Disclaimer: I do not own anything classic of this story. Harry Potter and all of the notable characters belong to J.K. Rowling, aka, God. All original characters are copyright of me, however.
Magnolia Crescent
Chapter Twelve
Into The Past
Harry watched as the liquid clouded over, taking on a silvery hue. He looked over the notes, feeling in his pocket before realizing that he had no idea how to pull out any of his memories. Taking a deep breath, he sat down. Hermione was researching and Ron was dueling. Harry frowned, realizing he didn't have anyone to talk to outside his small circle of friends. He sighed and locked up the potion. His mind began to wander when he heard Myrtle moaning. Not really interested, he headed out to the main floor. There was a bit of time left before curfew hit.
"What to do?" Harry mused to himself. He had his homework done for the day and everything else was taken care of. He snapped his fingers as an idea hit him.
Pushing off of the ground, he drifted out onto the Quidditich pitch. Moving slowly, he closed his eyes; the pitch was nice and silent. The green grass showing as the remaining snow melted; the different house colors; the place was peaceful. Slowly circling the field, he heard another person kick off.
"Hey, Harry," Wood greeted. Harry looked over to see the Gryffindor captain.
"Wood. This is a surprise," Harry said, blinking as Wood flew up next to him, chuckling.
"That's my line, Potter. After all, I do this every day. Seeing you here outside of practice and games, not that's a surprise," Wood replied with another laugh.
"True, but all things considered, you do work us to the bone during practice. It's a wonder anyone can stand looking at a broom after you're done with them," Harry joked.
"It's the best way to tell who takes the game seriously. After Charlie left the team, we had poor luck finding anyone who wanted to be seeker and could keep up with my practice times. There were a few, but most who joined fizzled out and left. You are perhaps the only seeker outside of Charlie that could keep up," Wood explained. Harry nodded; Wood was always trying to improve the team and it wouldn't surprise him if a few were chased off.
"Well, I guess I just love the game so much that even the worst slave driver couldn't chase me off," Harry laughed. Wood joined in for a moment.
"So, Potter, you plan on going pro after school?" he asked. "I do and I wouldn't mind having a seeker I can trust." Wood smiled. Harry turned a bit red at the praise.
"As much as I would love to, I doubt I could compete on the pro circuit," Harry dismissed. Wood frowned a bit at hearing this.
"Harry, if there was anyone who I think deserves to go pro and has the skill, it's you, Potter. You've caught the Snitch when it shouldn't be physically possible. You're not only the youngest seeker; you're one of the best, Potter. You've got to have some faith in yourself and follow your dreams. That's what I am going to do as soon as that final class ends. I am going to try out for a pro team," Wood exclaimed. Harry smirked; the older student never made it any secret that he wanted to go pro.
"Well, I do enjoy the game, so I'll think about it. Let me know what it's like when you get a team," Harry said with a smile. "If anyone has the skill and the drive, it's you."
"I know," Wood agreed. He frowned when he took note of the time. The two dismounted and Harry returned the broom to the stand with a resigned sigh before following Wood to the school in silence.
Harry quietly sat on his bed; he could hear Ron's breathing not too far away as he glanced over the Marauder's map. Ron had been going on about Scabbers when he got back. Hermione had passionately defended her new cat as Ron continued to believe that Crookshanks was responsible for his rat's disappearance. He was flipping over the pages when something caught his eye.
"Peter?" he frowned, spotting the familiar name. Harry thought over what he knew as he came to a simple conclusion. "Peter betrayed my parents, faked his death and got Sirius framed. If I can capture him, that would be even more concrete proof for Sirius," he muttered, quickly pulling out his wand and, following the map, dashed out of the common room.
Harry slowly followed the map with only his wand to guide his way. He soon found that Peter was moving towards him. Harry felt his heart beat faster as he slowly moved closer to the man's marker only to be met with nothing. 'Rat!' he realized, dropping to the floor and spotting beady eyes. The animal dashed off with Harry tearing after it. "Mischief managed. Stupefy!" Harry cast but Peter dodged out of the way. He had just turned the corner as the rat vanished behind a pair of legs.
