Harry spent the rest of the Christmas vacation trying to avoid Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Lupin who seemed to have decided that they really wanted to talk to him. He managed to avoid it the first couple of times by pure luck and then started actively looking at the Marauder's Map. The moment he saw anyone around the Gryffindor Portrait, he would jump onto the Firebolt and fly off with the Map firmly in his pocket. He would return only after whichever Professor had been there, left the Gryffindor common-room. Harry had spotted Snape lurking about the Portrait-hole too but he never entered it for some reason.

Harry had felt a bit guilty about avoiding Professor Lupin. He could understand why Professor Lupin wanted to talk with him but, Harry wasn't quite ready to talk about it with anyone. Talking about it with Ginny was more than enough. Besides Harry was sure that the endeavor of the visits must have been only to talk him out of doing something 'stupid'. Though Harry didn't quite know what 'stupid' would entail here. Sirius Black sure had been at the Quidditch practices and the match, would flying now mean being stupid as well.

Harry had also wondered whether he should be even using the Firebolt that had been gifted to him by a traitor and for the very reason why his parents were dead. But then it was a Firebolt and as Ginny put it, 'the Quidditch gods would never forgive him, if he let a Firebolt go waste'.

On New Year's Eve it seemed that the Professors had decided that they wouldn't leave until they had talked with Harry. It was just after breakfast when Harry had spotted the three Professors enter the common-room and it was after lunch-time now and they still hadn't left the common-room. Harry supposed that Professor Dumbledore could simply summoun him to his office and the game could be up anyways.

"What do you think, Gin?"

"To tell you the truth Harry, I can see no reason why you should be avoiding them."

"Yeah, I guess you are actually right." Harry replied and decided to go into the common-room. Harry stuffed the Marauder's Map back into his pockets and jumped onto the Firebolt and headed for the common-room. Harry flew into the common-room and was greeted by a loud scream from Professor McGonagall.

"Hello, Ma'am." Harry said as he jumped off the broomstick. The three Professors were sitting around a table and having tea even as Professor Lupin and Professor Dumbledore were reading all the notes that Harry had drawn up from the enormous dump of papers that he had received. Harry supposed that they found the papers dumped all over his dorm. He guessed that he might as well thank them for cleaning up the mess.

"D—do you fly in like that everytime, Harry?" Professor McGonagall asked.

Harry only raised his eyebrows at that. "You haven't quite seen me take-off from the window, yet. Have you, Ma'am?"

"Why, Potter what do you do?" Professor McGonagall asked. Harry was about to reply when he decided that he was in a playful mood.

"Observe closely." Harry said as he took the Firebolt in his hand walked towards the window, climbed onto the sill and jumped off it with the broom un-mounted and still in his hand. Even as he jumped off he heard Professor McGonagall scream again. A moment later, Harry re-mounted the broom midair and flew in a circle and then came in through the window again this time to be greeted with a white-faced Professor McGonagall.

"Y—you jump out of a window with the broom still in your hands? ARE YOU COMPLETELY CRZAY?"

"Crazy also serves a synonym for passionate, so yes. I am crazy about flying." Harry replied impishly.

"A crazy boy with the fastest broom ever built in his hands. Quite a dangerous combination." Professor Lupin remarked even as Harry noticed a faint smile on his face and Professor Dumbledore was smiling serenely as usual.

"There is nothing safe about flying hundreds of feet in the air whilst perched on a stick of wood either." Harry replied altering Professor Dumbledore's comment from a year ago.

"That is one point that I will concede to you, Harry." Professor Dumbledore said. But Professor McGonagall apparently wasn't finished.

"Do you do this all the time, Potter?" She asked in her normal brisk and professional tone. Harry nodded and so she continued. "YOU DO THIS ALL THE TIME AND NONE OF THE PREFECTS STOP YOU? What are they doing, sleeping?"

"Err…no they tried to stop me but this was the only way we could keep me being the seeker a secret back in first year and it was also casually mentioned that you knew that we were keeping my appointment a secret. So everyone kind of assumed that you knew about me jumping off too and nobody even gives a second glance to it anymore." Harry replied and Professor Dumbledore chuckled heartily and Professor Lupin smiled too.

Professor McGonagall composed herself before speaking again. "You will immediately cease these crazy leaps out of the window or I will be forced to confiscate your broomstick. Is that clear?"

"Crystal clear, Ma'am." Harry replied and he knew that the conversation was going to turn towards some rather issues now.

"This is quite a compilation of facts that you have out together out of hundreds of pages of random information. You don't do anything half-way do you?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"No, I guess that I don't do anything half-way. And I will promise you that I will not stop doing that either." Harry replied confidently and firmly. He knew that implied meaning of that statement wasn't going to be missed by anybody in the room. Harry had practically told them in no uncertain terms that he was not going to back down from his pronouncement of Christmas day. "And I am ready to shake hands on that one too." Harry added almost for effect.

The three Professors exchanged grim looks with each other. It was Professor Dumbledore who spoke up after a few moments. "Harry I must implore you, not to go after him. Sirius Black is very dangerous and in all probability unhinged. I cannot explain to you as to why he hasn't killed you yet but then I cannot claim to be an expert of criminal psychology. He might be waiting for something to happen or really there are innumerable things that we could contemplate about. The imperative thing here is to make sure that you don't do something stupid and foolish."

Harry did not reply but was pointedly staring out of the window practically ignoring the appeal. It was Professor McGonagall who spoke up. "Of course we would need to redefine what doing something stupid and foolish means. No-one after all has tried to fly in a blizzard or underwater or stick a sword down a basilisk's throat." Professor McGonagall proclaimed with sarcasm.

Harry stared at her. Sarcasm from McGonagall was probably rarer than a smile from Snape who had last publicly smiled a year and a half ago. "Are you sure you are Professor McGonagall and not Sna—Professor Snape?" Harry asked with raised eyebrows.

"Harry, the dementors, the aurors and the entire ministry has been unable to find him. There is very little chance that you will find him." Professor Lupin said ignoring Harry's quip.

Harry did not reply but simply raised his eyebrows at that. "I will manage. I somehow end-up accomplishing impossible stuff anyways."

None of the Professors could really come up with a reply to that. "At least promise this Harry that you will not actively search for Sirius Black. I have full faith in the wards of Hogwarts and I can assure you that it will be impossible for him to enter again. But we can't protect you if you go outside the wards and I know for a fact that you have the capacity and the ability to move freely inside and outside the castle at will and undetected."

"I understand Sir and I won't do anything foolish or stupid." Harry replied evenly.

"Do I have your word on that Harry?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

Harry didn't reply immediately. "I finally figured out what I hear when Dementors come near me. Do you know what I hear, Sir?"

"What do you hear, Harry?" Professor Dumbledore asked, clearly quite confused at the question.

"I didn't realize it at first but only a couple of days ago I realized that I had heard the laugh before. It is Voldemort's laughter. Voldemort's laughter as he murdered my parents. His laughter and my mother's screams as she pleaded with him to spare my life. That's the only memory that I have of her." Harry said and the three Professors in the room were looking highly uncomfortable and Professor McGonagall was looking almost nauseous.

"If you hear your mother scream like that and you know that she was in that position only because a man whom she trusted betrayed her, you wouldn't promise anyone anything to anyone either, Sir." Harry replied quietly and then simply got up and started walking towards the stairs that led to the dormitory.

It was almost an entire minute Professors McGonagall spoke up in the common-room. "What do you think, Albus?"

Albus Dumbledore sighed before replying. "In my career as a teacher there have been eight students whose actions I have never managed to foretell or preempt dare I say. Tom Riddle, the four of you;" He said pointing towards Remus Lupin. "The Weasley twins and now Harry. And Very frankly the actions of the rest of the seven put together pale in comparison as compared to Harry's, in school at least. So I am afraid that I can only say that we will have to be prepared to expect the unexpected."

The rest of the school returned back on the 2nd of January and Harry dragged the twins. Ron and Hermione to the common-room after they had went to bed to explain all the developments of the Christmas break. Harry was quite glad that he had insisted that he be allowed to complete the entire story before they asked him any questions because to say that the four were shell-shocked was quite an understatement and their reactions were even more remarkable almost. For the first time ever, the twins were actually speaking out of tandem. Hermione was asking something about the legal-issues and the lack of a trial while Ron was only opening his mouth and then closing it over and over again. Ginny almost burst in laughter at the reactions and Harry had to remind her to look surprised just as the rest them were. It was almost five minutes later that the twins and Hermione quietened down and Ron took the opportunity to finally ask what he was dying to ask for the longest time.

"You got a real FIREBOLT? A REAL FIREBOLT? THE FASTEST BROOM IN THE WORLD?" Ron blurted out at the top of his voice and Harry could only laugh in response and the rest soon joined in too. Nobody noticed a panicked, fat and grey rat scurrying up the dorm-stairs.

The very next day Harry was cornered by Oliver Wood and the rest of the team. Knowing exactly why they were all there, Harry simply got out his Firebolt and held it out to Wood who took it reverently and after an awe-struck inspection passed it to Angelina.

"All-right guys and girls;" Began Wood. "We should probably keep the news that Harry has a Firebolt a secret from the rest of the teams. It would give us that extra-advantage." Wood said as he donned the hat of the tactician.

