Chapter 3

Dumbledore

"If any of you know who it was that said I would never need to know where the Gryffindor common room was, I need to laugh in their face, so if any of you have any idea who it was I'd like to know." Sirius laughed along with James, Peter, and Remus. James managed to speak.

"Snape, it was Severus Snape." Sirius looked at him and laughed.

"I didn't... expect... anyone... to answer..." Sirius choked out in between laughter.

"Speaking of Snape," Remus had managed to control his laughter first and was looking towards the sorting. Sirius laughed even harder he hadn't even realized the sorting was still going on.

They managed to look up in time to see Snape sit on the stool and Professor McGonagall put the sorting hat on him. It didn't take very long for the sorting hat to yell out.

"SLYTHERIN" Sirius growled. The others looked at him like they were going to burst out laughing again.

"What?" He noticed their looks.

"You sound exactly like a dog when you do that." Sirius' face turned red.

"Do not." From the way he sounded, it wasn't the first time someone had told him that. All of them, except Sirius of course, laughed. They continued to tease him until he decided to tease them back. They laughed and joked until a very loud voice interrupted them.

"If I could have everyone's attention please." Professor Dumbledore was standing in front of the teacher's table and looking straight at the four of them. There was humor in his eyes, so he obviously didn't really mind, causing them to start laughing again. They quickly calmed down this time though.

"Thank you." His voice got quieter and the boys chuckled again, and he continued talking.

"Professor Albus Dumbledore," Sirius told them quietly. "My mom hates him." They all looked at him in shock.

"How can your mom hate him?"

"The same way she hates you and your family." Sirius shrugged.

"Oh okay." James completely understood.

"My mom loves him," Peter told them. "She thinks he is the greatest wizard in the world."

"My mom does too. She told me he is the most powerful wizard in the world and he is even nicer than he is strong." James obviously agreed with her.

"My mom thinks he is insane and needs to go to Azkaban." Sirius laughed. "In other words, she is scared of him and he is the nicest person in the world." They all laughed, though quietly so no one would tell them off for not paying attention. After they calmed down and looked to Remus expecting him to join in. He laughed again.

"My mom is a muggle. If I wasn't going to this school she would never know he existed." They all laughed again. They calmed down enough to listen to Professor Dumbledore as quick as they could.

"As you all know this is my first year as headmaster of Hogwarts." He told them. Peter laughed.

"I didn't know." He whispered and they began laughing again.

"There may a few changes, but hopefully they will all be easy to adjust to. I would like to welcome all of our new students and introduce a few new staff. First of all is Professor McGonagall. She will be taking over my previous job as Transfiguration teacher and the head of the Gryffindor house." She stood up and bowed to everyone. "Also Professor Flitwick, he is going to be your new charms teacher." A very short man that had to stand on his chair just to see them over the table bowed also. "Also this year I have felt the need to appoint a grounds keeper. Please welcome Rubeus Hagrid." Welcoming him was the last thing on their minds as he stood. Actually, they wanted to scream, (but running was a close second.) He was HUGE. When he stood he knocked the teacher's table right over. He quickly bowed and helped set the table right again.

"Whoa." James' eyes looked like they were going to bulge out of his head. "He is huge. He has to be a half-giant there is no other way for him to be so big."

"He is scary." Peter looked like he was going to run out the door at any time.

Sirius started clapping and everyone looked at him in shock. "What, we did that for the teachers."

"But they aren't half-giants."

"So?" James thought about that for a second. Then he started clapping too. Remus smiled and joined in quickly. It took Peter a little longer, but pretty soon everyone but the Slytherins was clapping Hagrid quickly went to tears.

"He is very emotional," Sirius observed.

"I like him. We should visit him sometime." Remus suggested after Dumbledore explained that he would be staying in a hut near the forest.

"Sounds like a plan to me." They all agreed though Peter didn't seem to like the idea as much as the others. Their quick acceptance of Hagrid made Remus feel hopeful. Maybe they wouldn't be so upset if they found out he was a werewolf. Remus stopped this train of thought before he could get too much hope. It was a stupid thing to hope for. Of course, he wouldn't be accepted as their friend if they knew. No one would want to be friends with a werewolf.