"What are you doing?" said the cold voice of Professor Snape. Harry tried to give chase but Snape stood in his way.
"Chasing a rat," Harry replied with venom dripping from his words. Snape seemed surprised at the tone, turning and failing to see anything.
"Clearly," he drawled. "Turn out your pockets." Harry frowned, digging into his pocket. He kept trying to see around Snape but couldn't see any rats.
"What's this?" asked Snape, grabbing the Marauder's map from Harry.
"Just a piece of parchment," Harry replied, gripping his wand. If Peter got away and Snape kept the map, he wouldn't be able to track Peter down. Snape handed the map back, tapping it with his wand.
"Reveal your secrets," Snape said, frowning when he noticed nothing. "Read it," he suddenly ordered.
"Mr. Moony presents," Harry paused, grimacing and looking at Snape.
"Go on," he snapped. Harry took a deep breath.
"You asked for it," he warned, continuing. "His complements to Professor Snape and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business. Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git. Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a Professor. Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good night, and advises him to wash his hair, the slime-ball," Harry finished, feeling very small before the Potions master.
"Is there a problem?" asked a voice. Harry turned with great relief to see Lupin behind him.
"I caught Mr. Potter wandering the school well past curfew. He had this on his person," Snape informed, snatching the map back. Lupin gently took it from Snape.
"This seems to be nothing more than a joke that insults anyone who tried to read it." Snape moved to take it back, which Lupin avoided. "Never the less, I'll look over it just in case. That is my field of expertise, after all. Come, Mr. Potter," Lupin said, nodding as the two walked away.
"Put that light out," one of the portraits complained as Harry followed Lupin. They arrived at Lupin's office and he set the map down on his desk.
"First off, Harry, what are you doing out of bed at this time of night. And with a killer on the loose," Lupin chided. Harry felt the urge to argue that last claim but kept his mouth shut. "Secondly, I can't believe you didn't turn this in. Do you know how dangerous this would be if it fell into the hands of Sirius Black?"
"Sir, please. I was chasing after a man who, in all reality, should be dead – Peter Pettigrew," Harry blurted, unable to stop himself. Lupin stopped cold as he analyzed Harry.
"Are you sure?" asked Lupin, glancing down at the map.
"Wait, how do you know what that is?" asked Harry, realizing he never informed the teacher of what it did. Lupin activated the map, looking for Pettigrew's name.
"Are you sure?" Lupin repeated. Peter's name was nowhere to be found.
"He was a rat. I was chasing after him when Snape found me and kept me from following," Harry explained. Lupin sat down at his desk, mulling over what Harry said.
"A rat," Lupin rolled the words around in his mouth. "Any features you can describe?" he asked. Harry shook his head.
"It was dark, all I saw were his eyes," Harry admitted with a frown. Lupin remained quiet.
"Head back to bed, Harry. Don't worry about this; as a professor, I'll keep an eye on things. And don't take any side trips, if you do, I shall know," he warned, tapping the map. "If what you saw is true, this could be very important." Harry nodded, walking away from the room; Lupin watched him leave.
The next morning couldn't have passed any more slowly. With the potion part of the Penseive completed, he really didn't want to be sitting in class, especially not after what happened last night.
"Page 394, Potter!" Snape shouted, snapping Harry from his musing.
"Sorry, Professor," Harry apologized. Snape rolled his eyes, continuing with his lesson. Ron nudged him after a moment.
"Harry, you okay? It's not like you to zone out like that," Ron whispered, watching the Potions master he walked back to the front of the class.
"The potion's finished. I really want to get everything done and prove his innocence. All this class work feels like time that could be better spent," Harry whispered back. They fell silent as Snape turned to face the class.
