Chapter 15: Professor Black
Harry Potter was leaving the school library when Ronald Weasley approached him. "Congratulations, mate."
"What for, Weasley?" Harry asked in confusion.
"Aren't you glad your real Godfather became a Hogwarts Professor?" Ron asked.
"Severus Snape is my Godfather, Weasley." Harry replied with an annoyed tone.
"Come on, mate." Ron pleaded. "Snape is just a slimy snake who took advantage of Sirius Black's wrongful imprisonment to gain access to you."
Harry angrily drew his wand at Ron. "Stop insulting my family, Weasley."
"Sirius Black and the muggles who were tricked into handing you over to Snape are your real family, mate." Ron replied.
Harry was readying himself to hex Weasley for this when Professor McGonagall interrupted him. "Mr. Potter, while I understand you wanting to punish Mr. Weasley but I cannot condone magic in the corridors. One point from Gryffindor. Consider it a warning." She then noticed Ron's grin. "Mr. Weasley, don't think I forgot you. Ten points from Gryffindor for disrespecting a fellow student's family."
After Professor McGonagall left, Draco Malfoy approached Harry and Ron with a smug look. "Well, well, well. Barely here and Sirius Black is already the reason Gryffindor is losing points."
"Sirius Black isn't responsible for Weasley's stupidity, Malfoy." Harry protested.
"Hey!" Ron also protested but he was ignored.
"True that, Potter." Draco maliciously agreed.
"Anything wrong, Harry?" Neville asked as he and Dean Thomas arrived. "What do you want, Malfoy?"
"You'd better be careful the way you people talk to me now that Sirius Black is a Professor, Longbottom." Malfoy arrogantly threatened. "Don't you know my mother's maiden name?"
"We know he's your mother's cousin, Malfoy." Harry replied. "What's your point?"
"You try to do anything to me and he'll see to it you'll all be properly punished even if my father never hears about it." Malfoy proudly stated.
"You're bluffing." Harry accused and then talked to his friends and Weasley. "Don't worry about Sirius Black picking on us for Draco Malfoy's sake."
"We'll see about that, Potter." Draco said and then left.
"Did you really mean it, Harry?" Ron asked out of worry.
"Absolutely, Weasley." Harry explained. "Sirius Black doesn't embrace his family's dark roots and that's why the Death Eaters who cheated justice didn't help him when Crouch sent him to Azkaban."
Fred and George Weasley then approached the first-years and interrupted their conversation.
"Just who we were looking for." Fred said while staring at Harry.
"True that, dear brother." George added while also looking at Harry.
"After all, it's not anyone who claims…"
"…kinship to the Marauders."
"What do you know about the Marauders?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Not here, Potter." Both twins said and then took Harry to a secluded area.
"Ok." Harry demanded. "Now spill. How did you know about the Marauders?" He asked.
"Let's just say…" Fred started.
"…we found something belonging to them." George finished.
"That something must be very special if you guys approach me because of them." Harry commented.
"It really helped us with our pranks." They said.
"Until recently, we had no clue to their identities." Fred commented.
"And now we know all of them." George added.
"We wanna know more!" They exclaimed.
"And I'm telling you because…" Harry replied.
"Smart kid, I give him that." Fred commented.
"We can give you the Marauders' lost item." George offered.
"All of them were Uncle Severus' year mates and loved to pull pranks on him." Harry revealed. "Well, mostly Dad and Padfoot liked to do it. Moony and the traitor just played along."
The next day, the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins were having their first Defense lesson with Sirius Black. "Students, at least for the rest of the term, I am your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Sirius Orion Black." Sirius introduced himself and then handed each student a piece of parchment. "Don't be afraid for your grades, kids. This questionnaire is just a way to see how far my predecessor went before he left." He couldn't help but chuckle.
Ron was relieved his grade wouldn't be affected by a test he didn't study for. Sirius Black walked through the classroom to look for any cheaters. The search wasn't in vain. "Crabbe. Goyle. Each one of you loses ten points for cheating."
"Sir, they're my friends." Draco pleaded.
Sirius glared at the boy. "And what would your point be, Mr." Sirius stared at Draco's name tag like he needed it to know he's talking to Lucius Malfoy's offspring. "Malfoy?"
"That's correct, Sir." Draco arrogantly replied. "You're my mother's cousin, remember?"
"We cannot choose who we're related to." Sirius stated, making it quite clear Draco wouldn't get preferential treatment from him. Ron couldn't help but smile at Malfoy's misfortune.
Sirius eventually evaluated the parchments. "Wow!" He exclaimed. "Someone here must have read the whole book! I didn't expect anyone to reach marks this high until it's time for the final exams." He then noticed everyone staring at Hermione. "Ms. Hermione Granger?" He asked and she nodded. "Ten points to Gryffindor for getting every question right."
"The mudblood must have cheated." Malfoy accused Hermione.
"Twenty points from Slytherin and a detention with me tonight for using that derogatory word to describe a classmate!" Sirius angrily replied. "Now, is there a good reason for you to believe Ms. Granger cheated?"
"Well, she's a mud, er, muggleborn." Draco weakly replied. "They can't be that good. Can they?"
"Malfoy, had your accusation been based on the notion a first year student couldn't be that good before the Christmas holidays, I'd have accepted your skepticism." Sirius commented. "Ten points from Slytherin for accusing a classmate without a good reason. For the record, a muggleborn not knowing of the Wizarding World for more than a few months wouldn't be enough for me to be certain she cheated. Innocent until proven guilty, after all."
The students were now certain Sirius Black was afraid of wronging others the same way he was wronged. As the classes ended, Sirius dismissed all students except for Harry and Neville. "Is there something wrong, Professor Black?" Harry uneasily asked.
"It's not a school matter, Prongslet." Sirius reassured with a smile. "You may call me 'Uncle Sirius' or, if you feel it's too soon, just Sirius or Padfoot."
"Is there any reason you wanted to talk to us, Sir?" Harry asked.
"Prongslet, I don't know what Snivellus said but I am your real Godfather and he just took advantage of my wrongful imprisonment to take you in." Sirius said.
Harry frowned. "Don't talk like that about Uncle Severus!"
"Uncle Severus?" Sirius asked in shock. "You can't consider that slimy snake family!" He then turned his attention to Neville. "You must have seen something that you'd be afraid your parents wouldn't take seriously. You may tell me. Don't be afraid."
"May we leave now?" Neville asked with a similar frown than Harry's.
"Okay." Sirius reluctantly said upon noticing he wasn't making any sort of progress.
End chapter.