Chapter 21
Remus slid, slowly down onto the nearest chair. Dumbledore was here, they were all here. He really needed to stay conscious.
‘Shall I summon the Dementors, Albus?’ Snape said, failing to hide the thrill in his voice.
‘I think we might just hold on that, Severus,’ Dumbledore said, ‘I have a feeling there might be some people in this room who would appreciate the chance to speak. I certainly have some questions.’ He moved forward through the doorway, and took a seat opposite the desk Remus had collapsed beside. Severus looked as though he had been slapped.
‘But, Professor - Sirius Black is -’
‘I am well aware of who is currently present, Severus,’ said Dumbledore mildly. ‘I do, however, think it may be prudent to keep the information between us for the current moment. Why don’t you come in and shut that door.’
Remus could feel Dumbledore’s eyes on him. He was finding it difficult to hear exactly what was going on over the piercing shrieks emanating from the box. He was finding it difficult to hear in general, everything sounded like he was under water. Possibly the panic, he thought.
‘I think perhaps you should let go of the box, Remus,’ said Dumbledore, gently. ‘And let me take a little look at that rat.’
Remus sat up slowly, hands still on the glass lid.
‘He’s not a rat,’ he managed to say, breathlessly.
‘Of course he’s a rat! He’s my rat!’ came a cry from behind him.
‘Ron, drop it,’ said another voice - Harry’s.
Dumbledore glanced up at them, briefly, eyebrows raised, and they fell silent.
‘He’s not a rat?’ he repeated.
‘It’s Peter - Peter is the rat. Sirius didn’t kill him. I am sorry I didn’t tell you, I am sorry. I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t -’
‘You are going to need to slow down and be a little bit clearer,’ said Dumbledore, pale eyes steady. ‘Look at me, and start from the beginning. Sirius -, ‘ he said, voice suddenly sharp, ‘I would recommend you do not move or I daresay Severus will blow you through that wall.’ Remus looked up, Sirius had taken a step towards him, one hand outstretched. Snape had his wand pointed directly at Sirius’ heart.
‘Do what they say, Sirius, I am OK, I can tell the story.’
Sirius lowered his hand. Snape kept his wand in place.
‘Right,’ said Dumbledore. ‘We’ll turn the volume down on this a little,’ he tapped the glass box, silencing the squeaks, ‘and then you can begin.’
*
The entire story was a struggle. Remus stuttered through his explanation of his friends’ Animagus forms, his face hot with shame as he admitted they had joined him during full moons, glossing over the fact that they had often left the safety of the shack. Dumbledore listened, patiently, his blue eyes unblinking.
‘They did it for me,’ he said. ‘They saw how difficult the transformations were, how damaged I was in the mornings, they thought if I had someone there, someone I couldn’t bite, it might help. And it did.’
‘A clever idea,’ said Dumbledore. ‘And some impressive magic. I am assuming this is how the escape occurred?’
‘Sirius saw Peter in the paper,’ Remus said, fishing the clipping out of his pocket and laying it on the table. ‘He recognised him immediately. I would have known him too, had I seen it. He noticed his missing toe, and the article said the Weasley children were due back here in September.’
At the mention of his own name, Ron shifted slightly, craning his neck to see the picture.
‘Ah, ‘he’s at Hogwarts’ ’, Dumbledore said quietly, to himself, and nodded for Remus to continue.
‘This was the motivation - not to get to Harry to hurt him, but to protect him, because it wasn’t Sirius who betrayed James and Lily all those years ago. They switched places without any of us knowing. It was Peter who was the spy, and he was a good one. None of us suspected him.’
Dumbledore looked down at the box through his half-moon spectacles. The rat had given up his panicked clawing and was now cowering in one corner, beady eyes staring up at them.
‘Only this afternoon I worked it out. I tracked Sirius down, and then Peter,’ Remus hesitated, glancing up at Severus, wondering if he was going to have to explain the map. ‘Sirius was going to wait, in the village, I was going to come straight to you, but it all kind of -’ he paused and gestured around him, ‘- it all went wrong.’ He fell silent, eyes on the box, and then looked up at Dumbledore.
‘Oh come on,’ Severus spoke first. Dumbledore did not raise his head, but the others looked up at him in alarm. ‘What a load of old rubbish. It never is your fault is it Lupin, always just bystanders, always just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Always someone else convenient to blame. Well I hate to break it to you, but we all know Black is capable of murder. Putting a rat in a box proves nothing.’
