Carina Malfoy//h.potter

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Carina standing calmly behind Harry's so-called protection watched the scene before her with extreme interest as the Boy-Who-Lived with a clenched jaw and glaring eyes observed the fugitive prisoner and the werewolf teacher. While Sirius was frightening relaxed with his face void of any emotion except for the dangerous glint in his grey eyes that promised death, Remus was nervous with the outcome of this but still determined to finish what he came here for. Whereas Ron clutched his pet rat closer to his chest standing with the support of Hermione as both of them looked quite scared but never enough to abandon Harry and let's not forget Severus Snape, who was paralyzed on the floor trying to undo Carina's spell, listening to the commotion.

"Come off it. Are you trying to say that he broke out of Azkaban just to get his hand on Scabbers? I mean..." he looked at Harry and Hermione for support "Okay, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat, there are millions of rats, how's he supposed to know which one he is after he was locked up in Azkaban?" Ron asked weakly.

Carina nodded and said "I never expected to say this but Weasley is right. How do you know that's Pettigrew?"

Harry turned to look at Carina with a frown "Whose side are you? Didn't you just say that you believe Black's innocent?"

Carina rolled her eyes "I said that I want to hear the story."

"But you came over here because you wanted to stop us from harming Black."

"No, I came over here because I wanted to learn the truth."

Harry dead-stared at her "With the danger of him harming you."

Carina scoffed "Please, I wouldn't give him the chance."

"You stopped Snape from hexing him."

"Well, a dead Black is non-talking Black, and non-talking Black means the mystery remains unresolved."

He continued to stare at Carina with a knowing look that made her irritated "Now, what is it?"

Titled his head and Harry blinked saying "...You're more of a Gryffindor than I thought."

Carina glared furiously and spat "There's no need to get nasty, Potter."

Harry opened his mouth to speak but Remus interrupted him "Children! Now is not the time!" and glanced at his friend with a frowning face "How did you find where he was?"

Sirius put his hands inside his tattered robes and took out a crumpled piece of paper. He smoothed it flat and held for the other to see. It was a photograph of the Weasleys that had appeared in the Daily Prophet over the summer and on Ron's shoulder, there was his pet rat. Carina frowned dissatisfied, that still didn't prove anything.

"How did you get this?" Remus asked him, thunderstruck.

"Fudge." replied simply Sirius "When he to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me his paper." he paused, and with hesitation, he continued to explain "Peter was on the front page... On this boy's shoulder... I knew him at once... How many times had I see him transform? And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts, to where..." he didn't finish as he looked at Harry.

"My God," cried Remus softly. He was staring from the rat to the picture in the paper and back again. "His front paw..."

"What about it?" asked Ron defiantly.

"He's got a toe missing." answered Black.

Then the puzzle was finished as the pieces fell together in Carina's head "Sweet Salazar." she softly gasped making the Gryffindor's look at her confused.

"What is it?" Hermione asked not understanding at all.

"Don't you know the story?" Carina wondered "When they found Black, twelve Muggles were completely demolished, only parts of their body's scattered they were able to found whereas the only thing they found from Pettigrew was just a finger." she explained staring at the rat in Ron's hand whose paw was missing before she turned her attention back at her second cousin "He cut it off himself?"