Believe Peter Will Have a Good Dream

After a long while.

The tabby cat on the ground slowly regained human form.

Professor Minerva McGonagall pulled herself upright using the railing, her eyes still filled with disbelief. "If that was Peter... how could he possibly... become three different Animagus forms?"

That fact completely overturned Professor McGonagall's understanding!

In the entire British Wizarding World, aside from Dumbledore, who had been skilled in Transfiguration since long ago, Professor Minerva McGonagall could absolutely be called the greatest Transfiguration master.

However, tonight...

McGonagall had witnessed an even more terrifying Animagus.

An Animagus who could transform into a mouse, a lion, and a sparrow!

If that intruder really had been Peter Pettigrew...

Whether it was her student coming back from the dead or her student surpassing his teacher in Transfiguration, either could be considered something worth celebrating.

But...

Peter Pettigrew had changed too much.

Professor Minerva McGonagall stood there thinking for several seconds. Then she remembered what Peter Pettigrew had said when they first met. Dumbledore definitely knew the secret behind this!

Sure enough.

When Dumbledore learned from Professor McGonagall that Peter Pettigrew had infiltrated Hogwarts, his expression suggested that he had anticipated this long ago.

"He sneaked in again?"

When Dumbledore saw Professor McGonagall, he was still wearing his dressing gown. The corner of his eye twitched as he said, "The question is, where did he sneak in from? Are there still loopholes in the school?"

The old wizard remained rather calm when he mentioned Peter Pettigrew, because he knew Peter Pettigrew would certainly cause a great deal of trouble.

After all...

How could a mastermind who had lain low for so many years, accumulating strength and knowledge, simply show himself once and then disappear into hiding again?

What he had not expected was that only two days after Peter Pettigrew had stolen the Marauder's Map, another disturbance would erupt.

And besides...

He had clearly already set up a Magic Spell trap!

The moment Peter Pettigrew secretly slipped into Hogwarts, it should have alerted him, the headmaster. How could he have infiltrated the school silently once again?

"Albus! You knew all along!"

Professor Minerva McGonagall immediately showed some dissatisfaction. She muttered accusingly, "Two little Weasleys from our house stepped into your Magic Spell trap, and Peter sneaked in during that moment..."

"..."

Dumbledore was momentarily left speechless.

All right.

He really had not expected that to become a loophole, too.

Dumbledore could only feel deeply helpless about the matter. "Minerva, you should find a way to educate your students and make those two little fellows behave for a while. All right, go get some rest..."

"I know... but don't change the subject!"

Professor Minerva McGonagall felt as though Dumbledore was about to drive her mad. She rubbed her brow and reorganized her thoughts. "At least tell me what this is all about. Why is Peter still alive? Why has he become like this...?"

Professor Minerva McGonagall tapped her forehead with her fingers, looking as though she had a headache. "I never knew there was an Animagus in this world who could transform into three different animals. And that person is my student..."

"Three animals?"

"Yes, absolutely."

Professor Minerva McGonagall nodded with unusual seriousness, recalling the two times she had seen Peter Pettigrew transform. "The first time, he wanted to escape from my office and turned into a little mouse. The second time, just when I was about to catch the mouse, he turned into a lion, just like the lion on our Gryffindor crest. The third time, he turned into a sparrow and flew away..."

That scene...

had truly shocked Professor McGonagall.

Especially since her Animagus form was a tabby cat. Faced with a massive male lion, she had been completely powerless to resist and had even nearly been bitten to death...

"I understand."

Dumbledore's expression immediately grew much grimmer.

Simply possessing three different Animagus forms already placed him far beyond every wizard in the Wizarding World who practiced Transfiguration. Now, even Dumbledore himself could no longer predict how much Peter Pettigrew had grown stronger during the eight years he had been hiding.

And besides...

No one could be certain that Peter Pettigrew could transform into only three animals.

If he possessed even more transformations, finding Peter Pettigrew would become nearly impossible. They could only passively wait for him to step into a trap.

