Chapter 341: Chapter 341: The Lost Peter Pettigrew (Edited)
Hermione couldn't contain herself, and tears welled up at the corners of her eyes like broken beads. It seemed to her that Crookshanks was a strong suspect. He had always had an enigmatic interest in Scabbers and had just appeared near the Gryffindor Tower, so maybe Scabbers had been genuinely killed by him.
Neville, standing beside her, also wore a complicated expression. He, too, thought that Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, might have hunted and killed Scabbers.
Hermione tried to apologize through her sobs: "I'm sorry, Crookshanks... he..."
"Crookshanks is innocent," Tom interrupted.
"Don't you have a brain? Or is it filled with flour?" Tom took a step forward, almost in front of Ron. "Crookshanks is the killer? Are you saying he left the Ravenclaw common room, then entered Gryffindor Tower, and finally sneaked into your dorm to catch and kill Scabbers? Don't you think that logic is a bit flawed?"
Crookshanks also meowed twice, as if saying, Exactly!
Ron was bewildered. Indeed, the distance between the two places was too great. A single cat, crossing that distance... even a first-year student would get lost, let alone a cat.
Was all of this to catch a mouse? Really?
"We have a simple way to verify this, Sir Cadogan," Tom said as he walked over to the portrait of Sir Cadogan with his little horse.
"Aha!" At the mention of his name, Sir Cadogan instantly filled with energy. "I heard my name mentioned. The brave Sir Cadogan is always ready to serve people like you!"
Tom: Oh, this.
Tom thought: Why do I feel like Sir Cadogan holds me in high esteem? Tom pondered his situation for a moment and realized that from Sir Cadogan's perspective, he was clearly part of the disadvantaged group: there was a dispute at another house's entrance, and he had to protect a crying girl... this perfectly fit Sir Cadogan's knightly spirit. If he didn't help in this situation, could he still call himself "Sir"?
"Did you see this cat enter Gryffindor common room last night?" Tom brought Crookshanks closer to the portrait of Sir Cadogan so he could see better.
Sir Cadogan didn't even look at it, poking his head out and saying that no creature, not even a cat, could pass through his guarded doors without a password.
Tom raised his hands. "See, the problem is solved. Crookshanks wasn't responsible. I admit Crookshanks has a history of attacking Scabbers in Diagon Alley, but he's just a cat. Isn't it normal for cats to catch mice?"
Crookshanks: Meow! (Yes, of course.)
Ron suddenly deflated and found himself in a very uncomfortable situation.
"Don't blame Hermione for your mistake," Tom emphasized his tone, speaking seriously.
"My mistake?" Ron raised his head again.
"Yes, your mistake. You didn't take good care of him, did you? Maybe if you had kept him in a cage, none of this would have happened. Mice's brains are so small that they're not as smart as other animals; it's likely he got lost on his own," Tom said.
"No, no, Scabbers is very smart. He's been with me for twelve years and has never gotten lost," Ron repeatedly denied, with a regretful expression. "It was my fault... I always thought keeping him in a cage was too restrictive, but now I realize he just sleeps all day..."
"Perhaps it was a castle mouse that attacked Scabbers, but I think Scabbers is still alive," Tom quickly invented a possibility.
When those words came out of his mouth, Ron lifted his head, and his eyes shone. "Yes, Scabbers could be alive! If it was the work of a mouse, there should be other clues at the scene. Tom, do you have any ideas?"
Tom had simply shot the arrow and then drawn the target. He knew that Peter Pettigrew wouldn't be so easily killed. How could an adult wizard be killed by a rat or a cat? He had staged this whole show just to ensure that "Peter Pettigrew" could escape.
Sirius's sudden attack had startled him, so he sought an opportunity and escaped. However, this time, the false evidence wasn't as convincing. If he had left some cat hairs along with his own blood, it would have been more persuasive. But unfortunately, there were no students in Gryffindor who had cats, so the "crime scene" fabricated by Peter Pettigrew wasn't as realistic.
Too many changes had occurred. If Crookshanks had lived in Gryffindor and had a history of attacking Scabbers, if he could obtain Crookshanks' fur, and if there weren't someone like Tom who could analyze the situation calmly, then the blame would have fallen on him, and he would carry the title of "killer" for a long time. Hermione would also live with guilt for a long time.
