Chapter 260: The Nics mel of rats
Felix Harp sifted through the currently known information—
"Based on today''s events, it''s clear that Sirius ck''s primary target isn''t Harry, but Ron Weasley. Could it be that the Ministry of Magic got it wrong from the beginning?"
"But that doesn''t make sense. Twelve years ago when ck was imprisoned, Ron was just one year old... Is this some kind of personal grudge, a feud from a previous generation?"
Felix Harp recalled the impression he had of Arthur and Molly Weasley when he saw them at the Leaky Cauldron. They seemed very friendly, warm wizards, despite having quite a few children.
"No, my thinking is off track. If ck and the Weasley couple had a feud, he could have easily found them. The Weasley house doesn''t have the double protection of Dementors and Hogwarts."
"So, Ron Weasley is the key!"
Felix Harp attempted to recall what made this student stand out. Apart from the remarkable courage disyed during the Chamber of Secrets incident, he seemed quite ordinary afterward, with homework that showed clear signs of patchwork and a seemingck of intelligence...
Getting off track.
He shifted his focus to Ron Weasley''s life and circle of friends—his friends, parents, brothers, and even the sister who had been briefly bewitched by Voldemort''s Horcrux. Naturally, his thoughts led to Ron''s pet rat, Scabbers.
If Ron wasn''t ck''s true target, the only suspicious point about him, or rather the living being, was his pet rat, Scabbers.
"A rat, hm!" Felix Harp sighed. "Normally, I wouldn''t suspect, but since ck managed to hide the fact that he was Animagus, could the same be true for this rat? Or is it a victim of a curse?"
Felix Harp pondered for a moment and inclined toward the possibility that the rat was Animagus, not under some malicious forced transformation. This could be inferred from ck''s multiple daring assaults on Hogwarts despite the risks.
"ck certainly despises that rat."
Felix Harp sensed a prickly situation. Though all these thoughts were built upon assumptions and reasoning, they seemed highly likely.
In fact, if Scabbers were a victim of malicious transformation, it wouldn''t be too difficult—Felix could find it, send it to St. Mungo''s for treatment, and be done with it. However, if it were an illegal Animagus, that would mean it could turn back into a wizard at any time. The problem was that Felix couldn''t determine whether it was friend or foe.
"He might be evading enemies or maybe due to some circumstances, he''s forced into hiding. But—" A sense of absurdity surged within Felix Harp. "Yes, indeed. If he truly wanted to disappear, he could easily choose to avoid the wizarding world altogether. A wizard can live quitefortably elsewhere. Yet, he chose not to, instead subjecting himself to this charade of being a pet rat. This is definitely not a benign gesture."
The only reason Felix could think of was that this wizard didn''t want to sever ties with the magical world; Mr. Weasley worked in the Ministry of Magic, which conveniently fulfilled his requirement.
By this point, Felix had a general understanding. The rat was likely not a good person. He decided that when they met, a Stupefy charm would be the first thing he''d cast. Whether it was to extract information or to administer Veritaserum, it would depend on the rat''s true identity. As for Sirius ck...
"It''s hard to say. The enemy of one bad person isn''t necessarily a good person. Reality can be far tooplicated. Besides, ck escaped from his hands twice... though there were reasons each time, it''s still an ufortable feeling of being led by the nose."
Felix had always thought that ck wasn''t particrly clever. Those involved back then—Snape called him foolish, Lupin said he was impulsive, McGonagall mentioned his liveliness, the Fat Lady hadn''t offered an opinion, instead revealing quite a bit about his "adventures" and "achievements" during school. Some of those ideas were beyond the realm of ordinary thinking.
"But this time, he''s been quite clever, seizing the opportunity of the Christmas break. If it weren''t for Harry''s considerable strength, he might have seeded."
Next, Felix Harp did two things.
The first thing: He went to the nest of the Acromant in the Forbidden Forest.
The forest was covered in thick snow. Felix Harp wore a dark cloak as his figure appeared in a sunken clearing, and around him, there were clicking and cking sounds.
This clearing was also nketed in snow, with the central hemisphere-shaped spiderweb nest being quite conspicuous.
"Gok,e out to see me." Felix Harp projected his voice into the spiderweb nest.
Snowkes gently fell, and a few eight-eyed Acromant emerged from inside.
Gok had be the new king of this group of spiders. He upied the best spot in the colony''s center, surrounded by severalrge spiders, bearing the air of a monarch.
"Wizard." Gok growled impatiently, "Is there something you want?"
"That''s not the right tone for a conversation, Gok. Have you forgotten what I said?" Felix Harp inquired.
Gok''s body stiffened. "I didn''t mean anything by it. I was just resting."
"Do Acromants hibernate?" Felix Harp asked curiously, considering whether someone might capture a few during their hibernation or extract venom.
"Winter makes us ufortable. We prefer to stay in the caves, rarely venturing out," Gok exined, "but that doesn''t mean we''re oblivious to the outside world. After all, I''m out here now."
Felix Harp nodded. "I''ve heard you can control the spiders in the Forbidden Forest." From his vantage point, he could see quite a few fist-sized spiders crawling about on the white webs, snow, and fallen leaves.
"They''re hibernating. Many won''t survive this winter. What you''re seeing are the younglings of the Acromants. Their thick fur helps them withstand the cold." Gok waved hisrge pincers.
"Actually, I need some clever assistants." Felix Harp smirked. "Listen, Gok, I need you to look for a big ck dog or traces of a stranger in the Forbidden Forest. There''s a good chance it has a designated spot, like an abandoned beast den. Once you find it, no need to take action, just remember the location and contact me."
Gok pondered for a while. "I can send the younglings out. Our size is too conspicuous; it might provoke a centaur retaliation."
"Agreed," Felix Harp consented. Just before parting ways, he gave Gok arge bucket of firewhisky—a leftover from the Christmas gift for Hagrid, not particrly to his taste.
"A bted gift, Gok."
The second thing he did was visit the infirmary. He extracted some information about the rat from Ron. Scabbers, it turned out, had been passed down to him from his brother Percy.
"How long has it been at your home?"
"For quite a few years," Ron said, scratching his head in confusion.
"Could you be more specific?" Felix Harp coaxed gently. "Around what age were you when you first became aware of its presence? Five or six, or maybe seven or eight?"
ording to his assumptions, since it was Percy Weasley''s pet, seven years seemed reasonable, given that the Weasley family were pureblood wizards—it might even have been a year or two earlier.
Ron thought hard. "I think Mum mentioned it. It was when Percy was about five or six. One morning, he found Scabbers and decided to keep it. Mum wasn''t too keen on the idea because it looked like a regr rat, and it was missing a toe. But Percy had an unusual fit, crying and throwing a tantrum, and Mum had to give in. It''s one of Percy''s secret embarrassments; he won''t talk about it."
Ron grinned, then winced as he touched his injured leg.
"A regr rat, missing a toe…" Felix Harp repeated softly. He looked impressed. "So, you''re saying Scabbers has been around for at least eleven or twelve years? I recall regr rats usually don''t live more than three years."
"This is like the Nics mel of rats," Ronughed.
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