Chapter 11: Halloween
As the date of the first Hogsmeade trip approached, Harry, along with the rest of his year, was getting excited. It was going to be amazing. Harry enjoyed Diagon Alley, all magical and wizarding, but a whole magical village would be fantastic.
A week before the first Hogsmeade visit Snape called Harry into his office. Harry was surprised to find Remus there. Harry had found it weird to call an adult in a school setting by their first name, but when Remus talked about his parents so much and laughed in remembrance of them, Harry had warmed to him and was a bit more relaxed around him, seeing him more like family than a teacher.
"Harry, take a seat," said Snape, indicating the chair in front of his desk next to Remus. "There's a number of things I'd like to talk with you about, some of which Mr. Lupin will have input into."
Unsurprisingly, Harry was confused. Snape was his head of house and his Potions professor. Remus was a classroom assistant and family friend. Snape had known Harry's mother, and Remus had been a friend of his father. Beyond that, Harry couldn't think of any reason why these two people would want to talk to him together, especially seeing as he never saw them together at mealtimes and Remus had not yet assisted in a Potions lesson.
Getting straight to the point Snape asked, "What do you know about Sirius Black?"
Harry's cheeks coloured. He was supposed to only know that Black was an escaped convict, but he'd overheard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's conversation that last night at the Burrow. He knew people thought Black was after him, but he'd assumed it was in the same way remaining supporters of Voldemort were after him, He then knew he'd waited a bit long to answer, and that his face had given it away, confessing to eavesdropping would be the only way.
"I overheard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley talking the night before we came to school. People think Black is after me."
"Overheard?" asked Snape raising an eyebrow and using a tone that Harry knew meant Snape wasn't fooled.
"Not deliberately, I just happened to start to overhear by accident and then I didn't go away," Harry protested lamely.
Snape stared at him for a bit longer than was necessary before continuing. "Harry, there's more to it than what you think," Snape looked towards Lupin who took it as his cue to talk.
"Harry, you know that your father and I were friends at school?" Harry nodded, "Well we were friends with two other people. Peter Pettigrew and... well... Sirius Black." Harry's mouth formed an O.
"We were good friends back then. Enough that I'm sorry to say Black was the best man at your parents' wedding." Harry noticed that Remus put quite a lot of venom into the word Black every time he spoke it but didn't know what to make of it. "When you were born, your parents asked him to be your Godfather, and he accepted the role."
Harry didn't have any words to say. Sirius Black, notorious murderer, was his Godfather? Then Harry suddenly remembered the conversation with Draco on the subject. When Draco had asked Harry if he was going to catch Black, Harry had just thought Draco was being his usual old self. And then Harry clearly remembered the look of confusion on Draco's face and he'd stopped talking about it. What did Draco know about Black that related to Harry? Did the whole world know that the man was Harry's Godfather and was laughing at him behind his back?
"He could have told me!" said Harry angrily.
Snape looked confused, "Who could have told you what?"
"Draco. He asked if I was going to try to catch Black." Snape's face darkened. "Not seriously like you're thinking, just that he knows something about the man. Does everyone know he's my Godfather?"
"No, Harry," said Lupin quietly, "Very few people know that. Draco will know only what most people who were adults in the wizarding war know about him. Or at least, what they read in the paper."
Harry waited while Lupin searched for the right words.
"Harry, there's a charm called the fidelius charm. It lets someone keep a secret. Your parents went into hiding to escape Voldemort. They used the fidelius charm to protect themselves. The charm involves someone being a secret keeper. Only that person knows the whereabouts of your parents, and only that person can divulge that information."
Lupin sighed. "Sirius Black was your parents' secret keeper. He told Voldemort of their location. That's why he was able to go to their house and kill them. Sirius Black condemned your parents to death. I'm sorry, Harry, there was nothing any of the rest of us could have done."
"Did Voldemort force the information from him?" asked Harry, unwillingly to believe his parents had misplaced their trust so badly.
Snape shook his head, "I'm sorry, Harry, the charm does not work that way. He gave the information voluntarily." Snape's voice had a hollow tone to it. Black wasn't the only one to have given away information voluntarily.
