Albus took the vial from his robe, broke it with a wave of his wand, and took the floating rat. Soon, the rat turned into an unconscious man, his face bleeding. An Episkey spell from the professor stopped the bleeding. Then Dumbledore carelessly dropped him on the floor. The black-haired man watched as Lily's face flushed with anger. She glanced at her daughter, as if wondering whether it was worth maintaining her image in front of her.
Harley looked at the man with a frown. She was angry, yes, but she couldn't match her mother. She had grown up knowing her older brother only through memories; their bond wasn't that strong. Still, if her mother killed him, she would understand perfectly.
Altair thought that if Azalea were here, she would have wanted to cut the man open, both in his animal form and in his human form.
Lily didn't know the darker side of her two daughters.
With the man unrestrained, Altair feared he might escape. He was about to protest when the director took out a small piece of wood.
"Excellent work, despite having been done in a hurry. Bathsheda would be proud," he flattered her. Altair had completely forgotten about that piece. "Now. Before we wake him up, I need to know if Voldemort left a surprise in him," the director interrupted his daughter, who seemed about to cast a spell to wake him up.
The headmaster began to inspect the man. Altair did the same, wondering how the hell he was doing it without casting a single spell.
"My eyes are special," said the headmaster.
"Naturally?" asked the young man.
"Not so much... one of my ancestors liked to fuck hippogriffs," he said casually.
"Father!" Lily scolded him.
"My brother seems to like goats," he gritted his teeth at the thought.
"Grandfather!" This time it was Harley, though with less care than her mother.
Altair knew what he was doing. He was diverting attention. He watched as Lily's shoulders relaxed, and Harley seemed to have a small smile.
"Well... let's begin," he said, reviving the man.
Altair could guess the moment when the man shit himself upon seeing the furious redhead. His chin began to tremble, and his eyes widened. It was a little pitiful to see the man begin to cry as he cowered over himself. Their eyes met, and the man almost fainted when he saw his face. Pitiful.
"Oh, Lily, I'm so sorry... they forced me! You know the Dark Lord is very powerful. I never wanted to do it," the rat began to crawl towards her.
Lily's foot hit him in the face. The man fell backwards. Dumbledore gritted his teeth, but did not intervene, not yet.
"My son is dead. It's your fault, I don't care if you were forced or not," her green eyes flashed with anger.
Pettigrew cowered even more. His eyes scanned the room until they landed on Harley, who had a rather noticeable look of disgust on his face.
"He... he has my daughter," he said, sounding so pitiful that even Altair wondered if it was true.
The man crawled forward again, this time toward the black-haired girl. Altair stepped in front of her. Peter lunged backward until his back hit Dumbledore's legs.
"You really have a daughter?" Lily's voice was low and soft, now sounding more sad than angry.
Dumbledore seemed unconcerned. He took a vial from his robe containing a colorless liquid.
"Tell me your name," said the older man after dropping three drops of the potion into the man's mouth.
"Peter Pettigrew," he replied mechanically.
"What is your alias?"
"Wormtail," he replied.
He couldn't control his mouth, so tears of panic and fear began to run down his cheeks.
"What is your daughter's name?" Altair asked, looking at him impassively.
"Lily," the man said, his gaze seeming to beg him not to ask any more questions.
"Where is she?" Altair continued, this time surprised. Who would have thought the little man had a daughter?
"Dead," he replied, crying.
"Oh, Peter," Lily said, confused.
Lily was on an emotional roller coaster, torn between hatred and pity for Peter. But one thing was certain — the pain of losing her son hadn't lessened in the slightest.
She couldn't forgive him, not in a million years, but she could understand his reasoning. Her desire to turn him into potion ingredients diminished because of the pain they shared as parents.
"Who killed her?" asked Dumbledore with cold eyes.
The young wizard could see that he didn't buy the story.
"I did," said the Animagus.
Harley gasped in horror. Lily's eyes hardened. All the sympathy she had managed to gain vanished with his words. Altair and Dumbledore remained unperturbed.
The former did not believe the latter's innocence, although he was still surprised to learn that he had killed his own daughter. He wondered if the canon had happened the same way. Dumbledore seemed to already know his story.
"Why?" asked the redhead.
"She wasn't pureblood. I didn't want to upset my master," replied the little man.
Altair had to stop Lily's hand. With a Legilimency probe, he sent her his plan. It was a new use he had found for the mental arts in the book he stole from the Malfoys. Transmitting thoughts. She looked at him with clenched teeth.
"Did you enjoy handing us over to Voldemort?" asked Harley with clenched fists.
"I loved every second of it," he said, unable to contain himself. "It was always James who got everything. The smart one, the charming one, rich and well-connected. He was the one who got you, Lily... I love you, that's why my daughter was named after you. She was the daughter of a red-haired Muggle, it was a shame to kill her too. She looked just like you." Altair felt like vomiting at his confession. This was much worse than the canon.
"I'd rather be buried alive than even shake your hand," said the witch, her eyes no longer angry, but empty.
She already suspected Peter's feelings for her. She had always felt his furtive glances and smiles. She had found him adorable at the time, although she had never considered him a man capable of satisfying her. Not that James had been the perfect man, far from it, but he was better than someone capable of killing his own children.
"I think we should focus on recent events," the headmaster said with a sigh. "What was your objective today?"
"I had to take Altair Asmodeus to the cabin of screams. Arcturus Black would be there to help me control him." his face looked at Dumbledore, but out of the corner of his eye he looked at Altair's irascible face. Anyone could tell he wasn't happy.
"Why kidnap the girls?" asked Altair.
"Lyra and Daphne would be bait to lure him with us. Also, Arcturus wanted Lyra, and I would keep Daphne and marry her, I'll be the next lord Greengrass", the rat respond.
"What do they want with Altair?" He already knew the answer.
"The Dark Lord will use him to resurrect himself," he replied without giving further details.
Dumbledore continued questioning him. He tried to find out Voldemort's position or his plans far beyond the resurrection, but the rat man didn't say anything very important. It was obvious that Voldemort didn't trust him very much. Albus cursed himself a little for having eliminated Arcturus, who would probably have known more. He did obtain some information, such as that he was in a weakened state, a rotting body.
"Without you or Arcturus, is there anyone left supporting Voldemort?" Altair asked. As he recalled, it was Peter who resurrected Voldemort in the canon. There was another person involved: Barty Crouch Jr. He wondered if he was already under his command.
"Yes, Barty Crouch," he said, omitting the Jr. from his name, perhaps intentionally.
Altair was about to probe further. But a knock in the door interrupted him.
"Auror Black," Dumbledore greeted him.
Sirius entered in his Auror uniform. He brought Lyra and Daphne with him; apparently, he had been questioning them in the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey and McGonagall entered with him. A small group of Aurors accompanied him, along with the Minister of Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge.