Nemea Leonthrope Chapter 13 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Harry Potter the First Nemea Leonthrope! What will Harry do now that he’s seen Peter’s name on the Marauder’s Map?

As always Patrons get all chapters a month early and all one-shots are Pat re on exclusive.

If you’re not a Patron please thank the ones who helped make this possible.

Thank you; Lu Bane Na, Frimorigo, Thomas E Nellis, Patrick Ayres, Rinnosuke, Kaymann, Jacob Ward, Evgeniy Kazanin, Daniel Williams, CC100, Victor Garrett, Brody Meech, Benjamin, Paul Nichols, Alastor God of Vengeance, Mauday, Thomas B. Wilkes, Vito Saraceno, Ct126371, Benjamin Shklyar, AC DC 1C 2C, Joseph, Callum Nowlan, Brad Goldin, Cody Lyle, Mark Edward Wyndham Tiller, Joseph Morrison, Tristan McKenzie O'Meara, Robyn Tammy Grogan, Joini, Demonhunter44, Optimum Prime, Assassin22, Fabian J. Wilkinson, MrKristoffer1994, Kenni Nielsen, Tyler Spell, Uber Ghidorah, Desert Wight, David Zimmerle, John Lashbrook, Dylan Cools, Dpc78, YouAreAPotato, Jeff Broderick, Thunderwalker123, Nathan Briggs, James Rayner, Gregory Petryka, Hoobs2, MarchVual, ChaosKnight, and Kenneth Wallace.

If you’d like to become a patron and get access to these chapters a month earlier, just head on over to Pat re on and add a /Kairomaru after the com.

So without further delay, please enjoy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter 13 – Catching a Rat

Harry stared at the name of Peter Pettigrew on the map slowly making its way down a corridor on the first floor. After the initial shock of the discovery Harry quickly looked for the nearest Professor or Auror name on the map. Thanks to Amelia Bones’ competency at her job there were two Aurors stationed outside of the Gryffindor Common Room guarding the portrait that acted as the door. Harry quickly got out of bed and dashed down the stairs to the Common Room. Opening the portrait Harry immediately called out to the familiar name he’d seen on the map.

“Tonks! You have to see this!” Harry called out. A shimmering next to the now open portrait revealed the, currently pink-haired, Auror.

“Harry? What are you doing out here?” Tonks asked as she saw Harry holding out a large piece of parchment.

“You need to see this! It’s a map of the entire castle and grounds that shows everybody’s name and location!” Harry explained as he pulled open the map and found Pettigrew’s name again.

“What! Where did you get this?” Tonks asked as her partner shimmered into view as well.

“I’ll tell you later, look at this name!” Harry stated as he pointed to the supposedly dead man’s name. Both Tonks and her partner looked at the map and saw the name Harry was pointing to.

“No bloody way!” Tonks’ partner exclaimed as he looked at the name on the parchment.

“How the hell?” Tonks demanded as she stared at the moving name of Peter Pettigrew.

“I don’t know, but this map shows everyone and where they are. Even us, see?” Harry explained as he pointed out where the three of them were standing. He also discovered the name of Tonks’ partner, Patrick Proudfoot.

“Tonks, I’m calling in a lockdown! Potter, hand Tonks the map and get back in the Common Room we’ll handle this!” Proudfoot ordered. Harry nodded and instantly handed the map over to Tonks. With a quick ‘Good luck’ Harry retreated back into the Common Room and heard Tonks call out ‘Colloportus’ before he heard nothing else. Without the ability to go back to sleep Harry sat in one of the cushy armchairs in the Common Room next to the fireplace.

Tonks and Proudfoot quickly made their way down the stairs towards the first floor. Proudfoot was using his Auror badge to contact all Aurors in the castle and on the grounds to go into full lockdown. A quick confirmation from the four Aurors at the main entrance of the castle let them know that the doors had been sealed and all four were on full alert for anyone trying to leave. Amelia wanted to know what was going on and Proudfoot had to explain that a supposed dead man was somehow in the castle. Four more Aurors met the pair as they made it to the first floor and asked for an update on the situation.

