Harry Potter and the Divided Four
By Tvillinger
Chapter Two -- When Time Catches You
Two more for Azkaban tonight…
Severus Snape
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
"…Sirius…"
Percy's eyes bulged at the statement and it took all the effort he had not to spatter the words with juice. Hurriedly, he picked up the letter and skimmed through it. Hedwig hooted disapprovingly. "Oh, shut up, will you?" he stormed. "Do you know what this means?"
Sirius Black had been on the run for about two years now, ever since he escaped from Azkaban in Percy's seventh year. Though the Muggle world may have forgotten about him, the wizarding community was still a little apprehensive whenever the subject came up. And when the subject came up, the blame would always follow in a circular twist: It was the dementors fault, they didn't guard Black good enough; it was the wizarding guards fault, they gave the dementors too much slack; it was Crouch's fault, he sent Black to Azkaban when Black deserved the kiss…
But Crouch was dead so the blame, of course, eventually went straight to the top.
It was the Ministry's fault, because they're supposed to be perfect and supposed to protect us from these sorts of things, but they're not perfect and they haven't stopped Black yet. Personally, Percy agreed with blaming Fudge but then again, it was probably because Percy, after Crouch's death, had been promoted to being the main assistant to the Minister and those hours they spent together had given Percy a rather biased view on the man in charge of it all.
"Sirius Black? Harry knows Sirius Black?" he whispered. Then he straightened his back. "Well, of course he knows who Black is. I'd know who killed my family, if someone did. But I wouldn't start exchanging owls with that person!" He began to pace back and forth in the kitchen. "And Ron seems to know who Black is, too. I bet they're all friends with him! It'd be just like them…"
"Hey Perce, what's up?"
"Maybe you should focus your attention down, instead-"
"You're right. If he keeps going like that, he'll run a hole right through the floor!"
Percy looked up, irritated, into the grinning faces of his twin brothers. "Is there something you wanted?" he asked almost angrily.
Fred and George exchanged a look and pulled up a chair. "There something wrong, Percy?" George asked. Fred stared intently at his older brother.
Percy ran a hand through his hair and sighed, collapsing in a chair next to the twins. "I don't know why I'm even going to tell you," he began, "but this came for Ron just today." He handed the newspaper scrap to Fred, who skimmed through it and handed it to George. The twins shared another look, like they were psychic, and then turned back to look at Percy.
"Do you want us to do something about it?" Fred asked at length. "Because I'm all up for ideas."
"Do…something?"
"Yea," George agreed. "It's bad enough that he has to live with those Muggles. Now they lock him up and take away his owl? It's the worst crime of the century!"
"Lock him up…Are you two blind! That's not what I was talking about!"
"Well, that's the only problem we see there, Perce. What are you talking about if you're not worried about Harry?" George asked, scratching an ear. Fred was unknowingly mimicking.
"This!" and he tore the paper out of George's hands. "See, right here: 'Oh, and could you owl Sirius? I haven't, yet, because I only have one sheet of paper and if I owled him, he'd come to my house and get caught.' Do you see what I'm talking about now?"
"So Harry doesn't want this Sirius guy coming down to visit him. Big deal," Fred drawled.
"Not just any Sirius. Harry's talking about the Sirius. Sirius Black."
"And you now this because…?"
Percy rubbed his eyes, annoyed. "Are you two thick? What other Sirius could Harry know that would get caught in the act of visiting him?"
"Well, plenty," George replied evenly. "Just about any wizard or witch would get in trouble if they tried to get Harry away from that Muggle family of his. Dumbledore told all of us that Harry's not to come over this year-"
"Like we're going to listen," Fred cut in. At Percy's look, the twin shrugged. "I overheard Mum saying how she planning on going to pick Harry up in about a week. Poor kid, he's being adopted right into the family. Did you know that Mum knits his sweater before ours?"
"Listen, Perce, I suggest you drop this whole thing," George leaned in and said seriously. "If you get talking about how Harry Potter is best friends with Sirius Black, people are going to start looking at you funny. Not just anyone; Fudge'll probably fire you, and you know how badly Mum and Dad need that money. So don't get all 'bighead' about it."
