
knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting 
for this for twelve years!" 

"You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?" said Lupin, his 
brow furrowed. "When nobody has ever done it before?" 

"He's got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of!" Pettigrew 
shouted shrilly. "How else did he get out of there? I suppose 
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him a few tricks!" 

Black started to laugh, a horrible, mirthless laugh that filled the 
whole room. 

"Voldemort, teach me tricks?" he said. 

Pettigrew flinched as though Black had brandished a whip at him. 

"What, scared to hear your old master's name?" said Black. I don't blame 
you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, are they?" 

"Don't know what you mean, Sirius --" muttered Pettigrew, his breathing 

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faster than ever. His whole face was shining with sweat now. 

"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years," said Black. "You've 
been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, 
Peter... They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them.... 
I've heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds 
like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went 
to the Potters' on your information... and Voldemort met his downfall 
there. And not all Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? 
There are still plenty out here, biding their time, pretending they've 
seen the error of their ways. 

If they ever got wind that you were still alive, Peter --" 

"Don't know... what you're talking about...," said Pettigrew again, more 
shrilly than ever. He wiped his face on his sleeve and looked up at 
Lupin. "You don't believe this -- this madness, Remus --" 

"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent 
man would want to spend twelve years as a rat," said Lupin evenly. 

"Innocent, but scared!" squealed Pettigrew. "If Voldemort's supporters 
were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban -the 
spy, Sirius Black!" 

Black's face contorted. 

"How dare you," he growled, sounding suddenly like the bearsized dog he 
had been. I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people 
who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter -- I'll 
never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You 
always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be 
us... me and Remus... and James.... 

Pettigrew wiped his face again; he was almost panting for breath. 

"Me, a spy... must be out of your mind... never... don't know how you 
can say such a --" 

"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it," 

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Black hissed, so venomously that Pettigrew took a step backward. "I 
thought it was the perfect plan... a bluff... Voldemort would be sure to 
come after me, would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless thing 
like you.... It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, 
telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters." 

Pettigrew was muttering distractedly; Harry caught words like 
"far-fetched" and "lunacy," but he couldn't help paying more attention 
to the ashen color of Pettigrew's face and the way his eyes continued to 
dart toward the windows and door. 

"Professor Lupin?" said Hermione timidly. "Can -- can I say something?" 

"Certainly, Hermione," said Lupin courteously. 

"Well -- Scabbers -- I mean, this -- this man -- he's been sleeping in 
Harry's dormitory for three years. If he's working for You-Know-Who, how 
come he never tried to hurt Harry before now?" 

"There!" said Pettigrew shrilly, pointing at Ron with his maimed hand. 
"Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair of Harry's head! 
Why should I?" 

"I'll tell you why," said Black. "Because you never did anything for 
anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort's been in 
hiding for fifteen years, they say he's half dead. You weren't about to 
commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore's nose, for a wreck of a 
wizard who'd lost all of his power, were you? You'd want to be quite 
sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to 
him, wouldn't you? Why else did you find a wizard family to take you in? 
Keeping an ear out for news, weren't YOU, Peter? Just in case your old 
protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him...." 

Pettigrew opened his mouth and closed it several times. He seemed to 
have lost the ability to talk. 

"Er -- Mr. Black -- Sirius?" said Hermione. 

Black jumped at being addressed like this and stared at Hermione as 
though he had never seen anything quite like her. 

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"If you don't mind me asking, how -- how did you get out of Azkaban, if 
you didn't use Dark Magic?" 

"Thank you!" gasped Pettigrew, nodding frantically at her. "Exactly! 
Precisely what I --" 

But Lupin silenced him with a look. Black was frowning slightly at 
Hermione, but not as though he were annoyed with her. He seemed to be 
pondering his answer. 

