Chapter Text
It’s a Spring Friday afternoon, right after the day’s last classes, when the 5th year Wormtail enters the library. His intention is to do a bit of studying on thestrals for Care of Magical Creatures. However, since Wormtail is Wormtail, this is not what happens.
What does happen is that Wormtail starts flipping through the pages of his textbook, looking at all the bright, magnificent creatures. Towards the end, one page catches his eye. The writing at the top reads: “The Wild Cheese Moose”.
This peaks the boy’s interest. He goes on to read the first paragraph, which states: “The cheese moose is a legendary creature, that is both incredibly dangerous to those who have the misfortune of encountering it, [It can’t be that bad, Wormtail thinks to himself. They say worse about werewolves] and highly powerful. Touching the horns is said to grant the approacher a unique magic power, but sources do not agree on what the specific power is. The actual existence of the cheese moose is unconfirmed.”
To Wormtail, this is one of the coolest things he’s heard. He loves cheese - his Animagus form is a rat, after all! His mind races with all the possible powers the moose could give. The boy decides that he should tell his friend group, 3 other boys from Gryffindor, about what he has found.
~
Under a tall Beech tree, when the sky has started drifting orange, Wormtail shares his discovery.
”But the book doesn’t say what power the moose gives you,” he explains. His gaze turns to his fellow marauders one by one.
Moony is casually listening to the rat Animagus, his gaze lightly falling to the book on his lap. Padfoot is lazily scribbling something down on a roll of parchment. Prongs is leaning against the trunk of the tree, eating a chocolate bar he likely stole from the kitchens. The Gryffindor Chaser subconsciously fluffs his hair, and brings his stare to Wormtail.
”You know who might know more about this?”
Wormtail thinks for a moment, but whatever the answer is feels too far away for him to grasp. Padfoot perks up in a canine-like way. “Hagrid?”
Prongs smirks. “Bet I can beat you all there.”
”Oh, you are so on,” Moony’s book shuts with a clap as he races after.
Due to his head start, Prongs does get there first, followed by Padfoot, then Moony, with Wormtail tailing them in last. The mousy-haired boy never fails to be amazed by the sometimes-stag and his abilities. They gather around the door to Hagrid’s hut, 2 on the steps and 2 on the grass.
Padfoot knocks. They wait. After a loud crash, the door swings open.
”Ah! Hello there, boys. Good ter see yeh again!” Hagrid booms. If Wormtail was in his rat form, it definitely would have stung his ears.
”Hi Hagrid,” they say together. Then they all look to each other due to the embarrassment of saying it in sync like a bunch of 6 year olds. This only makes it more awkward.
Moony, being the good boy of the group, which really isn’t saying much, is the first to brave the silence. “We wanted to quickly ask you about a magical creature Wormtail saw in our textbook”.
”O' course! C'mon in, then.”
The four teens all sit around the table in the middle of the cabin. Wormtail is nervous, as he does not know the half-giant that well. Moony is sitting straight in his chair, his eyes wide and engaged. Padfoot and Prongs are slouching and leaning back, keeping their stares lightly on Hagrid.
”So… wha' was it yeh wanted ter ask 'bout?” Hagrid shuts the door behind them, shuffling over.
”I saw a page in one of my textbooks on a creature called the cheese moose, but the book didn’t say much. Do you know anything about it?” Wormtail asks.
”Cheese moose, yeh say? Yeah, I've heard o' it. It’s an old legend, said ter live in the Forbidden Forest. I doubt it’s real.”
”Have you heard anything else about it?” Padfoot brushes his dark hair from his face and finds Wormtail. “Didn’t you mention it would give you powers?”
”Rumor has it touching its antlers gives yeh the power ter make the cheesiest joke imaginable at any moment. Prob'ly just kids makin' things up,” Hagrid says. “But there is supposed ter be a book on how someone found it in the library.”
The Marauders quickly exchange glances with each other. Wormtail is internally cheering. Constant cheesy jokes? Do you get how awesome being seen as witty like that would be? You would be so popular and liked! That would be such an advantage.
Moony smiles. “Hmm… I’ll probably go looking for it tomorrow morning. Thank you, Hagrid.”
”Anytime, boys”.
With that, they exit the hut. The teens are slowly walking back to the castle when Prongs breaks the silence.
”Once Moony finds that book, we’re going to do everything in our power to find that moose. Does anyone object?”
They all stay quiet. The prefect among them quickly picks up that book he dropped earlier.
”Good. Now, who’s coming with me to get more sweets from the kitchens? Our stash is empty.”
”Me!”
”I’m always down for marauding.”
”Let’s do it.”
~
As the 4 Gryffindors are sneaking back to their dorm, each carrying handfuls of snacks, they encounter something odd.
Prongs stops them all from going around the corner. “The cat.”
Wormtail is confused for a flash, then he remembers: Filch, the groundskeeper, has a cat named Mrs. Norris. If she catches them, Filch will show up within a few seconds and give them detention. Their sweets will be gone.
”That won’t go over well…” Moony says.
Padfoot turns his head to the rest of the group. “We could distract her?”
Prongs smirks at Wormtail. “Cats chase mice, which are similar to rats…”
Wormtail doesn’t really like where this is going.
Moony comes to Wormtail’s aid. “Eh, rats are a bit big for a cat to chase”.
“So… rat could chase cat?” Padfoot says.
No one objects.
Wormtail subconsciously takes a step back. “I- I need to chase her off? What if she isn’t scared of me?”
”Well, maybe you could distract her. You know, run down the hall squeaking to get her attention and make her follow you. We could sneak past once you two are far enough away.” Moony then reaches out his hands to grab Wormtail’s sweets.
Wormtail takes a breath and grabs his wand. He imagines his rat form, and in an instant, his eye level is only 4 centimeters above the ground. The rat scurries around the corner.
The cat is sitting at the end of the corridor, still, but nevertheless a threat to the mischief makers of the castle. Wormtail rushes forward and starts squeaking like he’s being chased by a mad canine - er, no, he’s not even this loud when Moony and Padfoot chase him - like he’s being chased by a venomous serpent.
Mrs. Norris snaps her beady eyes to the critter, her ears flinching back. Her pupils widen with the curiosity that can only come from a feline noticing a deafeningly screeching vermin. When he quiets, she trots over.
This leads Wormtail to stand up and hiss at the the her, which makes the cat jump back. He then takes off through a nearby doorway.
Ms. Norris gives chase. The rat waits in the centre of the room for the her to spot him, his Gryffindor adrenaline taking over. He’s in an old classroom, with the desks and chairs pushed to the side and deep red walls.
This is one of the weirdest things I’ve ever done, the rodent thinks. Once the patrol cat finds him, she lowers her spine and forwards her head into an aim to pounce.
But Wormtail is too slick to be caught like that. He veers right and jumps onto an old chair, which creaks like a crow even under his light weight. When the cat can almost reach him, he parkours his way onto a sideways desk stacked on a small table.
Mrs. Norris starts struggling to stay balanced as she follows onto the plastic edge, which is when Wormtail finds his way down to the table, then to the floor, and then transforms. He sprints to the door as fast as his short human legs will take him.
The boy throws the door shut. A mad meow rings out from behind him. Breathing heavily, after checking for viewers, he bolts the path to Gryffindor tower.