Arcturus Black
By: Katerinaki
Published: 7/27/2015
Beta'ed: No
Notes: This was long in coming, but if anyone is still reading this story, I'd very much appreciate a review for this chapter. We're starting to get into some interesting parts and you get an idea of how Harry and Arcturus' relationship is going to go. Thanks.
Chapter 13: Potter
"You have to come meet him. He's in the compartment with Ronniekins."
Fred grabbed Arcturus's sleeve and began towing him back down the corridor but Arcturus dug his foot in.
"Get off me!" Arcturus managed to release Fred's grip and instinctively straightened his clothes before he realized he was away from the Squibs and nobody would care if his shirt was untucked or mussed.
"Alright, but come on, we—"
"I don't want to go," Arcturus declared, folding his hands across his chest.
Fred and George looked confused.
"Why not?"
Arcturus snorted. "Do I really have to spell it out for you?"
But the twins only seemed confused. With a huff Arcturus pulled them into the nearest empty compartment and closed the door.
"My father is Sirius Black."
"Yeah, notorious mass-murderer, we know," George replied.
"The notorious mass-murderer who was friends with the Potters and betrayed them to the Dark Lord and got them killed and orphaned their son. That's a pretty awesome introduction, don't you think?"
At last Fred and George seemed to understand Arcturus's apprehension.
"But…I don't think he'd blame you for that…" George said tentatively.
"Yeah," agreed Fred. "Both of you were just babies. It's not like you had anything to do with it."
Arcturus snorted derisively. "If there's one thing I've learned about wizards, it's that they can hold a grudge. Harry Potter won't even know I exist if I can help it."
"How are you going to do that?" George asked. "I mean, you're going to the same school for the next six years together. He's going to find out eventually."
"Well it won't be now," Arcturus said finally.
Fred sighed, "Archie, my boy, you sure do have a flare for the dramatic. I think you're making more of this than there actually is. Harry seemed nice. I think you'd like him, if you met him."
But Arcturus wouldn't yield and eventually Fred and George simply stopped trying to convince him. They set off back towards the compartment where Lee was surrounded by yet more students who seemed to have never seen an Engorged tarantula before. It was ridiculous, but Arcturus had to admire Lee's presentation. It was quite some time before the last of the curious left their compartment and they were able to change into their school robes. The sun was setting and they would be at Hogwarts soon.
The platform was buzzing as the Hogwarts Express came to a stop in the Hogsmeade station and the students flooded from the train. To Arcturus's chagrin, there seemed to be only one worthwhile topic of discussion this year. Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts. Unconsciously Arcturus found himself looking around, seeing if he could spot the boy in question, but he quickly gave up. He was just a short second-year and he didn't even know what the kid looked like!
Hagrid called over the crowd for the first-years while the rest of the students headed for the carriages, pulled by those creepy black creatures with leathery which Arcturus had learned were called thestrals. He didn't like to think of why he could see them but most of the other students couldn't. Instead he categorically ignored them as he climbed into the carriage with Fred and George and it lurched up to road towards the glowing lights of Hogwarts.
The Great Hall was almost full by the time Arcturus and his friends found their way to the Gryffindor table. They were forced to take a spot by the top of the Gryffindor table, nearest to the teachers. Nobody liked sitting there with the faculty staring down at them, and so that part of the table was left open and the newly Sorted first-years would end up sitting there.
"Would you listen to all them, Freddie?"
Fred shook his head. "It's like they've never seen a celebrity before."
Arcturus snorted. "You've only seen him once."
"Never mind the details," Fred retorted.
The next moment the doors of the Great Hall opened and Professor McGonagall entered trailing the first-years who looked around in wide-eyed wonder and amazement. Arcturus wondered if he had looked like that last year. He hoped not as McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on its stool and the old hat began its yearly song. Once it was finished, McGonagall launched into the Sorting right away. Arcturus spotted his cousin, Draco, in the crowd and was unsurprised with he was Sorted into Slytherin. Lord and Lady Malfoy would have something to prattle about to the other pureblood families. Arcturus also spotted Ron's red hair peeking out over the crowd.
"Potter, Harry!"
The hall broke out into a cacophony of whispers as a small boy with black hair and glasses slipped away from the crowd and sat down on the stool. As the Sorting Hat was placed on his head and fell down over his eyes, the whole hall sat in silence, waiting for the old seam to split open and declare in which House the Boy-Who-Lived would spend the next seven years.
But nothing happened. As the seconds stretched on, the murmuring started.
"What's taking so long?" George whispered.
Arcturus shrugged.
At last the seam split open-wide and exclaimed," Gryffindor!"
The entire Great Hall burst into applause, but none were louder than Gryffindor House and none in Gryffindor could drown out Fred and George.
"We got Potter! We got Potter!" they shouted over the crowd, as if it were some great victory. Maybe it was. After all Harry Potter was legendary. He defeated the Dark Lord when he was only a year old, and he's the only known survivor of the Killing Curse. Arcturus tensed as Potter climbed onto the bench next to him, grinning from ear to ear. He caught a glimpse of the famous lightning scar before resolutely staring down at his empty plate. Across the table Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, reached out to pat Potter's hand. The boy shivered involuntarily and Arcturus didn't blame him. Touching a ghost was like plunging into a pool of freezing water.
Ron, the twins' younger brother, was sorted into Gryffindor too and their older brother Percy, who was a prefect this year, reached across to congratulate him primly. They finished up the Sorting and McGonagall took the Sorting Hat away as Dumbledore got to his feet. The hall quieted as the Headmaster raised his arms as if he was going to try to encompass them all in a big hug.
"Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"
Arcturus and the other students clapped and cheered but Potter seemed a bit confused.
