After Douglas explained everything, Professor McGonagall understood his plan.
Then...
"One headmaster, two professors, and one of you is Harry's godfather.
And you simply let danger live openly alongside Harry?"
"Do you have any idea how dangerous he is?"
"Everyone has been guarding against Black... oh, sorry, I don't mean you, Black... I mean guarding against danger from outside, only for the danger to have been beside Harry all along..."
Douglas said meekly:
"I drugged Wormtail, and I gave Harry an amulet to wear!"
Professor McGonagall glared at him and said disapprovingly:
"Oh, should I praise you? Can you guarantee that Peter won't break free of your drug's effects? Or can you guarantee the safety of every student at Hogwarts?"
Douglas hurriedly took out a cage and explained:
"That's why I also prepared a specially made rat trap, which I was planning to give them as a reward for their Detective Club..."
Dumbledore recognized it as the snake-catching tool Douglas had produced when they went to the Gaunt family together.
"Douglas, if I remember correctly, there are still quite a few venomous snakes in there, aren't there?"
Well, at those words, Sirius and Lupin immediately perked up, especially Sirius, who had always regretted being unable to kill Wormtail himself.
But throwing Wormtail into a nest of venomous snakes really had never occurred to him. Douglas truly was a Slytherin hiding among the Hufflepuffs.
With a look that said, "Don't make things up, I'm a good person," Douglas said:
"No, no, no, I released those venomous snakes into the Forbidden Forest ages ago. I can guarantee there isn't a single snake left in here."
Professor McGonagall nodded and said:
"Indeed, Wormtail is guilty, and we should hand him over to the Ministry of Magic for trial, not punish him ourselves.
Of