Sol had his eyes locked on the rat as he thought of what to do. As if sensing his gaze, Scabbers or rather, Pettigrew stopped shifting in Ron’s hand and looked back at him. Sol sighed. The Prohibition on Underage Magic is such a hassle. He clicked his tongue and went towards his mom who was still chatting with the other adults.
“Where are you going?” Hermione asked. To her, Sol just stared at Scabbers and turned away.
“Just going to have a talk with my mom!” Sol replied. “I’ll be back.”
He went to his mom and got her attention. Selene left the adults and came to a side with Sol. Sol lowered his voice and asked, “Do you know the Untransfiguration spell for Animagi?”
“Of course, I learned it in my Seventh Year!” Selene nodded. “Wait, why?”
“Pettigrew is right there.”
“Where?” Selene turned to look only to be stopped by Sol grabbing her chin.
“Don’t look!” he hissed.
“Okay, okay!” she pacified him. “What do we do?”
“I’ll create an opportunity where he can’t move. You then use that spell on him.”
“What kind of opportunity is that?”
“He can’t move if he’s in the air,” Sol smiled. His eyes had a mischievous gleam to them.
“What do I do after he’s transformed back?”
“Immobilize him or rather, use Petrificus Totalus on him.”
“Okay,” Selene nodded and went back to talking with the adults. However, her eyes would occasionally glance at Sol. As for him, he had already returned beside Ron and Hermione.
“What happened?” Ron asked.
“Not much.” Sol looked at Pettigrew and changed the subject, “Say, you never told me how Scabbers one of his toe.”
“I didn’t?” Ron looked at him dumbly. Sol was a childhood friend and he never told him this?
“You didn’t.” Sol looked particularly trusting when he said this.
“Well, it’s nothing special really,” he shrugged. “Scabbers didn’t have that toe when we found him in the garden all those years ago!”
“Really?” Sol raised an eyebrow. He looked at Pettigrew with some interest in his eyes, “Let me hold him for a while.”
“Yeah, go ahead,” Ron let Sol take Scabbers from his hand.
Sol looked at the rat that squirmed in his hand. The rat seemed to want to free himself from his hands but it soon learned that whichever it squirmed, Sol’s hands didn’t seem to be loosening.
“What do you find so fascinating about it?” Hermione asked in an annoyed tone.
“Lots of things!” Sol smiled and met Selene’s gaze. “For example,-” he whipped his hand and sent Pettigrew flying, “-it’s true nature!”
“What the-” before Ron could fully scream under Hermione’s dumbstruck eyes, Selene whipped out her wand, and a light blue glow emitted from the tip.[1]
The rat started transforming. It gradually grew larger as its tiny lings elongated. The tiny rat head grew as large as a football(soccer ball). The fur on its body receded revealing skin. Its head sprouted long hair that thinned. The now Pettigrew had rags on his body. He fell down on a table, breaking it.
Before he could register what happened, Selene chanted, “Petrificus Totalus!” Pettigrew’s joints instantly locked as he fell on the floor stiffly.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
After a while, everyone in the inn had finally regained their sense as Ron stuttered, “S-S-Scabbers was a…what!?”
“Hah! He looks a rat even in his human form!” Sol smirked. But another thought soon popped into his mind. Then in which way do I look like a black panther? Better question, was this entire thing a cat playing with a mouse?
“Selene, is that-?” Molly stopped midway. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“This-” Sol went forward and crouched down as he examined him. His eyes glowed purple briefly as he continued, “-is Peter Pettigrew. The guy who Sirius was supposed to have killed so brutally that only his finger remained!” Sol raised the stiff arm of Pettigrew and showed them his hands. There was a finger missing.
“Doesn’t that mean-?” Arthur Weasley who was also there opened his mouth and was about to say what everyone was thinking when a series of footsteps came from the stairs as George and Fred came downstairs.
“What’s with the commo-?” they were just about to ask when their tongues got tied seeing the scene in front of them.
“Can someone call the Aurors or whoever’s in charge of arresting?” Sol asked as he sighed.
“Right away!” Arthur nodded firmly and left somewhere. Sol stood up and left Pettigrew’s side. He pulled a chair and sat down.
