Chapter Six: Clues and Consequences
At first, Remus brushed off his suspicions. He had had some concerns in the beginning, but he figured that he was just being paranoid.
Remus had been enjoying a conversation with Minerva and Filius when he noticed Harry get up from the Gryffindor table with his dog.
'It's just a dog,' he thought, taking a deep breath and trying to be rational. 'I haven't even been able to get a good look at the damned thing…'
Remus was as tense as a bowstring, seated in his chair as he idly moved the food around on his plate, closely watching the Gryffindor table.
As his thoughts took a darker, more paranoid turn, he excused himself from the conversation, since he wasn't really paying attention to it anymore. That was bad manners and he didn't want to be rude to his colleagues.
'I'm being ridiculous. It's just a dog.'
Even now, Remus couldn't really see much of the dog other than its' large, black form trailing morosely behind Harry as the two of them left the Great Hall. Usually, Harry's dog would leave the Great Hall like it'd been shot out of a cannon.
'Why would Harry's dog change its habit now? Is there something wrong with it? The dog always leaves so quickly that Harry's normally left in the dust. It's probably part of the reason why I haven't really been able to get a good look at the dog.'
He stopped to reconsider his last thought. Remus suddenly gripped the fork that he had in his hand so tight he could swear he heard it creaking.
'I haven't been able to get a good look at the dog. All of the other professors have been talking about the dog. About how friendly he seems. About how he always seems to be with Harry. All of the other professors have seen or interacted with the dog, but I haven't had the chance to get a good look. Why?'
He shouldn't be jumping to conclusions. There had to be a reasonable explanation.
'The dog is avoiding me.'
There has to be something, some logical reason, for why the dog was avoiding him.
'Why? What possible reason could there be for a dog, for Harry's dog, to avoid me? Why avoid anyone at all? Why avoid me? Whenever I happen to come across Harry outside of class…'
It couldn't be a coincidence.
'…The dog is nowhere to be seen.'
What he was thinking of was insane, absolutely insane, but what other answer could there be?
'Whenever I come near Harry outside of class, it's usually clear that the dog had just been with Harry. The dog just happened to leave Harry's side seconds before I appeared. Why?!'
It was impossible.
'Minerva said Harry found the dog near the end of his summer break.'
No.
'Harry's dog is black and large, just like…'
It was improbable, but not entirely impossible.
'It can't be! All of it fits, but I don't want to believe it. It just can't be…'
If he was right, if what he thought was true, then it would change everything.
...
Harry was gone.
Harry was missing.
'No.
No. No! No! NO! NO! NO!
Harry was just right there! Right in front of me!'
Snuffles raced down the hall, all previous despair forgotten in his need to find Harry. He was straining to hear anything, anything at all, but he heard nothing that could direct him to where Harry was. Snuffles could only hear the sound of his own panting breaths, the sound of his heart pumping like mad, and the sound of his claws clicking loudly against the tiled floors as he ran.
'That rat must've grabbed him! He must've found out about me! That rat knows about me! I thought Harry would be safe with me, but that rat grabbed him right out from under my nose! Peter, that rat bastard! I'll make him rue the day he ever met me if he's harmed Harry in any way!'
Snuffles made it to the end of the hall and was faced with the choice of going right or left.
'Now that he has a hostage, that rat will probably try to leave Hogwarts – I have to get to the grounds before he can apparate away with Harry!'
Snuffles went to the right and dove behind a tapestry that hid a secret passageway. The dog raced through the completely dark passage, trusting that it would lead him to where he remembered it went, to where he needed to go.
Once upon a time, he knew these passageways like the back of his hand; now he has to trust that his memory hasn't failed him and that this passage, this shortcut, would lead him to the castle's entryway.
After what seemed like a lifetime, but was actually only a few moments, in the passage, Snuffles scampered out from behind yet another tapestry and skidded to a stop in front of the large castle doors.
As Snuffles was catching his breath, he looked around for anything out of the ordinary.
There was no one in sight.
The only sounds he could hear was a dull cacophony of excitement coming from the Great Hall.
Where was that rat?
Where was Harry?
The castle doors were firmly shut.
Someone should've heard them open… if they had been opened at all.
He hadn't, no, they hadn't come this way.
'Damn it all!'
Snuffles turned and ran as fast as he could away from the entryway and down another corridor.
'One door, two door, three door… come on, come on! First tapestry, forth door, second tapestry, fifth door, and – Ah ha! Sixth door that's not a door, but a wall!'
Snuffles ran head first towards the wall that was pretending to be a door. At the bottom of the wall was a disguised opening which Snuffles raced through with no problem. The passageway started out small and grew larger the farther a person continued going through it.
The passage let Snuffles out one corridor away from his goal of the One-Eyed Witch statue. Snuffles breezed through the corridor and turned down the hallway that would lead him to the secret passageway that would allow a person to pass from the castle to Honeydukes' cellar in Hogsmeade.
Snuffles barely stopped in time to avoid being seen.
Two ghosts were completely blocking the One-Eyed Witch statue. Snuffles, just out of sight, risked staying a few moments to see if the ghosts were, perhaps, talking about a man and a boy going through the One-Eyed Witch passage. Straining forward, Snuffles heard the ghosts complaining about something that happened at the annual Deathday Party that Sir Nicholas puts on. But the ghosts made no mentions about anyone alive being anywhere near the statue. And from the way the ghosts were carrying on, it seemed like they had been complaining in that spot for a while.
So that rat didn't take Harry through the One-Eyed Witch passage to Hogsmeade.
'Where could he have taken Harry?! Where… Wait!'
Snuffles turned back down the corridor from whence he came and began running towards a passageway that he knew led out of the castle.
It took a few minutes to get there, but Snuffles finally made it to the secret passage. Huffing and puffing, an out of breath Snuffles nosed the large painting out of the way and stepped into the passage, kicking up some dust as he did so.
He made it a few feet into the passageway, only to come to an abrupt stop.
The passageway was caved in.
'No. No. No. No! NO!
That rat must've done this to cover his tracks! He has Harry and he's already got a huge head start!'
Snuffles turned around and ran back out of the passageway.
'What do I do?! What do I do?! What – Wait! The floo! I can – I'll just floo to the Three Broomsticks and race back up towards the castle. If I can get there fast enough, I should be able to stop that rat before he leaves the castle's wards with Harry.'
Snuffles started to run towards McGonagall's office. He was halfway there before he stopped.
'Minnie will have wards prevent floo travel without her permission – she always did when I was a student! Damn it!
What do I do?!
I can't!
I…
Harry's in danger!
Harry's in danger again!
Harry's in danger again and I'm absolutely useless!
What do I do?!
Think, damn you! Think!'
Snuffles started running down the corridors in a blind panic, not really knowing where he was going – just that he had to get to Harry.
'I could… Yes! A locator spell!'
Snuffles stopped in the middle of a corridor.
'I haven't had a chance to grab a wand, but I'm sure I can manage this spell wandlessly – I have to. It's my only chance to save Harry. It will work because it has to.'
Unmindful of his surroundings, Snuffles transformed into Sirius Black.
Sirius, focusing on his magic and willing it to work properly, cast a locator spell.
A pause.
For a moment, nothing happened.
But then, Sirius felt a small tug behind his chest, urging him forward.
'Hold on, Harry! I'm coming!'
Smiling manically because the spell had worked, Sirius raced down the corridors, twisting and turning when the spell indicated he should move. Sometimes he would have to quickly back track when the spell led him into an unforgiving wall.
After running through the castle's corridors, the spell led Snuffles straight to Gryffindor Tower, right up to the portrait of the Fat Lady. The spell was still urging him forward. Harry was somewhere inside.
