19 Interrogation

Little Hangelton had once been an agricultural town, full of small farms, with horses, cattle and sheep. At that time, only extremely strong smells would attract any attention. During the last century, the town turned urban. Nobody still kept horses, cows or sheep. The few remaining fields were tended to by agricultural machines, only emitting the smell of burned petrol. A decaying carcass emitted a smell that was immediately felt, even if not recognized for what it was.

Some neighbours complained of the putrid smell and two police officers were sent to check its source. They were surprised to see the house that had seemed to be forgotten for quite some time. It was badly neglected and the putrid smell came from it. They called the firefighters for help. Without adequate protection against the foul smell, it was almost given that someone could be seriously affected.

An hour later, wearing gas masks, the two police officers walked into the house, accompanied by two firefighters. As soon as they passed the entrance door, they found the door to the cellar partly destroyed in a way they had never seen before. A few steps later, they found the open door to the kitchen, where a fat bald man seemed to have passed out. He was still breathing, though, although he didn't wake up even when he was searched for weapons. Two different knives and a weird stick were taken away and his hand and feet were cuffed, just to be on the safe side, before he was taken out and an ambulance was called.

Further inside, a ballroom was found with some unintelligible drawings on the floor, the walls, and the ceiling. A decomposing cadaver, wearing some weird costume, was found inside it and another costume was a few feet away from it. The policemen called for Forensics to complete the investigation and hurried outside.

Luckily, someone at the police office knew what the stick found on the suspect, as well as the ones found in that ballroom later, could mean. The investigation was transferred to MI-5 and a team of Aurors was soon taking over.

–..–

Wormtail woke up in a barred cell. He checked himself, finding no injury, but he also couldn't find his wand or his knives. Even worse, his silver hand was missing. Without it, he could do almost nothing, at least in his human form.

He looked around. Except for the bars, the place reminded him of the hospital wing at Hogwarts, with white walls, white sheets on comfortable beds and nobody seemed to be in sight. He couldn't get out from there in his human form, but the bars were spaced wide enough for his rat form to easily pass between them. That should pose no problem.

He concentrated, trying to transform. Nothing happened. Well, he thought, it sometimes happened that he was too tired or too distracted to succeed on the first try. He didn't feel too tired, but maybe he wasn't concentrating well enough.

He concentrated some more and tried again. Nothing. Had he lost his magic?

He tried to reach inside him, to that warm comforting feeling of his magic. It was still there, maybe somewhat diminished, but still good enough. He then remembered retching inside the ritual circle. Could this possibly be the result? Voldemort had said something about side effects.

Cold panic washed over him. Without his rat, he was nothing and nobody. He couldn't even hold a wand…

"Somebody is finally awake," he heard a cheerful voice.

He turned around, alarmed, and found a man in healer robes and a DMLE name tag. "Where am I?" he blurted.

"You're in the DMLE hospital wing, after being taken by the muggle police as a suspect in killing Lucius Malfoy and possibly another person. You were in a coma after starving for a few days and breathing the putrid air in that place." The healer gave the information freely. It had already been all over the newspapers, both muggle and magical.

"But I didn't kill them! I was locked in the cellar, waiting to be called…"

The healer lifted his hand to stop him. "You'll get your chance to tell everything. We had to wait for you to recuperate since you were physically and magically exhausted, but now you seem well enough to be interrogated."

Wormtail shuddered at the idea. He tried to transform a few more times, but only managed to tire himself. When trying to feel his inner rat, he also failed. He wasn't sure he could still call himself an animagus.

It took another hour or two – time didn't really matter in his situation – until he was taken for interrogation with an anti-animagus collar and magic-suppressing cuffs on his legs and on his remaining hand. He was forced into a metal chair and tied to it, leaving only his left arm exposed, where his dark mark was clearly visible, although it was now fading.

Somebody lifted his head and pinched his nose, forcing him to open his mouth and another put three drops on his tongue. He had no doubt this was Veritaserum, but he couldn't object, nor could he spit it back, the way he was held.

The hold on his head and nose was released as soon as he swallowed the tasteless liquid. He felt it go down his throat and then spread throughout his body. There was no way he could fight it.

Trying to look around, he found he was alone in a small room. Well, maybe not alone. He could sense an Auror behind him, but couldn't turn far enough to see him. He was sitting in front of a large, dark window, but it reflected nothing.

"State your name," He heard a voice demand.

"Peter Pettigrew, also known as Wormtail," he answered in a flat tone.

"Date of birth?"

"The fifteen of March, nineteen sixty."

"Are you an animagus?"

"Yes"

"What's your form?"

"A common rat with a hairless tail."

"When did you get your Dark Mark?"

"During the summer of 1979."

