Sirius Black—Innocent After Thirteen Years!
Accused murderer, Sirius Black has been found innocent of the crimes he was imprisoned for thirteen years ago. Yesterday, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew attended a trial to determine the fate of both wizards. Pettigrew, supposedly dead at Black's hand, returned to existence and was found in the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Pettigrew has now been sentenced to life in Azkaban prison.
Black was offered anything he liked as payment for his wrong imprisonment. He asked only two things: to adopt his fourteen year old godson, Harry Potter and sign known werewolf, Remus Lupin as Potter's secondary guardian. His requests were granted and Sirius Black and Remus Lupin have gained joint custody of Harry Potter.
"That was fast," Hermione said the next day at breakfast. She, Ron, and Harry were sitting at Gryffindor table and she had just read the article out to them.
"It must not be an article by Rita Skeeter because it's all true," Harry said, eating his toast.
"I bet she won't try to write anything about you anymore, mate, after saying you'll send Sirius after her and now that he's free," Ron said and they laughed.
"Well, she deserved the threat. I'm sick of her watching me like a hawk and trying to get a story out of me about Remus and Sirius," Harry said.
"You'll still have people trying to talk to you about Sirius though. I'm actually waiting for some students to come up to you," Hermione said and they all looked around the Great Hall just to see many students advert their eyes.
Harry rolled his eyes. "People need a new hobby besides getting stuck into my life."
"No one's even talking about the second task anymore. Everything's about this article," Ron said, catching snippets of neighbouring Gryffindor conversations. The other Weasleys were the only ones who weren't enticed by the day's main article.
"Hey, Potter!" a familiar voice called and the trio groaned, rolling their eyes.
"What do you want now, Malfoy?" Harry said, irritated that the Slytherin had come over.
"You are a total disgrace to this world, Potter," Malfoy sneered.
"You haven't failed to point that out before, Malfoy. What brings about the comment this morning?" Harry raised an eyebrow at him.
"This," Malfoy snatched the Daily Prophet from Hermione and threw it at Harry.
"You could have just told me or pointed at the paper instead of throwing it at me," Harry said calmly.
"Adopted by a blood traitor and a half-breed. Revolting," Malfoy spat. Harry just glared at Malfoy, trying to keep his anger under control. He didn't feel like making things explode when the entire student and adult population was in the Hall.
"Harry," he heard Ron mutter low enough that Malfoy couldn't hear. Harry looked at his best friend who looked down the table. Harry followed his gaze and saw the students were looking at their glasses and dishes with wide eyes. All the dishes and glasses in the Great Hall were shaking and the students and staff was looking around for the cause.
"I guess that's the only company you can keep, Potter. Filthy half-breeds and mudbloods," Malfoy leered at him. Harry jumped to his feet and glared at Malfoy so deeply he thought he might incinerate the Slytherin's soul. The sound of shattering glass made both Harry and Malfoy start as they stared up at the staff table and at the neighbouring house tables where glasses had exploded, making a few students scream. Harry glanced quickly at his friends who were looking at him with wide eyes then he grabbed his bag and left the Hall in a rush, desperate to put some distance between himself and the occupants of the Great Hall.
Harry walked through the Entrance Hall and was almost outside when he was thrown against the stone wall. Dazed, Harry looked up and his eyes found Karkaroff looming closer to him with his wand out. Harry stared at Karkaroff with wide eyes, remembering how Sirius had told him Karkaroff had been a Death Eater. Was Karkaroff the one who had put his name in the Goblet of Fire? If he was a Death Eater, he definitely had motive.
"You should not be in this tournament, boy," Karkaroff whispered and pointed his wand at Harry's neck. Somehow Harry knew what was coming and ducked before the Cutting Curse could hit his neck, allowing it to hit his cheek instead, making him gasp loudly in pain.
"Karkaroff!" Sirius yelled and Harry watched as Karkaroff swung around to see Sirius and Remus running off the Grand Staircase. Karkaroff's eyes widened at the sight of Sirius then he took off back for the Great Hall. "Harry, are you okay?" Sirius said as he and Remus ran to their charge.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry nodded.
"Let me see," Remus gently turned Harry's head to look at the thin, red cut that ran the length of his cheekbone and had a single drop of blood beginning to slowly move down his face. "Tergeo," he muttered, cleaning the little bit of blood off Harry's cheek then said, "Episkey."
Harry felt his cheek go hot then it cooled down. "Thanks."
"What happened?" Sirius asked as Harry picked up his bag again and put it on his shoulder.
