Sirius Black had done it. He had done the impossible. He had escaped from Azkaban. He decided to go to his Uncle Alphard's cabin. No one would think to look there. After he got his strength up he would try to find Harry. He needed to catch up with his godson after all.

Meanwhile, Cass and Harry were enjoying a relaxing summer…hunting Horcruxes. They figured that Voldemort had made at least seven. That was the most powerful magical number after all. They had gathered some basilisk venom in case they found any.

They had decided to investigate Tom Riddle's earlier life first. Some digging revealed that he had gone to a muggle orphanage. The year after he left, the orphanage was mysteriously burnt down with everyone inside. Nobody ever found out what caused the fire. Voldemort's mother was Merope Gaunt, so they headed to Little Hangleton, because that was where she had lived.

Merope had married a man named Tom and fled the town. Years later, Tom came back and moved in with his parents. Seventeen years later, the Riddle's where found dead in their home with no evidence as to how they were killed. The gardener, Frank Bryce, was assumed to be the guilty party.

Merope had lived in the Gaunt house, a spooky place where nobody in the town would dare go close to. So that was exactly why Harry and Cass were going there. The towns rumors where true: the Gaunt house was creepy. There was a dead snake nailed to the door and wrapped around the door handle, and Harry opened the door with wandless magic.

There was a pedestal in the middle of the room holding a ring, thousands of snakes surrounding it. "Please move aside," Harry told the snakes. The snakes complied.

"Thank you for freeing us from this place," one of the snakes spoke up as they slithered out. Cass crept towards the pedestal and poured the basilisk venom onto the ring. An eerie black mist burst out of the ring and screamed before exploding. They headed back to Grimmauld Place.

Meanwhile, Remus Lupin was sitting in the Headmaster's office, watching Albus suck on a lemon drop. "As you may know, Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban," Albus said. Remus growled. "As you were once his friend–" Remus growled again. "I was hoping that you might know where he would go. Also, I would like for you to keep a watch on Harry. He lives at Number 4 Privet Drive. And would you like to take the position of the DADA instructor? I'm afraid our last one ran off." Remus responded in the positive to teaching DADA, and Albus popped another lemon drop into his mouth as Remus apparated to Privet Drive.

Remus Lupin looked around at the street. All the houses were identical. He headed towards Number 4 and knocked. An irate Petunia Dursley opened the door. "What?" she snapped.

"I'm here to see your nephew, Harry," Remus said, ignoring Petunia's clucking in disapproval.

"Well, you can check elsewhere. The freak decided to run off with someone. Have fun looking," Petunia said shrilly, and promptly closed the door in Remus' face. Remus panicked. Sirius Black must have taken Harry! Now, if he were Sirius Black where would he go?

Said criminal in question was currently headed towards Grimmauld Place. He had realized that Remus might know about his Uncle Alphard's cabin. But he would never guess that Sirius would go back to Grimmauld Place! To be honest, Sirius didn't want to go back. But he was a criminal on the run. An innocent criminal at that.

He opened the door to Grimmauld Place and promptly shut it. And then opened it again. It wasn't at all like he remembered. There were no house elf heads lining the entry hall, and the ugly troll umbrella stand was gone. The house was painted in a cheery yellow, and there was the sound of laughter echoing throughout the house. Heading right towards Sirius.

Harry and Cass had been in the middle of an Exploding Snap tournament, in which Cass had blown off her eyebrows, when the ward alarms were triggered, showing that someone had entered the house. They headed towards the front hall to find Sirius Black.

Sirius Black was surprised to say the least when two kids tied him up. One had long red hair and was missing her eyebrows, and the other…looked surprisingly like James. "It was Peter Pettigrew!" he shouted, desperately. Hopefully they wouldn't know how to contact the DMLE. "He's missing a finger! He can transform into a rat!" Sirius couldn't help staring at the girl's missing eyebrows.

Cass waved her hand and her eyebrows re-grew. Sirius gaped. Cass and Harry smirked. "You mean Ron Weasley's rat which my pet cat Calypso ate first year?" Sirius just kept gaping.

"Well," said Harry, "it does make sense that he is innocent. If he blasted the street Pettigrew shouldn't have something as big as a finger left." He released Sirius. "Welcome to Grimmauld Place. I'm Harry Potter and this is my best friend, Cassiopeia Black."

Cass stuck her tongue out at Harry. "Call me Cass," she added.

"I'm your father?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"No. My uncle."

