alt_harry | Order Only

We have some news that may be a bit surprising to most of you: we've found Peter Pettigrew. He was hiding as Sally-Anne's pet rat.

We've currently got him confined in a cage that Justin nicked from Professor Grubbly-Plank, which is designed for dangerous magical creatures. I don't think he'll be able to get out of it. He's in the Gryffindor boys' dorm now, not the Slytherin girls' dorm. He had to promise to protect the Order's secrets, to never attempt to return to Voldemort or his followers, and to pledge his loyalty and service to me from this day forward.

Here's what he said about why he betrayed my parents.

It was Antonin Dolohov who recruited him into the Death Eaters. Peter said that Dolohov told him that the Marauders would find their true home there -- that their intelligence and ability to create mischief would be appreciated rather than condemned and squashed and punished. That three Purebloods and a werewolf surely belonged with Dolohov's side, not Albus Dumbledore's. That of course Gryffindors belonged as much as Slytherins, because the Dark Lord appreciated bravery as much as cunning. He promised they'd be together -- Peter, James, Sirius, and Remus.

Peter said he regretted taking the Mark as soon as he'd gone through with it -- well, of course he said that to us. He was the one who listened in to the Prophecy that night, and took it to Voldemort, but he had no idea it meant me. Was going to mean me. He couldn't imagine James and Lily settling down so soon and having a baby when they were still so young.

So -- then my mother got pregnant, but he said he couldn't possibly tell anyone the truth about what he'd done but he did manage to pass to the Order the danger that James and Lily were in. And of course they decided to use the Fidelius Charm, and he thought surely they'd use Sirius as the Secret Keeper and they'd never catch him and everything would be fine. But then Sirius had the idea of using Peter, and making Sirius the bait.

And then all Peter could do was hide and hope no one realised. That worked for a while, he said. Over a year after I was born, they were chasing around after Sirius. But then -- it was Dolohov again. Who worked out that just maybe, it was Peter, and sent him an owl. Peter said that Dolohov said this could be hard, or this could be easy. Either was fine with him. Dolohov also said they knew where Sirius was going to be, but that he didn't think Sirius was actually going to be able to tell them anything and what a terrible, terrible waste that would be, and how hard it would be on Regulus to see that happen if it were all for nothing.

So

He made a deal.

He'd give them my parents. And in exchange, the Death Eaters had to spare Sirius, and Remus, and not just spare them, but protect them. And they kept their side, Peter said, because even though Sirius came out of hiding no one raised their wand against him until he went to the Wizengamot to get Harry, and he should have known that wouldn't work anyway, and Remus was called out of the enclave and given a job at Hogwarts for no reason but to keep that end of Peter's deal.

We asked him -- well, Sally-Anne and Pansy and Ron asked him, I was under my cloak so he didn't know I was there. Why was he hiding as a rat. I mean, wasn't the deal to protect his own life, too? And he said, Voldemort -- the Dark Lord, was how he put it -- didn't keep that one. And he doesn't know why. But Voldemort gave the order to have Peter killed and so he ran and never went back.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

alt_pansy

...and now you know.

It was sort of personal. To Harry. So we decided to follow his lead on this one and hold off spreading the word around until Harry could get some answers.

From:

alt_george

IT'S A GOOD THING I'M NOT IN GRYFFINDOR TOWER RIGHT NOW, BECAUSE I'D PROBABLY TEAR THE BUGGER LIMB FROM LIMB.

SORT OF PERSONAL?

From:

alt_george

Merlin, Pansy. That SHITE was in there with you, all the time? Sleeping next to you? SLEEPING IN SALLY-ANNE'S BED?!

FUCK!

From:

alt_george

I just destroyed one of the work tables.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry--it's not your job to calm ME down. But Merlin, Pansy!

Now I understand why Mum sends Howlers.

From:

alt_pansy

It's quite a lot to process.

I spent most of yesterday alternating between being thoroughly disgusted and giggling uncontrollably at how weird and gross and ridiculous it all was.