"I think Harry and thus we have enough advantage already, Oliver." Angelina said. "It is after-all the fastest broom ever and I really don't think that it is going to remain a secret once somebody spots only a scarlet blur flying around the Quidditch stadium." Oliver however insisted on keeping the Firebolt a secret and the rest of the team agreed. Meanwhile the twins spread around the news that Harry had got a Nimbus 2001. That also meant that Harry would have to resort to jumping out of the window again. Harry supposed that he would simply have to keep it a secret from Professor McGonagall.

Classes started again and it seemed that Trelawney was still intent on killing off Harry. She had apparently begun Palmistry and she had informed that Ron's best friend (which would be Harry) had the shortest life-line ever. How she came up with that little information was quite beyond anyone's comprehension. It was Defense against the Dark Arts that Harry was rather anxious about. The twins had Professor Lupin, the first thing after the term started and he had asked them to wait after the class and had talked with them about his 'problem' and thanked them for giving him a chance. And sure enough after the end of the class, Professor Lupin addressed the three.

"Harry, Ron and Miss Granger would you three please wait up for a few minutes. I would like to discuss a few things with you." He said and three simply nodded their heads and waited for the rest of the students to leave the classroom. Professor Lupin then shut the door and pulled up a chair to sit in front of the three.

"Well, I believe I owe the three of you quite a big vote of gratitude. Thank You." Professor Lupin said and then took a deep breath before continuing. "There aren't many people who have looked past my….my being a w—w—werewolf and accepted me inspite of it."

"Thank Hermione, Sir. She is the one who threatened to whip us if we showed any prejudice." Ron joked making Hermione smack Ron's head in response and Professor Lupin laughed. "Plus you are the only good Professor that we have had in the last two years. Quirrel was a stuttering fool and Lockhart was…..well Harry would have probably killed him if he had been conscious when Lockhart pulled his Valentine's Day stunt."

"I also believe that Harry decided to walk out of the class that Severus conducted was because he began teaching about Werewolves. Am I right Harry?" He asked.

"Err…yeah, I suppose so." Harry replied.

"While I more than appreciate the sentiment behind the decision, Harry I am not sure that it was worth all the trouble that ensued." Professor Lupin said evenly.

"It was. Snape was playing out an old school-grudge and that could have damaged your career beyond repair and you know it." Harry replied firmly. "I doubt that he would appreciate it very much if it was revealed to the entire school that he is a former death-eater. People living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones and it's not like you live in a glass-house by choice while he does or did so by choice."

"You do realize that I will be teaching about werewolves too." Professor Lupin remarked and Harry only raised his eyebrows at that.

"And I am sure that you would be slipping in nuggets of information that would point to you being a werewolf." Harry replied dryly.

"Well, I can only say thank you again and I cannot tell you, how much I appreciate it." Professor Lupin said. "Now if you don't mind I would like to talk to Harry in private, please." He said motioning towards Ron and Hermione who promptly got up and left the classroom.

"Well, Harry I don't know how to really start this conversation." Harry supposed that Remus Lupin and not Professor Lupin was now doing the talking. "I tried talking to over the break but you kept avoiding all of us and then of course your reply quite shook me up."

"You could start by telling me, why you decided never to meet me for over 12 years." Harry replied failing to keep the bitterness out of his voice. Remus Lupin almost recoiled at the tone.

"I wanted to but you were at your aunt's and Dumbledore said that your aunt had insisted that no-one from the wizarding world ever come to her house unless it was an absolute emergency." Remus Lupin replied.

"Weren't you supposed to be my guardian considering that my godfather had all but murdered my parents and my godmother had been tortured to insanity?" Harry asked and Lupin's head snapped up.

"H—how do y—you know that?" Remus Lupin asked but he smiled and continued on. "Never mind I should have known that you would know everything." He paused before continuing. "There were more than enough complications, Harry. For starters I am not exactly a very well-off person……."

"My parents had a trust-fund in place to take care of that." Harry interrupted.

"I couldn't have lived off your money, Harry and besides what was I to do every month? What if I had bitten you? I couldn't have provided you a very happy and loving environment. And there are laws against werewolves being guardians." He replied.

"Those laws were passed in 1986. Five whole years after I was orphaned." Harry helpfully added with a frown and Remus Lupin's eyes went as wide as saucers. "I can research whenever I want to, Sir."

Remus Lupin smiled sadly before replying. "It is the truth Harry. Even when James and Lily told me about appointing me as your guardian I had resented it. And after you wee hailed as a hero, law or no law, no one would have accepted it. I will admit that I could have perhaps written to you after you started at Hogwarts as your aunt had made it very clear that no wizards should come anywhere near her house unless it was absolutely necessary; But I could not bring myself to do it. I was afraid as to how you would react to me. I didn't know whether you would reject me or accept me for who I am." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I was devastated that Halloween. You are the only connection that I have left to the people who ever cared for me. The only friends that I had. After 'that' day I was left literally friendless. Three of them dead and the fourth one, a traitor who killed the other three. I don't think that I could have handled your rejection." He finished rather wearily and Harry could almost see the lycanthropy added years in his eyes.

"You could have not told me that you were a werewolf." Harry said only half-heartedly.

Remus Lupin smiled softly before replying. "I don't think that I could have looked at you in the eye while having a personal relationship and tell you about my lycanthropy. When I began teaching, Hagrid spent many an hour trying to convince me that the son of Lily and James would never hold anything against a werewolf but I couldn't work up the courage." Remus Lupin smiled again before continuing. "Though he did warn me that you would probably end-up guessing about me. He was right in every manner. But then………" He left that hanging.

Harry didn't reply immediately as he thought over everything that Remus Lupin had told him. He had always thought that he would be very angry when he came face to face with Lupin's acknowledgment about his connection to him. But Harry found it impossible to be angry with him. Harry could almost feel his pain at the loss of all his friends. Harry couldn't even imagine a situation where he lost any of his fiends. That Halloween would have hurt a lot and probably leave some real deep scars. Add the full moon to it and it really was a recipe for distress and depression. He really couldn't stay angry at Remus Lupin or hold a grudge.

"I would have expected nothing less of you, Harry." Came Ginny's quip, who seemed to have been following the entire conversation.

"So, Professor Lupin how did my parents get together?" Harry enquired with a smile on his face and a moment later Professor Lupin's beamed before quite enthusiastically answering Harry's question.

Harry was quite happy the way things were with Remus Lupin. The two had developed a healthy and pleasant camaraderie out of class. Harry learnt a lot about his parents from him. His mother had apparently hated his father for the first five years but by the end of the last few years they were inseparable and were christened the Star couple of Hogwarts. Of course it also helped that they were the Head Boy and the Head Girl. By the time graduation came by it was absolutely apparent to even blind persons that they were a made-for-each-other couple. Harry enjoyed the talks with Remus Lupin but his relationship with Professor Lupin was as professional as ever. So far they had skipped over the issue of Sirius Black but Harry knew that it was going to pop up in their talks sooner or later.

The rest of Harry's classes were going fine as well. Hagrid had moved on to salamanders and his classes were slowly becoming very popular among students. Though many times Harry had to remind Hagrid that even the seventh year students were a lot smaller and weaker then he was. Snape was being a complete arse in Potions. Harry had thought that perhaps he would tone down his insulting and name in light of the fact that six Gryffindors knew who he really was but as Ron put it, Snape knew that they would in all probability never reveal it to anyone. Harry's and Ginny's Animagus efforts were coming along pretty nicely too. Harry supposed that they had both covered most of the transfiguration portion up to the sixth year but they were still far away from being absolutely perfect in it. So they had also delayed making the Animagus Potion as Harry knew that they would be tempted to try it out and that could be quite dangerous.

A few weeks into the term, Slytherin played Ravenclaw and Slytherin won by a huge margin and took first place on the table. That meant that Gryffindor needed to win their next match against Ravenclaw by a huge margin too. Of course if they simply beat Slytherin in their last match the points wouldn't matter but that didn't stop Wood from increasing the number of practices to four per week but Harry did not mind it as he simply loved flying his new Firebolt.

The only real blip seemed to be Hermione. She was showing signs of tremendous stress barely a couple of weeks into the term. Her immense work-load seemed to be literally breaking her back. Every night, without fail, Hermione was to be seen in a corner of the common room, several tables spread with books, Arithmancy charts, rune dictionaries, diagrams of Muggles lifting heavy objects, and file upon file of extensive notes; she barely spoke to anybody and snapped when she was interrupted. The trio or rather the quartet hardly spent anytime talking or joking around now. They hadn't spent a single minute talking about anything except studies for a long time.

It also did not help that Ron and Hermione's arguments had reached an all together new level and every single argument centered around their pets. Crookshanks it seemed had doubled his efforts to catch Scabbers and Harry was now beginning to believe Ron that the cat had it for Scabbers. The entire thing meant that the exchanges between Ron and Hermione were rather tense and uncomfortable.

A couple of days before the Ravenclaw match, things between Ron and Hermione reached a crescendo. Harry was completing his homework when a strangled yell echoed down the boys' staircase. The whole common room fell silent, staring, petrified, at the entrance. Then came hurried footsteps, growing louder and louder – and then Ron came leaping into view, dragging with him a bed-sheet.

"LOOK!" he bellowed, striding over to Hermione's table.

"LOOK!" he yelled, shaking the sheets in her face.

"Ron, what --?"

"SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS!"

Hermione was leaning away from Ron, looking utterly bewildered. Harry looked down at the sheet Ron was holding. There was something red on it. Something that looked horribly like --

"BLOOD!" Ron yelled into the stunned silence. "HE'S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?"

