The headline in the profit made waves at breakfast in the Great Hall. Harry Potter, third-year Gryffindor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had no idea why everyone was freaking out.
Harry turns to Hermione who was talking to Neville, with confusion painted on his face. “Hermione, who’s Sirius Black? Why’s it such a big deal that he’s dead?”
Harry looked at the photo of the cell. Why they showed it on the front page is a mystery to him. Large bloodstains and a shredded bed are all that remain in the room, the man himself was removed and buried behind Azkaban, with all the other prisoners.
Hermione finished her conversation and explained to Harry that Sirius Black was not only his Godfather but also the one responsible for his parents’ deaths. This information sent Harry reeling. Why did he betray them? How? Why did everyone know except for him?
As Harry grappled with this new information, his eyes drifted to the high table with the professors. Most of the professors had mixed looks. McGonagall, Flitwick, and Dumbledore all looked saddened and slightly relieved while Snape looked positively ecstatic. Professor Lupin, on the other hand, looked queasy and miserable.
Throughout the day, Harry heard snatches of conversation about Sirius Black. Students had found various commemorations, both good and bad, dedicated to his deeds and misdeeds. For instance, a couple of 6th-year Ravenclaws found some trophies dedicated to Sirius Black for his practical application of charms. He had created some sort of mobile showing the stars that were an accurate representation no matter the time of day. Fred and George, however, found records in Filch’s office of numerous detentions Sirius Black had endured. Interestingly, his name was often alongside James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew.
James Potter wasn’t a huge surprise, since most students pieced together that he and Sirius Black must’ve been friends if Black betrayed the Potters. The names Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were a surprise. One, because Remus Lupin is a name the student body had become quite familiar with, as he was their current DADA professor. And two, because Peter Pettigrew was given an Order of Merlin, Third Class, posthumously for apprehending Sirius Black.
Needless to say, this information left students murmuring and mumbling for weeks, all trying to discover more about this quartet and what went so wrong. From all accounts, they seemed to be fairly close. The answer most of the students agreed with was that Sirius Black fell in with the wrong crowd through his brother and cousin (who were death eaters) and secretly fed information to You Know Who while his friends remained oblivious. When the Potters went into hiding, Peter Pettigrew became suspicious of Black and began to suspect he was not being truthful with them.
Unfortunately, Peter’s bravery was not without a cost. He got so very close to his goal of exposing Sirius’ lie, he even cornered the man! Poor Peter had no idea his two friends were killed mere hours before and that Black would cast the spell he did. For weeks, students walked around Hogwarts with a fingertip glowing softly, in honor of the war hero Peter Pettigrew.
Harry, during all of this, remained mostly oblivious as he wrestled with all the new information he learned. It was a gleeful Ron Weasley who shared various stories with Harry and explained the significance of the glowing finger. Unbeknownst to the two of them, Scabbers, Ron’s pet rat, listened to the whole thing. Scabbers was a fat little creature. Grey fur, beady eyes, a belly too large for his head, it’s often a wonder he survived this long. Upon hearing this fantastical tale, Scabbers staggered out of their dorm, maneuvering his way down to the common room and out of the Fat Lady’s portrait.
Scabbers meandered outside, headed towards the forbidden forest. At this point the rat was practically vibrating, jolting from side to side, barely walking straight. Once he reached the forest, Scabbers gave a full-body shudder before shifting into the form of a man. A man with a large gut, beady eyes, and pinched features. Who stumbled further into the forest cackling madly as he went.
“That idiot! HA Sirius you utter fool!” Peter Pettigrew, war hero traitor, and the true reason the Potters died, laughed and laughed until he could barely breathe, reveling in the fact that he won. That perfect Sirius Black was dead and Peter was not. Peter, lost in joy, did not notice when his path became steeper and darker until he tripped over a root and tumbled head over heels into a large, sticky spider web.
Quickly, he attempted to transform, but his rat form was just as trapped as the man who came before, if not more so. From up above, Peter could hear skittering and clicking. A massive spider bared down on him, its fangs the size of the rat's entire body.
It lunged and Peter was dead. As his rat body was punctured, it shifted back into its normal form, giving the Acromantula a much larger feast. And so, Peter Pettigrew died, alone and afraid, a perfect fit for a betrayer.
Without his most faithful servant, You Know Who was consigned to a slow death in the forests of Albania, for there was no Pettigrew to obtain Bertha Jorkins or guide Barty Crouch Jr. into the forest. Harry Potter’s name was not put in the Goblet of Fire and he sat alongside his friends and cheered for Cedric Diggory as he won the cup. Harry took his OWLs and eventually his NEWTs, before starting a successful Quidditch career with Puddlemere United, under Captain Keeper Oliver Wood.
Harry’s quidditch career lasted for 15 incredible years before he retired and started as a consultant DADA lecturer for Hogwarts. While Harry never had a lot of experience with the Dark Arts, he learned how to use his parseltongue to find and capture dangerous magic snakes.
One time, he was requested to assist a squad of hit wizards in capturing a rogue Gorgon. They had the brilliant idea that since Harry could speak to snakes he could control them too. Unfortunately, the Gorgon didn’t take too kindly to Harry’s commands and tried her best to kill him. Thankfully, his encounter with the Basilisk and the phoenix tears that flowed through his veins kept him from succeeding to the venom immediately. It gave the hit wizards enough time to dispatch the Gorgon and take Harry to St. Mungoes, where he would be bedridden for 3 days to heal from the injury.
At a nice, old age Harry Potter died surrounded by his friends and family. He would never know what his future could have been but he would always think about Sirius Black’s death with relief and sadness.