"Regulus," Sirius whispered and he collapsed into a chair that Harry conjured. "And Harry, you're my godson." Harry nodded.

"I know," Harry said.

"What have you been up to all these years?" Sirius asked. Harry and Cass launched into the long tale.

Remus was frustrated. Dumbledore's gargoyle wasn't opening to any of the wizarding candy passwords! "LEMON DROPS!" Remus finally shouted, kicking the gargoyle. He unceremoniously tumbled down the stairs and in front of the office door. He didn't bother to brush himself off, and instead headed inside. "He's at his Uncle Alphard's cabin!" he shouted breathlessly.

Dumbledore hummed and sucked on a lemon drop. "Have you considered tidying up, Remus?" Albus asked.

"Albus, I'm serious," Remus said. Albus jumped out of his chair.

"Sirius Black! You must not–" Albus started.

"No! It's just me, Remus. I meant that Sirius is most likely staying at his Uncle Alphard's cabin!" Dumbledore nimbly jumped out of his chair.

"Then I must take some lemon drops with me on this exciting excursion!" Remus started to think that Dumbledore had lost his mind. How was capturing a mass murderer and 'exciting excursion'? Yes, Remus decided. Dumbledore was slowly losing his mind with old age. He still was the leader of the light though. And was a brilliant wizard. Maybe it just had to do with eating to many lemon drops?

They apparated to the cabin. Dumbledore and Remus drew their wands and blasted the door in–to find an empty cabin. Remus Lupin glanced around. "Sirius was definitely here," he said, pointing to the newspaper on the counter dated a week after his escape.

"Aye," said Dumbledore, "an old man's mistake. He must have known that you knew about the cabin. He must be hiding in the forest somewhere. Hopefully he hasn't killed Harry yet. We best be getting back to Hogwarts. School will be starting soon."

"I'll go back to my own place," Remus said, and he dissapparated.

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Cass and Sirius were in the midst of an argument. Sirius wanted to go to school in his animagus form. "But nobody will know it's me!" Sirius argued.

"But it's dangerous!" Cass protested.

"So is breaking out of Azkaban! And being confined to this house for the rest of my life! Really! It's detrimental for my health."

"Look," said Harry, walking into the room, "nobody will know it's him. He'd go insane if he were locked up in the house. And," Harry stressed, "he could teach us to become animagi. Why don't you want Sirius to come? It's not like you're afraid of his animagus form or something?"

Cass stiffened. "I have to go," she said hurriedly, rushing out of the room.

"Do you think she's scared of dogs?" Sirius asked skeptically. Harry shrugged. "Well, there's one way to find out!" Sirius transformed and bounded up the stairs. They hadn't come down for a few minutes, so Harry went upstairs. He found Cass crying in the corner while Sirius was wagging his tail on the opposite side of the room.

"Transform back Sirius," Harry asked, and Sirius transformed. Cass kept crying though. "Maybe you should leave," suggested Harry. Sirius left the room. Cass didn't look as scared, but she was still very upset. "Are you afraid of dogs?" asked Harry. Cass nodded. "Why?"

"I don't want to talk about it," said Cass. And Harry let her be. For the rest of the summer, Cass was constantly jumpy around Sirius, as if he was suddenly going to turn into his dog form. Harry had even christened the animagus form 'Snuffles' for school. This still didn't help. Sirius was upset that his niece was avoiding him intentionally, and was hoping that she'd be less scared around him soon.

Harry and Cass joined Draco in a compartment containing a shabby looking man. Sirius had ridden with the pets due to Cass's fear of dogs, much to his chagrin. "What do you reckon his name is?" Draco asked.

"His initials are RJL. He must be the new professor. I feel sort of sorry for him. He isn't going to last that long," said Cass.

"Yeah," added Draco, "he looks like he could fall apart if a gust of wind hit him." After catching up on each other's summers, they started playing exploding snap. Then the train came to a sudden halt. The lights went off. Harry cupped his hands together and cast a wandless light charm. Ronald Weasley had opened the compartment door and was cowering in the corner.

"Dementors!" he kept saying over and over again. The professor took his time to wake up from his nap, opting to wait for the dementor to press up against the door. "Take Potter!" Ron screeched. "He's Sirius Black in disguise! Please don't take my soul! It isn't my day to die!"

The compartment was filled with a silver film of light as the dementor floated away. "Technically you wouldn't die," Cass announced cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood. Harry could see light tear tracks running down her cheeks though. Harry didn't feel very cheerful either. He had heard someone screaming and saw a flash of green light, and was about to faint when the dementor was warded off.

