Year Three - Chapter Nine

This was starting to become a trend. If this kept up, I'd need to find a way to fix the Hogwarts' house points at the start of the term feast in order to one-up the fact I was solving the books' plots within months rather than the full school year it would normally take.

As it was, I walked into the Headmaster's office with a friendly and freshly groomed black dog by my side.

"Headmaster," I said gently, watching the kind old man stare at me. I hadn't come through the gargoyle entrance, but through the Room of Requirements, "I am sorry to bother you, but concerning the fixing points for this year thing...would the resurrection of a dead man, the clearance of crimes of a criminal and the incredible coincidence of also finding the real guilty party behind the Fidelius Charm's failing of the Potters suffice as a bargaining tool?"

The Headmaster looked at me.

I looked at the Headmaster with Luna's beatific smile number Four, also known as the Trollish Smile that Could.

"Mister Umbrus," he whispered, looking at the dog that by my side. "Is that...?"

"A friendly neighborhood doggo, Headmaster," I said quite amenably. "He'll stay a friendly neighborhood doggo if you will believe me when I say that I just need a moment of your time to walk with me through this door," I pointed at the Room of Requirements door, "And then through another door into the Gryffindors' common room to take a rat, Headmaster, a simple enough Rat, from one certain Weasley Ron. Said rat misses a toe, and is in truth a certain Peter Pettigrew, the real secret keeper of the Potters' Fidelius charm."

The Headmaster took a very deep breath.

"They all became Animagus to protect Professor Lupin's secret of being a Werewolf, Headmaster," I continued smoothly. "Professor Remus Lupin may identify correctly Peter Pettigrew's form, wouldn't you agree?"

"I will have him called," the Headmaster settled for, tapping his wand and letting a wisp of smoke depart it, words whispered within them that soon took the form of a bird-like entity which flew away. He stood up. "Mister Umbrus..." he began, and then stopped. He seemed to be searching for the right words to say. "If everything you just said is true, I will ensure someone will receive my deepest apologies," he looked at the friendly neighborhood dog, which barked back with its tongue lolling. "If, however, it turns out you are being subjected to the Unforgivable known as the Imperius...then I can guarantee you, your jailer will not like the consequences of his foolish actions."

"Headmaster," I mumbled, "It's not like I'd be able to tell you I've been imperius'ed or not, but I'm reasonably certain he'd need to have managed to steal my wand from me," I extended it in the Headmaster's direction, "If you want, you can keep hold of it."

"Mister Umbrus," the Headmaster neared, and indeed took my wand in his hands. "You would risk your life, and everything it entails, for the sake of proving a man's innocence?"

"Well," I awkwardly shuffled my feet. I couldn't say I had meta-knowledge he really was innocent now, could I? "It's what Headmaster Dumbledore would do, and so...I can't go astray or be wrong if I do that now, can I?"

The Headmaster's shoulders slumped ever so slightly, "You foolish boy," he muttered, nearly choking on the words themselves. "Following such a foolish hero can only lead to a foolish end." He shook his head, and then gestured for us to move along.

"Now remember, friendly neighborhood dog, be calm and at ease. No growling, no barking, stay in the corner and out of sight. It's important nothing goes wrong," my annoyance factor wouldn't take it. Nothing made me pop a vein as seeing a perfectly constructed castle of cards fall down into a mess of cluttered cards.

It was because of that feeling that I held my breath as the Room of Requirements opened a door all the way to the Gryffindors' common room. We emerged into a comfy spot, with a fire crackling and a few students looking at us in disbelief.

"Don't worry, we aren't real right now," I said with a bright grin. My eyes zeroed on the stairway, "Any of you know which is Ron Weasley's room?"

A student raised his hand. Red hair, he turned out to be Percival Weasley. "Would you mind going upstairs and taking down Ron's pet rat? Without saying a word, without muttering about how strange it is for the Headmaster to be in the common room, and without removing the rat from its cage?" I asked again, gently smiling.

Percy Weasley looked from me to the Headmaster, then back at me, and then quietly nodded as if too dumbstruck to even think about it.

In the meantime, the secret door of the fat lady swung aside as someone crawled through. Remus Lupin's figure arrived, short on breath from the urgency of the call and then paled quite quickly at the sight of the large, black dog.

"Silence!" I hissed at him, a finger on my lips, "We know! Quiet now!" he looked at me.

Everyone was literally looking at me as if I had grown fifteen heads, all spouting venom and fire. "The rat is coming," I continued smoothly, "a reunion at hand."

The students had meanwhile gathered, and as Dumbledore quietly made a table float to the center of the room and moved the rest of the furniture away, Percy broke through the circle with the rat cage, the large Scabbers within.

The moment the rat came into view and saw the dog-like form of Sirius, it began to squeak in a furious frenzy.

It shrieked, wildly trying to run away.

Sirius Black growled at it, but remained where he stood. "Headmaster," I said, "The honor is yours."

"Mister Umbrus," he answered in turn, "it is never an honor," he pointed the wand at the rat, and within seconds the form grew into that of a balding man, wearing a dingy and dusty suit, with wide eyes and a look of terror on its face as the cage around him bent and broke. "To have proof of a student's failure and treachery right in front of his eyes."

Remus stared, aghast.

"S-Scabbers!?" Percy all but exclaimed, his face white as a blanket.

"I-I c-can explain, H-headmaster! I-"

"You sold Lily and James Potter to Voldemort," I snarled, cutting the wind out of his sails. "You sold them as you were their secret keeper," I pressed on, "And you hid and faked your death, because you knew you wouldn't remain innocent if interrogated, if pressed for the truth-you can't hide your crime, Peter," I fixed my gaze on him, straight ahead, "And you can't run any longer."

The spell deftly departed from the Headmaster's wand, and Peter Pettigrew fell down, slumped and unconscious on the floor of the Gryffindors' Common Room.

"Mister Umbrus," the Headmaster muttered as he handed me back my wand. "I suppose your incredible intuitions were correct. That will be two hundred points for Ravenclaw," his eyes twinkled, if with the tired resignation of a man seeing his double sentenced to a ruinous end, "We will speak later of the rest. For now, let us warn the ministry and ensure an innocent does not suffer a minute longer its unjust hunt."

It was only once I was reasonably sure that the Magical Prime Minister had seen Peter Pettigrew, and that the Dementors had left the premises, and that everything had turned out okay that I took a deep breath of relief and then crumbled down laughing like a mad loon.

My laughter echoed through the Room of Requirements' walls and bounced off, threatening to make my heart burst from excitement.

It was only October.

Next Year, I'd need to get the problem solved by the end of September.

Who needed silly year-long plotlines, when one could enjoy a full year experience of 'proper schooling at Hogwarts'?

A Wizard Education was magical indeed...

...thus, it needed to be properly taught without distractions!