Magnolia Crescent

Chapter Forty-Four

Oblivate

Harry grimaced, blinking up at the ceiling of what must have been the hospital wing. The stone columns were arched almost like a cathedral and it was the only place in the school where it did so. All he could remember was walking through a corridor with Sirius. And then, nothing. His immediate thought was that someone had charmed his memory; though he had no idea why. When he tried to recall the details of what happened, there was a fuzzy feeling in his mind that practically confirmed a memory charm.

Okay, so if someone charmed my memory, do I still have…? Harry thought to himself, reaching into his pocket but found all of them empty.

"Of course," he grumbled, swinging his feet over the edge of the bed.

"What do you mean you 'can't find him'?" Lupin shouted. Harry fully took in the rest of the hospital wing. All of the beds were empty. "This is your school! Nothing happens in this school without, hell, someone knowing! How could Sirius just up and vanish from the hospital wing?!" he shouted, voice seeming louder than normal as it bounced off the stone walls. Harry leaped out of bed, racing to the hall and finding Lupin staring down Dumbledore while Professor McGonagall stood in between the two men. He blinked in confusion and they all paused to look at him.

"I was Oblivated," Harry announced and he could have sworn that everyone's shoulders dropped.

"Hmm, this is troubling. Why Sirius?" Dumbledore asked, continuing with a previous conversation.

"If I may, perhaps he got too close to the culprit," a fourth voice offered. Headmaster Brom appeared around a corner.

"It would explain the memory charm. But why take Sirius and not Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"It does seem as if the culprit has no issues with leaving Harry alone – despite how easily they took Sirius from his bed. That is, if they managed to get Sirius out of the grounds at all," Brom replied.

"A good point. Do you think?" Dumbledore started, looking at Brom.

"Yes, I do. It would be best to," he replied.

"Wouldn't that be going a bit far?"

"You're right, the panic could cause more issues than are needed."

"So perhaps a much more…."

"Yes, but we need to act fast," Brom concluded. The two headmasters nodded in unison before rushing out of the hall. They had a speed that was faster than any man half of their age.

"What in the world?" Harry questioned, looking at the two remaining adults for clarification. Lupin shrugged while McGonagall just shook her head.

"As if one wasn't enough," she sighed, calmly walking out of the corridor.

"Just in time to lose him again," Lupin groaned, slumping into a chair. Harry glanced over at him curiously. "Of all the things," he said, cupping his jaw in one hand. Harry sat down next to him, sighing a bit as well.

"Harry, do you still have the map?" Lupin asked, his mind jumping to a possible explanation.

"No, it's gone as well," he replied glumly. Lupin sulked even more, if that was possible.

"I just hope the map wasn't open when they found it," he admitted, musing for a moment. Harry sat beside him silently, unsure of what to do himself. "Harry, how good is your Animagus transformation?" Lupin asked suddenly. He looked at Harry very calmly.

'This is it, the world now makes no damn sense,' Harry thought to himself some time later while sniffing through corridors. Lupin hung in the background, wand at the ready in case of trouble. Harry found himself doubling back every so often; Sirius sure did make his rounds in the dungeon.

"This is slow going," Lupin finally complained. "We have passed that damn Potions cupboard five times," he griped, trying to hide the emotion in his voice. But Harry's canine ears picked up on even faintest hint of noise.

"Arf!" he barked. The sound still felt weird on his tongue and he couldn't help the strange tingling sensation from the transformation. The legs, the smells – dear Lord, the smells. Every time he moved, he caught a new scent and they seemed to appear in his human brain, allowing him to follow their trail. Harry mused, catching a scent he didn't much care for. Harry stopped suddenly and Lupin nearly tripped over him. Professor Snape turned the corner, staring down at the dog disdainfully.

"I didn't know dogs were allowed on the school grounds," he mused dryly, looking to Lupin for an answer.

"Special permission for a tracking dog. Sirius has gone missing," Lupin explained quickly. Harry sat down to wait, feeling that Snape wasn't going to just walk off. He had to always spite someone at one thing or another.

"Ah, well don't expect to see me weeping in sorrow or jumping for joy at that," he replied with a calm voice. Harry shuffled; something about the greasy man's scent angered him suddenly.

"Well, let's not ask for miracles, I know how well you two liked each other. Now, if you don't mind, I need to find my friend," Lupin stated, attempting to walk past Snape.

"Hmph, I will never understand why you, of all people, hung around with Potter and Black," he said calmly, stopping Lupin in his tracks.

