Link of Hogwarts

Thirty-Seven

Black padded alongside Lupin and a hateful Snape. He promised to stay disguised as a dog as they patrolled through the halls of Hogwarts late one evening far after curfew. Snape had been...explosive. When he was called to dose Sirius with Veritaserum, the Potion Master was all but ready to commit a heinous murder. Then they viewed the memories of that terrible night 12 years ago inside the Dumbledore's Pensieve.

Snape still looked ready to murder either men or even both men but his bloodthirstiness was successfully turned to the rat hiding somewhere in Hogwarts. The Headmaster had failed to retrieve the Map which had been charmed against summoning spells; a fact unfortunately forgotten by its creators due to the immense number of spell casting that took place while making their masterpiece.

So Harry had called on Dobby to help look for the Map. He had concluded while in bed no less (!) that it will either have fallen into the hands of Filch or the Weasley Twins. His reasoning was simply; Filch or his predecessors would have confiscated the Map for being used to violate school rules but since they couldn't or didn't know how to use it forgot about it somewhere in their office OR the Twins discovered it during their many detentions with Filch and took it to further their mischief in Hogwarts. Either way, such a Map would have been a treasure to any Hogwarts student but the likelihood of simply anyone getting their hands on it is minimal.

The Headmaster was immensely impressed by Link's deduction.

Thus after two more days waiting for the Map, Dobby finally came through. Turned out that Link's second guess hit true and Dobby had to be extremely patient to nick the Map from the Twins as they always have their hands on it. So he had followed them through their day until they become distracted enough to keep their hands on their precious treasure.

Now two staff members and a framed convict used the Map to investigate every living being in Hogwarts, keeping an eye out for the name 'Peter Pettigrew'. Link would have come along but since the three insisted that he should rest and let adults do as adult does for once, he relented lest Madam Pomfrey chain him to his bed.

Snape glared around the corridors, on high alert for wayward students and suspicious rats. Neither Lupin nor Black made a noise as they both concentrate on the task at hand. They have decided not to bring any attention to their intention by having the Twins panic for their missing Map, so they only have the night to finish the job.

Dumbledore even have most of the House Elves working at Hogwarts to keep an eye out for a rat and alert them of its whereabouts if they come across it.

Suddenly during one surveying one of the corridors, Lupin whispered, "Crookshank is coming towards us,"

Black had informed the real perpetrator that smuggled him inside and needless to say they were speechless. They knew kneazles are smart creatures and distrustful of suspicious characters, but to think that it can also tell innocent people despite their criminal records is a whole other discovery.

Scamander would be jumping for joy...

Immediately after noting it out, they quickly hear Crookshank's mew ahead and found the cat waiting. Upon their approach, it stood up from where it sat waiting and swiftly ran. They shared a look, cast a silencing spell on their person and quickly chase after the feline beast. Black easily kept up while the two wizards behind them lagged a little.

Lupin followed as he kept an eye on the Map, Snape kept his ears sharp as he used Legilimency to sweep the minds of those around his as he tended to do while patrolling. There's a reason why his capture rate during patrol was the highest in comparison to the other staff members.

Soon, Crookshank came to a stop and sniffed the ground which Black quickly joined. Lupin turned his eyes back to the Map. As good as the Map is the fact that Hogwarts have many residents and thus many names to keep track of can make pinpointing names a little hard. Then Snape turned his head to the side and stalked to a corner. Lupin quickly looked at the corner where his name wandered to and noticed the familiar dot along with a familiar name.

Snape kept his wand pointed at the corner and Crookshank instantly pounced. A sharp squeak of shock and soon a fat grey rat came shooting out of the darkness. Snape cast the counter spell and the rat instantly morphed into a man. He kicked at Crookshank and Black bounded at him in turn, fangs on his throat, which silenced the man's trashing.

Snape petrified Pettigrew before the man could do anything more and Black stepped back. Lupin conjured special ropes to prevent his escape and the group looked at each other before Black turned to an unconscious Crookshank. He whined pitifully at his first friend outside of Azkaban and Snape rolled his eyes before crouching next to the cat.

He pressed his fingers against the cat's body gingerly before casting a simple healing spell as a first aid to its cracked ribs to ease its breathing. He then gingerly picked the cat before looking at Lupin, "You deal with the rat,"

Luckily the full moon had yet to arrive or Lupin won't have been able to do his part well...

The group quickly gathered in the Headmaster's Office but not before Snape stop by the infirmary to ask Pomfrey to help with Crookshank. Snape's a Potion Master and thus have some knowledge in healing but he's not a trained Healer and thus could only do so much for the poor but brave kitty. Like it or not, and though he won't ever confess even under the Cruciatus, the cat had earned his respect.

A bloody Gryffindor at that!

The transaction between Dumbledore, Black and the Ministry of Magic's Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour was a quiet and stern affair. Dumbledore had even invited the Head of Magical Law Enforcement to study the Pensieve and record of Sirius Black's memories regarding the incident of the Potter's demise.

Now that the final evidence of his innocence has been presented in the form of the very much alive and marked Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black's freedom is all set and in the bag.

The next morning, the people of Hogwarts and the rest of Magical Britain opened their subscribed papers to find that the trials of Sirius Black, proof of his innocence and the life and lies of Peter Pettigrew written in black and white. Sirius Black's offense as an unregistered Animagus also helped strengthen the security of Azkaban as he revealed to the court how he escaped and that he kept his sanity with his knowledge of his innocence.

He kept the name of the poor family who unknowingly kept Pettigrew as their pet rat silent in respect for their privacy. After all, he doubted that the boy who had 'owned' Pettigrew even know about the rat's true identity. He also stated that he feared that the family might be targeted by remnant of Voldemort's (the whole court all but left their seats at the name in mass panic) followers should their name be revealed so he asked the Ministry to prove their competence in keeping their name under special witness protection.

The trial of Peter Pettigrew took place a few months after with strict barriers against Animagus' transformation set in place. Needless to say he has nothing to proof his innocence and the more he tries to defend himself, the tighter the noose around his neck. The trial concluded and Pettigrew was set for an execution through Dementor's Kiss.

Link would have wrapped the whole thing up and leave it behind him if it wasn't because of the news that reached him a scant few weeks before the end of Hogwarts' term;

Peter Pettigrew managed to escape during his transfer to Azkaban pending his execution.

Meanwhile, on the eve of the rat's escape, a certain Seer rasped out a prophecy;-

"It will happen tonight...the Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers

His servant has been chained these twelve years

Tonight, before midnight...the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master

The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever he was

Tonight...before midnight...the servant...will set out...to rejoin...his master..."

Unfortunately no one was there to listen and thus the prophecy disappears into the fogs of her heavily incensed tower while the Seer lost all recollection of making one.