Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin

Chapter 52: The King of Rats

The DMLE Detention Center
4:30 p.m.

The prisoner was still lying in his cot pretending to nap when the door slid open with a clang. He opened one eye and smiled. He'd been expecting this conversation for a while.

"Good afternoon, James!" exclaimed Peter Pettigrew, Esq., Death Eater and traitor to the House of Potter. "And what can I do for my favorite client today?"

James said nothing until after he'd cast some high-level security Charms. After everything that had happened over the last few days, the man felt he needed this confrontation, but there was no call for anyone else to listen in. Once that was done, he conjured a chair to sit in.

"Why?" he finally said.

"Could you be a bit more specific, Prongs?" Pettigrew responded. "I've been asked a lot of questions since I was brought in. They all rather blend together at the moment."

James glared at him. "Pick one. Why did you betray my family? Why did you betray me? Why did you become a Death Eater?"

Peter laughed. "Here's another: Why should I answer your questions after resisting interrogation and torture for the last two days?"

"Because ... this may be our last chance to speak about this. In a few hours, you'll be taken down to the Unspeakables for interrogation. I don't know much about their techniques, but from the rumors, there's a chance you may not be coming back with your mind intact. So, right now, I'm not here to gather evidence. I'm here because ... I want to understand. Ever since Sirius was sent to prison ... No, ever since we sent Sirius to prison, I've considered you my best friend. Was it all a lie? Were we ever friends?"

Peter studied James's face for a moment and noticed his still-bruised jaw.

"Ah! Let me guess. You went to see Padfoot to apologize for sending him to Azkaban. And he accepted your apology with his usual grace!"

James's face darkened. "Never mind about that! Just tell me! What did I do to make you hate me so much you'd become a Death Eater?"

Peter snorted. "Nothing, James. You did nothing. Which was all it took. We four were inseparable at Hogwarts. And honestly, I naively thought we'd be that way forever. And then ... we graduated, and you promptly cut me and Remus out of your life. You and Dear Old Sirius sauntered off to the Auror Academy, and you claimed a Wizengamot Lordship at the age of 20. Meanwhile, Remus was sent to Europe as one of Dumbledore's disposable agents, and I ... was on my own. From your wedding day until the day you came with me to my father's vault – almost a year and a half later! – we met together probably less than ten times, and not once at your request."

"Peter, I'm sorry if you felt ... abandoned. But for Merlin's sake! To join the Death Eaters over it?!"

He sat up in his bunk and studied James. "You know my heritage now, right?"

James nodded. "Last of the Kleinwuchs, and through them the last heir of Emeric the Evil. Is that it? You were feeling lonely and then found out where your family came from, so you decided to just ... embrace it?"

"James, in the space of a single day, I found out where my family came from – that I was the last in a long line of dark wizards. I also found out that my mother had never truly been ill but was just cruelly manipulating me my whole life as part of some sick psychological game. I also found out that my mother had murdered my father and grandfather and intentionally ensured that I'd grow up destitute. And finally, I found out that James Potter, who I foolishly thought was the only friend I had left, secretly viewed me a charity case who only tolerated me out of pity! A weakling and a suck-up who only followed him around to mooch off his wealth! A minion who was no longer needed! So yeah, I decided that day that since being a Gryffindor hero was apparently a sucker's game, I would become a Gryffindor villain."