The ground beneath his feet was instantly pulled away, and the surrounding scenery blurred; Peter only felt the world spinning, as if his entire body was rapidly falling in a hurricane.
Moments later, he and his mother crashed heavily onto the ground of an unfamiliar forest.
Tall trees all around blocked out the sun, which could barely penetrate the dense woodland.
Peter immediately scrambled to his feet, his gaze fixed on the deep wound on his mother's chest.
Fear and despair suddenly overwhelmed him, making him tremble all over.
"No, no, Mom, I'll heal you..." he mumbled, his voice trembling, almost on the verge of collapse.
He raised his mother's walking stick and waved it frantically, continuously chanting various healing spells, over and over again, trying to stop the bleeding.
Peter's movements became more and more frantic, his breathing rapid, sweat dripping down his forehead, mixing with tears; every shout from him was filled with despair.
"Quick... Peter, my child... listen to me."
Peter's mother, completely disregarding her own injuries, grabbed one of Peter's hands and said in a weak voice.
"It's not time to relax yet; those Aurors could come after us at any moment; don't worry about me, run!"
"No, Mom," Peter cried out, trembling, "I'll definitely heal you and take you with me."
"Don't worry about me... I'm dying, you can't save me, hurry, be quick! Don't waste the opportunity I created for you."
Peter's mother shook her head weakly; she knew very well how severely she was injured and could feel her life force constantly draining away.
"Leave the Wizarding World, leave Britain, go to a place where no one can find you."
"Don't think about avenging me, Peter, you must live, even if you have to live like a rat..."
Peter's mother's voice grew weaker and weaker, her breath gradually fading, until finally, her head tilted, and she completely lost all signs of life.
Watching his mother's motionless body, Peter completely broke down.
Immense grief instantly engulfed him, tears pouring down like a floodgate, snot mixing with tears streaming freely.
He collapsed beside his mother, wailing, each cry carrying heart-wrenching pain.
Remembering his mother's last words, Peter suppressed his grief and stood up, digging a large pit in the ground with a spell and burying his mother completely.
Looking at his mother's simple grave, an endless hatred surged from his heart: for Sirius Black, for the Ministry of Magic, and for the entire Wizarding World.
He wanted revenge; he wanted to ruthlessly retaliate against the Wizarding World.
Peter gazed lingeringly at his mother's grave, picked up her walking stick and the protective badge, Apparated to the outskirts of London, then transformed into a rat and scurried into the sewer.
About ten minutes later, a ball of fire appeared out of nowhere in that forest, exploding violently, and accompanied by the loud cry of a Phoenix, Dumbledore's figure emerged from the flames.
"It seems I was still a step too late."
Dumbledore carefully examined the surroundings with his wand and quickly understood what had happened there.
Pettigrew had completely escaped, and his mother had died in this place.
Originally, he had planned to send his pathetic student, Peter, on his final journey today.
Unexpectedly, upon arriving at the Ministry of Magic, he was sought out by a pale-faced Fudge and asked to help track down Pettigrew.
He went to Azkaban through the Ministry of Magic and located the exact position of the Portkey transmission in Pettigrew's cell.
But by the time he arrived, it was already too late.
Dumbledore looked at Peter's mother's simple grave, shook his head gently, and then followed the trace of Peter's Apparition to the outskirts of London.
Looking at the sewer where Peter had last disappeared, Dumbledore sighed softly, summoned Fawkes, and with its help, returned to Azkaban.
In Peter's cell, Fudge was in a rage.
"Who can tell me what on earth is going on here? Why was Pettigrew able to escape from prison?"
Fudge was practically insane; today's execution of Peter was supposed to be broadcast live to deter lawbreakers in the Wizarding World.
Reporters were all gathered at the Ministry of Magic, just waiting for the time to arrive to come to Azkaban for the live broadcast.
At such a critical moment, such a huge blunder occurred; wasn't this announcing to the whole world that the Ministry of Magic was incompetent?
"Are you all pigs? You couldn't even take down a sixty or seventy-year-old old Witch, not only did she injure three people, but she also managed to take Pettigrew with her."
"How did she bring her wand in? How did she hide her Portkey? Why wasn't it detected?"
As Fudge was shouting loudly, Dumbledore's figure reappeared in the cell.
"Dumbledore, how is it? Did you catch Pettigrew?" Fudge's face was full of hope; he only wished Dumbledore could bring good news.
"I'm afraid, Cornelius," Dumbledore shook his head gently, "Peter has escaped, and is likely hiding in the sewers of London now. As for his mother, she died from severe injuries."
Upon hearing this news, Fudge felt a wave of dizziness.
Unlike Sirius Black's escape, this mother and son had openly made a fool of the Ministry of Magic, then violently resisted arrest, and escaped from the heavily guarded Azkaban in broad daylight.
It's over; the reputation of the Ministry of Magic has been completely dragged through the mud by this mother and son.
Not just the Ministry of Magic, but more importantly, himself.
He had already endured more than half a month of public criticism, and under the media's influence, the public had just begun to praise him.
With such an incident, the public would again think he was incompetent.
Thinking of this, Fudge's anger could no longer be suppressed: "Dumbledore, how could you not catch Peter? You are the most powerful Wizard in this world!"
"Alright, you take the Aurors there and have them re-examine the last place Pettigrew appeared."
"I refuse to believe there isn't a single clue!"
Just then, an Auror rushed in: "Minister, the reporters are making a fuss, the execution time is almost here, and they want to come to Azkaban early to adjust their broadcasting equipment."
Given this situation, what's there to broadcast?!
Are we supposed to let the entire Wizarding World watch the traces of Pettigrew's escape?
Fudge, already in a bad mood, once again vented his anger on the Auror in front of him, and his scolding lasted for a long time before stopping.
After venting his emotions, Fudge felt a complete headache.
He first asked Dumbledore to take all the Aurors to check for Peter's traces, but he also knew in his heart that trying to find a rat in the sewers of London was truly a fantasy.
Then, he prepared to go back and face those troublesome reporters.
Fudge really wanted to tell the reporters that Peter and his mother attempted to escape and were directly killed by the Aurors, so today's live broadcast was canceled.
But thinking of the consequences of the lie being exposed, he shook his head and gave up on this absurd idea.
Sigh...
Why am I, the Minister of Magic, so unlucky...
....
Just as Fudge was answering reporters' questions, Sebastian arrived at the Ministry of Magic with a young man.