I understand you're angry. I was more gobsmacked than anything.

And it was rather odd to talk to someone who knew me really well like that.

To say the least.

But George, when we did talk today, with Justin and Ron and Harry right there, he was desperate, he was frightened, he was pitiful. I don't want to be alone with him, not ever, but I do believe that he was with Sally-Anne because it was safe, not because he was a pervert.

From:

alt_pansy

He spent most of the time talking about what happened to Harry's parents, but he did say

well, first of all, Sally-Anne told me that he was the one to take the locket and put it in her bag. Because he was worried about me, and could pick up on what the locket was doing to me.

And he did say that our friendship, mine and Sally-Anne's, reminded him of Sirius and James. Because we're so inseparable. And he sounded wistful and sad when he talked about it.

And really, that's all he said about it. Besides the fact you could tell he'd really rather just sort of go back to being someone's pet rat forever, and not have to answer questions any more.

From:

alt_george

Blimey.

Do you believe that bit, about the locket? I mean, that's one shred of...something...on his side, if it's true. But if he betrayed his best friends, why would he do anything because he was worried over you?

I mean.

I worry over you, yeah. But why would he care? D'ye mean to say--or is he trying to imply--that he's become fond of you, living with you as long as he has?

Yngggh.

From:

alt_pansy

...if it helps, he did sleep in her book bag for the most part.

And Pye hated Letchley and McLaggen who were perverts, but didn't ever go after ~~Seb~~ Peter.

From:

alt_george

It helps, a little.

But I'd still want to tear him from limb to limb, if I could get hold of him.

Bugger, imagine how Harry must feel.

From:

alt_george

HOW long has this ARSEHOLE been in the Slytherin girl's dorm room? In PANSY'S, SALLY-ANNE's and DAPHNE's dorm room!??

From:

alt_harry

Since we were all second years.

He was one of Carrow's rats. Remember those experiments he was running, that got ruined when -- wait. Were you the one who let those rats out? Was it you and Fred? I can't remember.

From:

alt_george

Wasn't us. Believe it or not, not ALL the mayhem in the castle comes from us.

Urgh, since you were second years?!

Wish you could just simply obliviate the stinker, but he probably has information we need.

From:

alt_harry

Yeah, I know.

Obliviation really won't do a damn thing for five years' worth of memories. And he may have seen something helpful to us.

From:

alt_george

One of Carrow's rats. Figures. The two of them were meant for each other.

Blimey, I do believe this is the first time I've ever wished for Carrow to be alive again. Then we could give the blighter back to him to use in one of his horrible experiments.

(Don't tell Terry I said that.)

From:

alt_fred

WHAT the bloody hell are you going to DO with him, Harry? Other than keep him in a cage?

I mean--he could blow everything sky high, with what he knows!

From:

alt_harry

Well, we are open to ideas.

From:

alt_molly

Are you sure about this, Harry? Are you sure about keeping someone that ANTONIN DOLOHOV recruited within arm's length of you and Ron?

Not to mention in the same room with Seamus Finnigan! What if Seamus gets a whim to take him out of that cage?

From:

alt_harry

Well, I was going to say, we're already within reach of one Death Eater...

Anyway. I don't think Finnigan much cares for rats. But I've also warded the cage.

From:

alt_molly

A very good point about being within reach of a Death Eater. I try not to think of it, so...how stupid of me. I'm sorry.

But oh, Harry, how dreadful. What a shock it must have been to discover him.

Well, I must say that you sound as though all of you have handled the discovery well so far. I mean, getting him out of the girls' dormitory (ugh!) and into a warded cage. AND dragging his story out of him. He could have very easily escaped, once you found out the truth, so good on you for still having a firm grip on the beast. So to speak.

From:

alt_harry

That was mostly Ron, Justin, and Sally-Anne. They're the ones who found him out, and kept him from running.

