A Different Story

Chapter 45

8th Of November, 1993

When Ignotus and Helena got back to Potter Manor, Ignotus looked a little bit anxious. Helena didn't know what was going on. Her husband, who disliked dogs, brought a dog into the manor.

"Ignotus, what's going on?" She finally asked, and Ignotus pointed towards the dog and said, "Well, Helena, you see, this is your brother."

"Ignotus, I know Sirius has done many bad things, but comparing him to a dog is a little harsh for the poor animal." Helena sighed.

Ignotus started laughing, Helena looked confused for a moment. That was until she saw that the dog had turned into her brother. Helena didn't even wait for Sirius to say something. She tackled him in a tight hug.

"Wait, how?" Helena stuttered. So they explain to her what they know: about how Sirius escaped the prison in his dog form; about Pettigrew's betrayal; and how he is in his rat form, currently the pet of Ron Weasley.

"So what are we going to do now?" Helena asked after the explanation was over. "Well, first of all, Sirius, here, is going to eat. He is very skinny, and he's going to take a bath. He stinks." Ignotus said, and then asked Sally, their house elf, to make some food.

After Sirius ate the food, he took a bath and put on some of Ignotus's robes to wear temporarily. After approximately four hours, he was done.

"Okay, so here is what I thought we should do. We will send the kids an anti-animangi cage so they can catch the rat. While the rat is sleeping, they will send him here. Then we call Madam Bones and tell her Peter's alive. They'll see him and be forced to give you a trail." Ignotus said, and the other two just nodded.

Helena started writing the letter. "Oh, and Helena. Don't tell them about Sirius," Ignotus said. Helena nodded and continued to write the letter.

They sent it immediately after she finished writing the letter and attached a small crate with an anti-animangi charm on it. They should have an answer by tomorrow morning.

9th Of November, 1993

The next morning, the three of them were eating breakfast and catching up when they saw Harry's owl, Hedwig, who looked regal as ever, flying in with a letter and a cage.

Ignotus gave the letter to Helena and looked inside the cage, and there was indeed a rat with one missing toe in there, who cowered away when he saw Ignotus. "Come on, Peter, there is a dementor kiss with your name on it." Ignotus said, with a cruel smirk.

Later, when Ignotus got to the office of the head of the department of magical law enforcement, he knocked on the door. Madam Bones answered the door. "Hello Lord Potter, What brings you here today?"

"You see, Madam Bones, I wish this was purely a social visit, but alas, it isn't. You see, I ran into some trouble yesterday, and it should definitely be brought under the ministry's attention. Peter Pettigrew is alive," Ignotus said with a solemn expression.

Madam Bones' eyes widened, and she asked Ignotus to explain everything. After the explanation, Ignotus gave her the cage. Madam Bones took Ignotus to the minister's office with her.

They explained everything to the minister fudge about what was going on, and he refused to believe it at first. But then Madam Bones took the rat out of the cage and did the spell that transforms animagus back into people.

And there before them sat a rat-like man, severely overweight and on the brink of crying. They all looked disgusted. After Peter admitted that he worked for Voldemort, the minister called an emergency Wizengamot meeting.

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After almost two hours of waiting for everyone to get to the ministry for the emergency trail, it finally started. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are here today to have a trail for someone we all thought was dead. Peter Pettigrew"

Gasps were heard across the hall; some even shouted that it was impossible and that he was dead. "I know, I didn't believe it either. That was until I saw the evidence for myself. It seems that Peter Pettigrew is an illegal animagus, and that he has been in hiding in his animagus form since 1981."

Madam Bones then asked the aurors to bring Pettigrew out, who was in magical restriction chains. People glared at Peter. He shrank back out of fear.

"Peter Pettigrew will be forced to take Veritaserum. Let's begin." The auror who brought Pettigrew out forced the potion into his throat and Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore started asking the standard questions, like, what's your name, and Pettigrew answered it robotically. After it was confirmed that the potion was working, Dumbledore started to ask the real questions.

"Are you a deatheater?" 

"Yes" 

"Where have you been hiding all these years?" 

"I was pretending to be the Weasley's pet rat."

People looked disgusted at a grown man being with children, most likely sleeping in the same bed.

"Why were you hiding in the first place?" 

"I was hiding so nobody could find out I framed Sirius Black," he answered. People gave shocked gasps. 

"Is Sirius Black innocent?" 

"Yes" everyone looked guilty of sending an innocent man to Azkaban.

"Black could still be guilty and Pettigrew just doesn't know," came the voice of Lord Lucius Malfoy.

Ignotus stood up. "If I may," Ignotus suggested, "let us put Sirius under veritaserum and ask him ourselves."

"We could, but he isn't here now. Is he Lord Potter?" Malfoy said. "Sirius is here; he came here with me because I already knew he was innocent," Ignotus said. When people started asking questions, Sirius walked in.

Before Malfoy could say anything, Sirius went straight to the auror and said loudly, "I will willingly take the truth serum, right now." All of them nodded, not knowing what to say.

Sirius sat down on the chair to the right of Pettigrew, and they brought out the veritaserum, and he drank it. After the standard questions like they asked Pettigrew, they started the real questioning.

"Are you a deatheater?" Dumbledore asked. 

"No," Sirius answered. 

Everyone started talking but quickly stopped when they received Madam Bones' glare.

"What happened that night of Halloween 1981?"

"I had a bad feeling about Peter that night, so I went to check on him and asked him if he was okay or not, but when I reached his house it was empty and there was not a single sign of a struggle, and suddenly I remembered where the Potters had hidden, so I knew that Peter had betrayed us and the Fidelius Charm was no longer active, so I went to the house the Potters were hiding in, but when I got there, the house was in ruins. I went and saw Hagrid with Harry and tried to take Harry from him, but he wouldn't budge. He said something about Dumbledore's orders. I didn't have any reason to panic because I trusted Dumbledore, so I gave him my motorbike and went to find Peter, but when I found him the next morning on a muggle road, he started shouting. He cast a spell on a muggle car that exploded, killing many people, and then he cut off his own finger. Then he transformed into a rat and ran away. When the aurors came, I tried to explain to them what happened, but they didn't listen to me. I was then sent to Azkaban without a trail." Sirius finished his story.

Everyone started to discuss the matter. After twenty minutes, the minister cleared his throat after the votes were taken. They were massively in Sirius's favor. The minister said, "Mister Black, there will be ten thousand galleons put into your account for every year you were wrongly in Azkaban, and we will have private mind healers to make sure you are okay, and on behalf of the Ministry of Magic, I apologize. Sirius Black is now a free man." Everyone cheered after the speech.

"Before we go, I want to tell everyone the punishment of Peter Pettigrew. The dementors' kiss," everyone cheered.