Ron Is Lying!

Everyone left the room.

Only Sirius, Lupin, and Snape remained in the office, watching Pettigrew Peter intently.

Fudge pulled William along, saying warmly, "William, I'll go to the Headmaster's Office first. We'll talk about our business later."

"Yes, Mr. Minister," William replied politely with a smile.

Dumbledore, Fudge, and Professor McGonagall walked toward the Headmaster's Office, followed by two Auror.

"Where are you going?" William asked.

"We're going back to the Gryffindor Common Room," Harry said.

"Tonight was too much of a shock for me; I need to get a good night's sleep."

Ron nodded in agreement.

"And you, Anne, are you coming back too?"

"No, it's still early! Luna is waiting for me in the Ravenclaw Common Room, I'm going to find her," Anne said quickly.

William thought about it and did not object.

After getting her brother's permission, she skipped and hopped toward the other side of the corridor.

"We'll head back now," Harry said. "Hermione, are you going back to the common room?"

Hermione shook her head and said softly, "I have something to do. You guys go ahead."

Harry and Ron shrugged and turned to leave.

William watched their retreating figures and suddenly asked, "Ron, do you still have your tonic?"

"Um, no... he's gone. What happened?" Ron paused, then turned around and stammered.

"Bobocha is sick; that tonic should help it." William squinted and asked, "Have you already used it? When did you use it?"

"Yes, I used it on Scabbers a few days after school started," Ron quickly replied.

"Of course, I didn't expect him to be Peter in disguise... I'd rather just poison him!"

"Hmm, never mind then, I'll just buy another bottle." William nodded thoughtfully.

The two turned and left, while William and Hermione strolled slowly down the corridor.

"Is Bobocha sick?" Hermione asked William suspiciously.

"In the afternoon, it was still lively and playful with Mrs. Norris in the garden."

"I'm not sick... I just said it offhand," William said softly.

Why did you lie to Ron... By the way, shall we go to the Room of Requirement now?

Hermione stretched and laughed:

"Finally caught Peter... that makes things so much easier. We can grade papers all night without being bothered!"

"I probably won't be able to go tonight." William shook his head, his brow furrowed as he pondered the matter.

Hermione looked at William, stretched out her finger, and rubbed his furrowed brow.

She asked softly, "What happened?"

William looked into Hermione's eyes and said slowly:

"Hmm, there are some things I've been thinking about... I feel like I'm overlooking something, and I need your help to analyze them."

Hermione nodded, and the two of them snuggled up by the window, gazing at the sky.

Outside the castle, a full moon was gradually obscured by thick clouds.

"I just said Bobocha was sick, but that was a deliberate attempt to borrow that bottle of tonic," William said softly.

"Ron said that he used it on Scabbers a few days after school started."

William shook his head. "That's impossible. If Ron had used it, I would have known!"

"Why?" Hermione's eyes widened.

"Hmm... Last summer, George and Fred put some Amortentia in the tonic."

"..."

"No harm intended!" William grinned. "I just wanted to test whether the Amortentia works between animals."

A purely magical experiment.

Hermione gave William a wink.

"Okay, let's not worry about the details... but thankfully the twins drugged them."

If Ron gives it to Scabbers, that is, Peter... he'll definitely get restless and look for Fred's Niffler.

Fred had already prepared beds for them both.

But it never happened.

"But..." Hermione hesitated, resting her chin on her hand.

"Does the Niffler's fur work? I mean, maybe the Niffler's fur won't work on wizards?"

"No, it will definitely work! Remember last year?"

Hermione thought for only a second before quickly replying, "Lockhart?!"

"That's right!"

William was pleased that Hermione could immediately follow his train of thought.

Of all the girls he knew, Hermione was probably the only one who could keep up with his train of thought.

Having such a smart girl by my side is truly incredibly easy.

If you follow idiots like Harley and Ron, something obvious will take forever to explain.

William wanted nothing more than to kill them.

Thinking this through, William spoke quickly without pausing:

"After that Christmas, Lockhart took Snape's Amortentia, which contained dwarf hair."

Strictly speaking, dwarves, Centaur, Werewolf, and Niffler are all Magical Creatures.

Peter has taken the Amortentia; he's bound to react.

"Therefore, I conclude that Ron did not give it to Peter."

"But there's a problem, William," Hermione said astutely.

How can we be sure it Scabbers or Peter at that time?

As we all know, Peter found a very similar mouse as a substitute.

"Amortentia with Fantastic Beasts hair added—it works on wizards, but will it also work on real, ordinary mice?"

"Your doubts are valid; I was just thinking about this too," William said approvingly. "We can only offer our bold analysis."

"Look, Peter had no reason to suddenly find a mouse as a backup plan and hide away, did he?"

He wasn't even sure if Sirius's target after his escape was him.

Peter would think, "I've been hiding for twelve years, and no one has found me."