The Fat Lady, not looking up from pouring wine in her cup, droned, "Password?"
As Snuffles, Sirius hadn't needed to pay attention to the passwords that the students used to enter the Gryffindor Common Room. He was regretting not paying attention to what passwords they used now.
"I-I don't know. I don't know and I don't care! Let me through!" Sirius exclaimed. "I need to get through!"
"Excuse you. No password, no entry," said the Fat Lady, who finally looked up and slopped some wine out of the cup she was holding as she jumped back in shock at seeing a man instead of a student.
"Let me pass! You don't understand! You have to let me through!" Snuffles exclaimed frantically. "He's in danger! I need to get through NOW!"
"No! Be gone!" the Fat Lady demanded. "Or else I'll send out an alert to a professor!"
Sirius was frantic, bordering on hysterical, at the thought that Harry was being harmed in the next room and Sirius was unable to go help him because this damned portrait was refusing to let him through.
"Let. Me. Pass!" Sirius angrily exclaimed. "NOW!"
Sirius' adrenaline was pumping and he felt as if he was hyper aware of everything. As the Fat Lady scowled at him and opened her mouth to respond, Sirius began a partial animagus transformation centered on his right hand.
"Leave!" the Fat Lady responded. "I'm going to alert –"
But the Fat Lady didn't get a chance to finish.
Sirius saw red and slashed her portrait with the claws he was now sporting on his right hand. The Fat Lady barely avoided being slashed as well. She ran screaming from her portrait that now had long slashes ripped through the canvas.
Sirius let out a rage-filled scream at being barred from entering the Common Room, at being stopped from being able to rescue Harry.
Sirius slowly came back to his senses and began to hear the other portraits shouting phrases like "This way!" and "He's over here! Hurry!". He could also hear the pounding of feet coming from off to his right.
Realizing that he just exposed himself, Sirius raced of as quietly as he could in the opposite direction of whoever it was that had been coming towards the Gryffindor Common Room entrance. Sirius knew that if he had stayed there, then the attention would have been focused on him, leaving Harry vulnerable with that rat. Now, the professors' main priority would be to check over every inch of Gryffindor Tower – which would mean that they'd find Harry a lot faster than Sirius could at the moment.
'As long as Harry is found safe, that's all that matters.'
Sirius ducked into the first secret passageway that he knew of. He walked a few steps farther into it and stopped, slowing his breathing down and trying to calm his racing heart.
Harry would be found soon. And the only way that Sirius could get close enough to Harry to make sure that he's not hurt, that he's safe, would be to turn back into Snuffles.
So Sirius transformed into Snuffles.
Snuffles stayed in the passageway for a few moments longer to make sure that he had his emotions under control. He didn't want to act overly aggressive, because if he did, he was sure that he wouldn't be allowed near Harry. Especially if Harry had just been freed from being that rat's hostage.
Snuffles padded out of the passageway and quickly made his way back towards the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room. As he got closer, Snuffles could see a large group of Gryffindors slowly trickling into the Common Room under the watchful eyes of Professors McGonagall and Lupin.
Although Snuffles had been trying his best to avoid Remus, this was one time were he wouldn't go out of his way to get away from the man. If Snuffles had to pass by Remus to get to Harry, then that's exactly what Snuffles would do.
Snuffles managed to worm his way into the middle of the group of Gryffindors that was steadily walking into the Common Room. Once he entered the Common Room, he parted from the group and looked for Dumbledore; because if Harry had just been rescued, well, then he'd most likely be near Dumbledore – if he hadn't already been taken to Madam Pomfrey.
Before Snuffles could survey the entire room, someone called his name. A very familiar someone.
"Snuffles!" Harry called out with a small grin as he stood up from the couch that he'd been sitting on with Ron and Hermione. "Hey boy! I was worried about you."
'What?'
Snuffles froze where he stood, utterly bewildered. Harry looked absolutely fine, perhaps a little disgruntled, but completely fine. His friends, Ron and Hermione, looked as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened as well. The only thing that looked somewhat out of place was that they were all dressed in their pajamas.
'What is going on here?'
"Come here, Snuffles," Harry said happily.
Still confused, Snuffles complied and ran over to Harry, almost bowling him over.
"Woah, there!" Harry softly laughed. "Now, where did you get off to, huh? I was really worried when I couldn't find you. I was about to go out and search the entire castle for you."
As Harry sank down to his knees to embrace Snuffles, Snuffles hid his face in the crook of Harry's neck, relieved that Harry was here in front of him, safe and sound.
Snuffles was relieved, yes, but still utterly confused.
If the rat didn't kidnap Harry, then what had happened to him?
...
Snuffles had been acting off all day. He hadn't eaten anything at breakfast, hadn't eaten anything at lunch, and now, he wasn't eating anything at the Halloween feast.
Harry was worried that Snuffles was getting sick.
"Come on, Snuffles. It's delicious, I promise," Harry softly coaxed as he bent down to look under the table at Snuffles.
Harry tried to persuade Snuffles to eat by waving a slice a roasted pork in front of the dog's face. So far, Snuffles had refused everything that Harry had offered him to eat in favor of resting his head on Harry's knee.
"Please eat something, Snuffles," Harry quietly begged. "You haven't eaten anything all day and I'm really worried about you. Are you not feeling well?"
Snuffles shifted his head to glance up at Harry, so Harry wiggled the slice of pork, trying to entice the dog to eat some of it. Snuffles shifted his gaze from Harry to the meat, back to Harry, and then back to the meat. After a second or two, Snuffles tentatively moved his head and grabbed the slice of pork between his teeth.
Under Harry's watchful gaze, Snuffles nibbled at the pork.
"Are you gonna spend the entire feast hunched over and looking under the table?" Ron asked from where he was sitting on Harry's left side.
"Yes, I am because it's so comfortable," Harry sarcastically replied as he sat up properly at the table.
"Is Snuffles still not eating?" Hermione asked from Harry's other side.
"Well, I've managed to get him to at least take the pork, but he wasn't really eating it," Harry said, sounding concerned.
"I'm sure he'll be fine," Hermione said. "And if he's still acting funny tomorrow morning, you could take him down to Hagrid and have him take a look at Snuffles."
"Yeah, yeah, that's a good idea," Harry said. "Thanks!"
"So, on a completely unrelated note, have you recently done anything to Malfoy?" Hermione asked.
"No, why?" Harry asked.
"Because he's been glaring at you," Ron interrupted. "We noticed it, well, Hermione noticed it first and then she poked me; and then I noticed him glaring at you when you dived under the table."
"I didn't dive under the table. I just hunched over a bit," Harry said. "Is he still glaring at me right now?"
Hermione barely turned her head, glancing at the Slytherin table out of the corner of her eye.
"Yes, but don't turn around to look at him. It'd be too obvious. Just turn to fully face Ron and pretend to be talking to him and glance at the Slytherin table, you'll see him," Hermione advised.
Harry turned around to look at Malfoy, completely disregarding Hermione's advice.
Hermione let out a completely aggravated sigh as she said, "Why do I even bother?"
Malfoy had been glaring at Harry as he ate, and when he noticed that Harry was staring at him, Malfoy's glare intensified.
"Huh," Harry said, turning back around. "I have no idea what I did."
Harry went back to eating his meal, talking with Ron and Hermione (and carefully directing the conversation away from anything related to cats or rats), and occasionally glancing back at Malfoy – who continued to glare at Harry throughout the meal.
And Snuffles still wasn't really eating anything. The slice of pork that Harry had given Snuffles had been discarded on the floor with barely a bite taken out of it.
