Hello everyone and welcome to Don't Think, Just Do it: Year 3!
Without further ado, here is the first chapter!
Enjoy
-Rach ;)
Sirius Black's POV
Azkaban was torture. That was the only word I could think of to describe this place. The cells were tiny, and the beds were made of stone. You weren't provided blankets, and seeing as the prison was in the middle of the Atlantic sea, it tended to get chilly every now and then. The food looked as if it had been found at the bottom of the sea (probably was) and tasted like dung.
But there were two things that were worse then all these things. Dementors and the guilt. The Dementors would hover outside my cell every minute of every day, making any single thought that ever had a chance of entering my mind disappear and be replace with something horrible. The guilt that ate at me every minute was something that could rival the Dementors. It was all my fault that James and Lily had been killed, and now I didn't know where Harry was, who was looking after him, if he was alright- I didn't even know how old he'd be now! Being in this place made keeping track of time impossible.
When I slept at night, I was plagued by nightmares. Memories from my time at Hogwarts, with James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Buthese were different. They all shouted at me for killing James, and when I'd tell them that James was fine, I'd see James lying on the ground, eyes wide open and a look of shock and anger on his face. Just like he had been when I found him and Lily.
One night, when I was staring at the wall blankly, there were footsteps outside my cell. I turned my head and saw Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, looking awkward and twirling his bowler hat in his fingers. "Good evening, Minister," I said calmly. I wasn't like the others in here. I can still keep my mind.
"Yes, Black. Good evening...I'm just doing a routine check is all. Er, how have you been keeping?" he said, looking extremely awkward. Of course, he was speaking with a man who killed twelve people with one curse.
I gave a high, cold, emotionless laugh. "How have I been? Really Minister? Thats what you ask me," I laughed again, and my eyes traveled down Fudge's hand. He was holding a copy of the Daily Prophet, and seeing it cleared my mind slightly. I would be able to see the date, and from that, I would know how old Harry was now. Stupid reason, I know, but what else did I have to do?
"Minister, do you mind if I have that Daily Prophet? I do miss the crosswords," I lied easily. Something I learned to do at school, when we would get in trouble for pulling pranks. Fudge remained silent, and I prompted, "That is if you are finished with it. If not, I understand."
Fudge looked like he regretted answering me. "Oh very well Black. Here you go." He slipped the newspaper in between my bars, and I caught it easily. Quidditch skills never die. Of course, I played Beater, but I also played Seeker if I was needed to. "Thank you Minister. I assume that it is today's paper?" I said, and attempted a smile, something I haven't done since I was arrested and put in here without trial.
"Yes, yes it is today's...Well, I must leave now. Other to check on, you know. I'm sure I'll see you again. Er, goodbye," Fudge said, giving me a fleeting smile, then walking away. I couldn't help grin at the Minster. He was such an old tosser...
I flipped over the paper and looked at the front page. It was the eleventh of July, 1993. It took me a few minutes to do the math, but finally I figured out that Harry was going to be thirteen in a few weeks. Then, the date seemed to actually penetrate my mind.
I've been in here for twelve years...twelve years...
I shook my head. No point brooding over that. I was in here until I died.
I gave a genuine smile as I thought of how Harry would be entering his third year of Hogwarts. I wonder what house he was in... I hope it was Gryffindor, I thought. I wondered whether he strongly resembled James, just like me and Lily said he would, but with her eyes...
I wondered if he knew who I was.
I stopped these thoughts. I had them often, and usually I ended up more depressed after thinking of them for hours on end. I looked down at the paper and saw that there was large picture of a big family, standing outside pyramids.
The article said,
MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE
Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, has won the annual Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw.
A delighted Mr. Weasley told the Daily Prophet, "We will be spending the gold on a summer holiday in Egypt, where our eldest son, Bill, works as a curse breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank."
The Weasley family will be spending a month in Egypt, returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts, which five of the Weasley children, and three of the six children they have adopted, currently attend, and one starting this year.
I smiled. I remember Arthur and Molly, and there weren't nicer people you would find. Before everything happened, I heard that Arthur wasn't getting that much money, and that they were getting really poor. This was something they really deserved.
I scanned the photo. There was Arthur and Molly standing in the middle, beaming, waving, and they all had flaming hair. Molly had a little girl resting on her hip, who clearly had blonde hair, so she was one of the adopted children. There were twins, who both had the same trouble-making grins me and James would have. There was a tall boy, who was clearly Bill, and another boy who had a Head Boy badge pinned to his hat.
