Harry Potter and The Secrets he Kept

Chapter 2

The Weasleys and Harry walked up to the gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office only to realize that they didn't have the password.

Harry looked at the gargoyle and asked the twins, "Guys, I know that you can talk to paintings but what about statues, can you talk to them?"

"Well, if they understand passwords, then they might understand other things as well," Fred muttered, looking thoughtful.

Harry stared at the statue for a minute, and hoped that he wasn't going to embarrass himself. "Erm, we really need to talk to Professor Dumbledore. It's an emergency."

The gargoyle nodded once and stepped aside for them.

They crowded onto the moving staircase, and before Harry could knock on the door at the top, Dumbledore said, "Enter."

Harry pushed open the door, and his friends followed him into the room.

Fawkes left his perch and with a soft whoosh landed on Harry's right shoulder.

"Hello, Fawkes," Harry said, rubbing the phoenix's chest and neck.

"What brings you five to my office on this fine day," Dumbledore asked, his eyes twinkling in an all-knowing sort of way.

"Sir, I have some serious concerns about what happened the day after my parents died."

Whatever Dumbledore had expected, it wasn't that. "What exactly did you have concerns about?"

"Well," Harry began somewhat nervously, "Hermione did some reading about what happened that night, and she found out that my parents placed a Fidelius Charm on the house. According to her research, the Secret Keeper was Sirius Black. She also found out that he was captured the next day after killing one of my parents' friends, and a bunch of other people."

Scabbers began to furiously claw at the cage door, trying to open it.

Harry continued, "The man he supposedly killed was Peter Pettigrew..."

Dumbledore interrupted here. "What do you mean supposedly? They found..." He was interrupted.

"A finger," Harry said, "and nothing else. But if Sirius Black had caused the explosion killing Pettigrew, there would have been, well, chunks of him all over the place, not just a finger."

Dumbledore's eyes widened at the implications.

"We," he indicated the Weasleys, "all have formulated a pretty good idea of what happened. Hand me the map." He said the last to Fred.

Harry tapped the parchment with his wand saying, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Scabbers was panicking even more now.

"If you see here," Harry brought the map to the Headmaster, "This dot in your office is labeled..."

"Peter Pettigrew," the Headmaster finished. "But that is impossible. I can see through invisibility cloaks and charms."

"But that's just it." Harry said beaming, "It's ingenious really. No one can tell a real animal from an animagus in animal form. And if you'd just framed someone for your murder, you'd want to be somewhere you could get news about what happened to him, like if he ever escaped."

Dumbledore's eyes landed on the rat. "Really, Harry, that is all very interesting, but it is quite impossible. Why would Pettigrew fake his own death?"

Harry grinned. "Who is the person that I would most likely choose as my Secret Keeper if I went into hiding?"

"Miss Granger, as she is the more stable of your best friends."