Hermione  screamed. Black leapt to his feet. I felt asthough I'd received a huge electric shock.

 "I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow," said Snape,throwing the cloak aside, careful to keep this wand pointing directly at Lupin's chest. "Very useful, Potter, I thank you. . . ." 

Snape was slightly breathless, but his face was full of suppressedtriumph. "You're wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here?"he said, his eyes glittering. "I've just been to your office, Lupin. Youforgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along. Andvery lucky I did . . . lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk wasa certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know. I sawyou running along this passageway and out of sight."

 "Severus —" Lupin began, but Snape overrode him."I've told the headmaster again and again that you're helpingyour old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, and here's the proof. Not even I dreamed you would have the nerve to use this old placeas your hideout —"

 "Severus, you're making a mistake," said Lupin urgently. "Youhaven't heard everything — I can explain — Sirius is not here tokill Harry and Emma —" 

"Two more for Azkaban tonight," said Snape, his eyes nowgleaming fanatically. "I shall be interested to see how Dumbledoretakes this. . . . He was quite convinced you were harmless, youknow, Lupin . . . a tame werewolf —" 

"You fool," said Lupin softly. "Is a schoolboy grudge worthputting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?" 

BANG! Thin, snakelike cords burst from the end of Snape'swand and twisted themselves around Lupin's mouth, wrists, andankles; he overbalanced and fell to the floor, unable to move.

 Witha roar of rage, Black started toward Snape, but Snape pointed hiswand straight between Black's eyes."Give me a reason," he whispered. "Give me a reason to do it,and I swear I will."Black stopped dead. It would have been impossible to say whichface showed more hatred. 

I stood there, paralyzed, not knowing what to do or whomto believe. I glanced around at Harry. Ron and Hermione. Harry was shaking, Ron lookedjust as confused as I did, still fighting to keep hold on the struggling Scabbers. Hermione, however, took an uncertain step towardSnape and said, in a very breathless voice, "Professor Snape — it —it wouldn't hurt to hear what they've got to say, w — would it?" 

"Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension from thisschool," Snape spat. "You, Potter, and Weasley are out-of-bounds, Ms Potter I expected better of you. Ms Granger you have been found in  the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For oncein your life, hold your tongue." 

"But if — if there was a mistake —" 

"KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!" Snape shouted, lookingsuddenly quite deranged. "DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOUDON'T UNDERSTAND!" A few sparks shot out of the end of hiswand, which was still pointed at Black's face. 

Hermione fell silent. 

"Vengeance is very sweet," Snape breathed at Black. "How Ihoped I would be the one to catch you. . . ." 

"The joke's on you again, Severus," Black snarled. "As long asthis boy brings his rat up to the castle" — he jerked his head atRon — "I'll come quietly. . . ." 

"Up to the castle?" said Snape silkily. "I don't think we need togo that far. All I have to do is call the dementors once we get out ofthe Willow. They'll be very pleased to see you, Black . . . pleasedenough to give you a little kiss, I daresay. . . ." 

What little color there was in Black's face left it. 

"You — you've got to hear me out," he croaked. "The rat —look at the rat —" 

But there was a mad glint in Snape's eyes that I had neverseen before. He seemed beyond reason. 

"Come on, all of you," he said.

 He clicked his fingers, and theends of the cords that bound Lupin flew to his hands. "I'll drag thewerewolf. Perhaps the dementors will have a kiss for him too —"

Suddenly, Harry had crossed the roomin three strides and blocked the door."Get out of the way, Potter, you're in enough trouble already,"snarled Snape. "If I hadn't been here to save your skin —"

"Professor Lupin could have killed us about a hundred timesthis year," Harry said. "we've been alone with him loads of times,having defense lessons against the dementors. If he was helpingBlack, why didn't he just finish us off then?"

 "Don't ask me to fathom the way a werewolf's mind works,"hissed Snape. "Get out of the way, Potter." 

