Towards dinnertime, Detective Potter finally got in touch with Richard. Scott reported everything he had managed to learn from Peter Pettigrew.
Richard remained unusually thoughtful throughout dinner. Once the meal was over, Ron, Harry, Fred, and George, burning with impatience, invited Grosvenor to the Weasley twins' secret hideout.
The five boys settled into Transfigured armchairs arranged in a circle so that everyone could see one another.
"Well?" Fred blurted out eagerly.
"So then, gentlemen," Richard began, "the rat really was Peter Pettigrew. As you know, with your help my security team managed to get him safely out of Hogwarts. The wizards restored him to his human form, and the detective questioned him using the magical truth serum—Veritaserum."
"So it really was Pettigrew," Harry said grimly.
"Scabbers is a wizard?" Ron said in disbelief. "I... I was sure there'd been some mistake..."
"Keep it down," George hissed at the second-years. "Richard, please go on."
"Thanks, George," Grosvenor said with a nod before continuing. "By nature, Peter is a cowardly hanger-on and a traitor. From what he told us, he always tried to attach himself to powerful wizards. At Hogwarts, he joined a gang of bullies who called themselves the Marauders."
"The Marauders?!" George exclaimed, sounding both surprised and impressed.
"Bullies?" Fred frowned. "Weren't they just pranksters?"
Richard shook his head.
"Pettigrew was very clear—they were bullies. They would choose a victim and torment them methodically, thinking it was all great fun. Their favourite target was Severus Snape."
"You know who they were?" George asked curiously.
"Of course," Richard replied. "Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and..." He glanced at Harry before adding quietly, "James Potter."
"What?!" Harry jerked as though he'd been struck. "My dad was a bully? He used to torment Professor Snape?" Sadness filled his voice. "So that's why Snape hates me..."
"Harry, I'm sorry," Richard continued. "I know it's hard to hear the truth about your parents. But it's better to know what really happened than to live wearing rose-tinted spectacles. Peter told us a great deal. For example, Severus Snape was seeing Lily Evans, and the Marauders, led by your father, framed Snape. As a result, he and your mother had a terrible falling-out, and afterwards Lily Evans began dating James Potter."
Harry's face turned white as chalk. Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes. He wiped them away with the back of his hand, sniffed, and said in a broken voice,
"I can't believe it... Everyone always says what wonderful people my parents were, how brilliant Dad was on a broom, and what a perfect couple Mum and Dad made..."
"Mate, don't take it so hard," Ron said, trying to comfort his friend. "Snape was probably a right git back then too. Your mum would've dumped him anyway and ended up with your dad."
Harry's face twisted in horror.
"Oh, my God!" he cried. "Does that mean Professor Snape could've been my father?! That's terrifying!"
Fred and George couldn't help but burst out laughing. They quickly regained their composure, however, and turned expectant looks towards Richard, who continued without missing a beat.
"School ended, and everyone went their separate ways. James and Lily got married. James Potter entered Auror training. Peter, Remus, and Sirius just drifted through life without doing much of anything."
"What do you mean?" Ron asked.
"They were typical layabouts. Sirius Black left home, but his uncle gave him a cottage and enough money to live on. He squandered his uncle's money on drinking and loose women. Remus became an outcast almost immediately because he's a werewolf. He keeps it secret, but plenty of people know. He couldn't find work in the wizarding world, and he refused to take an ordinary Muggle job in a factory or as a labourer. So he more or less became a bum back then and has remained one ever since—though, naturally, being a wizard makes that sort of life much more comfortable."
"And Pettigrew?" Harry asked, having recovered somewhat.
"Pettigrew never got a job. He lived with his witch mother off her modest income. That sort of life didn't suit him at all. After spending seven years in the company of bullies, Peter had no interest in honest work. The idea of taking a job at the Ministry of Magic as, say, a caretaker held absolutely no appeal for him.
"Around that time, the terrorist organisation known as the Death Eaters was beginning to stir up trouble. Their goal was to seize power over magical Britain, though the methods they chose were utterly abhorrent. Peter decided it was only a matter of time before the Death Eaters won."
Harry clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles whitened and hissed through gritted teeth,
"So that's why he joined them?"
"Yes," Grosvenor confirmed. "He wanted to be on the winning side, to rise to a high position in society without doing any real work, and to move out of his mother's house. Meanwhile, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, and James's wife Lily all joined the opposing side under Dumbledore's leadership—the Order of the Phoenix. Incidentally, the highest number of victims during Tom Riddle's reign of terror were members of the Order of the Phoenix and those who supported them. At the very least, that suggests Dumbledore was a dreadful leader."
"Richie, get to the point," Ron said impatiently. "What happened with Pettigrew? We already know he betrayed the Potters."
"Ron, stop interrupting Richard," Fred chided his younger brother.
The story was proving to be a long one. Richard's throat had gone dry, so he paused for a moment, pulled several bottles of fizzy drink from his bag, and handed them around. Everyone gladly accepted one. The room immediately filled with the hiss of bottles being opened. After taking a drink, Richie continued.
"Thirteen years ago, Hogwarts' Divination professor, Sybill Trelawney, made a prophecy."
"A prophecy?" Ron echoed in surprise.
"A prophecy?" Fred repeated.
"What prophecy?" Harry asked.
"Peter doesn't know exactly," Richard replied. "He only told us that it all happened under rather strange circumstances. Headmaster Dumbledore arranged to interview a prospective professor at his brother Aberforth's pub, the Hog's Head."
"In a pub?!" George asked, utterly astonished.
"In that filthy dive full of riffraff?" Fred looked equally stunned.
"Yes—and that's highly suspicious," Richard replied. "Even stranger is the fact that, besides Trelawney, Severus Snape had also been invited. He was applying for the position of Potions professor. And Snape overheard the prophecy."
"But Snape was a Death Eater!" Harry exclaimed.
"I think Dumbledore knew that," Ron muttered quietly. "He probably arranged the whole thing. Otherwise, why would the Headmaster conduct an interview in a pub instead of at the school?"
(End of Chapter)
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