Spells and Visions; A Harry Potter story

Chapter 10: Scabbers Revealed

Harry blocked the door, and while Snape tried to tell him to get out of the way, he yelled "Expelliarmus!" at him, and Hermione and Ron had done the same. Snape flew backwards, and hit the wall. He collapsed to the ground, and was knocked out.
"Thank you," Lupin said to Harry, but he still didn't look happy.
"I'm not saying I believe you," he said grimly.
"It's time we gave some proof," Sirius said. "Boy, give me Peter."
"Did you break out of prison just to get to Scabbers?" Ron said. "And what if Pettigrew could turn into a rat? How did you know he was here?"
Lupin frowned.
"That's actually a good question. How did you know Scabbers was Peter?"
Sirius took out a picture and showed it. I could just see what it was. A picture of Ron's family from the Daily Prophet.
He said he had gotten it from Fudge. And that he immediately recognised the rat, because well, it was one of his best friends. Plus, the caption had stated that Ron would be returning to Hogwarts, where Harry was.

Lupin looked closer.
"His front paw- he's got a toe missing."
"I almost had him," Sirius said. "But before I could do anything, he yelled that I betrayed Lily and James, and then killed everyone in the street. Then he transformed, and went down with the other rats. The biggest part they found of him was his finger, right? Well, he cut if off himself."
"But he's been in my family for ages!" Ron protested.
"Twelve years?" Sirius said. "That's a bit long for a rat to live, isn't it?"
"We've been taking good care of him!"
"Well, he isn't looking too good now," Lupin said. "Ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose..."
"It's because of that mad cat!" Ron said, holding Scabbers closer.
"That cat isn't mad," Sirius said, stroking Crookshanks. "He immediately recognised him. He finally got to trust me as a dog, and we communicated. He tried to bring Peter to me, but that didn't work. So he stole the passwords from the bedside table of a boy."

Of course... so many things made sense now. That's why Neville lost his passwords. Crookshanks had stolen them. He didn't lose them at all...

But Harry still didn't seem to believe him.
"You were their Secret Keeper!" Harry yelled. "You said you killed them!"
"I good as killed them," Sirius said. I told Lily and James to change Secret Keeper last moment to Peter instead of me, but the night they- they died, I checked on Peter in his hiding place, but he was gone. When I arrived at your parents' house, it was destroyed. And I saw their bodies, and realised what I had done..."
"There's only one way to prove it all," Lupin said. "Ron, give me the rat."
At long last, Ron handed him slowly over to Lupin.

Sirius took Snape's wand, they counted to three and there was a light. Scabbers fell on the ground and slowly turned. A head appeared, and arms and legs, and indeed, a finger was missing. A moment later a man stood where Scabbers had been. A very short man, even shorter than me, with colourless hair and a bald place, his face almost still looked like a rat.
"Well, hello Peter," Lupin said with a smile. "Long time no see."
"R-remus, S-sirius," Pettigrew answered, breathing very fast. "My old friends..."
Sirius raised his wand, but Lupin held him back.
I didn't take my eyes off Pettigrew, who went back and forth with Sirius and Lupin over who killed Lily and James. The conversation started to bore me, but got interesting again, when they talked about Voldemort.
At one moment, Pettigrew even accused Sirius of being a spy for Voldemort.

Suddenly Hermione spoke, and asked how Sirius had gotten out of Azkaban without using Dark Magic.
"I think the only reason I didn't lose my mind was that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't really a happy thought, so the Dementors couldn't suck it out of me. I could still become a dog, and for Dementors it is harder to feel the feelings of an animal. One night, when the Dementors brought me food, I snuck out as a dog, and they didn't notice. I swam to the mainland as a dog and lived here in the Forest. Except to watch you play Quidditch, Harry, you fly as good as your father did. I just wish I-"
He swallowed and didn't finish his sentence.
What was he going to say? He wished he'd seen his children?
"Nevermind. Just, believe me, please. I never betrayed your parents. I would have died before I would betray them."
Finally, Harry nodded. I believed him too. He was telling the truth.
"No!" Pettigrew yelled, falling to his knees. "Sirius, it's me, it's Peter, your friend..."
He clasped at Sirius's robes, but he pushed him back.
"Don't touch me!"