Chapter Three

"I'm so sorry for the interruption, Amos." Cornelius said as he entered the living room, fiddling with the bowler hat in his hands. Harry could immediately tell something was wrong. Uncle Cornelius had never looked that nervous in their house before. Even when he was telling them about the pressure Dumbledore was putting on the ministry to reverse the adoption. "I really had wanted to wait until after Harry's birthday for this but the papers have caught wind and I felt it best to tell you myself."

"Tell us what, Cornelius?" Mary asked, obviously picking up on the man's tension. She could see him steeling himself, preparing to give them some horrible news. "Should I send the kids out?"

"No, they need to hear this so we can decide what to do." He took a deep breath and looked at the family of four. He really hadn't wanted to do this to Harry; he'd wanted this cleared up before word got out. He'd wanted to spare the boy the anxiety. "Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban."

Mary gasped, her hand flying to cover her mouth while Amos's face drained of all colour. Cedric's eyes widened as he instinctively pulled his little brother closer to him. Harry just looked unsure. He knew who Sirius Black was, his mum had made sure he knew before he went to Hogwarts not wanting to risk Harry hearing from anyone else, but would he really come after him?

In a month's time he was going to be safe behind the castle walls, surely Black didn't think he'd be able to reach Harry there. Then again, he did break out of Azkaban of all places, Hogwarts might be a breeze compared to that. Azkaban was on an Island and everything. Maybe he'd try and find Voldemort, the Dark Lord was at least somewhat alive somewhere.

"What's being done, Cornelius?" Mary asked breathlessly, the terror she felt for her son causing her chest to ache.

"We are doing everything we are physically able to do." He reassured, Sirius Black was notorious. He was known throughout the entire magical community, he wouldn't be able to hide for long. "We have every Auror on high alert and conducting regular patrols. We've even alerted the Muggles, in case he tries hiding out there. He'll be caught that much faster if he does though. I've never known a Black to willing step into the muggle world, add his time in prison to that and he'll stick out like a sore thumb. His ignorance will get him noticed."

"What about Harry?" Cedric wanted to know what the ministry were doing to keep his little brother safe, not just find the madman that was threatening him. "What's being done to keep him safe?"

Cornelius sighed heavily. "For now, I suggest he stay on these grounds as much as possible. If you need to go out, floo the Auror office and we'll send escorts. And that applies to all of you, not just Harry. If Black has managed to get wind of Harry's adoption, you will all be in danger. We've got his old relatives home staked out, in case he goes there trying to find him."

"What about at Hogwarts?" Harry's soft and slightly scared voice made the adults jump. They'd been so wrapped up in the conversation and he'd been so quite they'd almost forgotten he was there. "He managed to get past heavy wards once. He might do it again."

The minister rubbed his hands over his tired face. What he had to say next was almost as bad as his original news; he cringed just imagining what Mary's reaction was going to be. His heart went out to the family of four; this was going to be a difficult year for them. He remembered when he'd first really met Amos Diggory, the man had been trying for three days to get a meeting with him but Cornelius just hadn't had the time and also hadn't really expected Amos to have anything important to say. He'd only just become minister and was working his socks off, trying to give the public a good impression.

The determined man had eventually given up trying to get a meeting and just cornered him in the elevator, whispering seven words that almost gave Cornelius coronary failure. "Something bad has happened to Harry Potter." Amos had instantly been led to the minister's office and every silencing ward each of them knew was put in place.

He'd been furious went he heard how the Muggles had treated the child that had saved them and even angrier at Dumbledore for allowing it to happen. The ministry hadn't had anything to do with the placement of the newly orphaned Harry, they'd trusted Dumbledore's word that he was with family and he'd be cared for. The man hadn't even gone back to check!

