Chapter - 40 : The Shrieking Revelation part - 3

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"You can see auras?" Lupin asked. "That's a very impressive gift, Harry."

The sable haired teen shrugged. "It's more like I can sense them, it's really nothing." His father had told him that, in Asgard, it was a common thing. "Why don't you let them cast an Animagus Reversing spell on Scabbers, if he's nothing but an ordinary rat, it won't hurt him."

"I…" Ron hesitated, then sighed heavily. "All right," reluctantly, he passed the cage to Harry who placed it on the floor before Black and Lupin.

"Together?" Lupin asked.

"Together," Black nodded.

"On three." Harry said. "One…two…three," he unlatched the cage and, immediately, Scabbers leapt free and scurried toward the door. He didn't even make it three feet before identical flashes of blue-white light hit him and suddenly he was growing, a head shot up from the ground, limbs sprouted, and, within seconds a short, squat man with thin, colorless hair, and tiny, watery blue eyes lay in a heap on the ground, panting wildly.

"Well, hello, Peter," Lupin smiled pleasantly, as though rats frequently erupted into old school friends around him. "Long time, no see."

"S-Sirius, R-Remus," Pettigrew stammered as his eyes darted toward the door. "My friends… my old friends."

Lupin gave the man a look of utmost loathing, but when he spoke his voice was still fairly calm. "We've been having a little chat," he said, "about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around in that dreadful cage of yours."

"Remus," gasped Pettigrew, and Harry could see beads of sweat breaking out over his pasty face, "you don't believe him, do you? He tried to kill me, Remus."

"So we've heard. I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'll be so-"

"He's come to try and kill me again!" Pettigrew squeaked suddenly, pointing at Black, Harry noted that he used his middle finger as his index was missing. "He killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me too. You've got to help me, Remus."

That was about the time Harry lost his patience. Quick as a flash, he darted across the room and used one hand to haul Pettigrew to his feet and the other to draw his dagger. "Hello, Peter," he said softly. "You know who I am, right?"

"Ha-Harry P-P-Potter," Pettigrew's eyes were glued to the weapon in Harry's hand, something that the thirteen year old did not fail to miss.

"Do you like my dagger?" He tapped the end of Pettigrew's nose with it, almost playfully. "It was a gift and quite a useful gift it's been, ask my friends." Absently, he ran the knife along Pettigrew's face, outlining his quivering features, circling it dangerously close to his wide eyes. "Last year I used it to slay a basilisk, very nearly died doing it, but it was worth it. The venom from the king of the serpents was imbibed into this blade, making it a very dangerousweapon. Anything but the most superficial wound from it and you'll die a very slow and very painful death."

Pettigrew's entire body began violently trembling.

"Dumbledore didn't think I could be trusted not to hurt someone with it, and you know what?" Harry leaned forward and spoke into Pettigrew's ear, as if sharing a secret. "He was right."

Pettigrew whimpered when the blade pressed into the skin only millimeters from his right eye, just barely drawing blood. "So, unless you want to die slowly, painfully, with your blood boiling in your veins and your heart struggling to pump the poison through your body even as it kills you slowly, you will tell me exactly what part you played in my parents' death."

Pettigrew burst into great heaving sobs. "I had no choice. What could I have done? The Dark Lord… you have no idea… he has weapons you can't imagine. I was scared, so scared, I was never brave like Sirius and Remus and James. I never meant it to happen. He-he was taking over everywhere!" gasped Pettigrew "Wh-what was there to be gained by refusing him?"

"What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed?" Black said with a terrible fury in his face. "Only innocent lives, Peter!"

"You don't understand!" whined Pettigrew. "He would have killed me, Sirius!"

"Then you should have died!" roared Black. "Died rather than betray your friends, as we would have done for you!"

"You're lucky we need you, you piece of filth," Harry hissed, "or I'd kill you myself."

"We don't need him!" Black shouted over Pettigrew's profuse thanks.

"We do, Sirius. If you kill him now, you'll never be free. We'll take him up to the castle and deal with him from there."

"Right, good idea," Lupin agreed.

"But not you, Professor."

Lupin arched an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"The moon'll be rising any minute now."

Lupin paled. "What…How did you…No, that doesn't matter right now. You're right, go, I'll meet up with you in the morning,"

Black looked to Lupin in concern. "Do you want me to stay with you?"

"No, that's-"

"A great idea," Harry cut in. "You're more than capable of taking care of him in your animagus form and, besides, I don't think it would be a good idea if a convicted mass murderer just waltzed into Hogwarts."

"I don't want you six taking Peter up to the castle by yourselves," Lupin protested. "He might try something."

Harry didn't hesitate for even a second before slamming the hilt of his dagger into Pettigrew's temple; the man crumpled in a heap, but, just to be safe, he shot a binding spell at the unconscious man. "There, now he won't cause any problems."

Smirking to himself in satisfaction, he looked up from his prisoner to find everyone staring at him with their mouths hanging open. "What?"

"Well," Draco observed lightly. "That's one problem solved."

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Loving the story so far? There's a whole world of magic and mystery waiting for you with over 85+ chapters still to come! By supporting my Patreon.

You not only get early access to new chapters but also exclusive content, behind-the-scenes insights, and special perks just for fans like you.

Join us on this enchanted journey and help shape the future of the tale. Your support makes all the difference—discover more and become part of the adventure today!

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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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