"Now that the introductions are complete, I would like to mention a few rules." Sirius groaned. He didn't like rules. "I would like to remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is exactly that, forbidden. I do not suggest anyone go in there unless they have a death wish." Sirius laughed. "Also the Hogwarts caretaker would like me to tell you that magic is not allowed in the hallways and that Dung bombs have been added to the list of things that are not allowed at the school. I believe the list is now at fifty items, though I have a feeling that that list may be rising quite a bit over the next seven years." To their surprise, Dumbledore looked directly at them and smiled. Sirius turned red and looked away. Dumbledore knew Sirius was a troublemaker, but the other three had no idea why he was looking at them. "Also I would like to announce that a Whomping Willow has been added to the Hogwarts grounds this year." There were mummers and whispers erupting throughout all of the grand halls. James was among them.

"What? Why would they plant a Whomping Willow? Aren't those things dangerous?" Remus stared at his empty plate and didn't say a word.

"What is a Whomping Willow?" Peter asked James.

"It is a tree that hits people," James smirked at Peter's shocked face

"Sweet!" Peter and James looked at Sirius. "Bet you two sickles I'll be the first one to touch the trunk." Their expressions turned to shock, but none of them expected Remus' reaction.

"Are you insane?" There was more anger than shock on his face.

"Probably, why?" He looked back to Remus

"You can't go anywhere near that tree."

"Why?" Sirius was confused.

"It will kill you!" Sirius laughed again.

"Will not."

"You are not going anywhere near that tree."

"But..."

"No!"

"Fine no tree." Sirius gave up and they continued to listen to Professor Dumbledore explain that a Whomping Willow was dangerous and all students were expected to stay away from it.

"And most importantly of all welcome to Hogwarts, I hope you have a wonderful year." Professor Dumbledore bowed and suddenly food appeared on all of the serving plates.

"Yeah!" Sirius exclaimed and filled his plate to the brim. James laughed and did the same, though his plate wasn't as full. Remus had never seen so much food in his entire life. It was amazing. There were foods that Remus didn't even know existed, and (with a little help from Sirius' teasing) he tried everything. Everything was delicious, even the things he normally didn't like. By the time they were supposed to leave the four were laughing so hard that he missed the prefects call to their dorms. They had to ask Professor McGonagall to show them the way to the Gryffindor tower. Remus was amazed that Sirius was so willing to tell someone he had no idea where he was going. He didn't seem like the type.

When they got to the tower they were ecstatic to find out that they had a dorm together and that there was only the four of them in the room. They stayed up for quite a while talking and laughing and then finally went to bed.

OOOOOOOOO

James woke the next morning to the sounds of laughing and a growl that was strangely dog like.

"Go away Peter, or I swear you will be hanging from a chandelier by the end of the day!" These words were supposed to scare them, but the way it was said just made the others laugh even more.

"Sirius get up." Remus hit him with a pillow and laughed as Sirius grabbed the pillow and flung it across the room.

"No!" James began to laugh also when Sirius hid under the covers.

"See, even James is up." Peter looked over to James and managed to pull off a Please-Help-Us look, though he was still laughing.

"Back off!" They laughed even harder. James decided to help.

"Sirius if you don't get up now then you won't have time to eat breakfast." Sirius opened his eyes for a minute. He seemed to be deliberating between staying in bed and eating. They both seemed to be very important to him.

"Not worth it." He ducked back under the covers. They all started laughing even harder.

"Professor McGonagall is handing out our class schedules this morning though." Remus reminded them. Sirius poked his head out.

"If I don't get my schedule do you think I can skip classes?" Everyone but Remus laughed, Remus couldn't figure out why anyone would want to skip classes.

"No Sirius, you will get your schedule sooner or later," James told him. Sirius huffed and got out of bed.

"Finally" Peter joked. Sirius ignored him.

"How much time do we have?" He asked heading for the bathroom.

"About 10 minutes." Sirius stopped and glared at Remus.

"Tell me you are kidding."

"If you would have woken up when we told you too. You would have half an hour." Remus smirked at him, and James and Peter laughed.

"That still isn't long enough!" They were all quiet as Sirius ran into the bathroom.

"How long do you need?" This sent James and Peter laughing again, pretty soon Remus joined in too.

After 20 minutes they were finally on their way to breakfast (they were ten minutes late because Sirius refused to leave without finishing his hair.)

