. . .

Hermione screamed. Black leaped to his feet. Matilda rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"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...."

"You shouldn't take things that aren't yours, Professor," said Matilda, placing a hand on her hip.

Snape was slightly breathless, but his face was full of suppressed triumph. "You're wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here?" he said, his eyes glittering.

"No, not really," mumbled Matilda, but Professor Snape continued.

"I've just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a goblet full along. And very lucky I did... lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway and out of sight."

"Oh wow, you've cracked the code," said Matilda under breath, turning away from Professor Snape as she spoke.

"Severus—" Lupin began, but Snape overrode him.

"I've told the headmaster again and again that you're helping your 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 place as your hideout—"

"Severus, you're making a mistake," said Lupin urgently. "You haven't heard everything — I can explain — Sirius is not here to kill Harry—"

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

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

BANG! Thin, snakelike cords burst from the end of Snape's wand and twisted themselves around Lupin's mouth, wrists, and ankles; he overbalanced and fell to the floor, unable to move. With a roar of rage, Black started toward Snape, but Snape pointed his wand straight between Black's eyes.

"Give me a reason," he whispered. "Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will."

Tilly watched as Black stopped dead. It would have been impossible to say which face showed more hatred.

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

Tilly looked at Hermione surprised. Not long ago she was heckling Lupin for being a werewolf.

"Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension from this school," Snape spat. "You, Potter, Winters, and Weasley are out-of-bounds, in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your life, hold your tongue."

Matilda grew angrier at Snape for the tone he was using to speak to Hermione.

"You should listen to her Professor, you don't understand—"

"KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!" Snape shouted, looking suddenly quite deranged. "DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" A few sparks shot out of the end of his wand, which was still pointed at Black's face. Matilda's eyes widened as her blood began to boil. She had gripped her wand so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

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

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

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

What little color there was in Blacks 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 Matilda had never seen before. She knew Snape was beyond reason.

"Come on, all of you," he said. He clicked his fingers, and the ends of the cords that bound Lupin flew to his hands. "I'll drag the werewolf. Perhaps the dementors will have a kiss for him too –"

Tilly looked at Harry. A pleading look, and before he knew what he was doing, Harry had crossed the room in 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 me about a hundred times this year," Harry said. "I've been alone with him loads of times, having defense lessons against the dementors. If he was helping Black, why didn't he just finish me off then?"

Matilda shrugged Harry made a fair point.

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

"What is it with you and your childish obsessions?" asked Matilda, surprising everyone by using a calm tone of voice. "They made a fool of you while in school, and because of that you refuse to listen, it's quite immature—"

"SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!" Snape shrieked, looking madder than ever.

"DON'T YELL AT HER, SHE'S RIGHT!" Harry shrieked, still blocking the exit.

Snape seethed looking at Harry.

"Just like your fathers, the both of you! I have just saved your neck; you should be thanking me on bended knee! You all would have been well served if he'd killed you! You'd have died like your father, Potter, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black—now get out of my way, or I will make you. GET OUT OF THE WAY, POTTER!"

Tilly had made her mind up in less than a second. Before Snape could even take one step toward Harry, she raised her wand.

"Stupefy!"

She yelled, her voice echoing through the small room. There was a blast that made the door rattle on its hinges; Snape was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall, then slid down it to the floor, a trickle of blood oozing from under his hair. He had been knocked out.

Matilda looked around. Both Ron and Hermione had their wands out and raised as well. Snape's wand rolled across the floor and landed near the bed that Crookshanks lay on.

"Why on earth have you two got your wands out?" asked Matilda, still in a daze after knocking out her Professor.

They both shrugged.

"Just in case," said Ron, looking at Snape then gulping.

"Oh," nodded, Tilly. "Okay then."

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

Tilly shrugged, looking over to Black.

"You were taking too long..."

"We attacked a teacher... We attacked a teacher..." Hermione whimpered, staring at the lifeless Snape with frightened eyes. "Oh, we're going to be in so much trouble –"

Matilda looked over at Hermione with her eyebrows raised.

"We?" asked Matilda surprised. "It was me, I attacked a teacher, and I can assure you I'll be fine."

"Well Ron and I did have our wands raised," Hermione continued to whimper.

"Oh congratulations," said Matilda, clapping sarcastically for her. "You made it look like you participated!"

Lupin was struggling against his bonds. Black bent down quickly and untied him. Lupin straightened up, rubbing his arms where the ropes had cut into them.

"Thank you, Matilda," he said and nodded toward Harry. "And you as well, Harry."

