Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JK Rowling... I'm just playing with them...
AN: I had this idea while re-watching the third movie... I hope you like it...
Beta: not beta read

Catching A Rat

He was frantically checking between the map and the hall, hoping to see Peter Pettigrew, when he heard it. Something was scurrying along the floor. Looking at the map he saw that Peter Pettigrew was supposed to be right in front of him, but there was nothing. Following his instinct he looked down and saw a rat. Suddenly he remembered the lesson on Werewolves, specially the description of Animagi in comparison. Without a second thought he caught the rat.

He wondered what to do with it when he caught sight of the map again. He saw Snape coming his way. With a whispered "Nox" the light on the tip of his wand disappeared and Harry quickly went back to the next hallway that crossed the one he was in and hid behind a statue.

While he waited for the Professor to pass he considered what to do next. He didn't want to go to Dumbledore and tell him, not in the middle of the night. But who else could he go to?

It was then that he remembered it. Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew were his father's friends. So was Remus Lupin. It was likely that they knew each other.

As soon as he was sure that his Potions teacher was gone he returned to the hall where he had come from, only to walk directly into someone.

Harry heard a familiar voice say, "Lumos" and saw that he was standing in front of Remus Lupin. The older wizard looked at him with a disapproving gaze.

Before he could be reprimanded, Harry said, "Professor! I have a map, that shows the people who walk through Hogwarts. When I was looking at it, I saw Peter Pettigrew on it only he's supposed to be dead. I saw a rat in his place and remembered the lesson about werewolves when Snape taught DADA. Animagi were mentioned and I thought that maybe he's..."

"Are you sure? Really sure?" asked Remus Lupin.

When Harry nodded, Remus continued, "Follow me. We'll have to bring this to Albus' attention. I should have warned him from the beginning. Do you still have him?"

"Here," said Harry, holding the rat up.

Remus only nodded and turned Harry around, hurrying him to the Headmaster's Office.

***

Once they had reached the guarding statue, Remus said, "Sherbert Lemon" which caused the statue to move to the side. They nearly ran up the stairs, the rat Harry was holding trying to free himself all the while. However, Harry  held on.

Arriving at the top of the stairs, Remus started banging on the door to Albus office until it was opened by the old wizard. He was dressed in baby blue robes that were clearly meant for sleeping. His hair was wild and he looked as if he just got out of bed.

"What happened? Are we under attack?" asked Dumbledore worried.

Remus shook his head, "No, but Sirius Black might be innocent. There's something I should have mentioned at the beginning of the year. James, Sirius and Peter became Animagi to stay with me during the full moon. Peter became a rat. Possibly the one Harry is holding."

Instantly Dumbledore looked wide awake.

"Give me the rat," said the old wizard, while moving aside to let them enter the room.

Harry handed it over and said, "It looks like Scabbers, Ron's rat. They had it for maybe twelve years and the map..."

"Which map?" asked Dumbledore.

Remus interrupted, "From what I understand it must be the Marauder's Map. We created it, but we lost it in our last year."

"Fred and George said they found it in Filch's office," said Harry. When he realised what he had just said, he added, "They won't get into trouble for this, will they? They meant no harm with it."

"No, no. I will ignore this bit for now. Let's see about this rat," said Dumbledore.

Harry placed Scabbers on Dumbledore's table. Before the rat could scurry away, the Headmaster placed an immobilizing charm on it. The old man looked the rat over carefully, "The largest part ever found of Pettigrew was his finger and this rat is missing a toe of the front paw. It is the perfect decoy. Cut your finger of and transform. With this size it would have been easy to disappear."

"But what about Sirius? He's been trying to get to Harry!" asked Remus.

It was Harry who answered slowly, voicing his thoughts, "Maybe... He could have done it the last two years. He must know how old I am, but Ron's family was in the paper and Scabbers was on the picture... Maybe he recognised him and Ron's sharing the same bedroom as me. You remember it was Ron who was attacked, not me."

