As Professor McGonagall's cage took shape, Peter fully regained his human form.
"A person! He was a person all along! He's an Animagus!" Sophie Roper shrieked.
That set off a collective reaction.
Every young witch and wizard in the class cried out and backed away, trying to put some distance between themselves and the wizard trapped in the cage. He posed little actual danger, but he was filthy and looked like bad news.
Tris retreated with the crowd. He had expected this outcome all along and wasn't remotely panicked, but he still had to put on a show.
At first, Tris thought his performance was quite convincing. Then he glanced at Ron beside him and realized his acting still left something to be desired.
Ron's normally small eyes were now wide and round, and his mouth hung open. He might as well have had the word "shocked" written across his face.
"Scabbers... how could..."
Tris understood his shock. After all, they had shared a bed for several days. This wasn't some transformation into a catgirl; horror was the natural response.
"Who are you? Why did you turn into a rat and hide beside my student? What are you after?" Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes slightly, staring at the man in the cage.
She hadn't recognized Peter.
Professors always told their students, "You're the worst class I've ever taught," as if they remembered every class. In truth, only a handful of outstanding students really stuck in their minds.
James and Sirius, perhaps even Lily and Snape, might qualify.
Peter did not.
Even if Professor McGonagall still remembered Peter from back then, the man before her now bore no resemblance that would jog her memory.
Peter had been short back then, but at least he had looked like a normal person. Coming from a wizarding family, he had been reasonably well dressed and presentable.
The Peter before her now was not only prematurely bald in middle age, but filthy all over. His clothes were crusted with dirt, his hair hung in greasy clumps, and his skin was dry and ashen.
His hands, clasped in front of him, were filthy, with black, pointed nails. Some of the girls who valued cleanliness felt physically sick just looking at them.
Whether it was from spending too long as a rat or whether he had always looked that way, Tris thought his tiny, black-bean eyes, pointed nose, and furtive expression made him look like an oversized humanoid rat.
Peter didn't answer Professor McGonagall's questions. His shifty eyes darted about, as though he were thinking of a way to escape.
Suddenly, he lunged forward-not toward Professor McGonagall, of course, but toward Harry, who stood closest to him. Harry really was a born Gryffindor, bold enough to observe him at close range.
Peter's plan was clear: break through the cage and grab Harry's wand.
A skilled Animagus could transform without a wand at all-Professor McGonagall, for instance. Peter wasn't one of them. He needed a wand to turn into a rat.
He certainly didn't dare face Professor McGonagall head-on. His plan was to grab a wand, turn into a rat, and make a quick getaway.
He had no idea what had happened. After Professor McGonagall turned him into a cup, his consciousness had been suppressed, leaving him unaware of anything going on outside.
By the time he became aware again, he had already been forced back into human form.
Professor McGonagall hadn't recognized him, but recognizing her was all too easy for him.
The mountains of homework from those days still sent a chill down his spine whenever he remembered them.
Run!
That was Peter's only thought at that moment. Never mind not having a wand-even with one, he didn't believe he stood the slightest chance against Professor McGonagall.
The instant Professor McGonagall saw the rat turn back into a human, she had prepared for a possible fight. Naturally, she had also anticipated an escape attempt.
Still, his decision to charge headfirst into the cage caught her somewhat off guard.
For once, a flicker of surprise and confusion crossed Professor McGonagall's face.
Who gave you the nerve to ram your head into a cage I wove with magic? Gryffindor?
Peter certainly couldn't break through the cage. Even a martial monk trained to withstand blows to the head would have come away from that impact cursing, "Fuck, that hurts!"
Peter slammed into it and immediately felt his head spin. He staggered a couple of steps and fell onto his backside, a trace of despair creeping onto his face.
Professor McGonagall watched Peter's darting eyes impassively and said calmly, "Tell me who you are, or I'll take action."
Peter didn't dare reveal his identity. His little eyes darted even faster as he desperately tried to find a way out.
He might once have been capable of wandless magic, but skills required constant practice. He had barely used magic in over a decade, and disuse had robbed him of that proficiency.
A wizard who couldn't use magic was utterly useless.
When Peter remained silent, Professor McGonagall sneered. "Do you think keeping quiet will help you?"
With a flick of her wand, the cage rapidly transformed, binding Peter tightly like vines.
Peter had still been casting about for a solution, but panic immediately spread across his face. He tried to struggle, yet couldn't break free at all.
"Young Mr. Weasley..." Professor McGonagall glanced at Tris, her gaze unreadable.
Tris worked hard to maintain his expression of panic, bewilderment, and confusion.
Professor McGonagall didn't seem to notice anything amiss. "Go to the Potions... oh, you haven't had Potions Class yet. Go to the Charms classroom instead and ask Professor Flitwick to come here."
"Yes, Professor." Tris nodded.
He actually knew where the Potions classroom was, but fetching Snape really wouldn't have been a good choice.
What if Snape recognized Peter, pieced things together, and fired off a Sectumsempra-or even an Avada Kedavra-without a second thought?
When Lily was involved, that lovesick man's judgment absolutely couldn't be trusted.
When Tris reached the Charms classroom, Professor Flitwick was teaching the second-years. He looked somewhat surprised to see Tris knock and stand in the doorway.
