Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling
Thoughts were spinning in Harry's head as Minerva and him went to meet Sirius. What was he like? Is he fine in his mind? What will their relationship be like?
That all seemed to stop once he saw a tall man with long, black hair and grey eyes. He recognized him immediately — he was nothing like that decrepit, drained, and withered prisoner that he saw before. Sure, he still had traces of Azkaban on him, but he managed to keep his handsomeness afloat.
The man smiled at Harry's pale, wide-eyed face. "Hello, Professor McGonagall... hey, Harry," he started. "I saw you both at the trial, but you will have to excuse me for not greeting you — I could barely keep myself conscious."
After Sirius shook hands with Minerva, Harry reached his hand out too, only to be given a hug by his godfather instead. "I'm so glad I can finally meet you, Harry. I'm glad you finally know the truth," Though he was surprised, Harry felt comfortable enough to return the hug. He turned to Minnie to see her beaming.
"Well, I suppose we should find a more suitable room to talk in — Hogwarts has quite a comfortable set of guest rooms, which I'm sure your godfather's knowledgable in," she gave Sirius a sly smile.
"Oh, certainly," Sirius smirked.
...
...
"I see this place is ever the same," Sirius smiled pleasantly as he was soaking in his impression of the castle. "Nice to know some things never change."
He turned to Minerva. "Though I can't say the same for you Minerva. I never imagined you'd be the one to look after Harry. Not least after Albus arranged for Harry to live with that muggle family."
"You wouldn't imagine how that muggle family treated him, Sirius. He suffered neglect and sometimes even abuse at their hands. They felt compelled to "chase magic out of him"," Minerva said.
"Is that so?" Sirius spoke quietly. Harry couldn't help but notice a glint of rage in his voice. His godfather sighed deeply.
"I suppose it's not worth thinking about. I'm at peace knowing who he is with right now," he continued.
Minerva smiled. "Thank you, Sirius," she rose up — "I've got a class coming up. Since Harry has more or less finished up his homework, there should be no problem for you two to have some time alone. I'll be leaving you for now. I'm glad you are with us again, Sirius."
"Likewise."
As Minnie was leaving, Harry clutched his hands on his knees. He was going over what he wanted to talk about with Sirius in his mind, but now that he was alone with him, he got a bit nervous.
"I haven't seen you since you were a baby, Harry. It's amazing to see your parents' likeness in you now."
"Yeah, I've heard that one before, believe me," Harry smiled.
Sirius chuckled. "No surprises you did. So, how do you like the world of magic? It would take some time getting used to, I'm sure."
"It was salvation after the Dursleys. I mean, it was like opening a fantasy book and it becoming real all of a sudden."
"A fantasy book?"
"Oh, it's what muggles call books about imaginary worlds with cool powers."
"Right. I'm glad Minerva — Minnie, you call her?" Harry blushed a bit, much to Sirius' amusement, "I'm glad Minnie took you from that muggle family. Seems like they don't take kindly to us," he had a dark look on his face again.
"It wasn't that bad, but they were gits towards me, yeah."
"You know, just say the word, and we could do something about it. Transfigure them into puffskeins for a day or two," Sirius winked.
Harry snickered, raising an eyebrow. "You aren't serious, are you?"
Sirius shrugged, making up a clueless face. "Who knows? Depends on who's asking."
...
"So where do you live? Or, well, where have you lived?" Harry wondered.
Sirius's face twisted a bit in discomfort. "I have lived with James' family ever since I ran away from my own. I wasn't exactly an upstanding member of the Blacks, you know. Your father's family generously took me in after I escaped from that place."
"What?! Why?"
"My family has been known to be rather... attached to their beliefs in wizard superiority, "pureness" of blood, and similar. Surely you've seen people like that around, Slytherin house being prominent with them. Just imagine that, but taken to even worse heights. I disagreed. And I made sure to be a sore thumb sticking out, just to spite them," Sirius grinned.
"So you and dad lived together?" Harry beamed.
"Oh yes, we have. We were practically inseparable, we raised hell in this school. I considered him my brother, and would have given my life for him, as I'm sure he would have done the same," Sirius gazed at the distance.
