The situation:
I was playing on level 3, against a Fire/Death deck (Fire mark).
He has a 0/1 Vulture, a 10/1 Fire Spirit (infection 1), and a 0/1 Vulture on the field, in that order.
I dropped Rain of Fire. The first two creatures died. The last one went to 0/0 during the animation, then poped into 2/2 rather than dying.
Seems like scavengers can use their skill mid-attack, even when the attack "killed" them, letting them cheat death.