There was a group of students surrounding the entrance to the Gryffindor tower. The students were trying to find out what was going on. Percy who was Head Boy was trying to figure out what was going on. The Gryffindors squeezed together to let Dumbledore who was followed by Mr. Filch, Ella and Edward through to see what the commotion was about. Once they got to the painting, they had seen that the Fat Lady had vanished from her portrait, which had been slashed so viciously that strips of canvas littered the floor; great chunks of it had been torn away completely. "Mr. Filch? Round up the ghosts. Tell them to search every painting in the castle to find the Fat Lady." Dumbledore said as he took one quick look at the ruined painting and turned.

"There's no need for ghosts, professor. The Fat Lady's there," he said as he pointed to one of the pictures.

Dumbledore, Mr. Filch, Ella and Edward went to the picture where the Fat Lady had temporarily stayed in. Dumbledore spoke up, "Dear Lady, who did this to you?"

Her head poked up from the hippo's body and said, "Eyes like the evil, he's got, and a soul as dark as his name. It's him, headmaster. The one they all talk about. He's here, somewhere in the castle! Sirius Black!"

Dumbledore immediately started to think of what to do. Edward heard his thoughts and spoke quickly and quietly in Ella's ears. "Secure the castle, Mr. Filch. The rest of you, to the Great Hall," Dumbledore ordered.

"Students, please walk to the Great Hall in an orderly fashion, please," Ella's voice commanded. "Two single file lines now." The students immediately lined up and began walking towards the Great Hall. Ella pulled out her wand and immediately began to move the tables and the benches aside as the rest of her family brought sleeping bags and pillows. The rest of the teaching staff began the tedious task of searching the castle for the one who escaped. The students were sleeping in the Great Hall as the staff began to come in and update Dumbledore as to what's been happening with the search. The Cullens were around as security to make sure that no harm comes to the students.

"I've searched the Astronomy Tower and the Owlery. There's nothing there," Filch informed him.

"Thank you," Dumbledore responded.

"The third floor's clear too, sir," Snape added.

"Very good."

"I've done the dungeons. No sign of Black, nor anywhere else in the castle," Snape commented.

"I didn't really expect him to linger," Dumbledore replied.

"A remarkable feat, don't you think? To enter the castle on ones own, completely undetected?" Snape asked.

"Quite remarkable, yes," Dumbledore said.

"Any theories on how he managed it?" Ella asked.

"Many. Each as unlikely as the next," Dumbledore answered.

"You may recall, prior to the start of term, I expressed concern about the appointment of Professor..." Snape started off.

"Not a single professor inside this castle would help Sirius Black to enter it. I'm quite convinced the castle is safe, and I'm more than willing to send the students to their houses," Dumbledore interrupted.

"What about Potter? Should he be warned?" Snape asked.

Dumbledore looked at Ella who was staring at him intently. He knew that she had heard Snape's question. He continued to look at her as he answered Snape, "Perhaps, but for now let him sleep. For in dreams, we enter a world that's entirely our own. Let them swim in the deepest oceans or glide over the highest cloud." Edward went up to her and whispered in her ear what he had heard in Dumbledore's mind as well as Jasper's who had searched the grounds outside of the castle. Ella looked up at him shockingly. Edward nodded at her non-verbal question and both left the Great Hall immediately. They both walked to their house and saw a black dog sitting at their front door. Ella immediately opened the door and allowed the dog to come in. The dog went into the bathroom and changed form. He came back out and was nearly attacked. He looked down and saw that it was Ella.

"I'm all right," he answered.

"What are you thinking, Sirius, coming here to Hogwarts? Everyone is searching for you, especially the Dementors," Ella said as she stepped away from him.

"It's nice to see you too. Thanks for the warm welcome," Sirius said, deflecting her comments.

Ella thought back to what she said and looked regretful, "Sorry. It's good to see you, too Sirius, but really, we need to focus on the topic on hand."

"And what's that? The Dementors coming after me? Harry not knowing that I'm his godfather? Or the fact that I'm paying for a crime that I didn't commit?" Sirius shouted. His voice rose with every word that came out of his mouth.

"Look, Sirius, you have every right to be angry for what had happened. I am, too. My family and I may need to go to the States and fight an army but I want to stay here to protect Harry. Dumbledore ordered me to go to the States if the Volturi demands it. I don't know how to tell Harry the truth about you, Sirius. I know that if I can't, I'll die. I die, I can't tell him everything that Lily wants me to tell him. Plus the fact that you're here, how do you expect me to fight both worlds when I can't be at both places at the same time?" Tears were threatening to come down her face as she was saying this. "What would you have me do? I can't fight for the good of both worlds, Sirius!" Edward was restraining her. Esme and Jasper had both come into the room as Ella ranted to Sirius.

"Love, Jasper has something to say," Edward called out softly but loud enough for Sirius to hear.

"What is it, Jasper?" Ella asked, her tone was toned down.

"Alice called and said that the decision for us to go to the States may happen during the holidays. The Volturi is sending guards there to check on the status of what's happening before they decide on what to do," Jasper replied.

"Okay, that means we just stay here and do what we can," Ella said.

"I agree, I don't feel right leaving Harry without some kind of support," Esme agreed.

"You better leave, Sirius. You've lingered too long," Ella commented. She went to the library quietly. Esme motioned for Edward and Jasper to stay where they were at and followed Ella.

Esme closed the door of the library and could hear Ella crying softly. What Esme saw, broke her dead heart. Ella was sitting on one of the sofas, she sat next to her and gathered her in her arms, holding her as she cried. "It hurts so much, mom. It hurts too much."

"Let it out, sweetheart, let it out. Don't hold it in," Esme soothed.