"Well, enough of that for now," he broke off. "Remus has told me you are quite the little devil yourself," his eyes twinkled.
"Ah well, it's just overblown. I'm a... free soul. That's all," Harry said, grinning.
Sirius barked a laugh. "A free soul he says! Blimey, Harry, I painfully regret not knowing you sooner!"
Dumbledore was reading the current issue of the Daily Prophet. "Headmaster says all resources directed towards finding the culprit! Aurors involved in the curriculum!"
It would take some time for the ministry employees to get accustomed to their tasks at school, even if they were former students.
However, Albus hadn't just counted on them being aurors — he also had other plans in mind.
...
"I enjoy a bit of nostalgia if anything. Having special honors or salary increased after catching the criminal wouldn't hurt either," Merula Snyde remarked. "But I know your edge, Dumbledore. I know what you're going to propose, and the answer is still no."
The headmaster sighed.
Ms. Snyde and Mr. Copper were incredibly talented people with a rather strong sense of justice and courage to put their lives on the line for their work, and he certainly wouldn't mind them being in the Order. Though it seems it would take some more effort than he initially hoped.
"I will remind you I'm more hardheaded than Tonks, I can assure you of that," Merula said.
"Oh, I don't mean to imply anything else, Ms. Snyde," Dumbledore said.
"I'm sure you don't, seeing how delicate your approach is," Merula raised an eyebrow.
"It would be a wonder that such a strong, remarkable witch with a brilliant sense of morality doesn't draw interests that want to put her talents to use," the headmaster noted.
"They are already being put to use, you gaffer. Forget it, talking with you will only wrap one further into your little dances," Merula jeered.
Albus chuckled at his reflections. But then an uneasy grimace overcame his face. His mind jumped to the troubling issue of what to do with Lucius Malfoy, and how he is connected to all the current events.
"Depulso! Expelliarmus!"
"Well done, Ms. Granger! A magnificent performance!" Harry mimicked Lupin and bowed.
"Thank you, professor!" Hermione said enthusiastically.
They looked at each other for a brief moment before breaking into laughter.
"No, seriously, you are brilliant. You will demolish him. It's really funny, he has no way of snaking his way out of this if he wants to save his reputation," Harry said.
"Thanks, Harry. Really, thank you for making time for our little dueling sessions," Hermione smiled.
"No problem. You really think I'd leave you alone against this insufferable prat?"
"Of course not..."
"This map is useful for a lot of things besides just sneaking. No one's gonna bother us here." Harry remarked. They were in a rather desolate spare room containing a few old, dusty desks and outdoor benches.
They both sat on one of the spare benches to rest, as they'd been training for a while. Hermione exhaled tiredly and leaned against Harry's shoulder, much to the latter's surprise. Harry's muscles turned a bit stiff as he got embarrassed, but after realizing he can't act like a statue forever, he relaxed his body, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. Hermione let out a silent chuckle, making Harry blush a bit and get talking.
"O-oh yeah, I've figured that invisibility cloak Dumbledore gave me is immune to magic, did you know?" Harry started nervously.
"What? How on earth..." Hermione gasped.
"Yeah, it's incredible. No spells work on revealing the user, like homenum revelio, for example."
"That's not the usual property of invisibility cloaks, right?"
"Yeah, I guess this one's special. Props to my dad, he really knew his craft — we could sneak around to find out what aurors are up to," Harry noted.
"Maybe we could... it is a bit risky if an intruder is still around," Hermione whispered.
"Oh come on, foolproof concealment and a map that gives you complete surveillance of everyone? We're unstoppable," Harry snickered.
"We are relatively safe, yes..."
"Plus, what Dobby said really worries me. I mean, so far there's not been anything "terrible", but who knows what he was talking about..." Harry mused.
"Dumbledore is taking it very seriously. I don't think there have been more than three instances of aurors being intentionally present on Hogwarts' grounds," Hermione said.
"There's an advanced course of Hogwarts: A history now, too?" Harry teased.
Hermione smirked. "Indeed. Most unfortunately lost on idiots, I'm afraid," she said.
"We'll see who the idiot is," Harry took out the enchanted map. "A thing of beauty."