‘Oh surely you’re not still holding on to that one,’ said Sirius, his tone cruel. ‘It’s been what? Sixteen years? Longer than some of us have spent in prison.’
‘Sirius!’ Remus said, not hiding the shock in his voice, just as Severus exclaimed, ‘I told you Albus, I told you! No remorse!’
‘I think,’ said Dumbledore, raising a hand and silencing both of them. Remus watched as he looked over to the children, who had been standing, silently, watching the events unfold. ‘I think,’ he repeated, ‘it is time we have a look at this rat.’
He examined the box briefly. ‘Unbreakable charm?’ he asked, glancing at Remus, ‘ok well we will have to remove that.’ He waved his wand over the box.
‘Peter,’ he said sternly, eyes focused on the rat. ‘I have removed my silencing charm, so I know you can hear me. I am going to open the box in a moment and lift you onto the table, at which point you will immediately resume your true form. You will not run, otherwise I will be forced to stop you, and that will be much worse.’
The rat didn’t move. Dumbledore nodded. ‘Alright,’ he said, looking around the room. ‘Wands out, just in case.’ Remus drew his wand, and the children did the same, looking at each other nervously.
‘I’ll keep mine where it is if you don’t mind, Albus,’ Severus said, eyes still fixed on Sirius.
Dumbledore ignored him, waved his wand over the box once more and removed the lid. He put his hand inside and lifted Wormtail onto the table.
The rat ran, immediately jumping from the table and making for the door.
‘Immobilus!’ There was a bang, and an ear-splitting squeal. The rat flew backwards, and hung, frozen in mid air.
Dumbledore had not moved, Remus turned, to find Harry and Hermione both staring at Ron in surprise.
‘Looking quite a lot like that creature has no idea what you just told it, Albus. Possibly because it is just a rat.’ Severus drawled.
Sirius scoffed. ‘Change him back, Remus,’ he said, his voice cold.
Remus stared at the rat, hanging in the air. The moment of truth had finally come. He raised his wand and a jet of pale blue light burst forth from it, hitting the rat. It disabled Ron’s freezing charm, and they watched, transfixed as the small brown form squirmed in the beam of light. The process was much slower than a voluntary transformation, instead of an instantaneous switch, it was a fight: limbs growing in a stilted fashion, shooting outwards and then stopping momentarily before beginning again. A head, swelling horribly, ears shrinking, struggling and shaking. It was horrible to watch, but it only lasted a few seconds, and there, on the floor below where the rat had been, sat the hunched figure of a man.
‘No way,’ said Harry breathlessly.
Remus watched as the man slowly got to his feet, turning towards them. Peter was shaking and Remus realised he was too.
‘Hello, Peter.’ said Dumbledore, his voice, calm as always.
Peter looked at each of them in turn. When his eyes met Remus’, he felt himself shudder, involuntarily. Peter looked the same. Older, of course, and pretty sickly, just as he had done moments earlier as a rat, but largely the same. He had the same blonde hair, the same wide brown eyes, the same pointed little nose. Remus looked down at Peter’s hands, which he was wringing nervously, and noted the missing finger.
‘I’m not sure how much of that you caught, Peter,’ said Dumbledore. ‘You will have to forgive me for silencing you, but you were making an awful racket.’
Peter said nothing. He was looking at Sirius, his face wracked with terror. Remus turned to look back at his friend, Sirius’ expression was nothing short of murderous. Severus had, thankfully, been distracted by the sudden appearance of a long-dead class-mate and had lowered his wand. Silently, Remus rose and went to stand at Sirius’ side, his wand trained on Peter.
Peter whispered something inaudible.
‘What was that?’ said Dumbledore, ‘I am sorry, I am old, you will have to speak up.’
‘Please, please help me, Professor,’ squeaked Peter, eyes still fixed on Sirius. ‘Please, don’t let him hurt me. He tried to kill me, you know.’
Sirius laughed darkly and Remus turned towards him instinctively, ready to stop him from doing anything stupid.
‘Yes,’ said Dumbledore, tilting his head slightly as if listening intently, ‘we actually all thought that he had killed you, which begs the question, what are you doing here, looking, quite alive?’
Peter paused. Remus could almost see him thinking.
‘I had to hide,’ he said hurriedly, tripping over his own words. ‘I had to hide. I knew he’d come after me, try to finish me off.’
‘You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?’ Remus said suddenly, ‘Escape an inescapable prison? How is it you foresaw that when literally nobody else did?’
