Harry's summer had gone well until the news of the breakout of several of Voldemort's followers from the first war. Sirius Black, widely regarded as the most dangerous man alive, had stunned a guard and freed his fellow prisoners, who were only slightly less dangerous. Bellatrix Lestrange, who had tortured a family into insanity, and Antonin Dolohov, one of Voldemort's duelling powerhouses, had escaped among other Death Eaters. Harry and Jason were sat at the table the day after the breakout and told all about their family's history with Black, including the fact that he was Harry's godfather. Remus Lupin, the man who had shown Harry around Diagon Alley for the first time, was Jason's godfather. He came to visit the Potters on occasion, though Harry did not interact very much with him. They were told about Black's status as an Animagus, as was the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The two adults ensured Harry and Jason that Hogwarts and Hogsmeade were the safest places imaginable, and so had no reservations about letting them go. However, they became more worried about Harry's ties to people like Theo Nott, whose father had been locked in Azkaban with Black, though they did not voice this openly to Harry.
The rest of the summer passed as it had normally, but with more tension in the air than previously. The students were no longer allowed to roam Diagon Alley by themselves, much to the annoyance of Harry and his friends. As quickly as summer had come, it was over, and the magical students of Hogwarts were boarding the scarlet engine that would take them to the castle. On the way to the school, many students stopped by the compartment where Harry and his friends sat to ask whether or not the IHSO would continue, which Harry enthusiastically affirmed. Harry had big plans for the IHSO, though he had not revealed them to anyone yet. He had continued to teach his friends wandless magic, though they had yet to teach the other members of the IHSO, though Harry thought he might do so at an older age. However, he told his friends now of his most recent plans. Harry had noted that there were many more people at Hogwarts who wished to participate in Quidditch but could not due to the talent of a select few of each House, and therefore wished to instead form their own Quidditch league with many more teams. His friends seemed surprised at the idea, but thought it was a great one, as many more people could participate in magical Britain's biggest sport.
They arrived at the castle, and each House separated to their tables to welcome the new first-years. Each House naturally still had its competitive spirit and cheered loudly for each new first-year that was Sorted into their House. The Houses were like family, after all, and they weren't to be dismissed entirely. As the feast finished, all the students left to their common rooms, chattering happily. That year, Ginny had decided to share a room with her yearmates rather than staying with the older girls, so Daphne and Tracey said their goodbyes to the rest as they approached their room.
A routine was quickly established again, everything very much as it was the previous years. The first-years quickly learned that they did not need to attend Lockhart's lessons so long as they attended the lessons provided by the Inter-House Study Organization, which most of them did. The big news of the first week was that Harry Potter, the almost legendary Slytherin Seeker, had plans to resign from the team to form an unofficial IHSO Quidditch league. The idea was quickly supported by many of the current Hogwarts Quidditch players, a group which included all four current Quidditch captains, and gained immense support from a base of students who wished to play Quidditch but were deemed not good enough for their House teams. With all the support, the unofficial league was announced within the week, and resignations from House teams started in waves. Hufflepuff captain Cedric Diggory was the first captain to withdraw his position, and following this, everyone on the Quidditch teams bar three players resigned. Gryffindor Seeker Jason Potter was, as expected, unwilling to resign, and was made the de facto captain, as he was the only player remaining. In addition to this, a Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw player had also refused to resign, and thus new teams for each House were being drafted, and a new Slytherin captain was to be selected to begin tryouts. The new Inter-House Quidditch League's rules were posted the day after, along with sign-ups for the league, with a statement stating that team captains would be chosen in the next week, the number of captains being determined by how many people signed up. Its most important rule, however, was that a team could consist of members of different Houses, and need not be separated. The new league was all that was talked about for the next week, but despite that, each House had managed just enough support to reform their teams.
At the end of the week, the entire castle seemed to sit in anticipation of the announcement of the Quidditch captains. Soon, the announcement went up, and everyone crowded around it in their common rooms. There had been around 100 people who signed up, which was somewhere around a third of the school. The players were to be divided into 10 teams of seven plus three reserves per team, to be chosen by draft after a general tryout. Each of the four original Quidditch captains were made captains, those being Adrian Pucey for Slytherin, Oliver Wood for Gryffindor, Cedric Diggory for Hufflepuff, and Roger Davies for Ravenclaw. The other six captain slots were then filled by Graham Montague (Slytherin), Alicia Spinnet (Gryffindor), Cho Chang (Ravenclaw), Heidi Macavoy (Hufflepuff), and Fred Weasley (Gryffindor). The general tryout was scheduled to be in two weeks, and then the teams would be chosen by the captains and released in a similar manner as to how the captains' names had been released. The teachers of course had heard of this newfound league, but there were no rules against recreational Quidditch matches and by extension no rules against an informal Quidditch league. However, to the teachers' great irritation, all the students could talk about in the coming weeks was the IHSO and its Quidditch league. The name Harry Potter was often heard in the hushed whispers of conversation, and had soon been elevated to a legendary status within the school, despite the fact that he was only a third-year.
