19. The Dog and the Rat

"So, what's going to be our first step?" Dumbledore asked with much interest.

"Well, for starters I am going to need the support of your order of the phoenix. I am going to try to become the new minister of magic soon and I need the votes. The current ministry is filled with many of Voldemort's supporters, and if we want to bring some real change then we'll have to start from there. However, I am not planning to stay as minister for very long as I have already found my replacement." Alexander replied.

Dumbledore nodded at his plan and asked.

"And who might this replacement be?"

"Oh... You know her, she is the brightest student of Hogwarts. Miss Hermione Granger. She was born to non-magicals, she is smart, intelligent and also strong." Alexander said with a proud voice.

"Yes... Yes... She is very good for that position. As she grows up and completes her studies, we will be cleaning up the mess that the magical community has turned into," Dumbledore pointed.

"Exactly my point, my friend. On a second thought, let's start cleaning it right now." He said and got ready to leave.

"Where are we going?"

"To catch a dog and a mouse... trust me, you are about to get some much-needed answers," Alexander said.

Both of them walked out of the Hogwarts castle and went into the forbidden forest. Alexander had a small compass in his hand which was the upgraded version of the marauder's map. It had a much wider range.

Soon they came across a hollowed tree. They could hear some noises from inside.

"Come out Sirius Black." He shouted. Dumbledore looked at Alexander's face with shock.

"What? I told you we were going to catch a dog" Soon a thin black-haired man came out from the shadows of the hollowed tree.

"Merlin, you look miserable," Dumbledore exclaimed.

"Did you come here to catch me like everyone else?" Sirius roared in anger.

"Easy boy, I know you didn't betray the Potters, it was Peter. Trust me, I can help you in not just catching him but also prove your innocence. Don't you wanna be with Harry? You are supposed to be his godfather aren't you?" Alexander said. Sirius came back to his senses after hearing Harry's name. Dumbledore just listened quietly and let Alexander's words sink in.

"Are you sure Alex?"

"Yes Albus, amongst the order, it was commonly known that Sirius was the secret keeper but for extra safety, Peter was made the secret keeper as no one would expect him to be the one and Sirius would act as the decoy but who knew that Peter was a spy of Voldemort. Before Sirius could catch him he shouted that Sirius killed the potters and turned into his animagus and used the blasting spell to kill many people. Sirius was not even given a proper trial and was thrown into Azkaban." he explained.

Dumbledore was so shocked that he nearly tripped if not for the nearby tree. He felt guilty for not even investigating things properly. Like others, he also blamed Sirius.

"Sirius, my boy, you suffered for so long, why?" He asked.

"I wanted to repent, it was my fault that they died. I was the one who convinced James and Lily to make Peter the secret keeper. But recently I found out that the traitor was still alive." He said with a very pained voice. He clearly still felt hurt by the death of his best friends.

Dumbledore had no words to say and gave Sirius a hug.

"Albus, you can apperate into your office right and also call Minister Fudge"

"Yes, I'll take Sirius there and bring Fudge."

"Yes, I'll get the rat. Sirius, drink this. It'll treat all your injuries and malnutrition in a heartbeat" Alexander said while giving him a vial.

...

Alexander went straight to the Gryffindor's common room. It was 2 in the morning so he expected for them to be asleep but to his surprise, they were still sitting by the fireplace talking to each other and eating.

"Professor!" Harry loudly exclaimed.

"Hello there kids, why are you not in your beds?"

"We'd be going back to our homes tomorrow and Harry hates his house so we decided to spend as much time here together as possible." Ron happily said, finally something sensible.

"Good, but I got a surprise for you harry. Do you know about Sirius Black?" He questioned.

"Yes sir, he killed my parents and now wants to kill me," Harry said with a very sad voice and face.

"No Harry, he was framed. He is your godfather and also the best friend of your parents. You'll understand everything, just follow me to the headmaster's office. Hermione, you should come too. Ron, bring your rat to me, in his cage." Alexander ordered.

"But why professor, why do you need scabbers?" Ron confusingly asked.

"Just do what I said young man, or else you'll not receive any gift from me this Christmas" Alexander's words proved to be more effective and he hurriedly ran to his shared room and brought his rat in the cage.

"Alright, follow me, oh I should inform Severus too. Harry, why don't you call him and tell him to meet in the headmaster's office." Alexander asked.