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

Matilda groaned.

"Then it's time we offered you some proof," said Lupin. "You, boy—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 out of Azkaban just to get his hands on Scabbers? I mean..." He looked up at Harry and Hermione for support, "Okay, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat—there are millions of rats—how's he supposed to know which one he's after if he was locked up in Azkaban?"

Matilda's eyes widened as she became surprised that the question Ron proposed made sense.

"You know, Sirius, that's a fair question," said Lupin, turning to Black and frowning slightly. "How did you find out where he was?"

Black put one of his claw-like hands inside his robes and took out a crumpled piece of paper, which he smoothed flat and held out to show the others.

It was the photograph of Ron and his family that had appeared in the Daily Prophet the previous summer, and there, on Ron's shoulder, 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 front page on this boy's shoulder... I knew him at once... how many times had I seen him transform? And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts... to where Harry was...

"Has he got a toe missing?" asked Matilda, trying to peek around their shoulders to get a glimpse of the photo. "I heard they found a finger of his after he disappeared."

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

"What?" asked Ron defiantly.

"He is, in fact, missing a toe," said Black.

"Of course," Lupin breathed. "So simple... so brilliant... he cut 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 and James. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself – and sped down into the sewer with the other rats...."

"Didn't you ever hear, Ron?" said Lupin. "The biggest bit of Peter 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 –"

"Ron..." sighed Matilda.

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

"We – we've been taking good care of him!" said Ron.

Matilda snorted out a laugh.

"I'm sorry, you believed your rat was living so long because he was eating hearty meals?" asked Matilda, still chuckling, "Ron, that's ridiculous!"

"Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he?" said Lupin. "I'd guess he's been losing weight ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose again...."

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

But that wasn't right, Matilda thought suddenly... Harry had told her that Scabbers had been looking ill before he met Crookshanks... ever since Ron's return from Egypt... since the time when Black had escaped.

"This cat isn't mad," said Black hoarsely. He reached out a bony hand and stroked Crookshanks's fluffy head. "He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognized Peter for what he was right away. And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It was a 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 the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me... As I understand it, he took them from a boy's bedside table...."

"Neville," whispered Matilda.

"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 bit himself... Well, faking his own death had worked once."

Everything said made complete sense to Matilda.

"And why did he fake his death?" Harry said furiously. "Because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed my 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

"Well, at least he's truthful," shrugged Matilda, looking at Harry.

"Then I should've let Snape take you!" Harry shouted.

Matilda rolled her eyes.

"That's a bit harsh, Harry," whispered Matilda.

"Matilda's right Harry," said Lupin hurriedly. "Don't you see? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down—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!" Harry yelled. "HE WAS THEIR SECRET-KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU TURNED UP. HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!"

He was pointing at Black, who shook his head slowly; the sunken eyes were suddenly over bright. The bright eyes looked familiar to everyone in the room.

"Harry... I as good as killed them," he croaked. "I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them 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. I was scared. I set out for your parents' house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies... I realized what 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 his voice Tilly had never heard before. "There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat."

"What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?" Ron asked Lupin tensely.

"Ron," whispered Matilda, turning and bending down to face Ron. "Give him the rat, trust me okay? Just hand him the rat."

"I'm just going to force him to show himself," said Lupin. "If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him."

"See," said Matilda, placing a gentle on hand on Ron's wrist. "It won't hurt."

Ron looked at Matilda and she nodded, he hesitated. Then at long last, he held out Scabbers and Lupin 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 suddenly seemed to be burning in his face.

"Together?" he said quietly.

"I think so," said Lupin, holding Scabbers tightly in one hand and 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 twisting madly—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 head was shooting upward from the ground; limbs were sprouting; a moment later, a man was standing where Scabbers had been, cringing and wringing his hands. Crookshanks was spitting and snarling on the bed; the hair on his back was standing up.

He was a very short man, hardly taller than Harry or Hermione. His thin, colorless hair was unkempt and there was a large bald patch on top. He had the shrunken appearance of a plump man who has lost a lot of weight in a short time. His skin looked grubby, almost like Scabbers's fur, and something of the rat lingered around his pointed nose and his very small, watery eyes. He looked around at them all, his breathing fast and shallow. Tilly saw his eyes dart to the door and back again.

"Oh, what is that?" asked Matilda, almost to the point of gagging. "Change it back, please!"

"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..."

"It's hideous, I'm going to be sick," Matilda muttered, turning her head away.

