The entire class was now looking on as if an angel had started to descend from the heavens, rendered oblivious to their earthly milieu and captivated entirely by the supernatural. The flutter of a butterfly might have been audible in the sheer muteness of it all. Even Sirius, their professor and superior, was lost in absolute wonder at what was now occurring before their very eyes.

Just as the dark shrouded mist encapsulated Cyrus and elevated him several feet into the air, he felt a celestial aura rush into his body, as if the creature was breathing a divine sensation of newfound life into his soul, purging him of his worldly fears and terrors. The air now entering his lungs felt refreshingly cold as flashbacks of blissful childhood memories fleeted through his mind, causing a euphoric ambience to suddenly erupt within him. To Cyrus, there was only one word to articulate the feeling within him as the boggart continued to lift him higher and higher– inhuman. It was as if a spirit had entered his soul, enrapturing him and imparting upon him the happiest moment of his young life.

In the spur of a moment, however, he was released from the shrouded mist as Sirius snapped out of his wonderment and banished the boggart back into its trunk while Cyrus gradually descended back to the ground. He almost felt reincarnated now, with a strange energy coursing through his veins as if a great spirit had just baptized him with water straight from the Holy Grail. If it weren't for the entire class staring at him like he were a fallen angel that just rose from the depths of hell, he might have directed his wand at Sirius for interfering in such an angelic experience.

"Everyone!" Sirius shouted hoarsely, his face as pale as a ghost's, "t-that's enough for today! The boggart… doesn't seem to be…uh…behaving right now. Back to your houses! All of you! Or….or wherever your schedule leads you. Go on now!"

With that, the Gryffindors and Slytherins went their separate ways as they hesitantly started back to the castle, every one of them rather confused at what had just happened. The Gryffindors seemed timid and unwilling to say anything at all as they trudged back, while the Slytherins merely started their whispering gossip all over again as they followed Cyrus to wherever he intended on going, few of them fully understanding what had just actually happened.

BREAK…

Albus Dumbledore tirelessly grasped his forehead and began to trace the wrinkles of age gradually carved by the tribulations of his time with coarse and steady fingers, desperately attempting to understand what a frantic Minverva McGonagall had just told him. Of course, he had certainly heard of Cyrus Black before. In fact, he was well informed of the boy's growing legend in dark circles. Yet, it wasn't until just now that he truly believed that the announcement of a Slytherin heir years ago was anything other than a publicity stunt meant to rally the post-war remnants of dark wizarding England. After all, Severus had always claimed that the Malfoys and Blacks had greatly exaggerated the boy's abilities, which had made perfect sense to him at the time.

Still, if what Minerva told him was true…

"Albus!" Sirius' voice reverberated up the stone-laden stairwell before he appeared before the headmaster in a rather similar state of being that he just witnessed Minerva in.

Groaning, Dumbledore tore his half-moon spectacles from his eyes in frustration before he gently laid them on his desk.

"It's Cyrus Black! He just –"

Albus closed his eyes in agitation as he lifted a hand to halt his frenzied professor, "I know…I know Sirius," he sighed as if there was some finality in his words, "I don't need to be told again my boy…I may be old… but I promise you my hearing has hardly abandoned me. Minerva must have told me a hundred times already, the boy's a parselmouth."

At once, Sirius stopped his approach toward the headmaster's desk, looking as if an invisible hand had just slapped him out of nowhere.

"A what!?" he roared, obviously even further in shock than he was just a moment ago and hoping to Merlin that he had somehow just misheard the old man.

"A parsel-" Albus stopped mid-sentence, his eyes darting up at the man in a grave manner as his attention was immediately recaptured by Sirius' reaction. "…Do you mean to say that there is…. something else…you wish to tell me about the boy?"

Sirius was wearing a horrid expression. He had been so confident in what he had planned on telling the headmaster, but was now rendered speechless and lost in his own train of thought. There had never been a parselmouth in the Black family before. The boy couldn't possibly...

"Sirius!" Dumbledore nearly shouted in uncharacteristic impatience, clearly worried about the news he was about to be given. "What is it that you wish to tell me?"

Sirius quickly shook his head as he snapped out of his frightful trance. "I….I…" he continued to stutter for a moment before finishing succinctly, "I think I had better sit down Albus…."