Fortunately, none of those things had happened.
"Well, stop crying," Tom said as he approached Hermione and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe away the tears from her eyes and cheeks.
"Hmm," Hermione took Crookshanks from Tom's hands and hugged him sadly, silently awaiting the end of the situation.
However, Tom had no intentions of leaving for the moment. After all, Sirius Black was still lurking somewhere in the school, which was very dangerous. It would be better to bring Scabbers back to his owner.
Tom was a willing helper, and now he decided to help Ron find his little rat.
When Ron heard Tom's idea, he was stunned and stammered, "Tom, why... I mean, thanks, but how will you do it? I have no idea."
"We can use Divination," Tom replied with his method.
The others present: ...
Of the four present, only Tom truly believed in Divination. Ron and Neville thought Divination was unreliable, and Hermione outright considered it a trick taught by a fraudster. She was about to say, "I'm not pointing fingers, but all Divination teachers are fraudsters."
In Hermione's eyes, all Divination was charlatanism. Except for Arithmancy Divination, that class had some interest.
"So, what are we going to do?" Ron raised his eyebrows, choosing to try something desperate.
"Before, Professor Trelawney taught us about Divination. I think we could give it a try. It's mentioned in the book we have," Tom suggested.
This book was supplementary material for the Divination class, mentioned by Professor Trelawney in class. Tom, of course, had never read it.
But that didn't stop him from using it to deceive people.
Chapter 342: Chapter 342: Here Comes Tommy (Edited)
Tom was very busy this semester, so he didn't have time to read the supplementary books mentioned by Professor Trelawney. Instead, he planned to use the permanent tracker he had obtained from the Guild.
It only required a drop of blood to track someone to the ends of the earth.
"If you see, the trick with branch divination is..." Tom improvised some key points of branch divination, leaving Neville and Ron bewildered. At the same time, he stealthily took the tracking parchment from his robes.
Hermione, who had a keen eye, immediately noticed Tom's slight movement and rolled her eyes. Was this the genius of divination? It was truly an intense form of divination. When she saw the parchment, she understood that Tom wanted to use it to find Scabbers. This left her somewhat puzzled and with questions: was it worth using such a valuable parchment for a simple rat? Although Scabbers was not an ordinary rat; Peter Pettigrew had significant utility value.
Despite her confusion, Hermione didn't expose Tom publicly. She only gave him a disdainful look, as if she were looking at a foolish son-in-law, and began offering support.
"Oh, I understand. Is this how it works?" she would occasionally interrupt to divert Ron and Neville's attention. Meanwhile, Tom rubbed the parchment with the bloodstain on Ron's sheets.
The moment the parchment came into contact with the bloodstain, the stain abruptly disappeared, leaving a faint layer of red on the parchment.
Accompanying the change in color, the parchment also emitted a subtle energy that urged it to move in a specific direction.
Seeing that the parchment was working, Tom hesitated no longer and entered the Gryffindor common room, where he picked up a piece of wood from the firewood pile next to the fireplace.
"Does this also count as a branch?" Ron frowned, surprised by the appearance of the "branch," which was quite different from what he had imagined.
Tom chuckled inwardly. Who said he couldn't take shortcuts and use a piece of wood? Going up and down ten floors just to find a branch... he was only playing a role; there was no need to take it so seriously.
"Yes, this is a branch, just slightly thicker and without bark on the outside. The essence of branch divination isn't in the branch itself..." Tom looked at Hermione for approval.
Hermione was on the verge of bursting into laughter but managed to hold it in. With tensed facial muscles, she could only emit an "mmm" to show her support. She was truly struggling not to burst out laughing.
Tom looked like a charlatan, holding the piece of wood and muttering unintelligible words. Now he regretted not choosing a more conventional divination method, like a crystal ball or tea leaves. Even palm reading would seem more reasonable than this extravagant branch divination.
Fortunately, it was morning, and there weren't many people in the common room. But he still felt embarrassed because any first-year student who appeared in the common room in the morning would be drawn to Tom.
In the distance, Fred Weasley stood in a corner of the common room with his brother George, watching Tom as he held the piece of wood and muttered unintelligible words.