How could Black, imprisoned in Azkaban, possibly know where he was?

And Hogwarts is the safest place; there's no need to run away.

William tapped on the window. "If I were Peter, I would definitely wait and see for a while."

The Halloween attack probably made him completely certain that Sirius was coming for him!

This should also serve as a wake-up call for him; the school is not as safe as he imagined.

William gazed at the thick clouds that completely obscured the full moon, and his thoughts became increasingly clear.

He said quickly:

"After that, Peter probably had the idea of escaping. Or, Tom probably came up with a detailed plan for him."

I tend to believe the second possibility!

Without needing much detailed evidence, William could determine this solely based on his meticulous work style:

There must be Tom behind Peter's schemes.

If Peter were so intelligent, he wouldn't have needed to defect; he could have lived safely all by himself.

"A very reasonable analysis." Hermione it over and found no flaws.

"So... Ron is lying?" She raised an eyebrow. "Why would he lie?"

"This is probably not his first lie tonight," William said worriedly.

"Did you notice? Ron said Peter tried to steal their wands..."

"That's impossible!" Hermione exclaimed immediately. "Peter has a wand!"

"That's right." William sighed. "That's exactly why I had my doubts."

Last school year, Tom's Diary suddenly disappeared from Ron's possession.

His old wand and Scabbers the rat were also missing.

William couldn't understand why Scabbers had also disappeared.

Later, Scabbers reappeared, but he didn't pay much attention, assuming it was just a lost mouse.

Looking back now, it seems that Peter made contact with Tom in the diary.

Knowing that Ron would be suspected, he had moved the diary to Lockhart's beforehand, so he left with him.

It was only because Tom wanted Peter to be a spy that he returned to Ron's care as Scabbers.

But the old wand is definitely still in Peter's hands.

He didn't need to rob it at all!

Tom's spy... Peter hid for a whole school year, and William couldn't catch him... and he was caught just like that by two weak little wizards?

It's still possible if Peter doesn't have a wand.

But the key point is...

He has it!

Even if there were ten of them, let alone Harry and Ron, they wouldn't be a match for Peter.

It was because of this detail that William abruptly asked about the tonic, simply to prove... Ron was lying.

"Ron had no reason to lie, yet he did..." Hermione's eyes widened, then she exclaimed in horror, "Could he be Peter?"

Professor Snape's office was burgled, wasn't it...? He brewed Polyjuice Potion?!

"I considered this possibility a long time ago." William's tone carried a hint of confusion.

"But Ron's name has always been displayed on the Hogwarts Map... and it keeps moving."

Unless he carries Ron with him... wait...

The two exchanged a glance and said simultaneously, "That groundhog!"

Yes, if Peter turned into Ron, and turned Ron into a groundhog and put him on his body... his name would also appear.

There wasn't a single flaw!

"So, those who have been arrested now?" Hermione asked, gripping William's hand in shock.

"It really is Ron!"

William quickly pulled out Hogwarts Map and immediately found Professor McGonagall's office.

Inside the room, there were only three names:

Sirius Black, Severus Snape... Ron Weasley!

"We need to find Dumbledore," Hermione said. "We can't let Ron be mistaken for Peter and taken to Azkaban."

"No!" William shook his head, finally having sorted out his thoughts.

"The most pressing issue isn't Ron, it's Peter... he's about to run away!"

"Ah, why? His plan has succeeded. Everyone thinks Ron is Peter?"

"It almost succeeded." William shook his head.

"Remember in the office?" he said. "Harry and ' Ron ' demanded Peter be killed immediately!"

"Peter this request for a reason," William explained.

"If someone dies suddenly after taking the Polyjuice Potion, their appearance will not change; they will retain their appearance before death."

"Peter gave Ron the Polyjuice Potion to turn him back into himself." William said solemnly.

"Once Ron is dead, this matter will be settled. Peter can then impersonate Ron until he runs out of stored hair."

Using Ron's identity, he can do so many things!

No one will notice anything amiss, because in this world, no one understands Ron better than Peter!

They shared a bed for three years!

Ron died in Peter's place, and that body was far more convincing than the severed finger from twelve years ago.

"But Fudge refused; he demanded a trial," William said thankfully.

Fudge did not intend to ruin Peter's plan, and the Polyjuice Potion has a time limit; Ron will revert back to his original form sooner or later.

Peter is probably busy running away right now.

"Yes, we must catch Peter immediately!" Hermione also realized the seriousness of the matter.

"Otherwise, Sirius... will be identified as... the murderer! He's in the office! He can't escape!"

William's eyes were unreadable.

If successful, he would replace Ron; if unsuccessful, he would escape and even let Sirius walk right into his trap.

Tom Riddle... you're something else!

Even in Ilvermorny, it could cause such a huge problem.

However, if this is all there is to your plan... then I won't be polite and will accept your little spy!

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(Thanks to "Qipulasi" for the generous donation.)