"N—No," said Hermione in a trembling voice.

Ron threw something down onto Hermione's rune translation. Hermione and Harry leaned forward. Lying on top of the weird, spiky shapes were several long, ginger cat hairs. It seemed that Crookshanks had finally managed to get her prey.

It looked like the end of Ron and Hermione's friendship. Each was so angry with the other that Harry couldn't see how they'd ever make up. Ron was enraged that Hermione had never taken Crookshanks's attempts to eat Scabbers seriously, hadn't bothered to keep a close enough watch on him, and was still trying to pretend that Crookshanks was innocent by suggesting that Ron look for Scabbers under all the boys' beds. Hermione, meanwhile, maintained fiercely that Ron had no proof that Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers, that the ginger hairs might have been there forever, and that Ron had been prejudiced against her cat ever since Crookshanks had landed on Ron's head in the Magical Menagerie.

The day of the Gryffindor v/s Ravenclaw match arrived and for the first time since Harry could remember the team wasn't down at breakfast at an ungodly hour. They still were an entire hour early but it paled in comparison as compared to the last couple of times when they had been down even before the sunrise. However the moment other students started entering the Great Hall Wood lead the team away to the Dressing Rooms. Harry was carrying his broom in a cover as he still hadn't revealed to anybody except a few that he had a Firebolt. It seemed that even the Professors had forgotten that Harry had a Firebolt; of course his other revelations that day were quite stunning to say the least.

Wood spent the rest of the time until the match pacing in the dressing rooms while the rest of the team was being entertained by brainless humour from the twins. Everyone knew that this was a win-win match. If by any chance they lost this one then it would mean that the points would come into play in the last match against Slytherin and they really didn't want that to happen.

Ten minutes before the start Wood stopped pacing and faced up the rest of the team to give his pre-game speech. Wood took a deep breath and then smiled. "We have the Firebolt guys we are going to kill them!" Harry was surprised but the rest of the team cheered loudly as they all got up ready to walk down the tunnel. It seemed that the Firebolt had become the symbol of luck and the rest of the team seemed to draw inspiration from it.

A minute later Harry was standing facing the Ravenclaw seeker, Cho Chang. According to Wood, skill-wise she was better than Malfoy and Diggory but not as good as Harry. Wood still insisted and now everyone except Harry had started believing it too that Harry was International-material and should drop out of school to play in the upcoming Quidditch World Cup.

Chang was also on a Cleansweep which compared to a Firebolt was really a joke. She smiled at Harry as the teams lined up but a moment later she was staring nervously at the Firebolt in Harry's hand. At that precise moment Lee Jordan announced over the megaphone that Harry was to be on a Firebolt and not on a Nimbus 2001. After the announcement Harry could literally hear a pin drop in the stadium and the almost the entire stadium was now watching the broom in his hands and a moment later loud cheers erupted from the Gryffindor stands and Madame Hooch shook herself and started the proceedings.

"Wood, Davies, shake hands," Madam Hooch said briskly, and Wood shook hands with the Ravenclaw Captain who was still staring at the Firebolt in Harry's hand. "Mount your brooms... on my whistle... three -- two -- one --"

Harry kicked off into the air and the Firebolt zoomed higher and faster than any other broom and yet he was not flying at the Firebolt's peak speed; he soared around the stadium and began squinting around for the Snitch and he tuned out the commentary as was his practice.

Harry streaked past Katie in the opposite direction, gazing around for a glint of gold and noticing that Cho Chang was tailing him closely. She was undoubtedly a very good flier -- she kept cutting across him, forcing him to change direction. Harry needed to make sure that she didn't continue to do that. Harry was rounding the Ravenclaw goal when he saw the Snitch close to the ground flitting near one of the Gryffindor goals.

Harry dived and Cho dived after him. He was speeding up, dives were really quite his specialty and he was closing in near the snitch—then a Bludger, hit by one of the Ravenclaw Beaters, came pelting out of nowhere; Harry veered off course, avoiding it by an inch, and in those few, crucial seconds, the Snitch had vanished. But instead of pulling out of the dive Harry continued the dive albeit a lot slowly and at a gentle angle. This obviously confused Cho who thought that Harry could still spot the snitch and she tore off behind him and a few moments later caught-up with him and they both continued hurtling towards the ground rather quickly. As had become his practice a moment before he hit the ground Harry pulled steeply out of the dive and was back in the air. Cho however did not crash into the ground as Alvin and Cedric had, she managed to pull out of the dive but not before the twigs of the broom were dragged along the pitch and were damaged. That meant that her speed was reduced—not considerably, but enough to ensure that she wouldn't be cutting across Harry anymore.

Happy that he could fly around the pitch uninterrupted now, Harry started doing just that.

"Gryffindor leads by eighty points to zero, and look at that Firebolt go! Potter's really putting it through its paces now, see it turn -- Chang's Comet is just no match for it, the Firebolt's precision- balance is really noticeable in these long"

"JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERTISE FIREBOLTS? GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!" Professor McGonagall belted out.

Then Harry saw the snitch. It was glittering way above the field near the Ravenclaw end. Harry accelerated towards it and saw that Cho was doing the same below him. But there was going to be only one winner in that race. Suddenly—

"Oh!" screamed Cho, pointing.

Distracted, Harry looked down.

Three dementors, three tall, black, hooded dementors, were looking up at him.

But Harry wasn't feeling any of the effects that he should have been feeling. Neither the cold nor the screams in his head. Harry was about to draw out his wand when he decided that they were either very poor dementors or was some prank that the Slytherins had come up with. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw some kind of silver bird being shot towards the dementors. He concentrated dead ahead and then zeroed in towards the snitch and a moment later he closed his fingers over the struggling snitch.

Madam Hooch's whistle sounded. Harry turned around in midair and saw six scarlet blurs bearing down on him; next moment, the whole team was hugging him so hard he was nearly pulled off his broom. Down below he could hear the roars of the Gryffindors in the crowd.

"That's my boy!" Wood kept yelling. Alicia, Angelina, and Katie had all kissed Harry; Fred had him in a grip so tight Harry felt as though his head would come off In complete disarray, the team managed to make its way back to the ground. Harry got off his broom and looked up to see a gaggle of Gryffindor supporters sprinting onto the field, Ron in the lead. Before he knew it, he had been engulfed by the cheering crowd.

Harry could also feel Ginny's feelings of enormous joy which was certainly not only due to the victory. "What's up Ginny?"

"Harry! I finally got it." Came Ginny's excited reply.

"Got what?"

"I got a well-defined shape to my Patronus. It was a phoenix. I am sure." Ginny replied.

"Brilliant Ginn………" Harry pulled up in the reply as he began thinking over something that he had read in the theory about Patroni. The shape of the Patroni was defined by something which had a stellar effect on one's life. Harry could understand if his shape had been a phoenix. He was after-all alive only due to Fawkes. But the jaguar was totally unexpected. The phoenix for Ginny too didn't quite make sense. Unless……

"Gin, I think I know what our Animagus forms are going to be."

"Eh...how?" Ginny asked who obviously hadn't quite followed Harry's thoughts.

"I think I might be a jaguar and you might be the phoenix or it could be the other way round too."

"I think that you might just be right." Came Ginny's reply. Harry was about to reply when Fred interrupted him.

"We are having a party! Gryffindor Tower, right now!" Fred exclaimed as Harry was soon enveloped by the tremendously excited and happy Gryffindors. Harry realized that the dementors were sprawled out on the ground. As he went in for a closer look, he realized that they were not dementors at all but the Slytherin team dressed up as dementors.

"Right," said Harry, and feeling happier than he had in ages, he and the rest of the team led the way, still in their scarlet robes, out of the stadium and back up to the castle.

It felt as though they had already won the Quidditch Cup; the party went on all day and well into the night. Ginny was doubly happy as she had finally got a shape on the Patronus. Every few minutes Ginny was sending Harry feelers that they needed to get cracking on the Animagus Potion too. Harry wasn't really sure about it but now that he had some inkling what their forms were going to be he couldn't wait to start either. The twins deputed Harry to get some food from Hogsmeade and Harry gladly consented and returned with armfuls of bottles of butterbeer, pumpkin fizz, and several bags full of Honeydukes sweets.

"How did you do that?" squealed Angelina Johnson as George started throwing Peppermint Toads into the crowd.

"Trade-secret." Was Harry's only reply.

Only one person wasn't joining in the festivities. Hermione, incredibly, was sitting in a corner, attempting to read an enormous book entitled Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles. Harry broke away from the table where Fred and George had started juggling butterbeer bottle and went over to her.

"Did you even come to the match?" he asked her.

"Of course I did," said Hermione in a strangely high-pitched voice, not looking up. "And I'm very glad we won, and I think you did really well, but I need to read this by Monday."

"Come on, Hermione, come and have some food," Harry said, looking over at Ron and wondering whether he was in a good enough mood to bury the hatchet.

"I can't, Harry. I've still got four hundred and twenty-two pages to read!" said Hermione, now sounding slightly hysterical. "Anyway..." She glanced over at Ron too. "He doesn't want me to join in."

There was no arguing with this, as Ron chose that moment to say loudly,

"If Scabbers hadn't just been eaten, he could have had some of those Fudge Flies. He used to really like them --"

Hermione burst into tears. Before Harry could say or do anything, she tucked the enormous book under her arm, and, still sobbing, ran toward the staircase to the girls' dormitories and out of sight.

"Can't you give her a break?" Harry asked Ron quietly.