Cornelius had made sure the adoption was airtight and kept as quiet as possible. He's also done what Dumbledore should have done all along and kept in touch with the family so he could see for himself Harry was safe, happy and healthy. Eventually he'd become something of an uncle to both boys and they called him such. He'd pop round with his wife Elisabeth whenever he had an afternoon free and just spend time with the boys, teaching them a little about politics, how the ministry worked and how the community was run.

He even sent gifts at birthdays and Christmas that was if he couldn't get there to give them out personally. He'd already put aside two extra tickets for the World Cup next year. It wasn't common knowledge yet but the Cup Final was being held in England for the first time in almost seventy years and Cornelius fully intended to make sure his favourite boys had prime seats. Construction on the stadium was even starting next week; the boys would be so excited when they found out.

"The ministry has very little influence at Hogwarts I'm afraid and Dumbledore is pushing to have dementors placed at every entrance to the grounds." He cringed as he braced himself for Mary's explosion. He wasn't disappointed.

"You can't be serious!" She raged like a mamma bear protecting her cubs. "What of the children that still have memories of the war? Forced to relive that every time they stray too close to the edge of the grounds! And what about Harry and Neville? They'll go catatonic under the weight of those memories!"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked curiously. He knew what dementors were and how they fed but why would they affect him and Neville more than others?

"Dementors feed on your happiness and in doing so force you to relive your worst memory, Harry." It was Mary's turn to mentally prepare herself, she really didn't want to have to say this. "Do you remember those nightmares you used to have about the cold laughter and green light?" Cornelius looked horrified as Mary said this but Harry didn't see and just nodded. "They weren't dreams, Harry. That was the night the Potters died."

Harry went pale and clung tighter to his brother. It was one thing to know that his biological parents had been murdered, it was quite another to know he had memories of their deaths knocking around inside his head somewhere.

The conversation ended soon after that but Harry hadn't heard a word except that, if Dumbledore got his way, Cedric, Harry, Neville and Hermione (who would be staying with the Diggory's for the last few days of the holidays) would be sent to Hogwarts by portkey because the dementors would be checking the train about half way there. Harry's heart went out to the other students who would be forced to endure their freezing presence.

The rest of the summer passed quickly with Harry hardly ever leaving the house and on the few occasions he did, never going further than the gardens.

It was three days before school started when Hermione turned up with her school trunk, a new cat and a manic grin. Harry had been instantly terrified. However fear turned to elation when she shouted…

"I found it! I found a way to free Dobby!"

And she really had. What almost no one knew was that the magic that binds a house elf to its master came with a failsafe. If a house elf ended up with a bad master, all it had to do was a find a new and willing master to invoke the loophole. Which Harry did. He basically challenged Lucius Malfoy to prove that he would be a better master without him ever finding out he'd been tested, he'd probably never find out where Dobby went.

Even other house elves couldn't tell him because they simply didn't know. They were so uneducated nowadays that very few even knew their own culture and ways. The house elf magic had read Lucius's feelings concerning his elves and compared them to Harry's. He'd obviously been found lacking seen as how Harry officially became Dobby's master.

He hadn't really known what to do with Dobby once he was there. He'd been so focused on saving the little elf that had tried to help him he hadn't given a thought to what would happen when Dobby was free of the Malfoy family. In the end he'd just been instructed to join the other house elves and take the same orders from Mary and Amos as them.

It was rather sad that he had to take a portkey to Hogwarts, he liked the tradition of riding the train but he really didn't want him or Neville to have to face the dementors. Though he was pleased that it meant he didn't have to be ready to go until half six that evening and they'd still be there first students there.

The next day as they collected their timetables, Harry had to comfort a rather distressed Hermione who had just found out her petition for a time-turner was denied. Dumbledore thought it was unnecessary apparently and had just told her to drop a few classes.

Despite that, Harry and Hermione had a wonderful time experiencing new classes that had been denied to them before as well as DADA, which finally had a competent teacher. Though, regardless of their interest in the subject, after the first week Harry, Hermione and Neville were all seriously considering dropping Care of Magical Creatures.