Normally Harry would sit around and wait for his friends to finish eating, and since it was a special occasion, the Halloween feast, Harry would usually stick around with his friends and talk at the table until long after dessert had been served. But, with Snuffles acting the way he was, Harry decided to leave the feast early to take Snuffles back to his room. Maybe if Snuffles got settled down and went to bed, he'd feel better in the morning. And if not, then Harry would be taking Snuffles to see Hagrid first thing in the morning.
Harry stood up and called Snuffles to him. While he was waiting for Snuffles to come, Harry said his goodbyes to his friends.
On his way out of the Great Hall, Harry noticed that Malfoy was still glaring at him from his seat at the Slytherin table.
It was a very slow process, walking through the corridors with Snuffles, since Snuffles seemed to be almost asleep on his feet. Harry would walk through the hall and look down at Snuffles only to notice that the dog wasn't at his side anymore; instead, Snuffles would be slowly making his way down the same hall, but far behind Harry.
Harry had asked Snuffles a couple of times if everything was alright, but the dog wouldn't respond. Snuffles would just keep walking, so Harry figured that once they made it to his room, he could talk to Snuffles and try to figure out what was wrong with his dog.
Harry knew that Snuffles had been acting weird lately, but his behavior today had been really out of character for the dog. Snuffles seemed, well, despondent. Harry hadn't seen Snuffles seem so depressed before so the dog's behavior today was really concerning.
Since Harry was preoccupied with his thoughts, he would accidently walk too far ahead of Snuffles (because Snuffles was following behind Harry at a very slow pace) and then Harry would wait for Snuffles to catch up.
Harry rounded a corner and then noticed that Snuffles had fallen behind once again. So, as Harry turned around to wait for the dog, the door that Harry happened to be standing beside quietly opened.
Suddenly, there was a hand over his mouth and someone was dragging him backwards into a room. Harry couldn't see who had grabbed him since whoever it was turned him around and pushed him farther into the room. As he was being shoved forwards, Harry heard whoever it was that had grabbed him silently shutting the door and locking it.
Harry quickly grabbed his wand, positioned it in front of him defensively, and turned around; only to almost drop his wand in shock. Which gave the person in front of him time to finish the – were those silencing wards he was putting up?
Harry couldn't believe it!
The person who grabbed him was…
Well, actually, he could believe it. Harry just hadn't been expecting it.
"Merlin! Could you walk any slower?!" Malfoy exclaimed as he turned away from the door to face Harry.
"What? I – Malfoy? What are you – Why did you grab me? I mean, really, what the hell, Malfoy?!" Harry almost shouted before lowering his voice a bit. "And why aren't you at the Halloween feast?"
"Well, I could ask you the same thing, now couldn't I?" Malfoy said smartly.
"Malfoy," Harry said through gritted teeth.
Malfoy clicked his tongue and sighed.
"I was at the feast, but then I left shortly after I saw you leave. I wasn't sure if I could get to you before you made it to your common room, but well, as I said before, you are so slow," Malfoy said, looking somewhat smug. "And I'm not at the feast because we need to talk… Privately."
"Talk? Talk about what?" Harry questioned. "What the hell are you going on about?"
"Yes. Talk… So, what do you want?" Malfoy asked with a frown as he glared at Harry. As if it as Harry's fault that Malfoy decided to just pull him into this empty room.
"What?" Harry asked, also glaring, but more than slightly confused as to what exactly was happening. When Harry saw that it was Malfoy who pulled him into the room, he expected to get hexed. Call him paranoid, but a few weeks of relatively good behavior from Malfoy didn't erase a two year history of fights and hexes exchanged between them.
"What. Do. You. Want?" Malfoy repeated, sounding particularly put out.
"What do you mean 'what do I want'? What do you want?" Harry asked defensively. Harry still had his wand in his hand, but he kept it pointing down at the floor.
"Really, Potter? Is this how you're going to play it?" Malfoy questioned, crossing his arms across his chest and looking down his nose at Harry, as if Harry was an annoying child.
"Play what?!" Harry was so confused.
"How tedious," Malfoy drawled. "I don't have all night, Scarhead. Just get to the point."
"Seriously, Malfoy. I don't know what you're expecting me to say," Harry said, peeved at the way that Malfoy was looking at him. "You're the one who pulled me in here. And if you'd move two steps to the right, then I could leave just as easily."
"Why…" Malfoy paused, as if he was looking for the right way to phrase what he was about to say. "Why did you do it? Push me out of the way of that Hippogriff? Are you expecting a favor or something?"
"What – No!" Harry denied. "A favor? Why would I… Why are you bringing this up now? It happened weeks ago! Look, I'm not asking for a favor, alright? That's not why I did it."
"Well, then why did you? Huh? Why did you do it?" Malfoy asked angrily.
"What else was I supposed to do? Just let you be trampled?" Harry asked rhetorically.
"Yes!" Malfoy exclaimed in a frustrated burst, either not catching onto the fact that it was a rhetorical question, or more likely, electing to ignore that it was rhetorical. "That's exactly what you were supposed to do. We don't like each other. We aren't friends. In fact, I think I can safely say that we hate each other. But now that your hero-complex kicked in," Malfoy continued to speak over Harry's protests of "I do not have a hero-complex!" "Yes, you do. You have a hero-complex – I've heard the rumors and I've heard the stories. And because of that, now I'm getting asked uncomfortable questions about my relationship to you."
"Relationship?! What relationship?! We have no relationship!" Harry denied vehemently.
"Exactly! We have nothing to do with each other, but your little stunt the other day –" Malfoy explained.
"My little stunt?" Harry interrupted incredulously.
"– has had certain people questioning my position in ways that I'd rather have them not. Some people are under the impression that, because you… helped me out the other day, we now have some type of understanding. Which we most certainly do not! So thanks a lot, Saint Potter," Malfoy finished sarcastically.
"You know," Harry began after a brief pause, trying to wrap his mind around what Malfoy was saying. "If this is the thanks I get for pushing you out of the way, for saving you from getting –"
"I didn't ask you to save me!" Malfoy yelled, his face turning red in anger. "I didn't ask you to tackle me out of the way! And I certainly didn't ask you to get hurt on my behalf! I don't like owning anyone anything, Potter. So until this thing, whatever it is between us, is cleared up –"
"I just saved you the hassle of walking up to the Hospital Wing," Harry interrupted, consciously making an effort not to yell back at Malfoy. "For a simple scratch on the arm! That's all. It wasn't a big deal! If it had been anyone else in the way of a raging Hippogriff, I would've done the exact same thing for them that I did for you."
"But that's the point! You didn't do it for anyone else!" Malfoy shouted, before pausing and then continuing in a softer voice. "You did it for me. You pushed me out of the way. And now we're stuck in this situation."
"What situation, Malfoy?! Because, really, I don't see any problem. What do you expect me to do? Huh?" Harry asked sardonically as he tightened his grip on his wand. "Should I go find another raging Hippogriff and push you into its path? Perhaps we should make a spectacle of it? Yeah? Why don't we do it in front of the entire school? Have an audience of the entire student body. No awkward questions for you after that. Maybe we'll get lucky and it'll knock some sense into you because right now, you're not making a whole lot of it."
"Damn it, Potter! This is not a joking matter!" Malfoy exclaimed, glaring glacially at Harry. "We need to fix this. You need to fix this."
"Oh, it's not funny?" Harry questioned, starting to raise his voice in anger. "Well, I'm finding this situation hilarious. Absolutely hilarious! No, really," Harry held up his hand to stop Malfoy from speaking. "How do you not see the humor in this, in what you're asking of me? 'Fix this,' you say! So should I go around and tell every person that I see that we… what? That we hate each other? That 'oh yeah, we are totally not friends and we definitely don't have an understanding because Malfoy's definitely going the way of evil. I just pushed him out of the way for the hell of it'. Huh? Is that what you're asking of me? Because that kinda sounds like what you're asking."
