"Harry's parents' home was under the protection of the Fidelius Charm at the time."
"So Sirius Black was the Secret Keeper back then?" Hermione immediately looked at him with shining eyes.
"That was originally the arrangement, yes." Su Er nodded, then shook his head.
Hermione gave him a puzzled look. Su Er did not keep her in suspense, turning instead to another piece of the past.
"Sirius was arrested and sent to Azkaban after Voldemort disappeared. The charges were that he had blown up a street with magic, killing more than a dozen Muggles, and that he had colluded with the Dark Lord and caused Harry's parents' deaths."
"I think I know that news story. Remember? When I was little, folding paper planes out of old newspapers my dad had read... I think I saw it..." Hermione frowned, searching her memory.
"I remember now. The news report said there had been a gas explosion on a street, killing more than a dozen people."
"That was the place." Su Er nodded. "After Harry's parents died, Sirius went there to hunt down Peter Pettigrew."
"Did Peter Pettigrew die, then?" Hermione blinked. "An entire street was blown up..."
"That's where the problem lies." A strange smile appeared on Su Er's face. "Everyone thought Peter Pettigrew was dead. The Ministry of Magic even posthumously awarded him the Order of Merlin, First Class."
"You mean..." Hermione covered her mouth with her other hand in surprise, her eyes widening.
"You guessed right. Peter Pettigrew didn't die."
In the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry and Ron were busy leafing through reference materials. Professor Sinistra had asked them to draw a planetary chart, and the two were scratching their heads over where Pluto should go.
And which came first, Jupiter or Mars?
Just then, Hermione came in from