Quidditch day came with raging thunderstorms. Brooklyn couldn't visit Sirius because of the weather, and he hoped that he found shelter, but was also more concerned for his brother. Why would Dumbledore and Wood allow them to play in lightning weather?

Plus, with the Fat Lady out of commission, she was replaced with Sir Cadogan of all portraits, who kept changing the password every week, guaranteed to drive Brooklyn insane.

He learned of the Hufflepuff Seeker: Cedric Diggory from Fred and George, who said that he was a really good player.

They all headed down to the pitch in the wind and rain, Brooklyn using his wings to try and keep himself dry in the stands after they found their seats.

Already, in the game, there were casualties as almost three players on both sides got taken down by lightning. Brooklyn prayed his brother would be okay as he watched him and Cedric go after the Snitch.

At first, they were lost in the rain and clouds for quite a while, until screams were heard in the crowd. Brooklyn's eyes widened in horror as he watched Harry falling from 50 feet in the air. And Dementors were coming for him! He growled, jumping onto the railing of the stands. Brooklyn wouldn't let his brother die, even if it meant him getting killed!

He raised his wings, and took off, with Hermione screaming for him not to, but it fell on deaf ears. The hard rain hit him in the face, making him wince in pain, as he struggled against the wind.

Brooklyn finally managed to grab Harry, gasping as the sudden weight began to take a toll because Harry had grown since they first met, as he tried to glide back. That's when a hooded face flew up in front of him, reaching out with those decaying hands, making Brooklyn reel back in fear, his breath catching in his chest. He just couldn't believe these monsters came to the game! He had to get Harry and himself away from them!

He steered and glided away from the one that tried to grab his face, nearly colliding into another in seconds. Brooklyn then found himself surrounded, ten dementors that began circling all around him like birds of prey, he couldn't find an opening, his eyes rounding.

It happened, the white fog began to make him lose concentration on his gliding once again, Harry feeling heavier, gritting his teeth, and shaking his head, as Goliath's screams rang in his head. Brooklyn once again wanted to help his leader but doing so would cause him to let go.

Can't drop my brother! Can't! He thought desperately, panic threatening to engulf him as everything started spinning, unable to keep himself in the air anymore, feeling rather sick, as a dementor came too close.

Amidst the chaos, Brooklyn felt white hot pain strike his right wing, lightning which burned a small hole in it. He yelled aloud, Harry slipping from his grasp, feeling himself falling as well, the screams of Goliath continuing.

He kept falling right to the ground, vaguely hearing the cries of fear from the crowd below, along with Dumbledore's strong voice shouting out a strange spell...

...

"You think they'll be alright? I mean they fell over fifty feet. It's amazing they're still alive!"

"Give them air, mate!"

"Lucky for Brook, Pomfrey could fix up his wing, even after being struck by lightning."

"Did you see all those dementors? It was horrible, never seen Dumbledore so angry before..."

Brooklyn's eyes opened wearily, gasping a bit at seeing unfamiliar blurred figures before him, and cried out for Goliath again, confused with his surroundings, sweating, and shaking under bedcovers. The team looked at one another with worry, since Brooklyn had the most worrisome reaction to those dementors.

Then a girl's face appeared through the fog, taking a hold of Brooklyn's hand. He flinched slightly, but then Brooklyn seemed to recognize her. Katie Bell, a chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Her soft brown eyes gazed into his own. He hadn't spoken with Katie much but she seemed to like Brooklyn and not judge right away.

"Everything is alright, Brooklyn. Please relax. Both you and Harry are safe. You're in the Hospital wing," Katie said gently, squeezing his hand slightly, but not too tight.

"Harry..." Brooklyn said hoarsely, feeling his body slowly losing tension, his vision coming back into focus, seeing his friends standing in front of him. Harry was in the bed next to him.

"What happened?" he asked, grimacing from the sudden pain in his wing, which had stitches on the hole where the hole used to be.

"Uh, well, you two fell," Ron responded awkwardly.

Hermione then approached them with pity in her eyes.

"Nobody blames Harry or you. The dementors weren't supposed to come inside the grounds. Dumbledore was furious. As soon as he saved you two, he sent them straight off."

Then Brooklyn gazed over to Harry, who looked quite as pale and clammy as he did. "But, who won the game?" Harry had asked.

Fred frowned. "Hufflepuff did. Cedric caught the Snitch right after you and Brooklyn fell."

Brooklyn then growled. "Where's Wood?" he demanded furiously.

George frowned. "In the showers. We figured he was trying to drown himself."

Brooklyn then lay down on his side. If that idiot boy wanted to drown himself, then let him do it, for almost getting him and Harry killed by playing in terrible weather conditions!