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

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

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

"We've heard the story already," said Matilda, her nose curled in disgust. "Though some parts just don't add up—like the fact that you're not dead!"

Black nodded, agreeing with Matilda.

"He's come to try and kill me again!" Pettigrew squeaked suddenly, pointing at Black, and Matilda watched as Harry noticed that he used his middle finger, because his index was missing. "He killed Lily and James and 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 at Pettigrew with his fathomless eyes.

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

"What?" asked Matilda, disappointment evident in her voice.

"Sort things out?" squealed Pettigrew, looking wildly about him once more, eyes taking in the boarded windows and, again' the only 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!"

"Really?" asked Matilda, her brow furrowed. "You knew he was going to break out of Azkaban even though it's nearly impossible to do so?"

"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 suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him a few tricks!"

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

"Voldemort, teach me tricks?" he said.

Pettigrew flinched as though Black had brandished a whip at him.

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

"Don't know what you mean, Sirius –" muttered Pettigrew, his breathing faster than ever. His whole face was shining with sweat now.

"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years," said Black. "You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter... They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them... I've heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters' on your information... and Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out there, 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 Pettigrew again, more shrilly than ever. He wiped his face on his sleeve and looked up at Lupin. "You don't believe this – this madness, Remus –"

"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat," said Lupin evenly.

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

Black's face contorted.

"How dare you," he growled, sounding suddenly like the bear-sized dog he had been. I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter – I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look 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't know 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 step backward.

"I thought it was the perfect plan... a bluff... Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless thing like you... It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters."

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

"Professor Lupin?" said Hermione timidly. "Can-can I say something?"

Tilly rolled her eyes. Hermione hasn't been the most competent person here this evening.

"Certainly, Hermione," said Lupin courteously.

"Oh, here we go," muttered Tilly, only Black was able to catch on to her annoyance.

"Well – Scabbers – I mean, this-this man – he's been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for three years. If he's working for You-Know-Who, how come he never tried to hurt Harry 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's head! Why should I?"

Without saying a word Tilly done the motion of the chicken that one would do during the chicken dance, and she flapped them a few times just to taunt Pettigrew. She smiled and looked right into his beady eyes.

"I'll tell you why," said Black. "Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort's been in hiding for fifteen years, they say he's half dead. You weren't about to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore's nose, for a wreck of a wizard who'd lost all his power, were you? You'd want 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 a wizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren't YOU, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him...."

"So, basically, the same as I suggested only in words," said Matilda with a shrug.

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

"Erm – Black – Sirius? Not quite sure on how to address you," said Matilda, turning her attention away from Pettigrew. "I'm Matilda, by the way, Matilda Winters."

She politely reached her hand out for him to take.

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

After their handshake, Matilda looked down at her hand disgustedly and wiped the dirt, grime, and sweat that came from Sirius Black onto her already dirty skirt.

"I'm just going to ask what we've all been wondering – if you didn't use Dark Magic, how on earth did you manage to escape Azkaban?"

"Thank you!" gasped Pettigrew, nodding frantically at her. "Exactly! Precisely what I –"

"Would you pipe down?" Matilda asked interrupting Peter, shaking her head. "I'm far from being on your side!"

That comment silenced him. Black was frowning slightly at Matilda, but not as though he were annoyed with her. 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... perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached 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 Potter to them. If he gave them Harry, 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...."

Harry remembered what Mr. Weasley had told Mrs. Weasley. "The guards say he's been talking in his sleep... always the same words... 'He's at Hogwarts.'"

"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 night when they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as a dog... It's so much harder for them to sense animal emotions that they were confused... I was thin, very thin... thin enough to slip through the bars... I swam as a dog back to the mainland... I journeyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts grounds as a dog. I've been living in the forest ever since, except when I came to watch the Quidditch, of course. You fly as well as your father did, Harry...."

He looked at Harry, who did not look away.

"Believe me," croaked Black. "Believe me, Harry. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them."

And at long last, Matilda could see that Harry believed him. He didn't speak but offered a nod.

"No!"

Pettigrew had fallen to his knees as though Harry's nod had been his 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 assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?" he said casually over Pettigrew's head.

"Forgive me, Remus," said Black.

"Wow," muttered Matilda. "That's a harsh revelation."

"Not at all, Padfoot, old friend," said Lupin, who was now rolling 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 his gaunt face. He, too, began rolling up his sleeves. "Shall we kill him together?"

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

Tilly's eyes widened, though not in fear like Hermione, they widened with pure excitement. They were glistening with anticipation.

