The Trapped Rat
She, Neville, Ron, and Hermione are headed up to the castle after Hagrid had invited them down for tea. It had mostly been a social visit, given the last of their tests were over and the exam stress had faded, so Hagrid had invited them down since he wanted to have a proper send off with them and didn't know if they'd have time for it later, but also to return Ron's pet rat Scabbers.
They're about halfway up to the school when Ron starts having problems with Scabbers, who starts squirming despite Ron's attempts to calm him before he suddenly bites Ron and manages to slip out of his grasp at the same time as Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, appears and immediately pelts after him.
Ron tears off, shouting at Crookshanks to leave Scabbers alone, and the three of them hurry after him, to try to help catch the two before Hermione's cat kills Ron's rat.
It turns out he doesn't need their help, given that they see him suddenly dive for the ground, crying out in triumph as he catches Scabbers, and the three of them hurry over, Hermione catching Crookshanks just as he gets ready to pounce on Ron.
Ron gives the cat a dirty look, but before he can say anything, a growling draws their attention to a big black dog. She blinks at it rapidly, surprised to see one on school grounds since Hagrid is the only one in the local area that has one to her knowledge, and it certainly isn't Fang, and with the danger the Acromantula used to pose to wildlife, there weren't many things like wild dogs or wolves around.
Before anyone can get past their confusion, it suddenly charges forward. She flicks her wand out, but before she can lift it, the dog suddenly changes direction and barrels into her, knocking her to the ground. Then it whirls and clamps its teeth on Ron's arm, habitually outstretched towards her even though she was too far to catch, and starts dragging him away.
She rolls over and tries to quickly line up a shot, but Ron is in the way, and by the time she scrambles to her feet he's been dragged into a hole in the ground. Ron hooks his foot on a root, and she starts to give chase, the other two hot on her heels, before a shift draws her attention up and she stops quickly, throwing her arms out to catch the other two before they can barrel past, the three just being missed by the swinging branch of the Whomping Willow.
She looks around quickly, wincing as a loud crack and shout from Ron indicates something in his leg or foot breaking before he's pulled fully down, then spotting a stick, flicks a levitation charm on it and quickly pushes it over to the knot Remus had told her about.
The Whomping Willow goes still, and she hurries forward again, quickly sliding down the passage underneath it and hurrying down it with the other two right behind her. Somewhat out of breath, Neville asks, “Calanthe- how do- you know ab- about this?”
She shakes her head, “Not the time Nev.”
She brings them up short before they enter the Shrieking Shack, entering it cautiously, wand drawn, eyes panning around. To her surprise, she finds Sirius standing over Ron on the bed, holding his hand out, “Just give me the rat!”
Ron stares at him in confusion, “I get you're innocent and all, but are you sure all that time in Azkaban didn't make you lose your marbles? Why do you want my rat so bad?”
Sirius growls aggressively, “There isn't time for that! If he gets away-!”
She lets go of her wand, letting it retract back to her holster as she strides forward, “Sirius, what are you doing? Do you understand just how close I was to getting you free?!”
He turns to her quickly, “Prongslette! Well, not like anyone told me, but-!”
The door slams open behind them, revealing a gasping Remus, “Sirius-! Pettigrew-!”
Sirius nods, “I know! Why do you think I'm here!”
She looks between them, “Wait, Pettigrew? What's he got to do with this? Also, how did you know to come down here?”
Sirius shifts impatiently, “Remus, the rat-”
Remus flicks a look at him, then a bit breathlessly, “Just wait a moment Padfoot. The kids deserve an explanation.”
Sirius looks at him, eyes practically ablaze, “I did my waiting! Twelve years of it!”
Remus huffs a small laugh, “I see those twelve years in Azkaban haven't curbed your dramatic tendencies. You can wait a few more moments.” Then he turns to her, “I was examining the Map to figure out the best way to go about adding the Room of Requirements. Just had it on idly while I was thinking.” He shakes his head, “Ron, I'm sorry, but your pet rat is Peter Pettigrew in his animagus form.”
She whips her head around towards the traitor, just in time to see as Ron's jaw drops as he pulls the squirming rat away from his chest, staring at it in shocked disbelief, “Wait what? But we've had Scabbers for years!”
Remus nods patiently, “I know, but I saw him on the Marauders Map myself.” He glances over at Sirius, “I assume that's why you suddenly broke out.”
Sirius growls, eyes locked on the rat, “Got a copy of the prophet off Fudge. Saw him on the kid’s shoulder in a photo of them after having won the lottery. I've seen that damn rat transform so many times that there was no way I wouldn't recognize him. And with him right here at Hogwarts, with Calanthe-”
He chokes, and Remus purses his lips, “Perfectly positioned to grab her if he heard that the dark was regaining strength.” He shakes himself, then steps forward, “Give me the rat please Ron.” Her friend hesitates and Remus smiles, “I know a spell that will force an animagus back into human form. It won't do anything to him if we're mistaken somehow and he really is just a rat.”
Ron nods slowly and holds out the squirming rat. Remus grabs it by its scruff, pointing his wand at it and casting. Its form starts to blur and Remus drops it quickly, and in moments there's a nervous man crouched down on the floor. He smiles awkwardly at the two, “S-Sirius! R-Remus! My old f-friends!”
Sirius snarls, “Old friends my ass! I'll fucking kill you for what you did to James and Lily! To Prongslette!”
Remus nods, eyes dark as he fingers his wand, “Quite right.”
They both start to step forward, but she grabs them and hauls them back, "No. Killing him won't solve anything, even if he deserves it. Besides," She narrows her eyes at him as she flicks her wrist to draw her wand from her holster and points it at him, "I want to ask him something."