"Mr. Potter, if you would please be so kind as to inform me of one of the primary ingredients for the hair-raising potion."
"Porcupine quills, Professor," Harry repeated. Snape blinked.
"Good to see you did your homework, Potter," he finally managed. Harry noticed a small smile slip on the man's stone face as he continued. "Now then, who can tell me another important ingredient?" Snape asked as Hermione's hand went straight up, a large smile evident on her face.
"Harry, you're starting to worry me," Ron commented, concern in his voice. "I mean, you've actually done your homework in advance. Plus, you're correctly answering a teacher's question. Bloody hell, mate. You're becoming more and more like Hermione every day." Harry couldn't tell if he was joking not as he leaned over.
"Almost all potions have quills in them, at least the last couple have. Just a lucky guess," Harry whispered back. He returned his focus to the professor as the rest of the class dragged on. Harry all but looked like a zombie at the end of the day. When the final class was released, he all but ran to the bathroom. 'I hope nothing bad happened to it,' he thought to himself, frowning. Dashing into the bathroom, he heard Ron and Hermione behind him.
"Ready?" he asked. The two nodded as Hermione pulled the cauldron out of the stall. Ron moved over, pulling out a small basin for the Pensieve as Harry and Hermione began to cast the spells. Harry frowned in concentration; the spells weren't intertwining very well and it was quickly becoming a painfully long process. After another hour and a half, the spells finally clicked together. Hermione dropped to the ground in exhaustion as Harry moved for the potion.
"Please be careful, Harry. If you pour it too quickly, it will rupture the spells. Then we'd have to start all over," Hermione reminded. Harry nodded, carefully pouring the liquid into the basin. With the Pensieve now completely finished, Harry dropped to the ground. Once again, the group, mostly Hermione, had managed to put together something well beyond their age.
Harry sighed in relief. Everything seemed to be coming together incredibly fast. Hermione looked over the spells, making sure everything was ready.
"Looks good to me, but I want to test it first. Either of you got a memory you don't mind sharing?" she asked, looking at the boys.
"Sure, I got a quick one, but how do I get it from my head to the Pensieve?" Harry volunteered.
"…then you need to hold your wand to your temple and concentrate on the memory, Harry," Hermione explained. Ron yawned; the poor redhead hadn't been given much to do – not that he really cared. All he wanted was something to keep his hands busy. Harry did as he was instructed and slowly pulled out a memory. Harry placed it in the basin as all three gathered around. Harry and Ron looked at Hermione for a how-to. She pressed her face into the liquid, taking a deep breath as she did so. The boys followed suit, falling into the memory of Harry's conversation with Katie.
"This is so weird," Ron commented as a person walked past him.
"That's what I look like," Harry said in disbelief, nervously brushing his hair down. He circled himself, listening to his own voice. "I sound weird," Harry said, noting Hermione's giggle.
"Now you know what we have to put up with," Ron said with a smiled as they noticed Hermione looking over everything in the memory. She eventually paused and Harry could have sworn he saw an emotion flash across her face he didn't quite recognize.
"Everything check out?" asked Harry, snapping her out of her thought. She nodded, watching Katie give Harry a hug. Hermione seemed to glare at her for a second. "Hermione?" Harry called.
"Yeah, it's not perfect. The edges of your memory seem a little fuzzy at times, but it's good enough that unless someone tampers with the memory it should be clear." The pulled back as Ron took a deep breath.
"Still feels bloody weird," Ron said, shaking. Harry smirked as Hermione pulled out the vile with Sirius's memory. She was unstoppering it when Harry grabbed her wrist.
"I want Sirius in on this one. That way he knows it works," Harry explained. Hermione nodded in understanding.
"So, how do you plan on getting it to him?" asked Ron. "It's not like we can shove it into something."
"My dad's old cloak," Harry said after a moment's thought. "We hide one of us under it with the basin and we should have no problems."
"Brilliant," Ron said cheerily.