Hagrid seemed to forget that not everyone had his strength and that the creatures that seemed small to him were huge (and terrifying) to the students. The hippogriffs had been interesting and beautiful but Harry had to admit, they were probably a little young to be so close to such fierce animals. Beyond that however nothing exciting happened until Halloween, much to Harry's surprise. Please note the sarcasm.

Harry could have sworn his heart stopped when he heard the whisper. He was sure it wasn't true. It couldn't be true; too many precautions had been taken. Sirius Black just couldn't have gotten into the school. What good were the dementors if they couldn't keep one many out of the castle!

Harry had spent that night on the floor of the Great Hall firmly ensconced between Hermione, Neville and Cedric. They'd done everything they could think of to take his mind off what was going on but nothing they had done had made Harry laugh as hard as he had listening to Draco Malfoy whine about how 'Malfoys do not sleep on floors! I've never even seen a sleeping bag before. Transfigure me a bed!' It had been rather hysterical watching the normally poised boy try to work the zip on the bag.

However, the fear he felt that night had nothing on the sheer terror that flooded his veins as the dementors flooded the Quidditch pitch. It was the most awaited game of the season, the Hufflepuff Diggory against the Ravenclaw Diggory, both of them seekers. With the attacks the year before the Quidditch cup had been cancelled so no one had been able to see the Diggory brothers compete. The students couldn't wait. But unfortunately they'd had to.

The dementors were terrifying and monstrous. Harry's blood froze as his mind fogged over; all he could hear were screams and his own harsh breathing. He couldn't feel anything through the cold and he was barely aware of what was going on around him when suddenly a blur of yellow came careening out of the wall of black. Harry vaguely thought he heard Cedric's voice before he finally lost consciousness.

Harry was rather annoyed when he found out his Nimbus 2001 had been destroyed by the Whomping Willow. That thing was a menace and a danger to the students; it shouldn't even be on the grounds. He'd only had the broom for about a year and a half as well! When his parents had asked him what he wanted for his twelfth birthday he'd asked for a new broom, the best broom that was available and Cedric had to get one too. He'd told his parents to take money out the Potter trust fund if they needed it. He didn't know if they had, he didn't care to ask but that broom had been a birthday present and now it was gone. It looked like he'd have to take his own trip to the Potter vaults if he was going to buy a new one.

At least he hadn't lost the match; they just had to end it early because he almost had his soul sucked out. At least Cedric had managed to catch him as he fell, it could have been much worse if he'd actually hit the ground after a 200-foot fall. The teachers said they were going to shuffle the Quidditch schedule and they'd find out the date of the rematch after the holidays.

Harry spent two weeks, after walking up in the hospital wing, sulking like a child. Hermione was almost at her wits end before his friends finally managed to cheer him up during their first Hogsmeade visit. Though he'd felt horribly sick that night as a result of all the sweets he'd eaten. Honeydukes really was a paradise to anyone with a sweet tooth.

During the holidays, Harry had been struck dumb when he opened one of his Christmas presents and discovered a brand new Firebolt. His mouthed had dropped open and he was sure he drooled a bit but he didn't care, it was a bloody Firebolt. He'd never seen anything so beautiful and now he had to figure out where it came from and how he could get Cedric one. He had no doubts that, once he got his full inheritance, he could buy a dozen Firebolts and barely dent one vault but he only had access to his trust at the moment and it would probably empty it to buy one of those brooms.

He had just been about to mount the broom when his mother started shouting about how he shouldn't ride it and that it could be cursed. Personally, Harry thought she was being a bit silly though he could understand her fear. But surely if the broom was a part of some nefarious trap laid out by Sirius Black, why would he waste all that money on a Firebolt when Harry, who was currently broom-less, would have accepted one that was much cheaper?