Harry looked at the floor and stared at his shoes for a while.
"And that's why you all think he's after me here? Because Voldemort didn't kill me that night?"
Remus nodded. "Yes, Harry."
"Further to that," began Snape, "We do not think it is safe for you to leave Hogwarts grounds..."
"NO!" interrupted Harry, quick on the uptake, "I've got my permission slip signed! I want to go to Hogsmeade!"
Snape slapped his hand down on the desk loudly, "Do not interrupt me, Mr. Potter!" he growled menacingly. Harry swallowed hard, his anger giving way in the face of Snape's.
"We do not think it is safe for you to leave Hogwarts grounds on your own. However, if you continue with outbursts like that I can easily change my mind," Snape continued, and was satisfied when Harry had the grace to blush, embarrassed.
"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't think."
"That's patently obvious, Potter," huffed Snape. "You are fortunate that Mr. Lupin is at Hogwarts. With the extra member of staff, a closer eye can be kept on you. Your visit to Hogsmeade will be under his watchful eye. You will do anything he tells you, and will stay with him at all times for your own safety. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir," said Harry, quickly and gratefully, afraid that Snape might change his mind.
Snape's tone softened. "Harry, is there anything else you want to know right now? About Black? I don't know how much detail you want, and I don't want to overload you with too much in one go. Perhaps it would be best if we discuss it more later?"
"It's just so odd," said Harry, considering the concept for the first time. "Why did he do it?" asked Harry. "If he was your friend, Remus? And theirs? For so long."
"No-one knows," said Snape, saving Lupin from answering. "He was caught right after. He tried to run. Reports say Peter Pettigrew followed him, and to escape, Black blew him up. And a street full of muggle bystanders besides. Witnesses say he was just laughing in the street when the aurors came."
"Did he say why at his trial? Did he say why he did it then?" asked Harry, his morbid curiosity unable to let the matter drop.
"There was no trial," replied Snape simply, "He didn't plead his innocence when the aurors arrested him, there wasn't seen to be a need. He'd killed thirteen people in cold blood in a crowded street. No-one wanted to ask why. His allegiance to the Dark Lord was enough for the ministry to send him straight to Azkaban." Snape shivered at his last sentence. It'd flown a little close to home.
"Did he talk to anyone in prison?" asked Harry.
"Azkaban isn't like muggle prison, Harry," said Lupin, "There aren't counsellors, there isn't parole, there are just the Dementors." Lupin shivered. "I think that's enough questions for one evening. The conversation turned a little dark. Go find your friends and have fun for a couple of hours."
Harry got up and left the office. Snape and Lupin sat without moving for a while, deep in thought.
"Why did he do it, Lupin?" asked Snape. "What did she ever do to him?"
"I have no idea, Severus," said Remus darkly, "But when we find him, I'll be sure to ask," he said darkly.
On Friday night before the Hogsmeade trip there was a full moon. By Saturday lunchtime Lupin had woken up from his morning sleep and was found in Severus' quarters.
"That's a genius potion, Severus. You know that, right?" he said.
"You still look tired," said Severus clinically, "Your eyes..." He ran a diagnostic scan on Lupin.
"But comparatively, I'm functional and it's only lunchtime."
"I was thinking of further improvements," said Severus quietly, reading the scan results, "Only they'd be experimental. Using that as a base and working on some variations. I can't guarantee they'd be better, and more importantly, I can't guarantee they won't be worse."
"I'll take the chance," replied Lupin. "If that's your first iteration, I'm more than willing to try your second."
"Who'd have thought it?" said Severus slyly, "What if I'm lulling the last Marauder into a false sense of security just to poison him?"
"And miss out on your biography in Potions Monthly? Or a potential prize? Or cold hard cash? Or, the chance to really upset Madam Umbridge if you make werewolves safe?" countered Lupin. "Or perhaps just your own self-competition?"
"There is that," said Snape. "Are you sure you're up for Hogsmeade tomorrow? I can stop him from going if you're not."
"I will be fine," said Lupin, "As will Harry. Unlike if you ban him from going, at which point he'll yell at you and you'll do more than take house points."
