Young Again: The Rewrite

Harry felt softness wrapped around him and warmth envelope him. He could not yet hear or see, but what he could feel he very much liked. Slowly, ever so slowly, he could feel himself start to focus, and disturbing noises, muffled but still loud, became painfully apparent. As he returned more and more to consciousness, he noticed how very thirsty he was, and felt a stray thought in his mind. I want my bottle. Where is it? And suddenly that dreamy pleasantness dropped away sharply.

What! Why in the world would he want his bottle?

Forcing himself to steer clear from the fog that cushioned him, he swam free--and immediately all of his senses returned to him, his vision focused, his hearing sharpened, and the noisy disturbance made itself known.

"--left to get Pomfrey--" The voice was disturbingly familiar to Harry, but for the life of him he couldn't remember who it belonged to.

"Quickly, now, levitate her onto the couch already!" Her? Who was this 'her?' Was it Minerva? Panic seized Harry. No, she's all I have left! I can't lose her! He opened his eyes, but found that it was still too blurry for him to see much--he didn't have his glasses on. Wait, I haven't needed my glasses for nearly a year now! He tried as best he could to sit up, but found his body wasn't quite behaving as it should. What the hell is going on?

"Careful! Be gentle about it, you don't want her to have a concussion, now do you--?"

"Wait, she seems to be waking up now--" Harry heard the familiar groan of the Headmistress, and felt relief.

"Minerva, how do you feel? Are you all right? Minerva!" Dumbledore? Could it really be? Harry tensed as he felt his whole body suddenly rise and lift, and he finally realized that the warmth surrounding him had been someone's arms.

Then he remembered.

Project Overlord! Of course!

It worked. It worked. Harry could not believe it. It really worked. Here he was, small enough to be held by someone, to be carried effortlessly--how old am I? Hope, a feeling he had suppressed so harshly before, welled up within his soul. I can do it over again. I can change it all. I can start for the Horcuxes right away. I can unite the Houses. I can--

"Out of my way! Minerva, dear, do you feel faint? Describe your fainting spell to me, quickly now." Ah, Harry thought, Madam Pomfrey has arrived.

Minerva answered with a sharp intake of breath, and Harry saw the blur that must have been her shoot up, and what must have been her head whip around to face his direction.

"James, here, take Harry." Harry felt himself be passed from one set of arms to another, and realized belatedly that his mother had, for the first conscious time in his life, held him. And now his father was holding him. My dad is holding me. "Minerva, here, take a seat. What happened? You suddenly fainted."

There was another moment of silence.

"Minerva?" asked Dumbledore, and Harry saw a dark purple dressed blur move from the edge of his vision. "Minerva, are you quite all right?" He heard the familiar noise of plastic candy wrappers being crinkled as Dumbledore lifted what looked like a silver platter. "Lemon drop, perhaps?"

The Headmistress--Transfiguration professor, Harry corrected himself--was staring rapturously at his parents, and Harry knew exactly the turmoil that was going through her thoughts. This is the Minerva from my time. She must have had a rougher journey than I did, probably because she was the one who initiated the spell. Harry had to restrain himself from cracking out in laughter. We did it! We made it!

"Minerva, dear?" Madam Pomfrey spoke again, but this time there was a touch of hesitancy, as though not knowing whether the professor would collapse at any moment. Then Harry realized that Minerva had not been looking towards Harry's parents, but to him. She was staring at him, and he realized quickly that she wanted a sign of his successful arrival. She wanted to know if he had made it too. What does she expect? For me to say 'here I am?' I'm about one years old!

Then it occurred to him. Harry winked at her.

The events had taken mere seconds. No one else saw him wink, but her face split into a smile. Finally acknowledging Dumbledore, she took a lemon drop from the bowl and sat back down. "Th- Thank you," she choked out, her voice filled with emotion.

The others looked at her, concern showing blatantly on their face. Minerva coughed and straightened, her features falling back into the teacher mode that she had preferred during her school lessons. Or, at least, that was what Harry thought happened. His eyesight was just too unfocused for him to tell with any accuracy.

"Are you sure you are all right? Perhaps you need to rest a bit in the Hospital Wing?" Dumbledore inquired, but at the slow shake of her head, the Headmaster shifted. "Then let us all settle down, and begin what we had originally planned. I am glad you are all right, Minerva, but if at any time you would wish to visit the infirmary, please, do not mind us. There is not much to discuss tonight, and certainly nothing important."

