After arriving at the workshop Arthur had hidden behind The Burrow, Severus understood why Arthur had said the modified street lamp wasn't very high-level when they investigated it together.
Inside this small shed reeking of engine oil were all sorts of machine parts, clearly salvaged from originally intact machines, many of which Arthur had already modified.
There were wrenches that walked by themselves, large pulleys from cranes that retracted steel cables autonomously, gears rolling around everywhere, and so on.
The most prominent item, without a doubt, was the Ford Anglia parked in the center of the garage!
The source of the recent explosion was clearly the car, as black smoke was still billowing from under its hood.
"Merlin's beard!" Arthur looked utterly distraught. He hurriedly lifted the hood, revealing the engine inside, which was spewing oil. "It shouldn't be! This shouldn't have happened! I had it all figured out before."
"You modified this car with magic?" Severus pulled open the car door. He could tell at a glance that an Undetectable Extension Charm had been cast on the back seats, as their length didn't match the car's model.
Arthur, while using his wand to clean up the oil, said sheepishly,
"I made a few... modifications to it."
Severus glanced at the still-smoking engine.
"These aren't exactly small modifications. If the Ministry finds out, you'll most likely be held accountable."
"Don't worry, the law on the Prohibition of Improper Use of Muggle Artefacts was one I helped revise. That law isn't very comprehensive yet," Arthur said in a low voice. "At least until it's properly completed, everything here is definitely legal."
As he said this, he suddenly glanced warily towards The Burrow.
"But please, don't let Molly know about this. She doesn't know what I've done to this car yet."
Severus shrugged at that. He watched Arthur repairing the engine that had exploded due to a spell issue. It was clear that the patterns Arthur had engraved on it belonged to the realm of alchemy.
"Where did you learn alchemy? I remember Hogwarts only offered Alchemy as an elective long ago, but it was canceled later because almost no students chose it," Severus asked curiously.
"Self-taught," Arthur said with a proud smile. "I read quite a few books on alchemy in the library since my school days. Later, in my senior years, I came into contact with Muggle machinery, and I've been fascinated by Muggle tools ever since. That interest led me to my current position at the Ministry."
The Weasley children each had their own talents, none of them were mediocre.
Their parents were no less remarkable. Although Molly had been busy with household chores all these years, her spellcasting was by no means weak.
Arthur was even more so.
Severus had always believed that one of the scarcest things among wizards was the ability to see that the greatest advantage wizards have over Muggles is that the tools and machinery Muggles create can also be adapted and used by wizards. Once learned, there are no barriers.
It's just that pure-blood families harbor immense prejudice against Muggles, leading to complete self-isolation and ignoring Muggle inventions.
Those lucky Muggle-born wizards admitted to Hogwarts, after seven years of magical education, also integrate into the Wizarding World's lifestyle, almost completely severing ties with Muggle society.
This was clearly problematic.
Of course, someone had truly noticed the tools and weapons Muggles invented and used before, which frightened him, so he wanted to strike first, break the Statute of Secrecy, and let wizards rule the world.
But Severus thought he could have started from the Muggle side instead. Sending some clever, freshly graduated young wizards to study Muggle natural sciences, then to university, and subsequently into government or scientific academies might have miraculous effect.
As for Arthur here, he was clearly an anomaly among wizards, no wonder the Malfoys and others called his family blood traitors.
But it was precisely such anomalies who were guiding wizards onto the right path.
"Your twins seem quite talented in this area as well," Severus mentioned. "Though they prefer tinkering with prank products."
"Passion is the best teacher," Arthur, a rather open-minded father, said with a smile. "Molly might complain that they aren't doing anything decent, but I think as long as they love it, they'll eventually find a path from what they enjoy."
They dealt with the exploded engine here. As for how to fix it properly later, Arthur would have to research that himself. Right now, there were guests at home, and Molly wouldn't allow him to stay here long.
Just as they were chatting and walking back to The Burrow, they could hear crying and roaring from inside even before entering.
"Please... I beg you... I was forced... Ron... Mrs. Weasley... you're my masters, right?... You'll have pity on me..."
"You despicable rat! How dare you say such things now! You got James killed! You got Lily killed! And now you're playing innocent here!!"
"What is going on! I need an explanation! Why is our rat Peter Pettigrew!"
Just hearing the chaotic arguing was enough for Arthur and Severus to imagine how messy it was inside.
"What's happened to them?" Arthur, hearing Molly's shouts, hurried into The Burrow.
Severus followed behind him, having already guessed that Black and Lupin had discovered the rat, Scabbers, and forced him to reveal his true form in front of the Weasleys.
When the two of them entered The Burrow, everyone inside seemed to find their anchor, looking towards the person they needed.
"Arthur! Look! Scabbers turned out to be a person! Peter Pettigrew! You must remember that name, the wizard who was supposedly killed by Black eight years ago, the one the Ministry called a hero!"
"Dad! Scabbers turned into a man! Scabbers turned into a man! And he's a smelly man!!"
"Professor! Professor! Remus and the others caught the real traitor! He never died, he was hiding at the Weasleys'!"
"A living Peter Pettigrew is the most direct evidence, Severus! We can prove Sirius's innocence to everyone and make the truth public!"