Ron came up to them, holding something in his arms. "There's something else you should know, Harry. When you fell, your broom blew into the Whomping Willow. And it really doesn't like being hit." With that, he displayed to Harry the tattered remains of his faithful Nimbus 2000.

Brooklyn stayed in the hospital wing a little longer than Harry did because of his sore wing. He lay there on his pillows, his chest aching as he remembered how those monster dementors affected him while Madam Pomfrey tended to his wings.

He was finally let out as he made his way over to meet Sirius. He stared out across the water, once again thinking about why the dementors seem to hurt him the most next to Harry, when he heard Sirius.

"I watched the game, and, well—." Sirius mumbled, looking down awkwardly. But Brooklyn couldn't meet his eyes. He felt too humiliated that he once again fainted in front of those dementors.

He scratched the tree with his talons. "Sirius, it seems that those things affect me and Harry more than anybody else. Why? It doesn't make me feel strong at all! I hate it!" he cried, his frustration growing.

"Brooklyn, you don't need to blame yourself for this. You're not weak. I've seen the most strong wizards go mad in Azkaban. Muggles also feel them, though they can't see them. The only way I could survive was turning into a dog." Sirius explained.

"I hear Goliath screaming whenever they get near me, then I just, I don't know how to explain this, but I lose sense of everything around me." Brooklyn muttered, as he sat down on the grass. Sirius sat down next to him, looking sympathetic.

"You should know, that there are defenses against the dementors," he suddenly said, making the gargoyle perk up with interest.

"Yeah, Hermione told me how Lupin got rid of the first dementor on the train, shooting some kind of silver light at them. What was that?"

"It's called the Patronus Charm. If you want to, I can show you how to do it," Sirius offered. Brooklyn was immediately on board with it. Whatever it took to defend himself and his brother against those soul sucking fiends!

"I'll have to do it after the holidays, though. Got business to do in Hogsmeade," Sirius said, casting his eyes off to the side, as though he had something planned.

Brooklyn nodded as they shook hands on it, also promising to tell each other stories about their families, and the gargoyle was looking forward to hearing about his brother's dad, since he and Sirius were best friends. Though, deep down, he worried about what might happen if his brother ever caught him doing something secretly again.

I will tell him if things get too dangerous, he decided. It was somewhat easy this time since nobody was messing with his head this time around. And Sirius so far was ten times better than Tom Riddle, for certain!

"Merry Christmas, Brook!" Harry called, as Brooklyn opened his eyes to snow once again falling on a bright sunny morning. He sat up to see the usual presents as Hermione came in with Crookshanks. Ron noticed this and placed Scabbers into his front pocket of his PJs.

….

Things had been quite interesting since Sirius and Brooklyn had their anti-dementor lesson deal: Harry receiving a strange map called the Marauder's Map from the twins, which showed every secret passageway out of Hogwarts, resulting to sneaking into Hogsmeade with Brooklyn tagging along.

He had to admit, the town was quite nice and old timey. He especially liked the Three Broomsticks and Honeydukes, where he brought back some interesting candy, and discovered his new favorite beverage, Butterbeer. He had to remember to bring a case of it back with him to his clan whenever he got back with this clan again. Hudson would probably like it!

They also visited Hagrid the day before Christmas, with news about Buckbeak being convicted for being dangerous, which infuriated the gargoyle. If they could give his kind a benefit of a doubt, why not a Hippogriff? It was clearly the brat's fault anyway! Brooklyn still wanted to give old Lucius a piece of his mind for all the trouble he gave him last year.

They spent the morning opening presents until Harry received one that had no card, just like when he got his invisibility cloak. It was long and thin. And when he unwrapped it, the most magnificent broomstick fell out, one he had seen advertisements for: a Firebolt.

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione had gasped out loud, while both Brooklyn and Ron stared, open mouthed. Ron from amazement, Brooklyn from disbelief and suspicion.

I've got business to do in Hogsmeade.

He narrowed his eyes. Could it be possible that Sirius had sent this broom? Ron and Harry were both discussing if Dumbledore had sent the broom, but Brooklyn knew better. It was now clearly Sirius!

He was distracted from his thoughts by Crookshanks suddenly attacking Ron's pjs, trying to get Scabbers again.

"GET—HIM—OUT—OF—HERE!" Ron bellowed, as Scabbers jumped out of his pocket, running along the floor. This cat and rat charade had been going on ever since Hermione bought him, leading to some pretty dramatic moments between her and Ron.

Brooklyn, with lightning reflexes, managed to seize Scabbers by his tail, while Ron kicked Crookshanks.

The gargoyle studied Scabbers, who was squealing and writhing in his grip. He looked terrible, losing most of his fur, and eyes popping. He then returned him to Ron.

"That rat of yours definitely doesn't look too good," he commented. Scabbers seemed to be even more panicked when he was holding him now, even after Hermione had left with Crookshanks, but Ron didn't seem to notice, only seeming to worry about that furball.

