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Harry's body bind ended roughly half-way through the story, but he stayed still as he listened. That… seemed much more in line with what everyone had ever said about Sirius Black before the incident. Andromeda herself had said she had no idea how he could turn on James like that, and she would know better than almost anyone. Lupin had said that this man before him had been one of the first to hold him as a baby… one of the people who was so excited to see him be brought into the world. One who had been close as brothers with his own father. Harry could see that in the grim shadow of a man who he saw before him, although that inner spark seemed… dulled. Likely by the over a decade in Azkaban.
"Why break out now? What caused all this?" Harry asked, getting to his feet. He was calmer now, and didn't have his wand anyway. For as gaunt and malnourished as Sirius Black may have been at the moment, he was a good two heads taller than Harry, and likely a few stone heavier. He wouldn't last in a physical confrontation.
"Cornelius Fudge paid Azkaban a visit over the summer. He came to my cell, possibly to mock me, maybe out of curiosity, doesn't really matter. He had the paper with him, and I had asked if I could have it… I had enjoyed the crossword in my day. He gave it to me, maybe out of shock that I still had enough mind to even consider it. That's when I saw the front page. The Weasley family had won a trip to Egypt in a lottery drawing. I was happy for them, Arthur was good people, even if I didn't know Molly all that well. That's when I saw Ron holding that rat. Peter, James, and I… we were animagus like Professor McGonagall. We could transform into animals, we had learned to do it as children as a… bonding exercise. James was a Stag, I am a big black dog, and Peter, apparently fittingly is a rat. I'd seen Peter transform dozens of times in my life, and I'd recognize his animagus form anywhere. Add in the fact that an identical looking rat was missing a finger, like Peter had been, and I was suspicious to say the least. Maybe my mind had been going, but… knowing that Peter was still out there… and knowing that you were going to be in Hogwarts with that monster? I had to get out. I had to protect you, like I hadn't been able to before." Sirius said, with a grave look on his face.
"That's why you attacked the Fat Lady on Halloween night… you knew Ron would be at the feast, and Scabbers would be alone in the dorm." Hermione said.
"You're right. Halloween is one of the few times I could guarantee the dorms would be empty. She wouldn't open up for me though, and I flew off the handle and attacked her in my dog form. Not my brightest move, but Remus was always the smart one." Sirius said.
"How'd you find out for sure though?" Harry asked, looking over. "I understand that you'd want to be done with this quickly, but if you waited 12 years, surely a couple more months for a better opportunity wouldn't be remiss."
"Remus can answer that. Show him Moony, it's his birthright after all." Sirius said, smiling at Remus.
The Defense professor pulled from his pocket a folded up piece of parchment, which he tapped a wand to and said "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." The blank parchment suddenly filled with a floorplan of Hogwarts, and several footprints could be seen meandering about the place, each tagged with a name.
"This is the Marauder's Map. James, Sirius, Peter, and I made it when we were in school here. We'd left it here when we graduated for the next generation of pranksters to pick up where we left off. I found it in the hands of the Weasley twins after I overheard them say the phrase to unlock it. I confiscated it, but had every intention of giving it back to them eventually. I'd opened it to reminisce a bit, when I saw Sirius's name on the map. I rushed to find him and confront him, and when I did, he managed to convince me to check for Peter's name in the Gryffindor Boys dorm. Sure enough it was there. Sirius explained everything, and we've been working to set this night up ever since. I… I was torn on whether or not I should really trust him, but the Sirius I knew would have never sold out James… Peter might have. All of this… well it's pretty compelling evidence for me." Lupin said.
"So? What's your plan from here? Sirius can't exactly just show up and say he's innocent." Luna said.
That gave the room pause. Had they not that far ahead?
"Huh, I guess I wasn't sure I'd get this far." Sirius said. Harry was dumbfounded. Was he like this? Is this what the girls heard when he said this? He'd have to apologize to them later.
"Well, Professor Dumbledore is the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. If we bring him Pettigrew alive, that in and of itself warrants your case being looked at again. Especially if we can provide any other proof that you didn't kill anyone." Hermione said, gears turning in her head.
"Then I believe it would be best to get him there as quickly as possible. Professor Lupin, does that map show where Professor Dumbledore is at the moment?" Harry asked, looking over at his Defense instructor.
"Yes, seems he is in his office, although that does bring up an issue… Sirius aside, how are we going to carry an unconscious Pettigrew all the way to Dumbledore's office?" Lupin asked.