Before anyone can react, she hits him with the strongest compulsion spell she knows, making it as powerful as she can muster, "A compulsion to tell the truth, even if you're just a coward, I want you to admit it. Why did you betray us?"
He glances away, "That- Does it really matter at this point?"
That's the wrong answer. Her temper flares in an instant and she lunges for him, hauling him up and slamming him into the wall, "Matter? Matter?! You helped murder my parents! They were your friends! Your family in everything but blood! They would've died for you and you helped orchestrate their deaths! Yes it bloody well matters! Why did you betray them?!" When his eyes shift away she shakes him, "Answer!"
His eyes snap to hers, "Because I didn't have a choice!"
Sirius snarls angrily, "Being a coward isn't the same as having no choice you little rat!"
"It wasn't cowardice! I literally didn't have a choice!"
The answer is already surprising, given the truth compulsion, but Pettigrew looks the most surprised. She narrows her eyes at him, "Explain. Now."
He licks his lips with an unsure expression, and his voice when he finally speaks is hushed, "The- The Pettigrew family swore oaths of loyalty centuries ago to the Slytherin family, and the descendants of the Slytherins, the Gaunts, inherited the loyalty required of those oaths. He realized it at some point and forced me to come to him and accept his Mark. On their own their power may be significantly more limited, but between the two, I was magically enslaved to him. I literally had to do anything he ordered of me. It was almost like being under the Imperius, except I was aware of what was going on." Then his brow dips, and his eyes water, "I loved you all. The Marauders, Lily, even you, Calanthe, you were my family. I would've preferred to die for you as well, rather than betray you, but-" His voice cracks, his face crumples, "I didn't have a choice." A sob shakes him, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I never wanted- wanted-"
The rest of his words dissolve into sobs. Stunned, she lets him go and steps back and without the support he collapses to the ground looking like he might shake apart at the seams with the force of his crying. Instincts take over and he starts to curl into a ball leaned against the wall, his knees bend, his arms come up to rest on them, and he clutches his head between his hands, a sobbing mess that just keeps repeating that he's sorry.
"Peter." Remus' voice cracks and he clears it, before starting over, "Peter, why didn't you tellus?”
"I-I c-couldn-n-n't! I-" He forces himself to take a deep breath that rattles and shakes with more attempts from his body to sob. It takes a few moments before he talks again, and his voice still trembles, but he stops stuttering as badly even though the tears continue to pour down his face, "I d-don't know why I can tell you n-now, but he's s-still alive. I know he is because the s-standing orders he forced on me were still in e-effect. I was to do e-everything in my power to not get c-caught, and never breathe a w-word of any of it to or around anyone I k-knew or even s-suspected wasn't loyal to his c-cause."
Then he lifts his teary gaze to Sirius, "T-Thats also why I f-framed you. It should've been me going to Azkaban. It should've been me. It- It wasn't just Lily and J-James. F-Fabian and Gideon, Edgar and t-the rest of the Bones family, there were s-so many people I got killed. I should go to Azkaban f-for it, but the o-order not to get caught compelled me. It f-forced me to frame you that day."
He sucks in a shaking breath, "I never meant to kill those people that day y-you caught up to me either, I j-just meant to make some chaos so I c-could escape. I-I was watching the street in a window reflection, a-and I aimed at the middle of the r-road in a larger gap in the t-traffic. But it hit that damn gas line and the e-explosion. Merlin, the explosion. It was horrifying. But it was also an opening to e-escape, and the c-compulsion f-forced me to take it. I never meant to k-kill anyone, and I n-never meant for S-Sirius to a-actually take the f-fall for me. I-I thought it'd be c-cleared up during his questioning, or at w-worst, his trial."
Into the heavy silence Ron mutters, "I have no idea what's going on anymore."
Hermione shushes him quickly.
She ignores her friend and stares at the fallen man in front of her, unsure what she's feeling. The Marauders and the Potters had been a family, and here was a member of that family who tore it apart and destroyed it. But it was entirely against his own will.
She sighs and speaks into the stunned silence, "It's because I ordered you to answer." The three men around her turn to her in confusion, and she lifts her hand, willing one of the rings on her finger to take the forefront over the Potter ring, "My mother may have been the one to save my life as a baby, but I've faced Voldemort in some form two times since. Both times I've defeated him. I claimed Right of Conquest on that bastard, and as the only Gaunt currently alive, that includes his Lordship. And then I renamed the family back to Slytherin and later disowned him. Despite not knowing of the Pettigrew oath of loyalty, my order to answer as the Lady of Slytherin supersedes a disowned family member's past orders, previous Lord or no."
Pettigrew's breath hitches, and her face softens ever so slightly on its own, "The only hold he has on you is that mark. And because he used Parseltongue and the Slytherin family magic to anchor it, I can undo it easily."
Pettigrew sucks in a sharp breath, then rolls up his sleeve and holds the ugly faded mark out to her, before finally, quiet and heartbroken, "Please. I need to face what I've done, including what I did to Sirius, unwillingly or not."
She steps forward as she releases her wand again and clasps his arm, making sure to cover the entirety of his mark with her hand, then she reaches for the Slytherin family magic, directing it through her before focusing it on her hand and the mark below. From the way Peter's face screws up, it seems to be painful, but she pushes on and speaks in Parseltongue, "That which has been done, be undone now."
It's simple, but it's all that's necessary, as with Parseltongue, one does not cast, one commands. And as an inherently magical language, so long as one possesses the power and will, magic obeys. The mark tries to resist its removal, but it's a wax candle before a blowtorch, and suitably to the fire metaphor, an oozing black smoke that somehow manages to look slick and oily pours out from under her hand.