"What's he doing?" Fred was in a corner of the common room, watching Tom squeeze the wood and mutter something.
"What's he doing?" Fred asked, laughing uproariously. "It looks like he's helping our daft brother find Scabbers." Then, mimicking Ron's tone, he added, "Mum, Mum, I've lost my Scabbers!"
Fred burst into laughter, laughing until his stomach hurt.
"But do you see that Yodel is serious? Trying to find a lost rat with a broken piece of wood is, in my opinion, more practical than searching for it as a team."
Fred's laughter stopped for a moment, and he thought it over. "I vaguely remember that the branch divination method was mentioned in Divination class?"
George looked at his twin brother Fred as if he were a stranger. "Since when did you start studying Divination? Isn't that for the free credits?"
"But look at Yodel; do you think he's serious? He wants to find a missing rat using a piece of wood. Based on my experience, normal wizards can't learn anything useful from Professor Trelawney, but my experience also tells me that Tom Yodel is not an ordinary person. If he says he can find Scabbers with a branch, he must have confidence." Fred was also perplexed. His experience told him that normal wizards couldn't learn anything useful from Professor Trelawney, but he also knew that Tom Yodel wasn't just an ordinary character. If he said he could find Scabbers with a branch, he surely had confidence in it.
"Perhaps the key isn't in the branch," he murmured to himself. "Carefully observe his next moves."
Tom had also finished his "spell."
"This branch will lead me to Scabbers." Holding the branch in one hand and his other hand hidden beneath his robe sleeve, he clutched the tracking parchment.
Following the guidance of the parchment, he headed towards the boys' dormitory.
"Is Scabbers still in the boys' dormitory?" Several curious young wizards followed them. Hermione thought for a moment and also followed.
Ron had a bad feeling: had Scabbers been devoured, and only his bones remained in the dormitory? He quickened his pace and stood beside Tom, fixating his gaze on the wooden stick.
Following the indications of the parchment, Tom reached the door of the boys' bathroom. After some thought, he pushed the door open and entered, finally stopping in front of an occupied stall.
Tom: ...
The crowd: ...
Hermione outside the bathroom: ...
After a minute or so, the sound of running water could be heard from inside. Then, Percy emerged with a satisfied expression on his face.
As he pushed the door, Percy was met with numerous pairs of staring eyes.
Percy: ?!
Is there something wrong with the way I opened the door? Why are there so many people outside? Although Percy was used to speaking in front of crowds, he felt uncomfortable under the gaze of all these people.
"I was there for a short while, there was no delay!" He unconsciously said.
"We don't care about the state of your digestive system," Fred said gravely from among the crowd. "So, Tom, where is Scabbers? Did he become Percy's waste and get flushed down the drain?"
Tom: ...
Peter Pettigrew, what strange hobbies do you have? Why are you hiding in the bathroom? Is there a banquet here? Are you treating the boys' bathroom like an exclusive restaurant?
But along with the intense odor in the confined space, Tom suddenly had a revelation: Scabbers had chosen to hide here so that his own scent would be concealed by the bathroom smell.
"It's here," he whispered quietly to the people behind him. The tracking parchment in his pocket also trembled intensely, indicating that he and the target were very close.
Tom's eyes fell on the toilet paper holder in the stall. It seemed large enough to hide a mouse.
Indeed, Peter Pettigrew had been terrified by Sirius Black.
At the end of this summer vacation, he learned terrible news: Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban! Although others thought that Sirius was after Harry Potter, Peter knew that Sirius was after him.
During those idle days as a rat, he carefully reviewed the reasons for his exposure and finally realized that it was most likely because he had accidentally appeared in the Daily Prophet. Mr. Weasley had won a significant amount of Galleons on his vacation and was interviewed by the Daily Prophet due to his victory.
Thinking about that, Scabbers was filled with regret.
A small oversight, just one mistake! After twelve years of infiltration, he had let his guard down and accidentally exposed himself to the public. And to make matters worse, the one time he was exposed, Sirius Black saw him!
In the world, there were only two known people who knew his Animagus form, and in twelve years, he had only been exposed once, and yet he was still discovered! It was truly absurd. Peter Pettigrew even felt like fate was mocking him.