"My Slytherins know how I deal with disrespect," said Snape, refusing to sound defensive, "Just make sure you keep an eye on him, and for Merlin's sake, do not let him take that damn cloak."
"This isn't my first trip to Hogsmeade, Severus. I got up to far more mischief than he ever will."
"Just not tomorrow," replied Severus.
"Just not tomorrow," agreed Lupin.
Next morning after breakfast Harry came from the common room with the other third year Slytherins and met up with Remus at the entrance to Hogwarts. Theo looked a little sheepish in saying to Harry that they'd go on their own and leave him with the Gryffindors, but Harry was quick to tell them all it was fine, saying they'd have far more fun without a member of staff chaperoning them. The Slytherins checked their names off with Filch and disappeared round the corner while Harry and Remus waited for Harry's Gryffindor friends.
They came piling out of the building a few minutes later, all eager to visit Hogsmeade.
"So where are we going to visit first?" asked Lupin, as they made their way towards the village.
"Honeydukes!" said Ron and Harry together.
"Zonkos!" added Dean and Seamus.
"Oooh, but we can visit everywhere, though can't we?" asked Hermione, keen to see everything on her first visit. "Hogsmeade has the most haunted house in Britain, hasn't it?"
"At some point I'd like to go to Dogweed and Deathcap," said Neville, "They're a really good Herbology shop, Gran recommended I visit there for some things."
"We can go everywhere you want," said Remus affably, "Although Hermione, you might find the Shrieking Shack a disappointment, it's been quiet for years. There's not much point going."
"But Honeydukes first, yes?" said Dudley. The others laughed and nodded.
"Sure, Dudley, Honeydukes first," said Ron.
Hogsmeade was beautiful. It was quaint. An old English village with stone houses and tudor styled fronts. It was only when they looked through all the shop windows that Harry realised it was Halloween. Everything was decorated in orange and black, and pumpkin lanterns were everywhere, only with this being a wizarding village it was tastefully done. And magical. Things didn't fly through the air on string!
When they arrived at Honeydukes it was chock-a-block full of students. There were too many students for them to stay as a group of seven. Harry and Dudley paired up, as did Hermione and Neville, leaving Ron with Dean and Seamus. Dean and Seamus had no problem being with Lupin, they'd put him in the 'cool teacher' category. Probably because of his lack of full teacher status. They didn't call him Remus, though. Only Harry did that. Ron had quietly explained to them that Lupin had known Harry's parents so he was more 'family friend' than professor.
Harry and Dudley made their way round the shop, Dudley picking up one of everything, "You know this shop does owl order, right? You can place a regular order for sweets and have them delivered to the castle!" said Harry, impressed by the amount Dudley could fit in his arms.
"Yes, but the selection, seeing it all here, I might forget something if I only ordered by owl," replied Dudley, reaching for some more chocolate, this time peppermint flavoured. Harry looked over to where Ron was doing the same, only it was clear he was on a smaller budget. There was a lot of picking up one thing and putting it down the next in favour of a better item.
They reached the counter and Dudley handed over a couple of galleons. Harry only bought a few sickles worth of confectionery. Hermione was waiting outside already with Neville and Lupin, the daughter of dentists looking at that amount of boiled sugar with distaste.
Harry and Dudley joined them, "Do you have enough?" asked Hermione, primly, eying Dudley's stash.
"Yes, thank you," he said, not to be baited.
Ron looked covetously at Dudley's sweets, given the size difference in their wares, until Dudley offered him a chocolate frog. Ron was a bit embarrassed to have been caught so obviously staring, but took the frog anyway.
"Where to next?" asked Remus.
"Can we have a wander around?" asked Hermione, "Then we can see what looks good."
"Of course," said Lupin, "You also don't all have to stay with me and Harry, if there's somewhere you see that you want to go to that the others don't want."
This was met with a chorus of denial, they all quite fancied a guided tour from someone who knew where they were going.
They made it around everywhere they wanted to go in the morning, except the Shrieking Shack. It'd only been Hermione who'd been keen after Lupin explained it literally was just a run down building with a story told about it.
They bought sandwiches and drinks for lunch from a takeaway shop and sat watching the village bustle around them from the comfort of a bench with added cushioning charms. The queues for the cafes and tea rooms were ridiculous.
