On the train back from Hogwarts, June 1994, Ron's new owl attracted attention. More Weasleys than usual crowded into the train compartment.
"Where'd you get the owl?" asked Ginny, eyeing Pigwidgeon, zooming around his cage.
Ron froze. "Um," he cleverly said to Harry.
Explaining the sudden appearance of the owl was Harry's job? Should he say he bought it for Ron? That wouldn't say much for his taste in owls. Besides, Ginny knew Ron was too proud to accept gifts from Harry. "Ron has a secret admirer," he said. That would teach Ron to put him on the spot like that.
Ginny turned back to Ron. "Really?" she squealed. Ron's face turned pink, clashing horribly with his orange hair.
Safe. Ginny was unlikely to guess that Ron's admirer was the infamous mass murderer, Sirius Black, who had first expressed his admiration for Ron by breaking his leg and attempting to kill his pet rat.
Ginny, Fred, and George failed to extract any details about Ron's secret admirer, but they could tell it was true by how strongly Ron denied it. Once that topic of conversation had run its course, Ginny sighed.
"Don't tell me you want a secret admirer too," said Ron. "You're too young."
"No," she replied. "I just wish I had a pet. You and Harry have owls, and Hermione has a cat, and Neville has a toad—"
"Crabbe and Goyle have that ferret," interjected Fred.
"Snape has whatever's living in his hair," added George.
"Dumbledore has Harry," continued Fred.
"But I don't have anything," continued Ginny as if her brothers hadn't interrupted her.
"You can use my owl to send letters if you want," said Ron.
"Mine too," said Harry.
"Thanks, but that's not the same as having my own pet," said Ginny.
—-
Ginny brought a surprise back from her first Hogsmeade outing.
"I think I'll name him Shadow, because he's so thin and black," said Ginny. "Isn't he adorable?"
As much as Harry loved his godfather, "adorable" wasn't a word he'd have used to describe the starved-looking stray at the center of attention in the Gryffindor common room. He had the bone structure of a very large dog, clearly visible as there was little fur or flesh to obscure the view. Despite his neglected state, he looked very happy, wagging his tail with surprising energy.
"Professor McGonagall said I could keep him if everyone here agrees and he gets along with all the other pets," said Ginny. "He's not a problem for anyone here, is he? He's a real sweetheart. I asked around in Hogsmeade, and people said they've only seen him attack rats. And Ron, since your rat disappeared…"
Sirius, or rather Shadow, sniffed the air and looked around the common room. He suddenly bolted for an armchair by the fire, where Crookshanks was sleeping, curled up to look like an orange cushion. Lavender screamed, but Shadow gave Crookshanks an enthusiastic lick. Crookshanks opened his eyes and started purring, then closed them again. Shadow rested his head on the chair next to Crookshanks.
"A dog that likes cats?" said Lavender.
"An obviously hungry dog that likes cats?" said Parvati.
"I fed him in Hogsmeade," said Ginny. "But he was nice even before that. He needs fattening up, and I'll ask Hagrid to check if he's sick or anything. This poor thing has obviously had a tough time recently, but he's still such a darling. His original family must have been really good to him, for him to still be so friendly like this. I wonder what happened."
Harry saw Sirius raise his head and take a breath as if he were about to say something, but of course he didn't. He put his head back down next to Crookshanks. Ginny joined the snuggle party on the chair.
"He probably has fleas," said Ron. Harry and Hermione were impressed that Ron was able to talk at all.
"Probably," agreed Ginny, still hugging Shadow and resting her head on his side, orange hair blazing against dull black. "I'll ask Hagrid about that too. So, everyone agrees? I can keep him?"
A general cheer of asset roared through the common room. The three Gryffindors who could manage only an "Um," an "Er," and a voiceless gulp had no chance of being heard.
"Ginny," said Ron. "We need to talk about this."
"I know what you're going to say, Ron," said Ginny.
In that case, Ron hoped she could tell him, since he didn't.
"You're going to say we need to ask our parents before getting a dog, since it's a big commitment."
"Um."