"I'm being serious, Potter!" Malfoy was grinding his teeth so hard, Harry half expected to hear Malfoy's teeth start to crack.
"And so am I," Harry said flatly.
"No. You're not," Malfoy said. "I don't think you understand the position you've placed me in."
"Then, enlighten me," Harry suggested. "Tell me all about how I've inconvenienced you… Oh, wait, you already have."
"Whatever, Potter, just…" Malfoy made a frustrated noise. "Look, why don't I just help you plan or go over whatever plan you've cooked up so far. Then we'll call ourselves even and the people asking awkward questions will be satisfied. I won't owe you anything for… that thing with the Hippogriff, and you won't hold that incident over my head for any reason in the future, alright? Then we can go back to how everything was before that stupid class."
"What? No!" Now Harry was confused again. "What do you mean by plan?"
"Oh, don't be coy with me, Potter," Malfoy rolled his eyes. "You might have the 'Gryffindor Golden Boy' routine," Malfoy actually used air quotes as he was talking, "going for you, but you can't honestly tell me you don't want revenge."
"Revenge?" Harry warily asked. But Malfoy just continued talking.
"Whatever plan you've made is probably filled with stupidity since you're a Gryffindor, and Gryffindors are all about putting on a show upfront, I swear, no subtlety at all. And if you want to survive against him with whatever revenge plan you're thinking of, you'll probably need some Slytherin smarts and insight… Unless," Malfoy squinted suspiciously at Harry, "you're planning some type of 'if I'm going down then you're going down with me' showdown. Because if you are, then honestly, I can't help you because you are beyond stupid."
"Revenge against who?" Harry asked, probably with more force than was necessary. "And don't call me stupid, you're the one who insults Hippogriffs."
"What do you mean 'revenge against who'?" Malfoy questioned, not saying anything about the Hippogriff comment. "Black, of course! I mean, I figured you've been planning your revenge against him for a while now. Probably since you heard of his escape. I know I would've."
"You're talking about Sirius Black?" Harry clarified.
"…Yes?" Malfoy was looking at Harry like he just asked a particularly stupid question.
"Why would I want revenge against Black?"
"Why would you…" Malfoy began incredulously. "Why wouldn't you want revenge against him? I mean, come on, Potter!"
"…I honestly have no idea what you're talking about," Harry said.
Malfoy threw his hands up in the air.
"Hopeless! You. Are. Hopeless! Merlin, I don't know why I even bothered!" Malfoy exclaimed. "Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes Gryffindor doesn't want revenge against Black for what he did."
"What did Black do?" Harry asked, getting angry at the insinuations that Malfoy was making.
"You don't… You don't know?!" Malfoy exclaimed disbelieving laugh. "No. Nope. I'm done! If you really don't know, then, for once, I'm not going to be the guy to rub your face in it. Although it is oh so tempting for me to want to do so. But I won't," Malfoy smirked. "Because just the knowledge that I know about something this big and you know nothing about it…Well, I think I'll be lording this over you for quite a while. And you can consider this half of your pay back for… that thing you did. You figure it out, what Black did, and then you come to me… And then I'll rub it in your face and help with you're stupid revenge plan because you're absolutely hopeless. I almost feel sorry for you. I don't know how anyone puts up with Gryffindors. You're hopeless. You're all stupidly hopeless."
"Just tell me, Malfoy!" Harry glared at Malfoy.
"No. I am done with this whole conversation. Figure it out yourself, Scarhead! It's not that hard if you actually use that thing in your head that's between your ears," Malfoy said before he slashed his wand through the air, canceling the silencing ward, and then unlocking and opening the door.
"Malfoy!" Harry shouted, dashing out the door to see Malfoy walking down the corridor.
"No!" Malfoy exclaimed as he continued to walk away.
Harry stood in the corridor until Malfoy was out of sight, and even then, Harry stood still in stunned disbelief at what had just happened.
"I don't know how I'm supposed to even respond to that," Harry murmured to himself.
Heaving a sigh, Harry stomped off towards the direction of Gryffindor Tower and grumbled under his breath about annoying and frustrating gits who used way too much hair gel and were way too vague.
Harry gave the Fat Lady the password and enter the Common Room. He stomped over to a couch and threw himself down on it, thinking about what Malfoy had said.
'What could Black have done that Malfoy thinks I would want to get revenge against that man? I mean, I read about what Black did in the paper, but why would Malfoy think I'd want revenge for that? It was horrible, but it's not something I would avenge… There has to be something else, something that I'm missing. But what?'
"Harry!"
Harry was startled out of his thoughts at the sound of Hermione's voice. Ron plopped down on the seat next to him and Hermione sat down on the other side of Harry.
"Hermione! Ron! I thought you'd still be at the feast," Harry said, surprised to see them so soon.
"Well, we stayed for dessert," Ron said.
"But we decided to come up and keep you company," Hermione said. "Since we spent most of the day apart."
"Besides, the feast was almost over anyway," Ron said. "I'm pretty sure everyone else will be coming up soon."
"Thanks guys," Harry said with a small smile.
"So, what's on your mind?" Hermione asked.
"What?" Harry asked.
"You were looking pretty serious when we first came in, mate," Ron said.
"And you didn't notice us until I said your name and Ron flopped down on the couch," Hermione said.
"Ah… It's nothing," Harry said.
"Nothing?" Hermione repeated skeptically.
"Well, it's… I just…" Harry trailed off with a sigh.
"Is it Snuffles?" Hermione asked.
"Snuffles?" Harry questioned before standing up and frantically looking around the room. "Oh Merlin!"
"We could take him down to Hagrid now, if you're that worried," Ron said. "I'm sure Hagrid's still in the Great Hall so we wouldn't get in trouble for trying to get to Hagrid at his hut."
"No! No, I… Snuffles was with me when I left the Great Hall, but he's not here! He didn't come with me to the Common Room because –" Harry cut himself off.
"Because what?" Hermione asked. "What happened?"
"I just ran into someone on the way here," Harry said, feeling really bad about leaving Snuffles by himself and then not realizing that he had done that until just now. "It was nothing, but I got separated from Snuffles!"
"I'm sure he's fine, Harry," Hermione said.
"We could help you go look for him now," Ron suggested. "I'm sure he's just wandering around the castle."
"Yeah, yeah, let's go," Harry said.
Hermione nodded her head and she got up off of the couch. Ron also stood and, together, the three friends made their way towards the Common Room entrance. Harry reached out a hand and pushed against the door to open it, but it wouldn't move.
Harry brought both hands up and shoved hard against the back of the portrait that guarded the entrance, but it still wouldn't budge.
"It won't open. Why won't it open?" Harry asked, turning to Hermione.
Ron and Hermione also pushed against the portrait, getting the same result as Harry. Hermione also tried an unlocking spell, but that also yielded no results.
"Maybe the Fat Lady left?" Ron suggested.
"No, if the Fat Lady left, then we could still get out of the Common Room, but we wouldn't be able to get back in. We should be able to get out," Hermione said. "I don't know what's happening."
'Well, this night is just getting better and better,' Harry thought sarcastically.
"So, Snuffles is somewhere out there and we're stuck in here for some reason," Harry said. "This is just great."
"ALL STUDENTS ARE TO REMAIN IN THE GREAT HALL UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. ANY STUDENTS NOT IN THEIR DORMITORY OR THE GREAT HALL ARE TO REPORT TO THE GREAT HALL IMMEDIATELY. ANY STUDENTS INSIDE THEIR DORMITORY ARE TO REMAIN WHERE THEY ARE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE."