When the magic has run its course, she lifts her hand to reveal Peter's arm, unblemished by any sort of magical mark. He pulls it to him and examines it in wonder for a moment. Then he turns back to her and his face crumples again, "Th-" His voice cracks, but he pushes on regardless of his croaking voice, "Thank you. I didn't deserve your kindness, not after what I did to your family." His gaze flicks to Sirius and Remus, "All of your family. But thank you. I'm s-so sorry."
She looks away, then quietly admits, "There's no more point or substance to blaming and hating you then in doing so to someone under the Imperius."
Off to the side, she can make out that he looks like he's going to start bawling again as he shakes his head hard. Remus sighs quietly and he and Sirius step away from her sides to kneel in front of him, though it's Sirius who speaks up, voice softer than she's heard all night, "Come on Peter. None of that now, she's just telling the truth."
Peter's breath hitches again, and the two other Marauders start quietly comforting him, but they only get about a minute before an unexpected voice pipes up from behind her, "That's quite enough of that nonsense I think."
She whirls around just in time to see Snape fade into view, a slimy sickening smirk on his face, wand pointed at her, or maybe the three men on the ground behind her, she's not sure at the moment. He flicks his wand a little to the side, "Move it Potter. I won't have you hiding them drawing wands."
Reluctantly she slowly moves to the side. He keeps his wand pointed at her even as his gaze remains on the Marauders, "I wouldn't suggest trying anything, or I might just find myself firing a curse instinctively before I actually move my wand." The implicit threat to harm her causes an eruption of snarls and growls from six different voices around the room, three clustered together, three off to the side. Snape ignores it to continue, "Now, nice and slow, bring out your wands, then toss them over here."
It only takes a moment before three wands are falling to the ground roughly a foot or so from Snape, his gaze shifts to her and with a practiced pureblood sneer, one that roughly means to purebloods 'You're a waste of magic and my valuable time' which Snape clearly knows from his angry twitch, she pops her wand back out of her holster with a flick of her wrist, then drops it and kicks it towards the pile. Snape's eyes turn to Ron, Neville, and Hermione, and the latter two comply without needing to be ordered.
Ron shuffles awkwardly though, "Black took my wand since he doesn't have his own."
Snape narrows his eyes, "You carry your wand in your pocket." It isn't a question, and it's followed by a jerk of Snape's chin towards Ron, "Pull them inside out."
Ron shrugs, then does as asked. Revealing a few scraps of parchment and two chocolate frogs, but that he indeed has no wand. Snape's gaze finally returns to the Marauders. His smirk twists wide and viciously triumphant and mocking, "Well now. When I took the beast his Wolfsbane and saw that map I wasn't expecting to find this. The Marauders," He sneers the word angrily, "in all their glory."
A sarcastic sneer this time, but his expression soon turns to disgusting delight, "And in such a compromising position. An escaped convict that the Dementors are just waiting outside to give a little Kiss, the actual criminal who committed his crimes, and a cleverly hidden beast recklessly endangering others." At the surprised look on Sirius and Hermione's faces, he smirks, "What? Did you expect a Potion Master with excellent DADA scores not to figure it out?"
They all stiffen, knowing Snape well enough to hear the threat in those words. Sirius angrily snarls, "Snivellus-"
That's as far as he gets before Snape all but roars, "DO NOT CALL ME-"
But he made a critical mistake in his anger. He focuses entirely on Sirius. And that's all the opening she needs. The distance between her and Snape is roughly two meters.
Unfortunately for Snape, the blade of her sword is about 70 centimeters long(1), which means she doesn't have to clear that whole distance to be in effective range as he might've assumed even if it occurred to him that she'd physically attack.
Before he's even finished jerking in surprise at the sudden movement, she's already summoned both her sword and Gryffindor's shield. Before he's even finished refocusing his gaze on her, she's already swinging at an angle. And well before he can even think to fire a curse, she's removed the cur's wand arm and given him a practical lesson on why the shield has a semi-circle missing from the side by pinning his neck between the edge of that hollow circle and the wall.
Snape chokes on a howl of pain even as Hermione shrieks in fright and noises of surprised disbelief erupts from the five men in the room. Snape's remaining arm comes up to start desperately shoving at her arm and shield. She lets up, but just enough for him to get sufficient air to be able to listen to her, "I could legally have your head on at least seven different counts."
He snarls angrily, "You won't-"
She cuts him off by bringing her sword up, resting it along her shield, the tip brushing his throat. He goes quiet and still remarkably fast. Then again, men like Snape, if you can even call him a man, care more about their own survival than anything else, "So you can shut up. Good. Because there will be none of that now. I wasn't done talking and for once in your miserable, pathetic existence you are going to listen."
She narrows her eyes and stares him down for a beat, then nods in satisfaction when he stays silent, "Now, where was I? Ah yes, my legal right to kill you. You see, Snivellus, despite being the youngest person here, everyone in this room, barring yourself of course, is legally under my protection, which isn't good for your continued health, given that wizarding society is significantly more lax about legal murder.”
She tilts her head, “For starters, while Sirius' mother, if she even has a right to the title, may have disowned him, his grandfather, Head of Family Black and the only one with the power to make such decisions, practically did the opposite. He skipped his own son and named Sirius his Heir. Sirius was then thrown into Azkaban, and while it may have been done falsely and illegally, Gringotts was still notified and enacted his will as is custom for life sentences. I am his Heir as you well know. Which means unless Sirius wants to contest me for it since his will was acted out illegally, and until he does so even if he so chooses, I'm the Lady of House Black. And you just threatened soul destruction against a member of my House, someone who is legally under my protection. That's strike one in the game of 'how many times over am I legally allowed to kill you."
