"You needed to see us?"
Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall exchanged a glance. There was curiosity in Dumbledore's eyes, while McGonagall's face was completely serious.
"Miss Tonks," Professor McGonagall asked sternly, "may I ask how you got in here, and how you knew the password to the Headmaster's office?"
This was Hogwarts. Even a former student should not have been able to slip into the castle this quietly, let alone make it all the way to the Headmaster's office.
And were there not Dementors patrolling the outskirts of Hogwarts right now? Those things did not care who you were. Even an Auror should not have been able to get in this easily.
Were those Dementors just decorations?
If anyone could do this, then how was the school's security supposed to be guaranteed?
"Mr. Lupin told me. He's injured right now, so I took him to the Hospital Wing first. Madam Pomfrey is treating him," Tonks explained.
"Remus is injured?" Dumbledore's voice immediately rose. "How is he? Is he in any danger?"
"He was poisoned by a Manticore's..."
Tonks's words made both Dumbledore and McGonagall's expressions change sharply.
Manticore venom was incredibly vicious. Anyone bitten by one often did not survive long enough to receive help.
"...But the poison's already been cured. It's just that the toxin damaged his body, so he still can't move."
Tonks's next sentence finally made them relax.
"Miss Tonks, next time it would be best if you said everything in one go," Professor McGonagall said with a complaint. "Now then, what urgent matter brought you here?"
"It's about Sirius Black. There are things the two of you absolutely need to know," Tonks said.
Tonks told Dumbledore and McGonagall everything. What she had overheard from Lupin and Sirius's conversation, and the fuller details Sirius had given while they were moving Lupin.
"So Sirius Black is innocent. He didn't betray his friends, and he didn't kill Peter Pettigrew, and he didn't destroy that street or kill those Muggles either. Peter Pettigrew did all of it."
That was Tonks's conclusion.
"So that's how it was..." Dumbledore looked as though something had suddenly clicked for him, while Professor McGonagall, who had not spoken to Lupin beforehand, still looked somewhat doubtful.
"Miss Tonks, while I understand your longing for justice, we cannot overturn the Ministry's judgment based only on your word, nor do we have the authority to do that," Professor McGonagall said.
"I have proof. Peter Pettigrew!" Tonks said. "That counts as decisive evidence. Peter Pettigrew, who everyone thinks is dead, is actually alive!"
"But where are we supposed to find him?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"He's at Hogwarts. He's been living in a student's home disguised as a pet," Tonks said immediately. "That student's name is Ron Weasley, and his rat is Peter Pettigrew."
The moment he heard that, Dumbledore made his decision.
"Minerva, set the matter of the tree aside for now. The most important thing is capturing Peter Pettigrew."
"I understand." Professor McGonagall nodded and immediately went to catch Peter Pettigrew.
"Miss Tonks," Dumbledore said, turning back to her, "so Sirius is with you? You entered Hogwarts through a secret passage?"
"That's right." Tonks nodded.
"Which secret passage?" Dumbledore pressed.
"The Shrieking Shack."
"The Shrieking Shack?" Dumbledore showed a flicker of understanding. "So that tree is connected to you as well?"
"Huh? Didn't I say that just now?" Tonks covered her mouth, looking a little embarrassed. "That tree is Leonard William."
"Leonard William?" Dumbledore froze.
That tree was a person?
Was Leonard some rare kind of tree spirit?
...
Professor McGonagall went personally, and without any accident at all, she caught Peter Pettigrew in the form of the rat.
Shut inside a cage, Peter Pettigrew still had no idea what had happened, or that his disguise had been exposed. He was still pretending to be an ordinary rat and squeaking inside the cage.
"Professor McGonagall, what's wrong with Scabbers?" Ron Weasley trailed anxiously behind her, pestering her with questions.
Ron Weasley was deeply worried. After all, Scabbers was his friend, and during his stay in the hospital, he had been the only one Ron could talk to. That made Ron care even more about his pet rat.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Weasley, but recently several house-elves have reported signs of a rat in the kitchen, so we need to carry out the necessary inspection," Professor McGonagall said, coming up with a decent excuse.
"It can't be Scabbers. He's never left my side," Ron Weasley protested.
"I understand. This is only an inspection. Once we confirm it isn't him, we'll return him to you."
When Professor McGonagall reached the entrance to the Headmaster's office, she turned to look at Ron Weasley, hesitated for a moment, then handed the cage back to him.
"You may come in as well, but please stay quiet."
"Yes, Professor," Ron Weasley said gratefully.
The two of them rode the slowly rising staircase up to the Headmaster's office, and at the same time, everyone and every animal in the room turned to look toward the door.
Inside the office were not only Dumbledore and his phoenix, but also a somewhat unfamiliar girl in Auror robes, and beside her stood a large black dog with glossy fur.
That big black dog stared at Ron with a cold, vicious look that made Ron Weasley's scalp prickle. At almost the same moment, the rat in the cage let out a miserable squeal.
"Don't be scared, Scabbers. It's all right." Ron Weasley quickly took his pet out of the cage and comforted it, completely failing to notice the complicated expressions on the professors' faces, or on the Auror girl's.
"Why is there a dog in the Headmaster's office?" Ron Weasley asked McGonagall uneasily. "Shouldn't you use a cat to catch rats?"
That dog really did look frightening.
Professor McGonagall did not answer. Instead, she cast a complicated glance at the black dog, then moved to stand in the only path leading out of the Headmaster's office.
Although Professor McGonagall did not know that Sirius Black was an Animagus, nor what his Animagus form looked like, a dog that suddenly appeared in the Headmaster's office at a time like this had a rather obvious identity.
"I brought him here," Professor McGonagall said with a sigh.
"And why did you bring Mr. Weasley as well?" Dumbledore asked, frowning at Ron Weasley.