Chapter 6: True Magic

In 1978, my friends and I graduated from Hogwarts. James and Lily were deeply in love, so it was no surprise to any of us that James proposed to Lily that summer, and she accepted. As for me, I was still single, so I began to perform "magic" at a muggle magic shop called "True Magic" in December of '78. I had enough money to live on, but I always thought it would be nice to have a little bit more. Since my mother had died six months previous, I was the rightful owner of her house, which included a little house elf named Kreacher, who has never been too fond of me. He still isn't.

During on performance, I noticed a pretty, young woman sitting in the audience. The young woman had long, wavy brown hair, and dark brown eyes that were full of excitement. She appeared to be in her late teens, or possibly early twenty's. She was so beautiful, I planned to talk to her right after the show. She beat me to it.

"That was the best magic show I've ever seen!" the young woman exclaimed. She had the most beautiful voice with an American accent. "Do you have a business card?"

"Of course." I said, smiling flirtatiously as I handed her the card.

She read my name on the card. "Sirius Black. What a sexy name!" She exclaimed, flirting back.

"Well, I've heard I'm a pretty sexy guy." I replied with a laugh. Luckily, the young woman must have had a sense of humor, because she laughed too. "May I have your name?"

"I'm Elizabeth Clearton, but you can call me Lizzie… or Liz… or Beth… or anything else, I guess, just as long as it's not Betsy, because I strongly dislike that name." she said, laughing.

"Darn, that's what I was going to call you!" I exclaimed, and we both laughed.

After several minutes of conversation, I learned Elizabeth was a twenty-year-old American college student studying to be an architect. She came to England to study its ancient castles. I thought about bringing her to Hogwarts some time to show her around, but then I remembered she was a muggle.

Besides architecture, Elizabeth loved magic. The muggle kind, the kind that always has a trick behind it. She said that she especially loved my show, because she couldn't figure out my "tricks" when normally, she had no trouble. She also loved dogs, and dreamed of going to the Crufts dog show, the largest annual dog show in the world, which occurred every March at the National Exhibition Centre, or the NEC, in Birmingham, England.

When it was time to go our separate ways, I asked if she had a permanent phone number. I told her I didn't have a phone, but there were several pay phones I could use. Smiling, she gave me her number, and I called it within a couple of hours. I asked her out, and she gratefully accepted.

I took Elizabeth to your parents' wedding, where she took most of the pictures. We were quickly falling in love, and she moved in with me, planning to stay in England even after her schooling. I loved her so much, I knew I had to do something special for her. Also, I wanted to tell her the truth about me.

It was hard to do, but I managed to get tickets for Crufts Dog Show. I waited until the last minute to tell her where we were going, but once I did she was overjoyed. To take her there, I had to rent a car. After all, you couldn't exactly apparate there or use a port key, with so many muggles around. However, it was worth the effort.

I remember everything about that particular date, every single detail, because it was so important to my life. I had rented a room in a fancy hotel in Birmingham so we could stay for all four days of the show. When we weren't watching a show, Elizabeth and I toured the city. Neither of us had ever been there before, even though I had lived in England all of my life. In fact, except to go to Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, I had never even left London before, which came as a great shock to Elizabeth.

On the day of the biggest event of the show, the Best in Show of the conformation, the National Exhibit Centre was buzzing with excitement. The rest of the show is a blur to me, because there was a lot on my mind that day. I do remember a Kerry Blue Terrier – yes, there is such thing as a Kerry Blue Terrier. I never heard of it until then, but of course, Elizabeth knew exactly what it was. – named Callahan of Leander was the winner.

After the show, we began to head home. But I still had a couple more surprises in store for Elizabeth. On the way home, we stopped at a fancy restaurant for dinner. I made reservations, so we got to sit in the most secluded part of the restaurant, which I was thankful for because I was finally going to tell Elizabeth the truth. I loved her so much, I knew I had to tell her I was a wizard. I knew she leave me because of it, but that was a risk I was willing to take because my love for her was so great, I wasn't willing to hide anything from her any more.

