Jenna enjoyed herself to the fullest in the proceeding days, because Fred and George Weasley were still trying to find their mysterious prankster and get their revenge.

But they were unaware of the fact that the said prankster was in a cat's form, napping on the armchair next to them and listening to their guesses and their revenge plans, amused.

At last, the day of the final Quidditch match of the year between Gryffindor and Slytherin had arrived. There was a rush of excitement through the castle, this time more than ever. Because if Gryffindors won, the Quidditch cup would be theirs this time, after many years of it slipping through their fingers.

Jenna wanted to go and watch Harry play that day, because this game obviously meant a lot to him and she still hadn't seen him on his new Firebolt.

But there had been an ache in her heart for weeks that wouldn't go away. She needed to see Sirius desperately. So waiting for a student to open up the portrait, Crookshanks sneaked out of the Gryffindor common room and left the castle.

***

A few hours before the start of the Quidditch match, Harry woke up from his dream. He stretched and yawned, getting up to his feet and walking toward the dorm's window to check the weather's conditions for today's game.

The sky was clear and sunny; the perfect condition for the match. No breath of wind disturbed the treetops in the Forbidden Forest and the Whomping Willow was motionless and innocent-looking.

With a sense of relief, Harry was about to turn back to his bed when something caught his eye; an animal of some kind was prowling across the silvery lawn.

Harry dashed to his bedside table, snatched up his glasses, and put them on, then hurried back to the window. His heart was beating rapidly as he thought that he had seen the Grim. He couldn't afford such bad luck. Not today, right before the match.

Harry peered out at the grounds again and, after a minute's frantic searching, he finally spotted it.

     The animal was skirting the edge of the forest now. But it wasn't the Grim at all. It was just a cat. Harry clutched the window ledge in relief as he recognized the bottlebrush and ginger tail.

It was only Crookshanks.

Or was it only Crookshanks? Harry squinted, pressing his nose flat against the glass. Crookshanks seemed to have come to a halt. Harry was sure he could see something else moving in the shadow of the trees too.

And just then, he saw it. That exact moment, a gigantic, shaggy black dog started moving stealthily across the lawn, Crookshanks trotting at its side.

"Ron!" Harry hissed, turning his head toward where he slept. "Ron! Wake up!"

     "Huh?" Ron mumbled sleepily.

"I need you to tell me if you can see something!" Harry said urgently. If Crookshanks could see the Grim too, then how could it be an omen of his death?

"S'all dark, Harry," Ron muttered thickly. "What're you on about?"

"Down here —"

Harry looked quickly back out of the window. But Crookshanks and the dog had vanished.

***

"Sirius!" Crookshanks made a starting run the moment she saw the shaggy black dog standing at the edge of the Dark Forest. The moment she reached him, the cat purred and moved forward, rubbing her head against him.

"Hey, Kitten," Padfood let out an amused bark.

But Crookshanks soon retreated, taking a step back to look up at him with horror in her eyes. "Sirius, Pettigrew is gone. He ran for it and faked his own death again!"

"Yes, I figured." He growled grimly. "I was searching the room for him that this boy who owned the rat woke up and started screaming. So I escaped."

"Well, you gave him a good scare, standing above him with a big knife."

"Then what did you expect me to kill Pettigrew with, Jenny? Flowers?" Padfood said sarcastically.

"Hey, I'm not complaining that you nearly gave that Ron Weasley a heart attack," said Crookshanks, wanting to grin if only she could. "He's kicked me or tried to throw something at me enough times. And you know what? The first thing I'll do when my name's cleared and I can go back to being human, is that I'll have a nice and friendly chat with him."

     "Well, hold your claws at bay, Kitten. We've got more important matters at hand," he said. "Pettigrew couldn't have gone too far. I've got a feeling that he's still somewhere in the castle, hiding. We need to find him and finish this madness once and for all."

***

Harry won the Quidditch cup for Gryffindor that day, which was the dirtiest match Jenna had ever seen in her life. Jenna had watched Harry play from a far corner on the field in her cat form. And for a minute there, as she watched Harry's jet-black hair get tousled in the wind with his glasses on, he looked exactly like James.

     The Gryffindor's victory and their celebration seemed never ending, but now the students were busy studying for their end-of-term examinations.

     So taking advantage of their distraction, throughout the next few weeks Crookshanks spent day and night going all around the castle, searching every corner and the little holes in walls for Pettigrew. But she was unsuccessful.

     Every once a week, Jenna would go down to visit Sirius to ask if he had any lead on Pettigrew, even though it was unlikely to find that rat in such an enormous castle and the seemingly endless forest.

     Although everything changed one day near the end of the term as Crookshanks went down to the edge of the Dark Forest once again to meet up with Padfoot.

     "I've found him, Jenna, I've found him!" Padfoot barked the moment he saw her, his tail wiggling uncontrollably.

    "What!? Where!?"

     "Pettigrew's in Hagrid's hut. I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I have a feeling that he is," he explained. "I could smell him as I was passing through."

     "Good." Crookshanks looked away thoughtfully, her heart racing. "But we have to wait until tomorrow."

     "What!? I've waited long enough, Jenna! I'm not waiting another second!"

     "Listen to me, Sirius. I've heard the conversation between Harry and his friends. Hagrid's Hippogriff would be executed today. Someone from the Ministry will come here in a few hours, along with the Minister of Magic himself, and Dumbledore. We can't just burst into Hagrid's hut and search the place for the rat!"

     "Fine." Padfoot huffed in defeat, though he looked irritated. "We'll wait until it's done, and then we'll make our move. Pettigrew will die tonight."