Not to mention Black was on the run. Where in the Hell was he going to get that kind of money? He knew the goblins would have no qualms about serving the man, business is business to them, but they were fond of the Potter line and had always been strangely (they were goblins) kind to Harry. If Sirius Black had really betrayed the Potters and the goblins had him in their bank, Harry was sure the Auror corps would have been receiving an anonymous tip telling them to head to the Alley.

He'd actually said as much to his parents and while they could see his logic, they were still scared. When they heard Black had actually made it into the castle they had been fraught and they just didn't want to take a chance. It was eventually decided that Amos would take the broom to the ministry and ask the Aurors to look at it, if it was clean then Harry could have it back. Harry almost through a fit at the last bit. In a rare show of teenage rebellion, Harry demanded that if something was wrong with the broom, the Aurors would fix it and he could still have the broom back. Besides, what better way to get one over on Black than by foiling his plans and still having the broom that he paid for?

The rest of the Christmas holidays were a lot of fun and the time home had definitely been needed. Harry didn't realise just how uneasy he had been in the castle until he was home safe. He didn't like knowing Black could get into the castle just as much as his parents had hated the idea. Between the incident with the dementors and Black's attack on Gryffindor tower, it had been decided that Harry was to have an Auror escort once school started up again to walk with him between lessons and meals.

Harry thought it was a little extreme and that was actually a compromise, Mary had wanted to pull her sons out of school altogether until Black was caught. He didn't think he'd have been able to cope with that. As much as he loved his parents and treasured the summer and Christmas holidays, Harry enjoyed the freedom the castle offered.

It wasn't until half way through February that Harry started to come round to his parent's way of thinking. Black had gotten into the castle for the second time and had even managed to make it into a dormitory. But what left people baffled was that it had been the Gryffindor dorm, not the Ravenclaw one.

"Hermione?" Harry asked one day at breakfast about three weeks after the incident. "You keep track of what the papers say about me, don't you?"

"Of course, Harry." She replied instantly. "And you should to. When you start dating the papers will have a field day. You don't want to be caught unawares by any new rumours."

"I know," He said with a shake of his head. They'd had this conversation before and while Harry knew his friend was right, he really didn't want to have to think about that just yet. He was only thirteen; he was still learning how his body worked, let alone anyone else's. "If the press ever get too blood thirsty, I'm hiring a PR person, I don't think I could handle all that myself. But we're getting off topic, I actually asked for a reason. I just wanted to know if my sorting was reported on or if they ever mentioned what house I was in."

"Actually, they have." Hermione told him with a thoughtful frown, obviously realising where he was going with this. "They reported on your sorting and it was mentioned when you first joined the Quidditch team."

"So why is Black going for the Gryffindor dorms?" He finally wondered aloud.

Harry almost laughed at the look on his female friend's face; she'd never looked so confused before. "I honestly don't know. Surely if he was coming after you he'd have learnt all he could. I would."

"Are you planning on coming after me one day, Miss Granger?" Harry joked to lighten the mood. It worked somewhat. It got the frown off Hermione's face but she was clearly still thinking about what he'd pointed out. "Maybe he's just assumed I'd be a Gryffindor like Weasley did on the train. Both the Potters were, after all."

"Maybe." She answered dubiously, her tone indicating she thought that about as likely as Harry did. "Well, if he did think that, he won't anymore. You weren't in the dorm when he got there. If he does try the Ravenclaw dorm next then we'll know he's got his facts straight and is now looking for you in the right place. If not then I think we need to assume it's not you he's after."

"Well…" Harry answered at length, thinking very carefully on what to suggest next. He really did love the conversations like this that he'd have with Hermione; he did the same thing with his mother. "Black and the Potters joined the Order of the Phoenix straight out of school so he'd have had to have joined the Death Eaters before that. Maybe he hid something in the dorms, something he couldn't risk taking with him."

