Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 340 The dog catches the mouse, and the cat gets angry.

Sirius Black is gone, and with him left "Rat" Scabbers.

Hogwarts' peaceful campus life continued until one morning when Dumbledore suddenly received an owl mail.

"I'm so old, why do so many people still write to me? I don't even have time to eat breakfast in peace." Dumbledore said with a wry smile as he opened the envelope. Then his expression gradually became serious, and by the end, his eyes flashed with an almost tangible rage.

"Albus, I'm not going to reply to those people for you... What's wrong?" Professor McGonagall first stopped Dumbledore's unreasonable request, then noticed the change in Dumbledore's expression and asked with concern.

"Sirius has been found..."

McGonagall: !

"This is a good thing," she said sincerely. "He caused the school a lot of trouble."

"Peter Pettigrew has also been found." Dumbledore's last sentence stunned Professor McGonagall.

McGonagall: ? ? ?

"Peter? That boy?! Wasn't he blown to pieces by Sirius Black?"

"Things are more complicated than you think. In short, according to the letter, Peter Pettigrew faked his death to escape; he's the real culprit behind the bombing and betraying the Potters." Dumbledore couldn't help but rub his temples. Such a shocking reversal left him speechless.

As for whether the contents of the letter were credible, Dumbledore believed them to be credible.

Because these kinds of things are too easy to find out!

You're saying Peter Pettigrew is not only alive, but also the mastermind behind it all? Where is he? Bringing him out would guarantee the capture, but without witnesses, it's just a fabrication—which is why Sirius Black was so desperate back then that he gave up resisting and wouldn't even bother to defend himself.

Because he also felt that Peter had been blown to pieces, how could he explain that? In addition, the person in charge of the trial at the time was Buddy Crouch, so Sirius was ultimately imprisoned in Azkaban without trial.

Peter was caught! The truth was now just a hair's breadth away from being revealed.

After processing the information brought by Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall realized something.

"Albus, this letter..."

"Yes, as the Chief Wizard of Wizengamor, I am responsible for presiding over Wizengamor meetings and overseeing court proceedings. This letter is a 'spoiler' for this old man in advance, so that I won't make the wrong decision because of my senility." Dumbledore laughed: Henry Greengrass's little scheme was not hard to guess; he was playing his cards right.

Dumbledore wouldn't believe one side of the story, but it was enough for him to know about it beforehand.

"There's something interesting in the letter," Dumbledore said, handing it to Professor McGonagall. "Sirius and Peter Pettigrew are both unregistered Animagus. Sirius is a black dog, and Peter Pettigrew is a mouse—so everything that's happened this year can be summed up as a dog catching a mouse. Minerva, I thought you'd be the first to answer that question."

Professor McGonagall didn't understand what Dumbledore was saying at first, but after she realized what he meant, she really wanted to crumple up the letter and throw it in Dumbledore's face.

"Alright, I will fulfill my responsibilities from now on. The affairs of Gryffindor will be in your care!" Professor McGonagall said sternly.

"Hey—do you know where Peter has been hiding all these years?" Realizing he had spoken too quickly and seemed to have gotten into trouble, Dumbledore quickly changed the subject.

Surprisingly, this trick worked quite well; Professor McGonagall was indeed distracted by Dumbledore's little scheme.

"It's been living in the Weasleys' house all along!" Dumbledore looked around as if he were about to reveal a huge secret before lowering his voice to say it.

Dumbledore: (=ω｀=)

Professor McGonagall: Σ(っ°Д°;)っ

This news truly shocked Professor McGonagall.

"How disgusting!" That was her first reaction.

Who could accept that their pet, with whom they spend every day, even sleep in the same bed and are completely naked, is actually a greasy, middle-aged wizard? Just thinking about it sends chills down your spine.

Professor McGonagall's gaze swept over the Weasley children, who were having breakfast in the Great Hall, her eyes filled with pity: "Poor children..."

Seeing that Professor McGonagall had completely forgotten about the dog and mouse he had just mentioned, Dumbledore breathed a sigh of relief and told Professor McGonagall that he was going to do some investigation.

Although he already believed it in his heart, he still needed to gather some evidence.

As for where to collect the evidence, that's quite simple...

"Severus, was Sirius Black among Voldemort's followers back then?"

Clementine frowned, somewhat bewildered by Dumbledore's sudden question. Despite his confusion, he answered truthfully: "Never seen it."

He only learned that Sirius Black was on Voldemort's side after that bombing.

"That's perfectly normal, isn't it?" A mocking smile appeared on his lips. "His family..."

Dumbledore didn't let him continue. If Snape were allowed to rant freely, Dumbledore wouldn't be able to leave until the Wizengamot courtroom opened.

"What about Peter Pettigrew? Did you see him near Voldemort?"

Snape shook his head again. Although Peter was part of James's clique, he didn't have a particularly strong impression of him.

He didn't understand why Dumbledore would suddenly mention a dead man who had been dead for over a decade, nor could he understand why Dumbledore seemed to suspect Peter was a Death Eater in his words.

"Bring some truth serum and deliver it to my office." As he had expected, Dumbledore left without receiving an answer, still needing to gather further evidence.

Dumbledore's next person to meet was Percy Weasley.

Percy, who had been stopped by Dumbledore, turned pale instantly. He turned around, took a deep breath, as if he were about to face judgment.

"professor--"

Dumbledore: "Percy, when did your brother Ron's rat get into your house?"

Percy seemed to choke, and it took him several seconds to react.

"A rat? Oh, Scabbers! Professor, it's like this, although rats aren't among the three types of pets allowed on campus, but—"

"I don't mean to hold anyone accountable, I'm just curious—as a rat, it seems to have lived a little too long."

Seeing that Dumbledore didn't seem to blame him or his brother, Percy's tense nerves relaxed. He began to try to recall when Scabbers had come to his house, then realized he wasn't sure himself.

When I was a child, my parents gave me this obedient mouse as a pet. Later, my younger brother Ron kept asking for it, so I gave it to him. Thinking about it, Scabbers seems to have lived a bit too long. How long do mice usually live?

After receiving the information from Percy, Dumbledore returned to his office, already having a clear understanding of the situation.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

First update delivered.

There's another update at night; I suggest you read it in the morning.

(End of this chapter)