Harry happily called Severus on his Uniphone. In the past two days, they spent their time with each other. Severus told him about his childhood days that he spent with Lily and other things. The two felt quite happy with each other's company. Snape has also turned a bit softer now and treated Harry like his own son.

"Yes sir, professor Universe wants me to tell you to come to the headmaster's office." Harry talked on his phone.

When he hung up, Alexander looked at Harry's smiling happy face and felt quite proud of himself. When they reached the office's entrance they found Snape standing there. He looked at Harry with tense eyes to check if he was okay.

"What's the matter professor Universe. What's so important that it couldn't wait for tomorrow?" He respectfully asked.

"Oh, I found out the one who betrayed the potters," Alexander said, not completely giving it away. For some reason, the rat in the cage started to act crazy. Trying to break out.

"Scabbers, stay silent. Don't disturb them" Ron scolded his rat.

Rat looked at Ron with angry eyes, seemingly saying. ~You dumbass, they are talking about me.~

"Let's go in first, all your questions will be answered soon," Alexander said.

...

The moment they entered the room, Snape launched himself at Sirius.

"You... You killed her..." Snape furiously roared.

Alexander waved his hand and froze him.

"Calm down Severus, it wasn't him. He was framed. Just give me a minute to prove it." He said and unfroze Snape.

He first went to the crazed rat and forcefully fed him his new creation. A potion called truth spitter, it makes the user feel an urge to tell all their secrets without even asking. Much more humane than veritaserum.

"My dear Hermione, will you please start recording everything that is about to happen with my Uniphone?" He lovingly spoke to his prodigy.

"Yes Professor" she answered and took the phone.

Soon the minister of magic also arrived.

"What is the reason that you asked for me in the middle of the night, Albus?" Those were his first words before he looked around.

His gaze fell on Alexander, he was quite tall and also stood out with his sexy beard and clothes.

"Y-You have made my life a mess... I'll make sure I destroy your company and throw you into Azkaban."

"Oh my god, Sirius Black.. good job catching him, Albus" Fudge started blabbering.

"Woah... Hold your horses there Fudge... Just shut your mouth and watch," he scolded, probably the only person in brain who could do that.

"Alright, I announce you, Peter Pettigrew aka worm tail or traitor." He said and cast a spell on him that reversed the animagus.

"What?... What the hell happened to my scabbers?" Ron yelled.

"That ain't your scabbers, Ron. He hid in your home for the past 11 years as a rat. Yes, you were sleeping with a man all this time" Alexander dropped the bomb at Ron.

Suddenly, Ron remembered all his days spent with his rat. He remembered that he even kissed it many times when he used to feel horny on those sleepless nights.

"Uwaaaaaaaaaa" he vomited. Alexander cast a silent charm on Ron and continued.

"Alright, tell me, Peter, why were you hiding for all these years?" Alexander asked.

"I...I... I was hiding from Sirius because I betrayed the Potters," he said, he tried to fight the truth spitter potion but couldn't overcome the urge to speak.

"Tell me everything Peter, what did you do?"

"I... I was made the secret keeper by potters... But... But they didn't know that I was Lord Voldemort's spy, I told Voldemort where they were hiding. Then...then after that night, Sirius chased me but I made things look like Sirius used the blasting spell to kill people. Amidst the fire, I cut my finger and left it there while I fled in my animagus form. Everyone assumed that I was dead... Please don't kill me" He started crying.

Snape fell to the ground with the revelation. Harry ran up to him. He looked into Harry's eyes which reminded him of Lily and tears came out.

Sirius was furious and wanted to kill Peter but Alexander stopped him.

"Now, Minister... I hope you know what you are supposed to do... I have everything that happened in this room on video. You can take peter and use veritaserum and get the truth." Alexander said in a warning tone.

"Yes... Yes... I know, I'll send my Aurors soon" he replied with a frowning smile. Soon his Aurors came and took peter with them.

"Harry, meet your godfather..."

The night was long, Harry, Snape and Sirius talked with each other. Snape and Sirius didn't like each other much but they still kept their animosity between themselves as they both cared for Harry.

He had to pick Ron and take him to his bed as he was still feeling nauseous. Alexander then sent the edited video to the Daily Prophet. He edited out the part where Fudge threatened him, he was going to use it later. Only Peter's confession was in the video.