"YOU'RE PATHETIC!" Harry yelled. "JUST BECAUSETHEY MADE A FOOL OF YOU AT SCHOOL YOU WON'TEVEN LISTEN —"

 "SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!"Snape shrieked, looking madder than ever. "Like father, like son,Potter! I have just saved your neck; you should be thanking me onbended knee! You would have been well served if he'd killed you!You'd have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you mightbe mistaken in Black — now get out of the way, or I will make you.GET OUT OF THE WAY, POTTER!" 

I made up my mind in a split second. 

Before Snape couldtake even one step toward Harry, I had raised his wand. 

"Expelliarmus!" I yelled — except that mine wasn't the only voicethat shouted. There was a blast that made the door rattle on itshinges; Snape was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall,then slid down it to the floor, a trickle of blood oozing from underhis hair. He had been knocked out. 

I looked around, Harry's wand was pointed too.Both Ron and Hermione had tried todisarm Snape at exactly the same moment. Snape's wand soared ina high arc and landed on the bed next to Crookshanks. 

"You shouldn't have done that," said Black, looking at me."You should have left him to me. . . ." 

"Left it to you" I scoffed "are you madder than what we've been told? You were wandless. As Snape said 'If we hadn't been here to save your skin-' speaking of which--" I mumbled a spell and Lupin's bonds untied themselves "better go on with your story." 

I was shaking "and" I snarled "If-If I find out what everyone else is saying is true, I'll suck out your souls myself. I swear it."

Lupin straightened up, rubbing his armswhere the ropes had cut into them. 

"Thank you, Emma," he said. 

"I'm still not saying I believe you," I told Lupin. 

"Then it's time we offered you some proof," said Lupin. "Ron — give me Peter, please. Now." 

Ron clutched Scabbers closer to his chest.

 "Come off it," he said weakly. "Are you trying to say he broke outof Azkaban just to get his hands on Scabbers? I mean . . ." He lookedup at Me, Harry and Hermione for support, "Okay, say Pettigrew couldturn into a rat — there are millions of rats — how's he supposed toknow which one he's after if he was locked up in Azkaban?" 

"You know, Sirius, that's a fair question," said Lupin, turning toBlack and frowning slightly. "How did you find out where he was?"Black put one of his clawlike hands inside his robes and took outa crumpled piece of paper, which he smoothed flat and held out toshow the others.

 It was the photograph of Ron and his family that had appearedin the Daily Prophet the previous summer, and there, on Ron'sshoulder, was Scabbers. 

"How did you get this?" Lupin asked Black, thunderstruck. 

"Fudge," said Black. "When he came to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me his paper. And there was Peter, on the frontpage . . . on this boy's shoulder. . . . I knew him at once . . . howmany times had I seen him transform? And the caption said theboy would be going back to Hogwarts . . . to where Harry and Emma were. . . ." 

"My God," said Lupin softly, staring from Scabbers to the picture in the paper and back again. "His front paw . . ." 

"What about it?" said Ron defiantly.

 "He's got a toe missing," said Black. 

"Of course," Lupin breathed. "So simple . . . so brilliant . . . hecut it off himself?"

 "Just before he transformed," said Black. "When I cornered him,he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily andJames. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the streetwith the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feetof himself — and sped down into the sewer with the otherrats. . . . 

"Didn't you ever hear, Ron?" said Lupin. "The biggest bit ofPeter they found was his finger." 

"Look, Scabbers probably had a fight with another rat or something! He's been in my family for ages, right —" 

"Twelve years, in fact," said Lupin. "Didn't you ever wonder whyhe was living so long?" 

"We — we've been taking good care of him!" said Ron."Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he?" saidLupin. "I'd guess he's been losing weight ever since he heard Siriuswas on the loose again. . . ." 

"He's been scared of that mad cat!" said Ron, nodding towardCrookshanks, who was still purring on the bed.

But that wasn't right, I thought suddenly. . . . Scabbershad been looking ill before he met Crookshanks . . . ever sinceRon's return from Egypt . . . since the time when Black had escaped. . . .