Before she can continue, behind her Sirius mutters, "Like hell I'm gonna challenge you for Lordship. I don't want it anyway and you're kinda scary to be honest.”
She ignores him, for now, to continue, "Second, Voldemort may have abused his power over Peter, but when it comes to the Oath of Loyalty, honor actually dictates that I protect him and his as the new Lady of House Slytherin in return for that loyalty and the law protects my right to do so. That's strike two against your life. Ron is the Heir to an Allied House, same as Neville, which puts him in a similar position as Peter, and makes strikes three and four. Remus and Hermione are both Retainers to House Potter, and therefore also under my protection which means I can enact retribution for them as well. Strike five and six. And finally, you threatened me. Heir and Lady to Three Houses," Well, four if you count Peverell separately from Potter but obviously she doesn't do that to begin with, but certainly not publicly even if she did, "two of which I'm the only legitimate member of, which as well as being Attempted Assault and possibly Attempted Murder of an Heir and Lady is also twoseparate counts of Attempted Line Extinction. That's a biiiig no-no to wizarding law. And also makes strike seven in our little 'let's count the number of reasons I'm allowed to kill you' game."
There's a heavy beat of silence. She watches him for a moment, taking in the way he nervously sweats and how his Adam's apple bobs with an anxious swallow. Then she swings her sword to the side, taking vicious satisfaction in the way the cur who had tried to hurt her family flinches at the motion and the small cut to his throat.
She calmly follows it with a flip into a reverse grip and stabs it into the wooden floorboard with a short downwards throw, before turning enough to hold her hand out behind her, and purposely making sure Snape can see as she wordlessly summons her wand to her hand to make it abundantly clear to him that she didn't need it as much as he may have thought at that, "Luckily for you, if you can call it luck, it suits me better to drag you before the law and publicly destroy you. If nothing else, you can serve as an example that for all that I may be rather even tempered most of the time," She smiles, and it is savage, "one of my soulmates calls me 'Little Dragon' for a reason, and I do not tolerate anyone so much as threatening those that are mine." Then she conjures a cloth, "Doesn't mean I'm at all inclined to be nice about keeping you alive though." She shoves it into his mouth and gives him a mean grin, "Might want that so you don't bite off your own tongue or break your teeth."
And without any other form of warning she uses a non-verbal incendio to cauterize where she'd removed his arm so he wouldn't bleed out.
He screams through the gag in pain, which she ignores. Once the wound is closed, she snaps off a spell to bind his arms to his chest, tilting her head towards her shoulder, but not stupid enough to look away. Even before taking into account the lessons Hei and Moody hammered into her skull, that was what let her get Quirrell in first year after all, “Everyone alright?” She gets various replies, including one from Ron reminding her that he broke something in his leg but letting her know that he was fine otherwise. She nods, “Someone help prop Ron up so we can get up to the castle and call the Aurors to clear this whole mess up. And someone else get the wands and sort them out.”
She hears Sirius murmur and apologize, having not meant to hurt him, before he starts to help Ron up from the vague directions and sounds, and Neville quickly murmurs something about helping.
It isn't too long before a hand lands on her shoulder and squeezes, proceeding Remus’ voice, “We're ready to head out cub. And the little bastard has multiple wands trained on him.”
She nods and steps back. Glancing around, she finds that Hermione must have taken over for Sirius, since it was her and Neville propping Ron up while Sirius, Remus, and Peter all point wands at Snape. She turns back to Snape, letting go of her hold on the shield and allowing it to return to where it stays in the Potter Ancestral Manor to grab onto his upper arm, jerking her head towards the door, “Start moving.”
He snarls at her past the gag, which she'd left in to spare them all his irritating voice, but turns to the door and starts off, her holding onto his arm in case he gets it in his head to try running, the rest trailing behind them. When they start to reach the end of the tunnel, Remus and Sirius slip past them, Remus quickly popping his head and wand out, then they scamper up the hole before Sirius calls back, “Remus has the knot pressed down, and I've got my wand on the hole in case Snivellus tries anything! You're good to come up!”
She shoves Snape towards the slope, and he awkwardly climbs up as she looks behind her to check on her friends, who give her smiles, though pained in Ron's case. She heads up, followed by Peter instead of her friends, who smiles shyly and mutters something about helping with Ron. It's a good thing he came up first, as while it takes a bit of awkward maneuvering, with Peter's help, she manages to get him out without him having to put weight on his injured foot.
Hermione and Neville scramble up quickly after that, taking Ron back from her and Peter. They start shuffling up towards the castle when Remus suddenly doubles over with a gasp, his head whipping towards the horizon. She follows his gaze, seeing a rising Full Moon(2) then looks back, “Please tell me you didn't forget to drink the Wolfsbane my Potions Masters sent you?”
He chokes as his back arches, but manages to wheeze out, “N-no. I- I took it.”
She breathes a sigh of relief, running a hand through her bangs, “Well, at least that's one thing we don't have to worry about.”
The transformation happens quickly enough that she's barely finished before the big wolf shakes its head as it starts to get to its feet.
However, Remus, who was still trying to recover from his transformation, flinches hard. A moment later they find out why when a wave of cold washes over them as a train of negative emotions slam into them all. Remus presses himself into the ground with a whine, and Sirius, Neville, and Hermione collapse, taking Ron with them since he was propped up between her friends, though from how white his face had gone, he would've collapsed on his own even if he'd been in perfect health and on his own feet. Peter stumbles backwards and falls on his ass where he clenches his eyes and starts rocking and frantically murmuring apologizes to her parents and her.
