Meeting Sirius

Diagon Alley: Gringott's

"If you'll step behind that curtain, change into this gown, we can begin", the goblin healer told Harry upon his arrival.

"Just a preliminary scan, just lie still".

The goblin healer waved a knife over Harry. Knives were to goblins as wands were to wizards. The scan didn't take more than a few minutes.

"We have a serious problem here, Mr Potter. You have broken bones that didn't heal properly, and you seem to be chronically under nourished. This says abuse, and long term. If you hadn't attained majority status as the head of a family, I would have to report this to your Ministry".

"I would appreciate if there was no mention made of this. You understand that no one is to know?"

"Of course, we take client confidentiality seriously. If you aren't going to report this to the Ministry, then perhaps muggle authorities?"

"I will have it taken care of, but in my way, and in my own good time".

Goblins looked down on child abusers, and few offenses were more serious.

"We can fix the bones with Skele-Gro, and we can provide you a schedule of fortifying and strengthening potions. Fixing the bones will require an over night stay".

"That's fine: I have no where better to go just yet".

Skele-Gro was painful, as Harry discovered last year after he broke an arm playing Quiddich, Instead of sending him to Madam Pomphery's infirmary, the idiot DADA Professor, the bumbling Gilderoy Lockhart attempted to heal the break. Instead, he vanished every bone in Harry's arm.

At least the treatment here was done with liberal amounts of pain killer potions and Dreamless Sleep Potion.

Harry returned with a supply of the necessary potions, a schedule for taking them, and his medical report.

4 Privet Dr

Upon Harry's return from the "hospital", Aunt Marge didn't ask how he was doing, or show any other hint of concern. He expected that, and was glad she didn't say anything. The less attention she paid, the better.

The next day over lunch, Marge started in again.

"You mustn't blame yourself", she said to Vernon, "as to how the boy…"

She nodded towards Harry.

("It's the compulsions talking… It's the compulsions talking… It's the compulsions talking…" He thought to himself.)

"… turned out. If there's something rotten on the inside, I'm afraid there's precious little you can do to help.

"It's no different with breeding dogs. If there's something wrong with the bitch, the pups won't turn out right either".

"May I be excused?", Harry asked. "I've had my fill".

"Yes, Dear", Petunia said.

"You see? That attitude, that'swhat I'm talking about…"

"That's enough, Sister", Vernon told Marge. "You made your point. Harry may not be a relation, but he's still our son".

That Vernon would defend Harry stunned her into a merciful silence. Harry heard from the hall. At least he avoided an outburst of incidental magick. He had been warned after Dobby used magick last year to sabotage Vernon's party for a client that any more magick detected coming from Privet Drive could mean expulsion from Hogwarts. He thought it an empty threat, after all, the Department for the Abuse of Magick and Underage Sorcery had investigated, the Obliviators took care of the normies involved, and Harry had been cleared of any wrong doing.

The next several days, Harry slipped into day dreams whenever Marge lit into him. This must've given him a dazed look because she began to express the opinion he was of a below normal intellect.

Finally, the last night of Marge's stay had arrived. Everyone got through the soup and salmon courses without a peep of nastiness from Marge. Petunia served coffee and lemon meringue pie. Petunia was sipping coffee with her pinkie sticking out, something she never did when Marge wasn't there. Vernon made the mistake of bringing out a bottle of brandy.

"Can I tempt you?", he asked.

Harry thought she'd had more than enough. They went through three bottles of wine, most of it flowing into Marge's glass.

"I'll have a little", she chuckled.

"… A little more", she said. "And a little more", by now her snifter was nearly full. "That's the ticket".

"Excellent nosh, Petunia", she congratulated as she set down the empty snifter. "Normally, it's just a fry-up or something nukable at home. Twelve dogs to look after take up a lot of time".

She belched in a most unlady-like manner.

Dudley was helping himself to another slice of pie.

"I do like to see a healthy looking boy", she nodded Dudley's way. "Dudders, you will grow up to be a proper sized man, just like your father".

"And, I'll have a spot more brandy". Vernon poured another snifter-full.

"Now this one", she indicated Harry. "He has a mean, runty look about him. You also see that with dogs. Last summer, I had Colonel Fubster drown one. It was ratty, nasty. Weak. Underbred.

(It's the compulsions talking… It's the compulsions talking… It's the compulsions talking…)

"As I was saying the other day, in the end it comes down to blood. Bad blood will out. I don't mean to criticize your either family, Petunia", she said as she took one of Petunia's hand in hers. "But your sister was a bad egg. It happens in the best of families. Then she runs off with a wastrel, and here's the result in front of us…"

Then she turned to Vernon: "You never told me what this Potter did for a living?"

