Arcturus Black

By: Katerinaki

Published: 12/17/2015

Beta'ed: No

Notes: Here is another chapter of Arcturus' story. Since we've all read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, I'm trying to present events from that school year from the perspective of those outside of the "Golden Trio". So somethings are glossed over, but that's because they just don't matter as much to the characters I'm trying to focus on. I hope you enjoy anyways!

Chapter 15: Famous Harry Potter

As the first couple of months in the new term passed, Arcturus threw himself into his school work with a vigour that surprised all of his professors, and most of Gryffindor House. Even after just one year, Arcturus had already garnered a reputation as a prankster and delinquent, the former in the eyes of his peers and the latter in that of his professors. But through September and most of October, if one wanted to find Arcturus Black they need only look in the library, where they would find him studiously bent over one book or another, taking notes. His professors couldn't really complain. For the first time since arriving at Hogwarts he was finally 'living up to his potential', earning straight O's with perhaps one or two E's every now and then. But, it was obvious to see that he was, not himself. Fred, George, and Lee were those who noticed the most, and tried to voice their opinions.

"C'mon, you're being boring, mate," Lee told him, one night when he'd come to pull Arcturus from the library but was having a tough time of it.

"I'm trying to focus on my Transfiguration paper," Arcturus grumbled.

"Last night you were doing your Potion's essay," Lee complained. "Fred and George got some dung bombs and they want to set them off in the Slytherin's bathroom. Don't you want to see their faces?"

"Not really," Arcturus retorted.

Lee frowned and seemed to be about to leave when he suddenly pulled the chair out and sat down across from his friend.

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" he demanded.

Arcturus snorted. "There's nothing—"

"Bollocks."

"Mister Jordan!" hissed Madam Pince.

"Apologies, ma'am, a slip of the tongue." Lee leaned in over the desk, his voice dropping barely above a whisper.

"You've been in a strop about something since the Quidditch Trials were cancelled. You and I both know you didn't really want to be Gryffindor Seeker, so what is it? You can't be jealous of Potter."

"I'm not jealous of Potter," Arcturus hissed back. "He's a stupid little firstie who got lucky."

"That's not how Fred and George tell it. They say he's a natural at practice. The best flier they've ever seen."

"Well why don't you go join them and everyone else then? That seems to be all anyone can talk about anyways."

Lee's eyes widened. "You are jealous!"

"No, I'm not. I'm just tired of hearing all about Harry Potter. That's all anyone talks about anymore. Maybe I just want to focus on other things."

"Then focus on the dung bombs. There are more important things than just schoolwork."

"I dare you to tell that to McGonagall next time you don't have your essay."

"You're being a git."

"And you're being a pain in my a—"

"Mister Black, Mister Jordan, leave now."

"But I haven't finished my essay, ma'am," Arcturus protested.

"You've been doing nothing but disturbing my library. You're done for the week. Out."

With a grumble and a great deal of unnecessary thumping, Arcturus gathered up his school work and book and threw them into his bag under the vigilant eye of Madam Pince. The two of them were escorted out with one last warning not to return that evening or any other evening the rest of the week.

"Look what you did!" Arcturus snapped, turning on his heel and storming off down the corridor.

"I'm not the one who shouted in the library," Lee retorted, running to catch up.

"I wouldn't have shouted if you would just leave me alone."

"And I wouldn't have to bother you if you would stop acting like a stuck-up prat!"

"Oi, you two, take this lover's quarrel someplace else!" growled the man in a painting of a young couple by a lake. "Some of us are in the middle of something!" The woman with the man didn't seem to like this words, as she hit him in the arm and then promptly stomped out of the painting. The man ran off after her and Arcturus sniffed in derision.

"Stupid blighter."

"You could say that again," Lee agreed.

The two of them stood awkwardly, alone in the hallway, neither daring to say a word until they spoke at the same time.

"I'm sorry I—"

"You first," Lee said.

