At some unseen moment, Dumbledore had already drawn his wand. He was casting a subtle piece of magic on Scabbers to force the creature to reveal its true form.
"Scabbers!"
Still entirely oblivious to the situation, Ron thought his beloved pet was being harmed. He lunged forward, desperately trying to snatch the rat back.
However, just as he reached out, his vision suddenly blurred. A large, human backside completely filled his line of sight. Peter Pettigrew was now sprawled across the desk in a bizarre posture, facing away from him.
"Bloody hell!"
Ron stumbled backward, barely managing to steady himself. Where was his Scabbers?
"It really is you..." Lupin's voice was terribly hoarse. He stared at the simultaneously familiar and foreign figure on the desk with a deeply conflicted expression.
"I believe this is necessary."
Dumbledore stood up. A thick hemp rope materialized out of thin air, securely binding the newly transformed Peter Pettigrew tight.
He then turned to Maurise, his tone full of praise. "You found Peter much faster than I could have ever imagined, Maurise."
Maurise shrugged casually. "My cat found him."
"Meow." Tin offered a short cry from the side, making sure its presence was acknowledged.
Meanwhile, the bound Peter slowly wriggled to the edge of the desk, falling to the floor with a heavy thud. He struggled to lean against the leg of the table, looking up to meet Lupin's gaze.
The office fell dead silent.
"Hello... my... old friend."
Perhaps due to not speaking a human language for over a decade, Peter's words were broken and incredibly rusty.
Lupin stared intensely at him, replying coldly, "Hello to you too."
The atmosphere grew incredibly tense.
Dumbledore broke the silence. "Peter, I am terribly curious. Why exactly did you choose to become Ron's pet?"
Peter shrank back, a flash of pure panic crossing his small, beady eyes. Then, as if making a firm decision, he forced a pathetic, pitiful expression onto his face.
"To hide, Professor! I always knew Sirius had the power to escape from that prison. He hates me! If he finds me, he will kill me! So I had to find a place where he would never think to look."
Maurise really wanted to point out that the man was exceptionally good at hiding. Out of all the choices in the world, why pick Ron Weasley?
He glanced at the boy standing beside him. Ron was frozen in place, his face deathly pale and his eyes completely vacant, looking as though his very soul had left his body.
Tsk, poor guy. Finding out your pet is a human is horrifying enough, but for it to be such a creepy, ugly middle-aged man was a step too far. If the rat had turned into a beautiful witch like Madam Rosmerta, Ron surely would not be reacting like this... Ahem, getting off topic. Regardless, what Ron desperately needed right now was a hot cup of tea and a very quiet corner.
Hearing Peter's pathetic excuse, Dumbledore nodded gently.
"Then you have absolutely nothing to worry about, Peter," he said. "Sirius Black is about to receive the Dementor's Kiss."
Peter froze, followed instantly by a look of wild ecstasy. "He was caught?"
"Indeed," Dumbledore replied, his face completely unreadable.
"That is wonderful news," Peter said, feigning profound relief. "Once his soul is sucked out, I can finally sleep peacefully. Oh, it is all over. How wonderful."
"But before that happens," Dumbledore's tone suddenly shifted, "Black must undergo one final interrogation, and you will need to be present."
Peter's face instantly drained of color, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.
"What?" he shrieked in absolute terror. "You want me to be interrogated alongside him? He will kill me! He will definitely kill me!"
"Do not worry," Dumbledore offered a mild expression. "I will be present to ensure your safety."
"No, no!" Peter shook his head frantically. "That will not work!"
He looked completely resistant to the idea.
At this exact moment, Maurise was feeling genuinely confused. Between Peter and Sirius... who was actually the good guy here?
"Do not be so nervous, Peter." Lupin bent down and patted the trembling man on the shoulder, his expression incredibly complicated. "When the time comes, all you have to do is tell them everything you know."
Peter's complexion worsened even further. He would never be able to remain calm during a formal trial. One wrong word and he was finished.
No, wait. This was clearly a trap specifically designed for him! By tying him up, Dumbledore obviously knew something and suspected him of the truth. He had to find a way to escape while there was still time...
"Then it is decided," Dumbledore's tone left no room for argument. "We are departing for the Ministry of Magic right now. Peter, Lupin, prepare yourselves."
He looked over at Maurise and Ron. "As for you two, you may return to your dormitories. Come back later once this business has been fully resolved."
Maurise nodded. "Understood."
He was just a spectator enjoying the drama, and after watching the show play out up to this point, he was getting a bit tired anyway. Whatever the final verdict was between Sirius and Peter, it would not have any major impact on his life.
Fawkes swooped down from his golden perch and landed gracefully on Dumbledore's shoulder. Dumbledore turned to Lupin and Peter.
"Fawkes will take us to the Ministry."
The phoenix let out a clear, musical trill and spread its magnificent wings. In the next moment, all three figures vanished in a blinding flash of golden fire.
Only Maurise, Ron, and Tin remained in the empty office.
Maurise gestured to the door. "We should get going too."
Ron remained firmly planted in place, completely motionless.
"Ron?" Maurise called out again.
"Oh, right. I know." Ron finally snapped out of his catatonic state.
The two of them exited into the quiet corridor.
"I really hope this is all just a nightmare," Ron suddenly stopped walking, the horrifying reality finally sinking into his bones.
"You have to accept reality," Maurise said, pulling a piece of candy from his pocket and handing it over. "So you spent a few years having close, intimate contact with a creepy old man. It is really not that big of a deal."
Ron completely shut down.
---
Over the next few days, the daily routine at Hogwarts continued exactly as usual. That was, until one morning when a shocking piece of news suddenly dominated the Daily Prophet.
Plastered across the front page, the headline screamed in bold, capital letters:
SIRIUS BLACK CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES, PETER PETTIGREW SENTENCED TO THE DEMENTOR'S KISS.
The accompanying photograph featured Peter's face contorted in sheer terror. Honestly, it completely ruined the appetite.
The article itself was incredibly lengthy. To summarize, every single crime Sirius had been accused of was actually committed by Peter. This included betraying his friends, blowing up an entire street, and murdering twelve innocent Muggles. The paper even reported the horrifying detail that he had transformed into a rat and hidden by a Hogwarts student's side for years.
Maurise sat at the Ravenclaw table reading the paper while the students around him began to scream and shout in absolute disbelief. Clearly, the vast majority of the Great Hall had just seen the news.
"Good heavens! Look at this!"
"Sirius Black was actually innocent the entire time?"
"The Dementor's Kiss is absolutely terrifying..."
Kyle leaned in close, his eyes practically sparkling with curiosity. "Maurise, you were the one who caught Sirius Black. You must know the inside story, right? Tell us everything."
Maurise took a bite of his bacon sandwich, chewing slowly and deliberately before recounting everything he had witnessed from his own perspective. There was no point in keeping it a secret. Good gossip was meant to be shared with the crowd.
Without him even noticing, a large crowd of students had formed a tight circle around him as he spoke. Every single one of them had their necks craned forward, listening with rapt attention.
"...Professor Dumbledore waved his wand at Scabbers, and guess what happened? The rat turned into an incredibly ugly old man..."
Maurise described the scene with vivid, theatrical flair. When he finally dropped the bomb that Ron's pet rat was actually Peter Pettigrew, every single face in the crowd turned deathly pale.
"I need to go perform a thorough background check on my pet..." someone muttered nervously from the back.