That weekend, the Gryffindors had a Quidditch game against Hufflepuff. At one point the Snitch made itself known to Harry who then chased it way up into the sky. The clouds were so thick that he could barely seeing what was in front of him. Without a notice's moment, Dementors made themselves known and attacked Harry. He had let go of his broom and started falling down to the ground. Everyone was standing from their seats as they were trying to find Harry. In a distance, they could see a body coming down, Dumbledore saw who it was and pulled out his wand and pointed it to Harry and said, "Aresto momentum!" With that said, Harry passed out as he was gently floating onto the ground. Ella was by his side a moment later. Madame Hooch came running towards them.

"How is he?" she asked.

"I need to take him to the hospital wing. I doubt that the game can continue," she responded.

"Ella, what happened?" Dumbledore asked.

"It must have been the Dementors, Professor. He's extremely cold," Ella answered.

"The game is cancelled, Madam Hooch. I need to deal with the Dementors. Professor McGonagall, could you help Madam Hooch with the students?" he asked.

"Of course," she answered.

"I'll take him to the hospital wing," Ella said as she picked Harry up and walked towards the hospital. Edward, Jasper, Esme, Ron, Hermione and the rest of the Gryffindor team had followed Ella as she carried him to the hospital. When they arrived, Nurse Pomfrey was startled to see what had happened.

"What happened to Harry?" she asked as she led them to a bed for Ella to put Harry in.

"The Dementors took a hold of him," Ella answered.

"Oh, dear. There really isn't much that I can do to help him," she said.

"Is there something that we can do to warm him up? He's cold," she said. Nurse Pomfrey felt his head and noticed it. She immediately went to get a bowl of hot water and some cloth. As she left to get it, Ella noticed that Harry was coming out of it.

He could hear Ron saying, "Looks a bit peaky, doesn't he?"

"Peaky? What do you expect? He fell over 100 feet," Fred commented.

"Let's walk you off the Astronomy Tower and see how you look like," George told Ron.

"Probably a right sight better than he normally does," Harry said.

"Harry! How are you feeling?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, brilliant," he answered.

"Yeah, gave us a right good scare," Fred replied.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Well, you fell off your broom," Ron answered.

"Really? I meant the match. Who won?" Harry said.

"No one blames you. Dementors aren't supposed to be on the grounds. Dumbledore's furious. After he saved you, he sent them off," Ella replied.

"There's something else you should know, too. When you fell, your broom sort of blew into the Whomping Willow… and well… I'm sorry to hear about your broomstick," Ron said as he showed him what happened to his broom. Once he was healthy enough to leave the hospital, he spoke to Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore about his broom but there was nothing to be done about it. They couldn't fix it by magic and it couldn't be glued back. During a break from school, he was talking with Professor Lupin out in the woods.

Lupin was walking ahead of him and asked, "Is there no chance of fixing it?"

"No. Professor, why do the Dementors affect me so? I mean, more than anyone else?" Harry asked.

"Listen," Lupin started off, "Dementors are the foulest creatures to walk this earth. They feed on every good feeling, every happy memory until a person is left with absolutely nothing but his worst experiences. You are not weak, Harry. The Dementors affect you more than others because there are true horrors in your past. Horrors your classmates can scarcely imagine. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm scared, Professor," he confessed.

"Well, I'd consider you a fool if you weren't," Lupin responded.

"I need to know how to fight them," he said. "You could teach me. You made the one on the train go away."

"There was only one that night," Lupin stated.

"But you made it go away," he pointed out.

"I don't pretend to be an expert, Harry," he informed him. "But as the Dementors seem to have developed an interest in you, perhaps I should teach you. But after the holidays. For now, I need to rest." He thought that this would be a good time to talk to Jasper about what was happening with the Volturi and learn more about who he is. He wanted… no, he needed something to distract him from what was happening. After he told Lupin that ht was going back to the dorms, he walked to Ella's home and knocked on her door. The door opened and revealed Esme.

"Mrs. Cullen," Harry said.

"Oh, Harry, you're always so polite. Call me Esme. Come inside, please," she said as she allowed him to step inside the warm house. "Is there something that you needed, dear?"

"Oh, I was wondering if Jasper was here. I wanted to know more about what was going on with the Volturi," he answered.

"We're all here, Harry," Jasper answered as he walked into the room followed by Ella and Edward. They all sat respectively in the seats in the living room.

"Harry, would you like something warm to drink?" Esme asked.

"Butterbeer if you have any. If not, then hot chocolate, please," he answered. Esme smiled at his manners. He was so polite that it was refreshing to see amongst young children. She went into the kitchen and immediately got the things together for him. Once Esme was back with Harry's drink and some snacks for him, so that he wouldn't get hungry during the conversation, Jasper stood up and looked at Harry. He was trying to decide where to start.

"I know that you're confused," he started off. "I'll do my best to explain this in a way that you'll understand. Let's start it off this way. How much do you know about me, Harry?"

"Not much," he admitted.

Then Jasper started to roll up the arm of his ivory sweater. Harry watched, curious and confused, trying to figure out what he was doing. He held his wrist under the edge of the lampshade beside him, close to the light of the naked bulb and traced his finger across a raised crescent mark on the pale skin. It took Harry a minute to understand. "Jasper, why do you have scars like that on your arm?"

Jasper smiled faintly. "I have a lot of scars like that on both of my arms." Jasper's face was unreadable as he pushed the sleeve of his thin sweater higher up his arm. At first Harry's eyes could not make sense of the texture that was layered thickly across the skin. Curved half-moons crisscrossed in a feathery pattern that was only visible, white on white as it was, because the bright glow of the lamp beside him threw the slightly raised design into relief, with shallow shadows outlining the shapes.

Harry gasped at the sight of his arms, he looked up at him startled and asked, "Jasper what happened to you?"