 "This cat isn't mad," said Black hoarsely. He reached out a bonyhand and stroked Crookshanks's fluffy head. "He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognized Peter for what hewas right away. And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It wasa while before he trusted me. . . . Finally, I managed to communicate to him what I was after, and he's been helping me. . . ."

 "What do you mean?" breathed Hermione. 

"He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn't . . . so he stole thepasswords into Gryffindor Tower for me. . . . As I understand it, hetook them from a boy's bedside table. . . ."Harry's brain seemed to be sagging under the weight of what hewas hearing. It was absurd . . . and yet . . ."But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it. . . ."croaked Black. "This cat — Crookshanks, did you call him? —told me Peter had left blood on the sheets. . . . I supposed he bithimself. . . . Well, faking his own death had worked once. . . ."

 These words jolted me to my senses.

 "And why did he fake his death?" Harry said furiously. "Because heknew you were about to kill him like you killed our parents!" 

"No," said Lupin, "Harry —"

 "And now you've come to finish him off!" 

"Yes, I have," said Black, with an evil look at Scabbers.

 "Then we should've let Snape take you!" Harry shouted. My wand raised once more

"Harry, Emma" said Lupin hurriedly, "don't you see? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked himdown — but it was the other way around, don't you see? Peter betrayed your mother and father — Sirius tracked Peter down —"

 "THAT'S NOT TRUE!" I yelled. "HE WAS THEIRSECRET-KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU TURNED UP.HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!" 

I was pointing at Black, who shook his head slowly; thesunken eyes were suddenly overbright. 

"Emma . . . I as good as killed them," he croaked. "I persuadedLily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuadedthem to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me. . . . I'm to blame,I know it. . . . The night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter,make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place,he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. Iwas scared. I set out for your parents' house straight away. Andwhen I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies . . . I realizedwhat Peter must've done . . . what I'd done. . . ." 

His voice broke. He turned away. 

"Enough of this," said Lupin, and there was a steely note in hisvoice I had never heard before. "There's one certain way toprove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat."

 "What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?" Ronasked Lupin tensely."Force him to show himself," said Lupin. "If he really is a rat, itwon't hurt him."

"Show them the bloody rat, Ron." I snarled, turning my wand on him "you know what I can do?"

"You'd hurt me?"

"I'd hurt your rat. And if they aren't lying I'll gladly kill him."

 Ron hesitated.

 Then at long last, he held out Scabbers andLupin took him. Scabbers began to squeak without stopping,twisting and turning, his tiny black eyes bulging in his head. 

"Ready, Sirius?" said Lupin. 

Black had already retrieved Snape's wand from the bed. He approached Lupin and the struggling rat, and his wet eyes suddenlyseemed to be burning in his face.

 "Together?" he said quietly.

 "I think so," said Lupin, holding Scabbers tightly in one handand his wand in the other. "On the count of three. One — two —THREE!"

 A flash of blue-white light erupted from both wands; for a moment, Scabbers was frozen in midair, his small gray form twistingmadly — Ron yelled — the rat fell and hit the floor. There was another blinding flash of light and then —It was like watching a speeded-up film of a growing tree.

 A headwas shooting upward from the ground; limbs were sprouting; amoment later, a man was standing where Scabbers had been, cringing and wringing his hands. Crookshanks was spitting and snarlingon the bed; the hair on his back was standing up.He was a very short man, hardly taller than Me,Harry andHermione. 

His thin, colorless hair was unkempt and there was alarge bald patch on top. He had the shrunken appearance of aplump man who has lost a lot of weight in a short time. His skinlooked grubby, almost like Scabbers's fur, and something of the ratlingered around his pointed nose and his very small, watery eyes. 

He looked around at them all, his breathing fast and shallow. I saw his eyes dart to the door and back again.

 "Well, hello, Peter," said Lupin pleasantly, as though rats frequently erupted into old school friends around him. "Long time,no see." 

