//------------------------------//
// 45 - Truth 
// Story: A Phoenix Beyond the Veil - The Philospher's Stone 
// by gerandakis 
//------------------------------//


Chapter Forty-Five

Truth






When seven people, among them the Chief Warlock and the head of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement, as well as two children in Hogwarts robes and a sleeping man floating above the ground, appeared in a flash of teal in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic, right next to the Fountain of Magical Brethren, they, unsurprisingly, drew a few surprised glances. Both the teachers and the students among the group watched the reaction with various levels of amusement.

Amelia Bones looked around in shock and even the ever calm Kingsley Shacklebolt seemed mildly startled. Amelia turned to the fiery haired girl who was calmly stowing her wand while her glowing left hand maintained her hold on Mr. Pettigrew. "How? This isn't the apparition area. And how did you get past the wards around Hogwarts?"

"Sorry, I tried for the apparition area, but there were too many people there." Amelia looked over the heads of the crowd and saw that the apparition area was indeed filled with ministry workers headed for their homes. "And with enough of an understanding of arcane phase theory it's easy enough to bypass the wards, especially with the apparition area leaving a hole in them. I'd recommend closing the hole and extending the tunnel outwards a bit to reach outside the wards, then just place the apparition area there. Anyway. Shouldn't we get going?"

Shaking her head to get over her shock, Amelia looked around. "Right, right. We should get to the lifts." She began to walk off, the group trailing behind her as the crowd parted. Any who didn't get out of the way received a stern glare from her or Kingsley and made to move aside.

They quickly reached the lifts and made their way to the second floor. To say her other subordinates were surprised to see whom she had brought along would have been an understatement. Most of them had studied under McGonagall and all of them had studied under Dumbledore, the two students only confused them further. That one of the students' hands was glowing with a matching glow around the sleeping man that floated beside them made the picture complete.

And if their expressions were anything to go by, they hadn't even recognized Pettigrew yet. She led the group to one of the interrogation rooms and told Miss Shimmer to leave the man there. After calling over another auror to guard the sleeping man, and handing the two wands to yet a third one, she led the group to a more comfortable place to receive their statements. Namely, her office.

"So then," she began as she sat down in the chair behind her desk, "I would like you to tell me what happened. From the start." The group had taken the chairs opposite her desk, McGonagall and Dumbledore quickly turning the two hard wooden chairs into four comfortable armchairs. Only Kingsley remained on his feet, leaned easily against the wall beside the door, his eyes carefully watching everyone in the room.

The group in front of her all looked to the young girl in their midst. After a moment's hesitation, she began to explain. "It all started the day before yesterday. I had an aura sight charm up when we returned to the common room. When I saw Ron's pet rat Scabbers, I noticed that he had far more magic than any mundane rat should, even in a magical place such as Hogwarts."

"You can manage an aura sight charm?"

Dumbledore leaned forward slightly. "Miss Shimmer here already has a comprehensive magical education. She has come to Hogwarts to facilitate an exchange of magical knowledge between Britain and her homeland. As you have seen, her understanding of magical transportation is extensive."

Amelia carefully looked over the girl, readjusting her first impression of her. She hadn't considered her to be potentially dangerous. Now, however, while she still doubted that she would become a danger, she had to admit that Miss Shimmer was, at the very least, dangerously easy to underestimate. "I see. Continue."

Miss Shimmer nodded. "The following morning, I spoke to Ron at breakfast, and asked him how long Scabbers had been in their family. After he couldn't give me a conclusive answer, he advised me to talk to his older brother Percy. I did so at noon and he told me that he had found Scabbers and brought him into the family when he was seven. That is eight years ago at this point.

"After the last lesson of the day I did some more research, first on rats, confirming my suspicions that eight years is far in excess of the normal lifespan of a mundane rat, and then into animagi, confirming that, even while transformed, an animagus will keep their human lifespan and that exceptional amounts of magic can be a sign of an animagus, though they can be concealed.

