I stuck a tiny piece of moistened bread I drew from my pocket into his home. "You'll like it! It's been soaked in Mrs. Weasley's split pea soup. Dunno how that woman makes something green and mushy taste so good. Must be magic!"
'Scabbers' paid my bad joke no heed and grabbed the piece of wet bread, gobbling it up. Almost immediately after consuming every crumb, he collapsed, unconscious.
I carefully checked the rat's pulse and breathing, and when it seemed fine, I grinned madly. "Gotcha, you little bastard!" I hissed, before urgently whispering out, "Inky!"
My loyal House Elf popped in, the wards of the Burrow letting his through. This wasn't his first time in the Weasley's lopsided home. He'd come over a few times when I'd been a boy, and playing with the redheads. He was a welcomed guest. And now, he'd be removing an unwanted one.
I gestured to the rat in the cage. "The Draught of Living Death worked. He's unconscious. Transfer him to the Animagus proof cage."
Inky nodded, obeying my orders. He vanished with the comatose traitorous wizard, taking him to a hidden cage I'd set up a few days ago.
Calling it 'Animagus proof' was bit of a misnomer. It was just a regular cage enchanted to shrink with the contents, so no matter how big or small something inside of it got, it wouldn't be able to escape. It could get big enough to contain an elephant, or as small as a fruit fly, so I had no worries about Scabbers, or rather, Peter Pettigrew, escaping. Especially not while he was trapped in a magical coma thanks to my potion-soaked bread.
The mission was a success. Step One of my plan to get him tried as the murderer he was had been completed. Now, for Step Two…
'But that can wait for a bit,' I thought to myself, walking to the bathroom. I washed up my hands before returning to the dining room to get ride of any lingering stench or traces of fur that might've gotten on me.
Tonight was about a fun dinner with friends, and making sure Harry had a wonderful night before he began his Second Year at Hogwarts.
Of course, karma had to be a bitch and balance itself out after my good deed of removing a dangerous fugitive from the Burrow, and less than ten minutes after I returned to the table with washed hands, I found myself completely blindsided when somebody showed up unannounced and out of the blue.
"Good evening, I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Albus 'Fuck-Mothering' Dumbledore said as he stepped out of the floo, brushing a bit of soot off his shoulders.
I couldn't help but stare at him, but when Mrs. Weasley let out a surprised gasp I quickly lowered my eyes, not daring to look directly at his own. I wasn't confident enough in my Occlumency, even after training with the Flamels, to successfully avoid having my mind probed.
And yes, I knew Legilimancy wasn't as straightforward as 'look into eyes, read minds,' but I wasn't going to take any chances.
I saw Harry do the same, faster than I had, keeping his gaze focused on his chin, and I mentally applauded his quick reaction.
"Albus! What brings you here?" Mrs. Weasley asked, surprised.
"Please, don't mind me, Molly. I heard that Harry Potter would be here, and I wanted to speak with him about his aunt and uncle," the ancient wizard said genially.
'How the hell did he know that?' I couldn't help but wonder. Did Mrs. Weasley blab? She seemed as surprised as the rest of us, but that didn't mean the Gossip Queen of Ottery St. Catchpole hadn't let it slip at some point, and just hadn't expected Dumbledore to show up.
"Well, come in, come in," Mrs. Weasley said, suddenly all a fluster as she enlarged the table with a wave of her wand, allowing for an extra seat to appear.
Dumbledore sat at the spot opened up for him, smiling at everyone at the table. His appearance had taken everyone aback, but people were calming down. Or doing a good job of hiding it. Though I hadn't missed the flicker of annoyance that danced through Pandora's eyes when he'd appeared, nor that she'd put on a fake smile when it was clear Dumbledore was staying.
I was curious about that, but knew better than to bring it up now. Instead, I just kept my head down and enjoy the food.
"I hope you like Beef Wellington," Mrs. Weasley said, serving the main course to everyone, with floating knives carving the meat.
"Young Harry, have you been enjoying your summer vacation?" Dumbledore inquired.
"It's been alright," Harry shrugged. "Can't wait to go back to Hogwarts, though."
"That's good. It's heartening to hear you're looking forward to another year of learning," Dumbledore said with an indulgent smile.
"Yeah. Even though things got… weird at the end with Mr. Quirrell, I'm looking forward to learning more magic!" Harry said, and he didn't have to fake his enthusiasm for that, at least. He genuinely loved magic, like I did.
"Have you done anything fun these past few months?" Dumbledore wondered.
"Eh, normal stuff, really. Hung out with friends and did my summer homework," Harry said with a shrug.
"Harry went to Paris!" Ginny said.
"Is that so?" Dumbledore hummed. "I didn't know the Dursleys went overseas."
"They didn't," Harry replied. "I went with some other friends."
"Oh?"
"Yes, I went with him," I said, speaking up so Harry didn't have to speak to Dumbledore alone.
"Is that so?" he hummed.
"Yes. I used to tutor Harry back at his school. The one he attended before Hogwarts. I went with Harry to Paris as a guardian. Plus, he needed to get out of that stuffy box his aunt calls a house," I explained.
"A Muggle school?" Dumbledore guessed.
"Correct."
"You must be Erroneous Hunch's eldest son, then," the headmaster realized.
...
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