Things were going very well for Harry, and he wasn't immune to the hype of the new Quidditch league. Harry, though he had been part of the committee who chose the captains, had declined the captaincy himself, wishing it to go to older students. He therefore had no idea which team he was to be drafted on, but knew that he was a heavy favorite to be first pick. The only reason that he was not the clear favorite was the diminished importance of the Snitch in the game. All of the leaders of the league had jointly agreed that the Snitch in modern Quidditch was far too valuable, particularly for school games, and had for that reason downgraded it to a one hundred point catch from 150. While this did not seem to make an extraordinary difference, Quidditch often boiled down to those extra fifty points, and while having a good Seeker was important, they hoped it would balance the teams far more this way.
The day finally came for the tryout, and everyone flew their best under the watchful eye of the captains. That evening, a poster went out, proudly displaying the names and rosters of the new Quidditch teams. They had all been named for gemstones, and Harry could now proudly claim to be a part of Heidi Macavoy's Emerald team. As it turned out, he had been the first pick, as the paper also displayed each team's first pick. Harry was not surprised to see that Fred Weasley's Ruby team had picked George Weasley first round. Another top contender for first pick, former Gryffindor Chaser Katie Bell, had been quickly snatched by Cho Chang's Sapphires. Harry's new Emerald teammates were from a variety of Houses. Grant Page, the former Ravenclaw Keeper, was the only other Hogwarts Quidditch veteran on the team aside from Harry and Heidi, the captain. Victoria Jackson from Gryffindor and Raj Patil of Ravenclaw rounded out the Chaser lineup with Macavoy, and Theo Nott and Liam Beckett of Hufflepuff were drafted as the starting Beaters. Harry was looking forward to his time with the Emerald team, especially when he saw that he would be playing with Theo. Their first practice was soon after, and everyone, including the three reserve players, Hestia Stevens from Hufflepuff, Ricky Harbinger from Ravenclaw, and Claire Ashwood from Slytherin, enjoyed it greatly. The reserves began learning more of each position, in case they had to stand in in an emergency or play as a substitute. There would be many more games in this league, with each team playing one another twice for a total of 18 games a team before playoffs. The first game of the season was to be in a week, with another four games happening the same day. The Emerald team was to open against Cedric Diggory's Opal team, which became the talk of the castle along with the lessons of the IHSO itself.
The day of the game came, and Harry trudged into the Great Hall in his green Emerald team jacket. The other players who were playing today were wearing a myriad of jackets, too. Harry spotted a few of the almost purple Amethyst jackets, deep blue Sapphires, the red Rubies, and the white jackets of their Opal opponents. Harry laughed out loud at the anger visible on Jason's face. Almost everyone had a scarf or hat in the color of their favorite team, but he was still stubbornly wearing red and gold. After breakfast, the students ran out to the pitch, and all cheered wildly as Lee Jordan began his usual commentary. Harry looked around and saw Daphne and saw Daphne in the stands, wearing green in support of her two friends. Daphne caught his eye and smiled at him shyly. Blaise and Tracey both wore the yellow of Oliver Wood's Topaz team, as Tracey was on that team and would play later in the day, and Ginny wore the red of her brother's team, onto which she had been drafted. Hermione couldn't decide whom to support and simply wore all of the colors.
"Welcome to the inaugural match of the Inter-House Quidditch League! To open the league, we have the Emerald team, led by captain Heidi Macavoy, playing against Cedric Diggory's Opal team. And here are the Emeralds! We've got Jackson, Patil, Nott, Beckett, Page, Potter, and captain Macavoy!" The crowd cheered wildly as the green-clad team flew a lap around the pitch. "Early betters have them among the favorites to win the first Cup," Lee continued. "Potter, the star Seeker, was drafted first round and I'm sure we won't be disappointed, but the rest of the team is rumored to be very solid, especially with veteran Macavoy leading the team! And here are the Opals, today's challengers and yet another strong contender for the Cup! We have Rickett, Donahue, Robbins, Larsson, Bole, Crenshaw, and captain Diggory!"
The game began, with Madame Hooch as referee, as she had willingly agreed to oversee as many games as she could. Other than her first-year flying lessons, she had very little to do and was eager to see some more action. The game continued on for some time, with a rather close score. The combination of former Hufflepuff player Anthony Rickett and young Gryffindor Demelza Robbins proved to be deadly, with Casey Donahue scoring many as well. Thanks to Macavoy's training, Raj and Victoria were able to keep up, but only just barely. As the game reached its hour mark, Harry found the Snitch and caught it, bringing the Emeralds to a win by seventy from their thirty point deficit. Both teams retreated to the locker rooms, showered, and changed, and then headed to the stands to watch the next match. Harry was bombarded by people congratulating him in the stands, but eventually got to his friends, who each laughed at his discomfort at his fame. Harry took the open seat between Daphne and Blaise that Tracey had just vacated to play her match, and let out a long sigh in exhaustion.