"I don't know how I did it," he said slowly. "I think the only reason I 
never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy 
thought, so the dementors couldn't suck it out of me... but it kept me 
sane and knowing who I am... helped me keep my powers... so when it all 
became ... too much... I could transform in my cell... become a dog. 
Dementors can't see, you know...." He swallowed. "They feel their way 
toward people by feeding off their emotions.... They could tell that my 
feelings were less -- less human, less complex when I was a dog... but 
they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in 
there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had 
no hope of driving them away from me without a wand...." 

"But then I saw Peter in that picture... I realized he was at Hogwarts 
with Harry... perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears 
that the Dark Side was gathering strength again...." 

Pettigrew was shaking his head, mouthing noiselessly, but staring all 
the while at Black as though hypnotized. 

"... ready to strike at the moment he could be sure of allies... and to 
deliver the last Potter to them. if he gave them Harry, who'd dare say 
he'd betrayed Lord Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back with honors.... 

"So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter 
was still alive...." 

Harry remembered what Mr. Weasley had told Mrs. Wealsey. "The guards say 
he's been talking in his sleep... always the same words... 'He's at 
Hogwarts.'" 

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"It was as if someone had lit a fire In my head, and the dementors 
couldn't destroy it.... It wasn't a happy feeling... it was an 
obsession... but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind. So, one night 
when they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as a dog.... 
It's so much harder for them to sense animal emotions that they were 
confused.... I was thin, very thin... thin enough to slip through the 
bars.... I swam as a dog back to the mainland.... I journeyed north and 
slipped into the Hogwarts grounds as a dog. I've been living in the 
forest ever since, except when I came to watch the Quidditch, of course. 
You fly as well as your father did, Harry...." 

He looked at Harry, who did not look away. 

"Believe me," croaked Black. "Believe me, Harry. I never betrayed James 
and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them." 

And at long last, Harry believed him. Throat too tight to speak, he 
nodded. 

"No!" 

Pettigrew had fallen to his knees as though Harry's nod had been his own 
death sentence. He shuffled forward on his knees, groveling, his hands 
clasped in front of him as though praying. 

"Sirius -- it's me... it's Peter... your friend... you wouldn't --" 

Black kicked out and Pettigrew recoiled. 

"There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them," said 
Black. 

"Remus!" Pettigrew squeaked, turning to Lupin instead, writhing 
imploringly in front of him. "You don't believe this wouldn't Sirius 
have told you they'd changed the plan?" 

"Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter," said Lupin. "I assume that's 
why you didn't tell me, Sirius?" he said casually over Pettigrews head. 

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"Forgive me, Remus," said Black. 
"Not at all, Padfoot, old friend," said Lupin, who was now rolling up 


his sleeves. "And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were 
the spy?" 
"Of course," said Black, and the ghost of a grin flitted across his 

gaunt face. He, too, began rolling up his sleeves. "Shall we kill him 
together?" 

"Yes, I think so," said Lupin grimly. 
"You wouldn't... you won't...," gasped Pettigrew. And he scrambled 
around to Ron. 


"Ron... haven't I been a good friend... a good pet? You won't let them 
kill me, Ron, will you... you're on my side, aren't you. 
But Ron was staring at Pettigrew with the utmost revulsion. 


"I let you sleep in my bed!" he said. 
"Kind boy... kind master..." Pettigrew crawled toward Ron "You won't let 
them do it.... I was your rat.... I was a good pet...." 


"If you made a better rat than a human, it's not much to boast about, 
Peter," said Black harshly. Ron, going still paler with pain, wrenched 
his broken leg out of Pettigrew's reach. Pettigrew turned on his knees, 
staggered forward, and seized the hem of Hermione's robes. 

"Sweet girl... clever girl... you -- you won't let them.... Help me...." 

Hermione pulled her robes out of Pettigrew's clutching hands and backed 
away against the wall, looking horrified. 
Pettigrew knelt, trembling uncontrollably, and-turned his head slowly 

toward Harry. 
"Harry... Harry... you look just like your father... just like 