In the reception area of the Ministry of Magic, you could feel the magical energy left behind by everyone who passed through its floors. The golden statues of the Magical Fountain seemed to shine more brightly under the magical lights of the midnight blue ceiling. Low-level officials and Aurors on duty stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the entourage led by Cornelius Fudge, who walked with his chest puffed out, waving his hat left and right as if he had just won the election again.
At his side, Aurelian Gaunt walked calmly, yawning from time to time. His boots tapped methodically on the floor. Although his face remained impassive, his mind was a hotbed of calculation and strategy that went far beyond the freedom of an Azkaban prisoner.
"Lord Gaunt, I hope the speed of our Red Flu transport wasn't too rough," Fudge commented, giving him an almost childlike look of approval. "I wanted us to arrive before the news leaked out completely. I want us to be the ones controlling the narrative."
"I understand perfectly, Minister," Aurelian replied with a smile. "Discretion is the best friend of success. You will see that by dawn, your name will be on everyone's lips as the man who brought light to a dark mistake in our history."
Fudge nodded happily. As they entered the golden elevator that would take them to the Department of Magical Security, Aurelian allowed his gaze to drift to the back of the cabin where two Aurors were holding Peter Pettigrew. The man was chained with magic-restricting shackles.
"As pathetic as I remembered him," Aurelian thought, narrowing his eyes, "but as necessary as in the books."
His mind flashed back to the end of his third year, to his encounters and conversations with his father, Tom Riddle. He remembered the mixture of affection and pride his father had shown him when he acknowledged him as his son. Voldemort was a monster, yes, but not as he was portrayed in the canon... in this world, he was just a man who had buried his emotions deep inside himself and whose defenses his mother had somehow managed to break through. His father loved his mother, of that he was sure... in a peculiar way, but he loved her.
Aurelian needed his father back. He needed to shift the balance of power in his favor. The "Alliance" of Grindelwald's former followers was gaining ground abroad. Grindelwald had been an Archmage of immeasurable power, and if he managed to escape from Nurmengard or if another Archmage decided to join his cause... he still didn't have enough power to face him on equal terms.
"It takes a monster to kill another monster," he confirmed in his mind. "I need to have an Archmage on my side. Dumbledore would be too soft against Grindelwald, too tied to his emotions to do what is necessary when war breaks out."
That is why it was imperative for Voldemort to recover his body. With his power and strategic mind, he would be a great ally. Aurelian trusted that that small glimmer of humanity, in the love he had for his mother Elaine and now believed he had for him, would be enough to control him and prevent Voldemort from trying to take over Britain in a senseless war, instead using his strength against the real threat.
"Peter must escape," Aurelian decided as the elevator descended to Level 2. "But he must do so after Sirius is officially exonerated. The world must know that Black is innocent so that I can collect my part of the deal with the Black family. Once Sirius is free and I have in my possession all the knowledge and objects stored at Grimmauld Place..."
The plan was delicate. He had to proceed with caution and not ruin the only "safe" way for Voldemort to return. Aurelian needed Peter to run and find his father's spirit. But above all, he needed to be the one to control that encounter.
"We're here," Amelia Bones announced as the golden gates opened.
The Department of Magical Security was on high alert. Aurors armed to the teeth flanked the corridors. Kingsley Shacklebolt approached them with his usual stern expression.
"The interrogation room is ready, Minister," said Kingsley. "The Veritaserum has been verified by three different experts."
"Excellent," said Fudge, rubbing his hands together. "Lord Gaunt, will you accompany us?"
"I would like to observe from the glass gallery, if you don't mind, Minister," said Aurelian with a polite smile. "My presence in the room might distract the prisoner. It seems that my surname causes him unnecessary unease."
Fudge let out a nervous laugh.
"Oh, I understand! The Gaunt family history is... impressive. Stay with Amelia in the gallery. I'll make sure this traitor tells us his every last secret."
Aurelian nodded and separated himself from the group, walking toward the observation gallery that hung above the interrogation pit. As he climbed the marble stairs, he felt the touch of his magic vibrating beneath his skin.