She whirls towards the forest and sees hundreds of Dementors making a bee line for them. And just like that, her sheer rage at her family and friends being threatened againburns the rest of their influence away. They can't take it from her either, given that it was technically a negative emotion. Without giving it much thought, she focuses on why she's so enraged, on the love and camaraderie between her and all but one of the people around her, on the trust and faith she shares with them.
She forces her rage to turn into the more positive righteous indignation, into her protectivefury, and without thinking about her previous attempts in the slightest, or the fact she had no happy memories in mind, she brings her wand up and snarls out, "I don't fucking think so. Expecto Patronum."
Rather than the mist that's been coming from her wand for the past few months, a fully fledged panther leaps out, it's shoulders bunch up as it takes on a more threatening pose, like it's stalking its prey as it growls lowly, though it rapidly gains volume before it grows into a full roar, and as it does it explodes with a wave of Patronus energy that kinda looks like electricity, which radiates out from it as an expanding dome, even as blasts that look like lightning bolts strike any Dementors that come to close, blowing them away with pained inhuman cries.
As soon as it washes over her, the very emotions she'd made it with wash over her even stronger than how she'd been feeling them, likely because it didn't have any negative emotions dragging them down. As soon as it washes over them, the people she's with all have various reactions of surprise and turn to her with wide eyes. The Dementors shriek when the wave washes over them, scattering and quickly fleeing it within a few pulses.
Once they're gone, the panther stops radiating the waves of energy and prowls back to her, circling around the back of her legs and joining her in watching the forest to make sure they don't come back, but she does run her hand over it's head as it circles around to face the forest before leaving her hand resting on its head as she absently strokes it with her thumb without moving her hand.
She sniffs disdainfully, then looks away from the forest to glance towards the others, "Are you alright?"
She gets various quiet nods, all of them seemingly too stunned to speak, and she glances at Remus, "I know you can't talk right now, so just shake or nod your head." He gives her a slow nod of his own with wide eyes, "Good." Then she turns her gaze back to the forest and narrows her eyes, before turning back to him, "I know it's probably not that comfortable, but you should probably go back to the shack, since even under Wolfsbane you're not allowed to go towards where you know children are. And even if they don't really bother going after anything that looks like an animal, I don't know how far they went or how much of the forest is under the Dementors influence, so it'd probably be far better than the forest.”
He flinches at the mention of the forest being under their influence, then nods without hesitation, so she nods decisively, "Alright, I'll stay long enough to make sure you safely get inside and the Dementors don't come back to bother you, and then we'll head in."
Remus licks her hand in gratitude, and Peter quickly gets to his feet, "Wait!" They all turn to him, "At least let me transform and get the knot that'll get it to freeze, I have a better idea of where it is and I'm small enough it has issues hitting me if it even notices me."
She glances at Remus, who nods, so she looks back to him, "Sure, that'd be helpful."
He smiles a little unsurely, then quickly transforms into his rat form. It's only a matter of seconds before he's pressing the knot. Remus immediately heads forward and slinks down into the hole beneath it. As soon as he's through, Peter drops his front paws away from the tree and scampers over.
Once he's clear, he transforms back, and she waves him over, "Come on. We should help Ron and the others up, since Ron can't walk on his own and the other two were bracing him and getting up with Ron would be complicated.”
He nods, and they move over to help. They help Ron up first, and he helps keep him steady and lets him lean on him while she helps the other two up, then she moves over to roughly manhandle Snape back to his feet with her wand pointed at him threateningly, before giving him a shove towards the castle, "Get a move on asshole, but the situation hasn't changed. You try to pull anything or do a runner or whatever and I will curse you."
He pales and nods frantically, then begins to move towards the castle. She huffs as she follows after him, before commenting to the others, "Asshole seems way more obedient now."
Sirius laughs quietly, "Well, you did just show off the most powerful Patronus any of us have ever heard of, much less seen, pup. I mean, hell, you drove off hundreds of Dementors on your own. Even Dumbledore's was never that powerful, and he'd have needed backup to drive them away in that situation. And you haven't even hit your magical maturity. So you're only going to get more powerful at this point. I wasn't kidding when I said you were kinda terrifying earlier, and that's got to only make it worse for someone who's very obviously on your bad side and an enemy. I'm not surprised in the slightest that the coward is utterly terrified of you now."
Peter dryly adds, "Especially since you're still conscious after that little show, and you still have the magic to continue to have your Patronus manifested. Speaking of, why do you?"
She glances down at the panther, "I'd like to at least get inside where it'll be harder for the Dementors to attack before I have him dissipate."
Sirius asks in curiosity, "Him? I was a little curious why it wasn't a Dragon given that's what everyone calls you, but that sounds like it not only represents someone else, but that you even know who."
She looks down at the panther walking by her side fondly and runs a hand over its head, which it leans into with a purr, "Hei. One of my soulmates. He always reminded me of a panther.”
Peter makes a confused sound, "But I've never heard of him. Did- Did something happen to him?"
She sighs, "I don't often talk about him directly because it is a somewhat sensitive and painful topic, but he's alive and even secretly in contact with me. But he was forced when I was eight to leave by people who made a deal with him that if he did what they said they'd spare me.” She smiles at him, “Though you have heard mention of him. He's the one who gave me the nickname Xiǎolóng.”
Understanding washes over his face.
They continue up to the castle and swiftly enter and head to the Hospital Wing, and while Hermione and Neville get Ron situated in a bed, she immediately takes Sirius, Peter, and Snape over to a private room off of it, stunning the bastard the moment he's sitting on a bed.