"Nothing. I left the Great Hall, was going to go outside but Karkaroff stopped me, said I shouldn't be in the tournament, and then sent the Cutting Curse at me. It was supposed to hit my neck but I knew what spell he was going to use so I ducked and it hit my cheek instead," Harry said nonchalantly, shrugging.
"At least we got here when we did. Who knows what Karkaroff might have done," Sirius said and Remus nodded.
"What would he have done though? I mean, with you two here and Dumbledore not far away," Harry said.
"That clearly didn't stop him from trying to cut your throat, kiddo," Sirius said and Harry looked to the floor.
"Come on, pup. Let's—Harry, why are you so warm?" Remus exclaimed as he pulled away from putting his arm around Harry as if he had been burned.
"What do you mean?" Harry frowned, looking at his hands and arms.
"You feel like you're on fire, Harry. Are you sick? Do you have a fever?" Remus asked quickly and put a hand to Harry's forehead.
"I'm not sick. I'm fine," Harry said, still frowning.
"Come on," Remus said, pushing Harry ahead of him.
"Where are we going?" Harry asked.
"Hospital wing," Remus and Sirius said together.
"But I'm fine. I'm not ill. I'm fine," Harry insisted as they continued walking.
"Harry, there's something going on. Your skin is much warmer than is normal," Sirius said earnestly.
"But I feel fine," Harry said as they turned down the corridor and heading for the hospital wing at the end.
"Poppy!" Remus called as they entered the wing. He pointed to a bed and Harry sat down heavily on the nearest one.
"Yes? What is it?" the nurse called back, hurrying out of her office.
"There's something wrong with Harry," Remus said.
"There's nothing wrong with me, Moony," Harry said, glaring at his guardian, or uncle, as he now preferred.
"What is it?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"He's extremely warm. Almost like he has a fever but he's not ill," Remus explained and he and Sirius moved to allow the nurse access to their young Gryffindor.
"Mr. Potter!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed after putting her hand near Harry's.
"What?" Remus and Sirius said, concerned.
"What on earth have you done, Mr. Potter? You drained some of your magic. You overloaded your magic," Madam Pomfrey said.
"How? And what does that have to do with his skin being warm?" Sirius said, looking down at his godson.
"It's rare. Not unheard of but rare," the nurse said. "He hasn't learned to control his magic the way most children do so he overloads. When this happens things out of his control tend to happen. It's usually heard of happening when casting a strong spell or when emotions build up. The different temperature of his skin, the increase in heat, is actually magic. It's the magic that escaped during the overload. Have you ever had things happen, Mr. Potter, that you couldn't really control?"
"Um, well, when I get mad, things tend to explode. Last year I blew up my aunt and just now in the Great Hall I caused a few glasses to shatter," Harry said, looking at all the older wizards.
"What happened in the Great Hall?" Sirius asked.
"Malfoy being a jerk as usual," Harry shrugged, trying to get the topic dropped. "So, can I go now that we figured out why I'm warm?"
"Mr. Potter, sit down," Madam Pomfrey ordered as Harry began to rise to his feet. "This is a dangerous thing."
"Dangerous?" Remus repeated, staring at the nurse.
"Yes. These overloads drain magic. Sometimes it's just minor but sometimes it can be severe, such as your encounter with the Dementors at the Yule Ball or during the second task when you use Ascendio to get out of the lake. I believe we should speak to Professor Dumbledore about this," Madam Pomfrey said and Harry gaped.
"What? No," Harry said quickly.
"Let's go now," Sirius said and the others nodded.
"No, I'm fine. I don't need to see Professor Dumbledore," Harry argued but was pulled to his feet by Sirius and marched out of the wing.
"Harry, stop arguing and just come on," Sirius said, grinning at his godson as he put an arm around Harry's shoulders. Harry huffed in irritation and rolled his eyes.
"Lemon drop," Remus said and the gargoyle jumped aside, allowing them to take the moving spiral staircase up to the headmaster's office. He knocked.
"Come in," they heard Dumbledore say from inside. "Hello. How can I help you?" he said pleasantly when Harry, Remus, Sirius, and Madam Pomfrey entered the office.
"Sir," the nurse said. "It seems Mr. Potter has Veneficus Desparatus. Has the heat around him gone down?" she turned to Remus who put his hand to Harry's cheek then nodded.
"Does he?" Dumbledore said, clasping his hands and looking over them at Harry who shifted uncomfortably. "This is an interesting discovery."
"You're kidding, right?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "This just separates me once again from everyone else. I keep getting further and further away from the line of being normal."
"Harry, it's okay," Sirius said rubbing his godson's back.
"No, it's not," Harry said stubbornly.