It's a meeting of the Order, Harry quickly concluded. He glanced around the circular table that his father approached, but nearly hissed when he couldn't see more than blurs. Stupid eyes. Have my Metamorphmagus abilities manifested yet?

Well, there was only one way to find out. Harry glared at the far wall, at a portrait too blurred yet to recognize, and reached deep within himself. Expecting to have to wrestle with his magic for control, Harry was surprised to find it uncoil calmly at his reach, and flow through his being. Odd, my magic should not be so controlled--I mean, I'm a baby right now! But nevertheless, Harry felt deeply thankful as his vision began to sharpen under the tight control of his will, and the portrait of a former Headmaster--Borglois' portrait, ironically--became clearer.

"Harry?" said a man's deep voice, and Harry looked up to find James staring at him in concern. "Madam Pomfrey, can you please come over here?"

Dumbledore, who had been in the middle of welcoming everyone to the meeting, paused as he looked over in their direction. "Is everything all right, James?"

"I'm not sure, Professor," said James, and Harry felt slightly panicked as his father frowned at him. "Harry's eyes--they've changed."

"What do you mean?" asked Lily, alarmed, at the same moment the approaching nurse questioned, "Changed in what way? Well, speak up!"

"His pupils seem smaller, the green in his eyes are brighter now." James seemed very confused. But at the raised eyebrow looks of those around him, whose expressions clearly said, 'so?'--though Minerva's was one of narrowed eyes--James quickly defended himself. "I was looking right at them, and saw them change. It was like--"

"Magic," finished Madam Pomfrey, as she stood from her previously kneeling position, finished with her examination of Harry's eyes. "It's nothing to worry about, James, and I have nothing to say except this: congratulations! Harry, it seems, is a Metamorphmagus."

"What?" exclaimed Lily, at the same time James said, "Wicked!" Harry nearly groaned. So much for secrecy!

"Well, so what was that change-thing? What was Harry doing?" asked Lily.

"It appears he was fixing his eyesight," replied Pomfrey, and there were several more exclamations.

"Indeed, this is cause for celebration. I believe that makes three living Metamorphmagi right now," Dumbledore said jovially, his blue eyes sparkling with mirth. Harry concealed another groan, and turned his face away, closing his eyes tightly. Just what he wanted, more attention.

But Harry snapped his eyes open when he heard a very familiar voice say, "James, this is amazing! Prongslet's a Metamorphmagus--think of all the pranks we can pull with him! And fixing his eyesight? That's brilliant!" Sirius? And there he was. His godfather. And Remus, and Moody too, and as Harry finally looked around him with his now-perfect vision, he saw familiar faces, as well as faces he knew only from Moody's photo of the old Order. And better yet, they were all alive.

Again it came to Harry, feelings of awe and hope, of immeasurable joy. There were the Longbottoms with Neville in Alice's arms; there were the professors of Hogwarts, Flitwick, Sprout, and even Hagrid; and over in the corner was Mrs. Figg. All alive.

Harry swiveled round in his father's arms.

Flitwick and Sprout caught his gaze and waved a cute little hello. Snape, the man who had finally redeemed himself from killing Dumbledore, watched Harry too, though his face showed no mirth, just the typical scowl reserved for anyone with the name of Potter. Ah, but that will change. Or maybe it won't? This time travel stuff is confusing. Peter waved and smiled at "sweet little Harry" as he cooed to him. Harry's face changed to mirror Snape's. I'll deal with him later.

And finally his gaze landed on Minerva, and they shared a smile. A pained smile, one that showed hope and fear, sadness and joy. A shared look that, to the two of them, revealed the horrors that they had lived through, and that, to the both of them, showed the scars they had obtained during Voldemort's second rise to power.

Suddenly Harry couldn't take it anymore. He began to cry, releasing a wail that relieved him of all the terror that been a part of him for so long. Oh God, it hurts. It hurts so much. And he let go of all the emotions that were once bound up within him, and released them in a tidal wave that he couldn't stop. He screamed out all the anger that had never been expressed when Hermione was slaughtered, or the ache in his heart when Hagrid was beaten to death.

