Chapter 269: After the Battle

The crowd present stood dumbfounded, watching the sudden shift in the arena, watching Professor Snape, transformed into stars, vanish into the distant night sky...

After a long while, Hermione was the first to break the silence. "Professor Snape won't be all right, will he?" Hermione said with some difficulty. "He was blasted so high..."

"Probably not," Harry said in an uncertain tone. Although he usually clashed with Professor Snape, he still did not wish for anything to happen to him.

"The professor kept his wand in his hand the whole time. As long as he cast a Levitation Charm on himself mid-air, he should be able to land steadily," Ron suddenly said.

Harry and Hermione thought about it and realized it was indeed so, but how would the school punish them for treating a teacher this way...

They couldn't help but feel worried; most importantly, they were still unsure whether they had done the right thing.

But Harry quickly came to his senses; worrying about that was premature. They had more important matters to handle.

Harry quietly gave Hermione and Ron a look, then turned his gaze to Lupin and Black.

At Hermione and Harry's command, the two scarred Animagi stepped between the two groups, watching Lupin and Black warily.

The two had long regained their freedom; Lupin even had his wand, yet neither took the opportunity to flee or make any move detrimental to Harry.

This made Harry believe the words the two had spoken earlier even more.

"Thank you for opposing Professor Snape on our behalf. You made an utterly correct decision. You need not worry that Professor Snape will hold it against you afterward; the truth will make him forgive you," Professor Lupin spoke first. He immediately lowered his wand to show sincerity, yet he kept glancing at the two Animagi from the corner of his eye.

"How do I know you aren't lying?" Ron said stubbornly. He still found it hard to believe that Scabbers was an Animagus, let alone the legendary hero presumed dead, Peter Pettigrew.

"Before the truth, lies hold no weight!" Black said briefly and firmly, staring intently at Ron's chest.

Lupin said, "May I see that rat?"

Ron hesitated, then reached into his robes. Scabbers appeared, thrashing desperately. Ron had to grab its long, bald tail to prevent it from escaping.

Crookshanks also appeared at Ron's feet, looking at Scabbers and growling low.

"Then now is the time for us to provide you with some evidence," Black said. "You, boy, give me Peter, now!"

Ron pulled Scabbers closer to his chest.

"I still can't believe Scabbers is an Animagus. When Allen was preparing to become an Animagus a while back, one of the most important criteria was the ability to resist the erosion of wild instincts when transforming into animal form, and that resistance time was measured in hours. Allen could only last a little over thirty hours at most," Hermione suddenly said.

"And if Scabbers were an Animagus, he couldn't possibly maintain an animal form for over a decade. No one could achieve that," Hermione continued.

Black looked at Hermione in surprise. "I didn't expect you to know even that. However, maintaining it for so long is theoretically possible," Black said in a deep voice.

"I think fear drove him to do it. Fear made him betray his friends and side with the Dark Lord. Fear also allowed him, after the Dark Lord's defeat, to transform into a rat and survive as one for over a decade!" Black said harshly, staring at the rat on Ron's chest with a murderous gaze.

He then recounted how he had recognized Scabbers through the newspaper.

Harry immediately recalled that Scabbers had been falling ill since the start of this year. At first, he thought it was because Crookshanks had frightened him, but now that he thought about it, Scabbers had been ill even before meeting Crookshanks.

Ever since the Weasley family returned from Egypt... Ever since Black escaped...

He told Ron and Hermione what he had just realized. After hearing it, Ron also began to waver.

"If I give him to you, what will you do to it?" Ron asked Lupin nervously.

"Force him to reveal his true form," Lupin said confidently. "If it is truly a rat, this will not harm it."

Ron hesitated, then finally handed over Scabbers. Lupin took him. Scabbers began to shriek continuously, twisting and turning, his tiny black eyes bulging.

"Ready, Sirius?" Lupin said. He decided to let Sirius have this chance and handed over his wand.

Black took Lupin's wand. His moist eyes suddenly seemed to burn on his face.

He pointed the wand at Scabbers. A blue-white light emanated from the wand tip. For a moment, Scabbers hung suspended in mid-air, his small black body thrashing wildly—

Ron screamed—

The rat fell, landing on the floor. Another burst of dazzling light flashed, and then—like a time-lapse of a tree growing.

A head appeared on the ground, limbs stretched out. A moment later, a man stood where Scabbers had been, cowering and wringing his hands.

Crookshanks snarled contemptuously on the ground, the fur on his back bristling.

The man was short, not much taller than Harry and Hermione. His thin, pale hair was disheveled, with a large bald patch on top of his head. His appearance was like that of an obese person who had lost a great deal of weight in a short time. His skin looked filthy, almost matching Scabbers' fur. His pointed nose and watery small eyes still retained rat-like features.

He looked at everyone, breathing heavily and weakly.

"Oh, hello, Peter," Lupin said cheerfully, as if rats turning into old classmates happened around him often. "Long time no see."

"S-Sirius... L-Lupin..." Peter Pettigrew's voice was also high-pitched. His eyes quickly darted toward the door. "My friends—my old friends—"

Black raised his wand-arm, but Lupin grabbed his wrist and gave him a warning look.

Then Lupin turned back to Peter Pettigrew. Lupin spoke in a relaxed and casual tone. "Truly hard to imagine that the hero recognized by the Ministry of Magic became someone else's pet rat for twelve years."

Peter Pettigrew desperately tried to defend himself, but his defense was so pale and powerless before the facts.

He pleaded desperately with everyone, but no one forgave him. Even Ron felt sick just looking at him.