Upon entering the gallery, he saw Amelia Bones already seated, watching as Pettigrew was strapped into the metal chair with chains wrapped around his arms.
Aurelian leaned on the railing, crossing his arms over his chest. His gaze met Peter's below for a moment. Aurelian did nothing, but allowed a hint of his aura to seep through for a moment. Peter Pettigrew shuddered so hard he almost fell off his chair. He knew he wasn't at the Ministry to be tried for his past crimes; he was there because the Devil's son had decided so.
"We can begin," he heard Fudge's voice echoing through the room.
Aurelian smiled. The rat's trial was beginning, but the traitor's escape was already written in his mind. All that was left was for Peter Pettigrew to do what he did best: survive at any cost.
Cornelius Fudge cleared his throat before continuing, his magically amplified voice echoing throughout the room for all to hear.
"We are ready to begin. Auror Shacklebolt, please administer the Veritaserum."
Kingsley nodded, taking out a small glass vial containing a clear liquid. He approached Peter, who stared at the vial in terror, trying to back as far as he could against the back of the chair.
From the gallery, Aurelian watched the scene with intense concentration. He rested his hands on the railing and fixed his gaze on Peter's tearful eyes.
"Pettigrew."
The voice echoed inside Peter's skull, cold and authoritative.
Peter jerked violently, rattling his chains. His eyes darted wildly, searching for the source of the voice, until they met Aurelian's black orbs high up in the darkness of the gallery.
"Don't speak. Don't scream. Just listen to me," Aurelian ordered mentally, his Legeremancy piercing the weak defenses of Peter's mind.
Peter stopped moving, paralyzed by fear and amazement. "Master?" he thought, his mind projecting the word with a mixture of hope and panic. "Is that you?"
"Obviously no, you idiot" Aurelian replied mentally with annoyance. "I am... his son and your only chance not to die at the hands of the Dementors."
Peter swallowed hard. "I'll do anything! Anything, my Lord! I don't want to die!" Peter screamed mentally.
Aurelian smiled.
"Then listen carefully. First, you will clear Sirius Black's name and take all the blame."
Peter groaned internally. "The blame? They'll kill me!"
"Not if I intervene," Aurelian cut in. "I'm sure there will be an opportunity for you to escape when the interrogation is over."
Hope flooded the rat's mind. "Escape? You'll let me escape?"
"I'll help you escape on one condition," Aurelian declared, and the pressure on Peter's mind increased. "You're going to find my father. He's out there, waiting."
Peter felt a chill run through his body. "The Dark Lord... is alive?"
"He is alive, and you are going to find him. Do you understand, Wormtail? If you fail, if you run away... I will find you, and you will wish the Dementors had kissed you." Aurelian glared at Peter, applying more pressure to his mind.
Peter nodded frantically. "I will! I swear! I'll find his father! I'll bring the Master back! Have no doubt!"
"Good. Now be a good rat and sing."
Aurelian cut the mental connection just as Kingsley Shacklebolt forced Peter's mouth open and dropped three drops of the liquid onto his tongue. The expression on Peter's face changed instantly. The terror vanished, replaced by a blank stare. His muscles relaxed. The Veritaserum had taken control.
Fudge leaned toward him.
"Identify yourself for the record," ordered the Minister.
"Peter Pettigrew," Peter replied in a monotonous, drawling voice.
Fudge looked at Amelia Bones in the gallery, who nodded for him to proceed with the crucial questions. The Minister, knowing that this was his moment of glory, asked the question in a deep, theatrical voice.
"Peter Pettigrew, were you the Secret Keeper of the Fidelio Charm that protected James and Lily Potter?"
The room fell silent. Aurelian watched from above with a small smile.
"Yes," Peter said emotionlessly, "I did."
A murmur rippled through the room, and Amelia Bones began writing furiously on her parchment.
"Did you betray James and Lily Potter by giving their location to You-Know-Who?" Kingsley asked, his deep voice resonating with severity.
"Yes..." replied Peter. "I told the Dark Lord... he promised me power... I was afraid."