"After I finished reading up on the subject I performed a magical scan on the book and found that four magical signatures were much more pronounced than any other. The strongest fit the librarian, but the other three were badly degraded, likely well over a decade old. But one of them fit the magic I had sensed from Scabbers.

"I borrowed the book and brought my findings to Professor McGonagall the following day."

All eyes in the room focused on the Professor in question. Quietly clearing her throat, she continued the explanation. Bit by bit, Amelia heard the retelling of how they had found out that that Peter Pettigrew, as well as, likely, Sirius Black and James Potter, had become an animagus and later uncovered him. How he had immediately attempted to kill McGonagall, likely hoping to get rid of the greatest threat and escape. She looked at the molten cufflink now sitting on her desk in thought.

She also learned how Miss Shimmer and Professor McGonagall had subdued and disarmed the wizard and how Dumbledore had taken notice of the confrontation and rushed to the office.

Finally she sat up from where she had leaned back in her chair and sighed. "That is quite the tale. Shall we hear his side of the story? Kingsley, would you go get the Veritaserum?"





Together with the rest of the group, Sunset followed Madam Bones to the interrogation room where they had left Pettigrew. Mr. Shacklebolt was waiting for them there, handing Madam Bones a small bottle of a clear liquid. The auror at the door followed her into the room while Shacklebolt led the rest of the group to the room beside it. A large glass pane showed the interrogation room beside them. Wizards, it seemed, weren't entirely blind to muggle innovations and had adopted the use of one way mirrors.

They could see through the glass that the auror had taken up position next to the door, just like Mr. Shacklebolt had in Madam Bones' office. Madam Bones herself had taken up position opposite the still snoring Pettigrew, at the table. A glass of water stood between them and Madam Bones took the little bottle she had gotten from Mr. Shacklebolt – Veritaserum, she had called it – and let three drops fall into the glass. Then she packed the bottle away into a pocket of her robes and tapped a small crystal on the table with her wand.

A matching crystal lit up in their observation room and they could hear her voice clearly despite the glass. "Miss Shimmer, if you would cancel your spell now."

Aware that, if this room was anything like muggle interrogation rooms she had seen on the telly, Madam Bones wouldn't hear any answer she gave, Sunset snapped her fingers and dismissed the spell.

The effect was instantaneous. One second, Pettigrew was sleeping soundly, snoring rather noisily, the next he jumped, his eyes springing open. He coughed from taking a startled breath mid-snore and hectically looked around the room. Seeing that he couldn't escape and that both his wands were out of reach, he fell back in the chair.

Madam Bones calmly waved a hand, the one that wasn't holding her wand, at the glass on the table. "Drink."

Pettigrew eyed the glass for a few moments, then shrugged, greedily gulping down the water.

"Good. Now tell me what happened. Starting with when, how and why you became an animagus."

"In our third year at Hogwarts we found out that Remus was a werewolf and that he went to the Shrieking shack once a month to transform alone. He didn't tell us because he was afraid that we'd abandon him. We didn't. We wanted to help him. But we couldn't be humans if we wanted to be with him while he was transformed."

"Who is 'we'?"

"Sirius, James and myself."

"Sirius Black and James Potter?"

"Yes."

"I see. Carry on."

Sunset watched with mild amazement as Pettigrew described how Sirius Black and Harry's father had helped him become an animagus while becoming animagi themselves. How Sirius had gained the ability to become a large dog and James that to become a stag. How, in their fifth year at Hogwarts, they had finally managed it. How they had explored the school and the grounds together, creating an artifact known as the Marauders' Map.

Then he went on to explain how he had been both tempted by the power that was offered to him by Lord Voldemort and cowed by the threat of what would happen to him if he resisted. How he had given in and become a double agent. How Sirius had suggested to use him as the secret keeper for the charm that hid the Potters rather than himself. A ruse, a bluff, meant to lead Voldemort down a false path. She made a mental note to look up this 'Fidelius Charm'.