"Is he—a bit mad?" he asked Percy uncertainly.
Arcturus snorted and Percy shot him a glare.
"He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"
The food had appeared and Potter looked at it all as if he'd never seen food before in his life. Arcturus and the others went about piling their plates but Potter simply sat there gaping at it all before Arcturus finally became fed up and reached over to toss a few legs of chicken on his plate.
"You're supposed to eat it, Potter," he said as he took some chicken for himself as well.
Potter blinked and seemed to break out of his stupor. He quickly began taking a bit of everything until there was no room on his plate and then he dug in like he hadn't had a decent meal in his life. With how skinny he looked, sitting there next to Arcturus, it very well might've been true.
"It's not going to disappear yet," Arcturus told him and Potter flushed in embarrassment before slowing down and eating at a more normal pace. He swallowed a particularly large bite.
"Disappear?"
"Well yeah, you don't expect us to clean all this? What do you think magic's for?"
"Right, magic," Potter muttered under his breath.
Arcturus was rather enjoying the feast before one of the firsties asked Nearly Headless Nick how he could be nearly headless, and then Arcturus promptly lost his appetite as Nick tipped his almost severed head off his shoulders to the amazement of the first years. He then proceeded to prattle on about the House cup which Arcturus really didn't care anything about. Sure Gryffindor hadn't won in six years, and maybe Arcturus had contributed to that last year, but who cared?
They finished supper which then vanished and was replaced by dessert. Arcturus was making himself a rather impressive sundae of ice cream, strawberries, and chocolate éclairs when the conversation turned towards a topic he'd rather not discuss.
"I'm half-and-half," explained one of the first years, whose name was Seamus. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mom didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him."
The others laughed while Arcturus focused on mixing the proper ratio of chocolate ice cream to chocolate éclair.
"What about you Neville?" Ron asked.
"Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch," Neville said, "but the family thought I was all-Muggle for ages. My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off guard and force some magic out of me—he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned—but nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced—all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here—they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."
"That's nothing," Ron replied. "Last summer we were at the lake jumping off the swing into the water and I actually flew for a bit."
Fred laughed. "You didn't fly, Ronniekins," he said, ruffling Ron's hair.
"Did too. Arcturus saw it, didn't you?"
Arcturus smirked as he took a scoop of his sundae. "I saw you fall Ronniekins, flapping your arms like a drunken duck."
"Ouch!" Harry hissed suddenly, clutching his forehead.
"What is it?" Percy asked.
"N-nothing," Harry assured him, though Arcturus saw him rub the scar on his forehead.
"Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he asked.
The rest of the table looked up to the Head Table and Arcturus spotted the professor in question.
"That's Snape," he growled. "Head of Slytherin and resident vampire."
"Show some respect," Percy chastised. "It's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to—everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. That's probably why Quirrell looks so nervous. Professor Snape knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts."
"That's 'cause he's a right foul git," Arcturus retorted. "He'll take points of just for breathing too loudly. He hates Gryffindors."
"Well perhaps if you study more and follow the rules, you won't have so many detentions with him this year."
"Then who would clean out all of poor Professor Snape's cauldrons?" Arcturus asked innocently.
Fred and George laughed and even Potter cracked a smile. Dessert disappeared and Dumbledore stood up to give some start-of-term notices.
"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." The Headmaster looked right at Arcturus and the Weasley twins who looked the picture of naïve innocence.
"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.
"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.
"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."
Potter laughed but the rest of the hall seemed to understand that Dumbledore was entirely serious on the matter and Arcturus suppressed a snicker as Potter asked Percy if the Headmaster was serious. Percy assured him Dumbledore was very serious and made some comment about being a prefect but Arcturus wasn't paying much attention anymore. He'd caught Fred and George's eyes and already he was turning over different options for getting into that third floor corridor. Even if some terrible, horrible beat lurked there, you couldn't tell a school full of curious children to not go somewhere, just because.
They rounded up the feast with the school song, which Arcturus hadn't sang last year and still didn't sing this year, no matter how the Weasley twins tried to goad him into joining them in their funeral dirge. Finally they were dismissed and Arcturus was all too happy to head up to Gryffindor tower.
"So what do you think of him, Archie boy?" George asked as they climbed the many staircases up to their dormitory.
"I thought Dumbledore was just as cracked as always," Arcturus replied.
"Not Dumbledore, though you may be right about that. Harry Potter, what did you think? Not at all a big mean grudge-holder, is he?"
Arcturus thought back to his interactions with Potter and all the questions the boy had asked during dinner.
"I don't think he's done a lick of magic in his life," he said. "I don't think he's even really seen it."
"No way," Fred insisted. "He's Harry Potter!"
"And you're Fred and he's George. Who cares? I'm telling you, he doesn't know anything about magic."
"Alright, alright. So, you going to join the team this year? You're eligible, and you know Wood is looking for a new Seeker."
"If you make a joke about me being short I'll hex your bum so big you won't be able to sit in a chair."
"You have a strange fixation with my bum. But you should still try out. You weren't any worse than Ronniekins this summer and you know Wood is looking for some fresh blood. We haven't won a game in…" Fred trailed off.
"A while," George said at last.
"I'm shite at Seeker, but I'll think about it. Just don't tell Wood. That guy is crazy when it comes to Quidditch. What's the new password?"
"Percy said it was 'Caput Draconis'."
The portrait of the Fat Lady seemed disappointed that they'd gotten the password right and swung open, letting the warmth of a roaring fire wash over them. As they entered the Gryffindor common room where other students milled around, talking about their holidays and catching up with friends, Arcturus couldn't help but grin. It was good to be back.