The sky was just beginning to brighten, and the young witches and wizards were not yet awake.
Raven had plenty of time to discuss matters with Albus Dumbledore.
Since Raven had invited Dumbledore on his own initiative, he did not put on airs and laid out the problem plainly.
“An Animagus has snuck into the school—an unregistered Animagus. He spent four years at Hogwarts masquerading as Percy Weasley’s pet, and now he’s been registered as Ron’s pet. Scabbers the rat.”
Raven spoke in a calm, deliberate tone.
“As you know, my master has a severe aversion to rats, so I had never seen the creature before. It wasn’t until I went home recently that I realized such an unstable element had been living under our roof all this time. I intend to catch him.”
At Raven’s words, Dumbledore cast aside his nonchalant demeanor and turned grave.
He had originally served at Hogwarts as the Transfiguration professor, and even after becoming Headmaster, he had continued teaching Transfiguration for some time until he recruited Professor McGonagall to relieve him of the duty.
In the entire wizarding world, no wizard possessed greater authority in Transfiguration than Dumbledore—this was no exaggeration, merely a matter of fact.
He knew full well that a wizard proficient in advanced Transfiguration like the Animagus spell could, with sufficient mastery, cause destruction far beyond ordinary imagination.
And the fact that an unregistered Animagus with unknown motives was lurking beside young students was a chilling thought.
If he were to cause major casualties at Hogwarts, the loss of these future pillars could leave the British wizarding community facing the risk of a lost generation!
“How did you confirm this? Has he really been living with the Weasleys?” Dumbledore asked, his tone serious.
“Yes. For one thing, my eyes are enchanted with detection magic.”
Raven pointed to his eyes and continued, “For another, the Revelio Charm is my best spell, bar none.”
“Besides, according to Ron, Scabbers joined our family just a few months after he was born, and he’s stayed alive all the way until now. What does that timeline bring to mind?”
Although Raven posed it as a rhetorical question, he was practically stating outright that this unregistered Animagus was connected to Voldemort.
“Tom…?” Dumbledore murmured.
Then, as if remembering something else, he said to Raven, “We must bring him under control as soon as possible. We cannot allow such a dangerous wizard to wander freely about Hogwarts.”
Raven agreed with Dumbledore’s assessment and added, “This capture must succeed on the first try. Otherwise, as that idiom favored by Eastern wizards goes, we’ll ‘beat the grass and startle the snake.’ We have to catch him in one swoop while his guard is down.”
Dumbledore seemed to catch a hint of something more in Raven’s tone and asked, “You already have a plan, don’t you? Do you need the school’s cooperation?”
Raven nodded openly.
A clumsy student fails to turn his pet into a teacup during Transfiguration class, so he comes after class to ask the professor a question—only to stumble upon the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress discussing official matters.
“The two of you, both masters of Transfiguration, recognize a harboring-ill-intent Animagus on the spot and capture him with ease.
Doesn’t that sound like a foolproof setup?
“What counters a wizard best is an expert far superior to him in his own field. That way, even if word leaks out, it won’t cause much of a stir.”
Hearing Raven’s explanation, Dumbledore pondered for a moment before nodding in satisfaction.
“And it even keeps this young wizard who isn’t good at Transfiguration completely out of the fallout, while concealing your true skill level in the subject, doesn’t it?
“That spell you just cast to make the teapot bow and pour water—though based on a First-Year charm—combined Transfiguration with non-verbal, wandless magic.
That is hardly the capability of an ordinary student.
“Speak up, then. You must have other requests, right? Otherwise, capturing a wizard like him without alerting others wouldn’t be difficult for you.”
Raven didn’t stand on ceremony, though a bashful expression appeared on his old face.
“Indeed.
In fact, I have a suspicion regarding this unregistered Animagus’s true identity.
If my guess is correct, he cannot simply be dealt with in secret.
“First, I’ll need the school to provide Veritaserum.
Though my master and I have never had use for such crude means, if there are shocking secrets that need to be made public and accepted by the outside world, Veritaserum is necessary.
Naturally, any disclosure should come from the school, while I remain hidden behind the scenes.
“Second, I would like to join the school’s professors in studying this Animagus. I hope you, Headmaster, will help conceal my identity while allowing me to participate in the research.”
Dumbledore remained noncommittal on Raven’s first request, though he understood the boy’s mindset well enough.
For a researcher, fame was a double-edged sword—which was precisely why Nicolas Flamel had faked his death and gone into seclusion multiple times.
Dumbledore envied that freedom.
He himself could not afford it; without him keeping those restless factions in check out in the open, Hogwarts would likely fall under their infiltration and turn into something entirely different.
Wouldn’t that mean Voldemort had died in vain—or rather, “I died, but I won”?
That was an outcome Dumbledore could never accept. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
As for Raven’s second point, Dumbledore gave it careful thought and agreed that it held immense research value.
For an Animagus to dare remain in animal form for so long—reaching the natural lifespan limit of that species—could the transformed animal begin evolving into a magical creature?
Or did aging in animal form feed back into the wizarding body?
Or perhaps the animal form and wizarding form were merging?
No Animagus had ever dared to do such a thing before; he was remarkably brave.
*Ah!
Curiosity…
I want to study it.*
Dumbledore felt his long-dormant passion for research reignite.
With such a rare specimen appearing in his primary area of expertise, he could hardly wait to capture the treacherous fellow.
So Dumbledore made up his mind on the spot.
“Very well, I agree. I will coordinate with Minerva on the exact schedule and have Fawkes deliver a message to you when the time comes.”
Seeing Raven fidgeting slightly as if hesitating to speak, the centenarian Dumbledore immediately knew the boy had another request.
“What else do you need? Speak freely.”
Raven had always shown good judgment and self-restraint, so Dumbledore felt comfortable letting him speak, confident he wouldn’t make unreasonable demands.
“Well… I need a cluster of Gubraithian fire,” Raven said, feeling a bit embarrassed.
“My phoenix just went through rebirth.”
As a fellow phoenix owner, how could Dumbledore not know what a phoenix looked like after rebirth?
Back then, hadn’t he spent an enormous amount of time cultivating the “Everlasting Flame”—Gubraithian fire—precisely to hide the phoenix’s embarrassingly ridiculous state and save face?
Since Fawkes had no use for it at the moment anyway, Dumbledore flashed an “I understand” look and waved his hand generously.
No problem!