"That's actually possible, Harry." He could see her mind already turning this new idea over, examining it from every angle. "There are hundreds of hidden passages, secret rooms and trick bricks all over the scholastic parts of the castle, why not residential areas. I mean the dormitories are basically hidden rooms themselves. Only the people in those houses know where they are. But then again…" She added, having come up with another point for their impromptu brainstorm session. "We are assuming that Black is thinking rationally which is highly unlikely after twelve years surrounded by dementors and with no one to talk to. For all we know he's seen the articles about what house you're in but because he's so sure you'd be a Gryffindor, he's convinced their lies. He's completely unpredictable because we can't even begin to understand how he thinks now."

"So we're basically wasting our breath speculating about this?"

"Yep." Hermione answered with a wry smile before it turned slightly mischievous. "But it's fun to do."

"This is true." Harry laughed. "Ravenclaws are just gossips that choose more intellectual subjects, aren't they?"

"Yep." She said again.

They actually found out the truth of Black's behaviour two months later when, in a series of events that nobody could have predicted, they ended up in the Shrieking Shack, which wasn't actually haunted, with the man himself.

Harry, Hermione and Neville had been out by the lake enjoying a rather warm evening considering it was only early May and they were in the Scottish Highlands, when they were pulled out of their pleasant conversation by what they had assumed was a female scream. They'd looked over only to see Ron Weasley being dragged towards a still Whomping Willow by what was frankly the largest dog in existence except for the Cerberus they met in first year. Seriously, it was the size of a Shetland pony. Harry probably could have ridden it, it was certain big enough to hold someone Harry's size.

Despite their best attempts, the Diggory's hadn't been able to fix all the damage done to Harry by his muggle relatives. He'd been highly malnourish during his formative years and this had permanently affected his height and figure. They predicted that by the time he finished growing he'd be about 5"7, a little on the short side for a male but not embarrassingly so. As far as Harry was concerned, the embarrassment was already taken care of by his rather delicate build. But then he was gay so Harry figured it was at least somewhat fitting. He'd have hated trying to pull a girl while looking like one.

They'd been unable to reach Ron before he was dragged under the tree and hadn't wanted to risk using magic only to have it enrage the animal further. Most magical creatures were immune to most spells and given the size of the dog, they'd have been amazed it if was a muggle animal. They'd been about to turn round and go for a teacher when the tree froze again, causing them to do the same.

They'd followed Crookshanks bemusedly through the tunnel, all three of them thinking the same thing, how the in Merlin's name was the damn cat involved?

Ron had been crying on the bed when they got there and with him not knowing anyone had come for him, didn't warn him or her about the Animagus hiding behind the door. Before they knew what hit them, they'd been disarmed and each caught with a Full Body Bind. They'd been sure they were about to die when Professor Lupin had burst into the room.

Things had gotten even stranger after that. They'd watched in fascination and no small amount of horror as Peter Pettigrew was forced into his human form. Harry screamed as loud as could through his closed lips as he watch two fundamentally good men prepare to kill another human being. He couldn't let them, he couldn't stand by and watch as two people who were apparently important to his dead parents taint their souls in such a way, no matter whether the man had deserved it or not.

Once Pettigrew was bound and gagged, the group had slowly made their way back to Hogwarts. However watching Lupin transform into a wolf had brought back all of the earlier fear for their lives. Pettigrew had also used their distraction to make an attempt to escape, he too transforming. What he hadn't counted on was Moony's sense of smell and the fact that the wolf had considered James and Lily Potter as a part of his pack. The moment the wolf caught sent of the traitor he gave chase.

The four students and escaped convict had immediately started running for the castle. Well, three students and an escaped convict who was levitating the fourth, Ron having passed out due to the pain in his broken leg. As soon as they hit the Entrance Hall Harry had given Sirius his invisibility cloak and told him to hide in the abandoned girl's bathroom on the second floor. They all knew that without Pettigrew, it would be infinitely harder to get the man's name cleared.

Harry, Hermione and Neville had rushed Ron to the hospital wing, instructing Madam Pomfrey to contact the ministry. Harry had known Uncle Cornelius would arrive with the Aurors; he had even been counting on it.

