"How is this possible?" Cornelius Fudge stood up abruptly and bent down to examine the unconscious man.
His voice, previously filled with rage, was now tinged with disbelief and uncertainty. He blinked, clearly still confused. "He...he was not dead? Killed by Sirius Black? I saw that street with my own eyes, blown to pieces...he only had one finger left..."
Fudge turned to Draco, a look of confusion on his face: "Child, how did you find him?"
"As I said, Minister, this is just my speculation," Draco bowed politely to Fudge. "Consider it an intuition. I just happen to find this rat suspicious."
Draco would never reveal the existence of that precious Marauder's Map he possessed.
Magical items of this calibre are absolutely not allowed to be in the hands of students; they will certainly be confiscated.
"Where did you get this rat?" Professor Dumbledore asked Draco, getting straight to the point.
"He asked us for it. Actually, the rat was Ron's pet. We just wanted to take it to play a joke on Ron or something... Then we ran into Draco on the way, talked for a bit, and when we got to the topic of its age, we suddenly realised something was off about it," Fred said.
The two brothers had already rehearsed their statements with Draco on the way here.
"How long has he lived?" A sharp glint flashed in Professor Dumbledore's eyes behind his half-moon spectacles.
"It has been with us for eleven years," George said briefly.
The wizards present gasped, and Fudge and his Aurors whispered amongst themselves.
Behind Draco, Harry, seemingly still hopeful, asked the two brothers, "When you went to our dormitory to look for the rat, did you see a diary? I recently lost one..."
"Oh, what can we do with your diary?" Fred patted him on the shoulder helplessly.
"We do not even want to write in our own diaries," George said, spreading his hands to indicate that he could not help.
"It is too hard even to wipe your bottom with," Fred said maliciously.
"Eleven years..." Fudge murmured, slumping back into his chair. "The timing just matches up."
He suddenly seemed to remember something and said to the Auror who had Peter Pettigrew bound tightly, "Look at his hands."
"A finger is missing." The Auror named Dawlish raised his hand and showed it to everyone present. On the walls of the Headmaster's office, the portraits of the former Headmasters, after the initial shock, began to look at each other and chatter in amazement.
Even the large, deep red bird on the perch in the Headmaster's office cried out in bewilderment, as if it had seen something filthy that it could not tolerate.
"I do not understand. If he is not dead, why does he not show himself? The Dark Lord has been dead for so many years, why is he hiding here and there..." Fudge was upset and ran his fingers through his hair several times, pulling out several strands.
"I think these answers can only be found out by him when he wakes up," Professor Dumbledore said to Fudge. "Minister, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. I suggest using some special medicine to find out the truth as soon as possible, before he is on guard."
"Of course, of course," Fudge murmured. "Although Veritaserum is strictly regulated, the procedures can be completed afterwards if the pros and cons are weighed."
Dumbledore nodded and said to one of the hooded Aurors, "Kingsley, could you please go to the dungeons and fetch Professor Snape? Have him bring some Wideye Potion and Veritaserum." The Auror named Kingsley nodded, hurriedly pushed open the door, and left.
Before long, Professor Snape arrived, his black robes billowing in the wind. He glanced at Peter Pettigrew, paused slightly, but his expression remained unchanged. He pursed his lips, walked straight to the pale, sleazy man, pried open his jaw, and roughly poured the two vials of potions into his mouth.
Professor Snape then turned around, his expression displeased as he glanced at the students who had appeared in the Headmaster's office—pausing a second longer on Harry—and said to Dumbledore, "I think the following scene is not suitable for students to watch. If there is nothing else, please allow me to see them out."
"Very good," Professor Dumbledore said easily. "Let us do it that way."
"Professor Dumbledore, I have something very important to report to Professor Dumbledore in private." At this moment, Harry finally came to his senses and said to Professor Dumbledore.
"Then Harry stays, and the rest of you may leave. I think Harry also has the right to know all this," Dumbledore said to Fudge. Fudge nodded gravely.
Draco knew why Dumbledore had kept Harry behind. It was indeed closely related to Harry.
Peter Pettigrew betrayed Harry's parents, and standing before this rat, he was only concerned with being amazed that it had turned into a human, completely unaware that it was the indirect murderer of his parents.
If someone betrayed Draco's parents and caused their deaths, he would want to know the truth rather than live a life of ignorance and despair.
The murderers of his father and mother were standing right in front of him, yet he remained completely bewildered and knew nothing.
There is no greater sorrow in the world than this.
In his past life, he had cruelly mocked Harry for this, because of his ignorance. At that time, Draco did not understand what this meant.
Looking back now, he only feels sorrow for Harry.
Why has no one ever told Harry what happened to his parents? Why does Dumbledore always seem so secretive about it?
Do not dismiss a child's mental health as an excuse. Harry was not the only one in the wizarding world who lost both parents in that war. Those children knew why their parents died.
Admittedly, they will be devastated for a time, but afterwards, they will live on with the memories and love for their parents. They may even inherit the beliefs their parents held and uphold what their parents believed in.
A life like Harry's, where he grew up unaware of the cause of his parents' deaths and knew nothing about his parents' friends, living like a child trapped in a glass dome by Dumbledore—is by no means a normal educational approach.
"Well, Professor Dumbledore, I really do not know what you are doing. But I will not let Harry continue like this in ambiguity," Draco thought to himself, glancing subtly at the pensive Headmaster.
"I must say, Mr Malfoy and the two Weasleys, you have displayed both wisdom and courage." Professor Dumbledore smiled as if he did not care about his gaze at all. "You should go back and get some rest. Let us call it a day."
This is Dumbledore's style of dismissing someone.
Draco gave Dumbledore and Fudge a polite bow and, together with the Weasley twins, followed Professor Snape out of the Headmaster's office.
As night fell and the sun disappeared completely below the horizon, the candlesticks on the corridor walls flickered with a soft, shimmering light.
"Get back to your dormitories right away!" After seeing them downstairs, Professor Snape said to them with a stern face, "The school is no longer safe in the evening."
"As for you, Mr Malfoy, we will have a proper talk later." He hurriedly said this harshly to Draco before turning and heading back to the Headmaster's office.
It seems that even someone as aloof as Professor Snape could not help but be curious about what was about to happen in the Headmaster's office. He was so curious that he did not even have time to criticise them further.
"Harry is lucky," George said with envy. "We would like to know what happened too. These are our rats, we have a right to know!"
"I am going to invent some kind of eavesdropping ear..." Fred said through gritted teeth, "so we can eavesdrop even when we are not in that room."
"Great idea," Draco said. In his past life, he remembered that they had indeed invented something similar.
"Listen, we need to go find Ron and get some fresh air from him—" Fred said with a sly grin.
"He still does not know that his rat is a man in disguise!" George smacked his lips, still savouring the moment.
"Just imagine his reaction when he finds out, his expression will be priceless." The two brothers laughed heartily, seemingly ready to make fun of Ron for the rest of his life—he had shared a bed with a man who had turned into a rat for over a year.
"Go ahead. I want to wait a bit, until Harry comes out," Draco said calmly with a smile. The Weasley twins then said goodbye to Draco and lazily headed towards the Gryffindor Tower.