"You could be right. If Peter is in fact the guilty party and Sirius is innocent then he would need Peter to prove it," mused Dumbledore out loud, "I will call Cornelius and we will reveal the true identity of this rat in his presence."

Before the Headmaster turned to the fireplace, he cast a spell on the rat and satisfied with the result he called the Minister.

"What did he do?" asked Harry in a whisper.

Remus smiled, "It is a spell to check whether an animal is indeed a wizard. It does not show whether this is the Animagus form or if the wizard was transfigured by someone else."

"What was my father?" asked Harry after a while.

The two startled when Dumbledore added, "That would interest me as well."

"James was a stag and Sirius is a large black dog," answered Remus.

Harry suddenly laughed, "Would you compare him to a Grim?"

"You could. Why?" asked Remus.

Harry answered with a bright smile, "Trelawney always predicts the Grim for me. And I think I saw one when I left my relatives. Right before the Knight Bus came. If Sirius Black is innocent, does that mean I'm allowed to live with him? He's my..."

"He's your what?" asked Dumbledore when Harry broke off.

Harry answered nervously, "Well, I kind of went into Hogsmead and I overheard a conversation in the Three Broomsticks about him being my Godfather."

Before either of them could ask how he had gotten there, Cornelius came through the Fireplace, followed by two Aurors and another person. All looked as if they just fell out of bed.

"What is this emergency?" asked Fudge crossly.

Dumbledore turned around, "It has just come to my attention that we had three unregistered Animagi at Hogwarts. Namely James Potter, Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black. Additionally, we have found a rat that is a wizard and fits the form of Peter Pettigrew. I thought you might want to be present when we reveal the truth."

"Yes, of course. I gather you want to question him, but why under Veritaserum?" asked Cornelius Fudge worried.

Dumbledore merely smiled, "If he was innocent then it would have been hardly necessary to hide for twelve years with a wizarding family? Don't you think so? And the way he disappeared. It is a possibility that it was him who blew up the street. I believe that he is either guilty of all crimes Sirius Black was accused of or they both worked for Voldemort."

Fudge only nodded and Dumbledore motioned everybody to gather around the desk.

"Do you want one of your Aurors to perform the Revealing spell or shall I do it?" asked Dumbledore.

Cornelius merely nodded and sad, "Shacklebolt. You do it."

The one named Shacklebolt stepped forward and pointed his wand at the rat. "Revealo!" said the dark-skinned wizard and the rat transformed into a human being. A small, fat person with a decreasing hairline, who cowered on the table to be exact.

Dumbledore unfroze the wizard, who then tried to run away. A well placed stunner by Shacklebolt stopped him before he could get far. Dumbledore conjured a chair and Pettigrew was levitated into it. By way of a silent communication the next move was planned. While Shacklebolt woke Pettigrew, Dumbledore was binding him to the chair.

Fudge nodded to the third person in the group and said, "Mayer, administer the Veritaserum. Powell, you take care of the documentation."

Both men did as they were told and five minutes later, Peter Pettigrew sat unmoving in the chair, looking straight in front of him without registering a single person in the room.

"Please state your name," said Albus Dumbledore.

Without any emotion, Pettigrew answered, "Peter Pettigrew."

Nobody in the room was totally shocked. The beginning was to make sure that this wasn't some trick to influence the judges. The real questioning would begin once they were sure that it was who he claimed to be.

Dumbledore continued, "Where were you the last twelve years?"

"I hid as a rat. My family was the Weasleys. They never suspected anything."

Shacklebolt asked the next question, "What happened on November, 1st 1981. The day you disappeared?"

"Sirius confronted me about betraying James and Lily. I knew that everybody thought that he was the Secret Keeper. I screamed at him about how he could betray them and blew the street up. I then cut off my finger and transformed. I hid in the canalisation and went back to Diagon Alley where Percy Weasley found and adopted me."

By now the two Aurors and Fudge looked shocked. The Potions Master who had administered the Veritaserum didn't show any movement. Remus, Harry and Dumbledore had expected this when they had found the man alive.

