Tell Me, How Did You Survive Sirius the Scum

It was deep into the night.

Inside Hogwarts Castle.

A short, plump figure suddenly appeared.

The short, plump figure searched along the first-floor corridor for caretaker Filch's office, seemingly not caring in the slightest whether anyone saw him.

Perhaps he simply didn't know the way...

After all, he was a newcomer who didn't know his way around Hogwarts.

A ghost quietly observed the short, plump figure. Just as the ghost was about to greet him, it seemed to suddenly think of something and stopped.

Then the ghost floated toward the basement.

If the ghost remembered correctly, there was another student of the short, plump figure's here at the school. The two of them were even old nemeses.

"This should be the place..."

The swaggering, short, plump figure reached the door to Filch's office, raised a finger, and chanted a spell in a low voice!

"Alohomora!"

The door suddenly opened.

Filch, who had just lain down in bed and pulled up his blankets, stared blankly as his door suddenly opened and a short, plump figure walked in from outside.

Because it had snowed that night, Filch had been woken by the cold and then made a round of the school. He had only just returned to his office and pulled up the blankets...

"Who is it!"

Filch moved with an agility that hardly seemed possible for an old man!

The Hogwarts night watchman quickly snatched up his oil lamp, grabbed a club, and charged toward the uninvited guest who had broken into his room!

However, when Filch saw that the intruder looked somewhat familiar, he subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief and murmured the man's name.

"Peter Pettigrew, how dare you come here in the middle of the night..."

Before Filch could finish speaking, his mind suddenly cleared. A trace of terror flashed across his wrinkled face. "You... you... are you a person or a ghost!"

This wasn't Hogwarts ten years ago!

Peter Pettigrew had long since stopped being a Gryffindor student!

This man had clearly been dead for seven or eight years. The Ministry of Magic had even awarded him the Order of Merlin, First Class, when he died!

Why had he appeared now!

Peter Pettigrew gave an awkward laugh and waved his hands, signaling for Filch to lower his club. "Don't be nervous, Mr. Filch. Of course I'm a person—and a perfectly ordinary one at that. I'm only here to find something tonight..."

"What thing?"

Old Filch asked instinctively, then suddenly came to his senses. "Wait, what... exactly is going on? Who are you!"

"Shh!!!"

Peter Pettigrew raised a finger to his lips and looked at Filch nervously. "Keep your voice down. I'm just here to find a piece of parchment you confiscated from Potter and the others back then. Where did you put it?"

"First... explain yourself. Who... exactly are you!"

Filch held up his club and glared warily at Peter Pettigrew. Although he stammered a little, it did nothing to diminish the old man's imposing interrogation.

"What a stubborn old man..."

Peter Pettigrew's brow instantly furrowed. He suddenly raised a finger and pointed it at Filch. A Petrifying Charm immediately froze Filch in place!

Only then did Peter Pettigrew seriously search the entire room. Since James Potter had always loved causing trouble, Filch had specifically set aside a cabinet for Potter's confiscated belongings. Peter quickly found it.

"Alohomora!"

The cabinet door was violently forced open by magic.

Peter Pettigrew leisurely rummaged through it for a while and finally found a seemingly intact piece of parchment. The whole process had gone almost unbelievably smoothly.

[Common Mission: Obtain Hogwarts' secret treasure, the Marauder's Map (1/1). Mission complete. Reward: magical skill, Teleportation.]

[Teleportation: Lock onto the desired area with your mind. After three seconds, ignore all barrier restrictions and teleport directly to any location. Mana cost: 100 points.]

In theory, he now possessed the Teleportation Charm.

However, the Teleportation Charm was limited by his mana. His current mana wasn't sufficient; he couldn't even teleport directly from Hogwarts to London. Teleportation, on the other hand, only required 100 mana.

At least his means of transportation could be greatly improved.

More importantly, this method could help him create an alibi. If something happened outside, who would suspect a student who spent all year at Hogwarts?

"Let me think of the incantation..."

Peter Pettigrew thought slowly for a while, then stared at the blank parchment and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good..."

As his incantation rang out, a map slowly appeared on the blank parchment, displaying the locations of everyone throughout Hogwarts!

This map was truly useful.

Even without the Teleportation skill rewarded by the system, it could give someone control over everything happening at Hogwarts.

In the future, no matter what he wanted to do at Hogwarts, he would be able to ensure that his plans succeeded.

Just as Peter Pettigrew was about to put the map away, he noticed that another person's portrait had appeared outside the door of Filch's office.

"Hmm?"

The corners of Peter Pettigrew's mouth pulled into a strange smile. He muttered quietly, "I wasn't planning on doing a Combat Mission yet... Perhaps I could give it a try?"

"You two..."

As the cold voice rang out, a man in a black robe slowly opened the door, a wand gripped tightly in his hand. "You really are never up to any good..."

The man had long, straight hair. His face held a mocking, disgusted expression as he narrowed his eyes at Peter Pettigrew. "I thought Barrow was talking nonsense. I never expected it to really be you..."

Severus Snape.

A Hogwarts Potions Class professor.

He had once been Peter Pettigrew's classmate as well.

Because of the snowfall, Severus Snape had just slightly fulfilled his duties as Slytherin Head of House by ordering the House-elves to light the fireplaces.

After returning to his room, he had planned to read his Potions Class textbook for a while and prepare for the first-years' Potions Class. But then Slytherin's ghost suddenly told him that Peter Pettigrew was wandering around the castle, making Snape think the ghost was insane...

However, the ghost refused to leave.

With no other choice, Snape had to come up to the first floor to investigate. That was when he saw the door to Filch's office standing open and heard Peter Pettigrew's voice coming from inside.

That voice...

It really was that coward.

"Did you come back from the dead, or have you been alive all along..."

Severus Snape seemed to be asking and answering his own question. With a mocking smile on his lips, he looked at Peter Pettigrew. "A coward who could only hide behind two pieces of trash would indeed live longer than that arrogant fool..."

Peter Pettigrew.

A man who had always been extremely cowardly.

Back when Snape and the others had been classmates, Peter Pettigrew had done nothing but follow behind James Potter, that arrogant fool.

When he mentioned that bastard James Potter, Severus Snape seemed to remember something. The sadness that had just appeared in his eyes slowly faded, and he quietly changed the subject.

"Tell me, Peter Pettigrew. I'm curious—how did you survive Sirius's hands back then?"

I hope everyone won't spam comments tomorrow saying that I'm heartless or something...

Please vote, bookmark, and tip. Also, before it was put on the shelves, updates were always at midnight. Having a stockpile of chapters really is liberating!