"It's stress! He'd be fine if that cat leaves him alone!"

Then Brooklyn made up his mind later that day after Christmas dinner: he was going to have Sirius come clean about that broom if he jinxed it or not. Sure, he offered to help with the dementors, but that doesn't mean Brooklyn fully trusted him to give his brother a free broom just like that!

Storming out to their meeting place by the lake, he found Sirius as a dog, romping in the snow, just having a good time. He didn't know whether to find this situation adorable or just weird.

Sirius noticed him, wagged his tail, and turned back into a human; hair covered in snow.

"Hey, Brook! Why the angry face? It's Christmas!"

"Fess up, Black! Harry received a broom today for Christmas, and I want to know, did you send it to him?"

Sirius's face lit up. "He got it? Sweet! Did he ride it yet?" Now this was something that Brooklyn was waiting for.

"That's what I thought. Are you gonna make sure my little brother falls to his death?" He hissed, eyes flashing white.

"No! I only wanted to replace his other broom, and that he got something nice for Christmas! Why would I want to hurt my godson after I agreed to help you with the dementors, anyway?" Sirius exclaimed, looking somewhat nervous at Brooklyn's angry face.

His eyes stopped glowing for a moment, before turning away. "Sorry, I-I just once trusted somebody I thought was a friend, before he revealed his true colors after trying to kill me and make me hurt my friends out of my own free will. I just don't want that to happen again, that's why I snapped."

Sirius winced. He could certainly understand what the gargoyle had been through, being betrayed by the one you thought was your friend, but certainly not the mind control deal. That was something new for him.

He decided to lighten things up. "Well, I'm quite impressed that you didn't chew me on Dumbledore or tell a professor about the Firebolt!" He chuckled, thumping Brooklyn on the shoulder. This in a way, made the gargoyle smile a bit.

"Yeah, well, I'm not much of a tattletale, myself. But it could only be a matter of time when somebody snitches. But one funny thing happened my first Christmas here, Harry received an Invisibility Cloak from Dumbledore."

Sirius seemed quite shocked but pleased. "He got James's cloak?" He gasped softly, then looking like he was lost in another world. Brooklyn raised his brow.

"Uh, yeah. It helped us out a lot." When Sirius was still looking distracted, he waved his hand in front of the man, who blinked.

"Sorry, lost in thought. Me and James always used that cloak to steal food from the kitchens. Those were good times…" he murmured, looking ready to cry. Now this was something that confused Brooklyn even further. If Black really did murder 13 people, why would he reminisce about a friend after trying to break into Hogwarts? In his heart, he now prayed this wouldn't turn into another diary incident.

"So... we're still on for those Patronus lessons for you?" Sirius asked, voice sounding a bit awkward but Brooklyn nodded. "For sure! I have to get back, though. Harry is probably missing me by now!" He stood up, waved to Sirius, and made his way back.

...

He was unprepared for a nasty surprise upon entering the common room later to find McGonagall there talking to Harry, while Hermione was sitting in her chair reading her book upside down and Ron was horrified.

Okay, what have I stepped into? The red gargoyle thought for himself before his question was answered immediately.

"But there's nothing wrong with it, Professor!" Harry protested, but McGonagall continued to look quite firm.

"You can't possibly know that until you've ridden the broom, Potter, which is out of certainty until we are clear that it hasn't been tampered with."

Brooklyn had heard enough. First, not letting him sign that permission form, and now taking away his broom? Even when he now knew it wasn't jinxed? He had hoped to tell Harry who sent it and tell him that he was innocent by now, but it seems that ship had sailed, and now he needed a new strategy.

"McGonagall, I think this is going too far for Harry's protection! I should know from another friend of mine that this broom isn't jinxed, or I would know by now!" he snapped. But she just continued to glare sternly at the gargoyle.

"I would assume you of all people would understand this, Brooklyn. But clearly not. I shall keep the both of you informed if there is really anything wrong, which should be nothing more than a few weeks. He will have it back once for sure it is jinx free." And with that, she strode away with possibly the most expensive broom that Sirius probably had struggled to save up for (unless he stole it, that is), leaving Brooklyn shaking in anger, and Harry disappointed.

Ron turned sharply to Hermione, who was blushing. "What did you have to go running to McGonagall for?" He demanded in fury. Now Brooklyn himself was terribly shocked. It was Hermione who snitched?

Still blushing, she shut her book and threw it away, standing up to face Ron.

"B-because I thought that the broom was sent to Harry by Sirius Black, and McGonagall agrees with me!"

Brooklyn was so angry with Hermione right now. He knew that she was trying to protect her friend, but this-this was too far even for him. He now wondered what Sirius would say when he hears about one of his old professors taking away his godson's Christmas present.