus giving it to Harry. Seeing as Severus had just stood up to leave, he figured he might as well wait outside the hall as to not awake suspiscion regarding the map.
It felt like hours went by while he waited, while in reality it only took Severus about 20 seconds to get from the staff table to the entry hall.
"Hey Uncle Sev!" Harry said with a slightly tense voice. He was a little bit nervous as he didn't really know what was up with the map.
Severus seemed surprised to find Harry waiting for him, but happy nonetheless.
"Hey there Harry. Something on your mind?" he asked.
Harry nodded and pulled out the map to show him what was up.
"I think the map might have broken, because it showed a name in our dorm, but I am sure that me and Ron was the only ones there." he searched the map until he found his dorm again. The name was still there. "Look!" he said and pointed at the name in question.
Severus took the map and looked at the name in question. As soon as he laid his eyes on the name, they shot up behind his bangs and he stared at the name as if he had seen a ghost.
"That's impossible..." he said as he took a deep breath to calm himself. There was no way Pettigrew could be alive! Black had killed him!
Harry looked up at Severus and frowned when he saw the spooked out face that his favorite uncle was showing.
"Uncle Sev? Is something the matter? The map probably is just broken." he said in an apologetic way.
However, Severus shook his head, not taking his eyes of the name on the map.
"The map never lies. If it says that Peter is alive, then it must mean he is, though I can't for my life understand how that is possible." he said, though more to himself than to Harry.
Something about the way he said it put Harry at unease. It sounded almost like he knew this Peter Pettigrew from somewhere. More importantly, it sounded as if Pettigrew was supposed to be dead!
"Uncle Sev, what's going on? Do you know this man?" he asked, not sure if he ought to call it a man, since he hadn't seen any man where the man was supposed to be.
Severus however, didn't seem to hear him at all. He was still staring at the dot on the map that held Peter Pettigrew's name. His mind was racing to try and find a possible explanation to this. Black had killed Pettigrew, that much was common knowledge. And Severus had known that Black was the secret keeper of the Potters so only he could have betrayed them. The keyword there being could... Why would Black betray the Potters? He and Potter had been like brothers since the day they set foot at Hogwarts. On top of that, Black had been dishonored by his own family for not sharing their views on pureblood supremacy and for having been against Voldemort. Why would someone like that turn his back on the Potters? Well, only one way to find out. If Pettigrew was alive, then perhaps he could give the answers to this.
"Harry, I think you should leave this to me. I'll borrow the map for a little while, try not to think anymore about this." Severus said as he folded the map and put it inside his robes.
Harry frowned at Severus' actions. That was certainly weird. He had never seen Severus act this shocked before. Well, if you excluded the troll incident, but that one was understandable. But why would he react the same way just because the map showed a name that shouldn't be there? These questions flew around in Harry head as he made his way back to Gryffindor tower to get his outdoor wear.
-:-:-:-
20 minutes later, Harry and Ron entered the Great Hall. They looked around and found Susan and Hannah sitting by the Hufflepuff table. However, to their big surprise, they had been joined by the two blonde girls from the Slytherin table. A little furhter down the row, Blaise sat, obviously displeased to see his friends interracting so carefree with other houses. It couldn't be more obvious he still believed this to be some nasty scheme of Harry's.
Ignoring the look that Ron shot in Blaise's direction, Harry grabbed the redhead by the arm and dragged him over to the Hufflepuff table.
"Hey girls!" he said with a cheery smile.
"Hi Harry." Susan and Hannah greeted.
Harry noticed that the other girls hadn't greeted them but then again, they didn't really know each other very well yet, he reasoned. Glancing at Blaise, the other boy met his eyes and after a moment, he stood up and made his way over towards the group. While they waited, Harry turned back towards the girls, whom he noticed had already returned to their conversation.
"I see you girls seem to get along." he pointed out with a smile.
All four girls turned towards him.
"Yeah well, these two aren't too bad." one of the Slytherin girls, Trace, said.
Harry just nodded as Blaise joined them, still keeping a guarded eye at Harry and Ron. Ron returned the look with a glare, but yelped when Harry elbowed him in his ribcage and instead turned to glare at Harry.
"Now, I just now realized that I don't really know your names? Why don't we all introduce ourselves and tell the others something about ourselves so we can get a good impression of each other?" Harry suggested.
When the others gave him an accepting look, but no one opened their mouths to begin, Harry decided that perhaps he should be the first one, since it was him who suggested it.
