Aria Black and the Prisoner of Azkaban *Re-Write*

You're Both Mental!

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I exchange a look. Peter Pettigrew was the man that my mother's sperm donor supposedly killed after he betrayed the Potters. For one thing, he's dead, for another, what are the chances of him being an Animagus?

"You're both mental!" Ron cries.

Hermione gasps lightly. "Ridiculous."

"Peter Pettigrew?" I say, looking curiously at Remus. "Isn't he-"

"Peter Pertigrew's dead!" Harry exclaims from behind me. "He killed him twelve years ago!" He's pointing to Black. I glance at the sperm donor. He really believes what he's saying is true. But I believe that Azkaban makes people go crazy, and he's been there for twelve years.

Black grits his ugly teeth. "I meant to, but little Peter got the better of me. Not this time, though!"

With a roar, Black dives for the rat in Ron's hands. The cat falls off of his lap. Ron shrieks as Black lands on his bad leg.

"Sirius, no!" Remus cries. He grabs Black by the shirt collar and pulls him away from Ron. "Wait, you can't do it just like that! They need to understand, we've got to explain-"

Black growls in a manner not unlike the dog he can turn into. "We can explain afterwards!"

"They've got a right to know everything!" Remus exclaims, using his werewolf strength to hold Black back. "Ron's kept him as a pet! There are parts of it even I don't understand. And what about Harry? And Ariana, your own daughter, Sirius. You owe them the truth!"

Black spits a tooth out of his mouth and looks up at Remus. He's stopped struggling, but is still rigid. "She is no daughter of mine."

"Of course I'm not." I tell Remus. "He doesn't owe me anything. But he does owe something to the families of the people he's killed. He owes it to Harry, he owes it to Jane, he owes it to everyone that he hurt."

"Tell them whatever you like." Black says to Remus. "But make it quick, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for."

I turn to Remus in disbelief. "Remus, you aren't going to let him kill Peter, are you?"

Remus's face tells me all that I need to know before Ron yells, "HE'S NOT PETER, HE'S SCABBERS!" Ron is leaning towards the ground but Harry catches him and makes him sit on the bed.

"There were witnesses." Harry tells Remus breathlessly. "who saw Pettigrew die. A whole street full of them."

"They didn't see what they thought they saw!" Black snarls, his mad eyes focused on Scabbers.

Remus nods. "Everyone thought Sirius killed Peter. I believed it myself until I saw the map tonight. Because the Marauder's Map never lies." He glances over at the rat. "Peter's alive. Ron's holding him."
　
I force myself to look at Scabbers the rat. He seems to be very afraid of Remus and Black. Black I can understand completely: he's mental, if possibly correct now. But Remus? Remus is calm, gentle, controlled.

"But Professor Lupin," Hermione says. Her voice wavers in the beginning, but grows calmer and more rational as she speaks. "Scabbers can't Pettigrew! It just can't be true, you know it can't!"

Remus folds his hands across his body. "Why can't it be true?"

"Because..." Hermione says. "because people would know if Peter Pettigrew had been an Animagus. We did Animagi in class with Professor McGonagall, and I looked them up when I did my homework. The Ministry of Magic keeps tabs on witches and wizards who can become animals. There's a register showing what animal they become, and their markings and things. I went and looked Professor McGonagall up on the register, and there have been only seven Animagi this century, and Pettigrew's name wasn't on the list."