Author's note: Our story begins in the Shrieking Shack, in Chapter 19 of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Snape has revealed himself, and Harry and Ron are about to attempt to disarm him. But Hermione makes a different choice...
Harry made up his mind in a split second. Before Snape could take even one step toward him, he and Ron began to raise their wands.
But Hermione was faster.
"Petrificus Totalus!" she shouted. Snape's arms and legs snapped together, and his face went blank as the Full Body Bind Jinx took hold.
Ron slowly turned toward Hermione. "You...you attacked a teacher." he said, a mixture of panic and awe on his face.
Hermione shrugged. "You two were about to do the very same thing." She pried Snape's wand from his stiffened fingers, her hands trembling only a little. "Maybe now he'll be able to listen."
Black bent down and untied Lupin, who straightened up and rubbed his arms where the ropes had cut into them.
"Thank you, Hermione." Lupin said.
"I'm not saying we believe you." Hermione said. The three of them kept their wands trained on their Defense Professor as well as Black.
"Then it's time we offered you some proof," said Lupin. "Ron — give me Scabbers, please. Now."
Snape stood there, paralyzed and fuming, as he was forced to listen to Black's idiotic tale unfold. Obviously Black had used a charm such as Confundus to cloud the minds of Potter and his accomplices (not that that was a difficult task), making them believe Weasley's pet rat was actually Peter Pettigrew.
Then the rat transformed into Peter Pettigrew. Admittedly, this was unexpected.
Perhaps Pettigrew had been Confounded in order to make Black's story ring true? Confounding one target, especially one with as weak a mind as Pettigrew, was of course easier than targeting a group. But that wouldn't explain why Pettigrew was still alive, unless...
Ah, of course. This man wasn't Pettigrew - Black had kidnapped some poor fool, replaced his memories with false ones, and used Polyjuice to change him into a rat. Then he replaced the real rat when he broke into the Gryffindor common room. That would explain why he had been seen near Weasley's bed, not Potter's.
There was an easy way to disprove Black's story. Snape reached out with Legilimency toward the man who Black claimed was Pettigrew.
"They have made me the Secret Keeper, my Lord!"
A cold, merciless laugh, almost a scream, all too familiar...
Snape's entire body went cold, and a wave of nausea swept over him. He had seen many false memories in his time working for the Order of the Phoenix, and was very skilled in detecting them. If this memory was indeed false, it was the best one he had ever seen.
The Imperius Curse? No, this man wasn't acting like someone who was Imperiused. Reeling, Snape tried to make sense of the situation. There were many possible explanations, but none of them seemed to fit.
Then, Pettigrew confessed everything. He had indeed been made Secret Keeper. He had betrayed Lily to Voldemort. To his further shock, Potter argued for sparing the miserable wretch's life. Snape paused. Had the boy finally displayed some trait of Lily's besides her eyes?
This train of thought was derailed when Lupin turned and unpetrified him.
"Well, Severus, have you seen enough?" Lupin said, keeping his wand trained on him.
"Severus, my friend!" Pettigrew shouted between sobs. "Please, you have to listen to me-Black is mad! Mad!"
Snape's eyes flicked over the assembled group. There were five wands pointed at him; though he was capable of casting certain spells silently and without a wand, none of them could incapacitate the entire group.
"Forgetting something, are we Lupin?" he asked with a sneer. "A bit bright out tonight, is it not?"
Lupin paled. "My God - the potion, I forgot-"
Snape stretched out his hand, and a goblet full of Wolfsbane appeared in it. Lupin accepted the goblet, pressed it to his lips and drank it down, grimacing at the taste. "I almost-tonight is a full moon, I would have transformed…"
"Yes, one might almost think that hiring a professor afflicted with lycanthropy was a bad idea." Snape said, curling his lip. "Now, I suggest we all return to the castle and bring this matter to the Headmaster."
Inspired by Hermione's use of the Full Body Bind Jinx, Lupin placed Pettigrew under it and used a Levitation Charm to move him. After a brief but loud argument, Sirius agreed to the same conditions.
They deposited Ron in the Hospital Wing and proceeded to Dumbledore's office. Fudge was already there when they arrived. He jumped to his feet when he saw two bodies floating through the air.
"You've got Black!" Fudge said. "Well done, well done indeed. But who is this other fellow?"
"Peter Pettigrew!" Harry shouted. "He betrayed my parents, not Sirius!"
"Ridiculous." Fudge said. "I'll fetch the Dementors at once-"
"Cornelius, I must remind you I do not allow Dementors to enter Hogwarts." Dumbledore said. "These men are quite incapable of escaping. Have a lemon drop, and let's listen to what they have to say." Dumbledore said, offering Fudge the lemon drop tin. Fudge ignored the candy and collapsed into a chair, sweating profusely.
"This is ridiculous. Black was the Potter's Secret Keeper." said Fudge.
Lupin spoke up. "He says that the Potters secretly changed Secret Keepers to fool Voldemort."
"Madness...madness…" Fudge muttered. "False memory...Polyjuice...I could think of a dozen explanations for this!"
One of the many clocks in the office began to chime. Harry looked at one of them and saw that it was midnight. Midnight...why did that word seem important? His tired mind clumsily groped for the explanation; when he found it, he started. Professor Trelawney had predicted that "the Dark Lord's servant would return to him before midnight tonight" - well, it was really no surprise she had gotten it wrong. Pettigrew clearly hadn't gone anywhere.
Fudge turned to Dumbledore. "You don't actually believe this nonsense, Dumbledore?" He looked as though he might faint.
Dumbledore smiled. "You were present when Black was arrested, weren't you Minister?
"Yes, I was one of the first on the scene." Fudge snapped. "What of it?"
"Obviously you found the situation irregular, but were prevented from acting due to lack of evidence...this is a chance for you to right that wrong. Why, if Black turns out to be innocent, I imagine The Daily Prophet would declare you a hero..."
"The Prophet? How are they going to find out about this?" Fudge shrieked.
"From the owl which I am about to send them." Dumbledore said. He removed a sheet of parchment from a desk drawer and picked up a quill. "What shall I tell them your position is?" He locked eyes with Fudge and pushed the lemon drop tin across the desk toward him.
Fudge's eyes darted between the other people in the room. Gone was the look of the frazzled politician; in its place was a man of great cunning who was sizing up his options. He reached for the lemon drop tin, and put one in his mouth. There was a long silence before he finally spoke, and Harry could practically feel the tension in the air.
"Tell them...tell them I am on the side of the truth, whatever that may be."
"Excellent!" said Dumbledore. "Then you will also agree that we must immediately convene the Wizengamot."
Fudge paled slightly but nodded. Dumbledore finished writing and handed the parchment to Fawkes, who disappeared.
"What's the Wizengamot?" Harry whispered to Hermione.
"It's the highest Wizard court of law," she said. "They must be going to give Sirius an actual trial."
"Quite correct, Miss Granger." Dumbledore said. He flicked his wand, and his robes changed - they were now plum colored with a large silver 'W' embroidered on the front.
"Might I suggest we convene in the Great Hall, Minister?" Dumbledore asked.