She glances over at Sirius and Peter, "I'm gonna stay outside, make sure no one who may try anything funny comes in without swearing an oath.” They both nod in understanding and she smiles as she turns away, dryly saying on her way out, “Don't kill the bastard. He may deserve it, but I wasn't kidding about publicly destroying him, and I'll be very cross if you interfere with that.”
Sirius barks a laugh, “And tempt your terrifying temper? No thanks Prongslette. Snivellus isn't worth that.”
She steps out with an amused shake of her head as Madam Pomfrey hurries out of her office and attached room, pausing to give her a strange look, but she waves her off, “See to Ron first please. He just broke something in his leg, so it's straightforward, while this… will take some explaining even before you start dealing with it, and it'll undoubtedly be more complicated.”
The matron nods, then hurries over to her friends as she leans herself back against the stones, she shoots Ron an apologetic smile at not coming over, and he returns it with an understanding one of his own.
When Pomfrey is done with them and starts over, she quickly side steps in front of the door, “Sorry, I know I'm making this complicated, but given the situation, I'm gonna need a magical oath not to harm the three until they can get proper justice done, and at that not until you hear the actual story and not what everyone thinks happened or may draw conclusions about what happened.”
Madam Pomfrey blinks rapidly in surprise, but given it’s a fairly reasonable oath, she shrugs in confusion and swears it. She steps aside and lets the woman pass, and the moment she opens the door, she shouts in surprise, swinging her gaze to her quickly. She gives her a smile, “I've been telling anyone who would listen for years that Sirius is innocent and Peter was the one who did it. He did, but it also turns out there was an old family oath between his and Voldemort's which let him drag him to him and force him to take the mark. Between the Oath and that, he may as well have been under the Imperius. Snape,” She snarls his name, “followed us, overhead everything, but still tried to take Sirius to the Dementors. But, while I know you have a more even temper in general, I insisted on the vow for him as well just to be safe, since he needs to be taken to the Aurors and trial. Don't un-stun him though please.”
Pomfrey's mouth opens and closes a few times wordlessly, then she shakes herself and turns back to the room, stepping inside resolutely and saying as she closes the door, “Let me get a look at you boys. Sirius will undoubtedly need treatment for prolonged Deme-”
It cuts off as she closes the door, and Calanthe resettles against the wall. She's not sure how long Pomfrey is inside before she steps back out, shaking her head, “Years of Dementor exposure and Azkaban's poor physical care for one, and over a decade in their animagus form for the other, what a mess.” She looks over at her and hesitates, “Miss Potter-Black, I doubt very seriously anything can get you to move, and between that and Mr Weasley’s complicated break that will take a few hours, I am obligated to inform the two of your Heads of Houses that they have students who will be near criminals in the hospital wing. I hope you understand.”
She nods, “Of course Madam Pomfrey. Besides, Professors Flitwick and McGonagall are fairly reasonable.”
Pomfrey nods back, then sets off with a shake of her head, mutting, “What an absolute mess…”
She disappears into her office quickly, though comes back fairly soon with a stream of potions floating behind her which she disappears through the door with, and it's not too long after that before Flitwick and McGonagall hurry in. They swing briefly by Ron's bed, and McGonagall chivies Hermione and Neville back to their dorm since it's past curfew, then they start towards her.
She steps in front of the door again, “I suppose I should make this incredibly simple. I, Calanthe Potter-Black, swear on my magic that I will not allow anyone past me that doesn't swear an oath on their magic not to harm the men currently inside this room until said men are gone from it, and to seek proper justice for all three, so mote it be.”
The two blink rapidly at her as the oath settles, and Flitwick frowns, “Miss Potter-Black, what…”
She smiles tensely, “The short version? Sirius didn't know the full story, but he saw Peter in his rat form in that Prophet photo from when the Weasleys won the lottery, thought I was in danger and broke out to protect me from him. As it turns out, the whole story is that Pettigrew family swore oaths of loyalty to the Slytherin family. Voldemort found out and used it to force Peter to come to him and take his mark, and between the oath and the mark, he may as well have been under the Imperius. Snape overhead all of this, but tried to take Sirius to the Dementors anyway. But while he may deserve whatever is coming to him, he needs to be dragged to trial by the Aurors.”
They both suck in sharp breaths, mouths agape. Flitwick narrows his eyes and draws himself up, “Is that so. Then let me return one of my own. I, Filius Flitwick, swear on my magic that I will also not allow anyone who intends to harm the men currently inside nor will not pursue justice for them inside this room until they have left, so mote it be.”
She blinks in surprise, and that surprise switches to McGonagall as she also swears an oath. After a moment, she shakes herself, “If that's the case, can you watch the door for a moment? I have an idea, and I don't exactly need to leave, but I won't be able to pay attention properly.”
The two nod and station themselves in front of the door, and McGonagall tilts her head, “Do what you need to Miss Potter-Black. We have things for the moment.”
She nods gratefully, then pulls ink and parchment out of her message bag as she steps over to one of the bedside tables. For the past few years, as loud as she had been, she had never had the Prophet print a story about Sirius, because the evidence was technically part of an ongoing investigation and due to some laws, couldn't be printed in the paper legally.
Oh sure, they couldn't do anything about her showing off her own copies to people directly, but the paper couldn't use them. And while she and Remus had gone back and forth about going forward with it anyway, to let the sheer force of the masses demand the Ministry to release the evidence if she said something but informed them she couldn't show the supporting evidence because of the Ministry, they had eventually decided not to. It would be far too easy for people to struggle to believe her without the evidence to support it, and far too easy for Dumbledore and the Ministry to discredit her.