Arcturus sighed, shifting his bag on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I was such a git," he said. "And that I haven't been…around."

"And I'm sorry I got you kicked out of the library for it," Lee replied.

"Now, you said something about dung bombs earlier?"

Lee glanced down at his watch. "If we hurry, we still have time to make it before supper."

"Well we can't have the Slytherins coming back to a sweet-smelling bathroom, can we?"

A few hours later when Arcturus was hidden around the corner with Fred, George, and Lee and their noses plugged with cotton against the acrid smell coming from the Slytherin bathroom, he could barely contain his laughter, watching all of them come out in various stages of their evening routines. Especially funny was seeing his cousin Malfoy, wearing only a towel with shampoo suds still in his hair as he slipped and went sprawling into his two goons, Crabbe and Goyle.

"The containment charm was a nice touch," Fred murmured as he sat next to Arcturus the next morning at breakfast. The Slytherins were looking quite dishevelled. Obviously with Arcturus's containment charm the fumes from the dung bombs still hadn't dissipated.

"It's always nice to do some good 'ole community service," Arcturus replied.

"We have some great ideas for Halloween," George said. "There's this statue on the third floor…"

And so the two weeks to Halloween passed rather quickly for Arcturus and his friends as they made their big Halloween plans. Fred and George had discovered a secret passage on the third floor inside the statue of Gunhilda of Gorsemoor, a one-eyed, humped witch. With the right password, they could follow the statue all the way to Honeydukes in Hogsmeade and from there, the possibilities were endless.

"Butterbeers, chocolate frogs, pumpkin pasties, liquorice wands, everything we could need. Gryffindor won't know what hit it!"

The four of them were bent over the table during the Halloween feast, thinking about the supplies they'd stocked up on that were waiting for them just beyond the one-eyed witch statue. After supper they would sneak down and bring it all up to Gryffindor Tower under a Disillusionment charm and the party would continue well into the night.

"Troll! In the dungeon! Troll in the dungeon!"

Arcturus and every other person in the Great Hall froze as Professor Quirrell burst through the doors, screaming his head off. All hell broke loose when he promptly collapsed.

"Silence!" Dumbledore's voice broke through the mayhem with the help of a Sonorous Charm. The students all looked to him, panic written across their faces. Arcturus already had his wand in his hand and was half out of his seat.

"Everyone, please, do not panic. Prefects will escort their house back to their dormitories. And teachers will come with me to the dungeon."

There was slightly less panic, but the students still quickly exited the Great Hall, breaking off in large groups back to their dormitories. Arcturus made sure that he was definitely not the last one, not in the mood to face down a troll by himself. Only a dafty would do that! They made it back to Gryffindor tower without running into anything and Percy Weasley and the other prefects made a big show of counting everyone. However, it quickly became clear that not all of Gryffindor had returned.

"Ron and Harry aren't here," Fred said, looking out over the crowd but being unable to spot his little brother, or his brother's friend. Others started to realize the famous Harry Potter was missing too.

"Where were they last seen?" Percy asked everyone and anyone.

"I think I saw him at supper," one of the other first year boys said. Finnegan, Arcturus thought his name was.

"Everyone stay here, I must alert Professor McGonagall." Percy swept out of the portrait hole as all of Gryffindor immediately split into groups, whispering about Potter and his friend and where oh where could the Golden Boy be! Huffing, Arcturus climbed the stairs towards the third-year boy's dormitory. Fred, George, and Lee were just behind him.

"Where are you going?" Lee called.

"To get the stuff," Arcturus replied.

"But the troll—"

"I don't see why we can't have a little fun while we're all stuck here." He began to pull out the parcels from Honeydukes from where they were hidden under the twins' beds. "Are you lot going to help me or not?"

"You know what, I like the way you think Archie boy," George said at last before he crouched down and started pulling out the bottles of Butterbeer. Between the four of them, they gathered up as much as they could carry before heading back down to the Gryffindor common room, which had become rather sombre.

