Behind the Veil, in the Death Chamber, the next day
If you were to walk into the Death Chamber in the Department of Mysteries, you would hear nothing but the extremely faint howling of a mournful dog as the ragged old veil fluttered in a nonexistant wind.
What Ministry officials did not know is that behind the Veil of Death was nothing but a pit. The cloth was avoided, many believing it to have deadly magical powers, but it was merely a trap set up by Ericson the Evil in ancient medieval times.
At the bottom of the twenty some foot pit was a dog, howling. Nobody could hear him, as the veil was sound-proofed.
He had been in there for months, dead bodies all around him. Sirius Black didn't know why he was still alive. He just was. Maybe he just had the will to live.
Anyway, the malnourished dog cried out, hoping, praying that somebody would hear him.
"It's no use," came a smooth voice from the darkness.
The dog tensed, pinpointed the voice to be to his left. A wand tip was ignited, and a young-ish man looked at him wearily.
Sirius transformed back to normal, staring at the man. "Who are you? When did you get here? I've never seen you before," Sirius said harshly. He knew the man hadn't Apparated in, as Apparating was disabled in the pit.
"My name is Ericson Perion," the man said, a small smile on his thin, worn face.
Sirius was confused. "How long have you been in here?" he asked, his voice raspy.
"Twenty-five years."
o0o0o0o
Urgh. Monday mornings.
Harry had come to bed late last night and was awakened by Ron yelling that they were late for classes.
So the morning was a five minute frenzy to get dressed and address hygiene. Sirius and James seemed to be used to it; Remus later explained that they did this weekly.
Making a mad dash for the portrait hole, already ten minutes late, Ron gasped, "What class do we have?"
Harry gulped. "Care- of- magical- creatures," he gasped.
Remus made a turn off of the fifth corridor for Charms class, and the other four kept bolting onward.
Finally, fifteen minutes late, they made it out onto the grounds. Bags swinging wildly against their hips, they rushed over to the class.
"Harry, Ron, James, Sirius, yer late!" Hagrid said gruffly.
"Sorry," Ron said, sweating slightly. "We woke up late and-"
"Ah, don't worry 'bout it," Hagrid said, waving a giant hand. "We're havin' a lesson on the care o' Jumplas."
Jumplas turned out to be magical creatures that looked rather like tiny muggle kangaroos. The coloration for males was black and for females was white, and newborns were acid green in color. Barely two feet high, they were found only in remote parts of Australia. They were on the brink of extinction, as wizards valued them for their pelts, which had magical powers. If you ground up a pelt of a Jumpla, you could bring somebody back from near death. Hospitals were allowed two servings of Jumpla pelt for every five years, so they had to be used carefully. Apparently, unless you had a government license, it was illegal to hunt Jumplas.
They soon got to interact with the creatures. According to Hagrid, male Jumplas would only work with male humans, and the same with the females.
During the lesson, Hermione and her Jumpla sidled up to James, Sirius, and Harry. Ron was chasing his Jumpla, who had tried to run from him, and the Slytherins were guffawing.
"Harry, Ron, I cannot believe you didn't set your alarm clocks this morning!" Hermione said. Harry just smirked.
"Kinda forgot," he said with a shrug. "And besides, Ron never sets his."
Hermione just rolled her eyes.
o0o0o0o
"Twenty-five years! Most people in here don't make it past a month!" Sirius cried.
"Ah, Sirius Black, but you did," the man said.
Sirius didn't even bother to wonder how the man knew his name. It had been in the papers about his sentence to Azkaban.
But wait! The man had been in here twenty-five years, and Sirius had been sent to Azkaban merely fifteen years ago!
"How do you know my name?" Sirius asked, arching an eyebrow.
The man stood up. He looked healthy, like he had just fallen in there today. Sirius looked thin, as he wasn't apt to conjuring food. But he could get water, so he was hydrated. He was alive.
Everyone that had fallen into the pit had died within the first week, with the acception of Sirius and... this guy. They had either died of angst, the fall, shock, or they had just gone mad and killed each other. It was a desperate fight for survival. To stay out of it, Sirius had transformed into a dog and hid. This was the first time he had transformed back to normal since he had been forced to hide to survive.
"Sirius, I am a Mage of the Light," Perion stated, his blue-green eyes looked at Sirius underneath a mop of black hair.
Sirius's grey eyes widened. They had learned about Mages of the Light in seventh year, in History of Magic. Sirius had actually listened that lesson. Go figure.
"How'd you end up in here?" he asked him.
"A fight occured here in the year of 1971. The Mages of the Light revolted against the Mages of the Dark and their dictator who ruled over us all: Junika Potter."
Sirius opened his mouth to speak, but the Mage cut him off. "Junika Potter is the uncle of James Christopher Potter."
Sirius mouth hung open. James had had a Mage uncle and had never told him? Moreso, a Dark Mage uncle?
"An explosion caused by a spell from Potter's wand sent everyone sprialing. Some Mages were forced into the past; some into the future; others were just blown up or fell back. I fell back into the viel. I haven't died, because Mages are immortal to suffocation, starvation, extreme conditions, stress... basically everything but an actual murder. Like a spell, a stab wound."
Sirius was gaping. "Holy crap," he mumbled.
"I need your help, Sirius Black. You see, the only way for me to leave is with either a witch, wizard, Mage's help. A Mage hasn't fallen in, and all of the witchs and wizards that fell in have been incompetent, only living a week. You, however, are strong. Somebody with the will to survive. One you care about is out there, and you need to find him, am I correct?"
Sirius nodded, thinking of Harry.
"Potter's great-nephew, eh? The only who defeated the Supreme Ruler?"
"The what?" Sirius asked, confused. Nobody had called Voldemort the Supreme Ruler before. Sirius would be caught dead rather than utter his name in that form.
"The Supreme Ruler, Sirius Black. That is what the Mages were forced to call him. You could say that... I never exactly grew out of that habit," he replied, a small smile on his face. "Anyway, Sirius Black, could you help me out of here?"
"What's in it for me?" asked Sirius stiffly.
"Ah, you get to leave here too. Come here, lad," said the man, beckoning him over. Sirius creeped over the dead bodies, not trusting the man- but what did he have to lose? If the old man would kill him, it would be a much less painful death.
"Put your wand tip with mine, and when I say to, imagine the place you would like to go. I shall give you the choice. I will be transported with you, but I can always Apparate away."
Sirius scowled slightly. What if the man was a Death Eater? Sirius's first thought had been to go to the Headmaster's office, but he might be leading a Death Eater right into Hogwarts.
"Ah, lad, you do not trust me. You think me a Death Eater," Perion said, cocking his head in a dog-like way.
"Well, how about this, then. You decided where you want to go, and I will choose my own destination. If the wards of Hogwarts, as that is where you were thinking on going, are secure, then I will not be allowed into the grounds and will be immediately transported to Azkaban."
Sirius nodded slightly, as that was the truth, according to Dumbledore. "Fine, then," Sirius mumbled.
"Ready... set..." -the wands were connected- "Imagine!"
Sirius had a clear picture of Professor Dumbledore's office in his mind. Suddenly, he felt a jerk behind his navel, almost like a Portkey... he was sailing away...
Hitting a hard stone surface with Perion next to him, Sirius flicked open his grey eyes and gazed around at the Headmaster's office in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
I know this one took a while to write, and I apologize for that. You see, I did want Sirius to be alive, and I wasn't sure how to bring it about. I took a lot of time to think this one through, and if there are any rough spots where you are confused, let me know!