Douglas began explaining unhurriedly, while Sirius stood silently beside him.
Of course, he did not mention the Marauder's Map either. He merely said that he had happened to notice suspicious behavior from Scabbers, who was still Percy's pet at the time. After seeing the newspaper describe Peter as a hero, the rat had actually displayed a humanlike smile...
A great hero who would rather spend his remaining days as a rat-it was far too intriguing.
Douglas took the initiative to apologize to Headmaster Dumbledore for abusing memory magic and Legilimency during his student days.
What could Dumbledore do but forgive him?
Sirius struggled to control his expression. If the Marauder's Map had not been involved, he would never have played along with Douglas's act.
After all, it was something he and James had created. He did not want this marvelous piece of alchemy shelved because of one filthy rat.
Sirius, for his part, recounted how they had switched the Secret Keeper for the Fidelius Charm, and how he had spotted Peter Pettigrew's Animagus form in the newspaper.
His emotions had settled considerably over the past few days, and this time he could speak calmly about what had happened back then.
Whenever he mentioned Peter Pettigrew, however, he still gritted his teeth.
Finally, Dumbledore looked at their expressions and nodded, effectively accepting this explanation.
Of course, whether he believed Douglas's account would only be certain once Dumbledore had verified it himself, though there was Douglas's previous conduct and his knowledge of what Sirius had been like in the past to go on.
In the end, Douglas vetoed Dumbledore's idea of capturing Peter Pettigrew directly...
With reddened eyes, Sirius also declared fiercely that he wanted to see that traitor live another year in fear.
After hearing Douglas's plan for developing his students,