"No," said Ron flatly. "If she just acted like she was sorry – but she'll never admit she's wrong, Hermione. She's still acting like Scabbers has gone on vacation or something."

"You know the Ron of the breakfast-table wouldn't say so and wouldn't be stuck on such a silly thing." Ginny said as Ron looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Yeah, I guess you are right." Ron replied after a few moments. "I guess that I do owe her an apology over my behaviour."

The Gryffindor party ended only when Professor McGonagall turned up in her tartan dressing gown and hair net at one in the morning, to insist that they all go to bed. Harry and Ron climbed the stairs to their dormitory, still discussing the match. At last, exhausted, Harry climbed into bed and without changing out of his Quidditch robes and the Firebolt still by his side he lay back onto the bed and felt himself go to sleep almost immediately.

Harry was dreaming about two phoenixes flying around when he was suddenly awakened by some random noise in the dormitory. He opened his eyes and realized that it was the noise of the door-closing. He was surprised that the noise woke him up when suddenly the hair on the back of his hair stood-up. Someone was walking very deliberately and slowly into the room. Harry surreptitiously grabbed his glasses and put them on. He could still feel the heavy breathing inside the room. Harry pushed himself up on his bed and tried to peer out of the hangings. There was man inside the room who was currently looking into the hangings over Dean's bed. The man had long hair and also what looked like a beard. Harry froze. It could be only one person. It had to be Sirius Black.

Even as Harry was thinking what he was going to do, Sirius Black reached over Ron's bed and Harry suddenly saw the moonlight glint off what looked very suspiciously as a steel-blade and then heard the slashing of the curtain-drapes. But before Harry could react he heard Ron's scream—"AAARRGGHH! NOOO!"

Harry jumped out of his bed with the wand ready at his side. The man turned around to look at Harry and this time there were no doubts it was indeed Sirius Black. But unbelievably Sirius Black took one long look at Harry and then turned tail and ran out of the room. It took Harry only one moment to decide what he was going to do. A moment later he was dashing down the spiral-staircase. Harry reached the common-room and saw that Black had reached the portrait-hole. This time without a moment's hesitation Harry ran behind him feeling rather glad that he had slept in full robes and with his shoes still on.

Black turned around and cursed as he realized that he was being followed. Harry was wondering whether Black could be going when he realized that Black was making for the marble staircases.

"GINNNY!" Harry mentally screamed out.

"W—what Harry?" She replied after a moments. "And why is there suddenly so much noise in the common-room?"

"Sirius Black is in the castle and I am going after him. He is a few metres ahead of me." Harry replied as he dashed down the Marble Staircases. Every few seconds Black was looking behind and clearly cursing as he saw Harry still pursuing him.

"WHAT! Are you MAD? What if……" Ginny began but Harry interrupted her.

"If he wanted to kill me, he could have done so. Why in the world is he running away from me? And I am not going to give up until I learn a few things. If he kidnaps me or something, I can always tell you."

"But what if he kills you outright?" Came Ginny's panicked question.

"If that's what he really wanted to do……he would have done so till now."

"You still think that he is innocent?"

"No, I don't know anything. I only want answers. Keep listening in and don't panic." Harry sent even as he reached the Great Hall. Harry cursed inwardly. Sirius Black was unbelievably using the front-door to get into the castle. So much about the extra-security. Black was now clearly racing towards the Forest. Harry hoped that he could somehow catch-up because once he got into the Forest it would be game over. But Black was still not inside the range of Harry's wand nor was Black slowing down. Suddenly Harry realized that Black wasn't heading towards the Forest but towards the Whomping Willow and Harry panicked. He knew that there was secret passage right under the Willow that led out of the wards and Black was clearly heading towards it. As Black reached closer Harry saw Black grabbing a long stick and trying to press something near the base of the tree. That gave him enough time to catch-up.

"Stop right there, Black or I swear godson or not I will blow your head to smithereens." Harry said firmly. "I don't think the ministry would mind if I kill the person out to murder me."

Harry was ever ready for Black to turn around with a wand or perhaps throw the knife at him. Harry knew that he hardly knew any offensive spells and now wished that knew some. He remembered only reading about 'Reducto' the curse used to blow things up. But he had never performed it before. Even as he was thinking about it, Sirius Black turned around with a look of slight surprise on his face.

"I don't want to kill you, H—Harry." Sirius Black said in a slow rasping voice. A voice which clearly had not been used in a long time.

"Why? Was your blood-lust satisfied with my parents' murder?" Harry asked with pure venom.

Black clearly recoiled on hearing that. "It was not how it l—looked. I won't deny that I am responsible for their deaths……"

"That's enough for me, Black." Harry said even as he heard barking in the distance. Fang seemed to have picked up the unknown scent. Sirius Black had a look of panic on his face too.

"It wasn't how it looked, Harry. P—please give me a chance to explain……" Sirius Black was quite literally pleading now and Harry decided that he wanted answers.

"Explain then……I have loads of time." Harry said firmly.

"T—they will come here, H—Harry. They must have felt me already. I can't do it here. They will kiss me if they find me." Sirius Black said in a panicked voice. Harry knew that he was talking about the dementors.

"Why should I trust you?" Harry asked. "You have already said that……"

"Please Harry, please let me explain." Sirius Black pleaded. Harry decided that that tone could not be faked.

"What do you think, Ginny?"

"He really sounds genuine but I don't like the entire idea anyways. But he really could have killed you if wanted to."

"Let's go." Harry said. Sirius Black clearly looked relieved as he used the stick to poke a knot at the base of the tree and the tree stopped moving and a tunnel opened up at the base. Sirius Black went into it first and Harry followed him into it a moment later.

Meanwhile it was pandemonium in the common-room. Ron's scream had woken up practically the entire tower. Ron had frozen on spotting Sirius Black and then was surprised beyond belief when Harry actually went after him.

"Black! Sirius Black! With a knife!" Was all that Ron could mutter as he heard someone question him. "And Harry ran after him."

"What?"

"Here! Just now! Slashed the curtains! Woke me up!"

"You sure you weren't dreaming, Ron?" said Dean.

"Look at the curtains! I tell you, he was here!"

They all scrambled out of bed; Ron reached the dormitory door first, and they sprinted back down the staircase. Doors opened behind them, and sleepy voices called after them.

"Who shouted?"

"What're you doing?"

The common room was lit with the glow of the dying fire, still littered with the debris from the party. It was deserted.

"Are you sure you weren't dreaming, Ron?"

"I'm telling you, I saw him!"

"What's all the noise?"

"Professor McGonagall told us to go to bed!"

A few of the girls had come down their staircase, pulling or, dressing gowns and yawning. Boys, too, were reappearing.

"Excellent, are we carrying on?" said Fred Weasley brightly.

"Everyone back upstairs!" said Percy, hurrying into the common room and pinning his Head Boy badge to his pajamas as he spoke. "What are you doing here Ronald? I thought I heard you scream."

Inspite of not wanting to really reply to Percy, Ron knew that he needed to answer the question. "S—Sirius Black broke into o—our dormitory." Ron replied.

The common room went very still.

"And Harry went after him." Ron replied in a low tone but everyone in the Common-Room heard it.

"Now, really, enough's enough!" Professor McGonagall was back. She slammed the portrait behind her as she entered the common room and stared furiously around. "I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous!"

It looked like she wanted to continue but Ron, interrupted her. "Sirius Black broke into out dormitory and Harry woke up and ran down after him."

Professor McGonagall stared at him and then clearly blanched and went very pale. "A—are you sure, Weasley?"

"You can check. My curtains are slashed and Harry isn't here either. I swear Harry practically sprinted after Black." Ron replied firmly.

"Don't be ridiculous, Weasley, how could he possibly have gotten through the portrait hole?" Professor McGonagall was clearly trying not to believe him.

"Ask him." Ron said pointing towards the portrait-hole.

Visibly nervous Professor McGonagall pushed the Portrait back open and went outside. The whole common room listened with bated breath. "Sir Cadgon, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?"

"Certainly, good lady!" cried Sir Cadgon.

There was a stunned silence, both inside and outside the common room.

"Did he leave a few minutes later with Harry Potter in pursuit?" Professor McGonagall asked anxiously.

"Yes, good lady. The valiant Mr. Potter certainly chased after the man." Came the reply.

This time the common-room was frozen into shock. A moment later something silvery was seen outside the portrait-hole.

"W—why did you allow him to enter?" She asked still addressing the portrait.

"He told me the password." Sir Cadgon announced jauntily.

Professor McGonagall came back into the common-room looking sickly pale and flustered.

"We will wait here for a moment. Professor Dumbledore and the others would be here soon." She said to no one on general as she shut the portrait-hole behind her. Five minutes of absolute silence passed in the common-room. Unbelievably nobody uttered a single letter. Everyone was waiting expectantly. About five minutes later foot-steps were heard outside the portrait-hole and a moment later it swung open to reveal Professor Dumbledore, a clearly irritated Snape and Professor Lupin.

They all entered to find Professor McGonagall's wand pointed at them. She let out a breath and lowered it after she saw Professor Dumbledore.

"What is it Minerva? You said that it was an absolute emergency." Professor Dumbledore asked as calmly as ever.

"Black broke into the common-room this time." Professor McGonagall answered and immediately the expressions on the three faces changed dramatically. "He managed to get into the third-year dormitory and woke up Mr. Weasley by mistake. Harry woke up too and according to Mr. Weasley and Sir Cadgon went after Black."

