Author's note. I know some people found it a little weak how they seemingly discovered Peter but it was always going to be that way, it would always seem suspicious no matter how they revealed him. I know a lot of people think it was really obvious he was a death eater but honestly, reading the first two books, did you really think Scabbers was a death eater? Yes, there are loads of clues in the third book but we as the reader are handily given them in a few hours while the characters in the books are given them at random intervals throughout almost a whole year. For them, it's not that obvious, they have so many other things taking up their intention, their schoolwork, the Quidditch cup, a mass murderer and their lives in general.
Until Third year, Scabbers never ever behaved oddly, he was just a lazy but well behaved rat. Frankly, the symptoms he displayed in Third year fits perfectly with an animal reaching the end of its life, with weight and hair loss. And since a large cat kept chasing him, that just makes his condition even worse. Honestly, I don't see how anyone who didn't know about Peter Pettigrew being able to transform would clock that Scabbers was an Animagus. And before you point out 'he lived much longer than a normal rat', well, you do get animals that live much longer than normal, especially pet ones. I think the oldest pet/lab rat was over seven years old but again Scabbers literally never did ANYTHING the least bit threatening, it just wouldn't register that he's living beyond what he should.
Also, they were never sure if he was a normal rat or a magical one, he was either a long lived normal rat or a magical one that was too lazy to display any abilities. Either way, I do not think three innocent First years, even if they were on the lookout for strange behaviour, would instantly focus on Ron's passive, well behaved family pet. Wizard pets in general probably live to decent ages so again, no alarm bells would ring. And even though Molly bashers will declare that she alone out of the entire world should have clocked him, I always kind of wondered why Remus never spotted him. Sirius managed to recognise him from a black and white photo and since Ron did tend to take Scabbers around with him, surely he would have spotted him? Doesn't really matter, Peter is out in the open now and that's that. I'm not trying to start an argument, just trying to explain how I see it.
On another note, it's my birthday today and I'm secretly hoping that this chapter will be the one that reaches a whole 1000 reviews, my first story to do so. So if you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know, it'll make my day really special.
Enjoy and please review.
"You don't have to hold my hand," Ron complained as they trooped towards Dumbledore's office.
Percy ignored him making Ron grumble to himself. Yes, he knew Percy was worried about him because he didn't know anything about the man who'd been masquerading as their pet for ten years but come on.
"Professor?" Percy asked as soon as they were seated. "Can you please find out...just what that...man did while he was...our pet?"
"Of course Mr Weasley," Dumbledore said with a nod, looking very grave. "I shall instruct Professor Snape to find out all he can, although protocol dictates that an Auror be present."
"I understand...I just want to know," Percy stated urgently, adding. "He was my pet for five years."
"Ah...yeah, that is a good reason to be concerned," Ron realised with a grimace. Percy wasn't just worried about Scabbers perving on his little brother and maybe sister, he was worried that Scabbers had been watching him.
He looked over at Hermione; she was sitting forward and looking somewhat nervous which is how she tended to be if a plan went awry. Which frankly always seemed to happen, it could be rather annoying at times. Harry meanwhile had a quiet excitement about him while attempting to maintain an innocent First year demeanour.
"Petet Pettigrew will be questioned fully about his movements and motivations," Dumbledore told his highly concerned Prefect. "How long do you believe the rat has been with your family, Mr Weasley? Is ten years a good estimate?"
"I believe so sir," Percy said with a frown as he thought about it. "I...I don't really remember us getting him, I just remember when I was little, Charlie somehow got hold of this really tame rat. He probably thought having a rat would be exciting but Scabbers never really did anything..."
He stopped, frowning even more. Dumbledore now said.
"I would guess that Peter wanted to stay with a wizarding family so he would hear any news of his lord's return. It would have been easy enough for him to slip away to another country and start a new life but he did not do that. Perhaps for all his daring in framing Sirius Black, he was unable to take the step of assuming a new identity and living abroad."
"Sir?" Harry asked softly. "Could you tell me about Sirius Black? You said he was one of my dad's friends but this Peter Pettigrew framed him?"
