Chapter 53

There was only the slightest pause after Ernie's announcement before many a hand reached for a wand, only to come up empty: Harry understood his friends very well, and had he not confiscated everyone's wand, Ernie would have been instantly subjected to multiple curses. Ernie was also fortunate that the small room was very overcrowded. Fred and George stumbled over each other as they rose. Ginny too attempted to get at Ernie, but in the commotion could not get past her brothers. Only Imogen, sitting next to Ernie, was able to express what the entire group felt. Standing, she dealt Ernie several stinging slaps to the face, each harder than the last. The hapless Hufflepuff sat perfectly still, making no attempt to avoid the blows, almost as if he welcomed them. Imogen only stopped when Harry struck her with a mild Impedimentia jinx.

"Sit down!" commanded Harry, and when Imogen ignored him, Harry's wand work compelled her obedience. This took care of one problem, but Harry could see that if he did not get control of the situation and quickly, Ernie was going to get a beating.

"Silence!"

Harry was unaware that his tone and manner were in perfect imitation of Dumbledore in first year, when with a word he had quelled the panic in the Great Hall at the news that there was a troll loose in the school. Harry's use of the imperitive caused the noise in the prefect's boardroom to cease. Fred and George looked up, astonished that Harry had silenced them more effectively than even their own mother could. They looked at each other, then in resumed their seats. The others took this as their cue to do the same.

"You might as well give them their wands," observed Ernie in a dead voice. "You're only dragging things out. You can't keep them disarmed forever."

"That would be letting you off too easy," replied Harry. "But I will return one wand." Looking through the collection in front of him, he easily found Ernie's oaken wand and tossed it to the boy who was doubtless destined to become the most unpopular student at Hogwarts in living memory. The wand struck Ernie in the chest and landed in front of him. He made no move to pick it up.

"What are you waiting for?" demanded Harry. "You're helping Voldemort to kill us all by leading us into a trap. Why don't you save him the trouble by finishing the job right here and now? And then maybe he'll let your family go, if they're still alive."

Ernie made no reply, staring down at the table and tears rolling down his cheeks. As the pause lengthened, Ernie's shoulders began to shake.

"Stop the blubbering, Ernie, or I'll ask Imogen to start slapping you again. Get control of yourself." Harry again used his new-found tone of command. With an effort, Ernie gained a measure of control, and sat up straight.

"That's better. Now who was it that recruited you? This was a subtle job, hardly in Bellatrix's line."

"It was Pettigrew," replied Ernie.

Ron made a sound of disgust, but got no further before Harry shushed him.

"That figures. Now how did our little rat friend make contact with you?"

"An anonymous letter. It came at breakfast one morning. Told me when to meet him, and how to leave Hogwarts using a secret passage that no one at Hogwarts knew about - it's behind the statue of the one-eyed witch. You see, if -"

"We know all about that," said Harry. "But I'm sure Pettigrew didn't start things off by telling you to betray all of us. His message was probably a bit different. No threats at all, at least not at first."

Ernie looked at Harry with surprise.

"It's almost like you were there. He told me that my family was safe, more safe than anyone in the wizarding world, and that if war came, no harm would come to them. But, he said, I alone could prevent the war. I could help Voldemort's side make peace with the Ministry. All that was needed was someone to be a messenger, and that someone was me. He said Voldemort trusted me because my family is pureblood going back at least nine generations. And because I am - or was - part of your circle, I could, through you, get Voldemort's message to the Ministry. That's how it started."

"I sensed as much," replied Harry.

"What?"

"Nothing. Let's continue. After a while, you had another meeting with Pettigrew. And this time, he asked you to do something. Something really simple."

"Yes - it was nothing at all. He just wanted me to tell him why you'd joined the dueling club."

"But that was the start, wasn't it? The thin edge of the wedge. He got you to answer one question - just one. That was all it took."

"Yes. After that, we started meeting weekly. It was easy - I'd just go through the secret passageway, and meet him right near the end where connects with Honeydukes. And he'd ask me questions about not very important stuff, things that anyone at Hogwarts could have told him. It got to be a habit, just answering his questions. I didn't even realize it when -"

"- when Pettigrew switched to asking about things that actually mattered." "Yes. But when I started to get uncomfortable with his questions, and told him I wouldn't answer -"

"He told you you'd gone too far to turn back. That if you didn't answer, Voldemort would execute your family members, one by one, and send you their body parts in the post."