Rada walked through the Hogwarts and then Durmstrang corridors as if in a trance, not hearing or seeing anyone, all dark shadows that passed through the corner of her eyes as she made her way, until an arm grasped hers, and she felt her gait change to match the person next to her. She whipped her head to the side, half-expecting to see Sirius Black, only to realise it was Igor holding her arm, ranting about having Hogwarts students still stuck in the Durmstrang common rooms.

"Unbelievable, what would Vulchanova have thought, if she knew when she made this Institute-... That you convinced me to bring Muggleborns…" he grumbled, looking around before pulling her off to the side and making her stop.

Igor Karkaroff looked at her with his usual look of annoyance - with all classrooms closed and locked, he had to deal with triple the students in half the space, which was one of the worst scenarios he could imagine the Institute being in. And that was excluding the high number of Muggleborns students looking around Durmstrang.

"I might propose to Dumbledore we Obliviate them before they leave, and I need you on my side, Dida. Especially after yesterday. We're a team, remember? Just you and me, deputy." his voice turned soft as he looked around them, making sure they were not visible in the little corner he had pulled her in. "Hey. Got it?"

He raised his other hand to her face and wrapped his fingers around her chin, fingers pressing softly into her cheeks as he finally looked, truly looked at her, only to meet a ghostly, haunted look in the darkness of her eyes. His brows furrowed, and his annoyance changed to concern in an instant, as his hand went from her chin to her forehead, pulling a dark ringlet of hair away from her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Rada Pann looked at him, his face so close to hers that she could feel his breath on her face. Igor, who kept kicking the dog she thought was a dog out of her room, who tried to get rid of the beast, Igor, who kept telling her there was something about that dog, something wrong with how it barked at him - Igor, who had been right all along.

"What's wrong, Rada?"

Igor, who mere days ago, when the incident happened and he found her unresponsive, he pried open her mouth with his own fingers to pour something - either water, either a potion to help her wake up - down her throat. Igor, who laughed later in the day that he could have remained without fingers.

"What's wrong, love?"

Igor, who whispered in her ear that he was afraid he would lose her. Igor, who told her last night, before they knew the Weasley kid disappeared, that maybe they should continue on just the two of them, and that if they haven't had a kid so far, maybe they just shouldn't. Igor, who now lightly shook her by the shoulders, pressing a soft, warm palm against her cheek.

You can't tell anyone about what happened, Rada. Not until Fudge comes and decides the next steps.

Remus's voice rang in her ears, but it was too late, as she already opened her mouth and half-confessed.

"They found the Weasley kid. And Peter Pettigrew. Alive. In Hogwarts. Just now."

Igor furrowed his brows, speechless. He was no longer holding her, trying to contain his shock over the information Rada just relayed to him. Instead, her hands were now holding his arms, fingers barely able to wrap around half the width of his arms as she repeated that Pettigrew was found alive - him, not an impostor, not a lookalike, before telling him he can't let anyone know that he knows.

"How do you know all of this?"

"I saw him, Igor. I saw him in Hogwarts. Peter Pettigrew is alive."

"How is it possible? How-... Are you sure? It could be Black in disguise!"

"I don't know. No one knows. I mean, it's not Black, it really is Pettigrew. Dumbledore is there, I think they plan to talk to him soon. I'm going to-... I need to get the Weasley kids now, Igor. I need to go now." she spoke quickly, one hand moving to his chest as she pushed him away, until she had enough space to slither between him and the wall and quickly take her leave.

As she half-entered her office, Rada cocked her head to the side, and Hayk stepped aside from her desk, letting her take out one of the keys and open the drawer where the students' wands had been locked.

"We found your brother." she stated quickly, handing the twins their wands back. She paid no attention to their lively reactions and torrent of questions, and ignored them completely as she turned to Hayk, and raised her voice in order to drown theirs. "Professor, if you don't mind taking out the Weasley brothers from here… that would be our exchange student from Hogwarts, Percy Weasley, and their sister-..." she turned towards the twins, who promptly responded with her name. "Ginny Weasley, thank you. If you could take them to the closest classroom we have to the dining hall, the one on the right. The Hogwarts Headmaster will be there as well, to brief the siblings on what has happened."

"Got it."