From:

alt_sirius

I wish I could say it's a complete surprise, Harry, but Remus and I figured it out this afternoon. I'm glad you didn't make us wait too much longer before you told us about it.

You probably ought to put that cage in Draco's co-location box and have one of us pick him up at the safehouse in Hogsmeade. Peter promised us loads of things, too, and you see what happened.

From:

alt_alice

Agreed.

From:

alt_alice

Merlin.

I'm so very sorry.

From:

alt_lupin

I should've figured the little rat would turn up someday.

From:

alt_sally_anne

Well, here's the thing about using the co-location box. I'm not an expert on these magics, and Draco can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure we would need to take him out of the cage or we could completely muck up the works -- it's not an ordinary cage, it's designed to keep in dangerous magical creatures.

In theory if we pop him in one end and some of you are there at the Hogsmeade safehouse to be right there on the other side, everything should be fine. But there are thousands of documented cases of both accidental and deliberate wandless apparition. Usually people do not shift themselves very far, but he wouldn't have to go far to transform into a rat and run. And the most critical requirement for wandless apparition is desperation, which he's got plenty of.

We can't go with him in the box; I'm not sure if it can safely move two living creatures at a time (Draco, did you test that?) but also Dolohov has a magical system for knowing who's in the school, and one of us leaving might attract attention (and maybe it would be fine, if all he knows is that we're out of the building for a few minutes, because we could've just slipped out of the building for some reason? but we're not really sure how specific the information is) and you can't come here to get him because if Sirius Black is in the school that'll bring MLE down on our heads again.

I'm not sure what the best way is to do this.

From:

alt_alice

It's a bit late in the day to be slipping out-of-doors, but perhaps if two of you went on a walk before curfew and made your way to the Whomping Willow, we could do the hand-off there?

Do Dolohov's abilities extend to the grounds?

Your briefly going down the tunnel to the Shack might cause less notice than one of us going through to meet you.

From:

alt_harry

I could come out with my cloak. But, yeah, that's the thing. We aren't sure how far Dolohov's information extends. It probably isn't just the building, because if it were, any time a student went out to the grounds during the day they'd look like they'd gone missing. But how far out on the grounds it goes, we don't know.

From:

alt_draco

You can pass the empty cage through while someone is carrying it (just as it will allow transfer of someone with any number of magical items in their pockets), but no, if you bring him through while inside the cage there's no telling what will happen to him. He might be just fine, but I haven't tested that specific scenario.

And only one person at a time, but the transfer is instantaneous. The boxes are actually one box, magically divided and set in different locations, so as soon as you set foot in one box, you're also inside the other. So it's not like a floo or apparition where you could end up somewhere that you didn't intend to go.

From:

alt_harry

We could maybe stun him and then put him in the box.

If the rest of the Order thinks it's too risky to keep him here overnight that might be the only good option.

I think it would be a bad idea to send a fugitive onto the grounds. And I think it would be a bad idea to send a student off the grounds. And I don't know exactly where the line is.

If we wait a day or two we might be able to make sure Dolohov is busy, and one of us could go through the tunnel. If we need to get him out of here tonight I think the box is our only option. Unless I'm missing something.

From:

alt_draco

You could just have him get into it and make sure there are others of us waiting at the other side. I can't see what he could really do to escape once inside the box.

From:

alt_sally_anne

Well the box has to be closed on both sides for it to work, yeah? The risk is whether he'd manage a wandless apparition before you opened it.

I'm probably more paranoid about this than I should be because I did it once, when I was little. Not very far and I didn't even mean to do it, but I read about it a bit after I got to school. He wouldn't have to get far, is the thing. And he'd have a second with no one's eyes on him.

From:

alt_draco

Body-bind him and shove him inside, then.

From:

alt_alice

Let's have this done first thing tomorrow.

Let us know when you're ready to proceed, so we can have someone waiting at Hogsmeade. Make sure he's fully unconscious, body bind him, and put him in the box.

In the meantime, for Merlin's sake, Harry, make sure he's secure.