"S — Sirius . . . R — Remus . . ." Even Pettigrew's voice was squeaky. Again, his eyes darted toward the door. "My friends . . .my old friends . . ."

 Black's wand arm rose, but Lupin seized him around the wrist,gave him a warning look, then turned again to Pettigrew, his voicelight and casual.

 "We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened thenight Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer pointswhile you were squeaking around down there on the bed —" 

"Remus," gasped Pettigrew, and I could see beads of sweatbreaking out over his pasty face, "you don't believe him, doyou. . . ? He tried to kill me, Remus. . . ." 

"So we've heard," said Lupin, more coldly. "I'd like to clear upone or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'd be so —" 

"He's come to try and kill me again!" Pettigrew squeaked suddenly, pointing at Black, and Harry saw that he used his middlefinger, because his index was missing. "He killed Lily and Jamesand now he's going to kill me too. . . . You've got to help me,Remus. . . ."

 Black's face looked more skull-like than ever as he stared atPettigrew with his fathomless eyes. 

"No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a fewthings out," said Lupin. 

"Sorted things out?" squealed Pettigrew, looking wildly abouthim once more, eyes taking in the boarded windows and, again, theonly door.

 "I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me!I've been waiting for this for twelve years!" 

"You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?" saidLupin, his brow furrowed. "When nobody has ever done it before?"

"He's got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of!" Pettigrew shouted shrilly. "How else did he get out of there? I supposeHe-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him a few tricks!"

 Black started to laugh, a horrible, mirthless laugh that filled thewhole room. 

"Voldemort, teach me tricks?" he said.

 Pettigrew flinched as though Black had brandished a whip athim. 

"What, scared to hear your old master's name?" said Black. "Idon't blame you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, arethey?"

 "Don't know what you mean, Sirius —" muttered Pettigrew, hisbreathing faster than ever. His whole face was shining with sweatnow. 

"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years," said Black."You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard thingsin Azkaban, Peter. . . . They all think you're dead, or you'd have toanswer to them. . . . I've heard them screaming all sorts of things intheir sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossedthem. Voldemort went to the Potters' on your information . . . andVoldemort met his downfall there. And not all Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here,biding their time, pretending they've seen the error of their ways. . . .If they ever got wind that you were still alive, Peter —" 

"Don't know . . . what you're talking about. . . ," said Pettigrewagain, more shrilly than ever. He wiped his face on his sleeve andlooked up at Lupin. "You don't believe this — this madness,Remus —" 

"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why aninnocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat," saidLupin evenly. 

"Innocent, but scared!" squealed Pettigrew. "If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men inAzkaban — the spy, Sirius Black!

"Black's face contorted. 

"How dare you," he growled, sounding suddenly like the bearsized dog he had been. "I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I eversneak around people who were stronger and more powerful thanmyself? But you, Peter — I'll never understand why I didn't seeyou were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'dlook after you, didn't you? It used to be us . . . me and Remus . . .and James. . . ." 

Pettigrew wiped his face again; he was almost panting for breath. 

"Me, a spy . . . must be out of your mind . . . never . . . don'tknow how you can say such a —"

 "Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it," Black hissed, so venomously that Pettigrew took a stepbackward. "I thought it was the perfect plan . . . a bluff. . . . Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'duse a weak, talentless thing like you. . . . It must have been thefinest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you couldhand him the Potters."

 Pettigrew was muttering distractedly; i caught words like"far-fetched" and "lunacy," but i couldn't help paying more attention to the ashen color of Pettigrew's face and the way his eyescontinued to dart toward the windows and door. 

"Professor Lupin?" said Hermione timidly. "Can — can I saysomething?"

 "Certainly, Hermione," said Lupin courteously. 

"Well — Scabbers — I mean, this — this man — he's been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for three years. Emma's been close enough too. If he's working for You-Know-Who, how come he never tried to hurt Harry and Emma before now?" 

"There!" said Pettigrew shrilly, pointing at Ron with his maimed hand. "Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair of Harry and Emma's head! Why should I?"