"One last question," Fudge interjected, seeking approval from Aurelian and Amelia before looking at the prisoner. "Did Sirius Black have anything to do with that betrayal? Did he kill those twelve Muggles that night?"
"No," confessed Peter. The truth hung in the air like a sentence. "Sirius knew nothing. I blamed him... I cut off my finger... I blew up the street with my wand, killing the Muggles, and turned myself into a rat to escape."
Fudge let out the breath he had been holding and slammed his fist on the podium triumphantly.
"This is unheard of!" exclaimed Cornelius Fudge, banging on the gallery railing enthusiastically, breaking the tension in the room. "Absolutely unheard of! An innocent man has spent twelve years in hell because of this... vermin!"
The Minister turned to Amelia Bones, who had just come down from the gallery.
"Amelia, I want the pardon drafted immediately. Sirius Black is a free man as of now. I want this on the front page of tomorrow's Prophet! 'Ministry Corrects Injustice of the Century'."
Amelia Bones rolled her eyes at the last part, but nodded anyway as she finished signing the confession.
"The evidence is irrefutable, Minister. Pettigrew has confessed under Veritaserum that Black is innocent of all charges. I will proceed to order his release from preventive custody and Pettigrew's transfer to a cell in Azkaban."
Downstairs, Kingsley Shacklebolt and another Auror began to lift Peter from his chair. The effects of the Veritaserum were beginning to wear off, and terror once again filled the rat's eyes. Peter looked frantically around, searching for an escape route.
BOOM!
The air exploded with a deafening sound, as if a bomb had detonated in the center of the room.
The floor cracked violently. Kingsley Shacklebolt and the other Aurors were taken by surprise and thrown backwards like rag dolls, slamming brutally into the walls of the room.
Cornelius Fudge screamed, covering his head.
"What the hell was that?!" shouted the Minister, coughing in the dust.
Down at the epicenter of the explosion, Peter Pettigrew was unharmed, protected by the same force that had thrown his captors. The chains that held him had been shattered by the impact.
"RUN!" Aurelian's voice roared in his head. "BRING ME MY FATHER!"
Peter nodded slightly as tears of gratitude and fear began to run down his face. Terror and adrenaline drove him forward. With a sharp squeal, his body shrank violently and the dirty clothes fell empty onto the rubble.
"When you have him, take him to Gaunt Manor in Little Hangleton. Don't fail me, Wormtail."
A rat with a missing finger shot out from among the clothes. Taking advantage of the Aurors' attempts to stand up, the animal ran at supernatural speed toward a ventilation grate that had been torn from the wall by the force of the explosion.
"It's getting away!" roared Kingsley, recovering from the attack and casting a stunning spell blindly into the dust.
The red beam hit the ground, but the rat had already disappeared into the darkness of the duct.
"Seal the building!" ordered Amelia Bones, casting a blocking spell on the exits, but it was useless. Peter had already managed to escape.
Fudge clutched his head, pale as a ghost as he looked at the disaster in the room.
"He's gone!" moaned the Minister, on the verge of collapse. "The culprit is gone! My Aurors attacked! This is a disaster! How will I explain this?"
Aurelian approached Fudge and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. His voice was soft, hypnotic, perfectly designed to calm the panic and redirect the narrative in his favor.
"It's not a disaster, Minister," Aurelian said. "We have the signed confession. We have the witnesses. The world knows who the culprit is. A rat fleeing to the sewers to starve to death does not change the fact that you, Cornelius Fudge, uncovered the truth."
Fudge blinked, looking at Aurelian.
"Do you believe that?"
"I do. What does it matter where Pettigrew is? What matters is that Sirius Black is free thanks to you. No one will blame the Minister for the elusive nature of that vermin, as long as human justice has been served."
Fudge sighed, straightening up and regaining his composure thanks to the manipulation of young Gaunt.
"You're right, Lord Gaunt... you're right. Black is free, and that's what matters."
Aurelian looked up at the ventilation shaft through which Peter had escaped with a smile.
"Let's go, Minister," said Aurelian, turning away and deliberately ignoring the Aurors' cries of pain. "We have great news to announce. Tomorrow morning, the wizarding world will celebrate your name."
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