Percy watched as the twins stood and walked through the kitchen, heading upstairs. The shouting between his mother and Ron had quieted down, now that Percy cared to think about it. Perhaps it was because the Grangers had arrived; he could hear his father, fairly drooling over the muggles. Hermione was here, then, back from her brief tour of Bulgaria with her parents. His father had all but begged the muggle family to spend a night at the Burrow, as if it wasn't crowded enough.
Percy thought about what George said and then discarded the whole conversation as rubbish. Of course the twins wouldn't be any help; what was he thinking?
Hedwig flushed her wings, letting old feathers drop to the bottom of the cage, and drawing Percy's attention.
"I don't care what they say," he whispered to the owl, "I know that you know where Sirius Black is."
He picked up his wand and pointed it at the bird. "And you're going to help me catch him." And with that, Percy began the incantation for a particular tracing charm, ignoring Hedwig's frightened clucks.
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Dear Sirius,
This is Ron. I'm writing because Harry just owled me, telling me that he couldn't take care of Hedwig right now and he asked me to owl you.
Are you the real Sirius Black? Could you send me an owl really soon because my friend Hermione is coming to visit me for awhile and I might not be here when Hedwig comes back.
Thanks,
Ron.
"Now, you have to admit that this is a really strange letter," Sirius remarked to Buckbeak. This hippogriff just chucked its beak together, getting back to the more important task of eating. Sirius smiled at his newest friend, patting the hippogriff's neck and ruffling its feathers. The first time he'd done that, Buckbeak nearly took his arm off before the animal realized that the petting felt rather good. Now, Buckbeak wouldn't let Sirius sleep at night without getting a good massage.
"Spoiled beast," Sirius chuckled to himself, and left the creature in the small cave not far from Remus' home.
He reread the short letter several times, deciding that Ron must have been having a bad day or was playing a joke on Sirius. Getting back into the house, Sirius glanced at the muggle clock on the wall. Amazing inventions, the clock. Without it, one wouldn't know what the time was. Of course, even without a clock, the time went on. Remus had been gone for nearly five hours now, a reasonable amount of time, considering how far the nearest town was. And the fact that magic was officially 'off-limits' at Lupin's made Remus' journey very long indeed. Luckily, Remus' werewolf abilities gave him an inhuman amount of strength and endurance. He had just better get back soon. It was a full moon in the sky tonight.
Sirius sat down at a rickety old table and took out a scrap piece of parchment as well as a quill.
Ron,
Of course it's me. Why do you ask?
Why can't Harry have his owl with him? Hedwig's a very reliable owl, one of the best. Is it because of those muggles he's living with?
Is anything happening with Harry? Tell him that if anything's wrong, I'll be there in as fast as I can. Buckbeak is still with me so I can travel as fast as I need to.
Why are you writing like this? You act like you don't know me, like I don't know Hermione. Is something wrong?
Sirius.
As he waited for the ink to dry, Hedwig suddenly started squawking, flying from her usual post to race through the house, knocking over several books and ink pots. Her feathers were drifting all over the place.
"Hedwig! Hedwig! Calm down, girl." Sirius ducked as the crazed owl nearly took off his head with her sharp talons. "Are you going crazy?" he asked the flying bird. "Is this why Harry sent you away?"
The owl didn't calm down. Instead, she slammed her fluffy body against a window, hard enough to crack the glass.
"What's the matter?" Sirius leaped over a fallen stool to grab the hooting owl, trapping her against his chest with his arms. She screamed and scratched at him, leaving several bloody trails down his arms and against his shoulders. Wincing, Sirius tried to pull the owl back to the empty owl cage on the other side of the room and tripped over another chair. His arms flung out, releasing the raging owl back into the air as his head thumped against the floor.
For a moment, Sirius blacked out Hedwig went flying back against the window, creating a few more cracks in the glass. Lying on the floor, he felt like he was being dropped in the center of a very mad world, indeed.
Hedwig finally accomplished her goal of breaking the window and flew out in the midst of the falling glass shards. Several cut into her wings and feathers, dying her white coat a glossy red.