"James, what did you do to him?" Harry heard distantly, as Lily tried to pull Harry from his father's lap. Harry only cried harder. My parents. Oh light, my parents. "I'm so sorry, Albus, everyone. I'll just take him outside." Harry opened his eyes and found Minerva with her own handkerchief, as she silently wiped tears from her own haunted eyes, and as Lily turned, Harry caught sight of Remus. Remus, Remus, you stood by my side. You took that curse for me. Why did you do that? You sacrificed your life, and it was for nothing. I still lost that battle. I still lost.

Harry reached for Remus, and cried harder, and Remus seemed to understand what he wanted because he intercepted Lily. "Here, Lily, give him to me. It seems he wants me."

Lily looked down at Harry, and saw the he was indeed trying to crawl out of her arms to Remus, and reluctantly let him go.

They're alive now. They're alive. That's all that matters now. They're alive

"I'll go with him," said James, as he stood. "Why don't you stay here, Lily?"

They're worried, Remus, they're worried you're the spy leaking information to Voldemort, Harry thought in the midst of his tears. That's why James followed, not just because he's my father, but because he wanted to make sure I was safe. I'm so sorry, Remus, so sorry for all the suspicion you live under. You were the most suspected of the Marauders, and yet you were, in the end, the bravest and the strongest, the most loyal.

Harry redoubled his grip on Remus. I'm so sorry you're a werewolf. You don't deserve this any more than I deserved the scar. I'm so sorry.

Harry nearly sighed as he began to draw in the emotions he had unleashed, and tampered down his tears. It felt so relieving to have cried like that, it felt so nice to be able to finally let go. He had always had to appear the calm one, devoid of emotions. He had always had to stand tall in the face of destruction, in the face of mounting terror. He had always been the one people looked to, and so he had been forced, always, to be strong. So it was like a dam had finally broken inside him, and all his emotions had run wild. Yes, he was happy to see his parents, but he wasn't going to let go of his best friend, his mentor, and the closest thing he had to a father for the past few years.

James produced a stuffed toy Griffin, which Harry promptly ignored.

"The poor little tyke, he must be so tired." Remus started rocking Harry in his arms as best he could with Harry clinging to his neck.

Harry let himself sniffle for a minute more, until he had his emotions back under control, then quieted down, loosening his hold on Remus. The man held him tenderly out for James to take. "Do you think he's going to stay quiet?" Remus asked.

"Let's hope so, maybe he'll even go to sleep." Harry, really wanting to go back in now and know what was going on in the Order meeting, feigned a big yawn before closing his eyes and snuggling up to his father. "I wonder what set him off like that?"

Remus shrugged, though he had a small smile on his face at Harry's actions. "Maybe Sirius' outburst scared him?" He shrugged again. "No clue. But we really should head in now." And so they did, James carefully handing a 'sleeping' Harry to Lily when they got near.

"Is everything all right then, James?" asked the Headmaster.

James nodded. "Yeah, not too sure what set him off, but he's sleeping now."

"Excellent, excellent." Dumbledore smiled. "Such innocence. I only hope he will never have to experience the true meaning of war. Now, let us continue in our previous discussion, for we have but a little left on the agenda."

The discussion continued for another hour and Harry felt himself really getting tired. Stupid baby-body. It seemed that there had been a small period of silence from Voldemort at the present moment, and the Order was sure that something big was going to happen. Silences usually always did mean the calm before a storm, and doubly so as tomorrow would be Halloween--the time of darkest night, when the strength of Dark magic was at its strongest, and the night when Voldemort had annually enacted vile and horrible atrocities in order to celebrate. Everyone was to be ready and alert, to be prepared to spring into battle when necessary. When, not if, it seemed.

Finally, the meeting came to an end.

"Well if you need any help with setting up for Halloween tomorrow, just send an Order message to us," Lily put in. "We haven't visited Hogwarts in ages except for these meetings, and it does get a little lonely under the Fidelius all the time." She smiled, not noticing the boy that had been put in her lap tensed at the word Fidelius. Idiot, Harry called himself, you should have realized! It's Halloween tomorrow, did you already forget what happened on Halloween?

Harry quickly turned to send a silent message to Minerva, but it seemed she had also realized the importance of that day.

"Yeah, tell me about it," said Frank Longbottom. "I know the Fidelius is what keeps our children safe, but it does rather limit our... shall we say, recreational?... activities."

"Lily, how old is Harry, exactly?" cut in Minerva, before Lily or James could respond to Frank.

