Harry Potter's sister ~~~ Fanfiction

Mystery solved part 96

The idea that Peter Pettigrew could not only be alive and scurrying around Hogwarts but also an unregistered Animagus blew things widely out of proportion. The very fact that he wasn't dead alone explained most of the anomalies in Sirius Black's case.

"Pettigrew is Alive?" said Emma.

"Possibly." Said Harry. "The only thing is I can't find him." They had the Marauders Map out in the Room of Requirement after Harry retrieved it from the twins claiming it was an emergency.

"Harry, witnesses saw Pettigrew blown up in a street." Said Emma cautiously.

"Muggles saw it." Said Harry. "They saw Black point his wand and Pettigrew and the surrounding area blew up."

"Exactly." Said Emma.

"Em', no one saw him actually fire a curse. All the spells I know that can do that would have some kind of colour in the wand. A wizard would have spotted that anomaly. Muggles who know nothing about magic on the other hand…"

"But his remains?" began Emma.

"Just a finger. That's all." Said Harry.

"And Scabbers was missing a toe." Said Emma, her eyes widening in understanding.

"That's not all. Animagi all retain an unspecified characteristic when they transform, McGonagall as a cat has dark circles round her eyes that match her glasses. Scabbers had a bald patch." Said Harry.

"And Pettigrew had one as well." Said Emma, remembering pictures of her parents and their friends.

"Lupin also indicated Dad, Black and Pettigrew played with him as a werewolf." Said Harry.

"So you said, but you couldn't figure out how they managed it when werewolves were so dangerous to humans." Said Emma.

"They're not dangerous to animals though." Said Harry. "Dad and his friends probably began learning how to become Animagi when they discovered Lupin's condition."

Harry and Emma decided to take this revelation to the rest of the Defence Group. It took them nearly an hour to find everyone fill up the Practice Room.

"Pettigrew's alive?" Said Ron. "And he was sleeping next to me for the last three years."

"Yes, I'm afraid so." Said Harry. "At least… it looks that way."

""I'm sorry I don't buy this." Said Hermione, her voice betraying her absolute lack of belief in the theory. "What you're suggesting Harry, it's just so… insane…"

"But if you take the Animagus argument, all the anomalies about Black's case begin to make sense." Said Harry. "The reason Black didn't betray our parents until Halloween was because he never betrayed anyone."

"Lupin told us about both Black and Pettigrew… Pettigrew he basically said, as nicely as he could, was a coward. At least he wasn't very strong willed." Said Emma.

"The Secret Keeper in a Fidelius is not permanently dependant on one man. The Keeper can swap his responsibility with someone else if the need arises. Everyone would assume that Sirius was the Secret Keeper, because he was so close to our family. If they chose to change the Secret Keeper, then they would choose one of their other friends." Said Harry.