Dumbledore asked, "So you were the Secret Keeper?"

"Yes."

Shacklebolt continued, "Why did you switch and not tell anybody?"

"Sirius thought that he was too obvious and if nobody knew it was me than they couldn't be betrayed."

Dumbledore asked the next question, "So you betrayed them to Voldemort. Since when have you been working for him?"

"I joined the Dark Lord a month before Harry was born."

Shaken, Shacklebolt asked the last question, "Did Sirius Black ever worked for You-Know-Who?"

"No."

Fudge finally caught himself and motioned to the Potions Master to administer the Antiserum. After a while he said, "He will be brought before a full Wizengamot. I will leave a message for Sirius Black to come as well. He will be questioned under Veritaserum and once his innocence is proven he will be a free man."

"Cornelius? Can I keep a copy of the documentation?" asked Dumbledore.

Fudge nodded in agreement, "Surely. Powell, make a copy for the Headmaster." Soon after that the whole group left with Peter Pettigrew in tow.

Once they were gone, silence descended upon the room. After a while, Harry suggested, "Maybe we could use the map to find him and tell him what happened."

"This is an excellent idea. I'm curious to see how this map works," answered Dumbledore.

Harry pulled the map out of his pocket and placed it on the desk. Before he could say anything, Remus asked, "May I? It has been a while."

This startled Harry enough to stop mid-movement. Remus used this to say the password and the map revealed itself.

"Quite an achievement. Do you think you could create another map? Just to make sure there are no more uninvited guests of course," asked Dumbledore.

Remus nodded, "I could try it, but it took us years to complete. You should watch the secret passageways though. Anybody who knows them can get in."

"How do you know about the map?" asked Harry suddenly.

Remus smiled, "Sirius and your father were pranksters extraordinaire. Unfortunately they preferred Severus Snape as their primary victim. Anyway, Peter and I occasionally helped them and together we were the Marauders. Our nicknames were in direct relation to their Animagi form. James was Prongs, Sirius was Padfoot and Peter was Wormtail. My nickname was Moony."

"What is your form?" asked Harry curiously.

Remus smiled sadly, "I'm not an Animagus. I'm a werewolf. That is the reason why Severus gave you the lesson. He wanted someone to find out and complain about me. He holds his grudges for a long time."

"Oh. You're nice though and the best teacher we had so far. Quirrel was a joke and tried to kill me and Lockhart was an idiot. His books are real stories, but he isn't the hero. He just 'interviewed' the person and oblivated them afterwards," said Harry.

Dumbledore interrupted their conversation, "I believe I found him. He hides in a corridor close to the kitchen."

Together they stood up and headed to Sirius' hiding place. Harry carried the map and made sure that he didn't go elsewhere. When they were nearly there, Harry said, "He's moving away from us."

"He must be able to smell our scent," explained Remus, "I'm going to call him. Maybe he will listen."

When the other two nodded Remus called, "Sirius! We know you're here. We also found Peter! He was questioned under Veritserum in front of Fudge. He promised to have a trial for both of you under Veritaserum. So if you're innocent you can come out! Dumbledore even has a copy of the interrogation and can proof it."

"He's stopped. He's down this hallway," said Harry.

And sure enough, once they rounded the corner and ventured down the dead end, they found him. To Harry he looked horrible. The clothing was torn and dirty and the hair was shaggy and unwashed. The face was unshaven and the eyes looked wild, moving from one to the other.

It was Remus who reacted first. He stepped closer to Sirius and hugged him, whispering something Harry couldn't understand. However, it seemed to calm the other man. As if he only now believed that they were saying the truth.

Dumbledore broke the reunion, by saying, "Sirius. You might want to come with us to the Hospital Wing. Let Poppy check you over and then we'll see about your trial. You might be in a bit of trouble though as Remus was forced to reveal that you are an unregistered Animagus along with Peter and James."

The other wizard just nodded. It would be a small prize to pay for his freedom. The punishment for that was a set fine, for every year that you went unregistered. The only exception was the first one, considering that this was the year you were given to register.

