Bonjour, mes amis! *Conspirational whisper-its bon soir actually, down here in India* Anyways, I'm so sorry for this late update. But I hope this chapter satisfies your never-ending need for good literature! Thanks for the lovin', all you guys-and gals! 333 you'll have NO IDEA how happy I become when my story is appreciated!

D isclaimer: NO, don't even make the mistake of thinking I'm J K Rowling! I'm a normal kid like all of you'll (maybe)

"Today is DEFINITELY not my day!" said Harry, scowling. He flung his satchel on the soft grass a tad too roughly. The satchel, already old and worn out, gave up its battle of staying together, and burst open, spewing books, quills and other random stuff he didn't know was in it everywhere. "Neither is it the satchel's" he added as an afterthought.

Leaving the torn satchel as it was, he made his way to the shores of the lake. He remembered coming across it in a skiff, the first time he set foot in Hogwarts. He smiled fondly as he remembered the fun he had in the first year.

He was brought out of his reverie by more memories-harsher and more recent ones, this time. He had given Hermione the features of a mongoose in Transfiguration, purely by mistake. She had slapped him, and then rushed to the hospital wing when she found out she couldn't do anything about it, clever as she was. 'I'm sorry! It was a mistake! I'm really, really sorry!' he had cried out after her, as she went, tears running down her now-furry face.

He had hoped the charms class would be better. But it had been worse. He had cast a Colour-changing Charm on what he thought was a pillow. But, Professor Flitwick, who had come to ask about Hermione, his star student, had received the full effects of the Charm. He turned a sunset orange, and then burgundy, then an atrocious shade of blue, setting the whole class into fits of laughter. "Ten points from Gryffindor! See if that makes you laugh now!" Harry felt the glares of the Gryffindor students on him. His ears turned crimson from shame, the same shade the dwarfish Charms Professor was at that moment. He cast another charm, making him back to normal. "And detention for you, young man Potter! Here at 11 am, Saturday! Class dismissed!"

Potions...he didn't even want to think about it (it involves an explosion, with wrongly chopped dragon-root jelly, and Snape getting angry. Very, very angry.)

He felt like he had hit an all-time low.

Unwrapping his sandwich from its wrappings, he began to nibble at it. He suddenly froze, the sandwich midway to his mouth. A shaggy, black shape was approaching him at the speed of lightning.

"Oof!" was the only sound that came out of his mouth, as all the air was pushed out his lungs. A huge dog was on top of him, licking his cheek like Harry was his most favourite person in the whole world.

"Hey Harry! Remember me!?"

Memories clicked into place as Harry looked at the dog in front of him. "You're the dog who said I was special."

"You can think of it that way," the dog replied in a bark, slightly dejected. "Hey, I'm hungry! Do you mind if I eat that sandwich in your hand? You don't look like you're going to eat it yourself."

"Bon appétit." Before Harry could place the sandwich in front of the dog, it had eaten it straight from his hand.

"Dee-licious! So, what's up with the whole 'I'm –a-saddo' aura?"

"I am not a saddo! And I DON'T RADIATE AN AURA!" Harry spoke testily.

The dog appeared to raise an eyebrow. "Really? Isn't there SOMETHING you want to tell me?"

"NO!"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures! AQUARINA!"

"Oi! No need to shout so much, Doggy!" A voice shouted from the lake. It sounded like a punched mermaid.

"We have the new Beastmaster here with us. He's hiding something. Harry, this is Aquarina, ruler of all things in the lake. Aquarina, this is Harry, the new Beastmaster. Aquarina is a certified Reader. And since you are not telling us anything, she'll have to read your mind."

"There's one problem: I can't read minds through different mediums. So Harry will have to jump in. Harry, dear, could you utter the spell 'Agua Resparo' in Pisitounge?"

"Pisitounge? What's that?" asked Harry, baffled. He was also speaking like a punched mermaid.

"Universal Fish Lingo. Just say it, Harry."

"Agua Resparo!" Harry suddenly felt the overwhelming need to jump into the lake, like he was choking. He tore off his clothes and jumped into the lake.

It was dark inside. "Lumos," Harry muttered, surprised that he could talk normally. What he saw next took him aback and filled him with surprise, fear and wonder of Mother Nature.

A huge eye was in front of him, inspecting him. And what an eye it was! It was as huge as the Weasleys' Ford Angelina. The iris was a pretty amber, the sclera tinted with silver. It was beautiful, yet it filled Harry with fear.

"No need to freak out, dear. I'm Aquarina, giant squid and the ruler of all things in this lake. Let your mind open now. I shall see what's wrong."

Harry felt soft tendrils probing into his mind, curious, gentle. He did not bar them, letting them into his mind, letting them see what the problem was.

They drew away after a few minutes. "You've had a bad day in school, right? There's no need to mope about like a saddo. You'll have good days and bad days throughout your life. It's all right to make mistakes, as long as they can be rectified later. Your friend Hermione won't look like a mongoose for her entire life. The Charms professor won't keep changing colour. And there's a limit to how angry Snape can be at one time. So chill. It may be hard for a few days, but it will be all right. And the detention will be over before you know it!"

"You've made me feel better already! Thanks Aquarina! But I must be going now. My friends might be worried for me."

He felt the need to get back to the shore as the spell wore off. He quickly swam and emerged from the lake. He summoned a towel and repaired his torn clothes before wearing them.

His eyes widened as he saw a man, lying in place of the dog, basking in the sunlight. He was an acrocomic, with wavy brown hair that reached to his shoulders. He looked like royalty, yet his eyes had a friendly twinkle. He looked...familiar.

"Wotcher, Harry. How was the swim? Did you like Aquarina? She may be bit of a mother hen, but she is friendly. Very. Whoa, Harry what's gotten into you?"

"Sirius Black." A wave of red-hot anger hit Harry. He pointed his wand at him. "You led Voldemort to my parents, watched as he killed them, and denied me the right to a family. What do you want now? Is not letting my parents die enough?"

"I can explain, Harry..."

"Stupefy!" Harry shouted. Sirius deflected the spell with a simple "Protegeo."

"Harry, Harry, listen to me. I did not lead Voldemort to your parents. I wish...I wish I held on to the secret password. I wish I was still the secret keeper. I wish..." Sirius could not say more. He turned into that familiar black dog and ran back into the bushes nearby."Let this be our little secret, Harry."

Harry watched, confused. 'What do I do now? Should I keep this meeting a secret? I think I should. Nobody would believe me if I said I talked to a giant squid because Sirius Black, morphed as a dog, whom I had befriended, told me to. Everyone would think I was bananas. Except for Hermione, maybe.'

B ending to pick up his satchel, he got a pleasant surprise. Not only was it repaired, but also there was a box of Chocolate Frogs in it. Shouldering his satchel, he made his way to the hospital wing.

Like it? Like it? Tell me if it needs something, what you'll want to see, ... Please review. I am a human too, who needs a dose of happiness, now and then

Aayu10 out!