"Alright, I'll go first then. My name is Harry Potter. I like to study magic and play quidditch and I dislike needless conflict. Oh, and I am fascinated by the inner workings of wands." he said. The last statement caused many of the table's occupants to raise their eyebrows, but none commented on it, though Ron gave him a look letting his best mate know that he thought he was mental.
After a brief silence where the others appeared to be taking in what Harry had told about himself, Ron decided to take up the lead, to everyone's surprise.
"Ah well. I'm Ron Weasley. I like to play Wizarding chess and I am a fan of the Chudley Canons quidditch team. I dislike Malfoy and homework." This caused all the table's occupants to snicker. Harry was thankful he had refraine from saying that he disliked Slytherins, which he would not have put past Ron to say.
For some reason, Blaise gave Ron an approving look when he was done with his introduction. Harry looked questioning at Blaise but when the boy didn't give any other indication, he decided that perhaps what had been so approving in Blaise's eyes would come out when it was his turn to introduce himself. Next, it was Susan's turn.
"My name is Susan Bones, of the Bones family. I like to spend time with my friends and study." she gave Ron a reprimanding look when she said this, which made the boy twist nervously in his seat." And I dislike people who are disrespectful towards others."
Though she didn't say it, Harry could guess that she was trying to imply that she disliked Malfoy. Ever since Malfoy had taken her locket that first week, she had always gotten a dark look on her face whenever his name had been mentioned. Harry was almost glad that Malfoy had taken to irritate him and the Gryffindors instead of going for Susan again, because he was pretty sure Susan would not be as patient with the slimy Slytherin as he had been these past months.
Hannah looked like she wanted to go next, but before she could open her mouth, one of the Slytherin girls decided to take lead and introduce herself.
"I'm Tracey Davis. I like to spend time with my family and dislike my roommates, with the exception of Daphne here." she pointed to the other Slytherin girl, who blushed when all the attention turned to her for a few moments. "And I also think pureblood supremacy is utterly ridiculus." Tracey finished.
Harry smiled. Just as he had thought, there were others than Blaise in Slytherin who didn't agree with the rest of their house, just that they weren't as outspoken against it as the boy sitting opposite to him. Seeing that Hannah was a little disappointed that she had been beaten to her introduction, Harry gave her an encouraging nodd, which caused the girl's cheeks to redden in embarrassment, but she nonetheless spoke up.
"My name is Hannah Abbott. Uhm... I like people who stand up for themselves and hope that one day I will be able to do that too... and I dislike bullies." she said, her blush deepening at the confession.
After having known her for half a year, Harry knew all too well that Hannah could be very shy and rarely spoke with strangers. So far, all he had seen her interract with except for the teachers were her peers from Hufflepuff and Harry and his friends. He smiled at her and she gave him a thankful look, showing that she appreciated his support. Next up was the last Slytherin girl.
"My name is Daphne Greengrass. I like to spend time with my family, especially my sister and I dislike bullies and people who think they are better than others." she said.
Harry noticed that so far, both Slytherins had been very anxious to point out that they did not agree with the mindset of the average Slytherin. Both Tracey and Daphne had been sure to underline that they disliked pureblood supremacy in one way or another. And something told him that Blaise would be no different.
"The name's Blaise Zabini. I dislike a lot of things, including pureblood supremacy and stubborness and like very few things. I do like to play quidditch though, but I would never want to be on the house team as long as Flint is captain." he said with a neutral look. However, his stern face twisted slightly into a smile when he looked towards Ron, which confused the redhead. At least until Blaise added: "And I am a supporter of the Chudley Canons."
For a moment, no one said anything. Harry, Susan, Hannah and Ron stared at Blaise in disbelief. Judging from the smug smiles that Daphne and Tracey was giving off, Harry would guess that they had known since earlier that Blaise was a supporter of the Canons. In his mind, Harry came to the conclussion that Blaise was one odd sheep, standing out from the crowd in any possible way.
"You're joking, right?" Ron said in disbelief. He even forgot to sound hostile towards the Slytherin.
Blaise snorted.
"I'm not joking at all. Why do you think I suddenly decided you aren't so bad after all?" he said.
Ron looked like he didn't know if he should be offended or take it as a compliment. Harry had to put his hand over his mouth to keep himself from laughing at the irony of the situation. The girls all looked a little put out, but decided it wasn't worth trying to understand. There were some mysteries that couldn't be solved and in their minds, one of those things were the connection between boys and quidditch.