Sirius blinked. He lay on the floor several minutes, just trying to stop the world from spinning. After his brain calmed down enough to let him stand, Sirius got to his feet and rubbed his aching head. "Stupid bird," he muttered angrily, stomping through the overturned house. He reached over, lifting the furniture back to their original positions and trying to mop up the puddles of ink that stuck to everything.
Buckbeak let out a shrill call and Sirius shook his head, trying to get rid of the dizzy feeling. He shivered as the cold afternoon sent a chilling breeze into the house, and looked for something to block the broken window. The mirror clucked as he approached it.
"You always seem to be such a mess," it remarked rather smugly.
Sirius looked at himself and blushed. His robes were torn from Hedwig's talons and bloody streaks were left from her vicious attack. His hair had become completely disarrayed in the mini-battle, looking much like the messy clump of dirt it had been when he escaped from Azkaban.
"Well, I'd like to see you come out looking nice after fighting a mad owl," he replied darkly, going back to looking for a window replacement.
"Fighting with owl? Goodness, your generation does seem to get in a big mess now and then, don't they. Go take a shower and brush your hair. Then you'll look at least semi-presentable," the mirror droned on.
He grit his teeth and ignored the words but the mirror didn't show any sign of shutting up anytime soon. Then an idea settled in his mind and Sirius grinned evilly.
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"Ron, we need to talk."
Ron looked up from where he was playing Wizard's Chess with Hermione to see his twins staring at him, faces very serious. "Um, sure. What about?"
Fred took a seat beside Hermione and George sat next to Ron, both looking at the other two with that same serious expression. "Listen, we know all about how you send owls to Sirius Black-"
"What?" Hermione exclaimed, cutting right into George's words. She blushed bright red and sputtered out, "I-I have no idea what your talking about."
"Get over yourselves," Fred rolled his eyes. "It wasn't too hard to figure out. Trying to keep a secret in this house is about as hard as it is to keep a secret at Hogwarts. Which is about impossible."
"How long have you known?" Ron asked.
George shrugged. "Ages. But the point is that we were the only ones who knew."
"At first, we thought you guys were joking. Calling him 'Snuffles' and all that really threw us off-"
"Until we realized it was code for Sirius."
"Then we understood almost everything."
"Except the part where you guys are all friends."
Fred nodded. "That's something we still don't understand. I mean, why are you friends with a crackling mad evil wizard who escaped from Azkaban?"
Ron and Hermione suddenly found their chess game extremely interesting. "It there a point to all this?" Ron bit out. "Or did you just come to tell us you knew our secrets?"
"Well, remember our point?" George started again.
"How we were the only ones who knew?" Fred said. "Besides Mum, but she just figured it out so it doesn't count."
"Right. Well, we're not."
"Not what?" Hermione asked, getting exasperated at the double talk the twins were presenting. "And one at a time. I can't follow the both of you talking at the same time."
Fred motioned for George to talk and George cleared his throat. "Well, this morning, Harry sent you an owl-"
"Really? Where is it?" Ron asked, excitedly. He looked to Hermione. "He hasn't written either of us all summer-"
"That's cause those muggles locked him up in that room again," Fred interrupted. "Like that did a few years ago, with the barred windows and everything."
"Oh, that's terrible!" Hermione stood. "We should go get him right now."
"Sit down, Hermione. Dumbledore said all wizards and witches have to stay away from Harry's house this summer." Ron pulled her back down to her chair. "Said it was for his own protection and all." He looked to George. "So, where's the letter?"
"That's what we're trying to tell you," Fred groaned. "But you keep interrupting-"
"Percy has it," George answered. "He took it right off Hedwig, read it, and nearly went mad because Harry was talking about Sirius. So now he knows, but you know Perce-"
"'Bighead,'" Ron and Fred stated at the same time.
George nodded and pointed to Fred. "We tried to talk him out of it-"
"But he probably won't listen to us, the mean git."
"I'd be surprised if he hadn't done it yet."
"Done what?" Hermione asked, annoyance creeping into her voice again.
George wrinkled his forehead. "Well, what do you think he's planning to do?"
"It's rather obvious-"
"At least to us. Maybe you just got to be his brother to understand him-"
"George, Fred, what is Percy going to do?" Ron tried, getting upset as well.
"Capture Sirius Black, of course," the twins replied at once.
