In Perpetuum

Chapter 42

Chapter 42: In Mus

A hush descended over the Gryffindor common room as Professor McGonagall stepped through the portrait hole. Her gaze swept across the room until she found the pupil that she sought.

“Mr Pettigrew, follow me,” she said in a stern voice. Hermione was amazed that she could even get the words out given the tight, thin line her lips were pressed in.

Peter stood from his seat, knees wobbling, body trembling like a leaf, and he followed his Head of House outside the portrait hole, not daring to look at anyone as he passed.

As soon as the portrait door slammed shut behind them, a sea of whispers broke out and gradually crescendo-ed to a volume that was considered normal for the common room, as the tension lifted.

Hermione turned to face Sirius, who was sitting next to her, wondering if he knew why Peter had been summoned in such a way. Sirius had turned to look at Hermione, apparently pondering the same question.

“You haven’t done anything, have you?” Hermione quizzed Sirius.

“No,” said Sirius with a slight frown, although this turned into a grin when he added the words, “not yet, anyway.”

Hermione made a disparaging noise at this, but decided that whatever it was, Peter would tell them when he got back.

HPHPHPHPHPHP

It was some hours late when Peter returned to the common room, but he was not alone. McGonagall was right behind him looking drawn and pale, but also very angry; furious, in fact.

She hissed out a few, very quiet, directions to Peter, and he disappeared to the boys dormitories upstairs with a face glowing like pink neon.

Hermione, having developed a great rapport with the transfiguration professor, had no problems about marching straight up to her, and demanding an answer.

Professor McGonagall had never graced her common room with her presence twice in the same day, and everyone in the vicinity had gone deathly silent as they waited for her answer.

“Mr Pettigrew, she said in a voice that indicated that it was taking all her self-control to remain calm, “has decided that he would be better suited to Slytherin house, and the aims of some of its members. I discovered him, and several others, lurking about on a seventh-floor corridor with this.”

She pulled out a large piece of parchment that looked as though it had been folded over many times. Hermione could make out the letters “MAR...DER...AP”

She felt Sirius move beside her. She clamped a hand down onto his shoulders. Apparently he too had seen the confiscated Marauder’s Map in McGonagall’s hands.

“With very little persuasion,” continued Professor Mc Gonagall, “I was able to elicit why the foolish boy was there in the first place. As a result, he and the others involved have been expelled from Hogwarts School.

Her voice rose an exponential number of decibels, and the students cowered under her gaze as she spoke.

“If I find that one of you has decided to follow the act of this abysmally foolish boy, being expelled will be the least of your worries. I will not tolerate such an attitude from any of my students!”

Hermione clapped a hand over her mouth, while the others just looked confused. They had no clue as to what Peter had been up to all this time.

At this point, Peter emerged from the dormitories. His face, with its round shape and bright red colour, would have looked more at home in a vegetable patch, right next to the tomatoes.