“Follow us, this map shows the name and location of every person in the castle or on the grounds. We’ve got someone named Peter Pettigrew walking around the right hand first floor corridor.” Tonks explained as she showed the four new Aurors the map. A chorus of ‘Impossible’, ‘Bloody hell’, ‘How’, followed the reveal only for Proudfoot to shush them all.

“We don’t have time for a game of twenty questions! We’ll ask the man when we have him in custody!” Proudfoot growled at the Aurors getting the group to calm down and nod seriously. “Follow us, wands out! If this is really Peter Pettigrew then I highly doubt he’s been faking his death for over a decade for anything good.”

The now six Aurors quickly made their way through the corridors until they neared the one that Pettigrew’s name was in. A few silent signals were given designating each Auror to cast a wide area spell each. With nods all around all five Aurors waited for Tonks to give the signal that Pettigrew was close enough to their location for them to ambush him. Tonks held up her hand with three fingers up and all the Aurors pointed their wands forward in preparation. When Tonks dropped her hand five Aurors dashed into the corridor and launched their spells.

“Impedimenta Totalum!” Proudfoot cast sending a wave of magic down the corridor. This was followed by four more spells; ‘Immobulus Totalus!’, ‘Levicorpus Maxima!’, ‘Petrificus Totalus!’, ‘Cincinno Locus Maxima!’ the corridor glowed blue from the final spell with a visible wall of magic blocking the other end of the corridor. Seeing nobody in the corridor all five Aurors looked around in confusion.

“Where is he?” Proudfoot asked as he looked around with the other four Aurors.

“He’s a few meters in front of you.” Tonks stated as she came around the corridor.

“There’s no one here.” Another Auror spoke up gesturing to the empty corridor.

“Are you a wizard or not?” A female Auror next to him questioned as she raised her wand. “Homenum Revelio.” A barely perceptible wave of magic spread out in a circle from the witch’s wand only for a small floating object to glow near the wall. The six Aurors all trained their wands on the object and discovered a floating rat under the effects of the various spells cast by the Aurors.

“Was Pettigrew registered as an Animagus?” One of the Aurors questioned getting shrugs from the others.

“Well if he wasn’t he’ll be charged for that at least.” Proudfoot nodded as he cast the reversion spell and a short man with a pointed face transformed from the rat. The man’s eyes darted around in panic as he floated, immobile, before six Aurors.

“Hello, Peter, I must say you’re looking very lively for a dead man.” Dumbledore spoke up from the other end of the corridor with Amelia at his side. All six Aurors saluted their boss as she approached with the Headmaster.

“Report.” Amelia ordered as Proudfoot stepped forward and began to explain the situation.

“Ms. Tonks, may I see that map?” Dumbledore asked after the explanation. After getting a nod from Amelia, Tonks handed the map to Dumbledore. “Yes, I see now, this map has been tied to the wards of Hogwarts. A rather clever bit of magic, it explains how those pranksters always made their escapes back in their time.”

“You know who made this?” Amelia questioned as she looked over the map seeing her Aurors blocking off every known way into and out of Hogwarts.

“Yes, a group of pranksters from your time here Amelia, the Marauders if you recall.” Dumbledore informed getting a grimace from Amelia at the memories of those four. To think that Pettigrew had been a part of them back in the day.

“We’ll be taking Pettigrew with us, Albus, I won’t hear any objection.” Amelia informed getting a nod from Dumbledore.

“Far be it from me to interfere in an Auror investigation. I expect an emergency trial will be called soon enough. I do hope you cooperate for your own sake, Peter.” Dumbledore stated looking down on what had become of one of his former students, a sad and pitiful man that had been too much of a coward to even stand with his oldest friends.

“We’re taking the suspect back to the Ministry for questioning immediately.” Amelia ordered getting salutes from the six Aurors. “Dumbledore, you’ll be receiving a missive from me as soon as Pettigrew’s questioning is over with to set a date for his trial.”