"What… What is going on?" Hermione asked in response to the announcement that had just sounded throughout the room. The few other Gryffindors who had been up in their rooms were coming down the stairs and slowly entering the Common Room. Some looked scared, others looked confused.
"I have no idea," Harry responded. It seemed like the theme of this evening was 'let's confuse Harry'. First Snuffles' weird behavior, then Malfoy and his cryptic statements, and now this.
"Well, I guess we might as well go back to sitting on that couch," Ron said. "It seems like we're going to be here for a while."
"But what about Snuffles?" Harry asked. He didn't want to just abandon his dog when there was something weird going on in the castle. What if Snuffles was in trouble? How was Harry supposed to get to him now?
"I'm sure he'll be fine," Hermione said as she, Harry, and Ron walked over to the couch and sat back down. "As soon as we can leave the Common Room, we'll go look for him."
"Right. Okay," Harry agreed, but he was still worried about Snuffles being alone out there.
Not really wanting to talk about Snuffles, or anything else of importance, while there were other Gryffindors sitting around the Common Room, Harry sat with Ron and Hermione in tense silence.
Harry could hear a few of his fellow Gryffindors having hushed conversations around the room, but Harry couldn't really make out what they were saying, only that they sounded concerned.
After about five or ten minutes, the portrait opened and in walked Professor McGonagall.
"Professor, what's happening?" Hermione asked, standing up from the couch. Harry and Ron also stood up beside her.
"Now, there's no need to panic. We have the situation under control," Professor McGonagall said. "But, with that being said, Sirius Black was seen in the castle tonight."
Many of the Gryffindors, Hermione included, gasped and Harry's eyes widened in shock.
"He saw fit to attack the Fat Lady in order to try to gain entry to this room, but he was prevented from making any further attacks. Professor Dumbledore is just outside the Tower securing another portrait to guard the entrance to the Common Room while the Fat Lady's portrait is being repaired and the Fat Lady recuperates from the trauma that she suffered," Professor McGonagall stated in a calm voice.
Immediately, the room breaks out into frantic whispering.
"Silence, please, for just a moment longer," Professor McGonagall said, and everyone in the room stopped talking. "Thank you. The rest of your Gryffindor classmates will be returning from the feast in a few minutes. Professor Lupin will be escorting them here and then we both shall stay here until everyone has whatever it is that they need for the night. Then, as a group, Professor Lupin and I will escort you all down to the Great Hall where all of the students will be spending the night. Whilst you and your fellow students are in the Great Hall for the night, we, the professors, shall ensure that Black is no longer anywhere in or near Hogwarts. And we shall be increasing our security measures. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask."
Ron, Harry, and Hermione went their separate ways to go get dressed in their pajamas and then returned to the Common Room. The three of them sat back down on the couch and noticed that a few students were talking to Professor McGonagall.
Eventually, the other Gryffindors that had still been in the Great Hall started walking into the Common Room. And that's when Harry saw Snuffles enter the Common Room with a group of forth years.
"Snuffles!" Harry called out as he stood up, relieved to see that his dog was unharmed and had made his way back to Harry. "Hey boy! I was worried about you."
Snuffles was still standing near the portrait opening, so Harry said, "Come here, Snuffles."
As if those were the magic words, Snuffles ran towards Harry, almost knocking Harry over when the dog reached him.
"Woah, there!" Harry softly laughed as he took a half-step backwards to keep himself from falling over. "Now, where did you get off to, huh? I was really worried when I couldn't find you. I was about to go out and search the entire castle for you."
Harry knelt down and hugged Snuffles, happy that Snuffles was fine and that Snuffles came back to him.
After about fifteen more minutes, the Gryffindors were led from Gryffindor Tower and down to the Great Hall. The Slytherins and Ravenclaws were already there and the Hufflepuffs showed up not long after the Gryffindors did.
After a few assurances that the students would be safe in the Great Hall, Headmaster Dumbledore conjured purple sleeping bags for everyone to sleep in.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron dragged their sleeping bags together and laid down as the rest of the students in the Great Hall did the same. Once Harry had settled down in his sleeping bag, Snuffles sprawled out over Harry. The dog refused to move no matter how much Harry poked him. Resigning himself to having Snuffles on top of him for the night, Harry softly talked to Ron and Hermione until the lights were turned off and they were told to be quiet.
...
There were two very unfortunate side-effects of Sirius Black's attack on the Fat Lady. The first was that the Gryffindor Common Room was now being guarded by Sir Cadogan. That mad knight insisted on making up complicated passwords, which he seemed to change every other day, and he kept challenging the students who wanted to gain entry to the Common Room to a duel.
The second unfortunate consequence of Sirius Black's attack was that Harry was now being followed. Constantly.
Everywhere Harry turned, he seemed to find a Professor or a prefect that just happened to be in the same area. It was starting to get on Harry's nerves.
The students had all been assured that the security around the castle had been doubled, so there was no way that Black could get into the castle again. But that still didn't stop a lot of people from appearing to be tense and on edge.
Also, Snuffles was now apparently glued to Harry's side.
Before Halloween, Harry could leave Snuffles to frolic outside or to nap in Gryffindor Tower whenever Harry was in his classes. Now, Snuffles sat just outside of the door of every class that Harry took as if the dog was a silent sentry. The only exceptions appeared to be Care of Magical Creatures and Defense Against the Dark Arts. At Hagrid's class, Snuffles would pace around the perimeter of the class, an obvious but not interfering presence. For Professor Lupin's class, Snuffles wouldn't sit near the door, but he would watch the door from farther down the hall.
And then not long after Halloween, Harry was once again attacked by Dementors.
The Quidditch match took place after a horrible Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. The reason why that Defense class was so bad was because Professor Lupin was out sick, so Snape was substituting. Snape was in a very foul mood and he completely scrapped the lesson plans that Professor Lupin had left for him. Instead, Snape had made the entire class skip ahead in their lessons and began lecturing them about werewolves.
Harry was relieved to get out of that particular Defense class, but he wasn't so happy when he peered outside and saw what the weather looked like. It appeared that the Gryffindor Quidditch team was going to be playing against the Hufflepuff team on a particularly stormy day.
Although Harry usually loved playing Quidditch, it was almost impossible to see anything through the driving rain or hear anything over the howling wind. For the majority of the game, Harry and Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff seeker, mainly circled around each other as they looked for the Snitch. But neither had had any luck so far.
Shortly after Harry had flown close enough to the Gryffindor section of the stands to spot Snuffles huddled up next to Ron and Hermione, Harry spied the Snitch. He chased after it as the Snitch led him farther up into the sky, only instead of catching the Snitch, Harry got himself caught in the middle of hundreds of Dementors.
Harry had felt so cold, so intensely cold and he had heard screaming again, the same screaming he had heard on the train – someone screaming his name.
And then he fell.
Harry fell off of his broom and plunged downwards to the field below.
After Harry woke up in the Hospital Wing (with Snuffles draped across his legs but, thankfully, not growling at anyone), he was delivered even more bad news. Cedric had caught the Snitch, so the Hufflepuffs won the game and when Harry had fallen, his broom had landed in the Whomping Willow. So his once beautiful Nimbus 2000 was now a pile of twigs and splinters.
Harry felt absolutely miserable. He never wanted to be caught unaware and defenseless against Dementors again.
The one good thing that came out of that whole spectacle was that Snuffles proved to Madam Pomfrey that he could be calm and quiet. So Snuffles was allowed to be in the Hospital Wing if Harry ever got himself injured again. Of course, Madam Pomfrey also said that should Snuffles revert back to his previous behavior, then Snuffles would be immediately banned from entering the Hospital Wing, no matter the circumstances.