"We'll be right back," Harry said to Hermione, smiling as he ran out of the bathroom with Ron. They raced to the Gryffindor common room, passing Neville along the way. Harry threw a greeting his way as he flew up the stairs, immediately rummaging in his trunk. It didn't take long for him to find the item in question, his Invisibility Cloak. They met with Hermione in bathroom, where it was quickly decided that Harry would carry the basin, as it was bound to be getting late and the teachers had established an earlier curfew for Harry to be inside by.
They were just heading to the Forbidden Forest when Hermione noticed Hagrid. They stopped, noticing that he was skipping rocks into the lake.
"The trial," Hermione realized as Harry felt a pain in his chest. "I totally forgot it was today," she groaned in realization.
"That's surprising. You never forget anything," Ron said, astonished. Harry frowned under the cloak, torn between wanting to talk to Hagrid and wanting to prove Sirius's innocence. Ron seemed to sense this.
"We got time, mate. Sirius waited this long, I think he can wait a little while long. We should check on this," Ron commented. Harry glanced around before setting the basin down and removing the cloak.
"Hagrid," Harry called out, but the man didn't respond. "How did the trial go?" he asked gently as they stood on the bank.
"I told the judge he was a good Hippogriff, always cleaned his feathers. But," he paused to skip another rock and take a deep breath. "Buckbeak's been sentenced to death." He sobbed as stone he was about to skip dropped loudly to the water. Harry frowned and Hermione gasped.
"How long?" he asked quietly.
"We can't give up. There has to be something we can do," Ron pleaded. "We can let him go."
"They would know I don' it," Hagrid said with a frown. "We got a few more days. Thanks for trying, I really appreciate it." He sighed, giving a defeated smile to the three as he walked to his cabin disheartened. They looked at each other before Harry picked up the basin and cloak.
Their walk became somber as they entered the clearing where they usually met Sirius. Harry set the Penseive down and the three of them relaxed a little bit. Ron leaned against a tree, Hermione opened up a book and sat down while Harry started to pace, his thoughts tracing back to Hagrid. A half an hour went by before a black dog finally entered the area.
Sirius smelled the area. Once he was sure it was safe, he shifted back into his human form. He glanced down at the Penseive. "Umm, I may look like a dog most of the time. That doesn't mean I want to drink like one," he said with a smirk. Ron chuckled at his joke as everyone stood up.
Hermione pulled out the vile with his memories and poured them in as the four gathered around the basin. Harry took a deep breath as he picked the basin up. Everyone slowly moved in as each person plunged into the memory.
They arrived inside the Potter's home in Godric's Hollow, their attention immediately caught by a heated argument.
"Why, Sirius? Why would we change Secret-Keepers?" James was saying.
"Because I will be suspected, Peter won't be! If I were to be placed under the Imperius Curse, I might be forced to spill," he pleaded.
"Sirius, we trust you. That's not something that is easily given at this time," Lily said, quieter than the other two as she rocked baby Harry.
"I understand, Lily, but I'm trying to look out for you three," he sighed, pacing the living room. James glanced nervously at Lily who simply nodded with a heavy sigh.
"Alright, Sirius. We'll make Peter our Secret-Keeper," James said, standing and placing his hand on his best friend's shoulder. "I just hope you know what you're suggesting," he said with a small smile. "Promise me one thing, though?"
"Anything," Sirius said.
"Pretend to still be the Secret-Keeper," Lily stated.
"You want me to be a decoy?" Sirius said dully. She nodded, smiling weakly. "Okay," he nodded.
The scene changed; they were still at Godric's Hollow, but it was much different. Harry was stunned as he watched a much younger Sirius race past him. There was a very large man he was running towards that Harry recognized at Hagrid.
"James! Lily!" Sirius shouted in horror as he dashed into the ruins of an old house. He stumbled, climbing over the ruins as he began to look for his friends.