 "I'll tell you why," said Black. "Because you never did anythingfor anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort'sbeen in hiding for fifteen years, they say he's half dead. You weren'tabout to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore's nose, fora wreck of a wizard who'd lost all of his power, were you? You'dwant to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn't you? Why else did you find awizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren'tyou, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and itwas safe to rejoin him. . . ."

 Pettigrew opened his mouth and closed it several times. Heseemed to have lost the ability to talk.

"Sirius." I said

 Black jumped at being addressed like this and stared at me as though he had never seen anything quite like me. 

"how did you get out ofAzkaban, if you didn't use Dark Magic?" 

"Thank you!" gasped Pettigrew, nodding frantically at me. "Exactly! Precisely what I —" 

"You can shut up" I snapped "It was just a question."

Black was frowning slightly at me, but not as though he were annoyed with me. He seemed to be pondering his answer.

 "I don't know how I did it," he said slowly. "I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the dementors couldn't suck it out of me . . .but it kept me sane and knowing who I am . . . helped me keep my powers . . . so when it all became . . . too much . . . I could transform in my cell . . . become a dog. Dementors can't see, you know. . . ." He swallowed. "They feel their way toward people by feeding off their emotions. . . . They could tell that my feelings were less — less human, less complex when I was a dog . . . but they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak,and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand. . . . 

"But then I saw Peter in that picture . . . I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry and you . . . perfectly positioned to act, if one hintreached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again. . . ." 

Pettigrew was shaking his head, mouthing noiselessly, but staring all the while at Black as though hypnotized.

 ". . . ready to strike at the moment he could be sure of allies . . .and to deliver the last Potters to them. If he gave them Harry and Emma, who'd dare say he'd betrayed Lord Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back with honors. . . . 

"So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive. . . ." 

"It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the dementors couldn't destroy it. . . . It wasn't a happy feeling . . . it was an obsession . . . but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind. So, one nightwhen they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as adog. . . . It's so much harder for them to sense animal emotions thatthey were confused. . . . I was thin, very thin . . . thin enough to slipthrough the bars. . . . I swam as a dog back to the mainland. . . . Ijourneyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts grounds as a dog. 

I'vebeen living in the forest ever since, except when I came to watch theQuidditch, of course. You fly as well as your father did, Harry. . . ."He looked at Harry, who did not look away. Then his eyes met mine. "I saw--I saw you scream for your brother--" he said "you sounded--tortured. Your mother sounded the same way when James was knocked out. Except her feelings were less sister-like."

"Believe me," croaked Black. "Believe me, Emma and Harry. I neverbetrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them."

 And at long last, I believed him. Throat too tight to speak, we nodded."

No!"Pettigrew had fallen to his knees as though our nod had beenhis own death sentence. He shuffled forward on his knees, groveling, his hands clasped in front of him as though praying."Sirius — it's me . . . it's Peter . . . your friend . . . you wouldn't . . ." 

Black kicked out and Pettigrew recoiled. 

"There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them,"said Black. 

"Remus!" Pettigrew squeaked, turning to Lupin instead, writhing imploringly in front of him. "You don't believe this . . .wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?" 

"Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter," said Lupin. "I assumethat's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?" he said casually over Pettigrew's head.

 "Forgive me, Remus," said Black.

 "Not at all, Padfoot, old friend," said Lupin, who was nowrolling up his sleeves. "And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?"

 "Of course," said Black, and the ghost of a grin flitted across hisgaunt face. He, too, began rolling up his sleeves. "Shall we kill himtogether?" 

"Yes, I think so," said Lupin grimly. 

"Hold on." I said, everyone looked at me. My wand, which had been in my limp hand was pointed at Pettigrew "what's the spell?"

"Sorry?" said Lupin

"The spell your going to use, what's the incantation?" 

"Emma--you--you don't plan on--on doing it with us?"