"We used to persuade the house elves to make us a picnic in later years," said Remus, wistfully. All the students turned to look at him when he spoke. He coughed, embarrassed at speaking out loud, "Don't mind my trip down memory lane, next time you come you'll hopefully not be escorted by a teacher," he chuckled, "Hogsmeade with a chaperone is hardly a top notch trip."
"It's been fun, Mr Lupin, really," said Seamus, "You're cool, anyway, it's not like we're stuck with someone dull like Vector."
"Or worse," agreed Dean. The students nodded, knowing they were all thinking of the toad.
When they'd finished eating, Lupin spoke again, "If you all don't mind, I'd like a few minutes to have a quick word with Harry. Can the rest of you make yourselves scarce? We can meet you back here in ten minutes, if you want to stay with us."
"Of course," said Hermione, unquestioningly obedient to staff as ever. The boys were slower to get up, curious, but seeing they weren't about to get an explanation, followed Hermione.
"Harry," said Lupin, softly, "I know you know what day it is, so I wondered if there's anything I can do for you?"
Harry wasn't entirely unsurprised by the question, he'd realised when they first got here it was Halloween. He'd momentarily felt guilty that he'd forgotten what date it was, or that he hadn't quite done the mental association, but he'd shrugged that thought off. He couldn't remember his parents, and growing up he'd never been told when they died. It'd only been since starting Hogwarts that he'd known, so he reasoned this year, why should he be sad?
"Thank you for asking, Remus, but I don't think there is," said Harry, "I didn't exactly remember that today was Halloween. Well, I did, but I didn't connect it, if you see what I mean."
Remus nodded, "I understand Harry. I wish I had that luxury to be honest. I still miss them. Even though it's been years. I suppose I also miss what was too, you know, all of it, before it went wrong."
"When you were just a simple student?" asked Harry, trying to lighten the tense mood.
"Oh, we were never simple," said Remus, taking the hint, "The Marauders were never simple!"
"The what?" asked Harry.
"Ah, now there are some fun stories there, if you'd like to delve down into your father's student days?" said Remus, half asking, and half telling.
"Yes please!" said Harry, "Are these stories shareable with the others too? Any good gossip about our professors?"
"Yes, and yes, so long as you never tell them you got them from me," said Remus as he waved for the others to join them again, "Let me tell you about the day Professor Flitwick had hiccoughs…"
Lupin regaled the group with various innocuous stories from his time at Hogwarts. He was careful to never mention Snape or Black by name. Most of his stories were about him and James. Peter appeared in a few, as did a few other students' parents, and they had a happy time walking around Hogsmeade and then back to the castle mid afternoon.
That Halloween feast tasted amazing. Harry spent some time at the Gryffindor table and some time at Slytherin. Since students had been allowed to mingle on the weekends at dinner there was a lot more moving around between mains and dessert. The staff had put a stop to walking around with a half eaten plate of food a few weekends ago after what became known as the 'rice pudding incident'. The high pitched scream of the fifth year with rice pudding down her back after someone else had tripped up had been memorable.
Harry was finishing his third slice of treacle tart when Nearly Headless Nick swooped into the great hall and quietly spoke in Dumbledore's ear.
Dumbledore left the great hall, murmuring in Minerva's ear on his way past. The students hardly noticed. They began to notice something was amiss when Dumbledore's patronus came back and spoke to Lupin and Snape who hurried out of the room. Umbridge was starting to look twitchy, as if something was happening around her when she felt she should be the centre of attention. Most students by this point had finished and a couple from the Ravenclaw table stood up to leave.
"Remain seated please, everyone," said Minerva, gaining everyone's attention, "The Headmaster requested you all stay in the hall for a little while longer."
The students sat down again, no-one particularly bothered. Dumbledore had his whims. Ron and Dudley started in on fourth dessert.
After half an hour the student body was beginning to get a bit restless. It was also getting late and the first years were beginning to look a bit tired now that the sugar high was wearing off.
"The Headmaster will be here shortly, if you could bear with us for a little while longer," announced Minerva, waving away a Hufflepuff prefect who'd approached the staff table.