Thankfully, after Harry had been released from the Hospital Wing, he found that Professor Lupin had returned to teach their next Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. And the entire class was grateful when Professor Lupin excused them from having to complete the overload of werewolf homework that Snape had set for them to do.
As their Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson was drawing to a close, Harry decided that he would ask Professor Lupin if he knew how to help Harry with his Dementor problem. But, it appeared that Professor Lupin had had the same idea about talking after class.
Harry was putting his wand back in his robe pocket and placing his textbook back into his schoolbag. Ron and Hermione were on either side of him doing the same.
"Ah, Harry, could you stay behind?" Professor Lupin asked as the rest of the students were leaving the Defense classroom. "I promise that it will only take a moment."
"Sure, Professor," Harry agreed, adjusting his schoolbag on his shoulder as he walked towards the front of the classroom.
Hermione and Ron were hovering near the doorway, but Harry nodded at them, silently indicating that they should go on without him. Hopefully Snuffles wouldn't be too alarmed when Harry didn't leave the classroom with the rest of his classmates. Harry was sure that Snuffles was waiting for him at the end of the hall.
Professor Lupin was at the front of the room, leaning against his desk.
"Harry, I just wanted to check in with you to make sure that you're doing alright," Professor Lupin said.
"Um, yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking," Harry said. "But I actually have a question that I wanted to ask you."
"Go ahead," Professor Lupin encouraged with a small smile.
"Well, it's – you know how Dementors affect me and how I seem to have a really bad reaction to them, especially when comparted to how everyone else reacts to them. Well, do you… would you know any reason why that happens?" Harry asked. "I mean, why is it so much worse for me?"
"I believe that the reason why you're so affected by the presence of the Dementors is because of your past," Professor Lupin said gently after having taken a moment to consider Harry's question. "There've been horrible events that happened to you in your past and those events could be considered more… traumatizing that the experiences that your classmates have had. Dementors are creatures designed to drown humans in misery and despair – and they can sense, to a degree, who has had… bad things that have happened to them. And they will target those individuals who have already experienced a certain amount of distress, guilt, misery, and despair. It's why they are used in Azkaban and are very effective there."
"Oh," Harry said quietly.
"Yes, and I'm sorry that you have to experience that emotional pain whenever they come around. Those Dementors shouldn't have been anywhere near you or any of the other students. I can assure you that Professor Dumbledore exchanged some… particularly angry words with the Minister about it," Professor Lupin said.
Harry smiled at the thought.
"Professor," Harry began. "I was wondering if you knew of a spell or something that could defend against Dementors."
"There is a defense against them, but I'm afraid that it's very advanced," Professor Lupin said.
"Would you teach it to me?" Harry asked. "Please, Professor. I don't… I don't want to be defenseless against them anymore. Please."
"As I said, it's very advanced," Professor Lupin said as Harry looked down, discouraged. "But,"
Harry quickly looked up at Professor Lupin who was smiling at him.
"I can teach you the spell," Professor Lupin said. "It will have to be after Christmas. I'm afraid that my workload is pretty heavy at the moment, but I should have some free time after at the beginning of the next term."
"Thank you, Professor Lupin! Thank you so much!" Harry exclaimed, smiling widely.
"Also, I've been meaning to ask you about this, but I hadn't had the chance yet. I've heard that your dog was having a bit of trouble the other day. On Halloween, I think it was," Professor Lupin said, almost cautiously. "How's… Snuffles, was it? How is Snuffles doing?"
"A bit of trouble?" Harry asked. "Oh! Yeah, he's doing fine now. I don't really know what was going on with him on Halloween. I though he was getting sick because he was acting pretty subdued and not eating anything. But he seemed fine once I found him again."
"Found him again?" Professor Lupin asked.
"Yeah, he kind of disappeared on me, or well, I guess I actually kind of disappeared on him as we were walking back to the Common Room after the feast. But after that whole 'Sirius Black in the castle' fiasco was over and we could come and go from the Common Room again, Snuffles wandered in with a group of other Gryffindors," Harry said, scooting back a bit to lean against one of the student desks. "He was looking a bit worried when he came in, but once he saw me, he was fine again… He did seem to stick pretty close to me an awful lot afterwards though. In fact, I'm kind of surprised he's not poking his head in the door right now because he's been lurking outside of every classroom I've had to go to, waiting for me to get out of class. He used to be fine with just waiting in Gryffindor Tower or out around the grounds. I think he got spooked or something on Halloween, probably because we got separated. He hasn't really let me out of his sight since that night."
"So your dog was missing when… when Black was spotted in the castle?" Professor Lupin asked, sounding a little strained.
"Yeah, I was really worried about him when I couldn't get out of the Common Room to go look for him. But yeah, I was separated from him before I made it back to Gryffindor Tower and Black was on the loose in the castle," Harry responded.
"Could I… Well, it's none of my business, but could I ask about how you got… Snuffles? I heard from Professor McGonagall that you got him over the summer break," Professor Lupin asked.
Harry was a bit curious about why Professor Lupin wanted to know, but decided that maybe Professor Lupin was just interested. Harry didn't really have an issue about telling Professor Lupin how he found Snuffles.
"Umm… well, I found him and he found me – we kind of found each other that night. I had just, uhh…" Harry trailed off sheepishly before clearing his throat and continuing. "Umm, I had just ran away from the Dursleys and I was walking down an empty street and I, uh, took a small break and sat on the curb. That's when I saw a bush looking at me. Well, the bush wasn't looking at me, it was Snuffles, but Snuffles was in the bush. I went over to see what it was and, of course, it was Snuffles. Only at the time, he was just a stray dog."
Harry smiled at Professor Lupin.
"I probably shouldn't've but I went up to the dog. He was a dirty, starving mess and he was growling at me, but it wasn't an aggressive growl. It was like he was trying to warn me to stay away from him. But, um, I didn't back away, which was crazy, I know. I just stayed where I was and offered him my hand. I had no reason for why I did it, I just did. Snuffles eventually worked up the courage to come closer to me, and, well, the rest is history, I guess," Harry said, still smiling. "He had no reason to trust me and I had no reason to trust him, but I called for him to come with me and he did. And he's been a… well, he's been a really good friend. A little overprotective sometimes, but he's… he's my dog and my friend. I'm really lucky to have him."
"I… I see," Professor Lupin said with a suspiciously blank face. "Harry… Thank you for answering my questions, but I fear that if I keep you any longer, your dog might come charging in the classroom looking for you. I'm sure he's wondering where you are."
"You're right! I'd better get going," Harry said, pushing off of the desk he was leaning against and starting to walk towards the door. "See you later, Professor."
Professor Lupin didn't respond. He just watched with a troubled look in his eyes as Harry left the classroom.
...
Snuffles had been out of his mind with worry for Harry. He was tempted to search the castle for Harry, but the last time Snuffles ran around the castle looking for Harry, it didn't end very well.
So, Snuffles stayed in the Gryffindor Common Room, perched just off to the left of the entrance to the room, alert and still. Waiting for Harry to return. Because he would. Harry would return safe and sound. Snuffles couldn't think of any other outcome, because if he did, he'd likely lose whatever sanity he had left.
Harry had been gone for a few hours, but Snuffles remained where he was. Ignoring all of the other Gryffindors who came and went, who gave him concerned glances when they passed by him.
But finally, finally! Harry came through the portrait hole and Snuffles couldn't stop his involuntary tail wag of happiness at seeing Harry again.