“Of course, Amelia, I’ll escort you to the nearest Floo so there is no chance of your suspect escaping.” Dumbledore offered and the group quickly followed the Headmaster. 

-Auror Department ~ Several minutes later-

"Who’s that?" a curious intern inquired as the group of Aurors passed. 

“It's a suspect, who else gets escorted into the Auror Office with six Aurors and the Head of the DMLE.” Moody answered in his typical, gruff manner. The group kept walking before rounding a corner and entering Interrogation Room Three.

“I want everything out of him. Where he’s been these last twelve years, why he’s been hiding, what he’s been doing, everything.” Amelia demanded. “One of you go get Alastor, he’s got a lot of experience making uncooperative suspects talk.”

Tonks had a strong suspicion that they would need Veritaserum to get a single truthful word out of Pettigrew, but once they did, no one would care whether the restricted truth potion had been used. This was a chance to finally learn the truth of that Halloween night in Eighty One. Tonks placed pieces of parchment on the table and activated a dictation quill which hovered expectantly above the parchment, waiting for words to be spoken while Moody stomped his way into the room. The grizzled old Auror looked at Peter Pettigrew in disbelief for a moment before scowling. Alastor already had a good idea where this questioning was going to lead. 

The Aurors chained Peter’s wrists and his ankles to the chair with cuffs that prevented the use of magic enforced so that his Animagus transformation would not be able to help him escape. There was also a protective enchantment on the room to keep him from transforming as an extra layer of insurance. Moody sent a questioning glance in Tonks' direction, the pink-haired Auror nodded to confirm that she was ready. Looking over to Amelia and getting a motion to begin Moody pointed his wand at Peter and cast a powerful ‘Finite Incantatem’ to release him from the spells he was under. Peter’s eyes were wide in panic as they darted around the room taking in all the people there. He looked at the seven Aurors before his gaze darted to the door, his only means of escape. He scrunched up his face in concentration to try and transform, only to realize that he couldn’t a few seconds later. 

“That won't work in here.” Moody growled, Peter’s eyes growing wide in horror when he realized that for the first time in years he was utterly trapped.

“Mr. Pettigrew, do you know why you’re here?” Amelia asked the first question before looking at Tonks to make sure the dictation quill was working properly. Getting the affirmative signal from Tonks, Amelia directed her gaze back on Pettigrew who shook his head ever so slightly. “Let the record show that the suspect indicated a negative response.” She said for the quill. “You're in the office of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I'm Amelia Bones Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and this is Senior Auror Alastor Moody, we have a list of questions for you.” The color completely drained from Peter’s face. “Do you wish to cooperate with our investigation?” Peter shook his head already trying to babble excuses, but Moody silenced him before the coward could get started. “Let the record show that the suspect indicated a negative response.” Amelia repeated.

“You’ll speak only to answer questions.” Moody growled. Pettigrew’s face contorted with fear as he stared at the wand in Alastor’s hand.

“State your name for the record, please.” Amelia asked as Moody lifted the Silencing spell from Pettigrew. The man started to protest but Moody pointing his wand directly into the coward’s face didn't allow the rat-like man to get a word out. “I’ll ask again, please state your name for the record.” Amelia demanded as Peter stared at her with fear in his eyes. “I won’t ask again, what is your name?” She looked at him expectantly her gaze demanded an answer and Peter finally caved.

“Peter Pettigrew.” Peter answered with a shaky breath.

“Thank you, now as I said before we have a list of questions for you. Are you willing to cooperate?” Amelia asked but Peter remained silent this time.

“Perhaps he needs a drink to calm down? Proudfoot, go get him something to drink.” Moody said getting a nod from Patrick once the other Auror realized Moody was speaking in code. Pettigrew was not cooperating so he was to place Veritaserum into the drink he’d bring to the man.