"You wouldn't... you won't...," gasped Pettigrew. And he scrambled around to Ron where Matilda took a protective step in front of him.

"Ron... haven't I been a good friend... a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you... you're on my side, aren't you?"

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 good pet...."

Tilly nudged Pettigrew away from Ron with her foot.

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

Ron, going still paler with pain, wrenched his broken leg out of Pettigrew's reach. Pettigrew turned on his 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 hands and backed away against the wall, looking horrified.

"Is it odd that I'm a little offended he didn't try groveling to me?" asked Matilda, looking back at Ron.

Ron just shrugged his shoulders.

Pettigrew knelt, trembling uncontrollably, and turned his head slowly toward Harry.

"Harry... Harry... you look just like your father... just like him...."

"Yeah, we've heard that before," waved Matilda. "Like a thousand different times."

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY?" roared Black. "HOW DARE YOU FACE HIM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM?"

"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 me mercy..."

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 was shaking 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... you have no idea... he has weapons you can't imagine... I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and James. I never meant it to happen... He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me –"

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

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

"Dignity, integrity, a sense of self-worth?" said Matilda. "I mean, I could continue..."

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

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

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

Black and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised. Matilda's heart began to race as she watched intently.

"You should have realized," said Lupin quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter."

Matilda offered Peter Pettigrew a small and taunting wave goodbye as she smiled to him. Hermione covered her face with her hands and turned to the wall.

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

"What!?" whined Matilda with a look of disappointment.

Black and Lupin both 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 die too, without turning a hair. You heard him. His own stinking skin meant more to him than your whole family."

"Exactly," added Matilda, her tone still whiny and disappointed.

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

"Dumbledore will never allow us to kill him then," muttered Matilda, crossing her arms over her chest disappointedly.

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

"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't reckon my dad would've wanted them to become killers – just for you."

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

Matilda, annoyed, stomped her foot.

"You're the only person who has the right to decide, Harry," said Black. "But think... think what he did..."

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

Matilda stepped up.

"Okay, are we really sure that Harry should really be making these decisions?" asked Matilda. "I mean his state of mind right now could be considered unreliable."

"Matilda..." said Lupin softly.

"Fine," groaned Matilda as she rolled her eyes angrily. "I guess we don't have to kill him!"

Pettigrew was still wheezing behind him.

"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's wand this time, and next moment, Pettigrew was wriggling on the floor, bound and gagged.

"But if you transform, Peter," growled Black, his own wand pointing at Pettigrew too, "we will kill you. You agree, Harry?"

Harry looked down at the pitiful figure on the floor and nodded so that Pettigrew could see him.

"Oh, please transform, please transform," begged Matilda, crossing her fingers.

"Right," said Lupin, suddenly business-like. "Ron, I can't mend bones nearly as well as Madam Pomfrey, so I think it's best if we just strap your leg up until we can get you to the hospital wing."

He hurried over to Ron, bent down, tapped Ron's leg with his wand, and muttered, "Ferula."

Bandages spun up Ron's leg, strapping it tightly to a splint. Lupin helped him to his feet; Ron put his weight gingerly on the leg and didn't wince.

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

Matilda stood close by Ron, wrapping her arm around his waist to help support his weight.

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

"We leave him here," shrugged Matilda, looking at Snape, still slumped against the wall.

"There's nothing seriously wrong with him," said Lupin, bending over Snape and checking his pulse. "Matilda was just a little – overenthusiastic. Still out cold. Er – perhaps it will be best if we don't revive him until we're safely back in the castle. We can take him like this...."

He muttered, "Mobilicorpus."

As though invisible strings were tied 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 feet dangling. Lupin picked up the Invisibility Cloak and tucked it safely into his pocket.

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

"I'll do it," said Lupin.

"And me," said Ron savagely, limping forward.

"What?" asked Matilda, looking to Ron as if he'd lost his mind. "Absolutely not!"

"Matilda, he was my rat," said Ron, puffing his chest out. "I need to do this."

"No," said Matilda, shaking her head. "You really don't."

But when Matilda looked up at Ron he glared at Pettigrew with a fierceness in his eyes. He felt responsible and Matilda knew that there would be no use in trying to convince him to walk with her to the castle.

Black conjured heavy manacles from thin air; soon Pettigrew was upright again, left arm chained to Lupin's right, right arm to Ron's left. Ron's face was set. He seemed to have taken Scabbers's true identity as a personal insult. Crookshanks leaped lightly off the bed and led the way out of the room, his bottlebrush tail held jauntily high.