"Oh course I do" I snarled "I wanted to kill Sirius because I thought he murdered my parents. Now, I find out he's protecting them. I'm no maniac, I don't go around killing people for no reason. He, however--" I growled at Pettigrew "I have a very good reason to kill. You both lost your best friend because of that man. I lost my parents, so I'll ask again; What's. The. Spell?"

"Like mother like daughter" said Sirius "It's Avada Kedavra."

"Sirius!"

"What? She has a right--"

"You wouldn't . . . you won't. . . ," gasped Pettigrew. And hescrambled around to Ron."Ron . . . haven't I been a good friend . . . a good pet? You won'tlet them kill me, Ron, will you . . . you're on my side, aren'tyou?" 

But Ron was staring at Pettigrew with the utmost revulsion."I let you sleep in my bed!" he said. 

"Kind boy . . . kind master . . ." Pettigrew crawled toward Ron,"you won't let them do it. . . . I was your rat. . . . I was a goodpet. . . ." 

"If you made a better rat than a human, it's not much to boastabout, Peter," said Black harshly. 

Ron, going still paler with pain,wrenched his broken leg out of Pettigrew's reach. 

Pettigrew turned onhis knees, staggered forward, and seized the hem of Hermione's robes."Sweet girl . . . clever girl . . . you — you won't let them. . . .Help me. . . ."Hermione pulled her robes out of Pettigrew's clutching handsand backed away against the wall, looking horrified. 

Then he crawled to me "Emma...he said "Emma. lily would want me to change, she would want me to live. Oh you look so much like her--"

"Don't you dare talk to her about her mother" snarled black .

Pettigrew knelt, trembling uncontrollably, and turned his headslowly toward Harry."Harry . . . Harry . . . you look just like your father . . . just likehim. . . ." 

"Get the hell away from my brother!"

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY AND EMMA?" roared Black."HOW DARE YOU FACE THEM? HOW DARE YOU TALKABOUT JAMES AND LILY IN FRONT OF THEM?"

 "Harry," whispered Pettigrew, shuffling toward him, hands outstretched. "Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed. . . .James would have understood, Harry . . . he would have shown memercy. . . ."

 Both Black and Lupin strode forward, seized Pettigrew's shoulders, and threw him backward onto the floor. 

He sat there, twitching with terror, staring up at them."You sold Lily and James to Voldemort," said Black, who wasshaking too. "Do you deny it?

"Pettigrew burst into tears. It was horrible to watch, like an oversized, balding baby, cowering on the floor."Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark Lord . . . youhave no idea . . . he has weapons you can't imagine. . . . I wasscared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and James. Inever meant it to happen. . . . He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Namedforced me —" 

"DON'T LIE!" bellowed Black. "YOU'D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY ANDJAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!" 

"He — he was taking over everywhere!" gasped Pettigrew."Wh — what was there to be gained by refusing him?" 

"What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizardwho has ever existed?" said Black, with a terribly fury in his face."Only innocent lives, Peter!""

You don't understand!" whined Pettigrew. "He would havekilled me, Sirius!"

 "THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" roared Black. "DIEDRATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULDHAVE DONE FOR YOU!"

 Black and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised."You should have realized," said Lupin quietly, "if Voldemortdidn't kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter."

 Hermione covered her face with her hands and buried her head in Ron's shoulder

 "NO!" Harry yelled. He ran forward, placing himself in front ofPettigrew, facing the wands. "You can't kill him," he said breathlessly. "You can't."

Me, Black and Lupin looked staggered

."Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents,"Black snarled. "This cringing bit of filth would have seen you dietoo, without turning a hair. You heard him. His own stinking skinmeant more to him than your whole family."

 "I know," Harry panted. "We'll take him up to the castle. We'llhand him over to the dementors. . . . He can go to Azkaban . . .but don't kill him."

