Home for the holidays, Charlie sets out to determine the magical properties of Scabbers, Percy’s rat, who Charlie has learned was much older than an average garden rat should ever be, and therefore must be magical. Charlie enlists his parents’ help, owls his Care of Magical Creatures professor, researches at Florish and Blotts, and even writes to Dumbledore and Newt Scamander (no response from either of them, unfortunately). Finally, he locks Scabbers into a cage (much to the indignation of Percy), and tells his mother, solemnly, that he thinks Scabbers might be a human trapped as an animal, and could you please perform this spell here, to reverse him if he is?