"Good afternoon, Mr. Filch," said Wade. "As you can see, we haven't broken any school rules."
Everyone looked at him together.
The model student could lie as convincingly as if it were true.
If Filch had seen the mud pit from before, he'd probably be angry enough to give Wade detention for an entire term, right?
Of course, in front of Filch, none of them exposed Wade's lie.
Wade was the only student who would voluntarily greet Filch and showed him neither disdain nor disgust.
Though Filch's paranoia always made him suspicious—like thinking Wade was trying to make him let his guard down before doing something mischievous—but his attitude still softened a bit when he saw Wade.
The castle caretaker grunted, "It better be that way."
He called to his cat, and Mrs. Norris sprang out from a corner. The equally skinny man and cat continued patrolling the corridors together.
Soon after, everyone heard Filch shouting, "Stop right there, Ward! Dirtying the castle and leaving mud everywhere! I'm going to teach you a lesson…"
"I can't believe he just let us off like that," George said in disbelief.
"Let's go!" Percy said, barely keeping his irritation in check. "I'd love to hear the incredible excuse you come up with! Bullying a rat... You two are getting more and more out of hand!"
"Wade and Hermione are with us, too!" Fred argued. "Do they seem like people who'd bully a rat?"
That was why Percy was willing to hold back his temper and walk with them. Otherwise, with the twins' reputation, Percy wouldn't have listened to a word they said and would've immediately reported them to a professor.
But Percy wasn't going to admit that. He kept a stern face and lectured, "Mr. Grey, Mr. Potter, and Miss Granger, I think you should spend more time on your studies rather than getting into trouble with certain people!"
The twins huffed in frustration and tried to glare him to death.
Ron quietly asked Harry, "What's going on?"
Harry shook his head. "Wade just called me over, so I don't know anything either."
"I think only Fred and George are in on whatever's going on with Wade," Ron frowned. "But what could they have to do with Scabbers?"
"Yeah…" Harry agreed, just as puzzled. "Isn't he just a rat?"
"This is no ordinary rat."
At the Umbrella Room, Wade looked at the twins and said, "Actually, we suspect he's an Animagus."
Of course, Ron knew what an Animagus was; Professor McGonagall had just explained it in class a few days ago.
He snorted. "That's ridiculous. Scabbers has lived with our family for eleven years, and you think he's an Animagus?" Check latest chapters at novel-fire.net
He paused, then asked seriously, "Are you guys insane?"
Harry didn't say anything, but he also thought Wade's claim was pretty outlandish.
Percy frowned at the Weasley twins. "Is this your latest prank? Are you messing with Wade and trying to fool all of us?"
Wade wasn't even a Gryffindor, and he hadn't seen Scabbers before, so how could he come up with such a bizarre idea?
To Percy, it was obvious his younger brothers must have somehow tricked Wade.
Percy was absolutely furious. "Just wait! I'm telling Mum about all of this!"
Fred rolled his eyes, and George tried to explain, "We have evidence!"
"What evidence?" Percy pressed.
He knew his brother too well; if Percy found out about the Marauder's Map, he'd confiscate it and take it straight to a professor. That was the last thing George wanted.
George looked over at Fred and Wade.
Fred said seriously, "He's been with our family for eleven years, Percy. No rat lives that long."
"That's all you've got?" Percy said as he waved his arms. "Do you think you're the only clever one? Don't you think Mum and Dad would have noticed? We give him potions every year; magic potions have extended his life!"
"But that's just a regular potion, not some kind of elixir of life!" Fred said as he also raised his voice. "We keep saying he's on the verge of old age, but he still eats loads, without any sign of slowing down!"
"That's because…I've always taken good care of him!" Ron shouted back. "You guys just don't get it! Scabbers is a good rat!"
"You're the one who doesn't understand!" Fred, now angry, said, "We're not causing trouble for no reason. This rat has a name…"
"Yeah, it's called Scabbers," Ron replied sarcastically.
"No!" Fred insisted. "His name is Peter Pettigrew!"
Percy froze for a moment, his face turning pale. "What did you say?"
Wade waved his hand and interrupted their argument.
"Arguing won't help. The truth will prove everything."
He waved his wand, and the doors and windows of the Umbrella Room slammed shut and locked with a loud bang, leaving no gaps.
Then Wade pulled out a jar and tipped out the unconscious rat.
Ron tried to grab his pet back, but Percy held him by the shoulder.
"Wait." Percy, sounding breathless, asked, "Why do you think…he has that name?"
Fred said nothing and regretted he might have given away the Marauder's Map.
"Animagus reversal spell," Wade explained and pointed his wand at the rat. "If he's an Animagus, this spell will force him back to his true form. If he's just a rat, nothing will happen."
"Oh, come on…" Ron muttered, frowning. "You're treating this joke so seriously, it's ridiculous…"
He trailed off and his face slowly turned pale.
The tip of Wade's wand glowed with a blue-white light. Suddenly, Scabbers, still unconscious, jolted awake. He squealed and thrashed, and then his body contorted in a grotesque manner.
Hermione covered her mouth in horror.
Suddenly, a head appeared, followed by arms and legs, then a torso…
A short, pudgy man lay on the floor, gasping for breath.
He was bald, with thin, dirty hair, and looked remarkably rat-like, with a pointed nose and small, watery eyes.
"Is that Scabbers?" Ron groaned. "Or did you just turn Scabbers into a person?"
"This can't be!" Percy said in disbelief. "Peter Pettigrew…isn't he dead? Didn't Sirius Black kill him years ago?"
As he spoke, he looked at Harry.
Harry, equally bewildered, looked back at him.
"Petrificus Totalus! Incarcerous!"
Wade didn't give Peter Pettigrew a chance to escape; he quickly cast two spells, binding the man to the floor, immobilized.
"Now do you believe us?" Wade said. "This is what we were trying to tell you."
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⭐Harry Potter: Becoming a Study God (HP:BSG)- +132 Chapters & 2 Chapters/Day
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