"Will you both stop eating now?" said Hermione in disgust at Ron and Dudley. Ron took a bigger bite of apple pie just to make a point. Dudley grinned.
Dumbledore, Snape and Lupin returned, none of them looking pleased. That got the full attention of the students. Dumbledore announced that the students would be sleeping in the great hall that night, and swiftly created space and sleeping bags.
"Professor Umbridge, if you could keep an eye on the corridors outside the hall, make sure no-one leaves unless escorted by a prefect to the nearest bathroom. Mr Filch, if you could do the same. And if the remaining staff could come up to the staffroom? Delores, Argus, I'll fill you in soon, but in the meantime it is imperative that all students remain in the hall."
The staff swept out into the staffroom.
"Thank you for your calm cooperation, everyone," said Albus, addressing the staff up in the staffroom. "I am unhappy to announce that Sirius Black has broken into the castle." There were gasps of shock. Everyone knew the wards were impenetrable.
"How did he get in?" demanded Sinistra.
"That is as yet unknown," replied Dumbledore, "Nearly Headless Nick was up in Gryffindor tower when heard the Fat Lady screaming blue murder. He went to her but found her usual portrait slashed. She was hiding in the one remaining top corner of the frame. She kept repeating, 'Sirius Black is in there!' and pointing into the open common room."
"Why did she let him in?" demanded Sinistra.
Dumbledore sighed, "A portrait is just that, a portrait. Our students don't realise you can just blast them. The door to that common room is simply a door with a portrait for a latch. Destroy the portrait, destroy the latch."
"Nick went in, being a ghost, and heard noises from the boys' dorms. He found Black frantically searching the third year dorms. Black was saying, 'When I find you, you're dead.' Nick is not corporeal, so when he demanded to know what was going on, Black simply ran through him and out of the tower. Nick lost him on the first floor corridor near the statue of Gregory the Smarmy. He came straight to me in the great hall as you saw. Severus, Remus and I have made a search, and while we believe Black is no longer in the castle, I need everyone to search the castle in pairs for any sign of him. It's going to be a long night."
"How do you know he's no longer here?" asked Filius.
Dumbledore glanced briefly at Lupin. "There is a secret passageway into the castle from Hogsmeade. I was unaware of its existence until now. We believe Black used that because he does know of its existence."
"How does he know of it?" persisted Minerva.
"Because we knew of it back then," said Remus, heavily, "I didn't realise you all didn't know about it."
"There are passages we do know of," explained Dumbledore, "For example the one on the Dark Arts corridor. I warded that at the beginning of the year. Argus knows of some internal ones, but I didn't know about that one. The fault lies with me. Don't blame Remus."
"I wasn't about to assign blame, Albus, our priority is securing the castle," said Minerva firmly.
"Thank you, Minerva," replied Dumbledore, "Before any of you ask, while we don't know what Black was looking for, I'm sure we can all surmise it's Mr Potter, given what we know. Thankfully he doesn't seem aware Potter is in Slytherin, however that is small comfort to Gryffindor. I will ward Gryffindor tower, and the other common rooms after curfew from now on. I will make it very clear to the students in the morning there will be stiff penalties for breaking curfew. But for now, I'm sorry to have to ask you to sweep the castle. I will also report to the Ministry, and hopefully they will send aurors to lend a hand and sweep the surrounding area."
The staff stood up to leave, pairing up so no-one was alone.
"Is someone going to let Delores know what's going on?" asked Trelawney.
Dumbledore thought for a moment, "When I've spoken to the Ministry, yes. In the meantime, leave that area of the castle to her and Argus."
Next morning, the students had been woken before breakfast, escorted back to their common rooms to shower, dress and gather their books for the day, then escorted back to the hall. Dumbledore made it perfectly clear that students weren't to break curfew else they'd be explaining themselves directly to him. He looked straight at the twins, then Harry, when he said that. All three of them decided at that moment that their beds were really, really comfy.
No other explanation was given. Rumour was everywhere, but with no hard evidence about what happened (the house elves had done an excellent job of straightening the tower), rumour was just that. By Wednesday, the usual school gossip had taken over, and everything continued as normal.