The explanation went on for a good half hour. Pettigrew admitted to giving the secret of the Potters on to Lord Voldemort, to returning to the house shortly after his unexpected defeat to retrieve his wand, to trying to flee, but being caught by Sirius, to casting a spell behind his back, blowing up the entire street and killing thirteen muggles in the process, and cutting off one of his fingers to fake his own death, before turning into a rat and escaping through the hole he had blown into the sewers.

Finally, after some more prompting from Madam Bones, he explained how Sunset had gotten him and Ron and brought them to McGonagall's office. How he had tried to kill the teacher as the greatest threat in hopes of escaping, how he had underestimated not only McGonagall but also Sunset, and how they had restrained him, taken his wand and that of Lord Voldemort and how he had fallen unconscious and woken up here.

Finally, Madam Bones stood up and made a quick gesture with her free hand. Mr. Shacklebolt left the observation chamber and joined her in the interrogation room. With another gesture, the second auror joined him and they led Pettigrew out of the room. After a moment, Bones tapped the crystal again, causing it and the one in the observation area to stop glowing and put her wand away, before leaving as well. She poked her head in through the door and waved for them to follow her.

Back in her office she sat down behind her desk with a sigh. They all took their own seats before she began to speak. "Well, he just admitted to one count of attempted murder of a magical citizen, two counts of accessory to murder of magical citizens, thirteen counts of murder of non-magical citizens and one count of using an Unforgivable Curse. That last one alone nets him a life sentence in Azkaban."

She turned to Dumbledore. "We'll have to bring in the full Wizengamot for his trial."

"That seems inevitable, yes. It would also seem that Mister Black is, in fact, innocent of every single thing he was accused of. The only thing he is guilty of is being an unregistered animagus, and the punishment for that, if I recall correctly, is a fine."

Madam Bones shrugged. "I'm not sure myself, it's not exactly a crime we deal with often. I'd have to look it up. But I know for sure that ten years in Azkaban is not proportionate punishment. At all."

"We will have to retrieve him posthaste."

"Yes. I'll go myself."

"I would like to accompany you."

Madam Bones shrugged. "You're the Chief Warlock, that's your prerogative."

Sunset finally leaned forward a little. "Excuse me, but what's Azkaban? I've read that name several times, but none of the books I found it in actually explained what it was."

Dumbledore turned to her with a small smile. "Azkaban is the name of the British wizarding prison. It's on an island in the north sea and guarded by dementors."

"Those things you use the patronus charm against?"

"Exactly."

"Then you should take me along. I have more experience with light magic than any other witch or wizard in Britain."

Both Professor McGonagall and Madam Bones seemed about to deny the request outright when Dumbledore spoke before they could. "Normally I would never allow one of my students to go to such a place. Especially one of your age. But I cannot deny your point. Even with patronus charms, spending time in a place where dementors exist, especially one with as many as Azkaban, always takes a toll on even the strongest wizards. Perhaps your expertise can help." He turned to McGonagall. "Minerva, please take Mister Weasley back to the school. I shall take care of bringing Miss Shimmer back safely."

McGonagall hesitated for just a moment, her eyes darting between Dumbledore and Sunset, then she nodded curtly and turned around. "Come, Mister Weasley."

Madam Bones turned to Dumbledore. "Are you sure about this, Albus? I doubt she can manage something like a patronus."

Dumbledore actually smirked slightly, his eyes twinkling madly. "Miss Shimmer?"

"Expecto Patronum."

Madam Bones actually flinched back slightly as the diminutive, corporeal patronus took shape in her office. Not only was it clearly corporeal and brighter than most she had witnessed, it was also the first time she saw a golden patronus.

"Never mind then, we'll just wait until Shacklebolt comes back. Protocol demands an auror escort. Albus, would you arrange for transportation?"

Fully aware what she meant, Dumbledore nodded. "Of course, Amelia. Fawkes."

His avian companion appeared on his shoulder. "Be ready to take us to Azkaban, my friend."

Fawkes nodded with a quiet trill. Moments later, Mister Shacklebolt returned. Once Madam Bones had explained the situation to him, she gave Dumbledore a signal.

With a flash of flames, the office was empty.