"That is correct," Dumbledore agreed, turning his attention to Harry. "Your father had three best friends, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin. He was closest to Sirius Black and when you were born..."
Dumbledore hesitated ever so slightly before saying gently.
"He was named your Godfather."
"My Godfather?" Harry repeated. "I don't understand, if he was my Godfather, why would anyone think he was working for Voldemort?"
"It's a rather complicated situation," the old headmaster said gravely. "Sirius's family is notorious for being a dark one with several of his relatives either being Death Eaters or supporters of the Death Eaters. Those were what the followers of Voldemort called themselves," he added in response to Harry's puzzled frown.
"Your parents fought against Voldemort and naturally, this made them targets, they had several narrow escapes. While we tried to fight against him, I strongly suspected that we had a spy on our side who was keeping Voldemort up to date with their movements. Eventually, the situation became so grave that they decided to go into hiding, this was after you were born," Dumbledore explained as Percy looked rather stunned.
"They were meant to be protected by the Feidalius Charm, which involves they staying in a location that is only known to the Secret Keeper, a specially chosen person and who he chooses to reveal the secret to. As long as the Secret Keeper never reveals where they are, no force in the world could find them, not even Voldemort if he stood right outside their front door. Your parents chose Sirius Black to be their Secret Keeper and went into hiding...and then only a week later, Voldemort turned up and murdered them."
Dumbledore paused to allow them to digest this information before continuing.
"Now at the time, it was assumed that Sirius Black must have been the spy all along and had told his Master where the Potters were. And he appeared to make a run for it but was cornered by Peter Pettigrew in the middle of a Muggle street where words were exchanged and Sirius Black blasted Peter and twelve Muggles to pieces."
"Merlin," Percy muttered as Dumbledore added.
"All that was ever found of Peter was his finger and with Sirius standing there laughing, it wasn't difficult for the authorities to conclude that Sirius was guilty and arresting him. Of course we now know it wasn't like that at all, Peter was the traitor and it seems reasonable to conclude that Sirius went after him."
"Sir?" Hermione piped up. "What I don't understand is, why didn't Sirius Black tell anyone this? Surely he would have told his defence lawyer all about Peter being an Animagus?"
"Defence lawyer?" Percy repeated dumbly.
"Yes, someone who speaks on the behalf of the accused," Hermione explained before asking. "Don't wizards have anything like that?"
"We have Magical Law enforcement," Dumbledore said to her. "Who investigate crimes and present their findings to the Wizengamot but it is the Wizengamot who decide if someone will be sentenced or not, with a vote from the members. The accused can have a witness for the defence to argue their case if they wish."
"So didn't my Godfather have one?" Harry questioned, already knowing the answer.
"I afraid not," Dumbledore said heavily. "At the time, the Ministry felt that the evidence was so overwhelming, that he was sent straight to Azkaban."
"But why?" Harry asked, feeling genuine outrage. "Surely he deserved a fair trial...were all the followers of Voldemort sent to Azkaban without one?"
As Percy flinched, Dumbledore sighed and said.
"No, most were given a trial but some were simply sent straight there. It is difficult to describe the atmosphere back then to those who weren't there, people were just so very incredibly relieved that Voldemort and his threat was gone that they would have happily sent any number of Death Eaters to Azkaban without trial. There is no real excuse for what happened and I deeply regret that I did more. I'm afraid that I believed he was guilty as well, I honestly did not even consider that Peter would be capable of such a thing, he was never the bravest or cleverest, he seemed to rely heavily on his more talented friends."
"I see," Harry said, he didn't appear to be able to say anything else.
"What happens now, sir?" Percy questioned quietly.
"There will be an investigation," Dumbledore said firmly. "Your parents will have to be informed of what happened naturally."
"Mum'll be furious," Ron said with a slight shudder, remembering her reaction back in Fourth year when she learned that Scabbers had really been a Death Eater in disguise. It had taken quite a while to get her to calm down, she'd been beside herself.
Now looking rather alarmed, Percy said.
"Ah, need we inform mother and father just yet?"
Eyes twinkling slightly, Dumbledore said. "It might be best to talk with the Minister and garner more information from Peter. Better to have answers to your parents' questions than leave them worrying."