“Of course.” He nodded dutifully before exiting the interrogation room and walked quickly down the hall to the Potions Lock Up where the Department stored potions for use in healing and interrogation. Patrick quickly made a cup of tea and added three drops of Veritaserum to it before carefully walking back to Interrogation Room Three. Pettigrew looked even more frightened than he had when Proudfoot left to make the tea, sweat trickled down the man’s brow. “Did something happen?”

“The suspect is being less than cooperative.” Moody growled.

“Well, I made some tea. Should I withhold it until he cooperates?” Proudfoot asked but Moody just made an indifferent grunt, the question was all for show after all. He placed the cup in front of Pettigrew who, after hearing it might be taken away, took it into his hands and began sipping at the warm beverage. Within three minutes, he had drained his cup and set it back down on the table.

“So, are you ready to answer some questions now?” Amelia asked after she was certain the Veritaserum had started working. “Why have you been pretending to be dead for the last twelve years?"

“So no one would look for me.” Pettigrew responded instantly his eyes dull from the effects of the potion.

“Why wouldn’t you want anyone to look for you?” Amelia questioned.

“Because I betrayed James and Lily to the Dark Lord.” Peter answered his eyes still dull. The Veritaserum had stopped his stuttering and forced him to speak the truth. 

“If you are Peter Pettigrew, how did you survive Sirius Black's attempt on your life in November of Nineteen Eighty One?” Amelia inquired.

“I blew up the street with a Blasting Curse then cut off my finger to make it look like I had died and used my Animagus form, a rat, to escape into the sewers.” Pettigrew responded with the same dull tone.

“Reports say that Sirius Black blew up the street. That he was a Death Eater and he betrayed James and Lily Potter to Voldemort; are you admitting that you did all of that yourself?” Amelia pressed on.

“Yes,” the word rang through the quiet room. “I was their Secret Keeper. They thought I would be the least obvious choice, they always underestimated me, but I betrayed James and Lily to Voldemort.” Peter explained in a dull tone.

“So you conspired with Black then left him to take the fall?" Amelia inquired just to make sure she covered all possible angles of that night.

“No. Sirius would have never betrayed them.” Pettigrew replied.

“So you can confirm that Sirius Orion Black was not a Death Eater?” Amelia wanted these words recorded to help her case against Bartemius Crouch.

“Sirius was never a Death Eater. He doesn't have the Dark Lord’s Mark.” Peter confirmed.

“What happened that night on the street when Black found you?” Amelia asked finally getting to unravel this mystery.

“Sirius, he came after me, he knew I had betrayed James and Lily, he was the one who came up with the idea of switching us in the first place. ‘They'll never suspect Peter’, is what he said. So he knew that only I could have betrayed them to the Dark Lord. He threatened to kill me for betraying James and Lily. That’s when I cut off my finger, blew up the street, and escaped into the sewers in my rat form.” Pettigrew explained dully.

“So you’re telling us, under Veritaserum, that you’re a Death Eater. That you betrayed the Potters and led the Dark Lord to them knowing they’d be murdered. Then you framed an innocent man for your crimes by faking your own death. Have I misunderstood any of this?” Amelia asked for clarification.

“No, that’s all correct.” Peter once again replied in the dull voice of someone under the effects of Veritaserum.

“I want him in an isolated cell. Ward it to hell and back for every single eventuality. Only I will be keyed into the wards and able to open the cell. Do I make myself clear?” Amelia ordered the Aurors in the room.

“Yes, ma’am!” The Aurors saluted as they started the process of moving Pettigrew to his isolated cell.

“Alastor, follow me to my office.” Amelia ordered as she left the Interrogation Room.

“Right behind you.” Moody gruffly replied as he followed Amelia. Once the two were back in her office Amelia slumped into the chair behind her desk.

“What a mess, a supposed dead man reappears and we find out we’ve kept an innocent man in Azkaban for twelve years. Worse yet we have no evidence of a proper arrest, questioning, trial, or sentencing. Everyone was so ready to believe that because Sirius was a Black he was just as Dark as the rest of his family.” Amelia slumped even deeper into her chair. As head of the DMLE it was her job to make sure that procedures were followed and done correctly. While she had not been the one to unjustly toss Sirius into Azkaban, she felt the sting of failure because of his imprisonment. She respected the laws but the legal system had failed Sirius and now she had to fix the mistakes of her predecessor, Bartemius Crouch.

