The night was deep, steeping Hogwarts' ancient castle in darkness.
A barely perceptible rustle came from a clump of bushes not far from the gates of Hogwarts.
A mottled rat, old and ugly-looking, emerged from the shadows of the bushes.
One of his paws was missing a toe, which made his movements look rather comical, yet he was astonishingly fast.
Wormtail's tiny, beady black eyes were filled with bone-deep fear.
He had only just escaped from that hellish basement that reeked of snakes.
His master's shriek of utter fury still echoed in his ears.
"Go wage an intelligence war for me-one you cannot afford to lose."
"Or would you rather provide dear Nagini with an extra meal right now?"
He dared not think any further. Relying only on memories from his days as a Marauder years ago, long since etched into his bones, he ran desperately onward.
He knew every secret passage in Hogwarts, every blind spot in the Marauder's Map's detection.
Like a ghost, he hugged the base of the school's cold stone walls, deftly avoiding every possible patrol.
He dared not pause for even a moment, nor even raise his head for another look at the castle where he had spent seven years of his youth.
Inside the Defense Against Dark Magic office.
The comforting scent of tea mingled with Chinese plum wine drifted through the air.
Douglas was reclining in a comfortable armchair, reading an abstruse tome on ancient alchemical symbolology.
Suddenly.
"Beep, beep, beep-!"
The intricate instrument on the desk, made of countless brass gears and crystal lenses, sounded a short, piercing alarm.
Douglas looked up from his book.
At the center of the Magic Radar, a faint point of light representing an "Unknown Intruder" was moving rapidly along the edge of the map of Hogwarts.