"We… don't know exactly…"

"As I expected!", Marge crowed, victorious. "No doubt he was another lay-about, a good for nothing wastrel. He gets drunk, no doubt, and wrecks his car, killing himself and his wife…"

"All we know was that James was involved with law enforcement, counter terrorism, I think". Vernon raised his voice. "He made a lot of enemies, and as for the crash, we don't know if it was just an unfortunate accident, or if it was something else. No one ever found out…"

"I'm goin' out", Harry announced and headed for the front door.

"You get back here! I'm not though with you!"

Harry didn't look back. He raised his right hand, and then his middle finger, as he continued on his way out.

"Vernon! Are you gonna let him…"

"Marge! You had it coming! You've been here an entire week and you haven't said one civil word to Harry the entire time. Just be grateful all he did was flip you off"

0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Harry nearly forgot what night it was, such was Aunt Marge's influence. How would he find Sirius? He had no idea, other than to wander the streets, hope to be seen.

He stopped at a low wall along Magnolia Crescent. He looked up and down the street. In Little Whinging, the sidewalks were rolled up after sundown. There was no sign of activity; the windows of nearby houses all dark. After maybe ten minutes, he felt it: a prickling on the back of his neck. Was someone attempting Legilimancy? He looked around again, more carefully this time, for any sign of movement.

That's when he looked behind him. He sensed more than he saw, that there was something in the narrow alley between a garage and the next door neighbor's fence. Repositioning himself slightly revealed the reflections of the street lamp: something big with wide, gleaming eyes.

As soon as it noticed it had been noticed, it turned to run off. Harry followed…

"Padfoot!", he called out. The thing he saw, which he recognized was a big black long haired dog stopped. It looked like a stray, and one who'd had a rough life. No one to wash and brush the thick coat. Skinny, and not used to being well fed. The dog came back, and gave Harry's hand a lick.

"C'mon", Harry said, "I know a place".

Harry led the dog to the park, to a stand of trees that concealed their view. Sirius returned to human form.

"God father! What the hell is wrong with you? Here! You come here! Of all places! You have the aurors, dementors, and the normie cops looking for you and you come exactly where they'd expect to find you!"

"I had to see you. The last time I saw you, you were in your mother's arms. Now look at you: just like James, except you have Lily's eyes. You knew? How?"

"Never mind that. It's still dangerous. You know the dementors patrol around here?"

Harry and Petunia knew, but the normies didn't, however, they all felt the deleterious effects of dementors: the unnatural coldness, and feeling as though all the joy in the world suddenly disappeared. Harry could see them, flying over head, black spectral forms. Petunia explained what they were.

"That would have made it even more exciting for James"

"What are you doing? How did you escape when everyone is under the impression escape is impossible?"

"I have unfinished business that involves you, James and Lily. As for how I escaped, they didn't know I'm an animagus. I knew I was innocent, wrongly imprisoned, and that's not a happy thought so the dementors had no happiness they could feed on. It didn't take them long to figure out that I was coming up dry, and pretty soon, they left me alone for the most part. At night, I escaped their influence by becoming Padfoot. They don't understand animal emotions, you see. That's how I kept my sanity when other inmates eventually lose their minds".

"Why didn't you try to get a trial? Prove your innocence?"

"Then you believe I didn't betray your parents?"

"I know you didn't. It would be easy enough to prove, if you don't have the Dark Mark..."

"I don't"

"Then you couldn't be one of his followers, let alone his second in command. So why didn't you try for a trial?"

"I did, but no one was interested in reopening the case".

"If escape was so easy, then why spend all those years inside?"

"Harry, who said it was easy? It was far from easy. When the dementors came to serve dinner, such that it was, I was in my cell as Padfoot. That confused them, no human presence, and I walked out of the cell right past the dementors and they didn't even notice.

"Next, I had to get out of the fortress without being seen. Dementors didn't notice, but the human staff certainly would notice a dog. They'd know it wasn't a stray, as there are no dogs on the island. Once outside, there is no cover on Azkaban Island, so I had to swim for it, and hope no one saw. Even in August, the North Sea is damned cold. I was in the water for two days and nights. I was nearly at the end of my rope when I saw a fishing boat. Fortunately, they heard my barking and came to fish me out. When the boat returned to its dock, I had to escape before the fishermen made a pet out of me.

"After that, I made my way back towards London, living off what rats, mice, and squirrels I could catch, and what I could scrounge from dumpsters and trash cans. There was nothing easy about my escape, and I almost didn't survive the attempt. Spend a couple of days in cold water, your fur saturated and threatening to pull you under the moment you try to rest, and – believe me – a cell in Azkaban begins looking pretty darn good".

"By the way, you look like hell warmed over".

"The cuisine at Azkaban wasn't exactly five star, yannow. Being so far north, there's damned little sun, and they don't let us outside to soak up what little there is.

"How do you know about Padfoot?"