"Harry--" I started

"Please, Emma--"

 "Harry!" gasped Pettigrew, and he flung his arms around Harry'sknees. "You — thank you — it's more than I deserve — thankyou —"

 "Get off me," Harry spat, throwing Pettigrew's hands off him in disgust. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because — I don'treckon my dad would've wanted them to become killers — Especially not his daughter--just foryou."

 No one moved or made a sound except Pettigrew, whose breathwas coming in wheezes as he clutched his chest. Black and Lupinwere looking at each other. Then, with one movement, they lowered their wands.

 "You're the only people who have the right to decide, Harry and Emma," saidBlack. "But think . . . think what he did. . . ."

 "He can go to Azkaban," Harry repeated. "If anyone deservesthat place, he does. . . ."

 Pettigrew was still wheezing behind him. 

"Emma?"

"Fine" I growled

"Very well," said Lupin. "Stand aside, Harry."

 Harry hesitated."I'm going to tie him up," said Lupin. "That's all, I swear."Harry stepped out of the way. Thin cords shot from Lupin'swand this time, and next moment, Pettigrew was wriggling on thefloor, bound and gagged. 

"But if you transform, Peter," growled Black, his own wandpointing at Pettigrew too, "we will kill you. You agree, Harry?"Harry looked down at the pitiful figure on the floor and noddedso that Pettigrew could see him.

 "Right," said Lupin, suddenly businesslike. "Ron, I can't mendbones nearly as well as Madam Pomfrey, so I think it's best ifwe just strap your leg up until we can get you to the hospitalwing."He hurried over to Ron, bent down, tapped Ron's leg withhis wand, and muttered, "Ferula." Bandages spun up Ron's leg, strapping it tightly to a splint. Lupin helped him to his feet; Ronput his weight gingerly on the leg and didn't wince. 

"That's better," he said. "Thanks."

 "What about Professor Snape?" said Hermione in a small voice,looking down at Snape's prone figure.

 "There's nothing seriously wrong with him," said Lupin, bending over Snape and checking his pulse. "You were just a little —overenthusiastic. Still out cold. Er — perhaps it will be best if wedon't revive him until we're safely back in the castle. We can takehim like this. . . ."He muttered, "Mobilicorpus." 

As though invisible strings weretied to Snape's wrists, neck, and knees, he was pulled into a standing position, head still lolling unpleasantly, like a grotesque puppet. He hung a few inches above the ground, his limp feetdangling. Lupin picked up the Invisibility Cloak and tucked itsafely into his pocket. 

"And two of us should be chained to this," said Black, nudgingPettigrew with his toe. "Just to make sure."

 "I'll do it," said Lupin.

 "And me," said Ron savagely, limping forward.Black conjured heavy manacles from thin air; soon Pettigrewwas upright again, left arm chained to Lupin's right, right arm toRon's left. Ron's face was set. He seemed to have taken Scabbers'strue identity as a personal insult. Crookshanks leapt lightly off thebed and led the way out of the room, his bottlebrush tail held jauntily high.

I had never been part of a stranger group. Crookshanks led the way down the stairs; Lupin, Pettigrew,and Ron went next, looking like entrants in a six-legged race. Nextcame Professor Snape, drifting creepily along, his toes hitting eachstair as we descended, held up by his own wand, which was beingpointed at him by Sirius. Harry, me,  and Hermione brought up the rear.Getting back into the tunnel was difficult

. Lupin, Pettigrew, andRon had to turn sideways to manage it; Lupin still had Pettigrewcovered with his wand. I could see them edging awkwardlyalong the tunnel in single file. Crookshanks was still in the lead. 

Harry and I went right after Black, who was still making Snape driftalong ahead of them; he kept bumping his lolling head on the lowceiling. I had the impression Black was making no effort toprevent this. 

"You know what this means?" Black said abruptly to Harry and me as we made their slow progress along the tunnel. "Turning Pettigrew in?"

"You're free," said Harry. 

"Yes . . . ," said Black. "But I'm also — I don't know if anyoneever told you — I'm your godfather." 

"Yeah, we knew that," I said.

