Chapter 146: Capturing Wormtail 3
Before receiving Wade’s message, Harry had been studying the Weather Spell with Hermione in the Library. It was an extremely difficult spell, and after just a few minutes, Harry’s head began to ache. Hermione, however, remained deeply absorbed in her work, forcing Harry to push himself to keep reading the dense incantations.
He realized that every time he finished two lines, the text vanished from his mind almost instantly, requiring him to backtrack and reread. More than half an hour passed—Hermione had filled several pages of notes—while Harry still lingered on the first page.
Wade’s message arrived like a lifeline. Harry jumped up without hesitation, hastily gathering his things and rushing off. Hermione followed shortly behind, returning her books before sprinting over in a flurry.
When they reached the Gryffindor Common Room entrance, they found Wade leaning against the wall, staring intently at a folded piece of parchment, as if lost in thought.
“Wade,” Harry asked, “you said you had something important to talk to me about?”
“Hmm… wait a second…” Wade lifted a hand, signaling Harry to stay quiet. He continued studying the parchment for a moment, then suddenly pointed his wand forward. Instantly, a massive, thick mud pit erupted in the corridor ahead.
“You filthy little brat! What are you doing?! Get rid of them at once!” the Fat Lady shrieked.
“Wade, what are you doing?!” Hermione cried, covering her face in horror. “You’ll get points taken off by Professor McGonagall!”
“Don’t worry,” Wade said calmly. “I’ll cancel it in a second. Harry, give me the password to open the door.”
Harry blinked, confused. He hesitated for a moment, then decided to trust his friends. Even if someone stepped into the mud, a simple Scourgify would fix it.
Was Wade pulling a prank? Honestly, this was one of the most serious pranks he’d ever seen.
Harry stood beside the mud pit and said to the portrait, “Fire Lizard.”
“Let him remove those cursed things! Now!” the Fat Lady screeched.
“I said the password, Fat Lady! Open the door!” Harry repeated, his voice firm.
The portrait swung open. The Fat Lady strained to the edge of her frame, clearly terrified the mud might smear her.
In an instant, a blurry shadow shot out of the door and plunged straight into the mud pit, thrashing around and letting out high-pitched squeals.
“Scabbers?” Harry gasped in shock.
He was just reaching to pull Ron’s old rat out when he heard a rapid sequence of spells from beside him:
“Petrificus Totalus! Stupefy! Bind Fast!”
The rat went rigid, unconscious, tangled in ropes. Wade used a Hovering Charm to lift it out of the mire. Then, one by one, several more people burst from the doorway—Fred and George, Percy, and finally Ron.
Hermione stared in disbelief. How had they all managed to come out so quickly?
Ron was the last to emerge. He tripped over Percy, crashed into Fred, and tumbled headfirst into the mud, shouting furiously, “I’ll kill you! What in Merlin’s name is going on?!”
“What in the world is this mud pit?” Percy yelled, furious. “I’m giving you all Detention!”
“He escaped! Wade… oh, you caught him?” Fred said, surprised.
“Really?” George struggled to pull himself up from beneath his brother’s arm, calling out, “Be careful—he’s as slippery as Peeves!”
Ginny stayed behind, lucky enough not to fall in. She peered through the doorway, watching her brothers flounder, and giggled uncontrollably.
“What happened?” Harry asked, bewildered.
Ginny finally noticed him. She screamed, then vanished back into the room in a flash.
Wade had already secured the rat. He stuffed the jar into his bag, then sighed deeply at the sight of the tangled, mud-covered Weasleys—each stuck to the other, unable to move.
Well… this was Gryffindor for you.
Wade erased the mud pit and used a Scourgify Spell to clean the brothers off. Only then did they finally separate and crawl to their feet.
Percy adjusted his robes, steam practically rising from his ears. He glared at the group, voice icy. “You’d better have a damn good explanation.”
“Never mind that now! Where’s Scabbers? What did you do with it?” Ron demanded.
Harry and Hermione exchanged a puzzled glance. Fred and George shared a knowing look.
“Are you sure it’s him?” Fred whispered.
“Positive,” Wade nodded.
“We’re not talking here,” he said. “Let’s go to the Umbrella Room.”
“Fine,” Harry and Hermione said in unison, eager to find out what was going on.
In truth, a crowd of onlookers had already gathered. Percy stood stiffly, arms crossed, as Fred and George shoved him forward.
“If you’re still mad after hearing the whole story,” Fred said smugly, “go ahead and tell Mum. But I promise—you and little Ron will thank us.”
The rat had originally belonged to Percy. When Ron started school, Percy gave it to him. In fact, Percy had once considered giving it to Ginny—but she refused. She couldn’t bear the idea of keeping a nearly dying rat as a pet.
Thinking about that, Fred and George felt a chill. The Ministry of Magic strictly regulated Animagi, requiring all transformed animals to be registered. Hiding an Animagus identity—living as an animal among wizards—was considered a serious felony, due to past incidents that had gone terribly wrong.
The group shuffled toward the Umbrella Room, Ron still fuming. “No matter what you say, you have to give Scabbers back!”
“No, Ron,” Fred said firmly. “It’ll escape.”
“If you don’t chase it, it can’t run wild!” Ron shouted. “You’re scaring it!”
“We’re the ones who’re scared!” George snapped. “Just hear us out before you start yelling like a child!”
Ron’s face turned pale with rage.
Suddenly, a sharp, piercing cat’s cry rang out.
The Weasley twins reacted instantly. “Filch!”
Before they could react, Filch burst into view, panting, scanning the crowd for rulebreakers. Finding nothing, he glared coldly and asked, “Fighting?”
“No way!” Fred quickly wrapped an arm around Percy’s neck and ruffled Ron’s hair. “Just a little brotherly communication!”
The two still furious Weasleys turned away without a word.
(End of Chapter)
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