"You did great," came Daphne's voice from beside him.
"Thanks, Daph," Harry replied simply. Daphne blushed at the nickname. All of her friends used it, as did her sister, but Harry had only recently become comfortable with using nicknames for people who weren't Theo. Harry's eyes were closed as he rested in his seat, and thus once more missed Hermione's smirk in Daphne's direction. Daphne glared in return, just as Harry opened his eyes. He followed her glare to Hermione, an amused expression on his face, though he had no clue what the glare was for.
The Quidditch matches continued throughout the weekend to make for an enjoyable weekend for all of the students, who alternated between homework and watching an ongoing game. The teams proved to be very evenly balanced after the draft, and there were many close games over the course of the weekend. After Sunday, to everyone's surprise, Fred Weasley's Ruby team led the table after their less close game, which they had won 400 to 210 against the Roger Davies-led Obsidian team.
A few mornings later, Harry watched as an owl flew towards him with a letter. In a hasty scrawl, his name was written on an envelope the owl was carrying. As he always did with his mail after Black had escaped, he cast detection spells on the letter before deciding it was at least not deadly to open. Inside, Harry found a letter, and he quietly began to read, eyes furrowing more and more as he scanned the words. He didn't want to believe what was read there, but it made more and more sense the more he read the letter. The sender asked him to be by the Slytherin fireplace late at night, so that he or she might talk to Harry, and intrigued, Harry quickly scrawled a positive response. Then he showed the disquieting words to his friends. If the letter were to be believed, the Dark Lord was not only very much alive, but inside that very castle as Harry spoke. There was no signature, but Harry was certain they would determine the identity by the fireplace in a few days' time.
The days passed quickly, and a feeling of anticipation arose in the six Slytherins as they sat down by the fireplace late at night, waiting for the mystery sender to appear. They all knew it would be a Floo call, and felt safe with that knowledge, as the wards prevented anyone who intended any harm from actually transporting through the fire. At precisely one in the morning, a face appeared in the fire.
"Hello there, wasn't expecting so many of you," said the pleasant voice of a man. "Mind if I hop in to the common room?"
Harry looked around, and they shrugged at one another, knowing that if the man managed it, he meant no harm to them.
"Sure," Harry said skeptically, as he was certain the man had some ulterior motives. The face disappeared, and in its place, the man stepped gracefully out of the fireplace. He was a very handsome man, rather pale with dark hair framing his face in a slightly curly manner, dressed in everyday clothing.
"That's better," the man said. The six were too busy staring at the man in shock with their wands drawn and pointed. After all, it wasn't every day a mass murderer meant no harm to you. Sirius Black, albeit a much younger looking, much less ragged Sirius Black, stood in front of them, grinning happily.
"I read your letter, Mr. Black," Harry said, though he had since put away his wand. There were still five on Black, after all. "As did everyone here. We found it most...intriguing."
"I'm surprised you agreed to meet me at all. After all, what I expressed there isn't exactly popular. And none of that Mr. Black nonsense, call me Sirius."
"Before we get all familiar, Mr. Black, perhaps you would care to explain how you ended up in Azkaban?" Daphne asked coolly.
"Well, to be honest, I'm not quite sure. One evening, I was out at a bar, having a rather grand old time, and when I came home, I fell right asleep. The next morning, the DMLE is knocking down my door and arresting me. I was put on trial afterward, and I was found guilty of murder, and sent to Azkaban."
"So you were drunk and you killed a dude? Veritaserum never lies, Mr. Black," Theo said bitterly.
"Oh, you're Theo's kid, aren't you? A good man, Theo, you look just like him. Anyway, I know I wasn't drunk for sure, in those times getting drunk was a terrible idea, but it didn't mean you couldn't have a drink or two once in a while. And they never used Veritaserum, or they wouldn't have chucked me in. But they saw a memory in the trial, even showed me later, and there I was, on a street on the other side of town, laughing like a raving lunatic after blowing up a street."
The gears had already started turning in Harry's mind, and he said, "So you're saying someone glamoured themselves or used Polyjuice to commit a mass murder and send you to jail?"
Sirius thought about it for a minute, grinned, and replied, "You learn quick."
Harry just shrugged and motioned to Tracey, who handed him a vial. "You won't mind drinking a few drops of this and repeating the story then?"
Sirius smiled, dropped three drops on his tongue, and swallowed it, then repeated everything he had just said. He was greeted at the end of his tale by six faces staring at him with mouths agape, pondering the repercussions of this throughout the wizarding world and recent history.