"Well, now that we know each other a little bit better, why don't we head on outside?" Harry suggested as he stood up from the table and tigthened scarf around his neck, quickly followed by the others.
-:-:-:-
While Harry and his new friends were heading on outside, Severus had decided on a course of action. There was only one way to find out if Peter Pettigrew really was alive and that was to investigate Harry's dorm, where the dot was showing on the map. However, if it proved to be true and Pettigrew was alive, then he would need to have someone else there to help him capture him. If Pettigrew for some reason had hidden himself for this long, then that would mean he had done something he did not want to face consequences for. With that thought in mind, he made his way towards the Tranfiguration teacher's office. After knocking and recieving a muffled "enter" as a reply, he entered the office. Professor McGonagall was sitting by her desk with a stack of papers in front of her.
"Severus. Well this is a surprise visit." she said as she looked up and towards the door.
Severus nodded as an answer and when Minerva saw the serious look on his face, she stood up.
"Minerva, there is something I need help with. Are you available?"
The older witch cast a sideway glance at her pile of work and then looked back at Severus with a searching look, as if trying to decide what it was he wanted help with.
"Depends on what you need help with?" she answered as she studied her fellow Professor.
After contemplating his options, Severus reached inside of his robe and pulled out the Marauders' map. If he was to get McGonagall's cooperation for this, he would need to come clean about the reason behind it. One simply couldn't get something like that past Minerva McGonagall.
"This is an object that Harry's father created, along with his best friends. It is called the Marauders' map. If you come over here, I'm sure you can figure out what it's function is."
Frowning in surprise, Minerva made her way over to where Severus stood and held out her hand to take the map from him. Severus didn't object and simply handed it over. While Minerva studied the map, she couldn't help but admire the workings of the map. Just as Severus had said, it didn't take her long to figure out what the map was doing. And she felt thrilled by what she saw. It truly was a well-made piece of magic!
"I see you have understood it's inner workings." Severus noticed.
Minerva nodded as she searched the map and found her own office. Sure enough, 2 dots were standing close together by the doorway, each named "Minerva McGonagall" and "Severus Snape" respectively. She decided to see how fast the map would react and took a step away from the door and to her surprise, the dot on the map that was marked with her own name did the same in the exact same moment. She looked up from the map in astonishment.
"This map is truly something, but why are you showing it to me? Surely, you didn't come here just to show it to me." she said. While she didn't complain at having been shown such a rare piece of magic, possibly the only one of its kind, she knew Severus Snape well enough to know he had another motive for coming here.
And just as she thought, Severus took a step forward and grabbed the map from her, then held it up so they could both see, before he pointed his right index finger on the Gryffindor tower.
"This is the problem I need your help with."
At first, Minerva didn't understand what he was getting at and was just about to ask when she noticed the dot that was currently alone in the first year boys' dormitory. She leaned forward to see who it was and the name that she read got her to gasp in shock. Peter Pettigrew. She looked up at her colleague, who was giving her a serious look.
"Before you suggest that the map might be broken, I want to point out that if it is broken, then nothing will be lost from at least investigating this matter. IF the map really is correct, then we might have a problem up our sleeves."
Taking in what he had said, Minerva frowned.
"Why do you say that?" she asked.
"Think about it Minerva. If Peter Pettigrew really is alive, then why would he go into hiding? To the wizarding world, he is regarded as a hero from the last war, after tracking down Black. You know as well as I do that Black was the Potters' secret keeper and that he betrayed them to Voldemort. However, if that really was the case, then why would Pettigrew hide once Black was imprisoned."
Minerva flinched slightly when Severus said the Dark Lord's name, but she quickly shook it off. She had learnt a long time ago that it was no use arguing with him about that. In that area, he was just as stubborn as Albus.
"Are you suggesting that Pettigrew was the one who betrayed the Potters to he-who-must-not-be-named?" she asked in shock, as the implications of what Severus had said settled in her mind.
"I am saying that it is a possibility, considering he have been hiding for 11 years. However, there is only one way to find out and that is to uncover him and get him to tell us the truth. If he really is in the Gryffindor tower right now, then we should go there to find out."