"Because with them, good or bad, they were always clear with their intentions. And Sirius still is. I don't Lily – on her best day – could understand you," Lupin replied. Snape stepped forward menacingly and Harry lunged, teeth tearing at Snape's leg. The Potions professor leapt back in the nick of time. He stared down at the dog that was baring it's fangs at him.

"Do try and keep that mongrel on a leash," he snarled, storm off with his cloak billowing out behind him. Lupin watched him disappear before kneeling on the ground and looking at Harry.

"Harry," he said with a frown. Harry's ear dropped and licked at Lupin's hand. "I swear you're turning into Sirius. You're just as bad as he is," he grumbled. The shepherd went back to sniffing the ground, emitting a sound that was quite close to a chuckle.

Harry tried pulling a face at the comment; he would not normally instigate the Potions professor but for some reason, he just couldn't control himself. Some kind of intent hit him as well as rage. He felt a whimper pass his lips and he shook his head. He had never stayed in dog form this long and it was beginning to trouble him.

"Lupin!" a voice called in a rasp. "Dear god, I haven't run this far in a while. Oh boy," Brom panted, skidding to a stop beside them. He doubled over, hands on his knees while he panted for breath.

"Brom, it's, um, weren't you working with Dumbledore?" Lupin asked. He was grateful for his arrival but he was still very confused.

"We've got things moving along. A large group of Aurors are on their way and Dumbledore has locked down the castle. And he's asked every magical hand in the forest to be on high alert. We made sure that we had the thinnest toothcomb available – all that's left is to start looking," Brom said, finally recovering and standing up with a smile.

"You stupid son of a mudblood!" a voice cursed. Sirius blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision that was fuzzier than his Animagus form after a downpour.

"I panicked; I'm not supposed to be here," another voice replied. Sirius frowned, seeing nothing but shadows and a faint bit of light from a fireplace.

"You may have blown everything. And now, we have to get rid of him! Shouldn't you be taking care of our master and not trying to watch over me?" the first voice hissed. Sirius tried to rub at his face but found his arm wouldn't move from the arm of the chair he was sitting in.

"We have had no reports in. I am trying to keep everything known to him. Despite being on the edge of death, he does not want nor can he afford for this to be screwed over. We don't have the time or men and you have not been reporting in. You don't even have an excuse – all you have been doing is hanging around this school," the second voice hissed right back.

"I have been planning. The boy has been rather good at passing these tests on his own. So I've mostly been putting in applications for contingencies. Not to mention the stupid Americans got involved."

"Well the least you could do is to send out a bloody owl before I get sent back here again," he snarled. "I have things to work with as well. And I am getting sick of having to come back and forth because of your inability to communicate."

"I would like a cookie," Sirius mumbled out, trying to look around the room at his companions.

"Can they find us here?" the second man asked, interrupting Sirius.

"No, this room isn't on any map. We should have time for now, but I can't go missing for long. And neither can he," the other man replied coolly.

"Should we kill him?" the man asked, moving closer and pressing his wand into Sirius's neck. Sirius opened his eyes but his head was being pushed upwards and he couldn't make out any features of the man threatening him. "Avada – " he started when he wasn't answered.

"Wait, it's a long shot – a very long shot – but if he dies here and now, we would bring down the full force of the Ministry. If they haven't already and if this causes an international incident, it would make my job impossibly difficult. Oblivate him and leave him in his office or something. Anything to try and throw people off; if we're lucky, they'll think he had a bit too much firewhiskey at the ball. But I have a feeling this will work out. Now, use the Floo powder and get out of here," the man hissed. Sirius closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the chair.

'Now then, let's see if James' little theory works,' Sirius thought to himself. The man muttered something right as he shifted to his Animagus form. The memory charm whizzed over his back and Sirius chanced half a glance after it before he shifted back and reached for his wand. He crashed into the chair, wand in hand while he rolled to his knees. As he shot out red sparks, the shadowed figure made a break for the fireplace. Green flames temporarily blinded Sirius but not before he got a glimpse at the man's face.

"Nott," Sirius growled, watching the green flames disappear in the fireplace. As he was putting his wand away, he heard a strange scratching from the door. "Harry!" he called in a panic, racing for the door. When he opened it, he found himself face to face with Lupin.

"Sirius!" Lupin exhaled, throwing his arms around his best friend. Sirius felt a dog leap onto his chest and he staggered from the combined weight. Lupin let him go and Harry shifted back to normal. "What happened? I was worried sick!" Lupin demanded in a roar. Brom had to pull him back to get Lupin to settle down.

