Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, I am not Rowling, I live in America, not England.
What would happen if someone knew that Sirius Black was innocent?
Certainly they would try to tell the authorities—or would they? Find out what happens when four extremely bright first-years discover the truth about Sirius Black.
Here it is: the beginning of the revised version of Chaos at Hogwarts.
It all began when I was ten years old. Oh, some strange things happened before then, and perhaps you could say it began before I was born, when Voldemort began to take over—or even before that, a thousand years ago—but I'm getting ahead of myself. Way ahead. That's for the next story; if I were to include it in this one, it would be far too long.
I have a secret now, and I will tell it eventually, but I didn't have a secret then. Not any big secret, at least. But when I was ten, I discovered something, something important, something I should have told to everyone I could—but I didn't, since I knew they wouldn't believe me.
That day dawned with a gray overcast, a depressing sort of day, without the happiness of the sun, nor the excitement of thunder and rain. Just gray, colorless, depressing. "Mom," I said after I ate breakfast, which was a bowl of Cornflakes, "can I go over to Zach's house today?" Zachary Taylor was my best friend and next-door neighbor. Like myself, he was the child of a witch and a wizard, but unlike me, he was a pureblood. Neither of us cared about that, however. Zach's parents were what some would call "blood traitors," purebloods who went against their family's wishes and were disowned. Well, his parents hadn't been disowned, but some time ago his ancestors had, and his entire family was a bunch of blood traitors, just like the Weasleys.
Mom was reading the paper, but she looked up when I spoke. "Be careful, dear. There's been a breakout from Azkaban."
"What?!" I demanded. "But that's impossible!"
Mom shook her head. "We don't know how he did it, but Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban. It is suspected that he used Dark magic."
Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban? No way! He was a top-security prisoner. No, it couldn't be. But Mom wouldn't joke about something this serious. "Aren't the prisoners supposed to go insane?" I asked.
"They usually do, but Fudge visited Azkaban shortly before Black got out. He says that Black seemed perfectly sane, even asked for the newspaper, said he missed doing the crossword." Mom knew a lot of classified information, because she worked for the Ministry.
"I'll be careful," I promised, grabbing last week's newspaper on my way out so Zach and I could work on the crossword. We liked solving puzzles together.
At that point I should have begun suspecting that something was going on, but I suppose that by then I had stopped noticing coincidences. My life is full of coincidences, strange things that always turn out for the best. I have this nagging suspicion that it has to do with the fact that I was born on Friday the 13th.
I just walked over to Zach's house and knocked on the door. We'd wander over to each other's houses whenever we felt like it, so there was no reason to call each other beforehand—and Zach, being a pureblood, didn't even have a telephone. Then there was the fact that I hated talking on the telephone. So we would just show up unannounced, and we'd be announced to the other by their parents.
When I was let inside, Zach asked, "So, did you hear about Black escaping from Azkaban?"
"Yeah," I said, "Mom told me to take care. Any idea why got out?"
"Well," Zach said slowly, "Father tells me that for a few days before he left, he was whispering, 'He's at Hogwarts... he's at Hogwarts....' What do you think?"
"Sounds like he's after Potter," I concluded. Black was a Death Eater, and a mass murderer. He'd killed thirteen people with one curse. Some said that he thought he'd be second-in-command when Voldemort took over. They didn't use those exact words, of course. People were still too afraid to say the name Voldemort. Foolishness. "But it doesn't make sense. How did he suddenly find out that Potter was going to Hogwarts? Surely he should have known two years ago, if he found out so suddenly."
"You're right," Zach agreed. "It doesn't make sense." He shrugged. "Well, I don't suppose a couple ten-year-olds like us are going to solve the mystery. Did you bring the paper? Great." He took it out of my hands and began to stare at the crossword. I was looking at the other side of the paper, reading it absently.
He's at Hogwarts....
MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE
Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office at the Ministry of Magic, has won the annual Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw.
A delighted Mr. Weasley told the Daily Prophet, "We will be spending the gold on a summer holiday in Egypt, where our eldest son, Bill, works as a curse breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank.
The Weasley family will be spending a month in Egypt, returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts—
"He's at Hogwarts...." I jerked upright. "Zach! Mom said that Black asked Fudge for the paper, saying he missed doing the crossword. Flip it over and read the article, then tell me what you think."
He scanned the article quickly, then caught my eye. "He's at Hogwarts. But this is about the Weasleys; it has nothing to do with Potter."
I took the newspaper from him and looked at the picture. Now, just so you know, I'm crazy. I'll leap to conclusions, then justify the conclusions using the flimsiest reasons.
I stared at the picture absently. All nine Weasleys were in it, waving cheerily, and the youngest boy even had his pet rat on his shoulder. The rat looked like Peter Pettigrew.
Now you're thinking I'm crazy. Well, you can't say I didn't warn you. But let me explain. If Pettigrew had been an Animagus, he would probably have been able to turn into a rat that was a twin of the one in the picture. Or was the one in the picture.
"He's at Hogwarts...."
"That's it!" I exclaimed.
Zach looked at me a bit oddly. "What's it?"
So I explained. "When Black cornered Pettigrew, and blew the street apart, Pettigrew turned into a rat and disappeared. Black knows that, and want to get back at Pettigrew. And if Black saw this article...." I trailed off.
"Your theory has one tiny flaw," Zach pointed out. "Pettigrew was too stupid to become an Animagus."
"Yeah," I agreed with a grimace. "And he's not listed as an Animagus, either. But he was friends with the two smartest boys at Hogwarts, who had no regard for rules: James Potter and Sirius Bla-a-ack...." Then it hit me. "Black must have been an Animagus, too. That's how he gave the dementors the slip."
Zach just stared at me, dumbfounded. "Girl, you're mental."
I rolled my eyes. "It took you this long to notice? Now, how many years has it been? But just think... it makes sense...."
"Occam's Razor. Black lost track of what year it was and only just recently realized that Potter had started at Hogwarts."
"Uh-huh," I countered. "Occam's Razor. Magic does not exist, and all witches and wizards are delusional."
Zach laughed. "Okay, okay. Actually, the simplest explanation is that Black is innocent and Pettigrew was the supporter of the Dark Lord."
Now it was my turn to call him crazy.
"No, no, you've got it all wrong. Crazy is a good thing." He paused while I laughed. "But listen. Black just wasn't the type to go over to the Dark Side. Pettigrew was. Oh, and by the way, James Potter had another good friend, Remus Lupin. So Lupin would also have been an Animagus."
Really? Lupin was a werewolf, not an Animagus? Well, we were close enough.
Okay, there's the new chapter 1. Hope you like it. It doesn't cover as much time as the original chapter 1, but I like this one better. Please review!