"Sirius, they're gone," Hagrid said weakly, reaching out and putting a hand on his shoulder. Sirius spotted something as he pulled away from Hagrid's hand. Harry looked to his godfather, who had turned away from the scene. He pulled out a wand; Harry studied it for a moment before his thoughts were interrupted.
"It was your father's wand. I collected it from the ruins," Sirius explained, pulling at his tattered robes. Harry nodded, swallowing hard as the memory continued.
"Hagrid, he's my godson. Can I take him?" Sirius said, his voice hollow and force. Hagrid shook his head.
"Sorry, Sirius. Dumbledore's orders," Hagrid sadly denied. Sirius seemed to shiver but didn't reply.
"Of course, Hagrid. Take my bike, it'll get you to where you need to go," Sirius replied dully. Hagrid thanked him and after a pat on the back, left with the young Harry Potter. Sirius watched the two go as his expression hardened.
"Peter," he growled as the memory shifted. "Peter!" he shouted, chasing a portly man down a city street before tackling him to the ground. In the struggle, the two wands flew out of reach; Sirius becoming more animal than man in his aggression.
Sirius watched with a hard glare as he watched his younger self land a fist into the traitor's face again and again. In Pettgrew's scramble to get away, the sleeve on his left arm ripped, exposing a black mark. Upon recognition, Sirius's fury was renewed afresh. "Traitor!" he barked as Pettigrew used his feet to kick Sirius off. Now that he was free, he scrambled after his wand. "You sold them out! My best friend! You know I'll kill you for that!" Sirius hollered, aimed his reclaimed wand.
"Well then, let's not keep the dementors waiting," Pettigrew smirked. Sirius glowered, confusion flitting across his face as the rat pointed his wand at himself. Sirius barely had time to register what had happened. He looked around a moment to see the ruckus had drawn a crowd – Muggles from the looks of it.
"No, you fool!" Sirius shouted right as Pettigrew's wand caused an explosion. Bright light filled the area for a second before thirteen bodies were noticed around a small crater, none of them moving. Sirius crawled to the center first, finding only two things: a wand and a finger. "Ha-ha," he laughed in a bit of maniacal manner. He crushed Pettigrew's wand under his foot. Sirius only got to turn around before he saw the Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, behind him. He didn't even have a chance as they blasted his wand out of his hand.
"Apprehend him. You, Sirius Black, shall be arrested for the murder of…." Fudge trailed off as he noticed a rat with a missing toe hiding in the trash.
"Scabbers?" Ron asked, recognizing the rat, turning to look at Sirius. He nodded as Ron put it together in his mind. Harry and Hermione gasped in surprise at they came back to reality.
"Convinced?" Sirius asked dryly, looking them over. All nodded as Hermione worked to retrieve the memory from the Pensieve.
"We need to see Professor Dumbledore about this. Immediately," Hermione decided. Ron gave Sirius a long look.
"Why didn't you say anything about Scabbers?" Ron asked.
"Would you have believed me?" Besides, from what I heard, he went missing when I turned up in the area," Sirius pointed out. "Sorry, kid, but if I have my way, by the end of tonight you'll be out of a pet." Ron gulped. "I'll stay scarce for now, until I can trust the Ministry. It's up to you three to show this memory to Dumbledore."
"I understand," Harry nodded as they quickly took off. Sirius adjusted his coat and turned back into a dog. He needed to be very careful tonight, lest Pettigrew get away. If he could capture that rat, his innocence would be guaranteed.
"Well, what do we have here?" replied a bearded half-giant as he picked up a rat. "Ron's been looking for you, little guy," he chuckled, nodding gruffly. The rat squirmed, attempting to get away but this was made futile by a cage. "Ruddy animal," Hagrid grunted, setting the cage on his table.
Written by starwarsdude. Oh, what a cliffhanger he gave ya! I'm currently working on Chapter Thirteen and I'm hoping to have it finished and up within a week. R&R as always.
~LE