Bang!
Harry's entry was explosive to say the least. Still, Richard felt a little proud when those green bolts completely broke through the small shield spell he had cast to block them.
Sirius was already down and out. Richard didnt even look back to where the man had flew off to, when Harry had burst in with his hands and wands blazing.
He really was his best student.
Richard cast another Shield Charm, concentrating it into a single point to withstand the torrent of brilliant magic hammering against it.
Despite the deafening crackle of spells colliding, he heard another set of footsteps approaching.
Shame.
He couldn't afford to properly test Harry right now.
He was getting good.
He looked through the shield charm towards Harry, whose face was lit with the green and yellow glow of the magic he cast.
And red magic, channeled from the fires of a circuit he no longer had, but was still distantly connected to bloomed there.
'Are you stupid? Using fire in a old wooden shack?' Richard told his rational common sense to shut the hell up and hit the special effects button.
BOOOMMM!
Fire is energy. And when released in large amounts in a very small amount of time, its called an explosion.
And Richard had just released a truly irresponsible amount of it inside a very small room.
The shack shook.
A wave of heat and pressure slammed into the walls, throwing dust and splinters into the air.
Richard stood calmly behind his Shield Charm.
Everyone else was less fortunate.
Richard walked up to Harry who still squirmed on the ground and pointed his wand at him for a second.
"Incarcerous"
His other hand was already leveled towards the shadows, towards the brown bushy hair that peaked from the steps.
"Come on up Hermione, I can still see you down there.."
Nothing?
Was she trying to retreat?
Richard tried again.
"I can blow up this entire shack before you take a single step, so do you mind not forcing me to do that?" Richard paused, said, "please?"
Creak
Creak
As the familiar face revealed itself, Richard revealed a somewhat relieved expression.
"Hermione, can you help me wake that idiot up?" He pointed at the collapsed man in the black and white striped prison jumpsuit with a thumb while he erected harry against a wall, right next to Ron, and checked on the ragged rat who was still hung mid air.
"Trust me, You are all going to want to listen to the story he needs to tell."
Richard said, completely unaware at the massive mobilization of forces that was happening back at Hogwarts.
Despite Malfoy's effort, Hagrid was still a professor, and that gave him direct access to the teacher's lounge, where, while Dumbledor,Fitwick and a few were missing conveniently, Snape, McGonagall and Lupin were still present. And they were ready to get into the action at a word's notice.
.....
It took about what felt to be a quarter an hour until finally everyone inside the shack was back on their feet.
Well almost everyone, considering Harry was still bound to a point he couldn't even stand up.
"Keep glaring if you want."
Richard casually twirled his wand.
"Just remember that I can give you permanent disabilities with a flick of it."
Everyone flinched.
Even Sirius.
Richard smiled faintly.
"Good. We're all paying attention."
"Besides..I'm doing this for you. So you better show some respect once this is over. It's not every day you get to meet your long lost godfather now is it?"
"HE'S NOT MY GOD FATHER! HE IS A TRAITOR!
" No Harry-"
"SHUT UP!" Harry glared at Sirius with fire in his eyes. Literal green fire. "I KNOW EVERYTHING. YOU BETRAYED MY PARENTS! YOU ARE THE REASON THEY ARE DEAD.! "
WOOSH!
As turned his glare towards him, Richard felt as if he was being pushed back by a strong wind. He crushed the spell directly.
Hmph
Langlock
"AND YOU! WE TRUSTED YOU! AND YOU BETRAYED US TO HELP HIM- mmmphh"
Richard walked up to them, and then pushed aside Sirius who was about to try to convince Harry that he was innocent.
"Sirius, let me handle this.." Richard walked up to the Rat and gave it a small tap. He could see the fear in its eyes and it brought him a sense of satisfaction he had considered himself to be above.
"Harry, Hermione, Ron..I know you three have a fairly good working brain on top of your heads, so think about what I am telling you."
"First point is the fact that Sirius being a traitor at all."
"Sirius was someone apparently James Potter trusted even more than Dumbledor. But considering that people who betray are usually closest, we can leave a little weight to that argument."
Richard counted the points he found funny in the story.
"There's the fact that he helped and remained with good will to Hagrid and the rest even after the incident. He even handed over a flying motorcycle to Hagrid. But say thats to keep track of Harry."
"Then there's the fact that he created an explosion in the middle of a muggle street killing eleven innocents. The same guy, who met with Hagrid, and made plans to keep track of Harry for a long term suddenly going off mad in the middle of the street for a single wizard."