There was a brief moment of silence as Sirius lowered himself into a simple gold and red cushioned chair across from Dumbledore's oversized and excessively ornate throne. He didn't really know to begin, as he himself could only guess as to what the reality of the scenario might have been. Nonetheless, Sirius started from the very beginning and articulated the event to the best of his ability in hopes that Dumbledore would have an answer. He found himself sounding like a first year near the end of his description, using diction such as 'whirling black mist' and 'cloud-like,' though he figured an elementary characterization of the boggart would have to suffice, being that no one had ever witnessed one in its natural state before.

As he finished telling the story, Dumbledore's features began to settle into a dreadful countenance. He didn't want to believe what he was hearing from the man, and had he not just heard that the boy was a parselmouth from McGonagall, he might have not believed Sirius at all. Yet, here he sat receiving a torrent of unwelcome and distressing news that had suddenly cascaded upon him so abruptly and in such a blunt nature that he too thought he might faint – just as Minerva did hours ago.

Finding himself bewildered if not confounded at the staggering report just delivered to him by one of his most trusted professors, Albus laid one of his elbows on his desk as he pinched his eyes shut with his hand.

"I must ask something of you Sirius…." Dumbledore let out in a sigh after a full minute of silence, acting as though a favor was the last thing he wanted from the man. "You must-"

"You know as well I that I cannot," Sirius cut in swiftly, almost expecting what was to be asked of him. "If you need someone to keep an eye on him, why don't you offer him private lessons? I'm sure any student would die for the chance-"

"Please, Sirius…" Dumbledore interrupted as a pleading old man might. "If his family were to ever discover that I had become close with the boy they would send him away from here before we knew what happened to him. You know I wouldn't ask this of you unless it was necessary."

Sirius' eyes widened a bit at the headmaster's remark.

"And what of me?" Sirius restrained himself from raising his voice. "Bellatrix, the Malfoys….they would kill me if they discovered that I had anything to do with the boy. Please Albus…I beg you, you cannot ask this of me. Why not Snape? He's Cyrus' godfather after all…"

"I will surely mention this to Severus as well…" Dumbledore replied offhandedly, "but if the child will not confide in his godfather...and apparently he has yet to do so...then you are the only one that has any hope of bonding with him. You share his blood, Sirius. If what I have been told today is true, then we cannot allow him to continue down his current path…So I ask you again. Please Sirius, will you help me?"

Sirius was now looking at the ground as he shook his head in frustration, almost kicking himself for not having anticipated such a request, and not at all willing to completely give in.

"I suppose I will try…to find some way of keeping an eye on him, and I will offer Snape as much support as I can before he drives me totally mad, but I will not…under any circumstance, risk my life in a futile effort to bond with this child Albus. His family is too dangerous… I would know."

And with that, Sirius turned on his heel in anger and headed back towards the stairwell he ascended from, not allowing Dumbledore much more than another deep sigh as he left... avoiding a lengthier discussion that could quite possibly put him in further danger. He was starting to regret the fact that he had confided in the headmaster at all, as he was now mildly concerned for his future well-being.

BREAK...

It was past midnight in the Slytherin common room as Cyrus, Pansy, Draco, Daphne, and Blaise huddled around a crackling fire place to keep warm in the drafty dungeons, their eyes intently focused on the Slytherin heir as he had just finished telling them what he discovered just a few days ago. The Slytherin quarters had always been an intimate and cozy setting to Cyrus with the rich emerald carpeting and the plush silver and green furniture neatly arranged throughout the spacious chamber, and he figured it to be the perfect place for a quick meeting that had just evolved into an hour long discourse over their future schemes.

Not a single one of them had ever heard of a Lord Tyranicus - much to Cyrus' disappointment - yet they were all eager to research this mysterious figure now that they were all aware that the new Slytherin heir might also be an heir to such an ancient and powerful sorcerer. Every one of them were spouting out cleverly devised yet improbable strategies on how they might obtain such archaic and obscure data concerning the first dark lord of the magical world. After a few moments, however, Cyrus interrupted them.

"These are all...uh...great ideas guys...but right now we need to focus on one step at a time. And I know this might sound...naive'...but we should probably start in the restricted section in the library. They might not have much on him, but they probably have enough to point us in the right direction. And right now we aren't even sure where to begin our search."

At saying this, everyone's anxious expressions evolved into one of weariness, clearly startled by the idea. Cyrus already knew that it was likely because his plan was the only one to put them directly at risk, but was unsure of how to approach them without either pleading his case or intimidating them. Suddenly though, as it was obvious no one wanted to go through with the plan, Pansy stood up and began to speak to them as a stern and yet ashamed mother might.