This time the rest of the Professors including Snape blanched. Almost five seconds passed before Professor Dumbledore spoke up again.

"How much time has passed?" He asked in a surprisingly even voice.

"Ten—Fifteen minutes." Ron replied.

"They could be anywhere." Professor Dumbledore muttered. "Search the grounds. There is very little chance that they are still inside the castle. Minerva, please wake up the rest of the Professors too and have them join the search-party. Severus and Remus please wake-up Hagrid and search every corner of the grounds. You will find me there in a few minutes as well."

"Let the brat get his comeuppance for his bighead-ness and arrogance. Why should……" Snape had started to sneer but stopped after receiving a glare from the remaining three Professors.

"Please do not leave the common-room under any circumstance. Percival you are in-charge." Professor Dumbledore said and a moment later all the Professors were out of the common-room and the portrait-hole was shut behind them.

Almost immediately a gaggle of voices broke out but the twins, Ron and Hermione were heading straight up the boy's tower. A minute later the twins had sealed their dorm and were perched around the Marauder's Map looking minutely for any sign of either Harry or Sirius Black. But the grounds did not show any signs of the two.

"Well we always knew that he would go after Sirius Black if an opportunity presented itself." Hermione said after abou five minutes of a futile search. The Weasleys only harrumphed at that.

"Where is Ginny?" Hermione asked after a moment.

"She tends to sleep like a log." Came Ron's terse reply.

Meanwhile Harry had reached the end of the tunnel and had reached an old decrepit house. He looked around and noticed that the windows were all boarded-up and all the furniture around the house lay broken and in pieces.

"Where are we?" He asked after a moment.

"The Shrieking Shack." Sirius Black replied.

"Isn't it supposed to be the most haunted place in Great Britain or something?" He asked.

"No. But we cannot stay here for long." Sirius Black responded. "Once they notice you missing, they are bound to search here."

"We have to go somewhere else if I am to explain you everything." Sirius Black said and Harry was liking it less by the minute.

"I don't like it either." Ginny added.

"I think that if he really meant any malice, he could have done more than enough damage already."

"Why should I trust you anymore Black?" Harry asked plainly.

Sirius Black thought over it for a moment. "I will show you my biggest secret. But I need an oath that you won't tell anyone about it."

"You know that I can't do that." Harry replied.

"My cover will be blown if it gets out. If…."

"I might want to blow that cover myself. You haven't given me any explanation. The only reason I am here is because you didn't receive a trial and somethings don't quite add up." Harry interrupted him. "But if you give me a valid explanation then I promise you that I won't reveal it."

"You might not be a willing participant." Sirius Black said despondently.

"If you are talking about legilimency I think I am some kind of a natural Occlumens. I doubt that even Professor Dumbledore can read my emotions anymore, let alone proper thoughts." Harry replied evenly. Sirius Black was now staring at Harry with eyes as wide as saucers. "Don't be so surprised. If you hear the rest of my story since starting Hogwarts you might never be able to close your eyes again."

For the first time, Harry spotted a ghost of a smile on Sirius Black's face.

"All-right. Here goes nothing." Sirius Black said and a moment later there was a large shaggy dog in place of the man that Harry was looking at. Harry stared in shock at the dog for a few moments and then Harry realized how Sirius Black had been evading all the security and watching him fly of all the things. Sirius Black was an Animagus. He was the big black dog that Harry had been seeing everywhere.

"I think that you can trust him a bit, Harry." Came Ginny's reply.

"All-right let's go." Harry said and the dog morphed back into the man. "How are we going?" Harry asked as Sirius Black drew out a wand from the depths of his tattered robes.

"I will side-apparate you." He replied. "If you don't mind."

"Let's go." Harry replied. Sirius Black cautiously approached Harry and then grabbed his arm and apparated away. Harry felt as if he was being squeezed through a tube and then suddenly the feeling went away and Harry felt cool air around him again. He stumbled but managed to stay on his feet. Harry looked around and realized that he was in a residential area in a big city, probably even London. The grimy fronts of the surrounding houses were not welcoming; some of them had broken windows, glimmering dully in the light fro the streetlamps, paint was peeling from many of the doors and heaps of rubbish lay outside several sets of front steps.

"Where are we?" Harry asked Sirius who was now walking towards what looked like an alley to Harry.

"Number 12, Grimmauld Place. My ancestral house in London. It should be empty." Sirius Black replied. "Now hold my hand and start walking behind me. You might feel the urge to turn around and go away but don't do that. Okay?" Harry nodded, so Sirius Black caught hold of Harry's hand and then started walking towards the alley.

As he neared the start of the alley, Harry could indeed feel a deep compulsion to turn away and go away but he did his best to ignore it and let Sirius Black guide him towards the alley. Then suddenly that feeling went away and an enormous black grimy door materialized in front of him and within moments a three storied house was now visible behind the door. The look of immense surprise must have shown on Harry's face because Sirius Black began explaining.

"My family was very paranoid and set-up some extensive security arrangements. I was kicked out when I was 16 but I hope that the house still recognizes the blood-line." He said and then tapped the snake-head knocker with his wand. Harry heard many loud, metallic clicks and what sounded like the clatter of a chain. The door creaked open.

"Get in quick, Harry," Sirius whispered, "But don't go far inside and don't touch anything. You never know what is cursed."

Harry entered the house and a moment later he heard Sirius Black enter the house too and the door was shut behind him. Harry looked around and realized that there was an inch-thick layer of dust everywhere. It was a dark and grimy house. It looked like a house that would belong to one of Voldemort's cronies.

"The Blacks are traditionally known to be supporters of the Dark Arts." Came Ginny's reply.

"Thanks Gin. That really boosted my confidence." Quipped Harry. Meanwhile Sirius was leading Harry into what looked like a kitchen in the basement. There was dust here too and Sirius waved his wand around and some of the dust disappeared.

"Take a seat, Harry. It is all dirty and grimy but I think that this is the only place where we wouldn't be found out immediately." He replied.

Harry was about to reply when he felt that there was someone else in the room too. He turned around and looked near the door and realized that it was a house-elf, like Dobby. Only this one was very old and looked almost twisted. Before Harry could say anything the house-elf spoke up.

"So, the blood-traitor returns. He is breaking my mistress' heart and now he returns to the Most Noble House of Blacks." He said in a scornful and a voice filled with hatred. The house-elf then turned his gaze towards Harry. "And you is bringing a half-blood with you. Only if………" The house-elf looked like he wanted to say something but then stared deeply at Harry and Harry saw that he was blinking madly and then stared at Harry with eyes as wide as saucers.

"What is going on here?" Sirius Black asked as he looked from Harry to the house-elf.

"The bond Harry. The BOND." Came Ginny's panicked voice. "He recognized the bond."

"Kreacher what is going on here?" Sirius Black asked the house-elf. Harry was about to ask the house-elf Kreacher to not reveal anything to Harry when Kreacher addressed Harry.

"You is having the mark of the purest blood-wizard. Your's blood is as pure as there can be." Kreacher announced and Harry's mouth fell open. As far as he remembered his mother was a muggleborn. "Kreacher is welcoming you to the house of Blacks. Is there anything that Kreacher can do to help you, young Master?"

"Ginny? What exactly is going on?" Harry asked even as he continued to stare at Kreacher.

"I think that the bond made him think that you are pure-blood or something. Maybe the bond makes you legally pureblood or something. I don't know. Just don't let Black know about it." Ginny replied 'mentally'.

Harry looked up to see that Sirius Black had drawn out his wand and was pointing it at Harry. "Who are you? I know it for a fact that Lily was a muggleborn."

Harry looked at Sirius Black and then at Kreacher wondering how exactly he was going to explain anything. "I can assure you that I am Harry Potter. But I can't tell you why this Kreacher considers me to be pure-blood. I might have an idea but I cannot tell you why."

Sirius Black didn't look convinced at all and didn't lower his wand and instead addressed Kreacher. "Why is he a pure-blood? Answer me I am giving you an order."

Kreacher didn't reply and instead gave a hollow-sort of laugh. "Master's order won't work on Kreacher. Kreacher is bound by his magic not to reveal about young Master's secret."

Sirius Black was now looking flabbergasted and looked at Harry with wide-eyes.

"I told you, Sirius. If you learn even half the things that I have done at Hogwarts in two and a half years, your eyes will go so wide that you will never be able to close them again. And frankly coming along with a convicted criminal is believe it or not the least crazy thing that I have done." Harry replied with a smile and then addressed Kreacher.

Sirius Black looked like he was in shock now and took a moment before replying. "All-right Kreacher. Go away now and don't disturb us unless I call you here. Also if anybody comes looking for us, turn them away. That's an order. Is that clear?" Kreacher nodded and then looked at Harry.

"Please don't let anyone in, Kreacher. It is really is imperative that you do that." Harry said. This time Kreacher bowed low and disappeared with a pop. "I believe it's time for some explanations Sirius."

Sirius Black nodded but didn't reply immediately. It looked like he was deciding what he was going to say. "I am practically responsible for the deaths of Lily and James, Harry. I cannot deny that." He said after a moment.

"But?" Harry asked.

"What do you know about that night Harry?" Sirius Black asked.

"We were under the Fidelus Charm and you were the secret-keeper. A week after the charm was performed, Voldemort turned up at my parents' doorstep." Harry replied. Sirius Black looked up at Harry when he heard him say the word 'Voldemort'; he looked surprised that Harry had said it. "Don't look so surprised, Sirius. With bucket-loads of luck and my mum's protection, I have defeated the arse twice after starting Hogwarts. So speaking the name is not a big deal."

