Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Chapter 19 Summary
The Servant of Lord Voldemort
Chapter 19 of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, titled “The Servant of Lord Voldemort” deals with a confrontation with Severus Snape, and the revelation of Scabbers’ true identity.
Severus Snape Saves the Scene?
Snape reveals himself from underneath the invisibility cloak he found at the foot of the Whomping Willlow. He throws it aside, and points his wand at Lupin’s chest. He reveals that he visited Lupin’s office since the latter had forgotten to take his potion. While he did not find Lupin, his gaze fell at the Marauder’s Map, which told him all that he needed to.
Snape gleefully recounts how time and again he warned Dumbledore that Lupin would betray him, and now he finally had some proof. He binds Lupins with cords that resemble snakes, and points his wand directly between Sirius’s eyes. Snape warns that he would kill Sirius if given a reason.
Hermione tries to reason with Snape, requesting him to listen to them once. Snape blows up at her, going on about how she is going to be suspended and asks her to shut up. Sirius declares that as long as they bring Scabbers to the castle with them, he would come along happily. Snape sneers, saying how going to the castle is unnecessary, when the dementors could be summoned right after they left the Whomping Willow.
Sirius begins to plead, but Snape doesn’t hear a word. He asks them all to come along, as he drags Lupin by his binds, and wonders if the Dementors would have a kiss for him too.
Harry, before he can understand what he is doing, rushes forward and blocks the door. Snape threatens him and tells him to get out of the way, but Harry doesn’t budge.
He reasons that Lupin had a hundred chances to kill him this year, but he never harmed him. There is a chance he could be telling the truth.
When Snape doesn’t listen, Harry yells at him and attacks him with an Expelliarmus. Snape is lifted off his feet and slammed into the back wall, which knocks him out cold.
Scabber’s True Identity
Hermione freaks out at the thought of them having attacked a teacher, while Harry has no idea what to say. Lupin frees himself of his bounds and thanks him. Harry declares that he still doesn’t trust Lupin, and Lupin is happy to give him some proof.
He asks Ron to hand Scabbers over. Ron questions how Sirius is so sure about Scabbers being Peter, when there are a million rats around, and Lupin himself gets curious about it.
Sirius explains that when Fudge came to inspect Azakaban last year, he gave Sirius his newspaper. The newspaper featured Ron and Scabbers on the front page, and the caption said that Ron would soon be returning to Hogwarts, where Harry was. Having seen him transform thousands of times, Sirius recognized Peter in an instant.
It is revealed that at the last moment, there had been a change in plans. Instead of himself, Sirius had convinced James to let Pettigrew be their secret keeper. Pettigrew, however, decided to betray their trust, and Sirius had set out to hunt him down.
When Sirius finally cornered him, Peter had cut off his own finger and fled down the sewers; but not before blasting the street and killing everyone nearby. Lupin notes this, and observes that Scabbers’ indeed misses a front paw toe.
Ron defends that Scabbers perhaps lost his toe in a fight with another rat. He had been in the Weasley household for twelve years after all.
Everything starts to make sense. Scabbers had been losing weight ever since he heard of Black’s escape. Crookshanks recognized that Scabbers wasn’t really a rat, and that Sirius wasn’t a dog as well. It began trusting Sirius soon, and brought him the Gryffindor passwords.
Lupin asks Ron to hand Scabbers over, and promises that if he really is a rat, he wouldn’t be harmed. Ron obliges, and both Sirius and Lupin cast a blue spell on him.
Peter Pettigrew in the Flesh
Scabbers freezes in midair for a second, then hits the floor. In a few seconds, a short, plump man with a large bald patch emerged from Scabbers. Peter Pettigrew, alive and in the flesh, now stood before the room.
Lupin pleasantly greets Peter, who stammers back a hello. Lupin asks him what happened the night James and Lily died. Pettigrew pleads to Lupin, saying Black wants to kill him. Lupin coldly assures Pettigrew that nobody is killing him; not before they can sort a few things.
Pettigrew claims that he knew Sirius would break out of Azkaban in order to kill him, using tricks Voldemort had taught him. Hence, he spent the last twelve years in hiding; disguised as a rat. Sirius laughs and declares that it wasn’t him Pettigrew was hiding from; it was Voldemort’s other supporters. Had they got wind that he was alive, Pettigrew would have been in for a serious questioning.
Hermione joins the conversation, and questions why if Peter worked for Voldemort, why did he never attack Harry in the last three years. Sirius answers the question, saying how Pettigrew never did anything for anyone unless there was something in it for him.
She further asks how Sirius escaped Azkaban. He explains that he could turn into a dog, which made him invisible to the Dementors. After he saw Pettigrew in the newspaper, he knew he had to do something.
The Dementors could not steal his obsession from him, and one night when they came to deliver food, he slipped out. As a dog, he swam back to the mainland, and set up camp in the Hogwarts grounds.
In a desperate attempt, Pettigrew questions why Sirius never told Lupin about the change in plans. Lupin realizes that it was because Sirius suspected him to be a spy. Sirius apologizes to Lupin for doubting him, and Lupin does the same.
Harry’s Unexpected Rescue
Sirius and Lupin prepare to kill Pettigrew. Pettigrew turns to Ron and Hermione for help, but finds none. When he goes to beg Harry, Remus and Sirius slam him to the ground. They scream at him for selling James out, and ready their wands to kill the traitor.
However, at the last second, Harry intervenes. He requests for them to not kill him, but turn him in to the Dementors instead. James would have never wanted his best friends to become murderers, after all. Lupin agrees to his request, and ties Pettigrew up. Sirius warns him that in case Pettigrew tried to transform, he would most certainly kill him.
Lupin provides first aid to Ron’s leg. He claims that they shouldn’t revive Snape till they are back in the castle, and ties him up using his wand. To keep Pettigrew from running, Sirius and Ron chain themselves to him.
The chapter ends with the group making its way back to the castle, with Crookshanks leading the pack. Everything seems to be getting better; or does it?
