"Ted, what's going on?" the brunette woman at the table, who looked to be around thirty, asked worriedly after seeing how hostile her husband had become.
Julian turned to her with a smile and dipped his head politely in greeting. "You must be Andromeda. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Julian Ravenclaw, and I came here to speak with your husband regarding the unlawful imprisonment of your cousin, Sirius Black," Julian said, and all three members of the household stared at him in shock.
Ted did not appreciate being brushed aside so easily by Julian, but he had enough sense not to let himself get angry over something that minor.
"Unlawful in what way? Sirius's crimes were obvious to everyone," Andromeda said with a stern expression.
Julian did not mind the hostility, since he understood this sort of revelation had the power to shake a person's entire world. Still wearing that same smile, he answered, "Then I assume you don't know that there is not a single shred of evidence against Sirius, and that he was sent to prison without ever receiving a trial?" he said, leaving both Ted and Andromeda shocked all over again.
"That's impossible! The Ministry would never allow something like that!" Ted said, trying to refute him, but Julian merely gave a disdainful snort.
"As someone who works closely with the Ministry, you of all people should know how deeply corruption runs through it. Unfortunately for you, everything I've said is easy to verify. There is no record of a trial because there was never any trial to begin with. The supposed victim of the crime, Peter Pettigrew, is also alive and perfectly healthy to this day," he said, shattering the entire family's understanding of what had happened.
The house went completely silent for several moments as the three of them tried to process what Julian had just told them.
"If, and I mean if, what you're saying is true, what does any of this have to do with you?" Ted finally asked skeptically.
Julian's smile widened. "An excellent question. If you're asking what it has to do with me personally, then not a damn thing. But if you include the people closest to me, then quite a lot. You see, Peter Pettigrew has been living with my friend Ronald Weasley's family all this time, and my best friend Harry could really use the support Sirius would be able to give him," Julian explained honestly.
Both Ted and Andromeda paused again as they tried to absorb this latest information, but the pink haired girl, whom Julian assumed was Nymphadora, suddenly blurted out a question.
"Wait, if Peter Pettigrew has been living with the Weasleys all this time, then how has nobody realized it?" she asked in confusion.
Ted and Andromeda both caught onto that inconsistency as well and looked at Julian in a way that clearly demanded an answer.
Julian had expected that question, however. "Quick question. As a metamorphmagus, I assume you're very familiar with all forms of transfiguration, yes?" he asked, confusing her.
Still, she was clever enough to realize the question connected back to her own.
"I know the subject very well. Why?" she asked curiously.
Julian nodded, satisfied. "When a human is transfigured, does that affect their lifespan at all?" he asked.
Though still confused, Nymphadora shook her head. "Not at all," she answered with confidence.
"One last question before the important part. What's the average lifespan of a common English rat?" Julian asked, and watched with satisfaction as the clever girl put the pieces together from the trail he had laid out for her.
"He's the Weasleys' rat!" she exclaimed the moment she reached the only conclusion that fit everything she had been told.
"What do you mean, Nym?" Andromeda asked, not understanding what her daughter was getting at.
Nymphadora quickly explained that the Weasleys had a rat called Scabbers who had been the family's pet for around ten years. She also pointed out that an ordinary English rat only lived about five years, yet the Weasleys had owned that rat as a full grown adult the entire time, which should have been impossible unless there was only one explanation, it was actually a transformed human.
"Exactly. I recently discovered that James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black were all illegal animagi, and Peter Pettigrew's animal form happens to be an ordinary rat. As luck would have it, the unnaturally long lived rodent living with the Weasleys is also missing the finger Peter Pettigrew lost on that fateful night a decade ago," Julian explained seriously, and the whole family looked horrified.
"Poor Sirius has been rotting in Azkaban all this time for a crime he never committed!" Andromeda said tearfully, and that was all Ted needed to hear to decide he was willing to help Julian free Sirius.