"Harry, I believe it is time for you to head to bed. It was a long day and tomorrow will be equally long. You can either come to me or Remus tomorrow to find out what happened and meet Sirius," said Dumbledore.

Harry nodded and wished everybody good night. He might have wanted to stay, but he understood that this was not the time. There were things to do before he could meet Sirius for real and he was kind of tired after all that happened during the last two hours. He was only glad that tomorrow was a Sunday. He didn't know what he would have done if he would have to get through lessons.

***

When he woke the next morning he found a note on his trunk.

Harry,
We are currently at the Ministry. I believe that the trials will be over by lunch time, tea time the latest. You might want to tell your friends before the truth gets out. It will be in tomorrow's edition if they don't do a special tonight.
Albus Dumbledore.

Dressed, Harry put the note in his pocket and went downstairs. Ron wasn't up yet, but Hermione was waiting in the Common Room.

He sat down next to her and said, "Hermione. I don't want to wait until Ron gets up so could you explain it to him? You remember the map Fred and George gave me? I was looking at it last night and I found Peter Pettigrew walking in a hallway on the 3rd floor. I went down there to check as he's supposed to be dead. What I found was Scabbers. During the Werewolf lesson we talked about Animagi and I wondered if that might be the answer. I decided to ask Professor Lupin since he knew my parents, just like Sirius Black and Pettigrew. Turns out they all were Animagi with the exception of Lupin. He took Scabbers to Dumbledore and he's really Pettigrew. They called Fudge and questioned him under Veritaserum. He's the one that betrayed my parents and he blamed Sirius Black. That's why Ron was attacked that one night. He wasn't looking for me, but Pettigrew. We used the map to find him and Dumbledore, Lupin and Sirius Black are at the Ministry right now. He's getting a trial. Apparently he never got one to begin with. They're going to use Veritaserum."

Hermione looked at him surprised, "What? That's... Why would they never give him a trial?"

"I don't know. Possibly because it could have been only him. I mean everybody thought he was the Secret Keeper; they kept the switch secret so no one would go after Pettigrew and the confrontation in the street where Pettigrew faked his death... It looked like it was him. I guess they just wanted to make the public feel safe. I mean it worked. They felt safe although they weren't. An innocent man was sent to Azkaban while the real ones stayed free," mused Harry, "Think about it. What better way to win the public for you than showing that you're doing something?"

Hermione nodded, "You have a point. It's still not right."

"Than work for the Ministry and change the laws. The whole society seems to be stuck in the past simply because they had no need to develop. They had the magic to do everything. Muggles didn't and they did advance. I mean, look at it. The light bulb was a big change, the trains, the planes. It never mattered in the wizarding world. They used their magic. I remember what they taught us about the industrial revolution. A lot of new jobs were created and everybody left the countryside. It changed everything. Towns got larger. It never happened here. They used their magic and the jobs stayed the same. There was never a forced use to change. Compare it. The Purebloods are mostly the rich people; the Halfbloods are the middle and the Muggleborn usually the lower part. Compare it to Muggle society. The rich people look down on everybody else; the middle makes their living, being tolerated by the rich. They're merchants. The Muggleborn, they don't have a reputation because they're the first. A century ago, it was near impossible to change status in the Muggle world; you were what you came from. Today you can fall and climb, but the wizarding world is still stuck. The rich won't accept that you can climb. They won't accept it, because it means that they loose power..." said Harry.

Hermione nodded, "I believe I see where you're coming from. I should read more about it. It is an interesting concept."

"Good, want to come down with me to breakfast or did you already eat?" asked Harry.

Hermione smiled, "I ate a bit before going to the library to fetch a couple of books. I planned on eating more with you two. For now I'm waiting for Ron. Can't leave him here alone. Go ahead though. You most probably want to meet Sirius Black again. Now that he's innocent."

"Yeah, I can't wait until they're back," smiled Harry.

He stood up and left the room. He would work on his homework for Monday after breakfast so he would have time when they came back.

The End

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