"Peter Pettigrew?"
After hearing Lupin and Sirius' account, Dumbledore fell silent, while Snape looked at him nervously, fearing that he was still protecting Lupin.
However, Dumbledore's next words relieved Snape.
"If that's all, I don't think you can convince me, Remus."
What Lupin and Sirius were saying, though it sounded true, and even Dumbledore thought it might be the truth, but just like what Snape refuted, there are also a lot of loopholes in it, which made it impossible for Dumbledore to believe them on a hunch.
Or, rather, Dumbledore could not risk believing them without significant evidence that they were true.
As for a certain little cat holding the key evidence...
He was sleeping in his cat form in Professor McGonagall's arms.
As for Scabbers being an Animagus... the cat had completely forgotten to tell his due to the continuous interruptions.
"I don't need you to believe in my innocence! But Peter Pettigrew is alive! You must be on your guard!" Shouted Sirius excitedly to Dumbledore, "And Remus, he was only contacted recently, he had nothing to do with anything that happened before!".
He was no longer thinking about his own safety, he just wanted Dumbledore to take Wormtail seriously and forgive Lupin, who had been implicated.
At that moment, Lupin took the floor, just as Sirius wanted to save him, he also wanted to save Sirius.
"I did some research on Peter when I found out," he said, thinking of another piece of evidence, "And although I couldn't find any trace of him, I discovered that Scabbers had been in the Weasley's house for over ten years... ordinary rats don't live that long..."
"That's not good enough, Remus, the bloodline of magical creatures, some wizard's experiments, could have caused this, it doesn't prove that Scabbers is Peter Pettigrew."
Dumbledore pursed his lips, this proof was not enough to exonerate Black, but now he was already thinking about whether or not to hand Black over to the Ministry of Magic....
Of course, whatever the final decision, he intended to pursue the matter of Peter Pettigrew and Scabbers .
Snape also had a vague idea that this was true, but that didn't stop him from looking for excuses to have Black and Lupin killed.
"It's obvious," Snape said impatiently, "We must hand them over to the Dementors as soon as possible."
Dumbledore reflected, if they turned them both in, Sirius would be dead for sure, so he was still hesitant.
"We need more confirmation of the truth."
He shook his head, deciding not to hand Black and Lupin over to the Ministry for the time being, but to leave them in the care of the school.
Snape immediately stood up from his chair and shouted excitedly at Dumbledore, "How else do we need to confirm the truth?! They are the murderers! Even if you're the headmaster, you can't stop me from bringing them to justice!"
He had already decided to force Black and Lupin to go through the Ministry of Magic, even if it meant antagonizing Dumbledore.
Obviously, Dumbledore didn't want this to happen, so he had to patiently convince Snape.
At that moment, Professor McGonagall suddenly remembered something....
"Fish, wake up!"
She pushed the little cat who was sleeping soundly in her arms.
"Nya~"
?(=′Д`=)?
Fish rolled onto Professor McGonagall's lap, exposing his belly, and stretched out his limbs.
"Nya?"
The cat continued to lie there, cocking its little head at Professor McGonagall in confusion.
"Go back and change first, I need to ask you something."
Urged Professor McGonagall urgently, rubbing his belly.
With a twist, he rolled off Professor McGonagall's lap and Fish returned to his human form.
"What's wrong nya, Minerva?"
(?Φω??)
Mumbled the kitten, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
"Fish! Are you able to recognize an Animagus in animal form?".
Professor McGonagall's words made Black and Lupin's eyes light up, while Snape pursed his lips.
"Nya? Yes, but only the smaller ones, but not the ones Black's size, which he didn't recognize and ripped off a lot of food."
(? `ω′?)
The little cat replied angrily.
Professor McGonagall was speechless, but she was used to Fish's incongruity and quickly recovered and waved her hand, saying, "That's not important, now I ask you, was that mouse Ron Weasley had, an Animagus?".
The yawning kitten froze slightly, and remembered the whole Bamm-Bamm thing.
"That's right, Scabbers is actually an Animagus! Fish meant to say that earlier, but I forgot nya!"
∑(?ΦДΦ?)
"How can you forget something so important!!!!"
Professor McGonagall was furious as she grabbed Fish's cheek and loudly reprimanded him.
"Fish was going to say it! Then Albus came along, and I forgot about it! You just reminded me yourself, Minerva."
?(?≥?)?
The kitten waved its hands, struggling as it blamed Dumbledore, though the cat couldn't remember how it had forgotten, but it was a good idea to blame him first.
"Tell me what happened in detail!"
Professor McGonagall withdrew her hand, looked at Fish fiercely and said.
The others turned their attention back to Fish, each with a different expression.
"All Fish knows is that Scabbers is an Animagus... I don't know if it's Pettigrew Peter nya..."
(ノ)`ω′(ヾ)
The kitten rubbed his cheeks and replied very casually.
"Be more specific! When did you know he was an Animagus and why didn't you tell us?!".
This simple answer did not satisfy Professor McGonagall, who continued in a stern voice.
"When I went to the Burrow before, Fish knew, but Scabbers said he was tired of human life, so he wanted to be a mouse..."
Fish told Professor McGonagall exactly what he had told Scabbers .
At the time, Fish didn't know much about humans and didn't think there was anything wrong with Scabbers' words, but, in retrospect, Scabbers' excuse struck his as odd.
In fact, after the incident with Voldemort's diary, Fish had been a little suspicious of Scabbers, but he had run away during the summer vacations and Ron had said that nothing was missing from his house, so Fish hadn't thought too much about it.
"Actually, Fish had guessed that Scabbers might be Peter Pettigrew, but Black and Severus had been shouting so much that Fish hadn't been able to intervene, and then Albus had come running in out of nowhere, so it had slipped my mind."
(??ω??)?
The cat, who was slowly remembering, cocked his head to the side in embarrassment, scratching his head with a smile.
Although Sirius and Lupin were speechless, they were still very grateful to Fish, if it wasn't for Fish, they might both be thrown to the Dementors.
Snape's expression clouded a little, he certainly didn't suspect Fish of lying, but what Fish said basically dashed his hopes, but still Snape wasn't about to let Black off so easily.
"It only proves the rat is an Animagus, it's not certain it's Peter Pettigrew!"
Snape said viciously.
Peter deserved to die, but Black wasn't going to get away with it either!
If he hadn't been so clever, how could they have killed Lily?
"Severus..."
Dumbledore frowned, the situation was obvious now, Snape was continuing to pester him, he obviously just wanted to take the opportunity to get revenge.
"We need more confirmation of the truth."
Snape met Dumbledore's gaze nonchalantly, and used the same words he had said earlier to counterattack.
"Very well..." Dumbledore sighed, he knew Snape would not rest until he had gotten it off his chest, "So, what do you want to do?"
"Simple," Snape replied with a sinister grin as he bared his teeth: "Remember the Veritaserum I mentioned to you earlier?"
Dumbledore frowned and was about to say something, when Sirius Black jumped in himself.
"No problem, I'm willing to be interrogated with Veritaserum!"
Snape's mouth instantly curved into a sneer.