Disclaimer: Crookshanks belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter 17: McGonagall Again

Cat, Rat, and Dog

"Chapter Seventeen," McGonagall continued, "Cat, Rat, and Dog."

The shock at Buckbeak's apparent execution was palpable. In the book, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were all dumbstruck, and even in the Great Hall, some sniffles could be heard from the younger students who didn't know the full story. But they were soon distracted by Scabbers, who suddenly became so terrified—seemingly of Crookshanks, though it wasn't clear—that he bit Ron to try to escape him. That sent Hermione into a tizzy when they had to run after him.

"'Ron — come on — back under the cloak — ' Hermione panted. 'Dumbledore — the Minister — they'll be coming back out in a minute —'"

"Why were you so worried about being spotted?" asked Natalie.

"And why would Hagrid be in worse trouble if they knew you were there?" added Dean.

The trio looked at each other.

"Well, I wasn't supposed to be out after dark because of Sirius," said Harry. "I mean, they didn't even want me out there for Quidditch practice without Madam Hooch watching, remember?"

"Sure, but would they give you detention or something for it?" said Dean. "And what was so bad with Hagrid if you didn't interfere with the execution.

"Hagrid was still freaking out about getting in any kind of trouble," Hermione said. "I guess…maybe I was too focused on that—and the fact that the Ministry wasn't being fair to begin with. Mind, it turned out to be important later," she added quickly.

Meanwhile, in the story, a huge black dog appeared and jumped on top of Harry. Ron tried to protect him from what looked for all the world to be the Grim, only for the dog to grab Ron by the ankle and drag him under the Whomping Willow.

"The Grim attacked Ron?" Lavender yelped.

"It wasn't the Grim, Lavender," Hermione groaned. "There was no Grim around the school."

Harry wanted to go after Ron, fearing there wasn't enough time to go get help, but he couldn't get past the Whomping Willow's branches. Then Crookshanks darted under the tree and touched a knot on the trunk.

"Abruptly, as though the tree had been turned to marble, it stopped moving—Oh, good grief. Students are still not to approach the tree, even if you can stop it moving. It's too dangerous," McGonagall said loudly. She seemed to be looking in the direction of Fred and George when she said it. Some of the students laughed.

A few moments later, she stopped again: "'He's friends with that dog,' said Harry grimly…" She looked up, this time in the direction of Harry. "Was that a…never mind," she started to say before she remembered that Harry himself hadn't actually written the thing. She kept reading.

Harry and Hermione followed the tunnel, eventually finding that it came out in the Shrieking Shack, which didn't look quite as ghost-infested as it should have. In the upper room, they found Ron with a broken leg, and Crookshanks, but no dog, and Ron immediately informed them that it was a trap.

"'He's the dog…he's an Animagus…'

"Ron was staring over Harry's shoulder. Harry wheeled around. With a snap, the man in the shadows closed the door behind them.

"A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to his elbows. If his eyes hadn't been shining out of the deep, dark sockets, he might have been a corpse. The waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, it looked like a skull. His yellow teeth were bared in a grin. It was Sirius Black."

A loud gasp rose from the Great Hall as they listened in growing horror to this revelation, and excited whispers broke out about what it could mean, growing progressively louder as people put the pieces together regarding how he had got into the castle. And just the fact that the most wanted fugitive in the country had such a rare trick up his sleeve that no one had expected. Harry hadn't been shy about Sirius's innocence over the past two years, but few people had listened, and he hadn't told anyone about him being an Animagus.

Even Amelia Bones nearly dropped her quill when McGonagall read the line. "Sirius Black is an Animagus?" she said. "That…that explains quite a lot. And it raises even more questions about our security procedures."

"Indeed, it does, Madam Bones," Dumbledore agreed, "but I do urge you to listen through the rest of the story."

"Of course, Dumbledore. I have a feeling this is going to be just as much of a fiasco as the last two books."

In the story, Sirius disarmed them all before they could react and then made what sounded an awful lot like a taunt about Harry's father—enough so that Harry flipped out and tried to attack him with his bare hands before Ron and Hermione stopped him.

"For the first time in his life, he wanted his wand back in his hand, not to defend himself, but to attack…to kill."

People started watching Harry nervously, and he turned red. He'd felt like he had to keep that part in the reading, but he wasn't proud of it.

