Chapter 45: Peter Pettigrew, the Animagi Who Can Transform into Three Animals!

Generally speaking, a cat and mouse scenario is not unusual.

However, the cat and mouse chase that occurred tonight at Hogwarts School was far rarer than any chase the Aurors at the Ministry of Magic had with dark wizards...

To be honest, many wizards may never witness such a sight in their entire lives.

This was a duel between two Animagus masters. Over the course of nearly a century in the 20th century, only seven new Animagi were registered worldwide!

A brown rat scurried along the corridor floor, appearing no different from an ordinary mouse foraging in an old castle.

Until a tabby cat suddenly appeared, swiftly chasing after it, causing the mouse to hasten towards the stairs!

The cat and mouse both raced up the stairs!

The mouse, using its small size to its advantage, nimbly moved through the gaps in the stair railings, desperately trying to avoid the tabby cat!

The tabby cat could not pass through the gaps.

The next moment!

The tabby cat's body suddenly transformed back into human form!

"Bombarda!"

Professor Minerva McGonagall raised her wand, casting a spell to blast apart the stair railings in search of the mouse!

Creating an open space...

A mouse could never escape a cat in an open area.

The mouse's body almost instantaneously transformed back into Peter Pettigrew's form, his hand grabbing the stair railing, flipping himself upwards with surprising agility, leaping onto another staircase.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Professor McGonagall kept a keen eye on Peter Pettigrew as he quickly changed positions between the staircases, continuously casting her spells!

"Confringo!"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

One spell after another shot out!

Yet, this could not stop Peter Pettigrew!

Whenever a spell was about to hit him, he quickly transformed into a mouse, evading McGonagall's spells!

This guy was really clever!

Seeing the mouse about to escape, Professor McGonagall grabbed the stair railing with both hands, her body swiftly transforming back into her Animagus form, the tabby cat!

The tabby cat used its hind legs to leap off the railing, agilely bounding over the staircase, and the chase began anew!

A chase between Animagi...

Was far more thrilling than any chase between wizards!

Peter Pettigrew, realizing he couldn't shake off the tabby cat, would transform back into a mouse and hide in various rooms at Hogwarts!

However, he ultimately could not escape Professor McGonagall's pursuit!

When McGonagall saw Peter Pettigrew about to vanish into a storeroom, she quickly reverted to human form, waving her wand to destroy the piled-up items in the room!

For both of them, seamlessly transitioning between Animagus and human forms was almost second nature, representing the highest skill in Transfiguration!

In the span of ten minutes.

Peter Pettigrew and Professor McGonagall could not count how many times they had transformed, chasing each other from the second floor to the seventh!

They passed through the library, the armor corridor, the restricted section, and numerous classrooms!

Any other Animagus might have used these complex environments to escape, but Peter Pettigrew could not get away!

He was relentlessly pursued by Professor McGonagall!

However...

Next time might be different!

Now they were on the seventh floor. If Peter Pettigrew reached the eighth floor of Hogwarts Castle, with its complex environment, he would be even harder to find in his mouse form!

The eighth floor was also Peter Pettigrew's most familiar area, being the floor with the most rooms in Hogwarts, both the most dangerous and the safest!

The eighth floor...

Housed the Gryffindor common room.

And...

The headmaster's office.

However, capturing an Animagus wasn't something even Dumbledore could easily do, as Animagi had the heartbeat and aura of animals.

"Reducto!"

Seeing the mouse about to ascend again, Professor McGonagall reverted to human form, waving her wand!

A spell shot from her wand!

A section of the staircase was blasted into a cloud of dust!

Peter Pettigrew, in mouse form, had no choice but to retreat back to the seventh floor corridor, continuing his search for a hiding place.

"Now, you can't escape."

Professor McGonagall's body instantly shrank back into her tabby cat form, leaping onto the railing and pouncing towards the mouse!

This time...

There was no escape!

Just as the tabby cat leapt through the air, pinning down the mouse, believing she had finally won the Animagus duel...

An astonishing change occurred, leaving the tabby cat stunned!

The mouse she had pinned suddenly grew more than a hundred times larger...

No!

This wasn't just a change in size!

The mouse had transformed into another animal!

This was no longer a mouse!

But a mighty lion!

A lion just like the one on the Gryffindor crest!

"..."

The tabby cat seemed shocked.

For it had never seen anyone transform into such a large animal, let alone possess two Animagus forms!

Indeed!

It had never happened before!

This intruder, resembling Peter Pettigrew, had both a mouse and a lion Animagus form, completely defying the magical world's understanding!

Could anyone have imagined?

Someone capable of transforming into two different animals!

The mighty lion shook its head, seemingly unaccustomed to this form, with a dazed tabby cat hanging on its back...

After a few seconds, the lion swiftly reacted, shaking its body to dislodge the tabby cat!

Though both were felines...

Their sizes formed a stark contrast, with the lion vastly outmatching the cat in intimidation and lethality!

The lion's nature was far more violent!

Noticing the cat, the lion suddenly turned, extending a massive paw to pin the small cat to the ground!

"Roar!"

A gaping maw lunged towards the cat's head!

It would only take one bite to kill the small cat!

The small cat seemed paralyzed with fear, staring blankly as the lion's mouth approached its head!

"..."

However...

The bloody scene did not occur.

This seemed to be merely a threat from the lion.

Or perhaps Peter Pettigrew didn't want to harm his respected professor.

Seeing the tabby cat unresponsive, the lion shook its head, its tail flicking gently, and slowly walked towards the corridor window.

Under Professor McGonagall's gaze...

The lion's body shrank rapidly, transforming into a small sparrow in the blink of an eye, flapping its wings and flying out of the castle.

Not two.

Peter Pettigrew could transform into three animals.

He was undoubtedly the most formidable Animagi in history.