Harry stalked past Snuffles and stomped up the stairs, so Snuffles, after a moment of watching Harry go, got to his feet and quickly trotted after him. Harry had a thunderous look on his face when Snuffles caught up to him and he looked ready to snap at anyone or anything. Snuffles was about to follow Harry into the dorm room, but Harry slammed the door in Snuffles' face. Snuffles barely had any time to jerk back in order to avoid getting hit in the face by the door.
Snuffles stared at the closed door in disbelief for a second or two. And, once he got over Harry slamming the door in his face, Snuffles started barking like mad. He barked and barked and barked until the door was wrenched opened. Harry had his hand on the door and was staring down at Snuffles in confusion. Snuffles abruptly stopped barking and shoved his way passed Harry and into the room.
Harry watched as Snuffles trotted over to Harry's bed and jumped up on it. Snuffles sat down on the bed and then looked at Harry.
Harry blinked a few times before shutting the door again and walking over to the bed.
Sighing, Harry sat down on the bed next to Snuffles.
"I slammed the door in your face, didn't I?" Harry asked in a rough voice.
Snuffles 'woofed' in affirmation.
Harry took off his glasses and ran a hand over his face, saying a muffled, "I'm sorry, Snuffles."
Snuffles whined and wormed his way onto Harry's lap, draping himself over Harry's legs.
"I didn't… I didn't even see you there. I was just – I'm just so angry," Harry said, his voice still rough. It sounded like he'd been screaming or crying. "I'm angry and hurt and so, so, so confused."
Snuffles sat up and looked at Harry, who had his glasses on once again.
"I-I… I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I know what I want to do, or at least I think I know what I want to do, but…" Harry trailed off as he brought his hands up to grab at his hair. "I really don't know what to do."
Snuffles whined again and pushed his nose in between Harry's right hand and his hair. Harry release his grip on his hair and brushed his hand over Snuffles' head.
"I don't know what to do," Harry weakly. "I just…"
Harry let out a shuddering sigh and fell back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Snuffles followed Harry down, resting his head on Harry's chest.
"I thought I was having a good day, Snuffles, a really good day," Harry said, not at confident as he usually sounded. Harry started gently petting Snuffles.
"I… I snuck out. I went into Hogsmeade. There's a passageway and… I ran into Hermione and Ron at Honeydukes and then we went to the Three Broomsticks," Harry said softly. "I was having a really good time, Snuffles. I felt… I felt so accomplished, sneaking into Hogsmeade to be with my friends. It was fun. I was having a laugh… Well, I'm not laughing now."
Snuffles whined quietly and turned to lick at the hand that was petting him. Harry slowly moved his head up to look at Snuffles and scratched Snuffles behind his ears before laying his head back down on the mattress and resuming his petting of Snuffles.
"It… It happened at the Three Broomsticks. I was at a table with Ron and Hermione when Hagrid, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and the Minister of Magic walked in the room. And Hermione actually shoved me under the table," Harry said with a wet laugh. "Then they – they sat at a table near us and started talking. They were talking about Black. Sirius Black."
Snuffles whined and nuzzled into Harry's chest. Harry just continued to pet Snuffles.
"He's… I found out that… he's my godfather. Black's my godfather. He was their friend!" Harry suddenly shouted. "He was their friend! And he betrayed them. He betrayed my parents! He's the reason they're dead."
Snuffles was breathing hard and shuddering, but Harry didn't seem to notice.
"He betrayed my parents," Harry said in weak voice. "I just… I don't understand. He was… They made him my godfather. Why would he… Why did he do it?"
Harry was quiet for a while, still petting Snuffles. Snuffles was laying limp on Harry, feeling generally terrible. Feeling so guilty. Feeling horrified at the situation.
'Harry's right. It is my fault. James and Lily… They're dead because of me.'
"I'm so angry, so, so angry right now. I hate him. I hate him for what he did and I want… I want him dead. I want to kill him… but I… I'm so confused about it. I don't – I'm… I just don't know what to do anymore," Harry said softly. "I don't know what to do."
Snuffles whined again
"Ron and Hermione are probably pretty worried about me right now," Harry laughed without humor. "I disappeared on them after I heard about… well, about Black. I came straight here, though, after that. I just… I shouldn't've run out on them. I should've went back and found them again. But I didn't. I came here. And I don't know why I did that either."
Harry sighed deeply.
"I'm a mess right now, Snuffles. But thank you for being here and for listening to me," Harry said quietly.
Both Harry and Snuffles stayed quiet for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts.
"Well, enough of this sad stuff. I can't be like this when I go to find Ron and Hermione or they'll be even more concerned than they probably are right now," Harry suddenly said, shaking Snuffles out of his guilty thoughts. "I can tell you about something good that happened to me before I heard all of that stuff at the Three Broomsticks."
Harry sat up, dislodging Snuffles from his resting place on Harry's chest. Snuffles shook out his fur as Harry brought a hand up to his face to wipe away a few stray tears and adjust his glasses. Snuffles sat down in front of Harry.
"Umm, well, after I left you in the Common Room – and I'm sorry about disappearing on you like that, Snuffles. It's just that you were getting a little overwhelming and I needed a bit of space," Harry said. Snuffles had the decency to look sheepish.
Snuffles knew he was being overprotective, constantly trailing after Harry, but Snuffles needed to make sure that Harry stayed safe. The recent Dementor attack against Harry didn't exactly instill confidence in Snuffles that Harry would be safe in or around the castle. But maybe Snuffles had gone a little overboard in his attempts to stay with Harry to keep him safe from harm.
"Anyway, I snuck out of the Common Room and through the castle under my invisibility cloak. And I thought that I was pretty much undetectable, but the Weasley twins knew where I was. They knew exactly where I was. Fred and George just came up to me, grabbed me under my arms, and carried me off to a stairwell. They, well, what they had was amazing, Snuffles!" Harry said, looking happier then than he had since Snuffles had seen him walk into the Common Room. "They had a map, an amazing map, and it shows you where everyone in Hogwarts is at. Like, they showed me Dumbledore pacing in his office and how there were a few students coming closer to where I was with them. And they gave it to me! They just gave it to me and said I probably needed it more than they did! It's actually… hold on, I can show it to you! I still have it in my back pocket," Harry said excitedly.
Snuffles' heart rate skyrocketed at the mention of a map that showed where people in Hogwarts were and, when Harry pulled out a blank bit of parchment, a very familiar blank bit of parchment, Snuffles could've sworn that his heart stopped then and there.
"It's called the Marauder's Map! All you have to do is tap your wand to the parchment," Harry said, grabbing his wand and touching it to the map. "And say, 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good'."
It was a miracle, an absolute miracle, that Harry hadn't spotted him on the Map when the twins showed it to him earlier. And it was a miracle that the Weasley twins hadn't seen Snuffles as Sirius Black on the Map either. Snuffles didn't know how they hadn't managed to see him on the Map, but later, when he wasn't focused on preventing Harry from finding out that he was Sirius Black, Snuffles would most definitely be sending up a prayer of thanks to whoever was out there to hear it. Because this kind of luck was unreal, completely unreal.
Snuffles knew that if Harry saw 'Sirius Black' sitting next to him, especially after what Harry had just told Snuffles about Sirius Black, then Snuffles would be back in Azkaban, or more than likely dead, quicker than he could blink.
With mere seconds to react, Snuffles barked, leapt forward onto Harry's lap, and started licking Harry's face. Harry let go of the Map to push Snuffles away with an exclamation of amused disgust. Snuffles made sure to 'accidentally' push the Map off of the bed with his paw.
"Merlin, Snuffles! What's gotten into you?" Harry asked with a small laugh.
Harry leaned over the bed and reached down to pick up the Map, but Snuffles was back in Harry's face, nuzzling under Harry's chin. Harry clicked his tongue and moved to scratch Snuffles behind his ears instead of grabbing the Map.