"I need to warn you guys there is a pretty good chance my mom will send me a howler," Sirius told them

"What is a howler?" Peter looked confused. Remus answered for Sirius.

"A howler is a relatively new creation. It is a letter that allows the writer to say what they need to say in their actual voice, instead of just writing it in a letter. It also multiplies the volume of the voice of the writer by three. It is usually reserved for yelling at people, which is why it is called a howler." All three of them stared at him wordlessly. Remus turned red.

"What?" They stared at him for a few more seconds.

"Dude, I was just going to say a letter that yells at you." Remus turned even redder. James turned back to Sirius.

"Why would she send you a howler?" Sirius shrugged at James' question.

"Because I'm a Gryffindor." He acted as though it was a usual thing.

"So?"

"You can be very dense sometimes Peter." James laughed. "The Blacks hate Gryffindors... All of them." Sirius nodded.

"So they are going to hate you too." It wasn't a question. Peter looked very sad.

"Calm down, it doesn't bother me at all. If they can't accept me for who I am then I want nothing to do with them." Sirius smiled

"Yeah" Remus cheered finally getting over his embarrassment. They all laughed.

"Also I am under the suspicion that my mother is half banshee. So you may want to run as far away as you can as soon as you see it." Sirius smiled but this smile was a little more forced. They walked into the Great Hall and sat in the same spot they sat in last night. Remus could feel a routine beginning to form. Sirius instantly filled his plate with food.

"Pig." James looked at Sirius with laughter in his eyes and over dramatized disgust on his face. Sirius thankfully swallowed before answering.

"I know you are but what am I?" Peter spit the juice he had been drinking all over the table and began cracking up laughing. The rest of them laughed just as loud.

"That is disgusting!" The boys looked up to see a red haired girl giving Peter a dirty look. The black haired boy beside her smirked.

"Hello, Evans." James greeted her, trying to be a polite as possible, although he still couldn't stop laughing. Sirius looked at them both, the nerve of these people interrupting like that, well he'd fix that.

"Eh, your Snape right?" the boy glared at him. All he'd done was ask a simple question, man this boy would be upset when the real fun started.

"What's it to you, Black?" He said the name like it was a dirty word, but Sirius could tell that Snape wasn't insulting his family but was insulting Sirius himself. Making it obvious that he didn't think Sirius deserved to be a Black. Sirius just smirked.

"Thanks for the comment about me not being in Gryffindor yesterday." Snape was confused, actually, they all were why was he thanking him. "All though it looks like you are the one who will never need to know where the Gryffindor common room is. It seems you didn't make it into Gryffindor, but your friend here did." Snape glared even harder. The other boys laughed. "Too bad. I heard inter house relationships rarely ever work out for very long." he started laughing. Snape reached for his wand.

Before he even got his wand out of his pocket there were four wands pointed straight at him, but he pointed his wand back at them. Trying and failing to look brave.

"You're out numbered Snape, don't be stupid." They stared at each other for a moment. Evans was scared she really didn't want anyone to get hurt.

"Severus lets go..." She was interrupted by a loud voice.

"What is the meaning of this?" Professor McGonagall came up to them. Her face was red with anger and she held a murderous expression on her face. "What is going on here?" The boys looked at each other then James decided to be a good example and put his wand away.

"Nothing Professor, just a petty argument." He looked at the others trying to tell them to do the same. Following his example, Remus and Peter both put their wands away as well. Though Sirius just stood there, not lowering his wand and glaring at Snape, as though he was daring him to try to hex any one of them.

"Sirius stop he isn't worth it." James tried knowing it was hopeless. The expression on Sirius' face made that perfectly clear.

"Black, Snape, lower your wands before I take them away from you!" Professor McGonagall walked closer to them.

"I will when he does," Sirius replied. The teacher sighed she understood why Black refused; he was worried that Snape would hex him while his protection was down. She didn't blame him that was how Blacks were raised; actually, it was quite amazing that he hadn't cast a spell yet. She walked over beside them and lowered both of their wands at the same time.

