Hogwarts: Undercover Death Eater Replaces the Dark Lord

"..."

The air here seems to have frozen.

It took Mr. Weasley a few seconds to finally understand this incredible statement.

"Are you kidding me?" he asked. "Peter Pettigrew is dead. He was killed by Sirius Black twelve years ago! He was blasted to pieces and only one finger remained!"

Mr. Weasley glared at Black.

"Do you know? Peter's elderly mother fainted from crying countless times after seeing his miserable condition!"

Sirius's face twisted convulsively at Mr. Weasley's question.

"I wanted to kill him," he growled, revealing his mottled yellow teeth, "but I got so excited that I let Peter get the better of me... But I can't do that this time!"

Before Sirius could finish his words, he suddenly snatched the trap from Lupin's hand, and at some point he had already grasped his wand tightly in his hand.

"Sirius, don't!" Lupin shouted, rushing forward quickly and grabbing the wand in Sirius's hand tightly. "Wait! You can't do this... You must make Dumbledore, Arthur and the others understand... We must explain..."

"We can explain it later!" Sirius roared, trying to push Lupin away.

If it weren't for his sudden emotional outburst, everyone present would have almost forgotten that this was a man who had been imprisoned in Azkaban for more than ten years and had been disturbed by Dementors for more than ten years in a bad mood.

"They... have the right... to know... everything!" Lupin gasped, trying to hold Sirius's arm. "Arthur's son kept it as a pet, he won't accept you killing it like this! And Harry... you must tell Harry the truth, Sirius!"

Hearing the name Harry, the softness deep in Black's heart seemed to be touched, and he subconsciously stopped struggling.

But his sunken eyes were still staring at Banban in the cage... and Banban was still sleeping soundly, his body twitching from time to time, as if he was having a nightmare.

"Very well then," Sirius took a deep breath and said in a very low voice, "Tell them whatever you want, but quickly. Since the Ministry of Magic has imprisoned me on charges of murder, it's natural for me to carry out this crime now!"

"That's enough!" Mr. Weasley suddenly shouted. "I urge you to get down to business... I'm easygoing because of our past colleagues, but the Aurors watching Harry are different."

He glanced at the time and pursed his lips.

"It'll only take two minutes at most for the Aurors to track me down and rush here as soon as possible. You'd better say whatever you want to say quickly!"

Lupin also realized that he should not waste any more time and nodded quickly.

"Actually... as long as Peter reveals his true form, everything will be clear." He put the trap on the ground as he spoke. "Are you ready, Sirius?"

"Then come together." Staring at the mouse on the ground, Sirius' eyes seemed to suddenly burn.

……

Chapter 189 Peter Pettigrew Appears

"On the count of three, we'll do it together—"

Lupin said and Sirius held his breath.

"one two three!"

Two magic wands, one on the left and one on the right, simultaneously emitted a bluish-white light, illuminating the trap white.

Banban was suspended in the cage. Under the effect of magic, it seemed to finally wake up from its coma... When it saw the scene happening in front of it and the two wizards who were casting spells, the mouse almost fainted again.

In the blue-white light, the small black body began to twist wildly... Sirius and Lupin naturally couldn't let it break free, and they both increased their magic output.

When the blue-white light faded away, the mouse fell down, and the trap with it fell to the ground.

Another dazzling flash...

Afterwards, everyone present seemed to be watching a quick shot of observing plant growth—

First, a man's head emerged from the cage, followed by his limbs. Scamander's specially made animal trap also amplified at the same frequency as the objects inside changed.

A moment later, a man took Banban's place in the cage and appeared in front of everyone, wringing his hands in fear.

The man was short, about the same height as Lycos, who was not yet thirteen years old. His thin, light-colored hair was unkempt and there was a large bald spot on top of his head.

And his appearance was that of an obese person who had lost a lot of weight in a short period of time... His skin looked dirty and wrinkled, almost the same as Scaly's fur.

A pointed nose and watery eyes, with the characteristics of a mouse.

It was this strange man who was looking at the people around him, breathing rapidly and weakly... His eyes quickly swept across the railings around the animal cage, and then retracted them in despair.

"Oh, hello, Peter," Lupin said cheerfully, as if mice-turned-wizards were a common occurrence around him. "Long time no see."

"Sirius... Remus..." Peter Pettigrew's voice was also shrill, like a mouse's. "My friends... my old friends..."

Sirius gritted his teeth and instinctively raised his wand arm, but Lupin grabbed his wrist and gave him a warning look.

At this moment, Mr. Weasley was completely stunned.

His eyes were wide open, and he grabbed his red hair with both hands, unable to make any other movements for a long time.

"Are you really... Peter? Peter Pettigrew?" Mr. Weasley asked incredulously. "Didn't you die more than ten years ago?"

"Arthur," Peter Pettigrew panted, large beads of sweat appearing on his pale face, "Don't trust Black... He wanted to kill me then, and now he's trying to kill me again!"

He pointed his middle finger at Sirius, because he was missing an index finger on his right hand, and screamed.

"Arthur... and Remus, he killed Lily and James, and now he wants to kill me!" Peter Pettigrew screamed hysterically, "You must help me..."

Sirius sneered, his dark grey eyes fixed on Peter Pettigrew, their meaning unclear.

"No one wants to kill you until we figure out a few things," Lupin said calmly.

"Get things straight?" Peter Pettigrew screamed, not wanting to give Lupin a chance to ask.