"You're right. Could I borrow your owl? I'll write to them right now. I'm sure they'll love Shadow as much as I do. He's so good at hunting rats, and maybe he'll even scare the gnomes out of the garden."
—-
As soon as he got a chance, Harry dragged Sirius into the boys' dormitory and locked the door with his wand. He was hungry, but he was used to that. "I'm so glad to see you, Sirius," he whispered. "Everyone else should be at breakfast, and I locked the door just in case. You can drop the disguise." It was awkward to hug a dog who was transforming into a man. Harry stepped back.
Transforming from a dog to a human is, of course, impressive, but Harry was also amazed at how different Sirius's human form could look. The young man his parents chose to be his godfather was known to Harry only from pictures. He'd probably acquired his aristocratic pureblood mannerisms before he'd learned to walk, or maybe children of his class had tutors for that sort of thing. In the old photos, Sirius's glossy black hair hung casually over his grey eyes, which twinkled enough to let people know that his haughty sneer was meant ironically.
The Sirius Black Harry eventually met in person looked quite different. Twelve years in prison changes people, particularly if the prison is Azkaban, from which no one but Sirius had ever escaped with their life, and no one at all had escaped with their sanity. Harry had been shocked that someone could be so gaunt, yet still alive. His clothes had been elegant thirteen years ago when he'd been arrested. He'd been wearing them ever since. His hair was matted. His pale skin was filthy. The former twinkle in his eyes had been replaced by a murderous glare. He seemed to have mellowed over the summer though. The starved-looking dog frenetically wagging its tail transformed into a starved-looking man grinning like a skull. He crushed Harry in a hug with his finally human arms, which were surprisingly strong. His dog form had smelled better.
Sirius finally loosened his grip and held Harry at arms' length to take a good look at him with eyes welling with tears. "I'm sure you're tired of people telling you you look just like your father," he said.
"Are you tired of people telling you to take a shower? Because just in case you aren't, I'll say it."
Sirius gave his barking laugh. "Your father was an arse too. Always knew how to ruin an emotional moment. You're right of course. May I borrow a towel?" As Harry handed one to him, he added, "Seems pointless to sneak into a dorm shower without, say, someone else's girlfriend for company to justify the sneakiness."
"The fact that you're running from the law isn't exciting enough?" Harry called through the bathroom door.
"You're no fun," complained Sirius. "Poor child, with no one to corrupt you all these years. I pray I have not arrived too late." He turned on the water and had to be told not to sing so loudly.
Harry would have to get to class soon and still didn't know why Sirius was here. He was understandably taking his time in the shower. Harry stood there listening to Sirius sing Italian opera. "Padfoot?" Harry called, using his godfather's nickname, which hadn't been on the wanted posters, and so should be safer to say aloud. No answer. He probably hadn't heard him. He walked into the bathroom, where he found a pile of filthy clothes on the floor. "Scourgify," he waved his wand at them, although he wasn't confident there would be anything left once the dirt was gone.
"Thanks," called Sirius from the shower. "Any ideas how I can replace my wand? I can give you access to my Gringotts vault, and perhaps you could commission Ollivander to make a copy of my old one? I'll need a legitimate address for him to send it to, not, 'cold muddy cave in the wilderness where obviously only criminals dwell' or he might get suspicious."
"He'd be suspicious anyway," said Harry. "You know he remembers every wand he's ever sold. And you'll be fresh in his memory, with the news."
"Damn. I need scissors."
"What?" asked Harry, who didn't see the connection.
"This hair is beyond help of either spells or conditioner, I fear. And may I borrow your toothbrush?"
"Um. I'll get you a new one. Look, we have a lot to discuss, but I have to get to class. And you have to change back and get back to the common room before anyone notices you."
"Yes master."
"Padfoot! I'm so glad to see you, but I'm also afraid you'll be caught! You know what that would mean! No cushy cell in Azkaban for you this time."
"I know, I know, I'm supposed to hide in a dark cave, subsisting on rats, until the Ministry of Magic come to their senses and give me a proper trial, or Atlantis rises from the depths, whichever comes first. I'm not supposed to see my godson, I'm just supposed to be patient and let him grow up without me. I've heard the speech from Dumbledore already, there's no need to repeat it. Damn it Harry, your parents chose me, not Dumbledore, as your godfather. I'm honor-bound to fulfill my promise to them, and my obligation to you."