If the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was someone else, they might have tried to cover this up. Something like this was an unprecedented scandal that would bring a storm to the Ministry and inquiries into the guilt of other prisoners in Azkaban would start being made. Amelia Bones however, was a woman that upheld the law, now that she knew for certain that such a miscarriage of Justice had occurred she would do everything in her power to fix it. May the Gods have mercy on any fool dumb enough to get in her way.

“So what do you plan to do about Black’s case?” Moody asked suddenly as he stood in front of her desk.

“We’re calling off the manhunt and scheduling an emergency trial for tomorrow morning. Full Wizengamot and no one is to know who it’s for until we bring Pettigrew into the room. I don’t want Fudge or any of the ‘Imperius Victims’ to have any chance of doing something foolish.” Amelia ordered getting a nod from Moody.

“How are we going to use this in the case we’re building against Barty?” Alastor questioned only to have Amelia sigh in response.

“Obviously with Pettigrew’s testimony tomorrow we’ll have undeniable proof that Crouch circumvented all due process and simply tossed an innocent wizard to the Dementors. We’ll arrest Crouch tomorrow at the conclusion of the trial and inform him of what he’s being charged with.” Amelia stated firmly.

“I’ll have the others you’ve brought into the case covering all the exits. Once Pettigrew’s testimony comes out Barty may try to make a break for it during the time the Wizengamot is deliberating.” Moody informed his boss.

“We have to do this completely by the book, Alastor, we can’t make any mistakes or Crouch will have grounds to leave custody. We may not be able to get him for everything he’s done considering how many favors he’s accumulated over the years, but I’ll be damned if he gets out of spending time in a cell until his own trial.” Amelia declared getting a nod of approval from Moody.

During this time Harry Potter had left the Common Room for his bed up in the dormitory. Too many thoughts were whirling around his head for him to sleep just yet but he had to try. But to find out that a supposed dead man had been hiding for twelve years for some reason was unnerving. What reason did Pettigrew have to hide? If he’d survived in Eighty One why didn’t he come forward after Sirius Black was arrested? There were far too many questions with no answers forthcoming. Harry hoped he might be able to get the map back from Tonks at some point. He’d done what he’d promised his friends he would do and let the Aurors handle whatever he discovered on the map. That didn’t mean he wanted it taken away permanently though. Fred and George had just given it to him today after all.

With nothing else to do Harry sighed and took off his glasses. Placing them on his night stand and pulling his blankets over his body he tried to get comfortable. His mind was still abuzz with thoughts and questions but he hoped to get at least some sleep tonight. Maybe Tonks would be around in the next few days and she could tell him at least something about what was going on. Until then the only thing Harry could do was wait. To be honest though, he was starting to get a little tired of always waiting for someone to tell him something that pertained to his life. He’d had to find out about his own family through Gringotts because no one told him anything. He was still trying to play catch up with all the things an Heir was supposed to know because no one told him anything. In fact it sometimes seemed like people were purposely withholding information from him. That thought made him angry, who were they to withhold information about his own life?

“I know one thing though, if Dumbledore thinks I’m returning to the Dursleys this upcoming summer he’s in for a rude awakening.” Harry growled to himself in the dark of his dormitory. He was going to start taking some control over his life. No more people telling him everything he could or couldn’t do. He had limited adult status in the Wizarding World, so maybe it was time to start using it!

-End Chapter-

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

So Pettigrew is captured and interrogated, the truth is out! Crouch is being closed in on by Amelia and her Aurors. Harry is tired of people controlling his life! Where will this lead? The trial of the rat and the arrest of Crouch will have quite the effect on the future. What changes will result? Found out in the next chapters of Harry Potter the First Nemea Leonthrope!

Let me know what you thought about this chapter!

Until I get your reviews, later!