Chapter 748: Peter's Story
Chapter 748: Peter's Story
The dormitory door slammed shut, and the voices of Harry and Ron gradually faded away, leaving the room in dead silence.
After an unknown period, a mouse scurried out from under the bed, leaped onto the table, and began gnawing on the snack wrappers, devouring the treats that Harry and Ron had brought back from Honeyduke's.
Compared to the food set aside for mice, Scabbers preferred human food.
This dietary preference was linked to Scabbers' past life as a human.
Yes, this mouse, named Scabbers, had once been a human, not a rodent.
Although he had been living in a mouse's body for over a decade, he had also been a wizard—a wizard named Pettigrew, or Wormtail.
Indeed, he shared the name of the Pettigrew who had been blown up by Sirius Black and posthumously awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class. Or rather, that Pettigrew had been him.
Anyone who claimed such a thing must be insane.
Everyone believed Black was mad, and Pettigrew hoped his old friend was too.
However, Black's mind was not only unaffected by the Dementors, but it was also sharp enough to spot traces of himself in a newspaper.
Ever since Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban, Pettigrew knew that Black was not mad. Especially after hearing Mr. Weasley's intelligence, the signs before Black's escape indicated that he had discovered Pettigrew was still alive, which was why he broke out of prison at all costs and tried to break into Hogwarts Castle to kill him.
It was all so insane, and Sirius Black had already tried once. Although he had failed, Pettigrew knew Black well enough to know that he would never give up easily.
Hogwarts Castle, which appeared to be well-protected, was not as safe as it seemed on the surface. Black knew the locations of most of the secret passages in the castle and could easily pass through the outer defenses and enter the castle.
This left Pettigrew in constant fear, afraid that Black would suddenly appear and kill him one day.
In fact, if Sirius Black had been a little more clear-headed, he wouldn't have needed to risk killing Pettigrew. He could have simply forced him to return to his human form and reveal that Pettigrew was still alive, which would have spelled disaster for him.
"This is all your fault!"
Staring at the photo of the Potter couple on the bedside table, Pettigrew's heart filled with hatred. He had been living in disguise as a mouse for over a decade, but how many decades did one have in a lifetime? He loathed it all.
Gazing at the dancing Potter couple in the photo, Pettigrew fell silent.
He remembered his time at Hogwarts, when the Dark Wizard's influence had already spread throughout the British wizarding community. Each time the Dark Mark appeared above a house, it meant someone had been murdered by a Death Eater. Those were the darkest of times in Britain.
In truth, Pettigrew knew that James had always believed that his family's case of dragon pox was connected to the Death Eaters because they refused to yield or remain neutral. So, the Death Eaters murdered James' relatives in a despicable manner.
In those years, infecting someone with dragon pox had been a popular method of murder. It was said that the only Muggle-born Minister of Magic in Britain died from a dragon pox outbreak.
Back then, Pettigrew had tried to persuade Potter to take Lily and leave Britain, to get away from the danger. But James had refused, even roaring at him, "I refuse to be a coward and hide. The Dark Wizard won't make my family submit, nor will he make me submit. I will resist him, until the very end."
At that time, the Dark Wizard's power was far beyond anything they could have hoped to challenge.
The four of them had just graduated from school when they joined Dumbledore's anti-Dark Wizard organization, the Order of the Phoenix.
To be honest, Pettigrew hadn't wanted to join the Order of the Phoenix. He had just wanted to live a quiet life, but in the end, he joined anyway.
Pettigrew hated what he saw as Potter's bravery. What good could come from fighting the most evil Dark Wizard in history, other than losing your life?
Wasn't his own life more important?
Did he intend to put Lily, who followed him, in danger as well?
If they died, they wouldn't even have a future. What was the point then?
Everyone said the Dark Wizard feared Dumbledore, but the situation was still grim, and Dumbledore didn't have the energy to protect them all.
Well, after joining the Order, Pettigrew realized that their noble cause was to try to save more people and then fight the Dark Wizard together.
However, what did that have to do with him? Was he supposed to sacrifice his own life to save innocent people?
Peter hated the Order of the Phoenix from the bottom of his heart.
Ever since joining the Order, Peter had been living in constant fear, worrying that Voldemort would show up at their headquarters one day. He was terrified that he would be captured and brutally interrogated by Death Eaters during one of his missions, ultimately losing his life.
Unfortunately, his nightmare soon became a reality.
Voldemort appeared at his doorstep, and fortunately, Peter did not see the Dark Mark floating above his house when he returned.
Instead of killing Peter and his mother, Voldemort gave him a choice: submit or die.
Or perhaps, Voldemort saw this as an opportunity to plant a spy within Dumbledore's Order, so Peter and his mother survived.
If he hadn't joined the Order, perhaps none of this would have happened, and his mother wouldn't have been dragged into this mess.
But there was no use thinking about what-ifs.
Initially, Peter had considered seeking Dumbledore's help, asking him to save his mother and hide them both. However, Peter was well aware that betraying Voldemort meant certain death.
What shook his determination, however, was the information the Death Eaters showed him.
It turned out that many within the Ministry of Magic and even the informants providing intelligence to the Order were actually Voldemort's people. Voldemort's influence permeated the entire British wizarding community, and this realization filled Peter with utter despair.
He knew he had no choice.
"What good would refusing do? Are you tired of living?"
Peter hadn't forgotten what he said when he was passing messages with Ludo Bagman.
Ludo Bagman was obviously much smarter than him; he had used his connection with Augustus Rookwood to secure a position in the Ministry.
While one might continue as a Quidditch player after retirement, perhaps becoming a coach, getting a job in the Department of Magical Games and Sports was clearly a better option.
And just like Peter, he bore no Dark Mark, so even when he was accused of passing information to Voldemort, he could still find excuses for himself.
After that conversation, Peter completely succumbed. Like many wizards who swore allegiance to Voldemort, he, too, wanted to gain some benefits from his service.
When helping Voldemort gather information about the Order, Peter didn't go all out. He only revealed some relatively unimportant messages to Voldemort.
In fact, Peter didn't have access to very critical information anyway.
Later, when Voldemort learned of a certain prophecy and identified James' son as the one mentioned in it, he demanded that Peter become the Potters' Secret-Keeper after finding out that the family intended to go into hiding. Voldemort promised Peter a favorable position in the Ministry in return.
In truth, Peter knew that even without Voldemort's promises, he had no other choice.
Voldemort's influence was at its peak, and the Ministry was already riddled with Death Eaters. All the efforts of the Order were in vain.
After betraying the Order and his former friends, there was no turning back. Peter did not have the courage to betray Voldemort now.
He still wanted to live.
Things went even more smoothly than expected. Peter told James that he wasn't as brave as Black, Lupin, or James himself. He said that as the situation worsened, he was terrified and wanted to flee the country, but he was afraid that Lupin and Black would call him a coward. So, Peter expressed his wish to become the Potters' Secret-Keeper, allowing him to hide in plain sight where neither the Death Eaters nor the mysterious man could find him.
James agreed and even apologized to Peter.
"It's too late now. I can't turn back," Peter said as he returned to his human form and gazed at the photo of the Potter couple, whispering to himself.
Black would never give up easily. He would definitely try to break into Hogwarts Castle again to kill him.
Before Black was captured once more, Peter had to fake his death again, and thankfully, that crazy cat had been chasing him relentlessly, providing the perfect opportunity.
Peter dropped a few cat hairs on the ground, bit his palm, and smeared his blood on Ron's bedsheets before scurrying away in his rat form.
(End of Chapter)
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