Every time Harry would reach over to grab the Map, Snuffles would distract him by either begging for more pets, nuzzling or licking Harry, or even barking.
Eventually, Harry gave up trying to show Snuffles the Marauder's Map.
"You probably wouldn't really understand this Map anyway, Snuffles," Harry said as he finally grabbed the Map from where it fell on the floor. "Just take my word for it, it's pretty cool."
Harry touched his wand to the surface of the Marauder's Map and said, "Mischief managed."
Harry tucked the Map into the drawer on his nightstand and then returned to the bed, sitting and petting Snuffles for a few moments.
"Thanks again for listening to me, Snuffles. You're a great friend," Harry said. "I think I'm going to wander down to the Common Room to wait for Ron and Hermione to come back. Do you want to come down with me?"
Snuffles shook his head and laid down on the bed, yawning widely.
Harry got up and said, "Alright, well, suit yourself. I'll come back up to get you for dinner."
Harry gave Snuffles a final scratch behind the ears and then left the room, leaving the door open in case Snuffles wanted to join him.
Snuffles stayed on the bed and began counting down from two hundred, to give Harry some time to return in case he forgot something.
Once Snuffles reached zero, he sprung up off of the bed and raced over to the door. Snuffles nosed the door shut and then ran back over to Harry's bed. After making sure that he was completely alone, Snuffles transformed into Sirius and grabbed the Marauder's Map out of Harry's nightstand drawer.
Using a bit of wandless magic, Sirius touched the Map with his finger and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Smiling and a little teary-eyed at seeing the familiar words and lines of the Marauder's Map form on the parchment in his hands, Sirius took a deep breath and, with his finger still on the Map, he said, "Padfoot solemnly requests a change in identity."
Familiar writing plastered itself across the bottom of the Map.
Messrs. Moony, Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail would like to congratulate Mr. Padfoot on what was likely a prank so spectacular that he needed to change his name.
Mr. Prongs would like to know what Mr. Padfoot wants to change his name to.
Sirius smiled sadly and, still touching the parchment, said, "Mr. Padfoot would like to change his name from Sirius Black to Snuffles."
Mr. Padfoot would like to know what prank the future Mr. Padfoot pulled in order for him to need to change his name.
Unable to voice the real reason, Sirius sadly said, "I… I haven't pulled it yet, but changing my name is a necessary preparation for it."
Mr. Wormtail wishes Mr. Padfoot luck on his prank and hopes it is a success.
Mr. Moony would like to inform Mr. Padfoot that his name will now be shown as 'Snuffles' on the Map and hopes that Mr. Padfoot will be careful in whatever it is that he's planning to do.
Mr. Prongs has every confidence that the future Mr. Padfoot will succeed in whatever it is that he's planning.
"Thanks Moony. Thanks Prongs," Sirius whispered sadly.
Mr. Moony agrees with Mr. Prongs, but also adds that Mr. Padfoot should be careful not to succeed in blowing himself up again.
Mr. Padfoot would like to remind Mr. Moony that that only happened one time and it was entirely Mr. Prong's fault
Mr. Prongs would like to tell Mr. Padfoot that he shouldn't lie to his future self because it was entirely Mr. Padfoot's own fault and that his eyebrows and hair grew back eventually.
Smiling at the comments, Sirius took a moment to just take in the Map, brushing his fingers over the familiar writing.
Sirius remembered when they first thought of making the Marauder's Map. He remembered all of the research that they did. He remembered the long nights and longer discussions about how to create the Map and about what features they should add to it. He remembered the tireless days and nights of work and frustration it took to get the Map to work exactly the way they had wanted it to. He remembered talking about how they should build in an additional passcode, one that would allow any one of the Marauders to change their name on the Map, just in case there was a chance that the Map could be taken or fall into the wrong hands. After all, this Map was for helping the Marauders pull pranks; it shouldn't be used to tie the prankster to the prank. Thus, they included a passcode that allowed the creators of the Map to change their name if they needed to.
Taking once last look at the Map and at the words written on it, Sirius touched the parchment with his finger and said, "Mischief managed."
The words, the lines, the ink – all of it disappeared and the parchment was blank once again.
Sirius put the Marauder's Map back in Harry's nightstand drawer and transformed back into Snuffles.
Snuffles leapt up onto the bed and laid down, thinking about how, when they were making the Map, James, Remus, Peter, and he had all promised to sit down one day with their kids, with their future children, and tell them everything there was about being a Marauder. One day one of them would eventually pass down the Map to one of their children.
James never got that chance. He never had the chance to sit down with Harry and tell him all about the mischief that the Marauders got up to during their Hogwarts days.
James never had the chance.
But maybe, just maybe, one day, Sirius could do it for him.
...
Author's Note:
Okay, time for some explanations:
You might be wondering why, at first, Snuffles/Sirius didn't just check the rooms that lined the corridor where he knew that Harry had gone missing. The short answer is: He panicked. That's all. It was just a bad decision on his part. He assumed Peter grabbed Harry and ran with him. And that caved in passageway that Snuffles came across was the one that the Weasley twins once mentioned in one of the books – If I'm remembering correctly, the twins said something about that passage being on the Marauder's Map, but when they went to use it, they found that it had been caved in. Which is why, when Snuffles tries to go through it, he kicks up some dust.
And… I tried to keep Malfoy and Harry mostly in character as they were conversing, but there may have been a few moments of OOC – but I did try to keep it to a minimum.
When Harry tries to leave the Common Room to look for Snuffles, the reason why he can't get out is because I think that if the portrait guarding the Common Room entrance is attacked, then the portrait won't open to keep the students inside safe – So when Sirius slashed at it, a type of lockdown was initiated. And as for why Harry or anyone else in the Common Room didn't hear Sirius' conversation/screaming, well, let say there's some sort of soundproofing.
As for the Marauder's Map – I'd like to think that the Marauders worked features and failsafes into the Map. Features and failsafes that were never known because the Marauder's didn't tell anyone about them. Maybe one day they planned on telling their future children or something, but well, James died, Sirius was in prison, Peter is on the run, and Remus is just barely getting by. So many of the 'secrets' about the Marauder's Map were lost in time. Who know what other features those wily pranksters put into their creation?
I'm sure you're also wondering why Sirius didn't use the Map to find out where Peter was – well, Sirius wasn't sure if Peter had also used the same name-changing feature that he just did and Sirius wasn't sure how much time he had until Harry or one of the other boys returned. Sirius didn't want to be caught as Sirius Black in Harry's room with the Marauder's Map in his hands.
Also, I've already had a few messages/comments/reviews asking about the Marauder's Map and someone (the twins or Harry) seeing Sirius and/or Peter on the Map. Don't worry – I will address the issue of Peter still showing up on the Map AND why the twins never noticed or commented on Peter or Sirius showing up on the Map when they were in possession of it. I have a plan (and an explanation) and I promise that it will all be revealed in a later chapter, but I can't tell you everything all at once, now can I? A girl has to retain some mystery after all.
And last, but not least, I've lost my cushion of extra chapters to upload (actually I officially lost it after I posted chapter four) and I was fine with cranking out chapter five last week, but this week was a bit of a struggle – I live at home with three younger siblings and they had two snow days in a row this week, and we babysit three other little ones when the kids have no school. So my house was crazier (and louder) than usual this week – and I pretty much lost two days of productive writing (because of the noise levels – oh my god, I swear my ears are still ringing). But I did it! I managed to finish this chapter and post it on time – I was only able to proofread it once before I posted it, so if there are any unusual mistakes (grammar or otherwise) that you see, that'd be why. If you do spot any mistakes, let me know so I can correct them.