Next to the Head Boy was a tall boy with blonde hair, another adopted child. He had his arm over a girl who had tawny colored skin. Next to her was a young boy who looked like he could be the little girl on Molly's hits brother. There was another boy, with dark hair and dark clothes, even in the heat from Egypt. He was smiling slightly, and was standing next to another Weasley boy, and he had his arm slung around another Weasley child, this time a girl. Standing behind her was-
I nearly dropped the paper. It can't be. It was impossible. She had been killed many years ago-
Despite this, I grabbed the paper and looked at the picture again.
The girl was tall, with long, curly, dirty blond hair and big brown eyes. She was laughing, looking happy, and every few minutes she would walk around the picture to slap the pale, blond boy. But, it couldn't be her, she was taken long ago...
My sunken eyes drifted to the boy in front of her. It was only then that I noticed the rat on his shoulder. I sneered, but then saw something odd about the rat. It was missing his front toe from its paw. With an idea in my mind, I stared at the rat for a long time.
It was him...It was Pettigrew...He was alive, living in his Animagus form with this family. And if he was with them, then he was with her. The idea angered me, and I roared in frustration.
I re-read the article, and found something interesting. Five of the Weasley children, and three of the six children they adopted...
I looked through the picture again. The five Weasley's were obvious. The Head Boy, the twins, the boy with the rat and the girl... The adopted kids were obvious as well. The dark boy, the pale boy, and the African- American girl, and then...her.
I knew what I had to do. If rat-boy was going back to Hogwarts, with the rat, then I was going to have to go there too. I looked at the boy again. He looked about thirteen, which meant he would be in the same year as Harry, if not the same House.
Anger that I had only felt once in my life before was not flowing through my veins. It gave me hope, and determination, but it wasn't a happy feeling so the Dementors couldn't take it away from me.
There was only one thing I could do, and I was going to do it whatever it took.
I was going to Hogwarts.
Max's POV
"Molly! Molly, come here!" Mr Weasley shouted around the house. I raised my head and saw him standing at the back door, looking flustered and slightly frightened. I stood up from the couch and left the book I was reading, Hogwarts, A History, and went over to him. "Mr Weasley, she's out feeding the chickens. Is there something wrong?" I asked.
He frowned, and looked out into the dark night. Without answering my question, he walked further into the house. There were bags and trunks everywhere, and it took a few minutes to weave our way around them. We only returned from Egypt this morning, and Mr Weasley had to go to work straight away for some urgent Ministry thing.
We spent the last month in Egypt will Bill, the Weasley's eldest son. He lived there because he worked as a curse-breaker for the wizards bank, Gringotts. We were all so delighted when Mr Weasley won the Daily Prophet Annual Draw. Seven hundred galleons! It was something the Weasley's really deserved, as they were extremely kind but very poor. And last year they adopted six children on top of the seven they had already.
"Mr Weasley...Is something wrong?" I asked, watching as he sat in the armchair by the fire, and put his head in his hands. "Oh, Max. You have no idea," he said, sounding thoroughly depressed. I didn't say anything, just waited for him to continue.
"There's been a breakout in Azkaban," he said finally. My eyes widened, and I stammered, "B-but...Who? How?" Azkaban was the wizard prison, and no one has ever escaped from there. Rarely, people got to leave if there time there was up, or if they were found innocent. The gamekeeper, and our friend, from Hogwarts, Hagrid, had to spend a few months there last year, but was let out before the school year was over.
"It was Sirius Black. No one knows how he did it," Mr Weasley said. I frowned. "And who was he?" I asked, fearing the answer. "He was a big supporter of You-Know-Who. Complete maniac, if you ask me. He killed twelve people with the one curse before he was arrested. He went away laughing." He looked disgusted.
"One curse? Whoa, he must be really powerful," I gasped. Mr Weasley nodded and said, "I was a few years above him in school. He was a very intelligent young man. No one expected that he would go that way."
Then, the door opened, and Mrs Weasley walked in. Mr Weasley bounded to his feet and ran to her. "Oh, Molly dear. You'll never believe what happened today," he said, hugging his wife. "What is it, Arthur?" she asked, looking scared. Mr Weasley whispered in her ear and Mrs Weasley shrieked. "Sirius Black! Oh, Arhur!"
She looked around the room, and when she only saw me, she asked, "Where are the children?"
"They went to play Quidditch out back. I wanted to finish this book, so I didn't go," I said. "Max, will you go get them please? Tell them its urgent," Mrs Weasley said. I nodded and walked out the door towards the paddock at the back of the Burrow. To lazy to walk, I took off my jumper and left it on the ground.
Then, I wiped out my wings.
Yes, I said wings. I was born and raised in America, in Death Valley California in a lab called The School. Thats where I met the reset of my flock. Fang, who was going to be thirteen in a few days, Iggy, who was thirteen on Halloween, Nudge who was eleven in September, Gazzy turned seven last month, and then Angel, who was five.
