Is this possible?
How could a wizard who had been dead in the public eye for many years walk out of the Hogwarts common room and onto the road to the Great Hall, whilst still being associated with the names Harry Potter and Ron Weasley?
He leapt out of bed, hastily threw on a shirt and robes, and rushed to the hall as fast as he could.
Peter Pettigrew was still there.
Before entering the hall, Draco checked the map again, whilst Peter Pettigrew remained motionless at the dining table.
Could it be that he is going to have breakfast? That is unbelievable.
Draco put the Marauder's Map in his pocket, gripped his wand tightly, and hurried into the hall, desperately trying to appear calm.
Peter Pettigrew was a treacherous and disgusting Death Eater who betrayed his friends, but was also a key figure in helping the Dark Lord resurrect.
I must catch him.
"It is like a godsend! I was just worried about where to find him, and now he has walked right into my trap," Draco thought excitedly.
Draco truly got to know Peter Pettigrew when they worked together under the Dark Lord.
Draco had no idea where he had lived or what he had been doing for the past ten years or so.
Perhaps now was the only time Draco might have any interaction with him.
But the scene before him sent chills down Draco's spine.
Peter Pettigrew did not appear. It was still early, and the Great Hall was empty. Draco could clearly see that only Harry and Ron were at the Gryffindor table.
Draco completely lost control of his facial expressions.
He rushed over to Harry and Ron, staring in disbelief as they gulped down milk, momentarily speechless.
"Oh, good morning, Draco." Draco's expression was so horrifying and abnormal that Harry could not help but look down to check his clothes. Finding everything normal, he greeted him with a hint of doubt.
"Good morning." Draco snapped out of his daze, forcefully suppressing his ferocious expression. "I would like to ask, were you with anyone in the hall just now?"
"It is just the two of us." Ron looked up from amongst the ten fried eggs, giving him a questioning look. "What is wrong?"
"It is nothing," Draco said. He was so distraught that he even forgot the Slytherin table was not there, and sat down directly opposite them, staring at them intently.
Could it be Polyjuice Potion? He wondered with suspicion.
No.
If Peter Pettigrew were to impersonate Harry or Ron, then there would be two names on the map instead of three, thus refuting this conjecture.
However, judging from Harry and Ron's calm and composed demeanour, they did not seem to be lying.
If Peter Pettigrew were to appear at Hogwarts right now, the atmosphere would not be so quiet and peaceful, but rather a commotion.
After all, in the eyes of the wizards, he was already dead.
Is the map broken? Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, is there something wrong with your map?
"Draco, what are you doing at the Gryffindor table?" Just as he was deep in thought, Hermione strode down next to him, bringing a gust of cool air with her. She was looking at him curiously, her cheeks flushed pink from the cold wind.
"Oh, I just came to say hello," Draco said dejectedly.
Hermione tilted her head to look at him, her bright eyes scanning Draco's clothes, and then she suddenly smiled.
"I wager you were in a huge rush this morning. Your collar was all crooked." She casually reached out and straightened Draco's collar, nodding in satisfaction. "That is much better now."
Draco stood there dumbfounded, letting her tighten the loose Slytherin tie around his neck, until she lowered her hand and he realised what she had done.
This level of intimacy... he was a little dazed, and hurriedly thanked her with his ears turning red.
"You two finally made up?" Harry's emerald green eyes darted over them through his glasses as he asked with a smile.
"Oh, Harry, I do not understand what you are talking about." Hermione said cheerfully, starting to spread butter on her bread. "When did we ever have a fight?"
"Oh, yes… So, the person who spent a month brewing Polyjuice Potion in Moaning Myrtle's girls' bathroom was me?" Ron said incredulously. "Girls are terrible! So fickle."
Hermione frowned and glared at him. Ron quickly lowered his head and secretly made a face at Harry, who chuckled to himself.
Draco could not help but look her over and raise an eyebrow at her.
Hermione, she is so clever, she actually thought of going there to brew potions.
"Want some?" Hermione handed him a piece of bread smeared with butter and poured him a glass of juice. "Have some?"
"Oh, thank you." He took a hesitant bite of bread, his mind reeling.
Should I continue thinking about Peter Pettigrew's problem, or should I think about something else?
Is she taking care of me?
All in all, the bread today was quite delicious. Do the house-elves also know how to favour one over another, putting the best bread and butter on the Gryffindor table?
"I will have to ask Wendy next time..." he thought doubtfully, taking another bite of bread.
"I have to say, I think your guesses are quite possible." Harry looked around and lowered his voice to Draco. "We asked around, and it seems quite a few Gryffindor students were captured by him around that time."
"Slytherins too." Draco forced himself to focus on the conversation in front of him. "I made a list, marking out the possible candidates. Hermione—"
"Ah, here they are. Yours, Harry's, and I have inquired with Susan Bones about suspicious Hufflepuff characters," Hermione said smugly, shaking the parchments. "I am going to compile them today."
"Also, I asked Ginny—she is Colin Creevey's Charms class partner," Ron said. "According to her, Colin has not offended anyone."
"Are you sure we can just ask her?" Hermione asked doubtfully. "She seems distracted lately, probably terrified by what happened in the Chamber of Secrets. What if she has forgotten some details? Should we ask a few more of Colin's classmates for cross-verification?"
"Hermione, my sister is the smartest kid in the family! She has been acting a bit scared lately because she was overly frightened by George and Fred. I believe she has said everything she needs to say!" Ron said, frowning. "If you are not sure, you can always ask someone else yourself."