"Thank you sir, I think that would be best," Percy said gratefully.
"Sir?" Ron suddenly asked. "That rat said something about Sirius Black feeding Snape...I mean Professor Snape to...Remus? What did he mean by that?"
He was interested to see what kind of answer his headmaster would give, would he answer honestly.
"You must have misheard Ron," Percy immediately stated but Hermione said. "No, I heard it as well, he's not a vampire or something is he?"
"Not a vampire, no," Dumbledore said with a slight chuckle. "Well children, since Sirius will undoubtedly become a part of Harry's life and by extension yours...you are bound to meet Remus Lupin. I would ask you not to judge by what I am going to tell you, he was and still is a fine young man who was Gryffindor Prefect."
This made Percy sit up, a slight frown on his face.
"Remus Lupin was bitten by a werewolf when he was a small boy," Dumbledore said very gently.
"A werewolf!?" Percy repeated in dumbfounded. "But sir...h-how could he have been a Prefect, didn't you know he was a werewolf?"
"I did indeed know that when I accepted him into Hogwarts but he has never shown the slightest inclination to let the monster take over," Dumbledore said calmly. "His greatest fear is that he might turn someone and he has always taken great pains to avoid that. When he was at Hogwarts, he was a quiet, studious boy who only wanted do make everyone proud of him."
"And he was my dad's best friend?" Harry asked and as Dumbledore nodded. "So...is being a werewolf a bad thing? I don't know much about them..."
"Except what you might have seen in Muggle movies?" Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye. "Yes, I'm afraid that it is a hard life for those who are bitten, even if they shun the inner monster. The transformation is a agonising process and leaves the sufferer ill for several days before and after. They are incapable of controlling themselves while transformed; they would rip apart their own mother if they could."
"That's terrible," Hermione exclaimed.
"It is a curse," Dumbledore said gravely. "And many succumb to the temptation to simply give in to their inner beast but not Remus. Even though he lost all of his friends on that dreadful night, he has remained a functioning member of wizarding and indeed muggle society. I hope all four of you will give him a chance when you see him."
"I will," Harry said instantly. "He was one of my dad's friends; I want to get to know him. Did my mum like him?"
"She did," Dumbledore assured him. "And she knew about his condition, barely any of the students did except for Remus's very close friends."
"And Professor Snape?" Hermione offered.
"And Professor Snape," Dumbledore agreed. "He stumbled across Remus's secret but accident but that's a story for another time."
"I'll bet it was," Ron thought, he wondered how Snape would act when it was brought up. Since Harry was on relatively friendly terms with Snape, it wouldn't make sense if he didn't bring it up with the Potion's master.
"So," Harry began. "Sirius...my godfather, what's going to happen to him?"
"I am going to convince the Minister to release him from Azkaban and give him a proper trial," Dumbledore said with quiet conviction before saying gently. "I'm afraid he will not be in good condition, Azkaban is a terrible place for those who reside there, however briefly that might be. He may have to go to St Mungos, the wizard hospital."
"Mum could look after him," Ron suggested so spontaneously that he truly sounded like an eleven year old. He actually surprised himself by asking that, it just suddenly hit him and he asked before he'd thought that idea through.
"Your mum?" Hermione repeated in disbelief as Percy exclaimed. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm just saying," Ron said with a shrug, feeling his ears begin to burn. "She'll be crazy when she finds out about that rat, that Sirius guy could distract her. She loves feeding people up and dad said when he went there, everyone was really thin and stuff. Probably better than St Mungos, that might feel like a cell...or something..."
His voice trailed off as everyone stared at him; he really wasn't used to making speeches that held everyone's attention. That was more Hermione's thing...and Harry's on occasion. But to his astonishment, Dumbledore smiled and said.
"I can't see any harm in suggesting that, it is true that Sirius will need personal human contact to help recover and I have heard stories about your mother's cooking."
Both Percy and Ron flushed at this, their mother could be something of a cooking fiend, no one ever left her home hungry, quite the reverse. Harry's lips twitched as he said.
"That sounds good; I think he deserves to be taken care of."