"Never mind: I know. My aunt told me all about you, the Marauders, that your nicks were Prongs, for James, Padfoot for you, and Wormtail for Peter Pettigrew. The only one that's confusing: Mooney. His nick isn't after an animal, so I don't know what that's all about. Aunt Petunia heard about it from her sister, my mother, and she told me over the years".

"That still doesn't explain… No one, and I mean NO ONE, other than the four of us knew we were animagi. We even kept it from Dumbledore, and we never registered our status with the Ministry. I'm sure James never told Lily".

"I already told you that I can't say, and I don't see how that's of any importance, everything else considered. After Aunt Marge goes, come by the house and we'll see about getting you a decent meal, and a good bath. You must not transform inside the house: Dumbledore's monitoring the wards, and likely he has spies stationed around the block. If anyone asks, we'll pass you off as a pitiful stray. We'll say Aunt Petunia has a soft spot for strays.

"You can wait here in the park: it's about the best cover here in town. I'll come for you when the coast is clear. In the mean time, for the love of Merlin, stay out of trouble".

0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

"So this is where you've been hiding?", Harry asked Padfoot. He made it look like he was searching for a lost dog, in case anyone was watching. "C'mon", he led the way.

"He followed me home", Harry said as Petunia opened the front door.

"He's a mess!", she said the obvious.

"You're gonna need a bath", she informed Padfoot.

"Take him out back. I'll get the soap".

Harry led Padfoot through the house to the back door. There, he used the hose.

"Sorry, I know it's cold", Harry apologized. Once Petunia brought the soap, Harry began scrubbing him down.

"While you're doing that, I'll fry up some steak. He looks like he needs it".

Padfoot woofed in agreement.

After a good washing, rinse, and drying with several towels, there was a bowl with bite sized chunks of fried steak and a bowl with water.

"Slow down, you don't want to make yourself sick", Harry advised.

"So what's the story?", Petunia asked.

"I told you, my godfather's an animagus, and that he would come. Despite how foolish and dangerous".

"WOOF!", Padfoot protested.

"Pleased to meet you… Sirius? Padfoot?"

"WOOF!"

Harry led Padfoot to his bedroom. Hedwig barked at the intruder.

"Relax, he'll be staying with us for awhile", Harry explained.

He got out his lappy, booted it and loaded a text writer program.

"You know how to use one of these?', he asked. Padfoot shook his head: "No".

"Of course you don't. You even know what this is?"

Again, the head shake.

"Here, it's quite simple. You tap the keys, and your text appears on the screen. Give me your paw".

Harry stuck a pencil between the toes of his right front paw.

"Are you sure no one knows you're an animagus? Not even Dumbledore?"

"Yes. We told no one".

"What can you tell me about James' and Lily's wills?"

"Don't you know?"

"Barchoke, the manager of the Potter accounts, told me Dumbledore had it sealed for national security reasons. The goblins have no idea, but they don't trust Dumbledore".

"As far as I know, they bequeathed their assets to you. They also named some candidates for your magical guardians in case something happened".

"Who?"

"Myself, as your god father. There was also Frank and Alice Longbottom. Those are the ones I remember".

"Dumbledore?"

"No, not him. Why are you living with them? I don't recall Lily's ever saying she wanted her sister to take custody of you?"

"Dumbledore had himself declared my magical guardian. So why not the Longbottoms?"

"Bellatrix Lestrange tortured them into insanity. I heard all about it in Azkaban. Barty Crouch Jr was also involved. Bellatrix, especially, was bragging all about it, how she was going to be the Dark Lord's Number Two after his return. Completely crazy talk".

"Dumbledore: always interfering in my life. You know Dumbledore used his position as Chief Warlock to prevent any inquiries into your case? Did he have something to do with it? The attack on the Longbottoms?"

"I don't know. What is he up to?"

"Dumbledore is convinced that only I can finish off Voldemort. That's what he wants, or he wants me to die trying. I don't think he cares one way or the other".

"That doesn't sound like Dumbledore. He loved James and Lily!"

"He has fooled a lot of people in a lot of ways. You can't deny the fact that he kept the wills concealed".

"Maybe you shouldn't go back to Hogwarts. You should come, live with me".

"I can't abandon my friends. We also need to do something about getting your name cleared before we can consider it".

"It's too late for that. There's something I have to do".

"Does it have anything to do with this?", Harry asked as he showed the clip from the Prophet that showed the Weasleys in Egypt.

"You know who that is?"

"Yeah, Peter Pettigrew or Wormtail. He's responsible for getting James and Lily murdered, and he's alive and well when he's supposed to be dead. Show him to the DMLE and they'll have no choice but to reopen your case and clear your name".

"HOW DO YOU KNOW?!"

"I told you that I can't tell. I don't see why that's important. We need to get your name cleared".

"I'm gonna kill that rat…"

"No you're not!"

