Pinky Promise || Wolfstar

Chapter 7

"Honestly, Harry, you should be working on your charms homework—you don't even know if Professor Lupin will grade that expelliarmus essay," Hermione sighed, casting her eyes around the near–empty Great Hall.

"It's not my fault that Cheering Charms are boring," Harry answered idly as he continued to scribble on his parchment.

"They are not," Hermione insisted, "their effect is actually quite similar to muggle antidepressants, in that they—"

"Remus!" Harry interrupted Hermione as Remus stode past their spot at the Gryffindor table.

"Hullo, Harry," Remus said cheerfully, "Hermione, Ron," he added, nodding at each of them respectively.

"Remus—er, Professor—can you show me that spell now? The transfiguration one? Please?" He added as Remus appeared to hesitate. "We've got a free period right now, are you busy?"

There was an amused glint in Remus' eyes as he chuckled. "It's been years since I've used that spell, Harry," he paused, "perhaps Professor McGonagall could demonstrate it," he suggested, "I believe she has a free period right now,"

"What spell are you talking about?" Ron interrupted, confused.

"Oh, you've got to see it," Harry grinned, "c'mon, lets go!" He swept his parchment and quill into his bag and grabbed Ron's arm to pull him out of his seat.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" Ron grumbled, but secretly, he wasn't that mad—he hadn't seen Harry this excited in ages, so whatever it was, he was willing to entertain it.

Hermione, Ron and Remus hurried after Harry as he rushed to the transfiguration classroom, quickly knocking on the door and waiting a beat for opening it.

"Oh, hello boys," Professor McGonagall looked up from her desk to see Harry and Ron poking their heads through the doorway, "and Hermione, Remus," she added as two more heads appeared behind them. "How can I help you?"

"I asked Remus to show us a spell, but he said you would be more adept at it than him," Harry opened the door the rest of the way and headed towards the front of the classroom, "Remus said you would be better at it than him."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And that spell would be...?"

Remus appeared to be suppressing his laughter. "It's the Inanimate Illusion spell."

"The prank quill charm, huh?" She chuckled, looking at Harry. "That was one of your father's favorites when he was a student—it's perfect for creating harmless mischief." To Harry's surprise, she cast a wink at Remus.

"You see, it transforms an animate object into something inanimate—James loved using it to create fake quills," Remus explained, "as soon as someone would try to use the quill, the spell would revert, leaving the person clutching a disgruntled pet or whatever had been transfigured."

"That's brilliant!" Ron laughed, "can you show us?"

"Mr. Weasley, do you have your rat with you?" Professor McGonagall's lips were pressed into a thin line, as if to hide a smile.

"Er, yeah—" Ron procured Scabbers from his robes, passing him to her without a second thought, and leaned in to watch her cast the spell.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, posing her wand above Scabbers. Ron and Hermione were so focused on watching Scabbers, they didn't notice Remus tighten his grip on his own wand.

"Animagi Abrogatum!"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Both spells were cast in quick succession, and Ron and Hermione were forced to jump back as Ron's pet rat was replaced by the body of a large, dirty man.

"WHAT THE FUCK?"

Professor McGonagall grimaced as she looked down at Peter Pettigrew's petrified form on her desk. Mercifully, the animagi magic had preserved his clothing, so at least he wasn't naked. "I'm inclined to agree with you, Mr. Weasley," she glared at the man, "but do not let me hear those words come from your mouth again."

Remus nudged Ron with his elbow. "Don't worry, I said much worse things when I was your age, for much less scandalous situations."

Ron didn't seem to register what Remus had said as he stared at Peter in shock. "Scabbers?" He squeaked, "what happened to—"

"It appears that Peter Pettigrew has been masquerading as your pet rat for the last twelve years," Remus sighed, "I'm truly sorry you had to find out this way, Ron. Do you know what this means?"

Hermione was the first to connect the dots. "Sirius Black didn't kill him," she blinked, "which means he may not have killed anyone, or betrayed your parents, Harry."

A smile spread across Harry's face. Sirius never broke his pinky promise, after all.

"Well, I have some good news," Professor McGonagall pushed herself into a standing position, "Pettigrew has been found trespassing on school grounds, which makes it perfectly legal to administer Veritaserum."

After sending a quick Patronus message to Dumbledore, (Harry would have to ask Remus about that later) she and Remus levitated him to the Headmasters office under a disillusionment charm, with Harry, Ron and Hermione following behind.

"I'm sorry I didn't warn you," Harry lowered his voice, turning to his friends. "We didn't want to risk Scabbers—er, Pettigrew—catching on to our plan."

"This is what you were planning?" Ron asked incredulously, shaking his head. "I don't blame you, mate. I just can't believe I've been sleeping with a grown man for years."

"How did you find out, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I saw him on the Map when I was in Remus' quarters," Harry explained, "he must've been hiding from Crookshanks every time I used it at the beginning of the year."

"I guess I can understand why Crookshanks had it out for Scabbers," Ron muttered under his breath, "do you think he knew Scabbers was Pettigrew?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded, "Scabbers was in our dorms this morning, remember? Because I told Crookshanks that I knew who he was, and to stop scaring him away so that we could catch him."

"Merlin." Ron whispered, shaking his head. "I can't believe this."

"Me neither," Harry agreed.

"I hope this means Black—Sirius—can be cleared, right? If he really didn't betray your parents?"

"Yeah," Harry smiled hopefully, "and then I can meet my other godfather."

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A/N: check out my instagram @/etymolo.drarry for bonus content on the magical theory in this update 😄