Prologue
Charlie Weasley, 14 years old, the second of seven, is going to be a dragon tamer. He has known it in his bones, ever since starting Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts, that he is meant to be a magizoologist. And he has known, from the first time he rode a broom, that he is meant for the skies. Obviously, put together, that means that Charlie Weasley is going to become a dragon tamer.
Unfortunately, his mother is not so enthusiastic about this, and insists that he is not old enough to go off hunting for dragons, and besides, there are no wild dragons left in England, Charlie. His father agrees distractedly when Charlie asks, and so do the books in the Hogwarts library, so Charlie knows that he will have to wait until he’s done with school to go to the continent and become a dragon tamer.
Still, that does not stop Charlie dreaming of great things. He is smart, and resourceful, and he knows that if he were to become a dragon tamer right out of Hogwarts, he would have to make himself known as a magizoologist before then. This means top marks in Care of Magical Creatures, and researching creatures that were, unfortunately, not as cool as dragons.
This research, which Charlie throws himself at wholeheartedly when he isn’t studying or playing Quidditch or hanging out with friends, leads to him doing research on magical pets, such as kneazles and owls and toads—and rats. Rats, Charlie realises, are not typically magical pets, but are often used for potions testing and the like, and so there must be a way to make them magical. Luckily, Charlie’s younger brother, Percy, had found a garden rat five years ago, and kept it as a pet. Perfect for experiments!
Home for the holidays, Charlie sets out to determine the magical properties of Scabbers, Percy’s rat, who Charlie has learned was much older than an average garden rat should ever be, and therefore must be magical. Charlie enlists his parents’ help, owls his Care of Magical Creatures professor, researches at Florish and Blotts, and even writes to Dumbledore and Newt Scamander (no response from either of them, unfortunately). Finally, he locks Scabbers into a cage (much to the indignation of Percy), and tells his mother, solemnly, that he thinks Scabbers might be a human trapped as an animal, and could you please perform this spell here, to reverse him if he is?
Molly Weasley has Peter Pettigrew unconscious and in chains before Arthur even has the time to floo back from the ministry.