Editor's Note: Welcome to the Letters from Remus special series. This is
the fourth set of letters given to the Daily Prophet for publication. This
letter ran on 13 November. Please be reminded that the opinions expressed
in these letters are the personal opinions of Sirius Black and should not
be accepted as fact.
While this letter is an opinion, the vision described in this letter is known as a perfect-recall vision. If the letter is correct and the author (in this case, Mr. Black) is not lying, the following account can be viewed as a correct description of the events of 31 October 1981. The Prophet has been assured that the facts presented in this description are all accurate, and so we present the only known written firsthand account of the events of Halloween 1981.
Editor's Warning: Some of the images presented in this account may be disturbing to children or other emotionally unstable persons. The Prophet has decided to print this letter for its immense informational value. It may also provide closure to any who did not understand the way the night played out. You have been warned.
About Seeing
With a capital S. I'm not supposed to be able to do it. I'm actually supposed to be dead right now, according to the Official Black Family Curse, but no matter. I got it from my mother. She has it, it hit me, skipped James and hit Harry. Watch out for that because I think Lily had it too. Which was one of the reasons I was so crazy, before Halloween. She was having visions of me 'killing' Peter, and I was having visions of her dying. Which is another reason why we switched from me to Peter. But in Azkaban, visions come too easily. You're half-mad to begin with. So I was having perfect-recall dreams. The kind where you relive a memory so vividly that you notice things you didn't see the first time. Here's mine:
I pull up to Godric's Hollow, right at their house. The place is a complete wreck, collapsed and in ruins. The charm is broken, obviously. I scramble through the wreckage, trying to find someone alive. I see James on the floor next to the front door. He's been AK'ed. I go to the corner of the house where the nursery would have been if the second floor was there. Harry's crib landed on its side, but he didn't get hurt because Lily is draped over the crib, dead. (God, I thought I could say that without crying. It's lucky nobody's here to see me.) Anyway, I pick her up and move her away from the crib. Harry is in there, crying his little eyes out. His forehead is bleeding a little, so I can't exactly see the shape of the gash. I pick him up and try to quiet him down, but it doesn't work. I guess I was still in shock. Dumbledore appears. Something tells me to hide, which may or may not have been a good idea, because Albus looks angry. He looks through the wreck much the same as I did, and finds Harry. Some Muggles start showing up so he leaves Harry where he is and Disapparates. Something is moving over towards Harry and Lily, low to the ground. As I get closer, it's a little boy with red hair. My still-shocked brain recognizes him as the older son. My son. He survived! All of a sudden Hagrid appears. He finds Harry quickly and sees the other boy (What was his name?). I chase after him and ask to take the boys with me. He doesn't let me: Dumbledore gave him orders. I make him take my bike because part of me knew I wouldn't need it any more. Then he leaves. More Muggles show up, neighbors and a few police. At this point my body gives in to shock and I sit down and start bawling my eyes out. My brain needs something to hold on to, and of course it finds Peter. By which I can pinpoint the exact moment I went mad. The dream ends there because I can already remember what happens next, and so can you, from the amount you've heard it. That's all there is to say on that matter.
While this letter is an opinion, the vision described in this letter is known as a perfect-recall vision. If the letter is correct and the author (in this case, Mr. Black) is not lying, the following account can be viewed as a correct description of the events of 31 October 1981. The Prophet has been assured that the facts presented in this description are all accurate, and so we present the only known written firsthand account of the events of Halloween 1981.
Editor's Warning: Some of the images presented in this account may be disturbing to children or other emotionally unstable persons. The Prophet has decided to print this letter for its immense informational value. It may also provide closure to any who did not understand the way the night played out. You have been warned.
About Seeing
With a capital S. I'm not supposed to be able to do it. I'm actually supposed to be dead right now, according to the Official Black Family Curse, but no matter. I got it from my mother. She has it, it hit me, skipped James and hit Harry. Watch out for that because I think Lily had it too. Which was one of the reasons I was so crazy, before Halloween. She was having visions of me 'killing' Peter, and I was having visions of her dying. Which is another reason why we switched from me to Peter. But in Azkaban, visions come too easily. You're half-mad to begin with. So I was having perfect-recall dreams. The kind where you relive a memory so vividly that you notice things you didn't see the first time. Here's mine:
I pull up to Godric's Hollow, right at their house. The place is a complete wreck, collapsed and in ruins. The charm is broken, obviously. I scramble through the wreckage, trying to find someone alive. I see James on the floor next to the front door. He's been AK'ed. I go to the corner of the house where the nursery would have been if the second floor was there. Harry's crib landed on its side, but he didn't get hurt because Lily is draped over the crib, dead. (God, I thought I could say that without crying. It's lucky nobody's here to see me.) Anyway, I pick her up and move her away from the crib. Harry is in there, crying his little eyes out. His forehead is bleeding a little, so I can't exactly see the shape of the gash. I pick him up and try to quiet him down, but it doesn't work. I guess I was still in shock. Dumbledore appears. Something tells me to hide, which may or may not have been a good idea, because Albus looks angry. He looks through the wreck much the same as I did, and finds Harry. Some Muggles start showing up so he leaves Harry where he is and Disapparates. Something is moving over towards Harry and Lily, low to the ground. As I get closer, it's a little boy with red hair. My still-shocked brain recognizes him as the older son. My son. He survived! All of a sudden Hagrid appears. He finds Harry quickly and sees the other boy (What was his name?). I chase after him and ask to take the boys with me. He doesn't let me: Dumbledore gave him orders. I make him take my bike because part of me knew I wouldn't need it any more. Then he leaves. More Muggles show up, neighbors and a few police. At this point my body gives in to shock and I sit down and start bawling my eyes out. My brain needs something to hold on to, and of course it finds Peter. By which I can pinpoint the exact moment I went mad. The dream ends there because I can already remember what happens next, and so can you, from the amount you've heard it. That's all there is to say on that matter.