This time Sirius Black looked stunned. "B—But isn't he dead?"

"No. He is simply without a body. Anyways we were talking about that night." Harry tried to get the conversation back on track.

"I wasn't the Secret-keeper, Harry." Sirius Black said and this time it was Harry's turn to be stunned.

"That is very interesting." Came Ginny's voice over their link.

"That is rather hard to believe. Everyone from Professor Dumbledore to Professor Lupin has told me that you were the secret-keeper." Harry countered.

"That is where the 'I am responsible for their death' part comes in." Sirius Black said. Harry didn't say anything and Sirius Black took a deep breath before continuing. "I don't know how much you know about my history with James but the fact was that we were closer than simply best friends. We more like brothers. I ran away from this very house after my fifth year and turned up at your grandparents' house; they took me in without a second thought and treated me like a second son. Your Grandmother was more of a mother to me than Walburga Black ever was."

Sirius Black paused at this point and it looked as if he was thinking over something or perhaps remembering something that clearly was very painful. If he was faking it, Sirius Black was clearly a brilliant actor. Sirius Black took another deep breath before continuing.

"Point is, that it was a well-known fact among the death-eaters and well among all the students who ever attended Hogwarts at the same time as we did that James Potter and Sirius Black were inseparable and James would never think twice about trusting me with his, Lily's and your life. Then we knew that there was a spy among us who was supplying information to Voldemort." Sirius Black said and Harry could almost see some tears in his eyes. "So I panicked at the last moment before the Fidelus charm was performed. I suggested to James that we change the secret-keeper clandestinely and he agreed. It was the perfect plan everyone would be searching for me while I wouldn't be the secret-keeper at all."

That sentence hit Harry with the force of a road-train. Sirius Black was not the secret-keeper. This meant that someone else was. It wasn't Professor Dumbledore not was it Professor Lupin. That left….

"Peter Pettigrew." Ginny supplied.

"Peter Pettigrew?" Harry asked Sirius Black and his eyes widened again.

"H—how d—did you guess?" Sirius Black asked with his mouth big enough to swallow a hippogriff.

"Secrets have a tendency of being unraveled in my presence." Harry replied dryly even as the wheels were turning furiously in his head. "So you confronted Peter Pettigrew and killed him in revenge. It wasn't that Peter Pettigrew tracked you down, you tracked him down."

Sirius Black shook his head sadly. "That is only partially correct. I meant to kill Peter all-right but the slimy bastard got better of me that day. A few seconds after I confronted him the ministry wizards started arriving. Peter screamed out to the entire street that I betrayed James and Lily and then blew the street-up killing all those muggles and in that confusion cut his finger and ran away. Everyone presumed that his body was destroyed beyond recognition and he was pronounced dead, I suppose."

"What do you think, Gin?"

Ginny took a couple of moments before replying. "It is an incredulous story but then stranger things have happened. But no proof except Black's word but he does sound genuine. That still does not explain why he took so much time to break out of prison. I suppose he could have done so anytime he wanted with that Animagus form of his."

"I would like to believe you, Sirius. I hate the very idea that my father's best friend would betray him." Harry paused before continuing. "But I need proof. Right now it is only your word against that of many others. Also your explanation throws up fifteen other questions. Why didn't you ever mention this to anyone before? Why did you break out of Azkaban after twelve years? Too many loose ends, Sirius."

Sirius did not reply but put his hands inside his robes and drew out a piece of what looked like a newspaper. "I want to but cannot explain you everything. But when you go back tell Remus Lupin that he has permission from me to reveal everything about Marauders." Sirius Black said solemnly and handed him the piece of paper.

It was the picture of the Weasleys pictured against the fake backdrop of the Pyramids. Harry took it in surprise and looked at it. It was from the Daily Prophet.

"Ginny any idea what this is all about?" Harry asked.

"Nope. But this is interesting, describe the picture." Ginny said.

"Well the backdrop of the Pyramids is fake." Harry began. "Then all nine of you Weasleys are in the picture. Also Errol is on your dad's shoulders and Hermes is on Percy's. Scabbers in Ron's hands. I can't spot anything out of the normal." Harry said in resignation as he went through the picture once more. Then suddenly inspiration struck.

"Ginny! Animagi! What if Scabbers was an Animagi? Sirius surely is. What if the rest of the Marauders were Animagi too? Maybe my dad was an Animagus too." Harry asked excitedly.

"I don't know Harry. There have been 7-registered Animagi in the last century." She paused before continuing. "But then Sirius Black wasn't on that list and there is no way in hell that he managed to achieve that skill in Azkaban. Besides Scabbers is dead, remember?"

"BLOODY HELL!" Harry blurted out. "Don't tell me that Peter Pettigrew was a rat…."

"I can tell you now that he certainly was." Sirius Black said excitedly. "We had all taken an oath not to reveal it to anyone without the permission of a minimum of two Marauders or unless someone guessed it or saw us in the Animagus-form. I saw the photo and realized that I had seen that rat so many times and to top it off there was a toe missing from his fore-legs…." Sirius began but Harry interrupted him.

"Scabbers the rat in the photo is dead, Sirius. Crookshanks ate him." Harry said solemnly.

Sirius Black's eyes went wide and then Harry could literally see the brightness that was seemingly being built up in his eyes simply disappear and the eyes started looking hollow and dead again.

"Was this Crookshanks an orange coloured part-kneazle with a flat-face?" Sirius Black suddenly asked and this time it was Harry's turn to have an open mouth and he simply nodded. "Then she certainly did not eat him. She has been trying to catch the rat for me since the year started. She recognized me at the start of the year and has been helping me ever since. I don't know how but she somehow understands me. Infact she is the one who stole the passwords of the Gryffindor tower from a boy's bedside and she is the one who took the Firebolt's mail-order to the Owlery."

Harry shook his head. "Scabbers is dead, Sirius. There were orange hair all-around Ron's bed and blood on his sheets and Scabbers had…….." It suddenly started making sense to Harry. Scabbers or rather Peter must have overheard them talking after the Christmas break and realized that his cover might actually be blown over.

"You think that he faked his death again……" Harry asked Sirius.

"Has to be Harry. This time the evidence is circumstantial but it is compelling now. Sirius meant that Peter was at Hogwarts when he said 'He is at Hogwarts' in Azkaban. It is all making sense now." Ginny said over the link.

Sirius nodded slowly. "You need less than a second to change back into the human form and all of the animals can recognize that the animal is not actually an animal but an Animagus. We have seen snakes turn away from Peter on numerous occasions. The only reason that this Crookshanks was attacking Peter was because I had asked her to catch him for me."

"Believe me Harry. I would never betray James. He and his family was the only family that I had. If I had I would have gone mad due to the guilt in Azkaban but trust me I am as sane as you are." Sirius Black pleaded.

"Well, I will hardly call Harry Potter the slayer of a Basilisk sane." Ginny quipped.

Harry ignored Ginny's comment and a few moments later Harry nodded. "I think that I do believe you." Harry said firmly and he could see look of genuine relief pass on Sirius Black's face and then surprisingly he got up and hugged Harry. It was a warm hug, it was the first fatherly hug that Harry could remember and he couldn't help welling-up a bit. He knew one thing for sure Sirius Black could not have betrayed his parents no matter what. They sat down and no one spoke for a few minutes.

"What do you think Peter did now? I mean where is he going to run from Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"I doubt that he is gone anywhere, Harry." Sirius replied after a moment. "I know Peter very well. He is a rat to the core and he really is a poor excuse for a wizard and he certainly is neither courageous nor bold. He is too cowardly to try anything, especially something like leaving the apparent security of Hogwarts."

"What are we going to do about Peter? Are you sure that he wouldn't have fled the scene?" Harry asked.

Sirius nodded. "Pretty much, Harry. But it will be really difficult to search for a singular rat in an enormous castle and even bigger grounds."

"Unless we use the Map." Ginny said making Harry smile.

"No not really." Harry said casually making Sirius stare at him in wonder. "You didn't think that the 'talking-parchment' would remain with Filch forever did you?" Harry asked coyly and this time Harry was sure that he had broken Sirius who didn't reply at all for at least an entire minute.

"Y—you have the Marauder's map?" Sirius finally asked in wonderment.

"That we do." Harry replied jovially as Snape got pushed to the back of his mind. "But I have to tell you that your map is rather incomplete and missing huge portions of the castle."

"That is impossible." Sirius replied.

"Trust me. Your map is some distance away from being the definitive map of Hogwarts. For starters you haven't shown the Chamber of Secrets……"

"WHAT? The chamber of secrets is real and you found it?" Sirius asked completely stunned.

"Yeah I did." Harry replied. "The point is there are more than enough secret tunnels and passages and rooms that you have not covered in the Map. Scabbers could have been with Ron, many times when we found out something. So it is quite possible that we may not find him using the Marauder's Map."

Sirius nodded. "We keep on searching. Unless something really big happens. I don't think that Peter would run away. I will remain in and around Hogwarts. If something turns up do send me a message through Crookshanks."

"Wait, why do you need to be near Hogwarts again? The kiss has been ordered against you. It is not safe for you to be there. You can stay here. You said yourself that you would be safe here." Harry pleaded.