"You're risking your life coming here."
"I have every right to."
"Sirius, if I lost you..."
"Give a man some privacy to step out of the shower, would you? This is not a physique I wish to display. Once I scrubbed off the dirt there was virtually nothing left."
Harry stepped out. He looked at his watch. "You need to be back in the common room, looking like a dog, in five minutes."
Sirius left the bathroom shortly, in his clean rags, looking clean and smelling considerably better, and shaking. "Mirrors are evil," he said. "It's a wonder they didn't include them in the cells to add that extra touch of misery. They saved that torture for anyone who escapes, to suffer afterwards."
"Come on, we have to hurry."
Without further ado, Sirius transformed into a starved, trembling, but clean dog. Harry removed his locking spell from the door to the boys' dormitory, and they headed downstairs to the common room.
Ginny was waiting for them, looking annoyed, but she smiled when she saw Shadow bounding her way. "The house elves said they'd save a dish of scraps from every meal," she said to Shadow, who hadn't questioned the origin of the eggs and bacon he was gulping down.
She turned to Harry. "What were you doing with my dog?" she demanded.
"Cleaning him off," said Harry.
"He's my dog."
"He was lying on my favorite chair. Scourgify," he added, waving his wand at it.
"I'm taking him down to see Hagrid during my Care of Magical Creatures class. Come on Shadow." Shadow followed her through the portrait hole without a look back.
—-
"We were wondering, Harry," said Fred.
"About that map we gave you," said George.
"We know you might need it to protect yourself from Sirius Black,"
"Notorious criminal,"
"Murderer of muggles and wizards alike,"
"Only person ever to escape from Azkaban,"
"Probably kicks kittens,"
"But we were thinking that asking you to track him all by yourself like that was rather rude."
"We mean, you're younger than us,"
"Less experienced,"
"Naive,"
"So we're volunteering to track him for you."
"Just give us back the map,"
"And we promise to scrutinize it every day,"
"Multiple times a day,"
"Searching for Sirius Black for you."
"We know he betrayed your parents."
"We know he's out to kill you next."
"Wouldn't four eyes be better than two?"
Harry looked at their matching faces, their innocent expressions that worked on anyone once. "You're doing this for the reward, aren't you?"
Fred and George looked at each other, then back at Harry. "We do plan to give you a cut of course," said Fred.
"Bait is an indispensable part of the trap."
"Twenty percent?"
"No," said Harry.
"Twenty-five."
"No."
"A simple three-way split. We expect you to do some of the work of course, parade around in public advertising your convenient murderability."
"No. I don't want you two hunting down Sirius Black." Harry walked away.
"That ungrateful prat," remarked Fred.
"Wants the whole reward himself," added George.
Under Ginny's care, Shadow filled out with muscle and a thick coat of glossy black fur. He obviously enjoyed all the attention he got in the girls' dormitory and the Gryffindor common room.
Ron took Harry aside. "Harry, we have to tell her he's an animagus," he whispered.
"Are you insane?" Harry whispered back. "You know if anyone finds out—"
"We don't have to tell her which human he is. Just a human, a grown man, she should not be petting like that."
"No."
"Yes. I know he's your godfather, but she's my sister." And just like that, Ron walked away from Harry, across the Gryffindor common room, to where Ginny was brushing Shadow's gleaming black coat. Harry chased after him desperately, wondering if anything less than a stunning spell would do.
"Ginny," said Ron. "About your dog. How do you know he's a real dog?"
Ginny looked up at him, startled. Sirius, Harry was amazed, showed no change of expression. After a moment, he nudged the brush in Ginny's hand to remind her to keep brushing. She obliged.
"What do you mean?" she asked. "How could he possibly not be a real dog?"
"He certainly smells like a dog, said Harry, supporting Ginny. "He acts like a dog. He looks like a dog. He's obviously a dog."
"How do you know he's not an animagus in his animal form?" demanded Ron.
