Perfect Unity

Profile:
Name: Sirius Black a.k.a. Padfoot
Primary Characteristics: Intelligence/Loyalty
Primary Element: Wind

"Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind."

I do not belong in my birth family. They know nothing except how to uphold the Black family's motto "Toujours Pur". Always pure, my ass. Did they ever contribute to the good of the magical society? Have they ever done anything respectable, besides keeping the family's blood pure but the heart and mind twisted and as black as their name, dabbling endlessly in the Dark Arts? Well, maybe grandfather's Order of Merlin counts: he gave loads of gold to the Ministry. Can't believe those Ministry blokes actually accepted the gold and gave him an Order of Merlin, first class, for "services to the Ministry". I'll bet if any other Dark wizard with the proper mask of respectability does the same, they would accept it too. Politicians. Sometimes I wonder how they manage to face and answer their own conscience. Or do they have a conscience at all?

I do not believe in the so-called purity of blood, if it doesn't make you a better person. I do not believe the ideology about pure-bloods being the superior race, if all they do is torturing and killing off Muggle-borns and Muggles. And I do not believe that the Blacks are my true family, because they have done all the cruel things I'm dead set against. Sure, they are my biological family, but like my favourite cousin Andromeda and my Uncle Alphard, I chose to be different, to be what I want to be, to be good. My principles were set. I cut myself off from my family forever. By that single act, I have proven to myself, them, and the world, where my loyalties lie. I advocate good magic, not the Dark Arts, no matter how much power they can offer me.

I made myself an outcast of the Blacks for a true family that I found at Hogwarts. A true band of brothers. James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and I, Sirius Black. Together, we became known as the Marauders. They accepted me with open arms, not for who my family is, but for who I am inside. Not because I'm a pure-blood, nor because I am a Black. Because I am me. Sirius. And I repaid them with total loyalty and devotion. No one messes with my mates and get away with it, not even if the person is the Minister for Magic.

We set off in our first year as a close-knit group, never going anywhere without the company of one another, especially James and I. We regarded each other as best friends, and are almost brothers. How cosy it sounds. By the end of our seventh year, we are known as the best pranksters that ever roamed Hogwarts. I suppose it is due to James's and my intelligence. Grumble as they did, the teachers still grudgingly but fairly admit that the both of us are the brightest students they ever taught. Yes, even McGonagall admitted that we are her best students. If she knew about our Animagi achievement, she'd be sure to say that we're her most terrific students. And we are! Not to say that I'm boasting or anything, but James's and my magical powers just come naturally to us. I don't suppose it has got anything to do with the fact that we're both pure-bloods, more the fact that we have the legendary Gryffindor courage, confidence, and determination, plus inborn intelligence, of course. Often, the teachers, especially McGonagall and Flitwick, said to the weaker students, "Nothing is wrong with your spell work except lack of confidence," or "You cannot pass your exam without focus, determination and hard work! Well, excepting Misters Potter and Black of course…" they would add meekly, sometimes so very quietly that we thought they'd rather not be heard (obviously).

Being the rebel of the family, I ran free, free from the constraints that my parents set upon my idiotic soft younger brother. Regulus is no where near my standard, neither in school nor in the real world, but he is their favourite, because he is so easily brainwashed by them into believing all this pure-blood nonsense. But I am not, and with no ropes to tie me down, no rules to guide my being, except my two principles of life about doing good and always remaining loyal to my friends, I have the free rein of the gifts of my magical abilities. I experimented. I came up with new ways to play tricks on teachers and students alike. I plotted how to cause total and maximum mayhem in the school whenever we felt like it. I discovered most of the secret passages going in and out of Hogwarts by saying nonsensical things at seemingly innocent items, like the statue of the hump-backed witch on the third floor, the best route to Hogsmeade, leading straight into the cellar of Honeydukes. I was the one who came up for the solution to Remus's "furry little problem", as James term it. I schemed every month's full moon adventures, so that we were never dull. I was able to do this, because I am myself.

Like James, my Animagus form shows who I truly am. Each wizard and witch assumes a unique Animagus shape, once they completed the training required, only seven registered ones this century, plus the three of us unregistered ones, and Merlin-knows-how-many-more unregistered ones. Me, I'm a dog. Like my namesake, Sirius, the Dog Star. I suppose my parents just had this mania of naming us after stars and I was supposed to be loyal to them, like a little puppy on a leash. But, no, they forgot that dogs are intelligent animals too. They understand, and dare to fight for what they believe in. And instead of blind loyalty to the pure-blood mania families, I poured all my devotion to my true friends, and to my Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. My submission is not based on power, or what's easy. It's on what's right.

But perhaps it is because of my carefree nature that it brought me into trouble. And by 'trouble' I do not mean teeny little nothings which cause McGonagall's nostrils to flare. No, I'm talking about real trouble, the kind where there's no turning back once you're in hot soup. Like in sixth year. I have said that no one messes with my mates and get away with it. And little Snivellus just had to be one of those snivelling things to get on our wrong side. He represents everything I'm against, so could you really blame me when I lured him into the Whomping Willow? I admit, the only regret I have is, should the trick succeed, Remus would've been in hot soup. Otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered to tell James. Snape would've been dead and torn into pieces by now, too gruesome to be recognised. And serves him right.

Maybe it is true, what they say. Like Felix Felicis, too much of a good thing is poisonous. Intelligence and loyalty I cherish above all, but if I do not use it wisely, I would be destroyed and consumed, like my biological family. Even now, James and I have developed a liking for adventure, close to recklessness, in fact. If it weren't for Remus and his rational mind, we would have been lost long ago. When he is with us during full moon, though we are the ones who keep him sane, he is the one who keeps us out of trouble, in school and out.

But through all that, I still love risks. Of course, I'm not foolish enough to not distinguish between breaking school rules and breaking the wizarding law. Like anything and anyone around me, I consider and ponder before I decide what laws and rules ought to be followed, and which ones were just tedious, useless protocols. I mean, who would say no to a little pranks once in a while? Filch, I suppose. But, come on, who doesn't like a bit of fun? I bet even McGonagall has a sense of humour, though she is disinclined to show it for fear she would lose her strict aura. She, like Lily, is only really angry if we target the Slytherins, or more specifically, Snivelly darling. Honestly, those two are too naïve for their own good. It's a dog eat dog world out there. Eat or be eaten. Sixteen years at the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black taught me that. About the only useful thing I learnt in that hell hole.

But that is all in the past now. I, Sirius Black, am one who looks into the future. And a future with my beloved friends at my side, fighting against Lord Voldemort, is exactly what I yearn for: a family I belong to, and something I can challenge my intelligence with everyday. Ah, the bliss of life... To run as freely as the wind…

– Next Up: Remus John Lupin –