"Ugh! It's you. I'm getting out of here!" Ron said, running out of the compartment.

"That's the nicest he's ever been!" Draco exclaimed. The professor handed them each a chocolate bar.

"Here," he said, "it will help."

"You're awake!" shrieked Draco. Apparently, Draco was more affected by the dementor than they had thought. The professor nodded.

"You should probably get changed into your robes," the new DADA teacher said, "we'll be reaching Hogwarts soon." The three Slytherins went to the bathrooms to change. The Hogwarts Express had pulled into Hogwarts by that time. The horseless carriages brought them to the castle.

Dumbledore decided to make an announcement. "As Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban, dementors from Azkaban will be placed around the school grounds for your protection. I must warn you that invisibility cloaks and disillusionment charms don't work on dementors. And, without further ado, I would like to present our new DADA instructor, Professor Lupin."

That night, Sirius found himself transported to the Slytherin dorms. Harry and Draco came into the room. "You're in Slytherin!" Sirius shrieked, turning back into human form. Draco screamed.

"Relax Draco, you know he's innocent," Harry said.

"But I wasn't expecting your dog to be him!" Draco said indignantly.

"Hey," said Sirius, "why are you in the Slytherin dorms?"

"He's in Slytherin, stupid," said Draco flatly.

"Draco, I wouldn't call someone who just recently escaped from Azkaban stupid."

"You're in Slytherin," Sirius repeated. Harry nodded. "I need to faint." And Sirius fainted. When he woke up he said, "I'm sorry. I just wasn't expecting…"

"Me to be in Slytherin," Harry finished. "We're just ambitious, not evil. The only reason people in Slytherin followed Voldemort was because they didn't have a choice. They would be considered evil either way. And Slytherin didn't like muggles, yes. But his time period was different. Muggles weren't very sanitary back then, and there was the added bonus that witches and wizards were burnt at the stake." Sirius had a lot to think about.

Remus Lupin glanced towards the Gryffindor table, looking for Harry. He wasn't there. Sirius most likely had him captured. Though it was possible that Harry was just in the hospital wing, and that he'd see him in class tomorrow.

Remus sat in the DADA classroom waiting for the Gryffindors and Slytherins to come in. Honestly, that wasn't very good; Slytherins detested Gryffindors and visa versa. He looked around at the seated class. He spotted the trademark Weasley hair surrounded by two others. Neither of them were Harry.

The Gryffindor girls were talking about the latest fashion and doing each others hair. One of the Slytherin girls was sitting with two Slytherin boys, all of them staring dumbly at the ceiling. Probably Crabbe, Goyle, and Parkinson. Remus had known them in school. Three of the girls were giggling over Witch Weekly. The other three Slytherins weren't there.

Just as class was about to begin, a pretty red-headed girl burst into the classroom. "Sorry I'm late Professor," she said. "My friends are in the hospital wing. They decided to try and learn the Patronus charm, and wound up knocking themselves out." In truth, they had been up the whole night stealing the ingredients for the animagus brewing potion. However, Cass stunk at potions, and Harry, Draco, and Sirius thought it wise to think of a cover up. She would want to help make the potion if she knew. Remus nodded.

"Alright class," he said, "today we will be studying boggarts. Can anyone tell me what a boggart is? Weasley?" Ron had inadvertently raised his hand in the air during one of his exuberant hand gestures. His mouth gaped open.

"Uh," Ron eloquently said.

"Boggarts are a creature that shows your greatest fear. If there are several people in the room the boggart won't know what to turn into. The incantation to get rid of them is Riddikulus," the redheaded girl said.

"Ten points to Slytherin, Miss…" Remus said.

"Black. Cassiopeia Black," Cass said. Remus froze. Cass rolled her eyes. "Daughter of Regulus Black." Remus relaxed a little. Just then, the Malfoy heir burst into the classroom, a boy who resembled James just on his heels.

"Sorry we're late Professor Lupin, we decided to try the Patro–" Draco started.

"I've already heard," said Lupin. "May I see you two after class?" After going over more magical creatures, class was dismissed. Cass gave a glance at her fellow Slytherins and slid out of the room. "What are your names? You are very ambitious. It's not often that someone tries to produce the Patronus charm. I would like to help you, if possible."

"Draco Malfoy," Draco said.

"Harry Potter," Harry said. Remus stared at him.

"You're alive!" Remus exclaimed.

"I'm aware," said Harry dryly.