"Thank you, dad. Thank you, Moony, Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail. Your weapons are in good hands," Harry nodded importantly.
"Can't ever just not mind your own business, can you?" Hermione laughed.
"Of course, where's the fun in just minding one's own business?" Harry grinned.
"What am I going to do with you..."
"I'll be damned. You sure you got the right place?" Sirius turned to Remus.
"As far as I'm aware of unless your mother charmed me from her portrait," Remus chuckled.
"How did you even get her off the bloody wall?" Sirius exclaimed.
"Courtesy of Dumbledore. He's been a great help with all the dark artifacts lying around. Your house elf was desperate to retrieve a few of them in your family's memory," Remus said.
"Kreacher, huh? Where is he now?"
"He's hiding in the basement, probably, clutching all the items he could have retrieved."
Sirius sighed. "Lord knows what the state of his mind is, being in a desolate place like this for so long still serving a vile fanatical family. I can at least attest to the first one."
"Anyway, I hear Dumbledore's offered you a job?"
"He has. He wants me to patrol the Hogwarts' grounds along with the rest of the aurors. He wants however many capable people he can afford," Sirius noted.
"It would do you good to get out of this place until it's completely refurnished."
"Thanks a lot. For purging this hellhole," Sirius said.
"Consider it a welcome gift from a friend," Remus smiled.
"Now, as I will remind you all, the dueling club is primarily designed to teach you to defend yourselves. Students can issue a challenge for a duel to other students and even friends, and if the other party accepts, we will arrange a supervised duel. If there are no challenges, or if there are not enough of them, two teachers would demonstrate spellcasting alone for that day, while the students will be asked to attempt to replicate the casted spell," Remus started.
"I will not tolerate any spell that is designed to injure your opponent in any significant way," Remus warned the group of students. "You are here to acquire practical experience in defensive spellcasting while facing the threat of another person. If you attempt to maim your opponent, whoever that is, for whatever reason you have, I will fail you."
After the class took the warning in, he continued.
"We have had some early challenges spring up after the club was announced. The first of them is the challenge of Ms. Granger against Mr. Malfoy. Will the two students rise to the platform?"
Hermione and Draco walked upwards to an elongated platform, recently set in the room, as multiple classes of students gathered around it.
"I assume both of you are familiar with the rules of dueling?"
"Yes."
"Good. Like we said before — no maiming, no curses. Good luck, both of you," Remus whispered. The two separated, going quickly to opposite sides of the platform and readying their wands. Tense silence shrouded the room.
"Ready yourselves... and duel!"
Expecting a quick and vicious attack from Draco, Hermione immediately cast the shield charm around her — her execution was lightning quick, due to strenuous practice with Harry — Draco launched a powerful banishing charm, only cracking the shield partly.
Angry and threatened that Granger had cast an enduring shield, Draco went to cast one of his own, but he was hit by a rapid stinging jinx from her before the shield was formed. His face started to swell up, threatening his vision, but he quickly yelled — Finite! And followed with a tickling hex, which he practiced often (on students no less), which collided with Hermione's Knee-Reversal jinx, as she had slower execution of the charm.
Expulso! They both shouted, shattering each other's shields. Draco became more panicked and rigid as pressure was mounting — he yelled the disarming charm, which successfully ripped Hermione's wand out of her hands.
A quick relief washed over him as he started to gloat to his audience. "And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Thanks for your time!" He failed to realize, however, that his feet were hit with a nonverbal Coloshoo spell from Hermione, faceplanting on the platform with sticky feet, wand out of his hand.
Hermione gracefully picked her wand up and pointed it at Draco, now seething on the ground, trapped. He had to concede.
"A wonderful use of the sticking charm, if I may say so myself!" Lupin shouted as the room was filled with applause. Hermione looked at the crowd to see three of her friends clapping especially vigorously, as Harry showed a thumbs up.
She offered a hand to Draco, who pushed it away. He looked beside himself with anger as he stormed off the platform and out of the room.
