Watching Professor McGonagall leave the boys' Dormitory, Amanda turned to Hermione, "I'm going to help Professor McGonagall catch Peter Pettigrew."
Hermione froze for a moment, then realized that since Peter Pettigrew's Animagus form was a rat, finding him would indeed be difficult. If Professor McGonagall had Amanda's help with the analysis, catching him would certainly be easier.
"Go ahead, be careful."
Hermione smiled and nodded, not forgetting to give Amanda a word of caution.
"Don't worry."
Amanda nodded calmly and stepped out of the boys' Dormitory.
Professor McGonagall, who had been caught up to, looked back in confusion, but her expression changed from confusion to surprise when she saw Amanda.
"Miss Amanda? Why have you followed me?"
Amanda looked up at Professor McGonagall with a calm gaze, but her words were extremely polite.
"I can help you find Peter Pettigrew's specific hiding place more quickly, Professor McGonagall."
Thinking of Amanda's analytical skills, Professor McGonagall nodded in agreement.
This was true; Amanda's analytical and thinking abilities were something they, as Professors... felt inferior to.
However, some things still had to be said. Professor McGonagall walked forward with long strides, occasionally glancing at Amanda beside her.
"Miss Amanda, no matter where we find Peter Pettigrew later, do not act impulsively. You must stay behind me. I don't want anything to happen to you, understand?"
"I understand, thank you, Professor McGonagall."
Amanda said in a flat tone, nodding affirmatively.
She would certainly listen to what the Professor said. Once she analyzed Peter Pettigrew's specific hiding place, she would just tell Professor McGonagall.
The situation was urgent. Neither Amanda nor Professor McGonagall paused for a single moment. In less than ten minutes, they went from Gryffindor Tower to the outside of Hagrids Hut.
"Hagrid, Hagrid, please open the door."
Professor McGonagall reached out and tapped gently on the door twice. After ten or so seconds, with a "creak," the door to Hagrids Hut opened.
"Good evening, Professor McGonagall."
Hagrid rubbed his eyes, clearly having just been woken up by the knocking.
"I'm sorry to wake you, Hagrid," Professor McGonagall smiled apologetically at him, "but we have some urgent business and must come in for a moment."
"No problem, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid smiled warmly and opened the door wide. "Please come in. Oh, and welcome, Amanda."
"Good evening, Professor Hagrid."
Amanda nodded politely in greeting and stepped into Hagrids Hut. As soon as she entered, her eyes began scanning for any place that could provide a hiding spot for a rat.
Since Peter Pettigrew was essentially still a Wizard, Amanda immediately ruled out options like under the bed or under the table.
From his behavior in betraying The Potters, it could be seen that Peter Pettigrew actually had a strong sense of "self-esteem," so he definitely wouldn't hide in those places.
So the place she was looking for would be somewhere with a decent environment, food, water, and preferably a private space.
After a quick scan of the entire room, Amanda's gaze landed on a Milk cabinet hanging on one side of the wall.
"There. That's the most likely hiding place for Peter Pettigrew. The probability is eighty-six percent."
Hearing this, Professor McGonagall immediately raised her wand and pointed it directly at the Milk cabinet, while inwardly marveling that the student had surpassed the teacher, and each generation was stronger than the last.
From the moment she entered the door until now, she hadn't even finished looking around.
Perhaps she had been teaching at Hogwarts for too long and had become too comfortable?
Professor McGonagall's mind wandered for a rare moment, thinking about whether she should go out for a walk during the upcoming summer break.
Find someone to duel with or something, to get her reaction and observation skills back.
Seeing Professor McGonagall pointing her wand at the Milk cabinet, Amanda also raised her hand and waved it gently.
She had gone to Gryffindor Tower in a hurry and didn't have her wand in hand, so she could only use wandless magic now.
"Whoosh!"
A faint sound of flames rang out. Outside Hagrids Hut, a ring of Golden flames soared into the sky, directly surrounding the hut.
The sound of air popping continuously echoed as the air around Hagrids Hut was scorched by the Golden flames Amanda had conjured.