Ginny laughed. "That's ridiculous, Ron," she said. "He's a dog all the time. Animagi can't stay in animal form all the time. They'd lose their minds. They have to turn back to humans frequently or they lose the ability. Ask professor McGonagall, she'll tell you all about animagi."
"Come on Ron," said Harry, pulling him away. "Don't be ridiculous. Shadow is obviously just a dog."
—-
Harry was just settling into bed when the red draperies parted and Ron barged in, closing the draperies behind him.
"What is it?" asked Harry.
Ron's hands shook as he held the Marauder's Map. Ron couldn't speak, just point. There, in the Gryffindor girls' dormitory, on Ginny's bed, was a dot labeled Ginny Weasley. Like the rest of the map, it was written in Sirius Black's beautiful handwriting, the product of penmanship tutors In his early childhood. His parents hadn't expected him to use his magical and penmanship abilities to create the Mauraders' Map, and no doubt wouldn't have approved of the purposes to which he put it, but had they ever seen it, they would at least have recognized that they got their money's worth from those tutors.
Next to the dot labeled Ginny Weasley, in fact partly overlapping it, was a dot labeled Sirius Black. Both dots were moving slightly, in a rocking motion.
"Your godfather is in bed with my little sister!" yelled Ron.
"Keep your voice down," said Harry.
"Aargh!"
"Look, um, I'm sure there's an explanation," said Harry.
"Well of course there's a bloody explanation," said Ron. "I know what the explanation is. You put a ladies' man in a dormitory with a bunch of teenage girls, that's the explanation. What did you think would happen?"
"This wasn't my idea," said Harry.
"But you were happy about it!" said Ron.
"Look, um, let's ask Hermione what's going on in the girls' dormitory, ok? Don't jump to any conclusions until we do that."
Of course, they had no way to contact Hermione until the morning. She promised she'd look into it. Ron was beside himself.
Hermione finally got back to them, pulling Harry and Ron into a disused classroom. "Ginny keeps singing Shadow lullabies," she declared.
"What?" exclaimed Ron.
"She sits on her bed with him on her lap, rocks him, and sings him lullabies. It's like he's her babydoll. She's having a great time."
"Is he?" asked Ron.
Hermione shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I'm more of a cat person. I got most of this information from Luna Lovegood. She's a Ravenclaw, but she's known Ginny since before Hogwarts. I asked Luna if anything struck her as odd about Shadow."
"Damn it, Hermione," exclaimed Harry. "I thought we agreed not to do anything that might make people suspect him. Don't plant ideas in people's heads!"
"I wouldn't have said this to anyone but Luna," said Hermione. "She believes so many ridiculous things anyway, I knew no one would believe it even if I told her the whole truth and her dad printed it in his magazine. Not that I'm going to do that," she added in response to Harry's look.
"Well, does she suspect anything?" asked Harry, still annoyed.
"No," said Hermione. "She said that Shadow bears some superficial resemblance to a Grim, but is obviously just a dog, not any sort of magical creature."
—-
Ron was not reassured. At the first opportunity, he roused Shadow from where he was sleeping by the common room fire and dragged him up to their dorm room, empty of everyone but Harry, who locked the door behind them.
"Sirius," said Ron. "I need to talk to you."
The dog just looked at him.
"And I need you to be able to talk to us," Ron continued. "Come on, change back."
The dog whimpered.
"Padfoot," said Harry, who suddenly had the dog's attention. "I need my godfather now. Please. Change back."
Sirius finally did, morphing back into a man, although he was still on all fours. Harry helped him up and sat him on his bed. Harry was pleased to see that Sirius looked much healthier, the flesh restored to his bones. "Harry," he said. "Harry." He looked at the draperies around the bed. "Red," he said. "I can see color."
"Yeah," said Ron. "Well anyway, I need to talk to you about Ginny."
"What about Ginny?" asked Sirius.
"Look, it's just not appropriate, all right?" said Ron. "Her touching you and everything. I mean Ginny's thirteen, and you're, what, in your thirties at least? You're old enough to be her father."
Sirius was silent for a while. Then, "What?"