"But your aunt said that you went off with someone…" Remus trailed off.

"Yes, I did. I left Privet Drive after I got my Hogwarts letter…with my friend Cass." Remus leaned over and hugged Harry. "Do I know you?" Harry asked, trying to escape from Remus' grasp.

"Yes," Remus replied, "I was one of your father's friends. Unfortunately, that traitor Black was among them."

"We should get to Transfiguration. McGonagall will skin us alive if we're late," said Draco.

After the end of lessons that day, a fuming Cass greeted Harry and Draco. "Guess who they haven't exorcized yet?" she said angrily.

"Let me guess," said Draco sarcastically, "Binns."

"Apparently, the ministry is too corrupt to actually send someone out here to exorcize him."

"Hey," said Harry, "I wonder what a basilisk's glare could do to a ghost?" The next day Binns was nowhere to be found. He had gone on to his next great adventure–to bore others with history in the afterlife.

Sirius was very excited to be at Hogwarts. Nobody knew about his animagus form, with the exception of Pettigrew (who was dead), and Lupin (who he didn't know was teaching at Hogwarts as he had never told Harry about their original names, only their nicknames).

Every morning he followed Harry and Draco down to the chamber of secrets to help them prepare the animagus potion. Harry had even offered him the chance to meet Arma. Sirius had no desire to meet a basilisk.

He had decided to follow his godson and Malfoy around the castle. He alternated between days. He didn't follow Cass because he knew she was afraid of dogs. He didn't go to the classes though. On this particular day, he was following Harry. Harry had just gone into the bathroom, so Sirius decided to sneak into the open office near the bathroom. Little did he know that it was the DADA office.

Remus Lupin was grading papers when he saw a black dog come into the room. "Sirius," Remus breathed, grabbing his wand. He grabbed Sirius by the scruff of his fur and bound him with an incarcerous.

"Just what are you doing to Snuffles?" asked Harry coming into the room.

"Your dog is Sirius Black! How come he hasn't murdered you yet?"

"Because he's innocent."

"He's brainwashed your mind. Don't think that what he told you was true." Harry unbound Sirius and he transformed.

"Remus, I didn't do it. Pettigrew was the secret keeper. We switched, I thought that everyone would think it was me, nobody would think of going after the little rat. I confronted him in the street when he started yelling about how I betrayed Lily and James. He cut off his finger and blew up the street, and then transformed into a rat and fled through the sewers," Sirius said. "I swear I am telling the truth on my life."

After Sirius didn't drop down dead, Remus asked, "Then why did you laugh?"

"You know I always laugh when I'm upset." The two of them embraced. "Good to have you back Moony."

"You too Padfoot, you too."

The Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff quidditch game was the new topic going around the school. The Gryffindors had a new seeker: Dennis Creevey. The Ravenclaws were cheering for Hufflepuff, and the Slytherins couldn't care less. Despite the fact that Harry thought quidditch was dangerous, he found himself dragged to the stands by Draco.

Cass was lucky enough to have a seer learning session with Trewalney. Draco and Harry had opted for Ancient Runes, seeing as you had to actually have the gift to be a seer. And even if you were a seer and took Divination it didn't help you learn a thing. The only reason Trewalney taught was because of the prophecy, but nobody knew that but Dumbledore and Snape.

Draco was cheering loudly for the Hufflepuff team, he despised Ron Weasley, and Ron was a Gryffindor. Harry was reading a book on wizarding laws. He was flipping the page when he felt a cold chill slide over him. Dementors. Luckily, the teachers were able to ward them off. Cedric Diggory didn't seem to notice the dementors though. He caught the snitch from right under Dennis' nose.

Hogsmeade weekend quickly approached. Even though Cass and Harry didn't have anyone to sign their permission slips, that didn't stop them from going to Hogsmeade. The snuck in under the invisibility cloak. Draco met them in the Three Broomsticks.

"So, what have you learned from the old bat?" asked Draco.

"I'm learning to sense other people's smaller emotions," replied Cass.

"I wonder what Weasley's thinking?"

"I can't tell what they're thinking, I only know the emotion they are feeling."

"Anyways," said Harry, "we finished the animagus potion."

"What! You guys did it without me!" shrieked Cass.

"Well," said Draco, "you stink at potions."

"I guess I do," said Cass.

That night after dinner, they went down to the chamber to take their animagus revealing potions. They would go into a trance and see the animal that they would become. They each woke up with a splitting headache, the side effect of the animagus potion. "Are you a ferret?" asked Cass teasingly to Draco. Draco gulped. "What are you Harry?"