However, besides the air, not even Hagrids Hut itself, let alone a single blade of grass on the ground, was burned.
The fire magic Amanda used would not burn any physical objects around her unless they were attempting to leave at a high speed.
Sensing the flames outside, Professor McGonagall turned her head slightly to look at Amanda, who slowly lowered her hand.
"This is to prevent Peter Pettigrew from escaping. I'm still staying behind you, Professor McGonagall."
Amanda explained with a serious expression, while indicating that she had followed the requirement Professor McGonagall had just mentioned.
"You really always manage to surprise us."
Professor McGonagall remarked with a sigh and turned back to wave her wand at the Milk cabinet.
The Milk cabinet opened at her command, and a rat sleeping inside opened its eyes groggily.
However, that grogginess completely vanished the moment it saw Professor McGonagall holding her wand.
Although it didn't know how it had been exposed, it didn't think Professor McGonagall would point her wand at a rat just to catch a rat.
She must have discovered his identity.
At this thought, the rat that Peter Pettigrew had turned into immediately moved. He wanted to run out before Professor McGonagall could act, or at least run to a place where he wouldn't be hit by her.
As for taking the student beside Professor McGonagall hostage, he hadn't not considered the possibility.
In fact, if the student beside Professor McGonagall had been anyone else, Peter Pettigrew would have definitely made them his hostage immediately.
But the one standing next to Professor McGonagall happened to be Amanda. Having been by Ron's side for nearly three years, he had heard the rumors and seen this Amanda with his own eyes.
He didn't think he had the ability to best Amanda, let alone take her hostage.
So he had only one choice: run!
"Petrificus Totalus."
Faster than Peter Pettigrew was Professor McGonagall's spell. The spell hit him quickly and accurately, causing Peter Pettigrew to freeze on the spot and fall over stiffly.
He looked just like a dead rat, Amanda commented in her mind.
"It seems I'm not so old as to be useless yet."
Professor McGonagall curled her lips into a smile, and with a tap of her wand, she made the rat that was Peter Pettigrew float up.
"Professor McGonagall, I'm sorry," Hagrid looked at Professor McGonagall and Amanda in confusion, "I don't quite understand what you said. Peter Pettigrew?"
"Isn't he dead? Killed by Sirius Black."
Speaking of this, Hagrid also showed a look of absolute anger.
"No, on the contrary, Hagrid. Black is innocent. The one who truly betrayed The Potters was Peter Pettigrew."
"It's a long story. If things go well, you'll soon learn the whole truth in The Daily Prophet."
"Alright, Professor McGonagall."
Hagrid nodded and watched Amanda and Professor McGonagall walk out of his hut.
Stepping out of Hagrids Hut, Amanda slightly raised her hand toward the Golden flames surrounding the hut. In the next moment, all the Golden flames were extinguished without a trace.
Professor McGonagall took a deep look at Amanda, finally understanding how much she had underestimated her student.
She had thought the girl was excellent enough, but she hadn't expected that this child had probably never shown her true strength.
Bringing Peter Pettigrew back to the Gryffindor boys' Dormitory, Ron was the first to step forward and examine him closely. Two seconds later, his face turned pale, and he took a step back.
"Merlin's water mattress... it really is Scabbers..."
He felt like he was about to faint. He had actually shared a bed for nearly three years with a man, a man almost as old as his father.
"Ron, are you okay?"
Harry supported him with a complicated expression. On one hand, he knew he should comfort his best friend.
On the other hand... looking at Ron like this, he really wanted to laugh at him.
"Are you sure it's Peter Pettigrew?"
Hermione walked up to the newly returned Amanda and asked in a very low voice.
"I'm sure."
Amanda nodded with a cold expression. "He was too flustered when he saw Professor McGonagall with her wand. An ordinary rat wouldn't react like that."
Whether or not this rat was Peter Pettigrew was actually very easy to confirm; all that was needed was to cast an Animagus reversal spell.
And now, there were as many as three people present who knew this spell.
Two Transfiguration Masters, and one was Amanda.
Pointing her wand directly at the rat floating in the air, Professor McGonagall recited the Animagus reversal spell in a steady voice.
