"Dumbledore had the Philosopher's Stone hidden away in Hogwarts behind several different 'traps.' All of which were capable of being overcome by a group of First-Year students. Now, I'll admit some of them are a lot brighter and further ahead curriculum wise than it would seem at first glance, but still. No wards, defenses, or barriers that would keep even the least trained Auror out, let alone a man as powerful as Voldemort."
I shuddered at that. The trials had been child's play. Literally, in McGonagall's case!
'Thank whatever gods exist that events happened differently this time,' I thought, relieved that Harry had been smart enough to not go rushing into danger, but also scared that he'd still come so close to Voldemort in the end.
I wasn't impressed by Dumbledore's planning, needless to say, and Lupin seemed to be taken aback by it.
"That's… I'll admit, that circumstances are a bit suspect…" he began, but I cut him off.
"If you want more evidence of what I believe to be foul play on Dumbledore's behalf, let's just look at the defenses he put around the Potters," I said. "A Fidelius Charm requires three people. One to cast the spell. One to possess something worth keeping a secret to act as the spell's anchor. And last but not least, one person to become the Secret Keeper. Tell me, Mr. Lupin, who was the Potter's Secret Keeper?"
"Sirius Black," Lupin grit out through clenched teeth.
"And who cast the Fidelius?"
"It was… Dumbledore," he said after a moment of wracking his brain for the information.
"Are you sure?" I pressed.
"Yes. You're right, you need three people for a Fidelius Charm to work, and the person who casts the actual spell itself needs to be quite strong, because it's a very complex and power-intensive piece of magic. Far more so than James, Lily, or Sirius could have been able to do at the drop of a hat. It would take somebody like Dumbledore to cast it properly without worry."
"Exactly!" I crowed. There was a reason why the Fidelius Charm wasn't used wily-nilly in the Magical World to hide things. It was a ludicrously difficult enchantment, with maybe a dozen people in all of Magical Britain able to cast it properly. "Now, there is a chance that it didn't happen that way. But if it did… that would mean Dumbledore knew Sirius Black wasn't the traitor."
"WHAT?!" Lupin snarled, glaring at me with baleful eyes. "What do you mean by that?!"
"Sirius Black was not the Secret Keeper. Peter Pettigrew was," I told him.
"Impossible!" Lupin uttered. "They would have told me if they switched it!"
"Would they? Leaving aside the fact it makes decent tactical sense to switch things up to make the real target safer and mislead people into thinking somebody else had the information they sought, well… werewolves had joined Voldemort's cause. Sure, he was likely going to betray them afterwards, but he was offering vengeance for generations of discrimination and abuse. Why wouldn't they join him at the time for a moment of delicious revenge? And with yourself being a werewolf…"
"…it would make me untrustworthy in their eyes," Lupin finished, expression broken as all the anger left him at the realization.
"Yes, the Order, most likely on the orders of Dumbledore, didn't want to keep you in the loop for that reason. And also, if I suspect this was the case, he didn't want too many witnesses to know the truth," I said.
"How… how do you know all this?" Lupin asked in disbelief.
"I have a passion and talent for Divination," I said, using my cover excuse for my meta-knowledge. "Potions isn't the only discipline Squibs like myself can excel at."
He looked at me blankly, clearly not believing me, but that was fine. If he was suspicious of me, then he'd be wary of Dumbledore as well, at the very least.
"If this is all true… then why did Sirius Black kill Peter instead of going to us about what had happened?" Lupin demanded.
"Well, first off, this is all speculation, but grief hits hard, and it affects people in different ways. Some try and get drunk, others try and murder the ones responsible," I said with a shrug. "Secondly… Peter isn't dead."
Lupin looked as if he wanted to explode again, but held off. "Beg your pardon?" he uttered instead after breathing in and out rapidly.
"You wanted to know if I was telling the truth? Well, consider this my proof," I said, before snapping my fingers. "Inky. The cage, if you please."
My loyal House Elf popped in, carrying the enchanted size-changing cage I'd stuffed Scabbers into.
Upon seeing the unconscious rat, and the missing toe from its front left paw, Lupin's jaw dropped. It appeared he recognized the Animagus despite several years apart.
"He's drugged with Draught of Living Death, and has a special binding collar around his neck to let me track him if he does escape. Plus, the cage will change size if he tries to transform and break out. Do you wish to undo his transformation to check?" I inquired.
"No. Even after more than a decade, I remember exactly what Peter's Animagus form looked like," Lupin said, shaking slightly. Out of anger or betrayal, I wasn't sure. Maybe both!
"Well, there you have it. Proof," I said, feeling a bit smug. I snapped my fingers again and let Inky take the cage away.
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