"Get a room, you two," Brom grunted, glaring them in the eye. "You've been Oblivated. Let me see your wand," he demanded and Sirius held it up. Brom immediately brought up his own wand, touching the tips together. Faint red sparks burst from between them. "Good to know. We need to reconvene and call off the search. Remus, why don't you and Harry return to the main hall. Um, get something to drink and let his friends know that everything is back to normal. Or what accounts for normal here. I've had more excitement here than I've had in over thirty years at Salem," Brom said with a heavy sigh. He glanced at Harry when a thought came to him. "Let me know if you ever want to escape all this and just get an education," he noted, walking down the hall.

"I think he is secretly enjoying this," Sirius whispered to Lupin. He glanced back at Sirius with a bit of annoyance.

"Not all of us take a leaf from the book you and James had. Some, in fact, would like to have a pleasant life over an exciting one," he replied.

"So what room is this," Sirius asked, glancing at the door.

"I don't recall it on the map, to be honest," Lupin admitted. "All the same, we should keep an eye on it. Where did your captors go anyway?"

"They somehow have a Floo network hooked up in the fireplace. I plan on coming back to check it out later. If we can track it down, we should be able to at least get some idea as to where Nott went to," Sirius replied.

"Nott? What in the world is he doing here? He was never a major player with the Death Eaters. Nothing more than a rich name that worked for You-Know-Who," Lupin replied. "He could even be called a poor man's Lucius but appearing here? That's ballsy."

"I don't think he planned out his little escapade. The other person seemed very upset at his attack on Harry and I. They are up to something; I just wish the Ministry wasn't so bullheaded. I would love to start an investigation but with my reputation and nobody getting hurt, I doubt they are going to do anything. We are going to have to take things into our own hands if we are going to figure this out," Sirius said.

"So since I am going to be in the main hall, care to explain what happened?"

"Well, I'm guessing that Harry made use of his nose to find me," Sirius mused, a small smile on his face. "Let's just say that I found something that led me to them – at least partially. We should keep the map close and start watching for Nott," he added with a firm nod of his head. Harry's face fell.

"Um, it's missing. I think we had it on us but whoever was with this Nott must have taken it," he replied, wringing his hands slightly.

"Do you think it was active?" Lupin asked, horror striking him. Sirius and Harry shared a panicked look.

"I have no idea; all I can recall is that I had it on me. Sirius took it and saw something on it. After that," he said, shrugging. Then an idea seemed to hit him. "Wait, can we make another map?" Sirius clenched his teeth, jaw tensing as he made a queer movement with his lips. Lupin scratched at the back of his head.

"Well, the map was special. It was a – " Sirius started, trying not to admit what the map was all about.

"A what?" Harry pressed, unsure of what they were talking about.

"It was a creation that needed all of us: James, Peter, Sirius and I. We all had our own secret that made it impossible to recreate. Unless we had all agreed on the matter," Lupin explained.

"Oh, so what did you two do?" Harry asked, causing Sirius to smile sadly.

"Harry, I can see that you are trying to think of a way to fix this situation. But I highly doubt that you could figure out your dad's secret," Sirius said.

"What do you mean?"

"He's the one that discovered every secret passage on that map. Peter detailed all the parts of the school that we, as boys, couldn't get into. It took James almost three years to work out the passage to Hogsmeade," Sirius recalled fondly.

"Ah, not mention we forbid you from going into the girls' dormitory or anything close to that. But I worked on the name charm – which was a lot of work. But I have to admit, I still have the charm," Lupin added.

"What about you, Sirius?" Harry asked.

"Me, well," Sirius paused to close his eyes. "The idea was mine. I drew up the maps and cast the spells that would draw out the locations. It took a long time just to get every part of the damn castle worked out. Not to mention, organizing the damn papers," he said.

"Nothing quite like it, huh?" Lupin asked.

"Sounds like a lot of work, but doable," Harry said thoughtfully after a minute. "How does it seem impossible; you know roughly what my dad and Pettigrew did."

"Great, another one," Lupin murmured. "I knew you would be a bad influence on him."

Harry frowned, glancing around to see the door was gone and realized that he had felt good in the warmth of the conversation. He took a deep breath; everything that had just happened served as a reminder that he was still in great danger. It didn't matter how much success he had made so far in the Tournament.

"What if they want me to win?" he mused out loud, cutting the conversation short.

"That's a very Lily like thing to say," Sirius breathed. Every day with Harry struck chords in his heart; he was every bit of Lily and James that he missed most. "Hmm, I wonder. When I get a chance, I will see if I can get a bit out of the next event. Something about that seems doable. Thank you, Harry, you've given me something to think about."

Alright, Sirius is back safe and sound. Well, as sound as he ever was XD. Anyways, R&R for what you thought of that ball ruining.

~LE