"Lewis Green... how dare you..."
Bound so tightly by Lewis's magic, Snape felt utterly humiliated.
"Release me at once..."
"Or else..."
"Professor..."
Lewis shrugged.
"I think you'd be better off staying quiet."
He casually pointed his wand at Snape.
"Langlock."
Instantly...
Snape suffered exactly the same fate as his own students.
Looking at the gloating grin spreading across Sirius's face...
The Potions Master's expression darkened so much it seemed ready to produce smoke.
To be defeated by a student...
And tied up like this...
In front of his lifelong enemy...
It was a humiliation beyond words.
While the two men glared silently at one another...
Lewis suddenly produced a mirror and quietly spoke into it.
Moments later...
He raised his wand and cast another spell.
A shimmering doorway suddenly opened before him.
The first person to emerge was a young witch with bright pink hair, dressed in the brown uniform of an Auror.
Behind her followed six more witches and wizards wearing identical uniforms.
The Aurors had arrived.
Judging from the way they followed behind her...
She was clearly their leader.
Lewis walked forward and warmly embraced her.
"Your portal spell is incredibly convenient."
Tonks praised him with a grin.
"The moment it appeared, these lot were completely stunned."
"Not one of them dared step through until I went first."
The other Aurors exchanged awkward glances.
None of them dared respond.
Suddenly...
One of the younger Aurors cried out,
"Merlin's baggiest underpants!"
"That's Sirius Black!"
"What on earth is going on here?"
"And..."
Another young Auror pointed toward the bound Potions Master.
"Isn't that Professor Snape?"
"What happened?"
"Quiet."
A middle-aged Auror sternly interrupted.
"Since Captain Tonks brought us here..."
"We'll soon understand everything."
The younger Aurors immediately fell silent.
All eyes turned expectantly toward Tonks.
"So..."
Tonks asked Lewis,
"Where's the person you mentioned?"
As she waved her hand...
Two Aurors immediately stepped beside Sirius and Snape, wands raised and ready in case either attempted anything.
Lewis had already informed Gianna and the others about Sirius and Peter Pettigrew during Christmas.
Naturally...
Tonks had been waiting for this moment ever since.
The instant Lewis informed her that Peter had been captured...
She immediately assembled her squad.
The moment Lewis opened his portal...
They came straight here.
Once everyone was in position...
Lewis casually waved his hand.
From a dark corner...
A scruffy gray rat missing patches of fur floated into view.
It remained completely immobilized under Lewis's Hold Monster spell.
Lewis dismissed the enchantment.
The rat instantly regained consciousness.
It froze for a brief moment.
Then hurriedly spun in circles.
The instant it realized it was surrounded by uniformed Aurors...
It panicked.
It cautiously took a single step forward.
Only to recoil in terror.
Unfortunately...
In rat form...
It was simply too small.
Tonks had been waiting for exactly this.
A quick Levitation Charm immediately suspended the rat helplessly in midair.
It squealed frantically.
Twisting and struggling desperately to escape.
"So..."
Tonks looked toward Lewis.
"This is him?"
Lewis nodded.
"Ready, Tonks?"
She returned the nod.
Lewis then glanced toward Sirius.
Tears still glistened in the man's eyes.
But now...
They burned with hope.
"Then..."
Lewis smiled faintly.
"It's time..."
"...to witness a miracle."
He paused.
"Or rather..."
"The truth."
Lewis pointed his wand at Scabbers.
"Reveal True Form!"
A brilliant blue beam shot from his wand.
The rat froze in midair.
Its tiny gray body began twisting violently.
It fell to the ground.
A dazzling flash erupted.
Then...
It resembled one of those accelerated films showing a tree growing in seconds.
A human head appeared.
Then arms...
Then legs...
Moments later...
A trembling man stood where the rat had been.
He was remarkably short.
Even shorter than Lewis.
His thinning light-colored hair was horribly disheveled.
A large bald patch dominated the top of his head.
He looked like someone who had once been fat...
But had recently lost an enormous amount of weight.
His skin appeared dirty.
Almost as grimy as Scabbers' fur.
His pointed nose...
And watery little eyes...
Still retained an unmistakably rat-like appearance.
Breathing rapidly...
He glanced toward the tunnel entrance.
Then hurriedly looked away again.
"Peter Pettigrew...?"
The middle-aged Auror, who only moments ago had scolded everyone else for overreacting...
Couldn't stop himself from blurting it out.
Nobody cared.
Every Auror stood frozen in disbelief.
Bound nearby...
Snape stared at the transformed man with widened eyes.
With his intelligence...
He instantly pieced everything together.
If Peter Pettigrew was truly alive...
Then much of what Lewis and Sirius had been discussing earlier...
Must also be true.
Meaning...
The person truly responsible for Lily's death...
Had been someone else entirely.
Sirius...
Meanwhile...
Wanted nothing more than to tear Peter apart.
But Lewis's earlier words had left an indelible impression upon him.
After receiving a single warning glance from Lewis...
He forcibly suppressed the murderous rage burning inside him.
Peter's eyes darted nervously from person to person.
He was desperately trying to understand the situation.
Why had he been exposed?
How much did these people know?
His gaze shifted endlessly as he frantically tried to fabricate a convincing lie.
Before he could speak...
Lewis acted first.
He treated Peter exactly the same way he had treated Snape.
Though thankfully...
Without any artistic flourishes this time.
Thick vines burst from the ground and tightly bound Peter where he stood.
Facing the assembled Aurors...
Lewis calmly explained,
"Take a look at his missing finger."
"He's an unregistered Animagus."
"And he faked his own death."
"That alone makes him highly suspicious."
Lewis's reminder immediately awakened everyone's memories.
Thirteen years ago...
The official story claimed Sirius Black had blown apart an entire street.
Peter Pettigrew had supposedly died there...
Leaving behind nothing except a severed finger.
If Lewis was right...
Then Peter had intentionally left that finger behind.
His death...
Had been staged.
But why?
That question changed everything.
If Peter had faked his death...
Then perhaps...
The true culprit behind the explosion...
Had been Peter Pettigrew himself.
"Y-you..."
Peter finally broke his silence.
His shrill voice trembled with panic.
"You're not actually going to believe him?"
"You should arrest him!"
"He's working with Sirius Black!"
"They're trying to kill me!"
The middle-aged Auror glanced briefly at Lewis...
Then toward Tonks.
Wisely...
He remained silent.
He knew exactly who Lewis Green was.
This was the young wizard who had single-handedly slain a Chimera...
Earned the First Class Order of Merlin...
And participated in the dragon-hunting operation.
He himself had seen that dragon.
He knew exactly how terrifying it had been.
He had absolutely no desire to make an enemy of someone like Lewis.
More importantly...
The Aurors hadn't come here on their own initiative.
They had been summoned.
In fact...
He knew perfectly well that Peter Pettigrew's arrest had already been decided before they ever arrived.
He had personally witnessed that the order hadn't even originated from Captain Tonks...
But from officials even higher within the Ministry.
Their presence tonight...
Was little more than a formality.
Whether Peter Pettigrew was truly innocent...
Wasn't for them to decide.
Thus...
Every Auror simply kept their wands trained firmly on Peter.
None of them said another word.
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