As the twins clambered to leave the office, Rada quickly cocked her head again and winked at Hayk, briefly putting her hands behind her back as she saw them off. In an Institute full of a myriad of rumours and in which students somehow developed surprising methods to find out some matters before even their professors, it was not uncommon for certain professors that had to interact quite a lot to develop codes among each other. The particular one used meant 'stay there and let me know what has happened', and Hayk understood immediately, nodding briefly before accompanying the twins back.

"And me, miss professor?"

"And you…"

Rada sighed as she looked at Bauer, taking a seat at her desk as she rummaged through a drawer, placing her research into the trial of Sirius Black on her desk, with her wand on top. She pushed the folder and wand close to her, before pulling at the neck clasp of her woollen robe and undoing it. She had never run so much… well, since being a student.

"If you don't mind, miss professor, how did they find him?"

"How about I answer one of your questions, truthfully, Krista, and you answer one of mine, with just as much truthfulness?"

Bauer shuffled in her chair, seemingly pondering the terms, wondering whatever she must have done in the past few days could have consequences if she would admit to it, before nodding.

"I found him under a tree on Hogwarts grounds. He'd been dragged there, somehow." she spoke quickly, dismissing these few hours of fear as if they were nothing. "My turn now, my dear. Did you really arrive by yourself to the conclusion that Sirius Black may not have killed Peter Pettigrew?"

"I had help, miss professor." Bauer answered amused, leaning forward in her chair. "How did you know where to find him?"

"An old professor remembered it as being some sort of hideout for students back in the olden days, but they thought it was closed off for all students by this point. My turn, and I expect your answer to be more explicit, Krista, before I employ less-than-nice methods to get the information we both know you hold." her voice lowered as she spoke, taking her own wand from her robe and motioning it to the door of her office, which silently closed. "Who helped you? Professor Lupin told me about what Eftimiou said. Is it true then, my- the dog that I got this summer - had been somehow… helping, or…?"

"Miss professor, surely you can't believe that!"

"I can, Krista, but I want to hear it from you, and I want to know from you how it happened, lest something happens to that dog." Or rather, that wizard. Because if Sirius Black, Animagus form or not, had hurt, threatened or done anything untoward towards any of the student body, there would be grave consequences.

"You wouldn't kill him just for helping us with homework!" Bauer almost yelped from her chair, scrutinising Rada's face for any indication of her intentions. Yet there was nothing but darkness in her eyes, and the student sank into the chair, arms crossed around her chest. "Felix's just… he'd sit with us and do homework sometimes, I don't know how you found him or if you told him answers or whatever kind of wizarding dog he is, but he's a good dog, and smart too. We figured you professors did your lesson plans and whatever with him in the big staff office, because Felix had weird ideas for a dog, but most of the times he was correct when he was helping with someone's Transfiguration or Spellcrafting or stuff like that - he'd bark and point and it looked like he could read, I don't know. So I spent about two days and three kilos of chicken thighs getting him to go over all those theories in the folder. I laid out all the newspaper articles and pictures and research and everything, and he'd just pick and point his nose on whatever was interesting. It sounds stupid, and I guess it is, but Felix's a smart dog, miss, you shouldn't punish him just because he helped us a bit here and there."

Sirius Black had been in Durmstrang for the past few months, trying to send messages. And somehow, Merlin be damned, Rada thought, it worked. One of his clearest messages did indeed what it was supposed to, somehow. She wasn't sure how, but by sheer coincidence, her health incident meant that Bauer's folder could be seen by Remus, and when Ronald Weasley disappeared on that Halloween night… all the pieces of the puzzle somehow fit together.

"Is he okay?"

"Hm?" Rada woke up from her reverie, and furrowed her brows, not sure what she meant. "The dog - Felix?" Sirius Black, rather. "Of course, you said it yourself. Smart dog."

"No, the Weasley kid."

"Yes, he's fine. They took him to the medical wing just in case, but he's fine. Come on now, I think the Headmaster will soon announce your classes resuming. I'll escort you back to your group. And Krista?" she waited for her to pick up the folder and wand. "You can consider my class passed with flying colours, but this has to stay between us. Not a peep, not to anyone, not Danaga, not even your own parents. Understood?"