Just as Dumbledore was about to say something, the floo suddenly flared and Minister Fudge spilled out into the grate, along with Moody and Tonks. Hermione gave a gasp of astonishment while Harry went rather rigid. For his part, Ron was pretty sure he was gaping but thankfully, no one was paying him any attention.
"A trainee?" Fudge was spluttering to Moody who simply ignored him and said
"Hear you've got a Death Eater for us Dumbledore."
His magical eye swept those in the room, making Percy gulp as his normal eye was fixed on Dumbledore. Naturally, it paused on Harry and more importantly his scar but soon moved on again. Tonks smiled in friendly fashion to the children present and greeted Dumbledore warmly.
"Wotcher Professor, how's it going?"
"Exceedingly well Nymphadora," Dumbledore said with a smile, adding as Fudge began to turn a funny colour. "Cornelius, Alastor, I'm grateful you could come."
"Couldn't pass up the chance to give this trainee a bit of hands on experience," Moody growled as Fudge drew himself up before almost deflating as he spotted Harry.
"Goodness, what's Harry Potter doing here?"
Harry's eyes narrowed and Ron had to fight to stop glaring at the portly man. He was the one responsible for their hellish fifth year and he probably hadn't regretted a moment of it. Ron wished he had a good reason to hex the man in front of him but of course, appearances had to be kept up.
"Mr Potter was one of the students who discovered Peter Pettigrew," Dumbledore quickly explained. "Where are my manners, the students you see before you are Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley and one of our Gryffindor Prefects, Percival Weasley."
He indicated each student as he said their name. Now directing his hand at the adults, he said.
"And here we have the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, Auror Alastor Moody and trainee Auror Nymphadora Tonks."
"Pleased to meet you," Percy managed to say, his deference to authority kicking in.
"Eh, you two Arthur's boys?" Moody questioned before Fudge could say anything.
"Yeah, he's our dad," Ron answered as Percy nodded.
"Good man," Moody stated. "A little odd but a good man nonetheless."
Percy flushed and looked away but Ron knew that Moody wasn't being insulting. He was just really blunt and their dad's obsession with Muggles could come across as odd to strange or even people who knew him. Hopefully Percy would learn not to be embarrassed when people said things like that or at least could tell the difference between an insult and an observation.
"Yes, yes," Fudge said impatiently. "But are you really sure it's him Dumbledore? All that was found was bloodstained robes and a finger."
"Scabbers was missing a finger on his front paw," Hermione couldn't help but point out. "And we saw him get transformed and the teachers questioned him. He admitted who he was."
"You can question him yourself Cornelius," Dumbledore told him. "With truth serum to ensure his words are true. But all the evidence we've gathered so far indicates that he is a Death Eater who betrayed the Potters and framed Sirius Black."
"Frame Sirius Black? How can that be, he is a mass murderer? It was proven."
"But Professor Dumbledore said Sirius didn't have a trail," Harry pointed out. "Did he have one, Minister?"
"Oh well, ah," Fudge stammered as Harry was looking very intently at him. "No, I mean officially there wasn't exactly a trail but the evidence did seem rather overwhelming..."
"But didn't he ever get a chance to explain his side of things?" Harry persisted. "He could have explained what happened to Pettigrew and about being an Animagus."
"Animagus?" Moody said sharply. "I wasn't told this."
"That is one of the things we have discovered," Dumbledore explained. "Pettigrew masqueraded as the Weasley's family pet for ten years, in order to keep an ear open for news about his master. He transforms into a rat which is why when he is imprisoned, certain measures will have to be taken."
"No kidding," Moody muttered as Fudge looked rather agitated at this new information.
"This will cause a scandal of huge proportions," he muttered distractedly as Dumbledore said. "Undoubtedly it will. But I believe the ones it will affect the most will be the previous government."
As Fudge looked sharply at him, Dumbledore added.
"You've only just come to terms Cornelius, you are most definitely not to blame for what has happened, the government of ten years ago is. Furthermore, if you act swiftly and efficiently, your government would be seen as righting a gross injustice. And you yourself would go down in history as a Minister who did not stand for any kind of corruption."
"You'd be nothing short of a hero," Dumbledore finished as Fudge stared at him but he wasn't looking quite so unhappy. On the contrary, comprehension was beginning to dawn on him.