"Has anybody forced you to do that?"

"No. The Dark Mark can only be taken voluntarily."

"Were you asked to do anything before getting the mark?"

"I had to capture a mudblood witch, rape her and then kill her."

"Whom did you kill that time?"

"I don't remember her name. She was a seventh-year Hufflepuff at the time."

"Were you the Potter's secret keeper?"

"Yes."

"Who cast the Fidelius on them?"

"It was Dumbledore."

"Who else was present?"

"James, Lily, Harry and I."

"Was Sirius Black present?"

"No. He was elsewhere at the time."

"Whom did you tell the secret to and when?"

"I told my master the next day. He decided to wait a few days, considering Halloween the most appropriate time to kill them. I also told Sirius and Moony a few days later, as requested."

"Were you present when he attacked the Potters?"

"Yes."

"Tell us what happened there."

"I showed him the way and waited for him to finish. When he didn't come out after the spells stopped, I transformed and went into the house. James was dead, and so was Lily. I couldn't find the Dark Lord, although his robes and his wand were on the floor. I stowed the wand into my pocket and intended to fold the robes there too. I only wondered if I should kill the baby, but then I heard some noises and turned back into my rat form, hiding under the cupboard."

"What happened next?"

"Sirius came barging in with his wand at ready. He quickly scanned the room but failed to see me, noticing only baby Harry crying and asking to be taken. He took Harry in his arms, weeping just like the baby and hugging him tightly. Then Rubeus Hagrid arrived and wanted to take Harry to Dumbledore. While they were arguing, I sneaked out of the house and apparated away."

There was a moment of silence before the voice asked, "Tell us what happened the day you had a confrontation with Sirius before you disappeared."

"I knew Sirius was good at tracking people, so I didn't go back to my place. I hid as a rat in various places, so he wouldn't be able to track me. I intended to leave the country, but I needed the money that was in my safe at home, so I went there during the day, when that area is quite crowded, due to the shops and the marketplace. I thought I could hide in the crowd. Sirius still found me before I could get my money. I knew I couldn't win in a fair duel. I held my wand at my back and cast a blasting curse. It hit a gas line and caused a much larger explosion than I thought, but it served me well. In the confusion, I hit him with a laughing spell and then cut my pinky and transformed into a rat, vanishing into the sewers."

"Did you intend to kill those muggles?"

"I didn't care. I knew some may be injured or even killed, but all I wanted was to cause enough of a distraction to let me escape."

"Where did you hide after that?"

"I wandered around in rat form, going south, trying to find a way to leave for the continent. Then, a boy found me and made me his pet. I later found out it was Percy Weasley. I decided to stay. I was protected there, well fed and kept warm, and with the boy's father working at the Ministry, I could also stay current with anything of importance, waiting for my master to return."

"But then, you ran away. Why?"

"Sirius got away from Azkaban and started hunting me. Then, my identity was revealed to Potter and his friends. I could no longer be safe there. Luckily, Moony transformed and gave me the distraction I needed to run away and hide. The dementors paid me no attention in rat form."

"What did you do then?"

"I made my way south using apparition or my rat form, whatever felt safer. I stowed away on the ferry to France and then made my way to Albania."

"Why Albania?"

"My Dark Mark attracted me in that direction. I knew that it meant that my master was there."

"What did you do in Albania?"

"I helped my master get stronger. I then captured Bertha Jorkins and my master got from her all the information she had before using her murder to turn his pet snake into a Horcrux. He then used that information to plan his return to power. We came back to Britain, using muggle transportation, and hid in Riddle Manor. On our way, we also took Barty Crouch Jr. to join us."

"What did you do when you were back in Britain?"

"My master knew a ritual to give him back a body. He intended to use Harry Potter in that ritual, but when it became clear that Barty was caught, he decided to use whatever muggle I could find to take some blood from. We did the ritual inside the manor instead of doing it at the cemetery."

"What happened at the manor before you passed out?"

"I'm not quite sure. My master made Lucius draw some runes all over the large room for about two weeks. He then sent me to hide in the cellar until he called me, due to possible side effects of the ritual. I waited there for more than a day, maybe two or three, until I became too thirsty to stay. I used piercing charms to perforate the door around the lock so I could get out since I couldn't unlock it. When I came out, I found Lucius dead and decaying and my master's robe with only some bone fragments, a bit of blood and the hand I sacrificed during the previous ritual."

"Did you find any plausible explanation for what happened?"

"I found a book open at the ritual he attempted. There was a warning on the next page, but I think he didn't read it or didn't pay it any attention. He made a mistake in the ritual, so instead of possessing Lucius's body, he killed both."

After a moment of silence, the voice said, "That should be enough for now. Take him to his cell."