Immediately after, the rat began to grow in front of everyone. Its limbs turned into human limbs, and its head turned into a human head.
Finally, a short man, who even had some rat-like features on him, stood where he was.
Of course, because of Professor McGonagall's Petrificus Totalus, he couldn't move an inch now.
"It really is you, Mr. Pettigrew," Professor McGonagall's voice was grim. "You've fooled us all."
"No, no, no... Professor McGonagall, it's not like that. Headmaster Dumbledore, it's not like that!"
Peter Pettigrew still didn't want to give up his struggle. He tried once again to frame Sirius Black as the betrayer, the executioner who had taken the lives of thirteen Muggles.
"It was him! He did all of this! Betraying James and, and Lily, and then trying to, trying to kill me on the street, which resulted in the deaths of thirteen Muggles!"
"Bullsh*t!"
Sirius, sitting on Harry's bed, almost roared out, "You were the Secret-Keeper for James and the others! It was changed from me to you! You were the one who killed those thirteen Muggles."
"The biggest mistake of my life was trusting you, was treating you as a friend!"
"No, no, no..." Hearing Sirius's defense, Peter completely panicked.
What was going on? Clearly, clearly when the Ministry of Magic interrogated Sirius over ten years ago, he hadn't said anything.
Why was he talking now? Why was he talking now! Why couldn't he have just kept his silence forever?
"Don't think Black has any chance to hide anything, Peter."
Headmaster Dumbledore's face was still gentle and kind, but his voice had long since taken on a deep chill.
Amanda could clearly see that the magical elements on Headmaster Dumbledore were rapidly becoming active.
Clearly, his current mood was not as stable as his expression suggested.
"He just drank Veritaserum."
Hearing Headmaster Dumbledore's words, Peter didn't know whether to be enlightened or resigned, as a sense of despair washed over his entire body.
"What could I have done!"
"I was afraid!"
Peter broke down in tears. "If I didn't agree, he would have killed me."
"He would have hurt my mother too."
"He's so powerful, what good would it do to go against him?"
He seemed to be making excuses for himself, though it was unclear how much of his mention of his mother was genuine concern and how much was a bid for sympathy.
"You have no right to mention your mother, Peter."
"Until the day she died, she thought her son was a hero."
Professor McGonagall spoke one word at a time, and the light in Peter's eyes completely went out.
However, it wasn't long before he began a new round of struggle.
He crawled on all fours to Ron, trying to reach out and pull at his robes.
"Ron, good boy, my good Master, you wouldn't, you wouldn't have the heart to let me go to Azkaban, right? I'm your pet, a good pet!"
"Get lost! You make me sick."
Ron shouted at him in resentment and quickly pulled his robes away.
Seeing that Ron had no intention of saving him, he stumbled and crawled toward Hermione.
"Good girl, good girl, you're the kindest. You'll have pity on the weak, won't you?"
"Think about it, think about it, how could I dare to defy You-Know-Who? I would have died! Please, save me, I can't go to Azkaban, I can't go..."
Hermione looked at him with utter disgust, her hand holding Amanda's tightening. "I will help the weak and pity the weak, but I will never understand a traitor!"
"So what if You-Know-Who is powerful? Even if I were killed by him, or tortured to death by his Crucio, he wouldn't get a single piece of information about my friends from me!"
"Bang!"
With a dull thud, Peter Pettigrew was sent flying backward. Amanda looked at him with icy eyes, her eyes blinking once more.
"You are not worthy of asking Hermione for help, nor are you worthy of asking anyone here for help. Azkaban is where you belong, Mr. Pettigrew."
Harry took a deep breath, his chest heaving violently. "Peter Pettigrew, you just asked what good it does to fight Voldemort."
He gritted his teeth fiercely, watching as Peter squeezed a sound from his throat.
"The benefit of fighting him is so that a few fewer innocent people in this world have to die. The benefit of fighting him is so that there are a few more whole families in this world."
"For this, my mom and dad were willing, and I am too. I believe my friends would also be willing to give their lives!"
"And you, a coward and a traitor, what right do you have, what right do you have to plead with us?!"
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