"That...is a very valid point Dumbledore," he said with a nod as Percy actually said.
"Minister, perhaps if there are other such cases, you could give the remaining Death Eaters a trail? Just to make absolutely sure they belong there and no one will be able to say you did nothing."
He clearly did not like the idea of the rules being circumvented, especially when it came to justice.
"I will look into it, thank you young man," Fudge said with a nod; he was certainly getting into his stride.
Percy flushed brilliantly and looked away, almost as though he couldn't believe he'd actually said that.
"We'd better go down and integrate the suspect," Moody now said. "Come along Rookie."
"Alright, Veteran," Tonks said cheerfully, causing Moody to roll his eyes as he stamped forward with his protégée following on his heels.
With the Aurors gone, Fudge focused on the Hogwarts students again.
"Well well, so you children discovered Pettigrew?"
"Yes sir," they all agreed as he smiled at them.
"Extraordinary, how did you do it?"
"It is a rather fascinating tale," Dumbledore agreed. "Why don't you take a seat Cornelius and they can explain."
Fudge obliged and they began to tell the story of how they'd accidently discovered that Scabbers the rat was really Peter Pettigrew. Fudge had a tendency to interrupt and ask questions, even though he was more at east about the situation, he was still rather shocked by it. In fact, it took so long that by the time they were finished, a sliver Patronus had found its way to Dumbledore's office, forming into the shape of a scraggly ram with very curled horns.
"Everything points to it being Peter Pettigrew," came Moody's growl of a voice from the ram's mouth, a rather disconcerting sight. "We made him transform and performed a brief but thorough questioning of why he was shacked up with the Weasleys. He was there so he'd have a good chance of hearing information while remaining undetected and at the same time, be utterly pampered. The trainee asked him about his feelings towards his hosts and their fairly neutral. He enjoyed being so well taken care of and fed but would not bother to help any of them if they were in trouble. That appears to be all for now, you can come down and see him if you want."
The message ended and the ram shook it's self before bounding away into nothing.
"Thank goodness," Percy said in obvious relief, pulling Ron closely.
"I still can't believe it," Fudge murmured, looking over at Dumbledore. "This...this is unprecedented."
"It is mostly definitely that," Dumbledore agreed. "Do you feel it is fair now to at least remove Sirius Black from Azkaban for the time being? He can be placed under temporary guard at St Mungos and be given a chance to recover before the trial. I believe it may make him slightly less resentful if we take instant action."
"Yes you're right," Fudge said, making the trio stare. It was odd to see Fudge so readily agree with Dumbledore, after everything that had happened. "I will contact the office and have someone sent out there."
He glanced at the Weasley boys before coughing and saying. "I believe I shall have to contact Arthur Weasley about this as well. I understand this will cause no small measure of distress but he will have to testify most likely."
"They didn't know anything about Pettigrew," Ron said quickly.
"I know that," Fudge assured him. "But Pettigrew was under their roof for ten years so it is sadly unavoidable. But I'm sure we can clear it up with an interview."
"If you can send those messages, I might take the opportunity to contact Molly Weasley, his wife," Dumbledore stated. "They will need to be equally informed about this so that we can proceed swiftly."
Twinkling at his pupils, he said.
"You better make yourself comfortable, this may take a little while."
He waved his wand and summoned a plate of sandwiches and a beaker of pumpkin juice, obviously from the kitchens. While Percy was a little bemused, the trio were extremely relieved that they were going to be kept in the picture. Dumbledore was shrewd enough to know that Molly would want to be able to see her children, especially Ron and assure herself that they were fine.
This was turning out to be very interesting.
Author's note. It's not really said when Moody retired but wiki does say that Tonks became an Auror in 1994 and since she trained under Moody, I think it was probably round about 1994 that he retired. But I think it's safe to assume he was still an Auror in Harry's first year as Auror training takes three years. It also makes sense that it was that in 1994 he was available, rather than say the previous one when a mass murderer was on the loose. In the next chapter, how does Molly and Arthur react to the news? What about Sirius, how is he doing? Find out next time, until then.