Seriously speaking.

Dumbledore believed there was a very high chance that Peter Pettigrew wanted to become the third Dark Lord. He might even succeed more completely than Voldemort had.

Even if Peter Pettigrew possessed only half of Voldemort's strength, his extraordinary intelligence could make up for that deficiency. Even Dumbledore deeply felt that Peter Pettigrew was more difficult to deal with than Voldemort...

Just as Dumbledore was thinking, Professor Minerva McGonagall could not help shouting and interrupting his thoughts. "Dumbledore! You should at least tell me what this is all about! Why is Peter still alive? Why has he become like this? Why would a student of Gryffindor try to steal the Gryffindor Sword?"

"He wanted to steal the Gryffindor Sword?"

Dumbledore once again seized on the key point. A sharp gleam flashed through his eyes before he quietly restrained it. "I see. Perhaps I can roughly guess why he wanted to steal that treasure..."

The Gryffindor Sword could destroy any evil Dark Magic item. Although few people knew this... Dumbledore suspected that Peter Pettigrew might want to use the Gryffindor Sword to test whether it could destroy Voldemort's Horcrux.

Could this mean...

that Peter Pettigrew also had one of Voldemort's Horcruxes in his possession?

"Dumbledore!"

Professor Minerva McGonagall felt that her good temper was nearly exhausted by Dumbledore. Why did he keep refusing to get to the point?

"Dumbledore!"

Professor Minerva McGonagall slammed the table hard and continued unhappily, "You should tell me the truth instead of making me say one sentence while you sit here racking your brains!"

"All right."

Dumbledore shook his head and spoke helplessly. "Minerva, if you want to know, I hope you won't be too surprised after hearing this. Gryffindor may have produced a truly troublesome student..."

This matter could no longer be concealed.

Peter Pettigrew would cause more trouble sooner or later.

All the professors at Hogwarts also had to raise their guard to prevent Peter Pettigrew from infiltrating the school again. Besides, he had set his sights on the Gryffindor Sword this time—something Dumbledore absolutely could not tolerate.

Just as Dumbledore was explaining the truth behind Peter Pettigrew's disappearance to Professor Minerva McGonagall, they did not know that the Peter Pettigrew of tonight had once again been an impostor. The impostor who had caused enormous trouble had returned to the Hufflepuff dormitory.

Yes.

It was Vinson Wright again.

Because only Vinson could transform into three different animal forms.

As for tonight's events making Dumbledore increasingly wary of Peter Pettigrew, even gradually causing him to firmly believe that Peter Pettigrew was the mastermind behind everything...

What did that have to do with Vinson Wright?

The most important thing to Vinson was that he had obtained another generous reward.

[Combat Mission: Defeat Minerva McGonagall (1/1), mission completed. Reward: Magic Spell—Fiendfyre.]

[Fiendfyre: An infernal flame that cannot be extinguished. Once it scorches a target, it can even damage the target's soul. Only truly powerful wizards can control it. Fiendfyre can undergo any kind of simulated transformation. Once its power is fully released, it can continue to exist for a long time even without sufficient Magic Power Value to sustain it.]

[Combat Mission: Defeat the Gryffindor Head of House (1/1), mission completed. Rewards: Magic Spell—Wizard Chess; 500 Health Value; 100 Magic Power Value.]

[Wizard Chess: Grants the ability to control stone and create stone golems. It can also control other stone statues in battle.]

Although Vinson felt that the [Wizard Chess] Magic Spell was rather strange, the substantial Health Value that came with the reward still left him extremely satisfied with what had happened that night.

Vinson Wright carefully pulled up his little blanket, contentedly closed his eyes, and offered a smiling blessing. "Mr. Peter must be sleeping, too. I hope everyone has sweet dreams tonight. Good night..."

He had overslept...

Who knew whether scheduled publishing at 12:01 meant noon or midnight?!

Late, but still here.