How could Ron, that brat, talk to her like that?
Draco was a little annoyed.
He was about to interject when Hermione beat him to it: "Of course I will find someone else myself! I am just as worried about Ginny as you are! But only by finding clues and solving the problem can she stop being afraid, right?"
Draco was slightly surprised. Hermione, when she is with Harry and Ron, is surprisingly assertive and persuasive.
He seemed to have no need to worry about her suffering any losses.
"That is true." Ron's tone softened. "Sorry, I have been a bit down lately. You know, one thing after another has happened in the Chamber of Secrets. Ginny has been crying every day, and my rat has been a bit listless lately. I almost could not find him a few days ago…"
"It is all right. I will talk to Ginny too, give her some encouragement and stuff. Some things are easier for girls to talk about." Hermione said magnanimously, glancing at her list the whole time, as if the argument was no big deal.
Her eyes were fixed on the list. Now, she sighed with worry, "Only Ravenclaw is missing."
A hush fell over the table. Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged bewildered glances.
No one had any connections with Ravenclaw students.
"My dormmate Parvati has a sister in Ravenclaw, but we are not that close. And she is always so gossipy, always asking questions, I am afraid she will tell everyone…" Hermione hesitated, "Unless we are absolutely desperate, it is best to—"
"Well, perhaps I can give it a try," Draco said, swallowing a bite of bread. "I have some special connections."
Based on the information on the Marauder's Map, he could probably ask the Grey Lady to inquire with her new friend, Luna Lovegood.
"Oh, Draco, that is wonderful!" Hermione smiled at him cheerfully, her eyes sparkling. "I am starting to really like your special channels!"
Draco smiled slightly.
"And how do we get rid of that Basilisk?" Harry said. "Hagrid's roosters are all dead, where are we going to find new ones? Besides the crowing of roosters, is there any other way to subdue it? Are there any spells or anything like that?"
"I have absolutely no clue about this," Draco said. "Dealing with a monster of this size is almost unthinkable. Only a wizard as powerful as Dumbledore could probably handle it, so you must not act rashly. I suspect even spells might not work; its hide is probably very thick. You will have to find its weak point."
Harry fell into deep thought.
"How about we try to find the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets?" Ron said. "If we can seal that entrance, the monster will not be able to get out, and Hogwarts will be safe, will it not?"
"Your thinking is very clear, Ron," Draco praised Ron, raising his eyebrows. He had been observing Ron throughout the conversation and had not noticed anything unusual so far.
Ron blushed and said to Draco, "I am sorry, what I said about Slytherin before did not actually include you... Anyway, do not mind it..."
Draco took a sip of juice and waved his hand. "I have long forgotten."
He was busy arguing with Hermione at the time and had no idea what anyone else had said.
Ron was relieved. He took his beloved rat out of his pocket, then pulled out a delicate little white bottle, and said to Draco, "Thank you for the Rat Tonic. Scabbers has not been very energetic since winter. I will feed him some now..."
Ron seemed perfectly normal; at least neither Harry nor Hermione noticed anything amiss with him.
There was no indication that any invisible person was coercing him. Draco's gaze swept over Ron, a mixture of confusion and unease in his eyes.
The Great Hall gradually filled with more students.
At that moment, at the Slytherin table, Crabbe called out to him, "Draco, Pansy asked me to call you over to be a witness! A once-in-a-century event!"
Draco slightly raised his chin at him, indicating that he would be there soon.
Merlin! Draco looked gloomy. I am burdened with many vexing mysteries, yet entangled in trivial matters, and sighed wearily.
"Then I will be going now." He took a deep breath and said as gently as possible to the girl who was studying the list with her head down, "I will give you the list as soon as possible, all right?"
"All right." Hermione looked up and smiled at him.
Her eyes finally left the parchment—watching the platinum gold disappear back into the silvery-green sea—and unusually, she no longer paid attention to the names.
Draco, she thought, he has always been very popular with the Slytherins.
Those arrogant and indifferent Slytherins would always call on him for anything.
In the Slytherin common room, this feeling of "he was popular" was even more pronounced. All sorts of people were willing to greet him. No matter how arrogant or aloof someone was at Hogwarts, they all seemed to have a good relationship with him.
She seemed to be gradually understanding why he was so popular. He appeared aloof, but he was very reliable.
It seemed that she could always count on him to cover for her if there was anything she could not do herself.
For example, the Ravenclaw list. Just when she was struggling with this, he thought for a moment, then accepted the task, casually saying that he could get it.
He might be the kind of person who quietly accomplished great things. She stared intently at his back and could not help but have a strange thought.
Draco strolled leisurely to a corner of the Slytherin table, where he heard Pansy proudly announce to everyone, "Blaise is going to call me 'sister' in front of everyone; he lost his Wizard Chess game to me!"
"Please, I only lost one game, but we played a hundred!" Blaise said in disbelief.
"When you made the agreement with me, you did not say how many rounds would be the maximum, or how many wins would count!" Pansy said with a sly grin. "Come on, call me 'sister'!"
"Impossible! Absolutely not!" Blaise said in a flustered manner, his usual arrogant demeanour completely ruined by Pansy, this "unreasonable and arrogant girl".
"What is all this? Is it worth the trip? Crabbe, you be their witness," Draco said lazily, deciding not to get involved.
He shook his head, ignoring the bickering of the two. He found an empty seat and quietly pulled out a map from his robes to look at it.
—Peter Pettigrew's name still stood arrogantly beside the Gryffindor table, almost overlapping with Ron Weasley's name.
That is so strange.