"I'm a falcon," Harry replied happily. "What about you?"

"Cat," replied Cass.

"Well that explains why you don't like dogs!" Draco exclaimed. Cass bit her lip.

"No, that's not why I'm afraid of dogs. One of my foster homes, they had a dog. My foster parents suspected that the dog had rabies. They were going to take him to the doctor when I did some accidental magic. They forgot about the dog and locked me outside. He bit me. It was only after I collapsed at school that someone realized I had rabies. I was taken to the hospital to be given the vaccine and then put in an orphanage. They weren't able to catch the dog quickly enough–it bit four other people. They all got the vaccine. I've been afraid of dogs ever since. It was a black dog, like Sirius."

"Now we just have to worry about Sirius' reaction to you being a cat!" said Draco, trying to lighten the mood. Cass didn't feel any better. They were heading to the Great Hall when they heard a commotion. They ran towards the sound. A first year student was lying on the grounds just outside of the building. They had been kissed.

Fudge tried to cover up the fact that one of the Hogwarts students had been kissed due to his placing the dementors there, but it got out when the devastated parents gave an interview to Rita Skeeter.

First Year Amanda Martel Kissed at Hogwarts. Is Hogwarts Safe For Your Children? Does Fudge Have Your Best Interests at Heart?

Rita Skeeter

Rita Skeeter, the attractive renowned writer of many riveting front-page stories was surprised to have a requested interview with Nellie and Carl Martel. The reason was soon revealed. Their eleven-year-old daughter, Amanda Martel (see picture in left hand corner), was kissed by a dementor on Sunday evening. Her parents are devastated by the loss.

With further digging it was revealed that the Minister of Magic ordered the dementors to guard Hogwarts from Sirius Black. With some more digging, it turned out that Sirius Black never got a trial. Which raises these questions: Why didn't they just place aurors at Hogwarts? How come Black didn't get a trial? We are still waiting for Fudge's reply.

"We are horrified that Fudge allowed dementors onto school property," said Daniel Greengrass, Head of the Greengrass family, "Daphne and Astoria go to Hogwarts. I do not want to risk my children getting hurt. If the dementors are not pulled from the school immediately, I will be sending my daughters to Beauxbatons. I seriously hope that the Martel's bring up a case in court.

Mass Murderer Sirius Black to be Given a Trial…13 Years Late

Rita Skeeter

The attractive journalist Rita Skeeter, who has punctured many stories with her quill, is ready to tell the full story on Sirius Black. Sirius Orion Black was the eldest son of Orion and Walburga Black. He had a younger brother named Regulus who was in Slytherin. Sirius Black was expected to be a Slytherin, and instead he was placed in Gryffindor. He was friends with Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, and Remus Lupin. He first showed signs of turning to the dark in his fifth year when he tried to kill a fellow student, Severus Snape by feeding him to his werewolf friend Remus Lupin.

The Potters told people that he was made the secret keeper. He apparated in front of muggles and confronted Peter Pettigrew. Peter yelled about betraying Lily and James before Black blew up the street. He was sent to Azkaban without a trial; the aurors snapped his wand immediately.

Cornelius Fudge, Supports You-Know-Who or Dumbledore?

Rita Skeeter

Faithful readers of Rita Skeeter, she is back! The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, was a Slytherin in Hogwarts. Yes, that's right! Your Minister of Magic was in Slytherin! He originally worked for the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes as Junior Minister. In 1990 he was elected the Minister of Magic. He frequently wrote to Albus Dumbledore for advice. However, he supports the pureblood supremacy. He allowed Death Eaters to bribe him so that he would have influence in the vote. So that leads me to ask: Does Fudge have your best interests in heart? Who is he supporting? Leader of the light or leader of the dark?

On a bright Saturday morning, Sirius Black was escorted to the Ministry of Magic for his trial. Ted Tonks was his lawyer due to Andromeda's constant nagging. Amelia of Bones was the judge. Sirius Black was pronounced innocent of all charges after veriteraserum was administered. He was awarded 1,000,000 galleons to compensate for his time in Azkaban. He immediately transferred most of the money to Remus' vault, as he had resigned from Hogwarts after some nasty howlers.

Sirius was granted custody of Harry, Cass, and after presenting some evidence of Draco's abuse, Draco. Draco Malfoy became Draco Black. Narcissa went under protection of the Black family as well. Over all, this was the best school year so far for the trio. You couldn't say the same for Dumbledore though.