"Safe for the time-being, Harry. Not forever. Besides I think that I have had enough of staying in a dreary, musty place to last me a lifetime. I prefer the outdoors much better. Okay?" Sirius Black said. Harry nodded after a moment.

"So tell me something about yourself, Harry. The only thing that I know is that you play Quidditch and are in Gryffindor." Sirius Black said.

"Well, I am in the Quidditch team since first year." Harry said and looking at the surprised look on Sirius' face he continued. "Yeah, I know. The youngest player in a hundred years or something."

"That is beyond impressive. Though I can imagine it considering that you really do seem to be flying like the wind." Sirius said with a smile on his face. "James would have been very proud of you. He was an excellent flier himself."

"I know, Professor McGonagall told me." Harry replied.

"We need to return back." Harry said after a few moments. "But I really don't think that you can apparate me there directly. Can you apparate me to the Park near Privet Drive? I think I will take the Knight Bus from there to either Hogwarts or the Leaky Cauldron."

Sirius nodded and he got up and Harry followed him. He barely noticed the deep bow that Kreacher gave him and simply waved to him. But even that gesture seemed to gratify Kreacher. They stepped outside the door and Sirius then drew out his wand and they suddenly Harry felt like he was being squeezed through a tube and then a moment later he felt the cold air again and he found himself standing in the Park near Privet Drive.

"You will remain safe won't you while getting back?" Harry asked Sirius.

"I promise, Harry I will." Sirius replied solemnly. "And I want to thank you for listening to me and giving me a chance for explaining. There aren't many people who would do that."

"Just remain safe and out of the Ministry's clutches." Harry said. Sirius nodded and was about to turn away when Harry realized something. "Why did Peter hide away and not seek out some death-eaters?" Harry asked in confusion. "Didn't he tell Voldemort about our location? Shouldn't he be some kind of special death-eater or something? A lot of death-eaters never made it to Azkaban; wouldn't they welcome him or something?"

Sirius Black only laughed dryly. "That is exactly the reason why he will not go back to any death-eaters." Sirius continued on observing the confused look on Harry's face. "Imagine it Harry. Voldemort went to the Potters on Peter's information and met his demise there. Most death-eaters consider him to be some kind of a traitor. I have heard the death-eaters in Azkaban talk about Peter in their sleep. Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband are especially vocal about it. Him and Snape. Peter told him the location of the Potters and Voldemort had apparently set sights on you based on Snape's information. Trust me; the two are not high on the popularity lists of the Death-Eaters."

It took two seconds for the name 'Snape' to register in Harry's mind.

"WHAT?" Harry screamed out. "SNAPE? SNAPE? SEVERUS SNAPE? VOLDEMORT DECIDED TO ATTACK MY PARENTS BASED ON SNAPE'S INFORMATION?"

Sirius was taken aback by the ferocity that was emanating from Harry's words. He simply couldn't fathom how Snape's name had set off Harry so much.

"What is wrong Harry?" He said after a minute. "How the hell do you know Severus Snape? He was a known death-eater.

"Calm down Harry." Ginny said even though it was clear that she was anything but calm herself.

"Severus Snape is the Potions Professor in Hogwarts and has been for over a decade now." Harry replied in a clearly agitated tone. "Professor Dumbledore himself vouched for Snape. It seems that Snape was a spy for Professor Dumbledore." Harry finished with a scorn.

"WHAT!" This time it was Sirius Blacks turn to scream out. "Severus Snape the one who…"

"…..graduated with you." Harry finished the statement. Sirius simply sat there with an open mouth. "I need to get back to Hogwarts. Bloody hell, everytime I get five answers ten bloody new questions pop out." Harry said crossly. Harry couldn't believe it. Voldemort went after his family because of Snape. The same greasy git who insisted on insulting him and his father at every turn. An anger like he had never felt before was coursing through his veins. Harry could hear a wind suddenly pick up in the area.

"Harry you need to calm down." Came Ginny's voice. "This is not only about Snape. Remember the Godfather that you know is innocent and you need to prove innocent to the rest. Calm it. You cannot let your emotions override your judgment, Harry please."

That did the job. A few seconds later Harry had his temper under his control. Harry looked up to notice Sirius Black staring at him in wonder. "What?" Harry asked irritably.

"You seem to be one hell of a powerful wizard, Harry." Sirius said.

Harry ignored the comment. "I—I need to take care of more than a few things."

"Harry, don't do something rash, especially against Snape. He is a true Slytherin to the core. And if Dumbledore trusts….."

"I will be careful, Sirius. You are the one who really needs to be careful." Harry said clearly irritably. He needed to confirm Snape's role and Merlin if it was true…...

Sirius nodded and gave Harry the first true smile of the entire night as he took in Harry's features. "I don't know if anyone has told you this but you are a splitting image of your father only you have Lily's eyes." Sirius said and a moment later there was a dog in the place of the man and after a small bark the dog ran away into the shadows.

Harry took a moment to compose himself. He took a look at the watch and realized that surprisingly only four hours had passed since he ran after Sirius. "What's going on in the common-room, Gin?"

"I don't know. I have been pretending to be asleep." She replied. "Do you want me to go and check it out?"

"Yeah, after I return I would really like to know where the son of a bitch is." Harry replied. Ginny knew exactly whom he was talking about.

"Harry, I hate Snape right now as much as you do. But……"

"I can read your thoughts too, Gin. I can tell what exactly you want to do to him." Harry said as he summouned the Knight Bus, this time he did stand on the footpath. Harry barely had the fare to get to Hogwarts but Stan gave him a discount of ten sickles so it worked out pretty fine. Stan said that it would take about fifty minutes to reach Hogwarts and sure enough exactly fifty minutes later Harry found the Knight Bus trundling through the High Street of Hogsmeade. Harry got off near the entrance of the tunnel behind the mirror. He waited until the Knight Bus took off and then started making his way towards the entrance of the tunnel. It was nearing seven now and Harry could see a lot of people milling about near the main-entrance of Hogwarts and guessed that the Ministry must have been involved.

"Gin, am I on the Map as yet?" Harry asked.

"Nope, though I think it wouldn't be long now." Ginny replied.

"Where is he, right now?"

"Professor Dumbledore's office. But he has a lot of company. Almost all the Professors are in there. Fred said that even the minister had visited sometime ago. The grounds are teeming with Aurors and Ministry Hit-Wizards apparently." Ginny observed.

"What about the castle?" Harry asked.

"You are on the Map and……"Ginny replied and Harry concentrated on her and could hear a few exclamations of cheers and hurrahs.

"Make sure that they stay in the tower, Gin." Harry pleaded. "And what about the castle?"

"There is no-one about the castle. They did apparently search it a few hours ago." Ginny replied. "Harry? What are you going to do?"

Harry did not reply immediately. "I don't know." Harry replied sincerely as he reached the rock-fall. He pressed the appropriate stone and five minutes later he was streaking down the passage towards Professor Dumbledore's office. Five minutes later he found himself in front of the Stone Gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office.

"Who's in it, Gin?" Harry asked.

"Professor McGonagall, Professor Lupin and Snape."

Harry began trying different combinations of names of Chocolates on front of the Gargoyle. "Chocolate Frogs, Peppermint Toads, Fudge Flies, Lemon Drops, Mars Bars, Blood Lollies…" and the Gargoyle spilt open revealing the revolving staircases. Harry practically sprinted up the staircases and knocked on the door and then without waiting for a reply entered the Headmaster's office.

It looked like the Professors were involved in a discussion of sorts and it was apparent that only Professor Dumbledore was expecting someone to enter the office as the moment Harry literally threw the door open a hush fell onto the office. Harry looked around and saw that Snape was standing as usual in the shadows near the window. Harry was about to start towards Snape when Professor Dumbledore's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Harry, it is good to have you back." Professor Dumbledore said with relief quite evident in his voice. Professor Dumbledore continued speaking but Harry tuned him out. Blood was pounding in his ears as he looked at Snape who was staring at him too. Harry's decision was made. He started walking towards the cabinet which contained Godric Gryffindor's sword.

But before he even reached the glass cabinet it shattered into a million pieces and a moment later Harry somehow found himself holding the sword in his right hand. He had somehow wandlessly and non-verbally summouned it into his hand. Harry was barely aware of the other Professors drawing wands around him but before they could fire a spell, Harry had aimed the sword once again at the throat of a man, only instead of Lucius Malfoy this time it was Severus Snape who again didn't have the time to draw out his own wand. Snape had a look of absolute shock and confusion and alarm and a fuming look on his face. The rest of the Professors had more or less the same kind of looks on their faces. It was beyond shock.

"HARRY WHAT IS GOING ON?" It was Professor Dumbledore who had bellowed out in a stunning tenor and Harry had never seen him so angry and for a moment Harry could imagine why Voldemort feared him the most. But Harry was not about to waver.

"I will ask you this only one time Professor and I want a straight answer otherwise I swear that you will have to search for a new Potions' Professor." Harry said in a cold, frosty and acrimonious voice. "ON WHOSE, I repeat ON WHOSE information did VOLDEMORT decide to go after my family?"

This time the effect was quite beyond stunning. Harry saw Snape pale into literally nothingness. Harry could have sworn that Snape was of the same shade as that of Peeves. Professor Dumbledore lowered his wand and had a defeated look on his face and the twinkle suddenly seemed to disappear from his eyes. Professor McGonagall and Professor Lupin had a look of confusion on their faces that was slowly altering into a look of understanding. Ten seconds of silence later everyone knew exactly why the sword was pointed dead at Snape's Adam's apple. Harry took one look at Snape and another at Professor Dumbledore and he knew that the death-eaters in Azkaban were right and so was Sirius. It was Snape on whose information Voldemort had decided to attack his family. Just like Peter Pettigrew, Snape was responsible for their deaths.

