Chapter 219 — The Piper
"Oh, right—Hagrid, take a look at this."
Russell finally remembered why they had come. He pulled a small box out of his pocket and set it down.
"Are those… rats?" Rubeus Hagrid's face lit up instantly. "How'd you know I've got a dragon egg? You even brought food for the hatchling in advance!"
"I reckon the little dragon's going to love these," he added, reaching out eagerly.
"Wait—hold on!" Russell quickly stopped him. "These aren't ordinary rats."
"Not ordinary?"
That immediately caught Hermione's attention. She stepped forward and examined them closely.
"These are ordinary rats," she said after a moment, sounding slightly disappointed. "I've seen them in reference books—there's nothing unusual about them."
Russell raised an eyebrow, a hint of excitement in his voice.
"These are the offspring of Peter Pettigrew—conceived while he was in Animagus form—with a normal female rat."
"…What?!"
All eyes snapped back to the box.
Harry was the most startled of all. He instinctively leaned forward, already thinking of taking one back to show Sirius Black.
"I came here because you know far more about magical creatures than I do," Russell continued, glancing at Hagrid. "I want you to check whether they have any magical traits—or if they might be some kind of new species."
Then he added casually, "If not, I'll keep the mother and maybe two or three of the babies. The rest can be dragon food."
After all, if they were just ordinary rats, there wasn't much point in keeping so many.
Hagrid looked both alarmed and intrigued.
"Blimey… Russell, that's bold," he muttered.
As a half-giant himself, Hagrid wasn't particularly bothered by unusual cross-species situations. He carefully picked up one of the newborn rats—its eyes still closed—and examined it closely.
At first, his expression was filled with curiosity.
Then, slowly, disappointment crept in.
He shook his head and gently placed the tiny creature back into the box.
"Sorry to say… there's no magic in them. Just ordinary rats."
"Fair enough." Russell shrugged, not particularly surprised. If creating a magical species were that easy, it would be absurd.
Still, it only made Hagrid's ability to breed entirely new magical creatures from different species seem even more extraordinary.
Russell wasn't quite ready to give up, though. He decided to get a second opinion.
Since Minerva McGonagall was an Animagus herself, she might notice something others had missed.
---
Since Harry and the others clearly had something to discuss with Hagrid, Russell left first with Wednesday.
A short while later—
Knock, knock.
Professor McGonagall was in her office, grading papers, when she heard the door.
"Come in," she said without looking up.
"Sorry to disturb you, Professor," Russell said as he stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
"Mr. Fythorne," McGonagall said, finally glancing up. Her stern expression softened slightly—few teachers disliked a capable and disciplined student.
"What can I do for you? I heard from Albus Dumbledore about your actions—you showed remarkable courage standing against dark wizards."
There was even a trace of regret in her tone. In her eyes, Russell would have made an excellent Gryffindor.
"Thank you, Professor," Russell replied. "Actually, I wanted you to take a look at these. I'd like to confirm whether they're just ordinary rats—no magical properties."
He deliberately left out their origin. Explaining that they were related to Peter Pettigrew might be… a bit much.
"Let me see."
Although rats were generally unpleasant, in the wizarding world they were common pets, so McGonagall showed no hesitation.
She examined them carefully, turning them over, checking every detail.
After a thorough inspection, she found nothing unusual.
Just normal rats.
"Mr. Fythorne," she said calmly, setting them down, "I won't ask where you got them. But I'm afraid they are, indeed, nothing more than ordinary rats."
Professor Minerva McGonagall shook her head.
"Alright… thank you, Professor," Russell said with a hint of disappointment. He decided to take one final step—he would show them to Albus Dumbledore. If the answer was still the same, he'd hand the rats over to Sirius Black to deal with.
Fortunately, Dumbledore happened to be in his office, calmly sipping tea.
"Russell, care for a cup?" Dumbledore lifted his teacup with a gentle smile.
"Sure." Russell didn't stand on ceremony. After leaving Hagrid's place, he hadn't had a single drink, and he was parched.
"Professor, could you take a look at this?"
He went straight to the point.
Dumbledore studied the rats in the box. His expression slowly shifted from relaxed curiosity to quiet seriousness.
He glanced at the rats, then at Russell. After a long pause, he finally spoke.
"These are Peter's offspring, aren't they?"
"Exactly," Russell admitted without hesitation.
Dumbledore let out a soft sigh. "I must say… you are either very bold—or quite mad."
"I assumed you kept them merely to torment Peter, and that you would have disposed of them long ago. I didn't expect you to keep them."
"Peter's offspring?"
The portraits of former headmasters around the office suddenly leaned forward, craning their necks for a better look. Life inside the headmaster's office was rather dull—any novelty drew their full attention.
"This is utterly inappropriate," one of the more conservative former headmasters muttered sternly. "Whatever crimes Peter committed, he was still human. This is… excessive."
But the portrait of the Black family headmaster reacted very differently.
"Brilliant!" he barked approvingly. "Well done!"
Dumbledore, however, remained composed.
"On the surface, they are nothing more than ordinary rats," he said.
Russell didn't interrupt. He knew that when Dumbledore spoke like this, there was always more to come.
"But," Dumbledore continued, "under certain methods of cultivation, they can be transformed into something far more dangerous—Rat Fiends."
"This is not without precedent. In the Middle Ages, there was once a wizard—an Animagus who could transform into a rat. He devised this very method."
"He took rat form, bred with an ordinary female rat, and produced numerous offspring. Those offspring multiplied further, until he commanded an entire swarm."
"He then transformed them all into Rat Fiends."
"Individually, they appear to be nothing more than unusually large rats. But gathered together…" Dumbledore's voice lowered slightly, "…they become a devouring tide—one that consumes everything in its path."
"At first, he showed restraint. He merely sent the rats to infest Muggle villages, devouring their food supplies. Then, posing as a 'pied piper' capable of controlling them, he extorted gold and silver in exchange for driving the swarm away."
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