Dumbledore had turned to look at him as he spoke, and when he had finished turned back to Peter. ‘Not an unreasonable question, in my opinion,’ he added.
‘He’s got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of!’ Peter said, his voice shrill. ‘How else did he get out of there? Dark magic!’
‘Without a wand?’ Remus found himself saying, ‘we all know Sirius is a capable wizard, but dark magic without a wand? Even Voldemort needed -’ he tailed off as Peter flinched visibly at the name.
‘What, scared to hear your old master’s name?’ Sirius said, his voice full of disgust. ‘I don’t blame you, Peter. His lot aren’t very happy with you, are they?’
‘I have no idea – what you are - talking about’ muttered Peter. He was sweating heavily now, breathing too quickly.
‘You haven’t been hiding from me for twelve years,’ Sirius continued. ‘You’ve been hiding from Voldemort’s old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter … they all think you’re dead, or you’d have to answer to them … I’ve heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to James’ on your information … and Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all Voldemort’s supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here, biding their time, pretending they’ve seen the error of their ways…’ Sirius’ gaze shifted to Severus, who glared back at him.
‘If Voldemort’s supporters were after me,’ Peter squeaked, ‘It was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban – the spy, Sirius Black!’
Sirius laughed. ‘Oh yes, carry on playing that card. He’s a Black, he must be evil. Let me ask you this, Peter: when did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? When did I ever lurk around corners, listening in? But you – I’ll never understand why I didn’t see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who’d look after you, didn’t you? It used to be us … me and Remus … and James …’ Sirius paused, he was leaning forwards now, face contorted with hatred, but Remus could see his hands, held tightly behind his back, were trembling. ‘Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it. I thought it was the perfect plan … a bluff … Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they’d use a weak, talentless thing like you … it must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters.’
‘Sirius,’ Remus said, quietly, a warning.
‘Can – can I say something?’ Hermione’s voice, small, but clear, piped up from the corner of the room. So focused on Sirius and Peter, Remus had almost forgotten they were there.
‘Certainly, Hermione,’ said Dumbledore.
‘Well – Scabbers – I mean, this – this man – he’s been sleeping in Harry’s dormitory for three years. If he’s working for You Know Who, how come he never tried to hurt Harry before now?’
Remus looked back to Peter, who was nodding vigorously. ‘A good point! A good point - you see. I’ve never hurt a hair on Harry's head! Why should I?’
‘I’ll tell you why,’ said Sirius, his tone vicious. ‘Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort’s been in hiding for twelve years, they say he’s half-dead. You weren’t about to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore’s nose, for a wreck of a wizard who’d lost all his power, were you? You’d want to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn’t you? Why else did you find a wizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren’t you, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him …’
Peter appeared to shrink, very slightly, with every word that came out of Sirius’ mouth, and by the time he had stopped speaking, the smaller man stood stooped and quivering, eyes on the floor.
‘Do you have anything to say for yourself, Peter?’ Dumbledore spoke calmly, his expression giving nothing away.
Peter continued to look at the floor, ‘You - you have no proof,’ he muttered.
‘Well,’ said Dumbledore, ‘I suppose that is true, it is one man’s word against the other, in the matter of who the spy was.’ Sirius spluttered slightly, and Remus laid a hand on his arm. It was bony, and so thin, but it was warm and Remus glanced up at his face for a moment, to find Sirius staring down at his hand. ‘But I do have to point out,’ Dumbledore continued, ‘that the crime Sirius Black went to Azkaban for was your murder, and indeed that of those twelve others who had the extreme poor fortune of being there that day, and your being quite obviously alive does call the validity of that charge into question.’
Remus was feeling sick again. Dumbledore was, of course, exactly right. There was no evidence, other than Sirius’ word, that Peter had been the secret keeper and killed those Muggles. The unfailing support of a werewolf would do nothing to help him. He had been so focused on revealing Peter to Dumbledore, he had forgotten all about the confession they would require.
Dumbledore waved his wand, silently, conjuring a glowing phoenix, whispering in its ear. It shrank to a ball of light, and vanished through the closed door. He lifted his wand again, this time in Peter’s direction. Shining cords wrapped themselves around Peter’s wrists and waist, straightening him up and seeming to root him to the spot. ‘You cannot transform, Peter,’ he said. ‘Sirius, I assume you will come willingly?’
Sirius only nodded, and although Dumbledore had not turned, he seemed to have understood him.