"What do you mean, 'What'?" demanded Ron. "I mean it's not appropriate. You're much too old for her."
There was an even longer pause at this. Then Sirius asked, "What year is it?"
When Ron had rehearsed this confrontation in his mind, this was not a response he'd prepared for.
Harry, though initially taken aback, quickly realized that his godfather's difficult life had not featured access to luxuries like calendars recently. "1995," he said gently.
Sirius started. "Really?"
Harry and Ron nodded.
"And I was born in—" Sirius paused briefly. "1959!" he said triumphantly. "So that makes me... Aargh, why can't I do simple arithmetic in my head? Get me scrap parchment and a quill."
Harry said, "So that makes you—"
"Shut up Harry, I should be able to do this myself." Sirius grabbed a scratch pad and quill off the nightstand. After some difficulty holding the quill, he slowly wrote the two numbers down and stared at them. He tried to scratch his head, which resulted in him falling off the bed because he used his foot to do it.
Harry and Ron offered him their hands to help him up, but he didn't take them, just stared at the ceiling. "This is why the books said not to stay in your animal form too long," he said. He eventually got up and carefully sat on the edge of the bed again.
Harry's heart pounded. Danger in the form of basilisks or giant spiders he was used to, but how was he to fight the slow disintegration of a human mind?
"Books!" said Ron with relief. "We'll just ask Hermione. She'll sort all this out."
Harry let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
—-
"This is why animagus transformation isn't taught at Hogwarts," said Hermione. "It's dangerous."
"But can we get Sirius back to normal?" asked Harry.
"Yes," she said, cheering him. "If he isn't too far gone," she added, and Harry's heart sank again. "We have to make sure he spends some time every day in his human form, doing human things. It would also help to have him look in a mirror, to remind him of who he really is."
"Right," said Harry. "Let's get him up here before Ginny notices." The three of them did, pulling the hesitant dog up from the common room to the boys' dormitory. Once the door was locked behind them, Harry addressed the dog. "Padfoot. Sirius. Godfather. Please turn back to your human form." The dog just looked at him.
"Are you stuck?" asked Hermione. "There's a spell to force an animagus back into human form. I haven't done it myself, but I've read about it. I could try." She aimed her wand.
The dog turned back into a man before she could cast. "I wasn't stuck. I just. Sort of. Forgot."
"That's what getting stuck means," explained Hermione. "Animagus transformation is dangerous, but we'll help you, Sirius. I've written up a schedule. If you stick to it, you should be all right. You need to change back to human every day. We'll take you to a private place where you can do that. Mondays, you tell Harry stories of his parents. Tuesdays, you and I discuss arithmancy, since I'm very interested in the calculations that went into the Marauder's Map. Wednesdays, Ron plays chess with you. Thursdays I figured I'd let you choose your activity, since making decisions is an important skill. And so on. You're following?"
It was hard to tell. Sirius looked at the schedule Hermione had written and let out a little whimper.
"Also," she continued undeterred, "you should look in a mirror at your human form every day. I've got one right here." She pulled a small mirror from her pocket and held it in front of Sirius.
Sirius looked at the mirror in confusion, the dawning realization, then horror. He suddenly knocked it out of Hermione's hand to shatter on the floor. "My father's after me," he said. "That wasn't a common mirror, that was one of those communication mirrors. I recognized his face. Why would try to contact me now? We haven't spoken since he disowned me." He turned to Harry, looked him in the eyes, and put his hand on his shoulder, all completely human gestures much like he used to have. Harry felt a wave of relief. "James, I need your help." Harry felt a chill. "My parents must have seen the wanted posters. They think I've brought shame upon the ancient and noble house of Black. They'll do anything to maintain their reputation. They don't like all this bad publicity. They'll drown me like a squib!"
There was a knock at the door. Sirius, although they wouldn't have believed it possible, looked even more horrified than before. He quickly turned into a dog and hid under the bed.
"Reparo," said Hermione, waving her wand at the broken glass. The shards danced around on the floor trying to assemble themselves.
Harry opened the door.
"What are you doing to my dog?" demanded Ginny. "I thought I heard him whimper."