At the School, it was run by scientists we called whitecoats. They performed extremely painful experiments on us all, resulting in us all having wings. Also, we all had enhanced senses. When we were around eight, they tried giving Iggy night-vision, but they made a mistake, and when he came back, he was blind. We were all kept in cages, which is why we all have sever claustrophobia.
When we were ten, a whitecoat called Jeb Bathelder kidnapped us all from the School, and took us to a house in the Colorado mountains, and he was like a father to us all.
On my eleventh birthday, we got a visit by a strange looking man. He had a long, silver beard and wore long robes. This mans name was Albus Dumbledore, and he was the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He told us that we were all witches and wizards. That year, me, Fang, and Iggy went to Hogwarts as we were the only ones old enough to go. There we met three of the best people ever.
Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. Harry had an interesting past as well. When he was a baby, the darkest wizard ever, Lord Voldemort, showed up at Harry's parents house and killed them. He tried killing Harry too, but couldn't do it, and his powers were destroyed. Now, he was known as the Boy Who Lived, and he as famous in our world.
I flipped my wings out, and took a running start. I flew into the air, and after a few short minutes, I reached the paddock where the Weasley's and the Flock were flying around.
"Guys! Back to the house! It's urgent!" I shouted. Without asking, they flew to the ground and either dismounted their brooms, or folding in there wings. We all walked back to the Burrow, Fred carrying the sleepy Angel in his arms. "What's going on?" Ron asked running to catch up with me. "Er, I'll leave that to your parents to tell you."
He looked worried, but kept silent. We reached the Burrow, and walked in the back door. Mr and Mrs Weasley were sitting at the kitchen table, their heads together, whispering quickly.
"Mum, Dad. What's wrong?" George asked. "Sit down, kids," Mr Weasley said seriously. We all sat in various seats around the room. Mrs Weasley stood up, and explained that Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban and was now on the loose. Even Fred and George didn't have any smart comment to make.
We stayed up late that night, listening to all the rules and restrictions Mr and Mrs Weasley made. Mrs Weasley even wrote them all down and pinned them to the wall. Right before we went to bed, Mr Weasley called, "Remember! Were going to Diagon Alley tomorrow and staying in the Leaky Cauldron! You can pack everything tomorrow, but we need to get up early!"
I groaned. I forgot we were going to Diagon Alley! The only thing that made me exited was the fact that I get to see Harry and Hermione tomorrow. We got a letter last week saying that they'd be there tomorrow, so we all decided to go as well. Also, Mrs Weasley said she was going to get me and the twins brooms because we were on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, and they were able to afford it now.
We all woke up early the next morning to the smell of eggs, sausages and toast. I got changed quickly into dark jeans and a red top and black converse and I grabbed my leather jacket before running down the stairs. I was the last one to get up (no surprise there) and we all have everything eaten within ten minutes, and then we all ran back upstairs to pack our things for Hogwarts.
I filled up my trunk and school bag with the spellbooks I'd be needing this year, then filled them with Muggle clothes and our uniform. (a black skirt, white top, long black robe, red and gold scarf, and a jumper with the Gryffindor crest on it)
After twenty minutes, everyone was standing in the sitting room, ready to leave. Percy refused to talk or even look at me and the twins. Might have something to do with the fact that we were about to lock him in a pyramid in Egypt...Oh well, didn't bother me.
We were handed a handful of grey powder that I recognized as Floo Powder. One by one, we stepped in the fireplace, and we shouted, "Leaky Cauldron!" and disappeared in a rush of green flames. Once everyone was in the Leaky Cauldron, Mr Weasley went over to the desk to the landlord, an old and toothless wizard called Tom.
He checked us all in, and me and Ginny were sharing a room so we all went upstairs and put our bags in the room. Together, we went back downstairs and Mr and Mrs Weasley handed us some money so we could go to Diagon Alley.
"Max, come here," Mrs Weasley called. I walked over to her, frowning. "What broom would you like?" she asked. "A Nimbus two-thousand?" she said. I gaped at her. "A-a Nimbus two thousand? Are you serious?" She beamed and nodded.
"Of course dear. There not that expensive anymore, and Fred and George said they don't want a new broom, that there's are fine so we can get that for you." I squealed and hugged her. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" I repeated. She laughed and said, "Alright dear. Look, Ron, Fang and Iggy are waiting for you over there, go with them."
I hugged her again, and ran over to the boys, who were waiting for me by the door. I smiled at them, and pulled out my wand. I tapped a brick on the wall, and the wall opened to reveal Diagon Alley.
Hello! Sorry this chapter is so bad, its hard starting off a new story. The next chapter will be much better, I promise!
Welcome to year 3! I hope this story is good!
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Once again, sorry this sucked, it will get better :)
-Rach ;)