Krista Bauer nodded, grabbing her wand tightlya in her hand. Many hours later, as she would lay down in bed, next to Tania Danaga, who had already coaxed the entire story out of her - well, the parts she knew anyway, as she never figured what had happened to that map they gave the professors - Krista polished and examined her wand carefully, never having had to part with it apart from when she'd sleep. But there was something… it felt strange. She did not know what it was, but there was certainly something about it not right. And in the middle of the night, as her and Tania used the Prior-Use spell, she realised why.

In those few hours her wand had allegedly been locked in a cupboard, someone had used it to alter the memories of Ron Weasley.

"Are you going to tell mister Headmaster?" Tania whispered. "It was Pann, wasn't it? No one else could have… unless you think it was the Hogwarts professor? Maybe he took it from her, maybe they worked together. I don't trust that lot, you know, Percy included. I don't like 'em."

"I'm not going to tell anyone, not yet, not until I figure what the fuck happened." Krista chewed her bottom lip as she thought about it, before shaking her head. "I could tell… Fred Weasley and George Weasley. That's the name of those twins, I got to know them a bit in those hours we were in her office. I'll write to them- maybe they know what happened to that map too."

"You are still allowed to teach, of course, in your respective schools." Cornelius Fudge stated, walking the entire length of Albus Dumbledore's desk as he looked at Remus Lupin and Rada Pann.

'The trial of the century', as it was already dubbed, was going to start in a few days. Enormous articles in the Daily Prophet and posters strewn all across Wizarding Britain promised that new evidence had been uncovered that could overturn Sirius Black's conviction, and asked him to turn himself in, in exchange for a new, fair trial. 'After all, what does he have to lose? Nothing, but he could win his innocence if he decides to join us. No questions asked in regards to his escape, and that is my promise as Minister.' Fudge declared in the most recent article published, in hopes of bringing Black in.

Everything was under extremely tight wraps, but a buzzing was starting to form around the British wizarding world - a trial without a publicly named defendant as of yet, involving an escaped convict. Less reputable establishments and magazines were running lotteries to guess what the trial would involve, and who the defendant was, yet none of them so far had guessed.

The defendant was Peter Pettigrew, whose existence was still hidden from the wider wizarding world, and was only known by specific Aurors tasked with keeping him safe and hidden until the trial would start. He had already tried to explain his own innocence, but the manner in which Dumbldore asked question after question made Fudge severely doubt that a wizard really spent thirteen years hiding as a rat, when he could have come to the Ministry at any point for help, if he really, truly feared for his life.

And what made him doubt Pettigrew's story the most was that he had spent those twelve years not even as a rat, looking for grain or whatever in Merlin's beard rats even ate, but in the household of a reputable pureblood wizarding family, as the house pet of at least one member of the Weasley family, one who disappeared for a whole night, right after Ginny Weasley had almost been killed by a Dark artefact the year before.

What awful luck that family has been having, Cornelius thought as he had finished talking to Ronald Weasley in Minerva McGonagall's office. He had not yet talked to Molly Weasley, but Arthur's face, white as a sheet, as Cornelius explained to him what had happened, who 'Scabbers' really was and how the poor man had been having essentially a stranger live in their house for more than a decade, was enough for him to decide that he may delegate that task to someone else, or avoid for as long as possible.

And now, a few days later, he was pacing around Dumbledore's office, laying out some ground rules for two of his main witnesses, the pair who had caught Pettigrew 'by accident' as they were looking for the missing Weasley in an empty school.

"I hope neither of you has divulged the existence of… well, you know." Cornelius spoke, apprehensive to even say Pettigrew's name in front of the portraits of the Headmasters. He knew it was a ridiculous fear, but one could never be safe enough. He waited for them both to agree, and nodded to himself. "I really appreciate that, really. It will have to soon go in the Prophet, I know as much, but I would rather delay the inevitable for as long as possible. You understand this is… the strangest case I have had to handle in my career. Professor Lupin, I know that you were-... well, it's known that you were friends with Pettigrew as students, but after that outburst in the hospital wing, I think it's safe to say that there won't be that much of a conflict of interest."

"Certainly not, Minister." Remus agreed.