"A moment of silence, please!" Lupin yelled. "First of all, well done Ms. Granger. A brilliantly sneaky use of the spell. Such spontaneous nonverbal magic at that young age, I'm impressed. Second, would someone from Draco's group care to bring him back to the class, if you please?" he asked, prompting Pansy Parkinson to rush out of the room.
"That was bloody brilliant, Hermione!" shouted Ron.
"Yeah, no kidding," Harry agreed.
"You were amazing, really," Neville said.
Hermione blushed a little. "Thanks, guys."
Ron laughed. "Have you seen how he stormed out after you offered him a hand? Do you think he went to the bathroom to cry?"
Harry shrugged. "He knows the drying charm. Maybe he bawled his eyes out and returned. I would if I was him, seeing how vigorously his face kissed the floor."
The whole group laughed.
"Nott's the brutish one, but he's easy to read — this guy could have wiggled his way out unless offered a public challenge," Neville said.
"Yeah, this ought to knock him down a peg. He was acting worse than I was at the start," Harry added.
"Anyway, are we going to sneak out after Christmas?" Ron whispered.
"Yeah, but we can't do four of us under the invisibility cloak. We gotta leave one of us in the dorms," Harry said.
"But we all wanna go," Neville complained.
"I know, Nev, but we wouldn't be able to cover ourselves whole. We risk exposing ourselves to someone, and these are aurors we are talking about," Harry warned.
"The whole idea is risky already, let's not endanger ourselves further," Hermione said.
"Alright, let's just flip a coin. Whoever gets eliminated has to stay. And no complaining!" Harry said.
"Beaten by Granger. A muggle-born. A mudblood!" Draco yelped.
"I've heard rumors that she was trained by Potter for weeks and weeks," Nott spat.
"Me too. Still, you should have expected she wasn't an easy opponent, Draco," Blaise said.
"I wasn't expecting there to be an official duel club! I would have prepared otherwise. I wouldn't be so humiliated in front of nearly every student present at the school..." Draco replied.
"Muggle-borns just going about, challenging whomever they please. Who cares who she antagonizes, it's all fine. She's the professor's favorite as well. She just loves bringing attention to herself," Draco seethed.
"Professor Snape is the only one who realizes who she is, really. An insufferable geek," Pansy added, frowning.
"I'm going to join the patrol around the hallways, too," Sirius said. His godson was staying over at the Black residence for Christmas. Minnie was, of course, terrified of dark items considering the house's reputation, so before giving Harry permission to stay, she scanned every corner of the house for them. Luckily, Remus did a fantastic job of clearing the place out, enchanted family tree included. Harry felt guilty for spending Christmas away from Minnie, but she assured him she would have Eleanor to keep her company, as Arthur was staying over at his friends' as well.
"Professor Dumbledore picked you too?" Harry wondered.
"Indeed, as I am a very capable and dangerous individual," Sirius frowned, looking dramatically into the distance.
"A face straight out of hell," Harry laughed.
Sirius ruffled his messy hair. "Has Christmas been kind to you? What have you gotten?"
"Minnie gave me a first-class robe, one that I wished for a year, too. Dursleys sent me a t-shirt, that shocked me more than Draco being competent at dueling. I can only imagine they had a terrifically good month to be so generous. Hagrid gave me a mokeskin pouch, a really useful one, that is. A pristine quaffle from Ron, an actually interesting book in Herbology from Nev, and an album with a moving picture from Hermione... when I was tutoring her," Harry blushed a bit.
"You like this girl?" Sirius asked suddenly, smirking at Harry.
"Oh no, no way. I mean, I do, as a friend," Harry retorted, trying not to look his godfather in the eye.
"Sure, I believe you," Sirius chuckled.
"It's true!"
"I'll ask you again when you grow up a bit. We'll see then," Sirius winked.
"Anyway, enough of that! I've got you a present, you know," Harry said.
"Oh? What could that be, I wonder..." Sirius mused.
"Well, I didn't know much about what you liked, but Hagrid has mentioned your enchanted motorbike in our talks, and I checked that box with motorbike posters Remus has left untouched after renovating your place. So..." Harry felt embarrassed a bit, but then continued. "I had some help from Minnie, but here it is," he pulled the gift out of an enchanted sack and gave his godfather a glittering, ornamented poster of Triumph Bonneville, a model of Sirius' enchanted motorbike.
