Chapter 70: The Story of Marauders (2/2)
”What sort of animal —?” Harry began, but Hermione cut across him.
”That was still really dangerous! Running around in the dark with a werewolf! What if you'd given the others the slip, and bitten somebody?”
”A thought that still haunts me,” said Lupin heavily. ”And there were near misses, many of them. We laughed about them afterwards. We were young, thoughtless — carried away with our own cleverness.”
”Oh, Hermione. You've also broken lots of rules for your friends' happiness.” Chris said smiling. ”You tried to report Harry for his own safety but couldn't because — you simply love your friends. I think Harry's father and Mr Black wanted to change Professor Lupin's haunted memory to a beautiful one.”
Black's lips curved into a smile but his eyes were still on Scabbers.
”Indeed. They tried that but I still felt guilty sometimes about betraying Dumbledore's trust, of course — he had admitted me to Hogwarts when no other Headmaster would have done so, and he had no idea I was breaking the rules he had set down for my own and others' safety. He never knew I had led three fellow students into becoming Animagi illegally. But I always managed to forget my guilty feelings every time we sat down to plan our next month's adventure. And I haven't changed —” Lupin's face had hardened, and there was self-disgust in his voice. ”All this year, I have been battling with myself, wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. But I didn't do it. Why? Because I was too cowardly. It would have meant admitting that I'd betrayed his trust while I was at school, admitting that I'd led others along with me — and Dumbledore's trust has meant everything to me. He let me into Hogwarts as a boy, and he gave me a job when I have been shunned all my adult life, unable to find paid work because of what I am. And so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school using Dark Arts he learnt from Voldemort, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it — so, in a way, Snape's been right about me all along.”
”Snape?” said Black harshly, taking his eyes off Scabbers for the first time in minutes and looking up at Lupin. ”What's Snape got to do with it?”
”He's here, Sirius,” said Lupin heavily. ”He's teaching here as well.” He looked up at Chris, Harry, Ron and Hermione. ”Professor Snape was at school with us. He fought very hard against my appointment to the Defence Against the Dark Arts job. He has been telling Dumbledore all year that I am not to be trusted. He has his reasons — you see, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me —”
Black made a derisive noise.
”It served him right,” he sneered. ”Sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to — hoping he could get us expelled —”
”Severus was very interested in where I went every month,” Lupin told them. ”We were in the same year, you know, and we – er – didn't like each other very much. He especially disliked James. Jealous, I think, of James's talent on the Quidditch pitch — anyway, Snape had seen me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey one evening as she led me towards the Whomping Willow to transform. Sirius thought it would be – er – amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree-trunk with a long stick, and he'd be able to get in after me. Well, of course, Snape tried it — if he'd got as far as this house, he'd have met a fully grown werewolf — but your father, who'd heard what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life — Snape glimpsed me, though, at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden to tell anybody by Dumbledore, but from that time on he knew what I was —”
”So that's why Snape doesn't like you,” said Harry slowly, ”because he thought you were in on the joke?”
Lupin nodded.
”And that's why he hates all the Gryffindors?” Chris said surprised. ”I mean that's childish. He even took half of my potion marks today, when my potion was perfect.” Chris looked up and saw everyone staring at her. She added, ”well, It's not like I care but — he also bullied Harry — and Neville — and Hermione — and Ron.”
”It's alright Christina, we understood your point,” Lupin said smiling. ”He was always like that but we can't ignore the fact that he agreed to make that Wolfsbane potion for me. I don't know what to think about him anymore.”
”Just think, he's a selfish git.” Black snorted angrily. ”Didn't you heard he still take our revenge from Gryffindor students, from Harry.”
”I'm still not saying I believe you,” Harry retorted. ”How did you found out we're here?”
Lupin looked at Chris and she answered, ”— Er — well — umm — I saw you on the Map and informed Professor Lupin.”
