Chapter 136: A Warning Shared

Wind crossed the tower hard enough to pull at their robes. Harry waited until Edward closed the door, then placed a folded piece of parchment on the stone ledge. 

Two names had been copied beside a rough outline of the Gryffindor dormitory. Ron Weasley appeared near his bed. Peter Pettigrew appeared beside him. 

"I saw the map this morning," Harry said. "Lupin took it from his cabinet for one of the scheduled checks. I was under my Invisibility Cloak outside his office. Hermione watched the corridor." 

Edward looked from the copy to Harry. "Did you touch the map?" 

"No. The door was partly open, and I copied what I could see before he put it away. Scabbers was on Ron's bed at the same time." 

The observation was independent of Edward's account, but the way Harry had obtained it created new risks. Peter spent most of every day close enough to hear Ron and his friends. Any whispered plan in the dormitory could warn him. 

The copied names also fixed a time that could be checked against Lupin's observation log. Harry had not produced a new conclusion, but he had created a separate witness to the same disturbing overlap. 

"Did you discuss this near Scabbers?" 

"No. Hermione and I used an empty classroom." 

"Are you certain the rat was not in Ron's pocket when you left?" 

Harry's jaw tightened. "As certain as I can be. That is why I needed to see the map myself. Adults have known for weeks, and Peter is still sleeping beside Ron." 

Edward could not dismiss the anger. Harry had already been told the evidence and the planned safeguards. Watching the suspected man return to Ron after the Hogsmeade escape made patience look like neglect. 

"You were entitled to an explanation of the delay," Edward said. "You were not entitled to enter Lupin's observation without permission. Both things are true." 

"You followed Death Eaters into a forest after Dumbledore told you not to." 

"Yes. My mistake does not make yours safe. It does mean I cannot pretend I would have found restraint easy." 

Harry folded his arms. "Was the black dog Sirius?" 

"Yes." 

"Did he try to kill Scabbers?" 

Edward answered with the same care he had used in his written statement. Sirius had lunged when Peter ran. The Vow flashed when his intent became violent, and Sirius changed course before his jaws closed. He tried to drive Peter away from Ron and the other witnesses. Once Peter reached the cottages, Sirius followed him into the trees and lost the trail. 

"So the Vow stopped him," Harry said. 

"It warned and constrained him. Sirius still chose to redirect the attack. Later, he chose to continue the chase when he should have returned. He admitted that." 

"And then he saved you." 

"He helped me escape a danger I entered against orders. That does not erase either decision." 

Harry pushed the parchment flat before the wind could take it. "Scabbers came back this morning. Ron found him inside his trunk. If he is Peter, he knew Sirius was near the village and still returned to the safest place he has. Ron." 

That inference matched the pattern on the map. Peter had not run toward Dolohov's people. He had fled both them and Sirius, then returned to the identity that placed a child between him and anyone seeking an arrest. 

"We take this to McGonagall now," Edward said. 

"You said that before. They will make another plan and wait while Peter listens." 

"Then ask for a time, the witnesses, and the protection for Ron in writing. Do not ask me to seize Scabbers with you." 

"I was not going to." 

Harry said it too quickly. 

Edward waited. 

"I thought about taking the rat to Lupin," Harry admitted. "Hermione said Peter could transform before we reached the stairs, stun us, or use Ron as a shield." 

"Hermione is right." 

"She is going to be unbearable when I tell her you said that." 

The familiar complaint eased the pressure for one breath. Then Harry looked at the two names again. 

"If Sirius is innocent, every day they wait is another day he remains a murderer in everyone's mind." 

"And if we rush, Peter may escape while leaving Sirius blamed. A clean arrest serves Sirius better than a private victory." 

Harry paced to the far side of the tower. Below them, students crossed the grounds in pairs. None knew that a name from an old memorial had spent the morning in their dormitory. 

"I want Sirius present when Peter answers," Harry said. 

"You can ask. Dumbledore may refuse to place them in the same room until Peter is secured. Sirius's right to testify does not require giving him the first chance to attack." 

"You still do not trust him." 

"I trust him to tell me when his anger is dangerous. That is why I believe him when he says it is." 

Harry stopped beside the narrow window. "He told me to make him prove his story." 

"Then honour that request. Do not turn hope into a verdict before the evidence is preserved." 

The advice sounded calm because Edward now understood the cost of ignoring it. In the forest, urgency had made every extra step feel temporary. By the time he admitted he had gone too far, returning safely was no longer within his control. 

Harry picked up the copy. "What happens to the map?" 

"McGonagall will likely secure it as evidence. Ask for a receipt, copies of the observation log, and a written condition for its return to the lawful owner after the inquiry." 

"Who is the lawful owner? Filch confiscated it from someone years ago." 

"Then that question belongs in the receipt. Keeping a useful object is not more important than protecting Ron." 

Harry gave a reluctant nod. "Hermione should come with us. She knows what I did, and she saw Scabbers before I left." 

"She can confirm those facts. You decide what part of Sirius's history she hears beyond what affects Ron's safety." 

"She already knows most of it. I told her after Hogsmeade." 

That widened the number of informed students, but Hermione had also prevented an improvised confrontation. Edward recorded both consequences rather than treating secrecy as good in itself. 

They descended the tower. Hermione waited outside the hospital wing with a book held open and unread. She examined Edward first, as though checking whether the walk had worsened his injury, then looked at Harry. 

"You showed him?" 

Harry handed her the copy. "We are taking it to McGonagall. We ask her to move Ron before anyone approaches Scabbers." 

"And we tell her how we saw the map," Hermione said. 

Harry grimaced. "All of it." 

They walked directly to McGonagall's office. Along the way, Edward asked Harry to repeat the observation without conclusions. The map showed Peter's name. Scabbers was visible on Ron's bed. Harry had watched from beneath the Cloak. Hermione had kept the corridor clear. Neither had handled the original parchment. 

At the office door, Harry caught Edward's sleeve. 

"If Sirius is innocent, I want his name cleared." 

"So do I." 

"And if Peter gets away again?" 

"Then we preserve what he leaves behind and continue. We do not make Ron pay for our impatience." 

Harry released his sleeve and knocked.