"Harry, your friends are not going to care about this. You're still you," Remus told him.
"So, what you're saying, Poppy, is that we need a way for him to be able to watch his magic level?" Dumbledore said, catching the family's attention. It seemed the headmaster and nurse had been having a discussion during their dispute.
"Watch me?" Harry said. "I'm watched enough. Why do I need to be watched more?"
"Not us, Harry. You. We need a way that you can keep an eye on your magic level," Dumbledore told him.
"What are you suggesting, Dumbledore?" Sirius asked.
They watched as Dumbledore opened a drawer on his desk and pulled something out. They eyed it and saw it looked exactly like a watch. "This," the headmaster held it up.
"It looks like a watch," Harry said, thoroughly confused.
"Yes, I'm aware but this monitors a wizard's magic level," Dumbledore nodded.
"You want me to wear that?" Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Yes," Dumbledore nodded again. "It is essential that your magic level is watched. You will notice that on the screen there is simply a number. It's your magic level in percent. If it reaches seventy five percent, it will beep once every forty-five seconds, the blue light will come on, and you must go to Madam Pomfrey to rest and take a potion to help regain your magic. If your magic reaches fifty percent, it will beep once every twenty seconds and the green light will come on. Again, you must go see Madam Pomfrey immediately. Lastly, if your magic reaches twenty percent, which is quite low and very dangerous, it will beep once every five seconds and the red light will come on," he explained the device and handed it to Harry who stared at it.
"What happens as my magic gets lower?" Harry asked curiously.
"You will begin to get weak. The lower it gets, the weaker you will get and longer it will take to recover," Madam Pomfrey told him.
"Do I have to wear this?" Harry asked looking at his headmaster. Dumbledore didn't answer but the look in his eyes was all the confirmation Harry needed, making him sigh.
"Thank you, sir," Remus said. "Come on, pup. Let's go back to the Quarters," he put a hand on Harry's back and guided him out of the headmaster's office, Sirius behind them.
Back in Marauder's Quarters, Harry dropped his bag on the floor and fell onto the sofa heavily. "I don't want to wear this," he said, holding up the magical watch-like device.
"You have to, kiddo. It's to help you," Sirius said as he went into the kitchen to get a drink and Remus sat on the sofa with Harry.
"But everyone will see and know something's wrong," Harry said still staring at the watch in his hands.
"There's nothing wrong, Harry. Besides, they're your friends. They won't care about it," Remus told him.
"Yes they will. They'll see me differently. They'll act different. They'll act like I'm broken. They might even leave because they're scared I'm dangerous. Which, obviously, I am," Harry said bitterly.
"You're not dangerous, pup," Remus said softly. "And if they really are your friends, they'll accept you even with this."
"They can't know," Harry shook his head.
Remus and Sirius shared a look then turned their eyes back to Harry. "There's a spell," Remus said. "It can make something invisible to everyone except the owner of the object. If you want, we can cast the spell on the watch so only you can see it. There's a counter curse to it so that if we need to see it we can."
"Would you?" Harry said quietly, looking up at him.
Remus nodded and put the watch onto Harry's left wrist. He then pulled out his wand and tapped the watch, saying quietly, "Invisible ut totus tamen mihi."
To Harry, it seemed like nothing happened but by his guardians' satisfied looks, he knew it had worked. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Remus said, pulling Harry close.
"So what happened in the Great Hall, kiddo?" Sirius asked.
"Malfoy was being a jerk. The same thing as usual," Harry shrugged.
"Must have been more to cause you to shatter glasses," Sirius said.
"It was the usual. Insulting you two and Ron and Hermione. Saying half-breed, mudblood, and blood traitors. Nothing new," Harry told them. They looked skeptical but Harry didn't elaborate. "Do you think Karkaroff could have put my name in the cup?"
"Why do you ask?" Remus asked.
"I'm thinking of him attacking me. I mean, why would he besides wanting to get me out of first place in the tournament so that Krum could take the lead. Sirius, you said he had been a Death Eater so that would be a reason to put me in a lethal tournament and get angry when it failed to kill me twice," Harry said, looking at them.
"It makes sense but wasn't Karkaroff extremely angry when your name came out of the cup and then Crouch said you had to compete?" Sirius said.
"Yeah," Harry nodded, "but that could have been an act. If he's a Death Eater, he'd have to be good at pretending to be something he's not."
"Very true," Remus agreed. "I'm afraid, as much sense as everything you just said makes, there are many others in these walls who could have put your name in that cup."
"But if we can—" Harry said but Sirius stopped him, saying, "We'll investigate the mystery of who put your name in that cup after the tournament is over."