"Kill him!! He must die!!!"
The scene became even more chaotic, with everyone talking over each other.
Soon, Arthur and Severus exchanged a glance and each instructed the mouths gathered around them to shut up.
Finally, Arthur looked at Severus seriously and said,
"You know what this is all about, don't you?"
Severus raised his hand, signaling the standing children and adults to sit down first.
"My purpose in coming here today is precisely for this. I need to explain this rat's true origin and the truth about the Potter Family's betrayal."
Arthur was no fool. From the rat tonic Severus sent a month ago that made Scabbers listless to today's events, it was easy to guess that today's incident was definitely related to Severus.
Under Severus's direction, the scene finally quieted down, leaving only Peter sobbing curled up in a corner. Severus first explained the truth about the betrayal of Harry's parents to the Weasley Family.
"I knew Remus's secret about being a werewolf back at Hogwarts, and later discovered the other three had also learned to become Animagi, though I only knew Peter's form was a rat."
This statement was, of course, a reason fabricated by Severus. When dealing with people other than Dumbledore, he still needed to conceal how he knew many things for no reason.
"At the Leaky Cauldron, when I heard Arthur's description of Scabbers, especially the part about him missing a toe, I connected this rat to Peter, who was supposedly dead. At that time, I wasn't sure. To prevent Scabbers, if he really was Peter, from escaping upon hearing the news of Black's breakout, I sent that potion, temporarily keeping this matter from you."
"Now, the first thing after returning from Albania, I brought Black and Remus here precisely to have them confirm that this rat, Scabbers, is their former friend, Peter."
Ghost Snape had to acknowledge Severus's skill at lying with a straight face.
Moreover, if scrutinized carefully, this explanation had some weak points, but the Weasleys were so shocked by the event itself that they didn't notice the issues in Severus's later words.
As for Sirius and Lupin, their focus was entirely on Peter at the moment.
"I never imagined something like this could happen!" It took Molly a while to recover. Her expression was sorrowful, and she kept wiping her tears with her wrist. "But if we can uncover the truth of this matter now, it will be good for that poor child, Harry Potter. At least later he won't hate someone he shouldn't and respect someone he shouldn't."
Arthur considered things more deeply. He frowned at Peter, then turned to Severus, Lupin, and Sirius.
"You can't just hand him over to the Ministry directly. Bagnold will be stepping down soon. During this time, she probably wishes not a single dark wizard would appear in all of Britain, so she can retire peacefully."
Lupin looked puzzled.
"Even if the Ministry is corrupt, would they dare suppress the truth of this matter?"
Having worked there for so long, Arthur was clearly more familiar with the officials' nature than they were.
"Of course, they wouldn't dare suppress the truth, and it would be impossible to hide later anyway. But under Bagnold's direction, they might very well delay Peter's formal trial until the new Minister takes office, dumping this mess directly onto him!"
"That would take too long," Lupin said, frowning.
"Right, so I don't recommend you hand him directly to the Ministry."
Molly didn't quite agree with Arthur.
"If not to the Ministry, then who can they hand him over to?"
Arthur didn't speak further… he just turned and looked at Severus.
At that moment, Harry suddenly exclaimed,
"Just like with the Sanguini and Patty case! We need to let the public know the truth first!"
Through Harry's words, everyone present recalled how Severus had handled the situation when the Ministry was unwilling to deal with Sanguini and Patty's case.
Although Sirius and Peter's case was more shocking and complex, some aspects were still similar.
But then, someone suddenly objected.
"I don't want any case overturned! He must die! He must die!!"
Sirius stared fixedly at the weeping Peter, his eyes filled only with hatred and anger, not caring whether he was a wanted man or not.
Severus abruptly slapped Sirius's dog head. The blow was somewhat heavy, nearly stunning Sirius on the spot.
"Are you an idiot? Do you think he'd survive if handed over to the Ministry, sent to Azkaban? He didn't just deceive you… he deceived the entire Ministry, all the wizards in Britain. With all those charges piled up, I assure you the Ministry will have the Dementors suck out his soul."
"If you kill him now without considering the consequences, it only proves you have a dog's brain."
Sirius turned and glared furiously at Severus. But after hearing his words, the black dog, who usually fought with everyone every minute, actually didn't say anything further, just looked at Severus strangely.
Severus ignored what he was thinking and turned to Lupin.
"I'll leave this matter to you. I'll give you Xenophilius's contact details later. You can go directly to him. The current sales of The Quibbler are worlds apart from before."
Lupin couldn't help but ask,
"Then what will you be doing?"
Severus blinked.
"What else would I be doing? Didn't I come to the Weasleys' as a guest?"
It was only then that Molly let out a startled cry and remembered. She rushed into the kitchen, hoping to salvage the cream soup that might or might not be saveable.
Arthur also took Ginny, Ron, Harry, and Draco to the garden, lighting it up.
The remaining two men and one dog simply used a Stunning Spell on Peter, putting him into a deep sleep.
"You definitely have something important to do later," Lupin said, clearly not letting Severus evade the question.
Severus smiled.
"I just need to give some people an answer they want, yet don't want."