"If I'm to spend life in Azkaban, let it be for a good reason"

"You don't have to. I will do what I must to get you a trial. You say you want me to live with you? If you mean it, then we need to get your name cleared".

"Don't waste your life on some wild goose chase. I don't see how Fudge can reopen the case without embarrassing the entire Wizengamot. If you're right about Dumbledore, then I don't see how".

"It's my life to waste any way I damn well please. Let me contact Amelia Bones. I'm sure she would be interested in reopening the case once she knows about Scabbers and who he really is. Shouldn't be too difficult to prove it".

"So much like James. How's Amy these days?"

"She's the Directrix of the DMLE, and one of the honest members of Fudge's ministry".

"We were in the Auror Corps".

"Then you should trust her. Trust me".

"You know I can't stay here?"

"You shouldn't've come in the first place. It's too dangerous. We'll say we're taking you to an animal shelter. After that, for the love of Merlin don't do something stupid. It would be best to wait for me in the Forbidden Forest. I have this friend who can help you out. His name's Dobby, and he's a house elf. I'm sure I can get him to bring you whatever you need".

0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Sirius stayed until he'd gotten some good meals, and regained strength. Harry had Vernon drive them to Dufftown, which was about 20 miles from Hogwarts. There, Sirius could make the trip to the Forbidden Forest, and Hogsmeade.

"Lay low, stay out of trouble, and I'll send help once the term starts", Harry's departing words. "With any luck, maybe we can get your name cleared before then".

"WOOF!"

Dear Madam Bones:

I am writing to request a meeting. This concerns my godfather, Sirius Black. Were you aware that he never had his day in court? I also have information as to who the real villain is, the betrayer of my parents, and the one responsible for all the deaths in London. I would very much appreciate the opportunity to discuss the matter.

Respectfully,

Harry Potter

"Here, Hedwig, fly this to the Directrix of the DMLE, Amelia Bones", as he offered a treat.

Tom dropped by soon after Marge's departure for a debriefing. Harry described how the meeting with Sirius went, that he'd identified Wormtail, and sent Sirius to Hogwarts. He also showed him the report from the goblin healer.

"This is pretty damning", Tom explained. "Madam Pomphrey couldn't help but notice when you had your annual physicals, and she should have reported it straight away. That she didn't, implicates Dumbledore if he put compulsions on her, or if she agreed to not report this on his insistence".

"So what do we do with it?", Harry asked.

"For now, nothing", Tom explained. "A chain of events have to occur otherwise I might just cease to exist. I've explained that before. However, when you return to Hogwarts, you will have an opportunity to awaken young Mr Malfoy's conscience".

"How?"

"You will know when the opportunity presents itself".

"Why so cryptic?"

"As I explained, future knowledge becomes increasingly irrelevant with changes made in the here and now. Secondly, there is no certainty that events will unfold exactly as they occurred when this was all history to me. Things you remember in the future are not predestined to occur now".

An unknown owl dropped off a post:

Dear Mr Potter,

I have looked into the case of your godfather. I was not aware that there was never a trial for Mr Black. I would very much like to discuss the matter here at the Ministry. Your pass is: 84013, and it will be good for three days. Do be prompt with your visit.

Sincerely,

Amelia Bones
Directrix, Department of Magical Law Enforcement

The next day, Harry visited the Ministry, and was escorted to Madam Bones' office.

"Thank you for seeing me", Harry said.

"First things first", Amelia started the discussion, "I have to ask you: have you been in contact with Mr Black?"

"No", Harry lied. "I haven't seen him".

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure I haven't seen Sirius since he escaped. He'd be a damn fool to come anywhere near me, wouldn't he?"

She consulted a report: "You would have been just a baby the last time you'd see Sirius, so tell me, why the concern all of a sudden?"

"He is the only magical relation I have".

"And how did you come to know he hadn't had a trial?"

"My Aunt Petunia: she was my mother's sister, and she must've heard. After all, she'd like to know the details of her sister's death, wouldn't she? Even if she's a squib".

"I would think your Aunt would be pleased that her sister's murdered had been caught and punished".

"He wasn't exactly…"

"But he did betray the Potters"

"I don't know if he did or not. If he didn't, then the real betrayer is still out there, and got away with it. If Sirius did do it, then I'd like to know for certain. If he's guilty, I will personally shove him into the deepest, darkest dungeon Azkaban has to offer".

"Do you have any information as to who would betray your parents assuming Black didn't?"

"No".

"Then it's highly unlikely that the Black case would be reopened. It's been twelve years now".

"So you're just gonna let him rot in Azkaban without a trial? How is that 'justice' (finger quotes)? In the normie world…"

"Which this isn't".

"It's still not right, and he's still my godfather".

"Harry, I'll look into the case, but you must inform this office should you be contacted by Black. I can't make any promises, you understand? What you're asking is a long shot at best".

"That's all I ask: an honest effort".