The ruined potion splashed all over Pettigrew, and the man shrieked in agony as he began to cycle uncontrollably between forms. Even the hardened Aurors drew back in horror at the appalling sight before them. It was a transformation gone terribly wrong, and after a few horrible, nightmarish moments of screaming agony, Pettigrew lay still, reduced to a twisted lump of deformed flesh, half-man, half-rat. His head in particular was stuck between the two forms, with the left half human, and the right half rodent. In between the two mismatched skulls, brain matter oozed out, and there were several otherтАж wateryтАж bits where the tortured flesh had liquefied under the stress of too many transformations.
The children were shrieking like maniacs and hiding their faces тАУ all except Harry, who had watched the whole thing with a grim visage.
"Damn it!" Bones snarled, finally shoving her way through to the corpse. "I wanted to take him alive!"
"Considering how alarmingly easy escaping from Azkaban has become of late if even Pretty Boy Black could manage it, perhaps it is just as well that we will not need to worry any longer about this self-confessed minion of the Dark Lord," Snape commented snarkily.
Bones glared at him. "He had a lot of questions to answer," she retorted. "And I don't see how we can fully clear Black without Pettigrew's confession."
Snape raised his eyebrows. "Everyone in this room, including numerous students, the head of the Wizengamot, two senior Aurors, the head of the MLE, and a boyhood chum of the dead man all heard his confession and can identify him and provide pensieved memories. I cannot imagine what more you could possibly require."
"Listen, you Death Eating bastard," Bones began heatedly, then stopped as she realized that the children тАУ now that a much more fascinating diversion was before them тАУ had stopped screaming and were watching her exchange with Snape with lively interest. After all, as much fun as it was to shriek in abandon and jump on desks (in Snape's class, no less!), it was even more entertaining to watch their most fearsome professor take on the equally intimidating head of the MLE.
Madame Bones cleared her throat and started over. "In the absence of a Veritaserum-elicited confession from the accused, there are some who might challenge the testimony."
"Such as?" Snape challenged. He gestured lazily about the room. "This is a first year class of Gryffindors and Slytherins. Who on the political spectrum won't believe one side or the other? Or are you seriously suggesting that Lucius Malfoy тАУ or Arthur Weasley тАУ would challenge his own son's account and force him to submit to Veritaserum, despite the potentially permanent brain damage it can cause when administered before puberty?"
Bones scanned the room and realized the truth of his words. Anyone who might want to deny what had just happened тАУ whether former Death Eaters, Minister Fudge, or the Pettigrew family тАУ would be wholly unable to do so. The families represented in this room were the power elite on both sides of the last war, and just about the only thing that would cause them to close ranks and form an alliance would be a threat to their children. No one would be foolish enough to challenge what had just happened if doing so would bring down upon them the wrath of Malfoy and Weasley alike. Pettigrew's deception (and therefore Black's innocence) would be instantly accepted.
But something was wrong. Amelia Bones hadn't become the head of the MLE without having an excellent instinct, and something told her there was more here than met the eye. It was all just a little too neat.
She turned speculatively to Remus. "Hmmm. Mr Lupin, wasn't it fortuitous that you were here and could positively identify the fugitive? Why are you here just now? Aren't you supposed to be in Italy?"
Remus returned her gaze calmly. "I came to pick up an urgently needed potion from Professor Snape. I knew he'd be in class at this time, and it seemed sensible to come in and let him know I was here."
Bones pursed her lips skeptically. "Oh, really? Professor Snape hardly seems the type to welcome an interruption to his class. What potion is so urgent he would permit such an intrusion?"
Snape's calm, faintly contemptuous expression didn't change, but internally his heart sank. They hadn't planned for this level of scrutiny of Remus' presence.
At least Lupin had managed to emerge from under the Invisibility Cloak during the worst of the chaos, so no one had realized he had been in the room all along - hiding beneath the Cloak and behind the tall supply cupboard, ready to blast the rat should Snape's plan go awry. The Cloak - which Dumbledore had given to Snape when the Potion Master had taken over Harry's guardianship - was now tucked away in the pocket of Lupin's robe and would hopefully stay there until Snape could reclaim it and place it back in secure storage. Oh, Albus had made some mad suggestion about giving the Cloak to Harry for Christmas - as if a mischief-prone 11 year old really needed an Invisibility Cloak! - but Snape had dismissed that notion with the contempt it deserved. Still, if Bones' questioning rattled Lupin, he might give something away...
He needn't have worried. Remus tilted his chin up and gave Bones a challenging stare even as he calmly answered, "Wolfsbane."
There was an audible gasp, followed by excited whispers, as the students reacted to this revelation. Remus' expression didn't alter, but a tinge of red crept up his neck.
Bones had the grace to look embarrassed. "I beg your pardon," she said, genuinely apologetic. Then she turned to the children and cleared her throat for their attention. "As you have heard, Mr Lupin suffers from the condition of lycanthropy, however this in no way reflects negatively upon him. He has registered with the Ministry and as you have heard, takes great care to have a monthly supply of Wolfsbane. You should accord him the same courtesy that you would any other wizard. Don't you agree, Headmaster?"
"Absolutely," Dumbledore said firmly.
"An' he's like my godfather too, so you better not be rude to him," Harry added pugnaciously, sending a glare towards Pansy Parkinson. He'd heard some whispered comment about "Dark creatures" from her direction, and at his belligerent look, she sniffed and tossed her hair.
Remus looked surprised and pleased at these unexpected endorsements, while Snape fought down his nausea before returning to the attack. "May I have my classroom back now, Madame, or are you too busy asking foolish and embarrassing questions to mop up your evidence and leave? Perhaps there are a few more miscarriages of justice that my class and I can help clear up for you?"
The students giggled. Oooh, that was their professor, all right! He was snarky with everyone. They felt rather proud of Snape. Getting a tongue-lashing from the man was practically a Hogwarts rite of passage, and they didn't need to feel too badly about it if even Madame Bones came out the worse after an encounter with him!
Unfortunately, Bones was no fool, and unlike Fudge, she was not easily driven away by a few snide remarks. "I'm struck by the fact it's rather convenient that Pettigrew was killed by a potion before he could be interrogated properly."
Snape quirked an eyebrow at her, even as he mentally damned the inconveniently persistent witch. "Are you seriously suggesting that Longbottom, rather than producing the assigned potion, deliberately crafted a weaponized version of a Potion-Master-level brew?"
Before the words were out of his mouth, the entire room of students тАУ including Neville тАУ burst into laughter. Even Dumbledore masked a chuckle behind a politely raised hand.
Bones and her Aurors didn't join in the general hilarity, Bones because she was still analyzing the situation, and the men because they were still leery of their boss' mood. Besides, Bones' intuition had been proven right too often in the past, even in cases that had appeared more open-and-shut than this one.