For a moment, Minerva didn't know what to do. The implications of the situations were swirling aorund in her head. Pettigrew had been killed by one of his thought to be best friends, Sirius Black. The largest part of Pettigrew one had found was a finger. However... why would a finger be the only part of him they found? If Black really had blown him to pieces, then shouldn't there have been other parts... scattered around the scene. Minerva shuddered at the thought, but now that she thought about it, there really was something fishy about it. Witnesses claimed that Black only had cast one single curse, but even a blasting curse or an explosion curse would not have pulverized its victim so badly only a finger could be found. However, if Pettigrew had been the traitor they had in their midst, then that would mean the roles had been reversed to what was popular belief and that in turn would mean...
"Severus... if Pettigrew was the one who betrayed Harry's parents, then the ministry sent an innocent man to Azkaban!" she gasped in shock.
Severus grunted in agreement. He might have hated Black, but even he didn't deserve to spend a decade in Azkaban for something he hadn't done. If Black really was the one who betrayed Lily, then he could rotten away in that chunk of concrete for all Severus cared but if Black was innocent, then that was not something he would wish even for one of his worst enemies.
"But how could that be? Shouldn't something like this have come up during the ministry's trial?" she asked, still in disbelief. But she had to admit, that things were pointing in that direction.
Severus gave a dry laugh as he walked back towards the door and opened it. Minerva got what he was saying and followed without questioning. They had better get this over with before they jumped to any conclussions.
"You're seriously telling me you weren't informed? Black never recieved a trial! Crouch sent him straight to Azkaban and never bothered to investigate his case!" Severus said as the two of them made their way towards the Gryffindor tower.
Hearing this, Minerva wrinkled her nose in irritation. Crouch, of course. While she had always respected Bartemius Crouch for his sense of justice, she had always thought him to be a little quick to judge and sometimes extreme in his methods. She couldn't deny that his methods during the war had been most effective and she could even admit that had he not acted like he had in those dire times, it was possible that they would have lost the war. But had he really sent a man to Azkaban without a trial? Where was the justice in that? Then again, she guessed it wasn't something she would put past him. He had, after all, sent his own son to Azkaban...
"Murtlap." Severus said as they reached the portait of the fat lady.
The portait just nodded towards him and swung open to allow him passage. Minerva shook herself out of her thoughts and steeled herself for what was to come. These next minutes could change the life of more than one man. If Pettigrew really was here, then these next moments would go down in history. Silently, she followed behind Severus as he climbed the stairs to the first year boys' dorm. The door creaked as he opened it. They entered without making any noise, not wanting to draw attention to themselves.
"It's empty." Minerva said as she scanned the dorm.
Severus let his eyes scan the room without answering. After checking the map to make sure that Pettigrew was still in the room, he began walking towards Harry's bed. He allowed himself a smile when he saw that Harry's bed and things were all tidy and clean and well organized, before he returned to the task at hand. According to the map, Pettigrew should be sitting/standing in the bed that was left to Harry's. Judging by the messy covers and the things scattered around it, he would say that was Ron Weasley's bed. Taking a step closer, he waved Minerva over.
"In order to solve a mystery, you need to see what's hidden underneath the hidden."
Hearing the quote, Minerva couldn't help but snort.
"You're starting to sound like Albus." she joked as she came up to stand beside him.
Severus smiled, while never taking his eyes off the bed. There had to be something here that could tip him off as to what to do next.
"Thanks. That's probably because it was him who told me that in the first place." he answered as his eyes narrowed down on the blanket that had been tossed onto the bed in a messy way. From underneath the blanket, a tail was sticking out. A rat's tail.
"Do you think he could be invisible? Or does the map show people if they are hidden underneath an invisibility cloak?" Minerva asked as she tried to see what Severus was staring on. While she was very sharp, both in mind and spirit, she failed to see what had Severus pull out his wand.
"The map never lies. It will still show you as yourself, even if you're invisible or hidden in some way. Or in this case, transformed." he said with a smirk as he pointed his wand at the bed blankets and called out: "Animagus Revelio!"
A stream of light blue light shot out from the tip of his wand and hit the tail of the rat that was sleeping underneath the blanket. The rat woke up with a squek, that turned into a surprised shout of "ouch!" as the small bulge in the blanket suddenly increased in size. Beside him, Minerva gasped as she realized what had just happened. As his suspiscions were confirmed, Severus face twisted into an angry scowl as he took one step forward and pulled off the blanket to reveal a mangy-looking man in his early thirties. He had a bald spot on the top of his head, surrounded by an uneven amount of gray hair. His build was a lot more shallow than the last time Severus had seen him and his front teeth seemed to have grown longer, possibly as a result of spending over a decade as a rat. But there was no doubt who this man was, neither to Severus, nor to Minerva.