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Sirius nailed once more and leaned back against a wall, admiring his hard work. The annoying mirror would never bother him again. Not in its current state.
The window problem was fixed, Sirius having blocked the broken glass with the mirror. Since the mirror was in the way, he couldn't see outside but it was a small price to pay. Hedwig hadn't showed up since her disturbing departure, so Sirius was forced to use a local bird to deliver his letter. He thought about owling Harry as well but decided against it. Remus was right; he was getting too worried about nothing. Besides, forcing Harry to talk to him wouldn't be fair. He and Harry weren't strangers but they were far from being close. It was only a few years ago that Harry had met Sirius and since then, Sirius hadn't done much of a job being a godfather.
That'd all change once Peter was found, Sirius promised. Then, Harry would come live with him and he'd be treated like any teen should be. Normal.
Outside, Buckbeak let out another of his shrill screams, making Sirius wince. "Now what?" he groaned, starting to the door. "I swear, there's some problem with the magical creatures today. First Hedwig, now Buckbeak-"
His raving was cut short by loud, insistent pounds on the door. Sirius froze, not two feet away from the door, his hand stretched out to open it. He could hear gruff voices just beyond the wooden barrier:
"You really think he's here? This place looks deserted."
"Of course he'd be here. Our sources are completely reliable. And it'd be rather obvious if he was living in a town. No, a house like this is just perfect."
More pounding, then:
"You think he'd home."
"If he isn't, we'll just wait for him. But I bet he's right inside, trying to hide."
"Open the door, you reckon?"
"Yes."
"Alohomora!"
The door flew open, sending Sirius flying back and landing once more on his head. That's happened to me a lot, he thought to himself before falling into the black void of unconsciousness. Before him, over a dozen robed Aurors flooded into the room. Cornelius Fudge, the last one to enter, smiled broadly. "Congratulations," he said to all those in the crowded house. "You've caught Sirius Black."
He leaned over and clapped a pale young man's shoulder. "It wouldn't have been done without courageous effort on the part of this young man, Percival Weasley. Weasley, come to my office tomorrow and bring your father. We'll see that you both get your fair reward."
"Thank you, sir," Percy managed, weakly, casting a glance at the pathetic body on the floor. Aurors were already working, conjuring up thick, unbreakable ropes over Black's unconscious body and searching him and the house for anything dangerous. "I was just doing my job."
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"Oh, bloody hell," Ron muttered darkly. He scanned the headlines once more, willing the message and the pictures that came with it to vanish, but no such luck.
"Sirius Black: Free No Longer!
Special Report by Cindy Lane
Sirius Black, escapee and dark wizard at large, was finally apprehended yesterday after over three years on the run from both Wizarding Aurors and Muggle cops. He was found in an abandoned barn house. "Mr. Grim." The muggle who owned the land, Mr. J.C. Pedia, had no idea who was hiding on his property. "I remember something on the new about him," Pedia commented, as Hit Wizards swarmed his house. "Nasty looking fellow. Wouldn't recognize him now, though." Pedia's memory was quickly erased by an Obliviator at the scene.
There was some evidence that pointed out a possible accomplice and Hit Wizards plan to stay the night to be sure there's not.
The Ministry's Magical Law Enforcement Squads, set out to ensure that Black didn't escape a third time, released a statement saying that not only was Black in secure custody, but he was also proving to be very polite and agreeable to his capturers. They also let it slip that he was accidentally knocked unconscious when an unusually powerful unlocking spell destroyed the door, catching Black on the side of his face. "It's only what he deserved," one Auror commented roughly, preferring to remain anonymous.
Indeed, many people would agree with that statement. Black was at one time thought to be the brightest and most promising Auror in the history of the Ministry, capturing as many as fifteen Death Eaters at one time (the highest record to date). However, his fame disappeared when he was discovered to be none other than the right hand man of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Black was detected as a spy when he betrayed James and Lily Potter, two of the highest enemies of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Black had become the Potters' Secret Keeper after information from Ministry spies foretold He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's plans on attacking the Potters.
Black is also infamous for his high death records. With only one curse, he destroyed an entire Muggle street, killing twelve Muggles and one wizard, Peter Pettigrew. It is not sure exactly when Black turned or why he remained an Auror, despite the high risk any spy would have in that position. Black had also been best friends with James Potter before the Potters were killed, bringing up many complexions to the story.