"Fifteen months tomorrow," Lily replied, an eyebrow raised in Minerva's direction. Minerva paled, as did Harry. Lily didn't notice and instead rose to leave. "Oh, and Frank, I completely understand. But it is, after all, the spell that helps keep our children alive so that one of them can, someday, end the need for it." No, no, no! The Fidelius is cast, it's Halloween tomorrow, and I'm fifteen months old!

Frank chuckled, but it was darkly. "Yeah, our children. It's really weird, isn't it? To think that either Harry or Neville will have the power to destroy that monster?" The two families, the Longbottoms and the Potters, turned to leave as a group, ahead of the other Order members who were in various places around the Headmaster's enlarged office. No, Minerva, do something! We cannot allow this to happen again!

"Wait!" Minerva said quickly. Lily turned curiously at the urgency and slight panic in Minerva's voice. Harry nearly sighed in relief.

"Yes?"

Minerva seemed to hesitate, not knowing what exactly to say. Now everyone was looking at her worriedly, curious as to what was wrong. Minerva had an idea.

"The Order of the Phoenix is one of the last defenses against Voldemort that isn't corrupt or infiltrated by spies. There's been a bit of... doubt, lately, as to where some people's loyalties lie." Harry realized she was talking about how everyone suspected Remus, as he would be high on Voldemort's suspected list of sympathizers.

Minerva ignored the intense look coming from the Headmaster and continued. "If we all showed our arms, and if none of them are burned with the Dark Mark, it would promote better trust and ensure the integrity of the Order." Yes, that might work, except--

As soon as the last few words were out of her mouth, both Minerva and Harry realized it had been the wrong thing to say. Both immediately remembered Snape and his role as a spy for the Light. Damn!

Dumbledore, of course, immediately tried to fix the situation, as it could potentially go rapidly downhill. "I can trust everybody here with my life. Each individual here in the Order is present only because they have already proven themselves loyal. I would think that you, of all people, would remember this, Minerva." Dumbledore met everyone's eyes, coming to rest on the Transfiguration professor.

There was silence, and Harry knew soon it would be too late. Trying not to worry about how suspicious it would look, he raised his tiny arm and pointed to Peter Pettigrew. "Bad!" he shouted in his childlike voice. Keep it simple. I'm fifteen months for crying out loud. But how do I say Death Eater in baby-talk?

Everyone was grinning at him and Peter, thinking the situation a joke, a welcome lightening of the mood. There were a few chuckles. Harry realized he would have to be more direct. "Snake arm!" Harry reached Pettigrew's left arm at his outburst. "Snake arm!" he repeated.

At his blatant reference to a snake, a major reference to the Dark Mark, everyone once again quieted. Dumbledore turned to Harry with a hidden look of calculation--which, of course, Harry caught--before glancing at Minerva and Pettigrew. Minerva was holding her breath; and Pettigrew was grinning, but had gone ghostly pale. "Bad! Snake arm!" Harry repeated into the silence for good measure.

Unsurprisingly, Dumbledore was the one who spoke up. "It seems Harry's not best pleased with you, Peter. Perhaps you should let him know you're okay." He smiled warmly at Peter, but Harry knew the Headmaster well; the seed of doubt had been planted. "Snake arm!"

Peter nodded uncomfortably and reached for Harry, who responded by screaming louder and holding his mother tightly. "Snake arm!" Yes, that should do. I am a good actor, if I do say so myself.

"Show him you've got nothing on your arm, my boy. Wouldn't want Harry to be scared of you now, would we?"

"N- no," Peter stuttered, now white as a sheet. Harry would have laughed if the situation wasn't so serious. Pettigrew paused, then lifted his right arm, pushing up his sleeve. "See Harry, no bad snake."

"Wrong arm," Moody shouted, making everyone jump, and before anyone could act, grabbed Peter, pulling back his left sleeve.

There was nothing. It was clear.

What? How could this be? Where was the Mark? What happened to it? But it seemed Moody was prepared for his, and he hissed while stabbing the rat's arm with his wand, "Derma Clari!" And the skin rippled, before revealing the tattoo of a skull and snake.

With a squeak, Pettigrew pulled away quickly and reached for his wand, the movement faster than anyone would have thought possible coming from the man, but Moody was faster, his hand snaking out and taking the wand away before Pettigrew even had a chance, snapping it smoothly.