"Ah, Tris! What brings you here? Is something the matter?"
"Professor, Professor McGonagall asked me to fetch you. Um, there's an intruder." Tris had decided what to say on the way over.
He couldn't-and shouldn't-know Peter's identity, so "intruder" was the best description to use at the moment.
"An intruder?" Sure enough, Professor Flitwick immediately grasped the seriousness of the situation upon hearing that word. He nodded at once and addressed his students.
"That will be all for today. Class dismissed."
Then he nodded to Tris, indicating that they could leave.
Tris nodded and was about to lead Professor Flitwick away, but the professor stopped him. "Is Professor McGonagall in the Transfiguration classroom?"
Tris nodded.
Flitwick held Tris with one hand and gently flicked his wand with the other. Tris felt the floor beneath his feet suddenly become as supple as leather.
Looking down, he saw that the once-solid floor tiles had somehow become undulating waves. The next instant, the two of them shot forward like a little boat carried downstream.
Tris jumped in fright, but quickly discovered that although the spell moved them extremely fast, the ride was remarkably smooth.
There's even magic like this?
Astonished, Tris couldn't help taking another look at the diminutive Professor Flitwick beside him. Well, he certainly lived up to his reputation as one of the leading scholars in Charms. He had all sorts of fancy tricks up his sleeve.
Even knowing the layout well and jogging the whole way, Tris had taken almost ten minutes to reach the Charms classroom from the Transfiguration classroom.
Professor Flitwick brought him back in less than a minute.
As soon as Professor Flitwick entered, he saw all the young witches and wizards standing in a large circle.
He was too short to see what was inside, so he had to make his way through the crowd. Then he saw Peter, tightly bound in the Metal Vines, with Professor McGonagall beside him.
"Minerva, what's this?" Flitwick wasn't quite sure what was going on.
"This man turned into a rat and hid beside Mr. Weasley. Clearly, he had some secret purpose."
"Turned into a rat?" Flitwick paused, then suddenly understood. He looked at Professor McGonagall in disbelief. "You mean an Animagus?"
"Yes, an unregistered Animagus." Professor McGonagall nodded, confirming his guess.
"Outrageous!" Flitwick looked both shocked and furious.
"Indeed." Professor McGonagall nodded firmly.
"Shall we take him to Dumbledore, then?" Flitwick asked.
"That was my thought as well. Still, he is an accomplished wizard who has mastered the Animagus transformation, so I asked you here to help escort him, just in case," Professor McGonagall said.
"Understood." Flitwick nodded, quickly recited a string of incantations, and tapped his wand toward Peter twice.
Peter had already looked grim upon seeing the two professors. After Flitwick's two taps, his face turned even more ashen.
Tris sensed something. Although Peter looked disheveled and bedraggled, he had still faintly radiated a peculiar pressure. After Professor Flitwick's two taps, that feeling vanished.
A magic seal?
Not long ago, Tris had read a newspaper report criticizing the current Aurors' lack of skill. When they sealed the magic of lawbreaking wizards, their inadequate proficiency meant the seals lasted too briefly, allowing the offenders to escape.
The Auror Office had even issued an apology over it.
At the time, Tris had thought that was very typical of the Ministry of Magic.
Even with Scrimgeour heading the Auror Office-a man Arthur considered one of the more practical workers at the Ministry of Magic-problems still cropped up constantly.
For now, though, he probably didn't need to worry about that. Professor Flitwick's spells could be trusted.
"All right, wait here for now. You may practice your wand movements, but you must not actually cast any magic before I return. If..." Professor McGonagall glanced at the clock on the wall.
"If I haven't returned by eleven, you may dismiss yourselves."
Although the young witches and wizards didn't know exactly what had happened, they obediently nodded.
But as soon as Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick left with Peter, the classroom erupted.
Practicing was out of the question.
Something like this demanded a lively discussion.
"Ron, Ron! What's going on with that rat of yours?" Seamus, who sat in the front row, turned around almost immediately to ask.
The other young witches and wizards also looked over curiously.
"I don't know!" Ron genuinely looked bewildered and confused.
"Then where did you get your rat?" Parvati, beside him, was clearly bursting with curiosity too and rushed to ask.
Having a pretty girl look at him with such "concern" made Ron a little excited, but he really didn't know the answer to her question.
All he could do was scratch his head. "Well, um, Scabbers... I mean, that rat used to be Percy's pet. I only got him this year. Who knew... who knew..."
Tris watched with amusement as Ron tried hard to say more despite having nothing else to say.
In the films, Ron had kept Scabbers for over two years, so naturally he had grown deeply attached to him.
Finding out that his rat was actually a person had shattered his whole worldview.
But now, he had only kept Scabbers for a little over a month, and during that month at home, he hadn't paid him much attention. There was no attachment whatsoever.
Right now, this was simply something he could boast about.
The others didn't know that and kept peppering him with questions, but Tris's thoughts had already drifted elsewhere.
Now that Peter's been caught, what will they do with him?
Will they just kill him?
After all, his very existence was a massive embarrassment to the Ministry of Magic. If Peter really died, then Voldemort's Resurrection Plan...