"Peter." Severus growled as the man spun around in the bed to look at them with a fearful expression.
"S-Severus..." he stammered, obviously not knowing what to do.
Severus had to bite his jaws hard together to control his emotions. Even with his skills in legilimency and control of his own emotions, he had to muster up all his shields to not throw himself at Pettigrew. He was seething with rage at the man in front of him. To be honest, he hadn't know what to expect when he went up here to find Pettigrew. This was the man who had sent Voldemort after Lily! This man... no, this thing was responsible for making Harry and orphan! Growling at his former classmate, Severus took a step forward and grabbed Pettigrew by the collar.
"You're coming with us. We're going to pay the headmaster a visit." Severus hissed from behind clenched teeth.
Pettigrew yelped as he was roughly pulled out of the bed and dragged across the floor by his collar. Seeing Severus about to leave the room, Minerva snapped herself out of her shock and quickly followed after them. She caught up with the two men down in the common room, just as Severus was pulling Peter along through the portait hole. The scabby man glanced around with fearful eyes, trying to come up with a means of escape.
"Peter... why?" she whispered as she got up behind him.
Pettigrew turned his eyes towards her and gave her a pleading look.
"M-Minerva! I swear, I didn't mean to. Don't let him take me away!"
Minerva wrinkled her nose in disgust. In her mind, this meant only one thing. Pettigrew really was the traitor all along. His behavior since they had turned him back to his human form as much as proved that he had wanted to stay hidden from them. And why would he want to hide form those who were supposed to be his friends if he hadn't done something that would make them angry with him? Minerva felt like her head would explode with all the implications this brought. The ministry's injustice, the imprisonment of an innocent man, the betrayal of someone whom she had regarded as a comrade...
"Silence, you scumbag!" Severus growled as he pulled Pettigrew along. As he did, he tugged harder at the man's collar, causing his prisoner to yelp. "You should be thankful I have learnt the importance of controlling my temper, or you would have been dead the moment I saw that bloody tail of yours sticking out form underneath the blankets."
Coming to a stop in front of the Gargoyle statue that guarded the headmaster's office, Severus gave the password ("Banana Split!") and waited for the staircase to reach all the way up to Dumbledore's office. Even if he didn't want to hurt Pettigrew without reason, that didn't mean he couldn't at least give him a few scratches by dragging him up the staircase. He didn't deserve the luxury of sitting on the staircase while it rose to the door. Not wasting any time, Severus began dragging the poor man up the stairs as soon as they came to a stop. He could feel Minerva's eyes on his back and her snort of disapproval at such "barbaric ways" as she would have called it, but he didn't care. And since she didn't say anything to right him, he didn't bother trying. Once they were up the stairs, he knocked hard on the door.
"Come in." Dumbledore's voice sounded from the other side.
A/N: So, there we go. The rat has been caught! So what do you think should happen now? Excited for the next chapter? I mean, it will only determine a lot of things for the entire story and how Harry will develop as a character! Not a big deal, no not at all.
Now, time to answer some reviews.
Charlie's jealousy? A lot of you mentioned something about Charlie being jealous of Harry's quidditch skills. I am glad most of you seemed to enjoy his reaction, but what he is feeling isn't really jealousy. It's more like he feels his own reputation is being threatened and want to show who's best. Still, I am glad so many of you seemed to enjoy his reaction!
Sisno2200: Seriously sis, you should check your PM inbox. Not sure if you read it so often, so I'll just give you an answer here. Yeah, I guess it seems a little bad by Harry to give Ginny a golden necklace and Ron a pack of Chocolate frogs, but also remember that Ron is almost as bad as his mother when it comes to accepting charity and he probably would have snapped at Harry if he got anything worth more than he could pay himself. On top of that, what do you think Ron would enjoy the most: a pack of chocolate or some jewelry? ;)
xdninja05: Having trouble seeing this is a FF and not canon? Haha, that's quite a compliment, thanks a lot. I am pretty happy with the way this story have gone so far, though I wouldn't claim to even be close to the level of J.K Rowling just yet. But anyway, that is probably the best compliment an HP fanfic author can get so tyvm! =)
Now, this is where I take my leave again. I got a new poll up where you can vote for what Animagus form you would like Harry to get IF i make him an animagus. If I do decide to make him into one, it won't happen until later in the story, but it might help y descision if I knew what you would want to turn him into. And as usual, if you think I have missed an option, then tell me and I'll add it. Take care, until the next time!