There a frozen moment of pure shock, before Harry saw Sirius shoot out from his seat. "PETER, YOU SCUMBAG TRAITOR!" he roared, and with a jerk of his wand, Peter spun and flew, wind rushing out from nowhere as the former friend was pinned to the wall. But before Sirius could do anything else, there was a woman's enraged scream from the other side of the room, and Harry saw a burst of red hair fly past him and launch itself at Peter, who was still hanging on the wall.

Molly Weasley, Harry was surprised to see, was choking Peter as she screamed and cried. "You BASTARD! You killed my brothers! You TRAITOR! You told You-Know-Who, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU!" Moody moved forward and quickly, but gently, drew her away from Peter. It pained Harry to see her crying, her eyes red, as she screamed at the man, struggling against Moody. "IT WAS YOU! YOU BETRAYED THEM! YOU TOLD HIM ABOUT GIDEON AND FABIAN! AND NOW THEY'RE DEAD! IT WAS YOU!" Mrs. Weasley struggled against the Auror, but Moody held her back with a look of pity on his face, and that seemed to enrage her all the more. Suddenly she had her wand out, and before anyone could stop her, she stabbed it in Peter's direction, screaming, "PENNIPOTENTI SORDESCO!" The Bat-Bogey Hex.

Peter screamed, and Harry looked away from what he knew would be a sickening sight. Such an emotionally-powered spell would make it much more powerful than average, and Peter's nose, Harry knew, was now going to be eaten from inside out by the bogey-bats. "AH! STOP IT! PLEASE! Oh, Merlin, PLEASE! STOP IT! I BEG OF YOU! PLEEEEAASE! OH GOD, MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!"

Mr. Weasley pulled his wife into his embrace, and Mrs. Weasley's pained crying could be heard, along with Peter's terrified and tortured pleas.

"You deserve no mercy, Peter," said James coldly to his former friend's pleas. "You betrayed us. How could you?"

"OH, GOD, JAMES! STOP THIS! PLEASE! OH, MERLIN, SWEET MERLIN, HEEELP!"

"We would have died for you, Peter," said Remus quietly, but it could still be heard. "We would have given our lives to protect you." He shook his head sadly. "What did you do, Peter? Why did you do it?"

"HE WOULD HAVE KILLED ME! HE WOULD HAVE TORTURED AND KILLED ME! OH GOD, STOP THIS! MAKE IT STOP!"

"Then you should have died!" roared Sirius. "As we would have done for you!"

"AHH!" screamed Peter, as his flesh was torn away slowly. He was no longer coherent. He was screaming and screaming, bound to the wall by Sirius' earlier spell.

"We made you our Secret Keeper," said Lily, in a voice that had steel in it, as sharp as a knife. "We trusted you, Peter. We trusted you."

Peter screamed. Harry caught a glimpse of his nose, and saw that it was half-eaten away.

"Enough," said Dumbledore calmly, but his voice rang with authority. The Bat-Bogey Hex ended abruptly, and Light magic sang, flooding the emotionally pained room with a song of peace, with Dumbledore at the heart of it. Peter sagged and hung loosely on the wall when the hex ended, apparently passing out. "That is quite enough. Molly, I am pained because of your loss, but this sort of revenge will not bring any sort of peace to you or your dead brothers. You must honor their memories by fighting against the evil that took them, not strike at those who have already been beaten."

Mrs. Weasley nodded wearily through her tears, and Dumbledore turned to the Marauders. "James, Sirius, Remus, I know what must be going through your minds. And you will not, I repeat, will not take any sort of revenge upon Peter." The men in question glared. "We will need him for questioning, and revenge is a dish best never served." Dumbledore looked at them gravely, his power and authority heavily weighing on them, and they nodded.

The Headmaster finally turned to Lily. "I was not aware that Peter held your Secret, and it seems now that you cannot and must not return to your home. Peter may have already revealed its location," Sirius growled, "to Voldemort. We cannot risk Harry by your returning to that compromised location. I must insist that you and James, and Harry of course, take shelter within the protection of Hogwarts for the time being. Is that acceptable to the both of you?"

They nodded, and James quickly spoke, "I do need to pick up a few things from our home, Albus. There are items within the Potter house that mustn't be left for Voldemort to take."

"Of course," said Dumbledore. "I recommend you go tomorrow, during daylight, to retrieve those items."