"Honestly," she exasperated, "are all of you such cowards that you will not even risk detention over something as important as this? Slytherin's heir asks you to take a quick trip to the restricted section and you cower in fear?! Amazing..." she added in finality as she sat down next to Cyrus, who was sitting on a cushioned stool hardly large enough for two.

"You mustn't ask me twice Cyrus...I'm going with you," Pansy added as she scooted as close as she could to him.

Cyrus found it rather odd - if not awkward - that she was now sitting with him on his stool instead of the perfectly comfortable armchair she had stood up from, yet he was also too impressed with her to think much of it. Even if for a fleeting moment, she quickly reminded him of his aunt - and practically second mother - Bellatrix. He hadn't really noticed it until now, but she too possessed the same zealous and domineering disposition that no one dared to cross.

It must had been a full twenty seconds before Cyrus snapped out of his mild shock, but he finally managed to get out a sincere "Thank you, Pansy," before Draco cut in.

"I'm with you too brother," he said reluctantly. "But if father finds out that we were actually caught during our first week of school -"

"He won't," Pansy quickly cut it. "Do you not believe that your brother is capable of -"

"Of course I do!" Draco interrupted, clearly agitated with Pansy. "I just...well...I don't know...never mind I guess...," he trailed off before looking at Cyrus and finishing in a more genuine tone, "I'm in."

It took a few more moments of silence before everyone nodded and followed suit, verbally concurring with Draco and Pansy with a simple, "I'm in."

It was only a few minutes after agreeing to meet at the same time and place the very next night when they all departed for their bed chambers, Cyrus promising that he would stay up all night to try and figure out a way to conceal them all. Just as they were getting up and walking off though, Pansy stayed put, gazing at the dying embers as everyone neared their respective stairwells.

"Cyrus!" she called out,"...Do you have a minute?"

Looking back over towards the sitting area, Cyrus gestured for Draco and Theodore to go on without him and curiously traced his steps back towards the girl that had so willingly stood up for him just moments ago.

"What is it Pansy?" he asked courteously.

Waiting until the room was vacated, she gently sauntered towards Cyrus until she was within inches of his body, confidently yet enigmatically gazing into the fathomless depths of his dazzling emerald eyes. It was as if she were trying to uncover something deeper and more profound about the boy. Then, within a heartbeat's notice she smiled with a tenderness she had never before displayed, looking as though she had just discovered what she was looking for, something that she somehow knew had to be pried from the remote and unexplored regions of the boy's soul.

Cyrus seemed untroubled by Pansy and peered back into her own eyes with the same fervor and zest she was now relishing in, examining her features as if they reflected something more significant than the superficial. To him, her eyes were unadulterated and pure, strangely unaffected by the flickering embers of the room or the sinful nature buried in each of them. Her smile was impossibly unblemished and uncorrupted of the worldly influences around them; her lips surely more pristine and unstained of mortal imperfection than any other. Mesmerized, Cyrus briefly wondered if these angelic attributes could run deeper than mere flesh. Whatever the answer, he knew this was a rare moment of deep and mutually shared affection.

Pansy lifted her hand and fondly brushed Cyrus' raven hair from his forehead, revealing the mystical scar that had remained such an enigma throughout his life.

"My mother used to tell me..." Pansy began with a soft and eloquent voice , "there are those of us born of this earth...and those of us born of the stars. Why is it that you sometimes act so plainly and unsure...when you are so clearly marked by greatness?"

Cyrus was left dumbfounded at her words, speechless and unable to respond to such a statement. However, she apparently did not expect any such reply as she leaned over and allowed her lips to caress his fire-lit cheek, transmitting a warmth and riveting energy that Cyrus had never quite experienced before - reminding him of how the boggart made him feel earlier in the day.

"Will you allow me to come with you tonight? If you are going to study... then I want to help you."

Again, Cyrus was rendered dumbstruck and inarticulate. He had been left frozen by all of her unanticipated advances, and this was surely a request that he could not consent to...as his personal study was not his, but Lord Voldemort's. Before he could deny her though, his familiar spoke up.

"Thisss youngling can be trusssted massster. Embrace her..." is all that Sevins had to say, knowing it to be encouragement enough for a boy that lacked true companionship.

At hearing these words, Cyrus lifted his eyes at once and looked back at Pansy before hesitantly nodding his head, remaining unsure of what to say but now confident in his newfound feelings for this girl.