Richard stopped speaking for a second. His gaze stopping on the rat. This clever little bastard had some skill alright.
Richard removed Harry's binds. And let him speak.
"They say he went crazy." Ron said shakily. "When they found him, That guy was apoerently laughing his head off after killing all those muggles and the wizard.." Ron looked at Harry for confirmation.
"Yeah, Peter Pettigrew-"
"Ah..yes. Peter Pettigrew." Richard exclaimed. "Let's talk about him in this situation shall we?."
"Richard we don't have time-"
Richard turned and glared at Sirius. "And what? You want to just end it here? I don't want to end up in the run for the rest of my life so let me do the explaining."
"Now." He turned to the trio. "Lets say that Sirius Black went hysterical slowly after voldemort died. In that case, what would drive him to kill Pettigrew, and in such a blatantly obvious way?"
"Voldemort had lots of enemies, and if he was a loyal follower, why would he risk everything to kill just one man? He could have just used the killing curse to kill him, or something even worse that doesn't alert every law enforcement officer within a mile."
"The blast killed about a dozen muggles, but somehow, a single finger survived from the target it was intended to hit. And there was nothing else left. Nothing. Awfully convenient don't you think? Just enough to know that the spell hit pettigrew."
"Also let's talk about Pettigrew himself. He was an average wizard. Not much important to the grand cause of the battle against Voldemort. Why would Sirius risk everything to kill him? And why would he just stand there after killing him? If he killed someone like our Professor's then it would make sense. After all,he was a mad follower who still mingled with the good guys, right? So why laugh like a mad man who gained everything after killing an insignificant piece?"
"Are you seriously trying to tell us that that man is innocent?"
Hermione asked while casting doubtful expression towards Sirius who looked a slight mad. Even more considering that he was glaring at Ron's rat like it might run away any second.
"Well, to be fair, twelve years in azkeban probably isn't good for anyone's mind. He was much worse when I found him."
"And why is he looking at Scabbers like that? What does he have to do anything with this.?"
"Sirius was sent to Azkeban twelve years ago. Ron, tell me how long has that rat been in your family?"
The silence was deafening at that moment. They all slowly understood what Richard intended to explain.
Ron finally squeaked out.
"Twelve years. But Scabbers isnt Peter , Harry this guy's mental-"
"Yes. Twelve years. An extremely long life for a common garden rat isn't it? And Pettigrew lost a finger when he was supposedly killed. Tell me Ron, does your Rat have all its toes?"
""
"And it started to get sick right after Sirius Black escaped didnt it?"
Richard asked Harry whose eyes were dazed.
"You remember in our first year, how Professor McGonagall waited as a cat in our very first lesson? It made quite a shock didnt it? Seeing a wizard transform from an animal ? Remember professor Snape's lesson about animagus?"
"The map was right.."
He could see their faces paling rapidly.
"Show it to me"
Richard appreciated that look in Harry's eyes. Yes, that was a good look for him.
Richard nodded toward Sirius.
"Ready?"
Sirius raised his wand and Richard released the binding spell.
Scabbers immediately dropped.
A red bolt flashed.
THUD!
Before it hit the ground, the rat was gone.
In its place lay a man.
A pale, filthy man with thinning hair and terror written across his face.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Hermione's mouth fell open.
Ron stared.
Harry simply stopped breathing.
Sirius whispered:
"Peter."
Pettigrew tried to crawl backward.
Richard pointed his wand at him.
"Incarcerous."
Ropes snapped around Pettigrew's body.
He hit the floor again.
Yeah, Richard didnt want his hard earned prey to escape that easily..
Bang!
The next second, three people burst into the small derilict room.
"Pettigrew!?"
"Professor's-"
"HELP! Sirius Black is using Imperious curse on-"
"Langlock"
Richard looked at the three professors with a wreary expression.
"I don't suppose that you would believe when I say that we are not under imperious curse, and that there is a legitimate reason as to why we are all gathered here now will you?"
He wasn't looking at Remus or McGonagall. He was looking at Snape who was smiling like it was his birthday. It looked ugly on that face.
"You are obviously out of sane mind, siding with criminals and murderers. Professor McGonagall, I suggest using lethal force to capture this criminal to reduce student damage."
'Yeah, I thought so.'
Richard waved his wand, only for Snape to brush the disarming charm away easily.
"Attacking a school teacher..As I said, these students are clearly under spell of a heinous criminal."
Richard paused for a moment, the memories of all the potion classes he had to endure flashed in his head for a moment, before he moved his wand up to Snape's level.
"For the record, I never though you were a teacher. You definitely lack the talent to be an educator."