Lucien glanced at Scabbers in Ron's hands and could not help but wonder.
"Ron, do you carry this pet rat around with you every day?"
"Yeah. Scabbers is already very old, so he needs constant care."
As he spoke, Ron gently stroked Scabbers's head. The latter remained listless, looking as though he were about to fall asleep.
Ron's expression and actions made Lucien's gaze grow increasingly strange.
"Very old? How old is Scabbers?"
Ron looked up and thought for a moment.
"Hmm, anyway, he's been with our family for twelve years."
Lucien fell silent for several seconds before finally saying, "A house mouse living that long should be pretty rare, shouldn't it...?"
"Yeah, but my mum said it was the magic of love that gave Scabbers such a long life."
That nearly broke Lucien's composure. Fortunately, he had received professional training, so he did not laugh.
Magic was amazing, wasn't it?
Was it because magic existed that wizards had such a high tolerance for all sorts of strange phenomena?
Watching Ron take out a biscuit and feed it to Scabbers, Lucien shook his head almost imperceptibly.
I hope you'll still love him this much after Scabbers turns into a balding little man.
There was no need to expose Scabbers's true identity as Peter Pettigrew just yet. Once he reached the Animagus stage himself, Scabbers would make the perfect research subject for reference.
An Animagus who had maintained a transformation for more than a decade was not something one saw often.
Moreover, Peter Pettigrew was an unregistered Animagus, and his involvement in the betrayal back then meant he would not dare seek anyone's help.
Once Lucien had taught Ron alchemical machinery and the two had become more familiar with each other, borrowing Scabbers to "play with" for a few days should