Scabbers Reveals His True Form

Saturday morning.

Some First Years wandered around the Castle, while others basked by the lake. They had not yet come under the pressure of heavy coursework.

The Gryffindor First Years gathered together to discuss and summarize the patterns of the Staircase. Hermione spoke the most, while Neville wrote nearly every word in his notebook. He even had a list of common room passwords.

Loren and the others who shared a dormitory had already formed a habit: if they did not see Neville before bed, they only had to open the common room door. More often than not, Neville would be waiting outside.

Ron kept Scabbers in his pocket. Scabbers had been sleeping more and more these past few days, dozing almost all day except when he ate. Ron thought he might have been having trouble adjusting.

Harry listened intently as everyone discussed how to reach each classroom quickly. He remembered what Professor McGonagall had said when she scolded him and Ron for being late that day.

"Perhaps if I turned you two into pocket watches, you would be more punctual."

"If I turned you into maps, you probably would not get lost."

How could a thirty-seven-degree person say something so ice-cold? He never wanted to experience that again.

Just then, Percy, Fred, and George returned from outside together and headed straight for Ron.

Ron saw them too and greeted them happily. "Hey! I thought you had all gone to Hogsmeade. I was going to ask you to bring me back some sweets."

Percy looked pale and said nothing. George and Fred each took one side of Ron and carried him out.

The two of them spoke one line each, sounding as though Ron had suffered some terrible calamity.

"Oh! Poor little Ronnie."

"He still has no idea what happened."

Ron was still rather confused. The two carried him some distance before he began shouting, "Put me down! Watch it, or I'll tell Mum! You'll be sorry!"

Percy followed behind and motioned for Loren and Harry to come along, but he did not explain what was happening. Harry and Loren exchanged a look. Loren had some idea of what this might be, but said nothing.

The people in the common room saw them and assumed the Weasley brothers were playing some sort of joke. They watched the group leave with smiles on their faces.

Outside the common room, Professor McGonagall stood waiting with a glass jar in her hand. The Twins set Ron down and said in unison, "Reporting in, mission accomplished."

Professor McGonagall waved her wand at Ron's pocket. Scabbers floated up and fell into the jar, which swiftly transformed into a completely sealed sphere with only a small air hole left open.

Ron stared for a moment. "Merlin's beard, you did all this just to catch a rat?"

The Twins patted Ron on the shoulder. "Mum and Dad are already waiting for us in the Headmaster's office. Come on."

Harry and Ron followed the group to the Headmaster's office, full of questions.

As they entered, Loren noticed that all the portraits in the office had turned inward, showing only their backs. Professor Snape stood in a corner while Headmaster Dumbledore comforted Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

This was the first time Loren and Harry had met Ron's parents. They both had the Weasley family's characteristic red hair.

Ron's father, Arthur Weasley, was tall and thin and wore glasses. He kept saying, "I should have noticed something was wrong sooner. It's all my fault..."

Ron's mother, Molly Weasley, was a somewhat plump woman. She could not stop crying as she muttered, "My poor Ronnie. That damned Dark wizard."

When she saw them enter, Molly rose to her feet and rushed at Ron, pulling him tightly into her arms. "Thank goodness my Ronnie is all right. Thank goodness! It's all thanks to Dumbledore!"

Ron could feel how agitated his mother was. Her body was still trembling uncontrollably. He was at a loss and had many questions, but he did not ask them. He quietly hugged her back, trying to offer her some comfort.

Arthur came over as well. Though Dumbledore had kept assuring them that everything was fine, only after seeing the children safe and sound with his own eyes did he finally smile in relief.

Arthur noticed Harry and the scar on his forehead. "You must be Harry. You've grown so much."

Hearing this, Molly looked at Harry. She reached out as though to touch his face, but in the end did not. Instead, she pulled Harry into her arms as well. "Poor child!"

Harry felt a sense of closeness. He did not resist, silently taking in the warmth. If only his mother had been there too.

Dumbledore also came over and said to them, "This is Loren. He has a keen eye for noticing things. If not for him, we would still be in the dark."

Everyone in the Weasley family except Ron gave Loren grateful smiles. Loren smiled back.

Professor Snape seemed rather disgusted by such a sentimental scene and interrupted in a gloomy voice. "Now then, let us see the true face of this sewer rat."

Professor McGonagall tipped Scabbers out of the jar and placed him on the floor. Dumbledore held an ancient-looking wand and activated the Four-Pointed Star. Yellow light gradually spread across the rat's entire body.

It's finally yellow.

The rat slowly swelled and stretched. At last, as the yellow light faded, it became a short, fat, somewhat balding man with graying hair.

Harry's scar hurt again, but only faintly. The pain vanished in an instant, and he almost thought he had imagined it.

Loren looked at the man, and an oddly familiar feeling rose within him. He thought it was probably because he had seen the films, so he did not dwell on it.

Ron and Percy watched the scene with identical expressions of pallor and pain.

Ron also felt violently sick. He had once loved this pet, kissed it, and even held it while he slept. Yet his pet rat had turned out to be a greasy, balding middle-aged man.

Beside them, Professor McGonagall cried out in surprise. "Peter Pettigrew?" She recognized her former student.

Professor Snape's gloomy voice rang out. "Unbelievable. Ten years ago, Peter Pettigrew was supposedly blown apart by his best friend, leaving behind only a finger. Yet for all these years, he has been hiding in the Weasley family."

Hearing that, images surfaced in Loren's mind: a blasted-off roof, a torn-up street, and a sky-blue dress? They were hazy and came from nowhere.

"There must be something interesting here. We need a little potion to uncover the truth."

"Freshly brewed Veritaserum. Just a few drops will do."

Dumbledore wore a thoughtful expression, but in the end, he did not agree. "Peter once received the Order of Merlin, First Class. Everyone believes him to be a hero. We cannot do that. Professor McGonagall, notify the Ministry of Magic. What happened back then also involved another person."

Ever since Loren had told him that an Animagus had been hiding in the Weasley family for over a decade, Dumbledore had begun making plans. First, he placed a small star on the rat so that he could neither escape nor make any desperate moves.

He sent word to Arthur and Molly, had Professor McGonagall speak with Percy and the Twins, and confirmed that everyone in the Weasley family was safe.

He had chosen today to act because he had originally planned to give Harry a lesson about Dark wizards. He had even prepared Snape's potion. But things had become more complicated. Perhaps there were hidden truths in the events of that year that even he did not know.

Dumbledore said he and the professors would handle the rest. He told the Weasley family to wait for news and promised that they would receive an explanation.

Arthur and Molly trusted Dumbledore completely and said nothing more. The children were still children, after all; even as they left the office, they remained dazed.

Professor McGonagall gave the Weasley brothers two days off to recover. They only needed to return by Monday.

Molly invited Harry and Loren to spend the weekend at The Burrow, but the two came to the same conclusion: it was better not to disturb the family's reunion.

Harry had even more questions now. He also wanted to ask Dumbledore about the things Hagrid had left unfinished regarding his parents.

Did Ron's parents know his own parents? What was going on with that Dark wizard? Had Loren known all along?

Harry planned to ask Loren properly...

This was where the plot started going off the rails. I always felt there was something wrong with my writing, but when I read it myself, I could not tell what it was.

A friend said my foreshadowing was too obvious, so I went back and revised it a little. If you are reading, I hope you will not hesitate to leave your thoughts.