Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | Chapter 19 Summary

Chapter Nineteen:  The Servant of Lord Voldemort

Snape, who does not yet know the full story, binds Lupin and points his wand at Black instead. Snape refuses to listen to reason, so Harry, Ron, and Hermione (all trying to disarm Snape at the same time) knock Snape out accidentally by chanting the same disarming spell simultaneously. Black then reveals how he found out about Pettigrew even while Black was incarcerated in Azkaban:  through the newspaper of Ron’s family in Egypt.  Scabbers/Pettigrew was staring back at him from Ron’s pocket. As Ron looks as Scabbers, Ron remembers that Scabbers was always missing a toe: the one bit that anyone ever found of Peter Pettigrew. It was Pettigrew who betrayed Harry’s parents. It was Pettigrew who was the Potters’ Secret-Keeper because Sirius Black had convinced the Potters to change at the last moment in order to continue to fool everyone. Sirius, then, still feels quite guilty for causing the death of Lily and James, for it was Pettigrew who handed Harry’s parents immediately over to Voldemort. As “Scabbers” continues to squirm away, Lupin grabs the rat and forces him to change into none other than the real Peter Pettigrew. The rest of the secrets are revealed. Pettigrew had been hiding from Voldemort’s supporters for years because he hadn’t succeeded in killing Black. Peter Pettigrew had been the loyal servant of Lord Voldemort who failed in his quest. Black then reveals how he escaped Azkaban and how he kept his sanity while being incarcerated there: his transformation into the dog. Dementors did not focus as much on his soul as a dog. Plus, that way Sirius was thin enough to fit through the bars. Lupin and Black raise their wands to kill Pettigrew immediately, but Harry stops them in order to prevent his the two from  becoming murderers. Instead, they bind Pettigrew (admitting that they will kill him if he transforms), use a spell to float the unconscious body of Snape, and the lot begin the trek back to Hogwarts to tell Dumbledore.