“Oi, oi, Sol!” Fred and George came sat opposite him and called him. He looked up and saw them look at him with burning curiosity.
“What happened here?” Fred asked.
“Tell us!” George chimed in.
“Yeah, tell us!”
“Yeah, long story short, Ron slept with an old man in his room,” he said whilst pointing towards Ron.
“Argh!” Ron cringed at his wording and crouched down.
“Seriously?” Fred and George replied in unison and looked at each other.
“Yep, Scabbers was an Animagus?” Sol stroked his chin. “Is that how you say it?”
“Quite.” George nodded.
“Say, you two?” Sol looked at them. “You still have the Marauder’s Map right?”
“We do.”
“Can you give it to me?”
“Absolutely.”
“Thanks, you guys,” Sol smiled. “And if anyone, especially from the Ministry, asks, I had the Map since last year.”
“Is there a reason you want it?” Fred asked.
“Well, it’ll make my job easier. Actually, I’ll explain it to you. It was said Sirius Black killed Peter Pettigrew, right?”
“Right!”
“And he was sent to Azkaban because of that.”
“Yep!”
“But now Pettigrew is alive.”
“…right.”
“So, doesn’t that mean Black was falsely accused and thrown into Azkaban?”
“…that’s right!”
“Then, now to solve this entire case means that Pettigrew will be sent to Azkaban and Black will get his name cleared. So, everyone here is a witness in this case. Everyone here will be questioned.” He looked at the twins, “You get me?”
“Yes!” they nodded solemnly.
“Since I was the one to reveal him, they’ll surely ask me how I knew.”
“Yeah, and how are you going to answer?”
“Well, I’ll just say that the Marauder’s Map can detect even Animagi. That’ll make my job much easier.” Sol shrugged.
“But does it do that?” Fred asked in surprise.
“It does!” Sol shook his head.
“It does?” the two looked at him, astonished. “How do you know that?”
“You know how Professor McGonagall sometimes becomes a tabby cat?”
“Yeah?”
“I once saw her as a cat and looked into the Map. It showed her name.”
“That’s…why did you do that though?”
“To know if the Map could do it, what else?”
“Ah, that seems about right.” Fred nodded.
“Hold on, I’ll get the Map,” George got up and went upstairs.
“So, you’re going to lie to the Ministry?” Fred asked.
“Yup!” Sol nodded and leaned back on his chair.
“You’re really gutsy,” Fred sighed. “Well, it’s not like that’s something new.”
“Well, after 14 years, you know me through and through!” Sol smiled.
“Sol,” Arthur’s voice came from behind.
“Yes?” he turned around and saw him looking quite grim.
“Do you understand what’ll happen next?”
“Aren’t the Aurors going to come, take Pettigrew, ask everyone here questions and then leave?”
“Yes but I mean after all this.”
“I’m probably going to be summoned to Wizengamot as a witness.”
“Indeed,” Arthur’s shoulders loosened as he sat down with a sigh. “With Pettigrew found, it’s now clear that Black was framed.”
“The fact that he’s a worshipper of the Dark Lord should also be disproved, right?”
“Right,” he shook his head. “It’s a sad thing to be imprisoned in Azkaban unjustly!”
“Black’s escaped. How will they handle this? Since he was imprisoned unjustly, does that make his escape legal as well?”
“I can’t say. I’m not a legal expert nor am has such a thing occurred before!” Arthur poured himself a glass of water and quenched his thirst. This has too many implications.
After a while, George came down and handed Sol the Marauder’s Map away from everyone’s eye. Soon after, the Aurors came, took Pettigrew, and asked everyone what happened. It seemed this case was too much for the Aurors as they were still in a daze when they apparated out of there.
After everyone parted, Sol and his mother returned home through the Floo Network in the inn. After freshening up, his family including Sirius and Harry sat in the living room.
There they told the others what happened. Harry looked elated whilst Sirius looked conflicted. Although he was happy that Pettigrew was caught, it was a pity he couldn’t kill him. But he would never express that since Selene would’ve chewed him out.
“What do we do now?” Selene asked Sol.
“You do nothing,” Sol said dismissively. “When they ask, just say what happened. I somehow found out, told you, and made you cooperate. I’ll handle the rest.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“Easily.”