When he realized his exposure, Peter's first reaction was to escape. Continuing to stay with the Weasley family would be like painting a target on his back for Black, so he had to get away from them as fast as possible. However, Ron Weasley was watching him too closely. He practically accompanied him 24 hours a day, even sleeping together. He had no chance to escape.
Then, in Diagon Alley, he had a good opportunity, but in the end, they found him. And then Ron brought him to Hogwarts... and so he had been postponing everything until now.
But now he couldn't delay it any longer! Sirius Black had already arrived at his doorstep. If he didn't flee soon, it would be too late. So, he decided to seize a good opportunity and escape. He cunningly hid in the bathroom, using the scents there to conceal his presence.
As for the next escape plan, he was still devising it. He had plenty of time, so he decided to take a nap.
But while he was asleep, Peter suddenly heard noise outside, tumultuous voices that sounded like Percy Weasley and the mischievous Weasley twins.
Suddenly, the toilet paper box he was in started to shake, someone was repeatedly tapping on the lid while saying, "Hello, is anyone in there?"
Peter was astonished. What exactly was going on?
Tom, amid the astonished stares, tapped the box several times. Getting no response, he pulled out his wand and pointed it at the toilet paper box, saying, "Reducto!"
The box shattered into several pieces, and toilet paper came rolling out, along with a gray mouse.
Tom saw Peter Pettigrew and flashed a wide eight-toothed grin as he greeted him, "Here's Tommy!"
Peter Pettigrew hadn't seen "The Shining," but he couldn't help but shudder. He allowed Tom to pick him up by the tail and toss him into Ron's arms.
"Look, I found him." Tom watched as Ron hurriedly stashed Peter into his robes, and his stomach churned a bit. Hugging a mature, fat, balding man every day, feeding him, sleeping with him, maybe even kissing him and having intimate conversations – it was truly disturbing.
Tom extended his hand and waved it in front of his nose, trying to dispel the bathroom's foul smell.
"Alright, let's go." He exited the bathroom, leaving a group of bewildered young wizards behind.
"So, can someone tell me what's going on?" Percy asked in confusion.
Meanwhile, Harry woke up in the infirmary. His teammates had returned to their dormitories, leaving him alone in the empty room.
"... Almost died."
"Thank goodness the ground was muddy..."
"Albert caught the Golden Snitch... Ravenclaw won fairly and openly. Why didn't we think of wearing waterproof cloaks?"
"We lost by over two hundred points..."
"Your broom... the Forbidden Forest... the professors went to retrieve it..."
The voices of his teammates flooded his mind as he woke up, making him feel inexplicably suffocated. Now he felt that everything that happened yesterday was like a nightmare.
Harry shook his head to clear those voices from his mind. Yesterday's match was a nightmare for him, but at least he had one advantage: because he was in the hospital, Madam Pomfrey gave him a potion that allowed him to sleep soundly.
When Harry woke up that morning, he felt full of energy. It seemed like the bad feeling after yesterday's match had disappeared with that restful sleep. He looked out the window, and although his vision wasn't very good, he could tell that the sun was shining brightly today.
"All problems can be solved," he cheered himself up, but he also regretted a bit. Why didn't it occur to him to take out his wand and try a Patronus Charm when he encountered the Dementors during yesterday's match? He could only say that he was still too inexperienced or that his mind blocked due to the rain.
Harry reached out to find his glasses. He remembered leaving them on the nightstand after his teammates had left. But when his hand touched the nightstand, he felt a splinter of wood with thorns.
"What's this?" A sense of foreboding washed over Harry as he frantically searched the nightstand, finding more fragments of wood and broken twigs. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he didn't cry because he still couldn't be entirely sure.
Of course, he already had the answer in his head; he just didn't dare to confirm it.
Finally, Harry found his glasses on the nightstand. Trembling, he put them on, and during the process, the glasses' legs hit him several times in the face. Once he had his glasses on, the whole world came back into focus with clarity. Courageously, he looked at the nightstand, feeling a deep despair enveloping him: there he saw over a dozen pieces of wood and a pile of scattered twigs, the shattered remnants of the flying broom that had accompanied him for more than two years.
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