Shadow bolted out from under the bed and tackled Ginny. He put his front paws on her shoulders and licked her face, his tail wagging so vigorously it almost knocked them both down.
"Down, boy!" laughed Ginny. Shadow immediately got down and pranced at her feet. "Sit," she said. He sat, gazing up at her, his tail thumping the floor. "Good boy," she said, patting his head. "I brought you a treat from dinner, look, part of a chop." She took a greasy paper napkin out of her pocket. "Leave it. Do a trick for me first. Roll over. Good boy! Oh, you're such a good dog. Here's your treat." Shadow gulped it down and pranced with joy again.
Ginny gave the humans in the room a much less friendly look. "Leave my dog alone.". She walked out in a huff, her dog at her heels.
They were silent for a while. "She's really good at the imperius curse," said Ron.
Harry looked at the broken glass on the floor, shards tumbling over each other in confusion, trying and failing to reassemble. "Evanesco," Hermione said with a wave of her wand, and the shards vanished.
—-
Hermione's schedule didn't quite work out. Ginny rarely let Shadow out of her sight. The dog followed her everywhere.
One Saturday, Harry, Hermione, and Ron followed Ginny and Shadow to Hagrid's hut, where Shadow and Fang liked to frolic together as Hagrid gardened. Harry had to admit that his godfather looked happy.
The pleasant springtime scene was soon darkened by the appearance of Snape. "You wished to see me?" he asked Hagrid.
"Oh yes, Professor Snape sir," said Hagrid. "It's about those aphrodisiacs. I think the blast-ended skrewts need a stronger one if I hope to get any hatchlings this mating season."
Snape sighed. "I've already given you the strongest arthropod aphrodisiac known, and it took a great deal of distasteful research to even find the grimoire that contained the recipe. I have done what I can. Your skrewts will have to manage on their own, or not."
"But you see, that's why I asked you here," persisted Hagrid. "If you just saw how cute the little blighters are, I'm sure you'd agree that it's worth inventing a potion just for them. And just think, you could publish the recipe and be famous."
"As much as I appreciate the opportunity to burnish my reputation by advancing the relatively unexplored field of arthropod aphrodisiacs, I must decline," said Snape. "I'm afraid my schedule would not permit me to take time off to receive the rewards and accolades that such an invention would necessarily attract."
"At least he didn't claim he'll be busy washing his hair," Ginny muttered to Ron, causing him to snort a laugh.
Snape's gaze flew to them, and then past them, to where Shadow and Fang frolicked. His dark eyes widened. "New dog?" he asked Hagrid.
"Oh, he's not mine, he belongs to Miss Weasley here," said Hagrid. "Name's Shadow."
"That dog…" Snape was uncharacteristically at a loss for words. "He looks familiar. I'm sure I've seen that dog before, years ago."
"Now that you mention it," said Hagrid thoughtfully, "he does look a lot like a dog I saw around here back when you were a student. Never did figure out whose dog he was. Couldn't be the same dog, though. Big dogs like them," he lowered his voice to a whisper as if to protect Fang and Shadow from overhearing, "never live very long. Maybe twelve years max if they're lucky. But look at them playing without a care in the world! They know how to enjoy life while they have it, bless 'em."
"Normal dogs don't live so long," said Snape. "But how do you know he's a normal dog, not some magical creature?"
Hagrid was taken aback. "Now Professor Snape, I don't go into your laboratory and tell you about potions, so don't you come here and tell me about magical creatures. I know magical creatures when I see 'em, and that dog isn't one. He's just an ordinary dog."
"We shall see," said Snape. "Pay attention students, for I'm about to demonstrate the charm that reveals the true form of an animagus." He walked up to Shadow, who paid him no attention, and wielded his wand at him. "Homorphus!" A blue light hit Shadow, who finally looked up and noticed Snape.
Shadow lifted his leg and piddled on Snape's shoe.
"With all due respect, stick to potions, Professor Snape," said Hagrid.
—-
That night, Harry searched the Marauders' Map. There was the girls' dormitory, there was Ginny, and there, right next to her on the bed, clearly labeled in Sirius's beautiful handwriting, was Shadow.