Scabbers is Really a Rat

Beneath the Whomping Willow was a narrow tunnel that stretched forward. Kyle walked on for a long time, but still couldn't see Harry and his friends ahead.

"Are they running that fast?" Kyle couldn't help but quicken his pace again.

After walking for about ten minutes, the tunnel began to slope upwards, and after a while, Kyle saw a small patch of light.

He knew he had reached the Shrieking Shack of Hogsmeade, and that the secret passage led there.

It was a messy, gloomy room with all the windows sealed shut, and only a few dim oil lamps on the walls.

The light he had just seen was from an oil lamp; although it was dim, it was sufficient for the small room.

When Kyle walked in, the room was tense and the atmosphere was very tense.

Kyle stood to one side, shrouded in the Disillusionment Charm, his shadow cast on the wall by the flickering oil lamp, but no one present noticed him... including Professor Lupin and Sirius Black.

They were arguing fiercely at a table in the corner.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood on the other side, and they seemed to finally realize their current situation and began to feel afraid.

Ron's expression was complicated; he wanted to go forward and get his mouse back, but he didn't dare.

"When Scabbers bit me, I knew I should have expected this," he said weakly. "Scabbers ran away, but Lupin trapped it with a single spell... Would the professor come looking for us with his wand? Not even Snape!"

He must have planned this all along. Damn it, how come I didn't think of that before...

"But what do they want your Scabbers for?" Harry asked, puzzled, while watching Lupin and Black.

"I don't know," Ron said. "Maybe they like killing other people's pet mice."

However, Harry and Hermione didn't think so; an ordinary pet mouse wasn't worth the risk.

And as the argument grew more intense, Harry heard a very familiar name.

"I didn't betray James!" Black roared, finally saying what he had always wanted to tell everyone.

"Peter is the real Secret Keeper ... We switched places; I thought that would fool the You-Know-Who. As long as he keeps hunting me, James and Lily will be safe."

Black's voice trembled, as if he wanted to cry, but after being tormented by Dementor for twelve years, crying had long become a luxury.

His eyes were bloodshot as he gripped Scabbers tightly and shook it violently.

"But I never expected that this damned, cowardly traitor would reveal his location to the You-Know-Who on his very second day as the Secret Keeper."

"You must have been very happy then..." Black raised his hand, looked at the struggling rat, and gave a fierce smile. "What did your master reward you with!"

"Enough! You're all crazy, both of you!" Ron suddenly shouted, "It's not Peter, it's Scabbers, my pet mouse!"

He mustered his courage and took a step forward. "I've heard enough! Give Scabbers back to me!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you leave until the truth comes out," Professor Lupin said, snatching the mouse that had almost been crushed to death from Black's hands.

"This is the truth!" Black seemed even more agitated.

"I told you before that once you find the Marauder's Map, you'll see Peter's name on it at a glance... It's in Filch's office!"

"You think I didn't look?" Lupin said expressionlessly. "I went to Filch's office after your second infiltration of the castle, but the map was gone!"

At that moment, Harry felt like his head was in complete chaos.

He knew Peter Pettigrew; Minister Fudge had mentioned him before during the Three Broomsticks incident.

But wasn't he already dead? Killed by Black himself!

A Minister for Magic can't possibly lie.

Thinking this, Harry couldn't help but say, "You can say whatever you want now, because you've already killed Pettigrew, and there are witnesses all over the street!"

"What they saw wasn't what they thought," Black said bluntly. "He fooled everyone with despicable means!"

"But Scabbers can't be Peter." Ron still refused to believe it. "It lived in our house..."

"Twelve years!"

Black said, "Do you think an ordinary mouse can live that long?"

"That's because Kyle has been brewing it rat tonics," Ron retorted. "It's been like that since it was still with Percy, for several years now."

"Who is Kyle..." Black paused, clearly not expecting Ron to say that, and he felt like he'd heard the name somewhere before, but couldn't quite place it.

"A very bright child," Lupin explained, "And with astonishing knowledge."

"Turns out he's just a kid who hasn't even graduated yet..." Black said nonchalantly. He had thought Ron was some kind of Master of Fantastic Beasts just from looking at him.

"That was just a coincidence. He ran into an Animagus, but arrogantly assumed it was his tonic that worked!"

Kyle, who had been standing to the side, raised an eyebrow.

While that's true in theory, it just sounds so jarring coming from Black.

When did he become so self-righteous?

In addition, those tonics were all carefully prepared by him.

At this point, Black patiently continued speaking to Ron, "Isn't he missing a finger?"

"So what?" Ron said.

"They only found the finger..." Harry instinctively thought of Fudge's earlier words.

"That's right, that coward cut off his finger just before it Transfiguration," Black said. "After I cornered him, he yelled so loudly that everyone on the street could hear me betray Lily and James, and before I could even cast a spell, he blew up the street with the wand he'd hidden behind his back and scurried into the gutter with the other rats..."

"Madman!" Ron said, as if he were listening to an utterly absurd story.

Hermione spoke up, her voice trembling as she tried to remain calm, "But Professor Lupin, Scabbers can't be Peter Pettigrew, you must know that."

"Why do you think it's impossible?" Lupin asked calmly.

"Because if Peter Pettigrew were Animagus, people would know... The Ministry of Magic has records... There have only been seven Animagus this century, but Peter Pettigrew's name isn't among them."

"You're right, Hermione," Lupin said, "But the Ministry of Magic doesn't know that there were three unregistered Animagus active at Hogwarts."

"How will you prove it!" Harry felt his mind go even more confused. "Prove that Scabbers is Peter Pettigrew!"

"It's simple, and that's what I'm supposed to do." Lupin gave Black a deep look. "I hope you're not lying to me, otherwise..."

His tone turned cold, and he abruptly threw Scabbers to the ground, pointing his wand at it.

A beam of blue light shot out from the wand, enveloping Scabbers' head...

Black smiled, and his sunken eyes suddenly lit up in an unusual way...

Harry, Ron, Hermione also stared nervously at the mouse on the ground.

However, nothing happened...

Scabbers was still the same as before, frantically running around on the ground, until Ron finally caught him.

Black's smile froze, while Ron adopted a victorious air.

"See? I told you they were all crazy. How could Scabbers possibly be Peter Pettigrew?"

Harry glanced silently at Lupin.

His face was incredibly grim. He turned his wand and pointed it at Black. "What else do you have to say? It's laughable that I would choose to believe a traitor like you!"

"No, that's not it..." Black said blankly, "There must be something wrong with your spell... He is Peter Pettigrew ... He is... I can't be wrong..."

"Save those words for Dementor," Lupin said emotionlessly.

Seeing this, Scabbers, held in Ron's hand, stopped struggling, her small eyes filled with the joy of surviving a disaster.

"No... Remus, it's not like that..." Black collapsed and lunged at him. "You must be mistaken. Please, give me the wand... let me..."

"Don't even think about it!" Lupin pointed his wand at him. "Don't come any closer..."

However, before he could finish speaking, Black lunged forward without hesitation, knocking him to the ground and snatching the wand from his hand.

Another blue light flashed, but it was useless again.

"Impossible... this is impossible..." Black was frantic.

Harry, realizing what was happening, immediately raised his wand.

But before he could chant the incantation, a faint, familiar voice came from the corner.

"Expelliarmus."

Kyle, having broken free of the Disillusionment Charm, stepped out and caught the Accio wand.