Ron stood up to Sirius for Harry (despite barely being able to stand at all), to which Sirius was acting just plain weird for a supposed deranged killer. But they didn't have much time to consider it as the war of words escalated to the point where Harry actually landed a punch on Sirius. Then Hermione and Ron joined in, and Crookshanks, and then it was a total mess. Sirius tried to choke out Harry; Hermione kicked him; Ron couldn't do much besides fall on him, but it was enough. Harry got his wand back and stood over Sirius with it, ready to kill.

"You three actually beat Sirius Black?" said Seamus in awe.

"It was easier than it sounds," Harry said. "He wasn't really trying to kill us."

But the Harry in the book hesitated, and then Crookshanks involved himself again by sitting on top of Sirius.

"Okay, I'm lost," said Katie Bell. "Why did Crookshanks protect Black? He's part-kneazle, isn't he? They're supposed to sense untrustworthy people."

"That's exactly why," Hermione said. Honestly, it was a wonder people weren't putting the pieces together yet, she thought.

"He was going to kill Black. He had to kill Black. This was his chance…

"The seconds lengthened. And still Harry stood there, wand poised, Black staring up at him, Crookshanks on his chest."

"Why didn't you kill him Harry?" Neville asked. "I would've if I could've got the upper hand like that."

"Because Harry's a better person than that," Hermione said. "No offence, Neville; I shouldn't say it like that. But it's just not in his nature."

"Plus, I could tell something not right was going on," Harry said. "I didn't realize it yet, but I think part of me did want answers."

But any conversation they might have had at that point was blocked because Professor Lupin rushed in—and immediately disarmed Harry.

"Lupin was with Black, too?!" Lavender squeaked as Lupin actually embraced Sirius in the story.

"Calm down, Lavender. Just listen," Hermione said.

When the Hermione in the book revealed that Lupin was a werewolf, both Hermione and Ron were ashamed of their reactions, knowing what they knew now. Hermione clearly thought he was untrustworthy because of it (though equally because he was helping Sirius), and Ron didn't even want to be near him because he was a werewolf more so than because he appeared to be in league with a murderer, even though he'd sat in class with him all year. (Harry had stripped that part, but he'd had to keep Hermione's reaction in for the story to make sense.)

They continued arguing, rather confusedly by that point, and Harry's confusion only grew when Remus gave him his wand back as a show of goodwill. But then he finally started to explain what brought him there to try to tie it together.

"'The map,' said Lupin. 'The Marauder's Map. I was in my office examining it—'

"'You know how to work it?' Harry said suspiciously.

"'Of course I know how to work it,' said Lupin, waving his hand impatiently. 'I helped write it. I'm Moony—that was my friends' nickname for me at school.'"

"Whoa. Does that mean your dad wrote the Map too, Harry?" asked Neville, surprisingly quick on the uptake.

"Yeah. Listen, they'll explain the whole thing," Harry said.

"'I had an idea that you, Ron, and Hermione might try and sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before his Hippogriff was executed. And I was right, wasn't I?'"

Hermione gasped softly. "Oh, Merlin's pants!"

"What? What is it?"

"I didn't think about it at the time, but if Remus was watching the Map at that exact time, he must have seen two of us on it."

"Huh?"

"Two copies of us when we came back in time. He would have known something more was up than just Pettigrew."

Harry's eyes grew wide. "Bloody hell. Did he know about the Time Turner?"

"I'm not sure, honestly. A lot of the teachers did, but Professor McGonagall wanted as few people to know as possible."

"'I couldn't believe my eyes,' said Lupin, still pacing, and ignoring Harry's interruption,' McGonagall continued reading as they discussed. '"I thought the map must be malfunctioning. How could he be with you?'"

"How could who be with you?" said Dean.

"Malfunctioning…" Hermione mused. "But if he saw two of us on the Map, that should've been even more evidence that it was malfunctioning. He must have known about the Time Turner."

"I guess," said Harry. "I can always ask him on my mirror tonight."

Finally, Remus got to the point and asked Ron to hand over Scabbers.

"'That's not a rat,' croaked Sirius Black suddenly.

"'What d'you mean—of course he's a rat—'

"'No, he's not,' said Lupin quietly. 'He's a wizard.'

"'An Animagus,' said Black, 'by the name of Peter Pettigrew.'"