But now? Now she has Peter himself in the flesh, backing up Sirius’ story. They couldn't do anything about her backing up her claims with a front page photo of Peter and his own admission of his part in things. Not yet anyway. Not if she moved quickly and got ahead of them.
And as much as she dislikes the woman, as much as she hates that she managed to keep her job and even remain as a prominent reporter given the havoc she's wreaked upon so many people, she cannot deny that no one is better at stirring up the masses than Rita Skeeter herself.
And it may even be to her advantage, since while the woman is bound to provable facts in the Prophet, that wasn't true in other places. If she dangles the scoop of the century as bait, but makes her take a magically enforced contract, included with the letter, not to say anything not provably true about either the story she had nor Calanthe in general in order to get said scoop… Who knows, maybe seeing the fact sensationalism hits way harder when it's true will make the unpleasant woman change. She doesn't care one way or another as long as she sticks to facts with her, and also her friends but it may be a bit too much to swing that as well with Skeeter, then she doesn't much care what the woman writes.
She also writes out a second to Amelia to get her ass up and get moving now.
When she's done, Gwyneira who always seems to know when she's needed, swoops in through an upper window and lands in front of her. She rubs at her chest feathers as she leans down to murmur low enough for no one else to hear, “To Amelia first, then Rita Skeeter please.” Gwyneira gives her a look like she's judging her and she huffs a laugh, “I know, I know, but I can make use of her reputation, and if it works out, she'll never be able to target me with her poisonous pen and have those lies printed. And I'm on a time limit.”
Gwyneira gives her a disgruntled look, but accepts both letters and flies off, and she wouldn't have done that if she refused to do it. With that out of the way, she goes back over to the door to stand guard with the Professors, though McGonagall glances at her, “You could head up to bed Miss Potter-Black. We can take it from here.”
She shakes her head, “In general I'm sure you can handle it, but I've spent too long trying to free Sirius not to see it through myself.”
They both nod in understanding, and Flitwick tosses a mournful glance back, “To think, when I thought the story of Lily and James and their friends couldn't get any more tragic, life decides to prove me wrong.”
McGonagall reaches over to squeeze his shoulder, “We will see they get the justice they all deserve, Filius. And we will honor James and Lily's memories and make sure the real story gets out.”
Flitwick's expression grows determined and he nods firmly, “That we will.”
She's confused for a moment before she remembers, “Oh yeah! Mom and Dad were apprenticed to you two for their Masteries, weren't they!”
Flitwick smiles a bit sadly at her, “That they were, and two of the most brilliant students either of us had seen.” His smile loses some of his sadness, “You are very much their child. If they were alive, they would be so very proud of you, I hope you know that.”
Her cheeks flush a little despite her attempts to control it, which never seems to work with people she's comfortable with, “It's not the same obviously, but they actually did have a portrait made, and Remus also goes out of his way to make that clear, but thank you Professor.”
He nods, and they settle in, the conversation, unsurprisingly, turning to her parents, and with a surprising amount of mischief from the usually stern older woman, if not her own Head of House, they start telling her stories about their time at Hogwarts. The ones that Remus and her parents’ portrait may not be inclined to share out of embarrassment if nothing else.
The good mood and laughter disappears like smoke as an unnatural cold and negativity washes over them, and she straightens quickly as her eyes harden and turn towards the door, unsurprised to see a Dementor on the heels of a somewhat frantic Minister Fudge. Her lips pull back in a snarl, and without hesitation, she snaps her wand out and flings a Patronus out, chasing the Dementor away with one of its lightning strikes of Patronus energy that the Dementor just barely dodges with a fearful shriek before it flees, even as her panther stations itself by her feet with a rumbling growl.
Fudge whirls back towards the door, “No! Come back! I said come back!” When it doesn't, for obvious reasons, he whirls back towards her, “Lady Potter-Black! You are interfering with Ministry business! You-!”
She eyes him disdainfully, “I will just repeat it so you can't deny that I really am under oath. I, Calanthe Potter-Black, once again swear on my magic that I will not allow anyone past me as long as the men inside are still there that doesn't swear an oath on their magic not to harm the men currently inside this room until said men are gone from it, and to seek proper justice for all three, so mote it be.” Fudge gapes at her, mouth opening and closing in horror, and she smiles at him sardonically, “There will be no sweeping this under the rug or getting rid of loose ends this time Fudge. Leave. You aren't welcome here.”
He sputters, “You-! You won't get away with this!”
Then he whirls and flees, and Flitwick shakes his head, “That is an incredibly powerful Patronus Charm Miss Potter-Black. Which is impressive enough on its own, but particularly from a third year.” McGonagall nods in agreement, “But how did that man even find out?”
She tilts her own, then risks a truth bomb, “Considering the only other person in the castle who should know right at the moment is Madam Pomfrey, and she certainly wouldn't call him? Especially since she's busy with healing? I can only assume Dumbledore.”
Both of them have furrowed brows when she's done, but neither seem to be able to find the words to dispute her.
In the wake of Fudge and his Dementors appearance, the previous atmosphere is gone, and the two Professors settle into thoughtful silence.
A while later she grins as Amelia, accompanied by a small group of Aurors show up, surprisingly with Skeeter and a photographer all but burning in curiosity and anticipation on their heels.
She steps forward with a nod, “Amelia, the Professors and I are currently under magical oath not to allow anyone who does not swear an oath of their own not to harm the men in this room -as long as they're in this room since it can be dangerous to swear an oath like that without a specified end- and to seek proper justice for them past. I'm sorry, but I need ask you and your Aurors to make oaths.”
The woman smiles at her, “Not a problem Calanthe.”