"... so, how do you like it?"
Sirius was looking at the boy's bashful smile and then the gift of his cherished model with tearful eyes. Some damn thing constricted his throat, so he had a hard time when he wanted to talk.
"Woah, Sirius, is everything okay?"
"Yes, yes, of course," he sniffled and wiped his eyes as he noticed Harry's concerned face and then took the portrait, fondly looking at it. With a flick of his wand, he placed the portrait on a rather empty renovated wall in front of their couch.
"A perfect moment, and a perfect place," Sirius uttered, smiling. He pat Harry's head, after which he took out a sack of his own.
"It's only appropriate that we exchange gifts, no?" Sirius grinned, taking out a large set of polished, moving pictures that showed Harry's parents in their youth with Sirius, Remus, and Peter, as well as other family friends or colleagues. There were many occasions illustrated, most of them with a gleeful, celebratory, or familial atmosphere.
"They were old and decrepit, so I had them repaired. I know Hagrid's already given you a few, but I want you to have a full variety. You can put them all in Hermione's album, to give you a nice start."
Now Harry was the one whose chest was acting funny. Before he could shed a tear, he lunged to hug his godfather.
"Merry Christmas, Sirius."
"Merry Christmas, Harry," Sirius uttered, as he hugged his godson back.
Though both of them could feel it, neither said much as they let a few tears flow out on their face behind the other.
...
"I feel sorry for Nev," Harry whispered.
"Well, he did lose the toss, nothing we can do about it," Ron replied.
"There are so many people patrolling the corridors and hallways — no one's gonna barge through here. Thank goodness for the map."1`2
"How many protective enchantments do you think Hogwarts has in total?" Ron wondered.
"Too much. Anti-apparition, muggle-repelling, something akin to thief's downfall as well..." Harry said.
"There's anti-thieving charms, sensory charms, intruder charms, some disillusionment charms, protection from physical or magical damage, even curses..."
"So more or less everything we learned so far and then ten times that much on top of it?" Ron said.
"Pretty much," Harry replied.
"So how do we go about this?" Ron asked.
"I think I got the hang of patrol pacing of this floor. Let's just listen in to their talk first. I see Merula and Sirius talking," Harry said.
The trio sneaked up on them, completely covered in the cloak. Since it was night, and this corridor has been particularly dimly lit, they needed to be careful not to knock some object over or bump into another.
"How is my favorite black sheep of the Black family doing?" Merula said in an amused low voice.
"Mighty fine without your presence, thank you," Sirius jabbed back.
"Oh, don't be like that, we are colleagues now. I see Dumbledore wasted little time hiring you back. Are you still in the Order?"
"Wait — I felt the air move. Stay still. And don't talk about the Order so openly!" Sirius warned, before waving his wand with a chant — "Homenum revelio!"
For a moment, the three kids were terrified of being found out, but thankfully nothing happened. Harry couldn't have been more glad for the cloak.
"I felt the air move. Stay still," Merula jeered with a serious face.
Sirius couldn't suppress laughter. "I really did! Anyway, yes, I am still in the Order. Why do you ask? Dumbledore has asked you to join again, hasn't he?"
"Yes, he is persistent. Seems like once he sets an eye on someone, he won't let go. At least this time, he employed a roundabout way of doing it."
"I wouldn't mind you joining, you know. We could use more powerful people like you," Sirius said.
"Ah... yes, of course, risking your life against murderous maniacs. I fear my ambitions lay somewhere else," Merula snickered.
"You are aware he's going to come back? It's just a matter of time. Then your ambitions won't lay anywhere," Sirius warned.
"And when that time comes and my livelihood is threatened, I will be sure to take your advice to heart," Merula replied.
"A cold, self-serving woman stands in front of me..."
"A hotheaded, wild, deranged man says."
They shared a laugh before their chatter was broken by a scream.
Yes, yes, come to me... come to me...
Merula and Sirius dashed for the location of the scream, as did the trio under the cloak. They came to a wall, again smeared with blood-red letters which read:
"Fruits of headmaster's labor show..."