"And miss, I mean, professor… uh, Pann here… It is quite rare for us to have foreign wizards testify in British courts, but considering you lived here for a good fifteen years and studied at Hogwarts, as you've said in your file, there shouldn't be any problems. And there are no conflicts of interest in regards to any- anyone? Professor Lupin, or P-Pettigrew, or-..."

"No, Minister. I was a Hufflepuf and two years below Remus, we never spoke back in school. I was aware of Sirius Black - sure, the entire school was back then, from that scandal when he ran away from home. Why, I think last week was the first time I ever really looked at Pettigrew."

Cornelius nodded, slightly more confident than he had been when he first asked the two professors to meet him. There still had been no word of Black, which worried him greatly, as Pettigrew, an alleged victim of his that turned up alive, claimed to everyone that would listen that Black had kidnapped Weasley and was going to kill him, and that Black had broken into Hogwarts and allegedly tried to kill him again.

"Apart from showing up to testify for the courts, I don't expect you to do much else. Reporters have not been allowed in the courts, but I cannot promise privacy or anonymity for either of you, unfortunately. To not jeopardise the trial, I also request the both of you to not communicate with each other as much as possible, certainly not about any aspect of-... this whole debacle. If you need to talk to one another, try to ensure there are always witnesses that can attest you only speak about-... lessons plans, or whatever it is you normally do."

"Lesson plans it is." Rada chuckled, covering her mouth as she noticed the look the minister gave her.

"As I was saying… Anyway, with both of you teaching at different schools, this should not be a problem. We will still need to keep the connection between Hogwarts and Durmstrang until… well, until hopefully Black accepts our conditions and shows up, or at least until the trial is over anyway, to give Professor Pann easy access to the Ministry. Any questions?"

"None, minister."

They both saluted the minister as he finished talking about the trial, and left Dumbledore's office in silence. As they descended the staircase leading to Dumbledore's office, Remus grasped Rada by the shoulder, and leaned his head close to her ear, ensuring no one but her, not even the gargoyles at the bottom, could hear.

"The West Tower has no portraits - not even Peeves goes there, it's a dead end with no classrooms. From five to seven in the morning, the tower and the corridors that lead to it are effectively empty." he murmured, and she nodded, tapping on his hand before continuing to walk slowly down the staircase.

They had to speak about the case, because Remus had been present when Peter Pettigrew had had his outburst in the hospital wing, and they needed to match every single aspect of the story and piece of evidence they had, if they were to ensure the freedom of Sirius. There were too many moving pieces, especially if they were to include Ron Weasley. And knowing now the full story from Sirius, he had to ensure Rada was fully on Sirius's side as well, enough to lie on the stand for the sake of someone who swindled her in the same manner Peter had swindled the entire wizarding world.

"Have you received a date for yours?" he furtively asked, placing a hand in front of his mouth as he did so.

"Next Tuesday afternoon. Yours?"

"The day before." So they would have him first, in three days, then Rada the day after, perhaps to corroborate their stories of the circumstances they found Peter Pettigrew in.

"I'll see you then, Remus. Before mine." Rada Pann murmured in a grave tone, before taking her leave.

Remus nodded, and left to go to his office and be with his own thoughts - he'd have the entire weekend to think about his plans moving forward. As far as he knew, Sirius was hidden at his house, far away from anyone in the wizarding world, and he could disappear for at least one day to check on him before the official start date of the trial.

Sunday was an unconventional day to start a trial, but the unexpectedness of it made sense - Rada hypothesised, and he agreed, that because no one would guess a trial would start on a Sunday - the one day the Daily Prophet would very rarely publish political news and mostly dealt with various entertainment and light articles - it gave the Ministry the entire day to question Pettigrew and delay the eye of the media and its ensuing circus for as long as possible when the public would gain awareness of his existence.

A knock on the door woke him up from his reverie, and he furrowed his brows, as the knock did not match the way in which staff members would announce their presence to one another.

"Come in." he called, and watched as the door opened to reveal about half of the Weasley kids popping their heads in.

"Can we come in, Professor?" Percy asked, and Remus nodded his head.

"At this time in the morning, I'll ask you to come one by one." That was all he could handle, especially as he saw the look in the eyes of Fred and George and guessed already what they wanted to talk to him about. "Come in first, Percy. Close the door behind you and take a seat. Cup of tea?"