The restaurant was an Italian restaurant because Elizabeth loved Italian food. By the time our waiter brought out breadsticks for our appetizer, tiny beads of sweat were beginning to form on my forehead because of nervousness. Elizabeth quickly realized I wasn't quite myself.

"Is something wrong, Sirius?" she asked.

I sighed. It was now or never. "Lizzie," I began "How would you react if I told you I was a wizard."

Elizabeth stared at me, and then she burst out laughing. "Good one, Sirius! I love your jokes."

"No, really, I really am a wizard." I answered, a little hurt.

Elizabeth stopped laughed. "Are you being serious?"

I nodded. "I'm being completely serious. I'm finally telling you the truth about me, why my magic tricks are so good, and you think it's a joke."

Elizabeth frowned. "I'm sorry." She said softly. "I'm just finding this hard to believe. I didn't think wizards were… "

"Real?"

"Yes." Elizabeth whispered.

"We are very real, Elizabeth, and there are slightly more than one million of us around the world, although we are still the minority group to muggles."

"Muggles?" Elizabeth asked.

"Oh, sorry." I said. "Muggles are humans with no real magically abilities, such as yourself." I explained.

"That sounds kind of like an insult." Elizabeth laughed.

"Oh, it's not!" I said quickly. "Just like if you were to call me a wizard. It's what I am. In my eyes, wizards – and witches, in the case of women and girls – are equals."

"Don't all wizards see it that way?" Elizabeth asked.

I shake my head sadly. "Some wizards even attack and kill muggles."

Elizabeth sighed. "I'm sorry, Sirius, I'm still finding this overwhelming and hard to believe. I am the kind of person that needs proof."

I sigh too. "I can't show you here, Elizabeth. It's too dangerous for me."

Elizabeth stared at me, not completely understanding. However, she asked another question. "At home, then?"

I nodded. "That would be perfect."

Somehow, we managed to change topics. Once at home, I unlocked the door of my house – I put a charm on it which made Elizabeth the only muggle able to see it – and the two of us went inside. Before entering, however, I was sure to gather two small sticks from the lawn, so I could prove to Elizabeth I really was a wizard.

I had Elizabeth sit on the couch while I took one of the sticks in my hand and set the other one on the floor. I got out my wand from my pocket and carefully transfigured the stick into a beautiful rose, which I handed to Elizabeth.

"It's beautiful." She gasped. "What else can you do?"

Smiling, I pick up the other stick. "Hold this, please." I said and handed the stick to Elizabeth.

Pointing my wand towards the stick I shouted, "EXPELLIARMUS!"

Elizabeth watched in awe as the stick flew from her hands. "How did you do that?" she whispered.

"It's a disarming charm." I said, shrugging. "It's not difficult. Do you want to see something really impressive?"

Elizabeth nodded eagerly. Right before her eyes, I transformed into a dog.

"Si-Sirius?" Elizabeth stammered, a little nervously. I walked up to her and gently rested my furry head on her lap. Timidly, she reached her hand out to pet me. After she was done, I backed away, and transformed into my normal self.
"Is that all the proof you need?" I ask with a smile.

Elizabeth smiled. "Yes, I believe you now. Can all wizards turn into animals?" she asked curiously.

"No. Only a select few of us can. We're called Animagi, and it's very hard to accomplish. For example, it took my friends and me about three years to finally accomplish it." I replied.

Elizabeth sighed. "I wish I was a witch."

"You do?" I asked, stunned.

"Of course." Elizabeth smiled.

"So you don't mind that I'm a wizard. You're willing to live with someone who's… a freak, so to speak."

Elizabeth frowned. "Of course I don't mind. I love you, Sirius, and being in love with a wizard makes it even more special." Elizabeth stood up, and kissed me on the lips.

That night, I learned magic isn't just charms and spells. Elizabeth loved me, despite the fact that I was a wizard. I knew she would never leave me, and I would always stay by her side. Our love was the true magic of life.