"I do not want any fighting, do you understand me." Snape opened his mouth to speak but she silenced him with a hand. "I do not care whose fault it is or who started it. There will be no fighting while you are on Hogwarts grounds do you all understand me." James, Peter, and Remus nodded. Evans gave a 'Yes Professor.' Sirius and Snape just grunted in agreement still staring at each other. "As this is the first time I will not give you a detention but I will have to take away ten points from your houses each." Evans raised her hand. "No Evans that doesn't include you." She smiled at the teacher then glared at Sirius and the others and practically dragged Snape away.

"I am very disappointed with you boys." Professor McGonagall turned her eyes to them. "I expected better out of you. Especially you Potter. What would your mother say if I told her about this?"

"It wasn't our fault. He pulled out his wand on us; we were just trying to protect ourselves." James tried to convince her.

"You mean to tell me he pulled his wand out on you completely unprovoked." She clearly didn't believe him.

"I was the one that provoked him not them." Sirius turned back to the table. They looked at him with surprise; it wasn't like a Black to take the blame.

"Either way you are all at fault for this, end of discussion." She grabbed some papers out of her pocket. "Here are you class schedules." She handed them each one of the papers and turned to leave, but not before looking back. "I hope you pay more attention to your classes than you did during last night's feast." She turned and walked off handing other Gryffindors their schedules. James, Sirius, and Peter started cracking up laughing again. Remus didn't.

Remus looked down at the paper sadly. It was his first full day at Hogwarts and he had already gotten into trouble. Luckily he didn't believe in omens because this would have been a bad one.

"Remus, what is wrong?" The three were looking at him worriedly (though Sirius was doing it while eating.) Remus turned red and looked back down at the table. He shook his head trying to tell them he was fine. But they saw through it easily.

"You didn't get into trouble if that is what you're worried about," Sirius told him while mutilating his pancakes with his fork. James looked at him.

"What do you mean we didn't get in trouble? She just took 40 house points away from us."

"Big deal, I can make that up by answering a mere four questions in her class." Sirius rolled his eyes. The others looked at each other, he had a point. "You're not in trouble until you get a detention, and then it still isn't that big of a deal, all you have to do is spend one night doing something dumb. Like cleaning a room or something." He finally finished mutilating his pancake and started to eat it.

"Maybe for you." James looked at him with slight envy on his face. "But my mom would kill me if I got a detention." Sirius looked up at him.

"Really? Weird." Peter chuckled a bit.

"Actually Sirius, I think you're the one that fits the weird profile." Peter, James, and Remus laughed. Sirius joined in soon. Suddenly the noise of owls became very loud as hundreds of them filled the great hall with mail. One of them holding suspicious red letter landed right in front of the four. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Here we go, I suggest you cover your ears or run." He looked at them then took his own advice and was quickly on the other side of the room, James and Remus followed while Peter covered his ears. He saw no point in running, it was just a letter. At least until it exploded. Everyone screamed Gryffindor or Slytherin alike. The yelling was unlike anything they had ever heard. Even on the other side of the room, they had to cover their ears. Remus was sure he was going to go deaf.

It took awhile before you could actually understand individual words but after a while, you could tell someone was actually talking through it. But when they could, James and Remus instantly wished that they couldn't. (Peter had already passed out from what many presume was a heart attack.) Pretty soon they were sure that they would rather go deaf than continue to listen to her insults. After the letter finally ran out of time, (it stopped right in the middle of an insult.) the room was completely silent. This silence was worse than the one during the sorting. Even the owls were silent, the few that hadn't instantly flew off in terror that is. Everyone was sure they had gone deaf. Until Sirius spoke.

"The volume was multiplied by more than three Remus." His hands were still covering his ears.

"Whoops," Remus said in shock.

"Now I know what you meant about your mom being half banshee," James screamed there was a very loud ringing in his ears. A few more moments of silence before the Slytherin table exploded with laughter. James looked at them shocked that anyone could think that was funny. Sirius led them back to the table trying his best to ignore the laughing. Peter was still unconscious and Remus was in a daze, he could never have imagined someone being insulted like that, by their own mother. He thought back to his own mother and tried to imagine her screaming at him all. He couldn't it hurt too much to even consider. His mum was very calm she never yelled, when he was in trouble she would calmly tell him he was wrong and was even calm when he was being punished. She had never yelled at him.

And yet Sirius was reacting better than he did when he was in trouble with his mum.