She pulls her wand out, swiftly swearing her own oath, and her Aurors quickly follow. She nods then turns to Skeeter, “Did you sign the contract?”
The woman eyes her, “Not before finding out what this scoop you've promised me is, no.”
She nods, “You can peek inside, but you don't get to go in until you've signed it and sworn the necessary oath.” She looks over at the Aurors, some of which are frowning at Skeeter, “I know it's not generally how things are done, but Amelia, Andromeda, and I have been stonewalled for years, and we haven't gone to the paper since they can't print things that have been submitted as evidence in an ongoing investigation.” Her smile twists, “They can't do anything about a photo of a man thought dead and his own words backing up what we've been saying though.”
Understanding sweeps over all of them, and Amelia gives an unsurprised nod, likely having seen what she was doing. Skeeter looks between them quickly, all but salivating at just the little she's overheard and the conclusions one can draw from it. She straightens up, “Well then, let's get this little peek and see what this scoop is all about!”
Calanthe reaches over and cracks the door open enough for them to look, but not enter, and Skeeter gasps the moment she sees what's inside, quickly whipping towards her, “But that's-” She nods, “And also-!”
She nods again and Skeeter stares at her for a few moments, then marches over to a bedside table, pulling out the contract she'd sent as she moves and quickly signs her name. The flash of magic that goes off before it automatically duplicates lets her know the woman had made zero alterations, so her own pre-emptive signature on it remains valid. Skeeter scurries back over, quickly shoving her copy of their contract at her, and bouncing impatiently, “I assume you need oaths from myself and my photographer as well?”
She nods, and the two quickly swear them, then follow the Aurors in, which she also does with a glance at the Professors, “I'll be right back.” Almost immediately, the photographer starts snapping photos of Sirius and Peter sitting together, and the two men turn to her in bemusement. She shakes her head, “The Ministry can do nothing about the paper printing a photograph of Peter to show he's alive, or an account of his testimony before it's officially submitted as evidence at the Ministry.”
She glances at Peter at the last part, and he straightens in determination, “I'll do it, if that's what you're asking. Sirius at least deserves the truth to be known. If the masses want to lynch me despite the circumstances, then so be it.”
Sirius grabs his arm, “Peter, no-!”
Peter lays his own hand on top of Sirius’, “This is my choice to make Sirius. The Marauders used to say we would die for each other if necessary.” He smiles wanly, “Let me live up to that loyalty, that promise, instead of being forced to betray you all.”
Sirius whimpers slightly, then nods tearily. She turns her attention away, giving the two what little emotional privacy they can get given the situation, “Amelia, I'm afraid that legally you can't have anything to do with Peter's case.” Amelia turns to her in confusion, and she sighs, “The situation is a bit more complicated, but Peter may as well have been under the Imperius.” Her mouth tightens, “And unfortunately my parents weren't the only ones whose deaths came about because of that.”
Her brows furrow before her eyes blow wide as she sucks in a sharp breath before gasping out, “Edgar.”
She nods, “I'm sorry, both in general and to bring up painful memories, but yes.”
Amelia just stares at her with wide eyes for a few moments before they squeeze shut as she takes a shuddering breath, “You are quite correct Lady Potter-Black,” She's not even surprised at the formality, knowing full well the older woman tends to fall back on them when she's shaken or emotional. When she opens her eyes, she looks to one of her Aurors, “Shacklebolt, I'm handing off the lead on Pettigrew's case to you. I can still handle Black's but I can't even touch Pettigrew's. You'll need to move him into a different private room.”
The tall man nods gravely, “I'll do the job thoroughly, whatever the outcome ma'am.”
She gives him a somewhat strained smile, “I know you will.” Then she looks over at Snape, “What's he here for, and why's he missing an arm?”
She snorts, “He overheard the truth about Peter but still tried to haul Sirius to the Dementors, and threatened him, Peter, and Remus into handing over their wands and being obedient by threatening me. Sirius ended up distracting him in their argument though by hitting a sore spot, and it was enough of an opening for me to close the distance and take his wand arm off, which… is still down the secret tunnel under the Whomping Willow leading to the Shrieking Shack if you need the wand for evidence.”
She shakes her head, “I don't know if you guys should go down there right now though. He's safe to be around since he's under Wolfsbane, but there is a werewolf there, since he couldn't legally head towards the castle and its children, even under Wolfsbane, and he couldn't go into the forest with the Dementors around. If nothing else, there's certainly a legal argument to be made that no one has any way of knowing how they'll affect a werewolf, even under Wolfsbane. Which, speaking of, he was using a different source since we didn't trust Snape, which turned out to be a good thing, since the Wolfsbane he was brewing had been tampered with. We've been gathering all the doses he makes as proof that it was too consistent to be anything but purposeful.”
Amelia's lips had pulled back in a displeased snarl from the get go at his attempted soul destruction, and she only gets more displeased at the revelations of him threatening her and the final one about him tampering with Wolfsbane. She nods sharply, “After the moon has set, I'll send someone down to retrieve it.” Then her eyes gleam, “And there's certainly nothing stopping me from taking part in his case.”
She nods back, “Then I'll leave you lot to it.”
Amelia nods, “You can head to bed. I'll post a few Aurors.” Then she glances at Skeeter in amusement, and idly comments, “We still need to get Pettigrew's statement of course, but things will undoubtedly be so busy that it'll probably take, oh, at least an hour after that for someone to take it down to the Ministry and officially submit it into evidence.”
Skeeter eyes gleam, and she nods her understanding. She steps out with a grin. The Ministry can make as much of a fuss as they want, but they won't continue to get away with their mistreatment of Sirius, nor will she let them even begin that nonsense with Peter.