He glanced around again in panic, his attention occasionally lingering on the gaps between the gratings of the trap, while he screamed:

"I knew he was after me! I knew he would come for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!"

"Did you know Sirius would escape from Azkaban?" Lupin asked, frowning. "But no one has ever escaped from there before. How could you have thought Sirius could do it?"

"He has ways of evil beyond the imagination of the rest of us!" Peter Pettigrew exclaimed dramatically. "How else could he have escaped from there? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him some magic!"

Blake suddenly burst out laughing, as if he had heard the most ridiculous thing in his life:

"Voldemort, teach me magic?"

Regulus, who was standing not far from Sirius, subconsciously turned his head and glanced at Lycos with a strange look.

Lycos: “…”

He understood what Regulus meant by that strange look.

Because among all the people present, he was probably the only one who had actually been taught magic by Voldemort. Not only that, almost all of the dark arts that Lycos had learned from childhood to university were taught by Voldemort himself...

When Peter Pettigrew heard the name Voldemort from Sirius's mouth, he visibly flinched, as if he had been whipped.

"Why? Afraid of hearing your old master's name?" Sirius continued to sneer, "I don't blame you, Peter. His men don't like you very much, do they?"

"I don't know...what are you talking about, Sirius..." Peter Pettigrew muttered.

He was sweating even faster, and now his entire face was covered in sweat.

"You haven't been avoiding me for twelve years," Sirius said slowly. "You've been avoiding Voldemort's former supporters—I heard some things in Azkaban, Peter."

"They seem to think they've been tricked by an impostor—that Voldemort, acting on your intelligence, reached James's house, where he failed. From this point of view, you do seem like a good member of the Order of the Phoenix!"

"But not all of Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban. There are still many Death Eaters out there, biding their time, pretending they've realized their mistakes... If they get wind of you being alive, Peter..."

"I don't know... what are you talking about..." Peter Pettigrew's voice was even sharper than before. He looked at Mr. Weasley and Lupin with a look of help, "Hurry up and save me... This is a lunatic, Arthur, Remus..."

"But I'm also curious, Peter," Mr. Weasley, now calm, asked in a low voice, "Why would an innocent man spend twelve years hiding in my house as my son's pet mouse?"

"I'm absolutely innocent! But I'm terrified too!" Peter Pettigrew screamed. "If Voldemort's supporters are after me, it's because I sent the most meritorious of their number to Azkaban—the traitor, Sirius Black!"

"You're the traitor, aren't you, Peter?" Lupin stepped forward before Sirius could react. "Sirius thought he could attract Voldemort's attention, so he gave you the Secret Keeper!"

"You...what are you talking about..." Peter Pettigrew was obviously more flustered.

"Yes, I thought that was the best plan..." Sirius said sadly, "I thought they wouldn't care about a weak and stupid thing like you... But you are indeed weak enough, even weak enough to betray your best friend!"

Peter Pettigrew mumbled distractedly, saying something about "ridiculous" and "crazy," but none of it made any sense.

Mr. Weasley had gradually understood the whole story by now. His mouth was wide open, and he couldn't utter a complete sentence.

"That is to say... Sirius...did not betray..."

However, at this moment, Peter Pettigrew suddenly moved——

He suddenly curled up his body, squeezed into the gap between the grilles of the trap, and turned into a rat like before.

Unfortunately, Lycos was prepared for Peter's escape.

The cage that imprisoned Peter was a specially made animal trap by the Scamander family, which had the ability to enlarge or shrink according to the size of the captured animal.

When Peter turned back into the mouse with a broken toe, the trap also returned to its previous size at the same time. The dense grids trapped Peter's mouse form firmly inside, leaving him no room to escape.

"I told you, catching animals requires professional equipment." Lycos picked up the small trap and shook it in his hands with satisfaction. "Scamander's products are just so easy to use!"

"You should understand now, Arthur?" Lupin smiled at Lex, then looked at Mr. Weasley, "Your son's spots have always been Peter's..."

"I understand." Mr. Weasley looked a little amused. "I wonder if Ron will feel sick to his stomach after hearing this news..."

Before he could finish his words, Mr. Weasley's expression suddenly changed.

"Hide!" he urged at a rapid pace. "The Ministry of Magic has already located us. Aurora will be here soon by Apparating."

"Hurry! Sirius! Don't let Scrimgeour see you. He's never the kind of guy who has the patience to listen to your slow explanations..."

As Mr. Weasley finished speaking, a series of "bang" and "bang" sounds of Apparition rang out one after another.

……

Chapter 190: Questioning by the Head of the Auror Office

"But the Aurors are here, where can Sirius hide now?"

Lupin held Sirius behind him, trying to shield his face with his own body, but this was obviously of no use.

As long as the Aurors were not blind, they would easily be able to spot such a suspicious figure as Sirius from behind Lupin. What's more, Lupin, as a werewolf, was already on the Ministry of Magic's alert list!

Not only that, the Aurors were followed by an Anti-Apparition Charm, preventing Sirius from escaping by Apparition.

At this critical moment, Lycos accidentally caught a glimpse of the animal cage in his hand. Inside the cage, Scabbers, or Peter Pettigrew, was huddled in the corner and shivering.

Lycos's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Hurry, Sirius, transform into an Animagus!" He took a step sideways to Sirius and reminded him in a voice that only they could hear.