After he killed the thirteen people, Black was captured and sent to Azkaban without a trial, due to the ever-increasing power of Aurors under the heading of the late Bartemius Crouch, Sr. He spent fourteen years with nothing other than Dementors to keep him company but Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, claims that Dementors don't affect so powerful a dark wizard.
Black was captured by Percy Weasley, the third son in his family and a hard worker at the Ministry. Weasley had been the personal assistant to Crouch before Crouch's death and had recently been promoted to being the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. His father, Arthur Weasley, also works at the Ministry in the Department of Accidental Magic Reversal, the head of the Muggle Artifacts Office. Percy Weasley was rather quiet about the whole affair, only repeating the fact that he was "only doing [his] job."
Arthur Weasley refused to comment.
"They've been acting really strange, especially after [Arthur] got here," Arnold Peasegood, Obliviator, commented. "Arthur took his boy aside and they had some words and when Percy came back, he was all pale and the like."
Both were promoted in light of the situation. Percy Weasley is now the assistant to the Minister himself and Arthur, in an astounding display of Fudge's generosity, was promoted to being the head of Department and Commitees, bringing him to be the next in line, should the Minister be unable to fulfill his duties. However, this extreme promotion brings about little resent in the rest of the Ministry. "He deserves it, he does," said Joe Perkins, Accidental Magic Reversal Department. "Both of them work so hard, 'specially the young one. Can't think of a better Minister--not that he's the Minister or nothing."
Gilbert Whimple, Experimental Charms, Daniel Basil, Department of Transportation, and Michele Mitchell, Council of Magical Law, are some of the many that agree.
Lucias Malfoy, Department of Mysteries, protests that the promotion is too much, too fast. "Weasley is very likely to blow all the money he makes, as well as any chance the Ministry has at having a good Minister, after Fudge. You saw how, after he won that Galleon Draw, he had nothing left after little over one month, and the prize money was five hundred Galleons." Malfoy also claims that he will "be sure to fight this promotion, for the betterment of the Ministry's present and future."
Black's capture brings about many questions about how such a case will proceed in the Council of Magical Law. Since he never had an official trial, Black will be given one day in court. It is unusual for such a wanted man to be given a trial so long after his imprisonment but with the recent reforms of the Ministry, due to certain rumors about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Many cases brought in by the Aurors during the last Dark Magic War are being reviewed. (Cindy Lane, Daily Prophet Reporter)
"What have you gone and done this time, Perce?" Ron asked himself. He shook his head. "Harry's going to go mad with this…"
Below that article (and the picture of Sirius being led away) was another, smaller one, but one that presented just as important information.
Dementors Vanish; Azkaban Left Without Guard
Dementors, the soul-sucking jailers of the only wizarding jail, Azkaban, have suddenly disappeared. All left their posts, virtually deserting the ranks of Light Magic. No one has any idea where the creatures have gone, and their disappearance leaves many feeling terrified:
"There's so many dark wizards in there. Without someone guarding them, they could get out and destroy the world!"
"It's just like last time, you know. Dark creatures just disappearing. Mark my words: soon we'll see the Dark Mark again, and not just some sick joke like at the Tournament." The Tournament he refers to is last summer's Quidditch World Cup Tournament, where the Dark Mark appeared in the sky sometime in the evening. Both of the above wizards wish to remain anonymous.
Minister Fudge brushed off any questions relating to the dementors at the latest press conference. "The Wizarding Community is scared, I know. They aren't the only ones. But that doesn't make everything an evil omen or the like."
"Of course we're scared, with all the rumors going on. They say [He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named]'s back, that Sirius Black has been caught, and that the Death Eaters are coming to. With [He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named], who wouldn't be scared? Anything with [He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named] frightens the silly out of most people." Arabella Figg refused to say "You-Know-Who, claiming that such titles only inspire more fear into the hearts of wizards and witches. She was one of the more predominant Aurors in the Ministry before she retired fifteen years ago.
The Ministry promise to search out the cause of the dementors' disappearance as well as rumors of other dark creatures' vanishing.
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