"Good afternoon, Mr. Filch," Vid said. "As you can see, we haven't broken any school rules."
Everyone looked at him.
A good student can lie as convincingly as the truth.
If Filch had seen the mud pit earlier, he might have gotten so angry that Vid would be in detention for a semester.
Of course, in front of Filch, none of them undermined Vid.
Vid was the only student who would voluntarily greet Filch and showed no disdain or dislike for him.
Even though Filch's paranoia made him constantly suspicious, like wondering if Vid was trying to make him let his guard down before doing something bad, his attitude towards Vid was more relaxed after all.
The castle caretaker grunted, "It better be that way."
He called to his cat, Mrs. Loris bounded out from the corner, and both the gaunt man and the cat continued to roam the corridors.
Soon, they heard Filch shouting, "Stop right there, Wade! Dirtying the castle, leaving mud everywhere! I'll teach you a lesson..."
"I can't believe he just let us go," George said incredulously.
"Let's go quickly!" Percy said, barely controlling his temper. "I'm curious to hear what splendid reason you can come up with! Bullying a rat... you two are getting more and more ridiculous!"
"Vid and Hermione were with us too!" Fred argued. "Do they seem like the type to bully a rat?"
This was also the reason Percy was holding his patience with them, otherwise, the twins would have had zero credibility with Percy; he wouldn't listen to what they said and would have gone to the professors immediately to report.
But Percy wouldn't say that, instead he scolded, "Mr. Gray, Mr. Potter, and Miss Granger, I think you should spend more time studying and not fooling around with some people!"
The twins were so angry they snorted, attempting to give him a murderous look.
Ron whispered to Harry, "What's really going on?"
Harry shook his head, "I was just called here by Vid, I don't know anything."
"I think only Fred and George are in cahoots with Vid," Ron said, frowning. "But what does my Scabbers have to do with them?"
"Yeah..." Harry echoed in confusion, "It's just a rat, isn't it?"
...
"It's not just a simple rat."
Arriving at the Umbrella House, Vid looked at the twins and said, "Actually, we suspect he is an Animagus."
"An Animagus?"
Of course, Ron knew what an Animagus was; Professor McGonagall had explained it in class a few days ago.
He sneered, "That's ridiculous, Scabbers has been living with our family for eleven years, and you say he's an Animagus?"
He paused and seriously asked, "Are you all insane?"
Harry said nothing but found Vid's claim incredulous.
Percy frowned at the Weasley twins, "Is this your new prank? You're tricking Vid with this lie and toying with all of us?"
Vid wasn't a Gryffindor student, he had never even seen Scabbers, how could he have such a bizarre idea?
In Percy's view, it was undoubtedly his brothers who had conned him somehow.
Percy was outraged, angrily saying, "You just wait! I'll definitely tell Mum the whole story!"
Fred rolled his eyes, and George explained, "We have evidence!"
"What evidence?" Percy pressed.
George: "..."
He knew his brother very well; if Percy found out about the Marauder's Map, he would definitely confiscate it and hand it over to the professors.
That was something George absolutely couldn't stand to see.
George looked at Fred and Vid.
Fred said in a deep voice, "He's been with our family for eleven years, Percy. No rat can live that long."
"Just because of that?" Percy waved his arms. "You think you're the only smart one? You think Mom and Dad haven't thought about that? We give him tonics every year, and magic potions extend his life!"
"But those are just ordinary tonics, not the Elixir of Life!" Fred said louder, "We've always said he's getting old, but he's still eating so much and showing no signs of aging!"
"That's because... I've always taken good care of him!" Ron shouted, "You just don't understand! Scabbers is a good rat!"
"You're the one who doesn't understand!" Fred was also angry, "We're not looking for trouble without reason, this rat has a name..."
"Yeah, it's called Scabbers," Ron said sarcastically.
"No!" Fred said, "It's called Peter Pettigrew!"
Percy froze for a moment, then his face turned pale, "What did you say?"
Vid waved his hand, interrupting the brothers' argument.
"Arguing is pointless, facts will prove everything."
He waved his magic wand, and the doors and windows of the Umbrella House shut and locked with a series of bangs, not leaving a single gap.
Then Vid took out a jar and poured out the unconscious rat.
"Scabbers!"
Ron tried to retrieve his rat, but Percy grabbed his shoulder.
"Percy?" Ron said.
"Wait," Percy seemed out of breath, asking, "Why do you think... it's called that name?"
Fred didn't speak.
He was regretting that he might have exposed the Marauder's Map.
"The Reveal Spell." Vid pointed his magic wand at the rat and explained to everyone, "If he's an Animagus, this spell will reveal his true form. If he's just a rat, then nothing will happen."
"I say..." Ron frowned. "It's ridiculous for you to take such a joke seriously..."
He couldn't continue, his face turning pale bit by bit.
The tip of Vid's magic wand emitted a blue-white light, and the unconscious Scabbers suddenly woke up. It struggled and screamed, its body undergoing bizarre contortions.
Hermione covered her mouth in horror.
Suddenly, a head emerged, followed by hands and feet, and then the body...
A short, plump man replaced Scabbers, lying on the floor gasping for air.
Balding, sparse hair, very dirty, with a rat-like appearance, including pointed nose and watery little eyes.
"Is this Scabbers?" Ron groaned, "Or did you turn Scabbers into a person?"
"This is impossible!" Percy said in disbelief, "Peter Pettigrew... wasn't he killed by Sirius Black many years ago?"
As he spoke, he looked at Harry.
Harry looked back at him, puzzled.
"Petrificus Totalus! Speedy Imprisonment!"
Vid didn't give Peter Pettigrew a chance to argue, immediately casting two spells, binding the man rigidly to the floor, unable to move.
"Now do you believe?" Vid said, "This is what we've been trying to tell you."