"Any last words Snape? Harry asked coldly and firmly.

"HARRY DON'T! Don't do something stupid." Professor Dumbledore cried out.

"WHAT would you do Professor to a man who you know hated your father and later learn is responsible for Voldemort go after your father and mother? On top of it the man never let's go of a single chance to insult your dead father. What would you do, Sir?" Harry asked firmly. The sword still firmly pressed at Snape's Adam's apple.

"I—I trust Severus, Harry." Professor Dumbledore replied. Harry had never heard Professor Snape stutter or falter. "I won't deny it. Severus was the one who relayed certain information to Voldemort that made him go after your family. But it isn't that simple. Severus didn't actually inform Voldemort to go after you. Severus never knew that the information pertained to your family. It could have pertained to more than a dozen families. The moment he realized that Voldemort had decided to go after the Potters, he came to me and informed me about it. It was Severus' information that kept you and your family alive for more than a year. For the next fifteen months until Voldemort's downfall, Severus provided us invaluable information at great personal risk that kept alive more than a handful of people. Please Harry lower that sword." Professor Dumbledore was now pleading.

"Am I supposed to thank Snape for extending my parents' life by 15-months?" Harry asked disdainfully. "Fair enough. But oops! Voldemort went after my parents only because of this son of a bitch. A—and you let this bastard teach here and mock my father left right and centre and for what? He's not even a good spy leave alone a competent Potions' Professor. What in the world is wrong with you?" Harry screamed out and the energy seemed to leave him as the sword dropped out of his hand and it fell to the ground with a loud clang

"Harry!" Came Ginny's cry. "Please talk to me, Harry. Please Harry!"

"I am here Gin." Harry replied from his prone position. None of the Professors in the room had spoken a word or made a sound. With a great effort he pushed himself up and started moving towards the door.

"This bastard better be in Azkaban. I think he had committed more than enough crimes." Harry said as he moved towards the door. He reached the door and turned the knob only to find it locked. He tried it again with the same result. Harry spun around. "Let me go, Professor. I have had a long night and I really would like to spend Sunday in my warm bed." Harry said quite harshly.

"Please sit down Harry, we need to talk." Professor Dumbledore said calmly.

"I am not talking to you until Snape is in Azkaban." Harry replied.

"Your parents, especially your mother wouldn't have wanted….." Professor Dumbledore began but Harry interrupted him.

"Well thanks to Snape my parents died when I was 15months old. The only memory that I have of my mother is her screaming as Voldemort advanced on to kill me. So kindly pardon me if I don't know what my mother or father would want." Harry replied.

"Harry what exactly happened tonight? Please, we need to know." Professor Dumbledore said. "Where did you get all this information from? The only thing we know is that you chased after Sirius Black and then disappeared out of the wards and turned up with information that only four or five people in the world should have."

"Would Bellatrix Lestrange be one of the five?" Harry asked. Professor Dumbledore turned to look towards Snape who was standing in the shadows again. Harry saw, Snape nod after a moment.

"How do you know all this and where have you spent the last few hours?" Professor Dumbledore asked not able to keep the surprise out of his voice this time.

"I went along with Sirius Black to Number 4, Privet Drive. We had a long talk and a lot of things came up in the discussion. It seems that the Death Eaters in Azkaban consider Snape to be responsible for Voldemort's downfall." Harry said as he withdrew the piece of paper from his robes and walked over and handed it to Professor Lupin. "Do concentrate on the Rat, Professor. It has a thumb missing and has been alive for the last twelve years. I believe that common Garden rats don't live that long and yes before I forget, Sirius had given you permission to talk about Peter only."

Professor Lupin stared at the photo for almost an entire minute and then stared at Harry for an entire minute. "They switched?" He asked and Harry simply nodded.

"What is going on here, Potter?" Professor McGonagall finally seemed to have recovered from the shock.

Harry took a deep breath before continuing. "Sirius Black never was the Secret-keeper. Peter Pettigrew was and told Voldemort where to find us. And the Death-Eaters around Sirius' cell knew about it but your spy, Sir didn't know it or either knew it but decided to play out an old school-grudge as he's shown he is more than capable of enacting." Harry said. "Peter Pettigrew it turns out was an Animagus with the form of a rat. He did not confront Sirius on the morning of the 1st November; it was the other-way round. Only for the first time Peter Pettigrew managed to get better of Sirius. He cut off his finger and then blew the gas-pipe which caused the explosion and then transformed and then probably ran into the sewers. He picked up the Weasleys to keep in touch with the wizarding world I suppose. Sirius saw the photo in Azkaban and realized who the rat was and broke out to kill the 'rat'—Peter Pettigrew. Not Harry Potter. Sirius Black, Professor was always innocent. His only crime was suggesting switching the secret-keepers while maintaining the façade that he was the secret-keeper. But the problem isn't solved yet. Scabbers who was Ron's pet was being attacked by Crookshanks a part-kneazle through the year. We thought that it was to eat Scabbers. But apparently Sirius had somehow managed to convince Crookshanks of catching Peter for him. I believe that Peter as a rat overheard the discussion that the six of us had after the Christmas break and then faked his death and now has escaped. So I have or Sirius has absolutely no hard proof and unfortunately Veritaserum-induced statements aren't allowed in courts. So now we need to search for a thinning, balding, grey rat instead of Sirius Black." Harry finished and there was complete silence in the room.

"Why do you want to keep Sirius' form a secret?" Ginny asked.

"I don't trust Snape." Harry replied instantaneously.

"Remus?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"Peter was an Animagus and he was a rat and the rat in this picture looks very similar to the rat that Peter used to turn into." Professor Lupin replied.

"How did you keep it a secret from me?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"Some kind of oath that James and Sirius found in the Restricted Section. I could not even reveal anything about Peter's Animagus form unless I received permission from another Marauder.

"What about Potter and Black? Were they animagi too?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"I can neither confirm it nor deny it." Professor Lupin replied solemnly. "Sirius gave me permission only for Peter's revelation."

Nobody in the room spoke for over five minutes. Harry decided that it was time for some real answers.

"Are you going to ensure that Sirius at least gets a trial this time?" Harry asked.

"I will do my very best." Professor Dumbledore replied. "I believe you and I believe Sirius. He could not have breached the wards at Privet Drive if he meant you any harm. But without hard-proof our hands are tied."

"What about Snape?" Harry asked.

"Professor Snape, Harry." Professor Dumbledore corrected Harry and Harry's temper went through the roof again.

"He is responsible for the death of my parents. Addressing him as Professor is the least of my worries, Sir." Harry said slowly enunciating every word very firmly.

"Harry I told you…." Began Professor Dumbledore but he was interrupted by one of the most unlikely source. Severus Snape.

"I DID RELAY THE information that made the Dark Lord come after you, Potter. But I never intended your parents to die. I had no idea that the information even pertained to your family." Snape was talking in a tone that had never been heard before from his mouth. "You can give me Veritaserum if you like but I can assure you that, the moment I realized that your family was going to be the one to be targeted I came over to the Headmaster and informed him about it. Over the next few months I tried my best to ensure that your family was not put under danger and it would have succeeded to if your father had put his trust in the right people…."

"Why was I getting the feeling that you were going to rest the blame on my father…..let me think…..oh YES...that's because you HATED him and you have hated me with the same vengeance." Harry cried out.

"I am telling you as I see it, Potter." The sneer was back in the voice. "It is true that I hated James Potter but I would have never wish death on him." His tone softened again. "The only reason for that is the fact that your father was married to Lily Evans. I knew Lily Evans even before she started Hogwarts. We lived a few neighborhoods apart at Spinner's End. Lily Evans has been my only true friend through the first five years of Hogwarts. I am a Half-Blood, Potter and was never truly accepted into the Slytherin House until I started behaving like a muggleborn-hating Slytherin. Lily Evans however distanced herself from me the moment I started calling other muggleborns Mudbloods and so on and so forth. The only reason I joined the Death-Eaters was to fit in and to prove myself. But you don't resign from the death-eaters, you are killed. So I simply marched on and as you might have deducted by now, my considerable Occlumency and Legilimency skills allowed me to keep my true inclinations a secret. However the moment I learnt that Lily Evans was in grave danger, I knew that it had to be stopped. Five years of friendship when you are friendless and alone is difficult to simply overlook, forget or disregard. I did try my best to rectify my mistake but by then it was out of my hands and control and knowledge. And I can assure you that I had no idea as to who gave the information about your location to The Dark Lord." Snape finished his literally a proclamation and then simply stood by the windows silently.

"Gin?" Harry asked for help as he was certainly confused.

"You and I both know that you will do the right thing. You always do." Ginny replied.

"Well, this time I don't know what the right-thing is." Harry shot back.

"That might work on some one who can't read your thoughts, Harry. Not me." Ginny replied back with the same swiftness.

Even as Harry was wording his reply to Snape, he looked at him and then it struck him. The look on Snape's face went beyond simply deep friendship and he groaned out loudly to the surprise of the Professors in the room.

"Why in the world did you have to love my mother?" Harry groaned out. "Just don't mention it again. I think that I can certainly live without those thoughts." Harry replied and made his way towards the door and this time it opened without any hitch.