 "Well . . . your parents appointed me your guardian," said Blackstiffly. "If anything happened to them . . ." Harry and I waited. Did Black mean what we thought he meant?

 "I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt anduncle," said Black. "But . . . well . . . think about it. Once myname's cleared . . . if you wanted a . . . a different home . . ."

 Some sort of explosion took place in the pit of my stomach. 

"What — live with you?" Harry said, accidentally cracking his headon a bit of rock protruding from the ceiling. "Leave the Dursleys?" 

"Of course, I thought you wouldn't want to," said Black quickly."I understand, I just thought I'd —" 

"Are you insane?" I said  "Of course we want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house?When can we move in?"Black turned right around to look at us; Snape's head wasscraping the ceiling but Black didn't seem to care. 

"You want to?" he said. "You mean it?" 

"Yeah, we mean it!"I said "If it weren't for these stupid rules, we'd have already turned our aunt, uncle and cousin into a horse, a cow and pig respectively!"

Harry laughed.

Black's gaunt face broke into the first true smile I had seenupon it. The difference it made was startling, as though a personten years younger were shining through the starved mask; for a moment, I was recognizable as the man who had laughed at our parents' wedding. 

We did not speak again until we had reached the end of thetunnel. Crookshanks darted up first; he had evidently pressed his paw to the knot on the trunk, because Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ronclambered upward without any sound of savaging branches.

 Black saw Snape up through the hole, then stood back for Me, Harryand Hermione to pass. At last, all of us were out.The grounds were very dark now; the only light came from thedistant windows of the castle. 

Without a word, we set off. Pettigrew was still wheezing and occasionally whimpering. My mind was buzzing. We were going to leave the Dursleys. We were going to live with Sirius Black, our parents' best friend. . . .I feltdazed. . . . What would happen when we told the Dursleys we were going to live with the convict they'd seen on television. . . 

!"One wrong move, Peter," said Lupin threateningly ahead. Hiswand was still pointed sideways at Pettigrew's chest.Silently we tramped through the grounds, the castle lightsgrowing slowly larger. Snape was still drifting weirdly ahead ofBlack, his chin bumping on his chest. And then —A cloud shifted. 

There were suddenly dim shadows on theground. Our party was bathed in moonlight.Snape collided with Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron, who hadstopped abruptly. Black froze. He flung out one arm to make Me, Harry and Hermione stop. 

I could see Lupin's silhouette. He had gone rigid. Then hislimbs began to shake. 

"Oh, my —" Hermione gasped. "He didn't take his potiontonight! He's not safe!" 

"Run," Black whispered. "Run. Now." 

But we couldn't run. Ron was chained to Pettigrew andLupin. Harry leapt forward but Black caught him around the chestand threw him back.

"Leave it to me — RUN!"

 There was a terrible snarling noise. Lupin's head was lengthening.So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sproutingvisibly on his face and hands, which were curling into clawed paws.Crookshanks's hair was on end again; he was backing away — 

As the werewolf reared, snapping its long jaws, Sirius disappeared from Harry and my side. He had transformed. The enormous,bearlike dog bounded forward. As the werewolf wrenched itselffree of the manacle binding it, the dog seized it about the neck andpulled it backward, away from Ron and Pettigrew. 

They werelocked, jaw to jaw, claws ripping at each other —Harry stood, transfixed by the sight, too intent upon the battleto notice anything else. It was Hermione's scream that alertedhim — 

Pettigrew had dived for Lupin's dropped wand. Ron, unsteadyon his bandaged leg, fell. There was a bang, a burst of light — andRon lay motionless on the ground. Another bang — Crookshanksflew into the air and back to the earth in a heap. 

"Expelliarmus!" I yelled, pointing my own wand at Pettigrew; Lupin's wand flew high into the air and out of sight. "Staywhere you are!" Harry shouted, running forward.

 Too late. Pettigrew had transformed. I saw his bald tailwhip through the manacle on Ron's outstretched arm and heard ascurrying through the grass.