"Hey!" Arcturus shouted, grabbing the attention of just about everyone in the common room. "What are you lot looking all grim for? It's Halloween!" He tossed a couple of Zonko's products into the air which went off with a burst of flashing lights and whistles as Fred and George tossed all of their sweets on the nearest table and Lee set down the tub of Butterbeers. All at once the common room burst to life as every Gryffindor rushed to grab sweets, wondering how Arcturus and his friends had managed to get all of this in and thumping them on the back for their good work. Somebody brought out a radio and soon the Weird Sisters were singing about Hippogriffs and Gryffindor had a party!

A while later the portrait opened and Potter and Fred and George's brother entered with a girl first-year but nobody seemed to notice as more food had appeared courtesy of the Hogwarts house-elves. Word of what happened didn't circulate until the next morning when Arcturus slumped down at the breakfast table, his head throbbing from the noise and staying up far too late the night before.

"Did you hear?" asked a fourth-year girl Arcturus just happened to sit beside.

"Hear what?" Arcturus grumbled as he scrapped marmalade over his muffin.

"Harry Potter found the troll, and killed it!"

Fred and George perked up at that. "Killed it? How?"

The fourth-year was all too ready to launch into the long and no-doubt embellished tale of how the great Harry Potter had tracked down the mountain troll and cornered it in the bathroom before using all manner of advanced magic to kill it."

"Lauren Daugherty saw Quirrell dragging it out to the Forbidden Forest! It was definitely dead."

Arcturus wanted to groan and beat his head against the table. He, Fred, George, and Lee had worked on their plans for Halloween for ages, had gathered everything they needed and made endless trips to Hogsmeade in the dark of night and yet none of it mattered. Because all that anyone remembered from Halloween was famous Harry Potter who killed a troll with his bare hands if the Hufflepuff at the next table over was to be believed.

Suddenly his muffin looked exceedingly unappetizing. Arcturus gathered up his things and decided he would benefit from arriving at Herbology early that day. Maybe he could help Sprout pick Leaping Toadstools for the day's lesson. Or maybe she'd let him have a go at a Venomous Tentacula. Anything was better than sitting in the Great Hall and listening to this drivel.

As the weeks passed, the weather became cold but that meant one thing. Quidditch season was starting. Fred and George were busy with practices which meant Arcturus usually ended up with Lee most of the time. That was where he ended up for the first Gryffindor game of the season against Slytherin. He hadn't watched a match from a box before, but Lee was announcing. On Lee's other side sat Professor McGonagall, shooting both boys stern looks as the rest of the school filed in for the match. When the game began, Arcturus immediately spotted Potter, the smallest out there. He looked rather pale and Arcturus found himself grinning. Maybe famous Harry Potter wasn't the best at everything.

Of course he was proven wrong, again. The game was a good one, with Gryffindor and Slytherin neck and neck. Of course, the Slytherin team was a bunch of dirty cheats and so it wasn't long before they'd eliminated Wood and Gryffindor's hoops were left undefended. And then Potter had to go and lose control of his broom, nearly falling off! Arcturus couldn't decide if he was just doing it for attention, or if he really was that bad of a flier but it didn't matter.

"Boy that was a close one! But it looks like Potter is back on his broom and he's diving! Has he seen the—Potter is down. But wait, what has he? He's got the Snitch! Gryffindor receives one-hundred and fifty points!"

Arcturus couldn't believe it any more than the Slytherin Quidditch team. Somehow, Potter had caught the Snitch, in his mouth! The stands were a roar of "Potter! Potter! Potter!" and any protestations by Slytherin's Captain Marcus Flint were drowned out as Gryffindor poured onto the field to congratulate their team on the first win of the season.

"That was some catch, huh?" Lee said, excited by the win.

"He nearly swallowed it," Arcturus muttered sarcastically.

"I guess he really is a brilliant Seeker."