Below the writing was the petrified body of Penelope Clearwater. Merula and Sirius looked at each other, quickly rushing towards the staffroom.
"There's that damn voice again!" Harry shouted, after making sure they were alone.
The trio was still under the cloak.
"What voice?" Hermione asked.
"At first I thought I was seriously imagining things, but now it's clear. Even before, I heard a raspy voice chattering something like "Come to me.." before Colin was petrified. You haven't heard anything before?" Harry looked at Ron and Hermione.
"No, I haven't heard anything," Ron shook his head, surprised.
"Me neither..." Hermione replied.
"I'm sure I heard it. I don't think I'm imagining things again," Harry mused.
Hermione looked like she was deep in thought. Then, she seemed like she was jutted out of her musings by a terrifying realization.
"Harry... can you speak to snakes?"
Harry and Ron both blinked at her.
"What are you on abo-" Harry stopped. "I mean, I think I did shoo a snake away once when I was at a picnic with the Dursleys... I thought I heard it muttering something. But then I decided it just got terrified and rustled the ground loudly."
Hermione had a grave look on her face. "Harry, I think you should talk to the headmaster. This is bad news."
"I mean, being a parselmouth in Britain isn't exactly brilliant, but why is it bad news, exactly?" Ron asked.
"No... you can't mean..." Harry gasped.
"Let's get to our dorms. The school will be on high alert this night, so I doubt the culprit will launch another attack. I will tell you everything tomorrow."
"A basilisk?" Neville whispered nervously.
"Doesn't the basilisk's gaze kill instantly though?" Harry wondered.
Ron was talking to himself. "A giant, disgusting snake..."
"It does, but only under normal conditions. In ancient Greece, there have been records of Basilisks petrifying the ghosts who were unfortunate enough to meet them," Hermione said.
"So it's possible that basilisk gaze can petrify the living people?" Harry asked.
"There haven't been records, since society has cracked down on their breeding ever since the dawn of time, for obvious reasons. But after witnessing you hearing that voice... It might be a possibility. Remember me mentioning the Chamber of Secrets? What if someone opened it again?"
"Someone opened it, and the Chamber's "horror" is-"
"A basilisk, yes. Slytherin was a parseltongue, too, Harry. It doesn't take a genius to consider that he might use his ability to hide and control such a deadly creature."
"So the Chamber might actually exist?" Neville asked, shuddering.
"At first I thought it was a myth, but now it seems plausible," Hermione worried.
"If people are petrified, there must be some factor preventing them from being killed. I don't know, maybe looking at the basilisk's body? Or looking it at one eye instead of two? Or from the side? Or indirectly? Ron thought. "Why hasn't Dumbledore considered the option?"
"Dumbledore isn't all-knowing Ron. Besides, even if he was aware basilisks were capable of petrifying ghosts, there have been no records of them petrifying people, right? Also, this seemed to be a scheme to destroy his reputation, nothing like the supposed previous attack where a girl died. He might have considered the basilisk's involvement to a degree, though faintly. To add to that, he doesn't know I'm supposedly a parselmouth. Even we aren't sure of it," Harry said.
"There's also the fact that two successful attacks happened despite everything being so tightly protected. Who on earth could even pull something like this off without being caught?" Ron blurted.
"Whatever the case is, I think we need to go to Dumbledore and tell him about what I heard," Harry said.
"Yeah, that seems the best option for now."
As the four were talking, a young girl was grinding her teeth in rage.
How on earth could this boy be a parselmouth?! My entire cover will be completely destroyed by this ridiculous luck! If he goes to Dumbledore now, the old bastard is sure to confirm whatever suspicion he has to use his ability to open the Chamber and rid the school of the basilisk...
And just when I pieced together the auror and professor activity to slip the basilisk through the pipes again, I get thwarted by mere kids?!
I suppose I should be thankful that I myself was lucky enough to listen in to the kid. I was interested mainly in the fact that I was defeated by him as a toddler, no less. Who would have thought he's gonna be a parselmouth like me...
No matter, what's done is done. I have to act quickly, lest Dumbledore destroys both this horcrux and the basilisk...