”Wait! How did you find the Map? I lost it months ago.” Harry said with a surprised tone.
”Well — you — didn't lose it — maybe — someone — stole it — from your trunk —” Chris said looking away.
”Who?” Ron asked confused.
”Chris?” Harry and Hermione said together.
”What? I was trying to stop you from sneaking into Hogsmeade. You see, Hermione was worried.” Chris replied innocently. ”I'll give it back — Mr Black, Pettigrew.” She changed the topic before Harry can open his mouth.
”It's time we offered you some proof,” said Black nodding but a little surprised at the formal mention. ”You, boy — give me Peter. Now.”
Ron clutched Scabbers closer to his chest.
”Come off it,” he said weakly. ”Are you trying to say you broke out of Azkaban just to get your hands on Scabbers? I mean —” he looked up at Harry and Hermione for support. ”OK, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat — there are millions of rats — how's he supposed to know which one he's after if he was locked up in Azkaban?”
”You know, Sirius, that's a fair question,” said Lupin, turning to Black and frowning slightly. ”How did you find out where he was?”
Black put one of his claw-like hands inside his robes and took out a crumpled piece of paper, which he smoothed flat, and held out to show the others.
It was the photograph of Ron and his family that had appeared in the Daily Prophet the previous summer, and there, on Ron's shoulder, was Scabbers.
”How did you get this?” Lupin asked Black, thunderstruck.
”Minister of Magic, Fudge,” Chris replied suddenly. ”Remember Ron, you told me that Black was so normal in Azkaban that he asked for Fudge's newspaper for crosswords.” She turned to Black triumphantly. ”You took it for crosswords and saw the picture, isn't it?”
”Yes.” He smiled a little. ”I knew him at once — how many times had I seen him transform? And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts — to where Harry was —”
”My God,” said Lupin softly, staring from Scabbers to the picture in the paper and back again. ”His front paw —”
”What about it?” said Ron defiantly.
”He's got a toe missing,” said Black.
”Of course,” Lupin breathed, ”so simple — so brilliant — He cut it off himself?”
”Just before he transformed,” said Black. ”When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself — and sped down into the sewer with the other rats —”
”Didn't you ever hear, Ron?” said Lupin. ”The biggest bit of Peter they found was —”
”A finger. You told me this Ron.” Chris said coming forward. ”And he's in your family for twelve years. Just think, what happened twelve years ago? Harry's parents died twelve years ago.” Ron stared at her. ”Look Ron I know you love Scabbers, more than anything, more than your friendship with Hermione but is it ok if your pet is the one who betrayed your best friend's parents? Will it be alright for you?”
”But — What's the proof? Black was the secret keeper. He — betrayed —” Harry said.
”Harry, Please trust my judgment this time,” Chris said calmly. ”Even Crookshanks understands the truth.”
”Crookshanks?” Hermione whispered.
Black reached out a bony hand and stroked Crookshanks's fluffy head.
”He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognised Peter for what he was straight away. And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It was a while before he trusted me. Finally, I managed to communicate to him what I was after, and he's been helping me —”
”What do you mean?” breathed Hermione.
”He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn't — so he stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me — As I understand it, he took them from a boy's bedside table — But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it — this cat — Crookshanks, did you call him? — told me Peter had left blood on the sheets — I suppose he bit himself — well, faking his own death had worked once —”
”I knew Crookshanks can understand human language,” Chris said looking at Harry. ”I told you, didn't I?”
”But why did he fake his death?” Harry asked still confused. ”Black said before you came, he said he killed my parents!”
He looked at Black, who shook his head slowly; the sunken eyes were suddenly over-bright.
”Harry — I as good as killed them,” he croaked. ”I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me — I'm to blame, I know it — the night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was scared. I set out for your parents' house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies — I realised what Peter must have done. What I'd done.”
His voice broke. He turned away.
”Enough of this,” said Lupin, and there was a steely note in his voice. ”There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat.”