The events after that passed rather quickly. Dumbledore cast a few binding spells on Pettigrew, while Remus and Sirius insisted on showing their arms to prove that they hadn't followed in the footsteps of the traitor, casting the De-Illusionment as they did.

Most of the others immediately went to show their arms too, but Dumbledore shushed them before they had a chance. He turned to Snape, the only one who hadn't said a thing. Harry knew he was a spy for the Light, but Dumbledore and Minerva were the only others who did.

Many in the room were eyeing Snape warily, the recent events not helping their suspicions. The man in question, however, was looking at Harry who smiled back, trying to look innocent. Abruptly, Harry felt something probing at his Occlumency walls. Bloody suspicious bastard.

Harry doubled his shields and heard Snape let out a gasp, before turning to wriggle deeper into the blanket wrapped around him.

"Maybe we should show our arms, Albus. You, yourself, said you trusted everyone, including Pettigrew. What if someone else slipped by you?" Moody would not back down. Dumbledore though, just smiled.

"Let us see if our smart little, Metamorphmagus Harry has any other suspects." He walked over to Harry, who Lily was holding tighter than ever since seeing the Dark Mark. "Is anyone else bad, my dear Changeling?" Changeling was another name given to those who had Metamorphmagus abilities, Harry knew, and found himself giggling helplessly as Dumbledore cooed in his sweetest baby voice.

Harry tried to hold back a full blown laugh, but then realizing that his laughter was releasing some of the high-strung tension remaining in the room; making a quick decision, he giggled some more, tugging on Dumbledore's beard. Harry saw Minerva cover her smile out of the corner of his eye.

"I believe we can take that as a no, then." Dumbledore turned back to look at everyone else. "It appears that Harry agrees with me, and everyone else here is loyal to our cause." Moody scowled heavily, and Dumbledore knew, as well as Harry did, that everyone would only become more distrustful if something was not done.

Twinkling very evident, Dumbledore continued, "However, if you have anyone in the room you do not trust, then you are invited to speak privately with me about the matter until it is resolved. I realize that this has become a serious issue, so I will completely understand if you do indeed take me up on that offer."

After a silent moment, wherein no one moved, Dumbledore added, "Perhaps another night, then."

Dumbledore looked at everyone, moving from face to face, and nodded. "Go home and rest, and remember, my door is always open. If anyone else, other than James and Lily, here, wishes to stay here until this mess is sorted out, there are spare rooms beside each of the teacher's quarters. The passwords are all currently Jellybeans, and you know how to reset them. Tomorrow is Halloween, be prepared and ready, but don't forget that there is life outside of Voldemort--and we must not forget it, for if we do, we have already lost. Enjoy the festivities tomorrow, ladies and gentlemen."

After that, everyone else left the Headmaster's office, save for Minerva and Snape. James and Lily, who were currently showering Harry with kisses, and Sirius, who was poking at Harry from the side in fun, and Remus, silently walking beside them, moved out as a group. Harry squeaked and giggled as only a baby could, and tried to wiggle away. Please, I do not want to be smothered with kisses right now! He could tell the forced happiness of the group was fake, as they moved along the corridors of Hogwarts, and he did not like it one bit. The very first night I get to spend with my parents, and already Wormtail messes it up.

Lily sighed. "I just can't believe that Peter would do something like that."

There was a moment of silence. James let out a deep breath. "Let's not talk about it tonight, dear. Sirius, Remus, I'd really appreciate it if you could help me out when I go over to my house tomorrow, you lot up for it?"

"Of course," said Sirius. "But you'll probably have to break the Fidelius first. Neither Remus nor I know the place, yet."

"Yeah, you're right," said James. "We do have to do that." He sighed. "Lily and I'll do it tomorrow with Dumbledore."

In the end, they agreed to meet at Hogwarts mid-morning and go to Godric's Hollow altogether.

And none of them, not Harry, his parents, his godfather, nor Remus ever glanced at their former friend. Not once as they grouped together in the Headmaster's office and left did they give the rat their attention.

If they had, they would have seen the silent tears that leaked from the man's eyes, they would have noticed the red gleam shrouded within those watery depths.

If they had, they would have noticed that Peter had not passed out as they had assumed but was very much conscious, and they would have seen a gleaming light in his eyes as he processed the information he had just heard from Dumbledore and James.

If they had, they would have known not to go anywhere near Godric's Hollow on Halloween--even if it was during the day.