Chapter two

Even though Harry didn't know a lot of magic, and he knew to be careful. Griphook had explained that the Ministry could not find out if he used magic while in Diagon alley, as there were too many witches and wizards using magic every minute of the day. So Harry had begun to experiment with one spell. He wanted to find out more about the connection with his scar and Voldemort, which meant a connection to every death eater that had the dark mark.

Albus Dumbledore had told Harry that he didn't believe Voldemort was dead, that he would return one day. Because of what happened with Quirrell it seemed to confirm the old man's belief. Harry didn't really care about that, but he figured he just might be able to use this connection to stop those people, in some way. It would need a lot more studying and experimenting before he would know if it would help. He also knew it would probably take years if he did figure something out. One thing he did know for sure about the dark mark, it was done by Voldemort using parseltongue.

Harry also got around to reading Hogwarts, a History, mainly because he realise there was a lot more to the old castle than he knew. Hidden doors and passage ways, secret tunnels, and he remembered Fred and George Weasley had said something about hidden rooms. Harry hoped that maybe there was some clue in the book that would help him find these tunnels and rooms.

Two days before he was due to return to Hogwarts, Harry received a letter from Fudge. When Harry read what the Minister was planning on doing, Harry decided then that the man was an idiot. He packed up everything he owned in his new trunk. One feature Harry liked about the trunk was the built in charm that would allow him to shrink it and resize it and it would not pick up any underage magic especially since he was heading to the muggle world. So even though he hoped the trace would be lifted once he was emancipated, he figured he could at least carry his trunk without it being big or heavy. So Harry wrote a letter, gave it to Hedwig then told her to find him later. He shrunk his trunk, paid his bill then left Diagon alley.

It was the following morning that Harry saw an owl he didn't recognise at his hotel window. He did wonder how the owl found him but he opened the window, took the letter, gave the owl a treat that he always kept on him for Hedwig before he sat down to read.

'At least Fudge took me seriously, but if I had to leave Hogwarts and go somewhere else, go overseas then I would. How could he believe having dark creatures around a school full of children was a good thing. That man really was an idiot.'

Harry again wondered how the owl found him, 'What do you think Hedwig, can owls always find the person they have to deliver mail to?' he grinned as Hedwig gave him an excited hoot, 'Well, magic has been surprising me for the last two years, I'm sure there is a lot more magic that will keep surprising me,' Harry gave Hedwig a pat then decided since it was his last day he might go explore London a bit.

Harry enjoyed himself at the museum, but he also did the normal tourist thing, Buckingham palace was one place he visited. Once he had seen enough he figured he should have an early night, before heading to Hogwarts.

After the last two years and the danger, Harry did hope this year would be different. Sirius Black might be out there but something told Harry that all was not what it seemed. When he first found out that Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban, he had begun to read every bit of information about the man. It was when he saw the wanted poster that made Harry realise he had seen that man before.

It took him a while then he finally realised where, his photo album that Hagrid had given him at the end of his first year. There was a picture of his parents the day they got married and the best man was Sirius Black. Seeing that made Harry do a lot more research, sneaking into the ministry to go through old newspapers articles. He found that Black had never been officially convicted, he wasn't even allowed to speak for himself, he was just chucked in Azkaban and everyone believed he had been a death eater all along. One article went on about the Black family, how they were all dark witches and wizards, yet Sirius was the first to end up in Gryffindor. He also left home at the age of sixteen because he said he didn't like the way his family was. Harry knew then that Sirius Black was not a dark wizard, he was a grey wizard, exactly like Harry.

As Harry walked slowly back to the muggle hotel he saw the same big black dog he had seen the night he left Privet drive. After so much reading he had done since staying in Diagon alley, Harry did a quick scan and found the dog to be an animagus. He had no idea who the dog became, except it was male.

Harry decided to take the chance, twice he had seen the dog and twice the dog didn't seem like he wanted to hurt Harry. He walked slowly towards the dog, holding his hands out in front to show he wasn't going to hurt him nor was he holding a wand. He stopped a few feet away and knelt down.

'I know you're an animagus, I saw you the night I ran from those people. For some reason I know you don't mean to harm me, so I figured I would find out what you want and why you are following me.'

The big black dog stared at Harry then gestured with his head towards the alley way, Harry nodded so they walked together towards the end of the alley where a large bin was sitting. Harry watched as the dog slowly transformed back into a man, that man was Sirius Black.

'Do you know who I am Harry?'

'Yes, Sirius Black and my godfather. I have no idea if you are guilty or innocent, but after reading a lot about you and your family something told me you're not dangerous, at least to me.'

'I'm not, I was set up by another friend, he is the reason James and Lily died.'

'So it was either Remus Lupin or Peter Pettigrew, my money's on Pettigrew.'

'You'd be right, he's an animagus, a rat, and your dad was a stag. Do you know about Remus?'

'Not much.'

'He's a werewolf, but he doesn't like to hurt anyone. James, Peter and I learned to change at Hogwarts so we could keep Remus company. Werewolves are only dangerous to humans, not other animals unless they feel threatened. You're friend, the red head, that rat he has is Peter, or Wormtail we used to call him. That's when my mind seemed to snap out of his daze, I read he was going to be returning to Hogwarts, where you were. I had been lost in my own head for so long that I never realised how long it had been, I didn't really think of anything, you can't when you're constantly surrounded by dementors.'

'We can get the rat, he sleeps on Ron's bed. Since you are my godfather I figured I should tell you that I'm not a light wizard, I'm not dark either, I would never be like Voldemort or his death eaters. But light wizards are just too soft to do what is needed. I had to threaten Fudge to make him realise how stupid he was being by wanting to put dementors around Hogwarts. Most people that believe I'm Gryffindor's golden boy would never believe I would threaten the Minister for Magic. I have been keeping my true self hidden, mainly from the old man.'

'Ah, you got to see that he is not what he seems, good. It was his idea to switch secret keepers from me to Peter yet he never came to my defence when I was taken into custody.'

'He's also kept me in the dark about my family and my inheritance. I worked out he also set up tests for me, with the help of at least one of my friends, tests that could have killed me. Griphook, the goblin who always takes me to my vault had to explain everything. He told me I should get a lawyer, first to sue the Dursley's for taking money to raise me yet they spent it on their son. I'm also going to get this lawyer to work on Snape for me, he's a bastard that just won't let up. But someone made sure I never received any mail, not until my first Hogwarts letter. But still most of my mail is going somewhere else. If I can get a good lawyer maybe he can work on getting you a trial as well.'

'You'd need to be careful, most lawyers are the types that believe in blood supremacy and a lot followed Voldemort during the first war. Anyway, do you think we can go somewhere that's a bit more private? I'll have to sneak in though.'

'Easy,' Harry pulled his invisibility cloak from his jacket and held it out, 'I'm sure you've used this many times before.'

Sirius laughed, it sounded like a dog which made Harry laugh, 'Oh did your dad and I get into a lot of mischief using this, we loved to pull pranks, especially on the Slytherin's.'

'My kind of people,' Harry grinned, 'I've got a motel room just down the road a bit. When Fudge wanted to put dementors around Hogwarts I decided I would leave if he didn't call them back so I hid here to make it hard to find me.'

'Then let's hurry because I have a feeling you're not that hard to find, I'll explain soon.'

Harry walked off but he could feel Sirius brushing his arm occasionally to let him know where he was. Harry ordered some room service before they hurried upstairs to the room where Sirius left the cloak on, until the food was delivered. Sirius handed Harry the cloak and began eating. Harry knew the man looked half starved, that's why he ordered a lot. So they sat together in silence while they ate, before they got into some more serious conversations.