The minister hadn't really believed what the three friends had said but agreed to question them under Veritaserum if only so they knew they were wrong. Personally he believed they'd been hit with a Confundus charm or something similar but they only confused the memories not faked them. No matter what someone believed, they'd be forced to tell the truth in accordance with their memories. The only way to circumvent Veritaserum was to remove the memories completely, which clearly hadn't happened or the students wouldn't remember meeting Sirius Black at all.

To say Cornelius was surprised by the truth was an understatement, not to mention the Aurors, Snape (who'd provided the potion) and the headmaster. They could scarcely believe it. They even extracted the memories from the students and used Dumbledore's Pensieve to watch them from all three points of view. All of them showed the exact same thing. Sirius Black was innocent.

Cornelius inwardly groaned at all the paperwork he'd have to complete not to mention the money the ministry would have to pay but that had nothing on the twelve years Sirius had paid or the scandal this would cause for Dumbledore. Sirius Black had been sentenced without trial based on the testimony of Albus Dumbledore who had sworn that Black was the Potters' Secret Keeper.

The minister could understand why the man had wanted Black sentenced as quietly as possible. A trial would have made the fact the Potters were betrayed public knowledge and the headmaster didn't want that to plague Harry's time at Hogwarts. But that didn't change the fact that Dumbledore was wrong and an innocent man had suffered for his mistake.

The next day every single paper in the magical community proclaimed the innocence of Sirius Black and guilt of Peter Pettigrew, not to mention the fact that the man was still alive. Everyone also found out about why the Head of one of the few remaining Ancient and Noble houses was sent to prison without trial. While most people understood Dumbledore wanting to make things easier for Harry, that didn't stop his name being dragged through the mud.

Sirius was admitted to St Mungo's, paid for courtesy of the MoM, in a bid to correct the damage done to him by his time in Azkaban. They healers estimated that, short of anything major, he'd be out the same time as Hogwarts students. He was going to be moving with Lupin ("call me 'Remus', Harry") into one of the many Black properties in Britain and had already extracted a promise from Harry that he would visit his newly discovered Godfather regularly. Harry had agreed readily enough on the condition that his family came too, which had please both Sirius and Remus immensely; they'd been hoping to meet the family that had brought their cub up to be such an amazing young man.

School had finished off easily enough, with Harry coming top in about half of his end of year exams. Hermione came top in the other half with the exception of Herbology and Potions that were stolen by Neville and Draco Malfoy respectively. Ravenclaw had also managed to win the Quidditch Cup much to the Hufflepuff's (especially Cedric's) irritation. How could they not win when their star seeker was riding a top of the line Firebolt? He'd gotten it back from the ministry about a week after the Christmas holidays had finished.

Though it wasn't all bad news for Cedric and his house. They had managed to easily secure the House Cup despite Ravenclaws best efforts. It was obvious, to anyone who cared to think about it, that Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were no longer the forgotten houses and that was largely down to the Diggory brothers. The bitter rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin had all but ceased to exist; everyone was too busy watching the friendly sibling (an oxymoron if ever there was one) rivalry that had sprung up with the arrival of the youngest Diggory.

"Guess what I just realised." Harry said out of the blue to Hermione, Neville and Luna as they rode the Express back to London.

"What?" Hermione asked curiously.

"I didn't finish school in hospital wing this year." Harry seemed oddly surprised that he'd managed to end the year with all his limbs intact.

"True." Neville agreed, somewhat surprised himself. "But you were there before Christmas after almost falling 200 feet."

"Oh yeah." Harry remembered with a frown. "I can't work out if that's an improvement or not."

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AN: Hello! I hope you liked that!

This chap has come out a bit early because I'm going to be away for the next month or so. I'll still be writing but no postings I'm afraid. I've got the next three chaps completely written an being beta'd as we speak.

Leave a review and let me know what you think!

Hugs, Hanna xoxo