From:

alt_harry

I should have been more specific up above. He took an Unbreakable Vow to protect the Order's secrets and not to return to Voldemort. So if he does try to do either of those, he'll die. We didn't make him vow not to try to run, because he pointed out that he might need to run away from Death Eaters. And I do want him to be able to run, if that comes up.

I have him in a cage designed to hold small but dangerous creatures and I warded it to keep anyone like Seamus from opening it up.

If there's anything else you think I should be doing, I can try.

From:

alt_alice

Did he take a Vow, or merely promise to take it?

From:

alt_harry

He took a Vow. He promised to me, and Sally-Anne was the Bonder. It looked like it worked, anyway. Ron was there, Justin was off getting the cage so we could lock him up properly. We actually did this the first day, before we even let him out of the secret room.

From:

alt_harry

The strangest thing was how he was so absolutely certain that he never had the choice not to betray my parents. Like he was just trapped, the whole time.

From:

alt_sirius

Reductive reasoning, yeah. That's Peter, in a way. Well, and it's also that bastard manipulating him into thinking he only had the one choice. Reg was the same way, every time I came close to convincing him there were options. Funny how they both found their options in the end, though, innit.

Look, I don't want him staying up there any more than you do. But it's true I can't just Apparate up there, much as I'd like to do, and then take him to Saltash, tonight.

When's the next Hogsmeade weekend? I don't want to wait too long, either, but if it's not too far away, maybe we can arrange a handoff then.

From:

alt_harry

Two weeks.

That's too long.

From:

alt_alice

...I can't imagine how difficult that was for you, Harry.

You've bound yourself to him, and while Remus and Sirius certainly have a say in how to handle this, and will have very strong opinions on the matter, you've taken responsibility for his fate in a very real way.

Sirius has a point, as does Molly, and I agree with them -- although you've taken good steps to make sure he's secure for the moment, I think it's important that he be taken out of Hogwarts as soon as possible.

What are your thoughts?

From:

alt_harry

I think we sort of promised him we'd try to convince the rest of you not to just kill him outright.

But I'll be a lot happier with him in Saltash. Or anywhere else, really, that isn't here.

From:

alt_alice

I can respect that, Harry.

Saltash was my first thought as well. And yes, the sooner the better.

From:

alt_luna

I'm so very sorry you had to meet the person who betrayed your parents, Harry.

I'm glad that you are thinking through his story, and not just acting on the first instinct, which in most people would probably be revenge.

He sounds like a very dangerous person, but at the same time quite pathetic.

Please, do be very careful.

From:

alt_harry

My first instinct was curiosity.

Maybe I should've been a Ravenclaw.

(Okay. That was a joke.)

From:

alt_luna

Well, it made me laugh.

I'm sure you could really use a laugh tonight.

From:

alt_terry

He 'had to promise'...do you mean that the group of you somehow forced him into an Unbreakable Vow?

Because it sounds like that's the only sort of promise he would keep. He's betrayed everyone he could on both sides, just to save his own skin.

Merlin. He sounds like a good argument for the theory that an animagus' form is shaped by the person's character. He really is a rat.

From:

alt_harry

Yes. He offered to, right away. He was terrified we were going to kill him. So not much force was required. Mostly just deciding what to have him swear and hoping we were doing it properly.

I think you're being unfair to rats. They're friendly, curious, and intelligent. They're only sneaky if they think they can't trust you. Dogs are the same way.

Snakes have a bad reputation as well, outside Slytherin House at least. And that's Ron's animagus form.

From:

alt_terry

I'm willing to believe I'm being unfair to rats, but my experience with them hasn't been with pampered pet rats like the ones at Hogwarts, you understand. I had to feed and clean up after the ones that Carrow was experimenting with, trying to make them vicious. And my first memories of rats was with the ones we dealt with in the camps, when I was really young. The ones that stole the little food we had. And sometimes bit the babies.

You're right about snakes having a bad reputation that's probably undeserved. (I rather like Ron's form, actually.)