Pomona loathed staff meetings, especially on a day like today. The stuffy, windowless meeting room on the sixth floor was filled with tension and frustration as they discussed the ongoing issue of Harry Potter. It seemed to be the only topic of conversation in recent meetings, and Pomona was growing weary of it. Pomona wanted nothing more than to escape this suffocating room and breathe in the fresh air outside. But for now, she was stuck here, trying to come up with a resolution to the most recent issue as of late.
"Mr. Potter attacked Miss Edgecombe earlier this week. It is not acceptable behavior Pomona, I am submitting to the board that he be suspended." Albus spoke in his increasingly condescending tone that was grating on Pomona's nerves.
"Oh? So Mr. Weasley almost kills Mr. Potter and he gets detention. But Mr. Potter defends Miss Lovegood from being attacked by Miss Edgecombe, Miss Chang, and Miss Winger and you are suggesting suspension? Do we need to request another meeting with the board?" Pomona suggested trying to keep her tone civil.
"Surely you agree Filius?" Albus looks to Filius who was frowning and looking quite down for the normally happy man.
"I am ashamed Albus. I am ashamed I was not aware that Miss Lovegood had been picked on, bullied, and her property consistently destroyed or stolen by her housemates. I have had a hard week speaking to every one of my Ravenclaws, Miss Lovegood, and Miss Lovegood's Father. Miss Lovegood has not had a moment of peace since stepping foot in our school and I am ashamed. I do not agree that violence is a good option that Mr. Potter should have chosen, but I would rather shake that young man's hand for protecting Miss Lovegood. There are going to be a lot of hard changes in my house going forward and I am offering Miss Lovegood to be resorted. I recommend that Mr. Potter serves detention this weekend with Poppy, but that is the limit of what I am willing to recommend." Filius spoke with a hard voice, he had been shaken seeing the ugliness that had been plaguing his house.
"We cannot resort Miss Lovegood on a whim Filius." Albus tried to argue.
"We will or we will be paying for her to attend another school. All of our students deserve to feel safe within their houses and the House of Ravenclaw has not been the home it should have been." Filius shot back angrily.
Pomona sighed, rubbing her temples wearily. This whole situation was giving her a pounding headache.
"I must agree with Filius," she said. "While violence should never be condoned, Mr. Potter was defending another student from cruelty. He does deserve a detention, but suspension seems too harsh."
Albus frowned, steepling his fingers. "Be that as it may, we cannot allow students to attack each other without consequence."
"And what of the consequences for Miss Edgecombe and her friends?" Pomona retorted. "Will they not face punishment for their bullying? I believe three-on-one are worse odds than a broken nose. Multiple witnesses confirmed Marietta and her friends were bullying and harassing Miss Lovegood. Harry stepped in to protect her."
"Minerva? Severus?" Albus asked, probably looking for further support.
"You know my opinion on bullies Albus." Severus sneered. "Leave the girls' punishment to me, let Poppy have Mr. Potter for the weekend, and let us move on."
"The girls will not only be holding detention but I will also be setting up meetings with their parents to discuss how they will be paying back Mr. Lovegood for the costs of having to repair and replace her school supplies and clothes. Let Miss Lovegood be resorted this weekend and then we will make plans to keep this from happening again in the future. Like Filius, I am ashamed I did not see what was happening either." Minerva said, her eyes showing the barest hints of anger.
Albus at least knew when he was defeated. "It seems opinions are quite divided on how to proceed. For now, Mr. Potter will serve detention with Poppy and I will speak with him about managing his anger appropriately. We will revisit further disciplinary action if necessary. Now, onto the next matter of business..."
Pomona tuned out the rest of the meeting, her thoughts drifting. She resolved to check on both Harry and Luna herself later. Perhaps she could offer the sweet girl a safe haven amongst the Badgers if she wished to be re-sorted.
And Harry...that troubled boy continued to surprise her. His fierce defense of Luna revealed a caring heart beneath the oddities. She hoped Albus would tread lightly; Harry responded far better to patience and understanding than harsh punishments.
Remus was somehow unsurprised that the Weasley twins somehow ended up with the Mauraders' map, what did surprise him was when they showed up in his office to admit they had it. Now they weren't admitting to having the map out of the goodness of their hearts, but because they had been watching someone on the map that shouldn't have been able to be on school grounds… all year. Only now less than two weeks before the end of the year had they decided to bring it up to him.
They reminded him so much of James and Sirius it was sometimes painful.
Speaking of Sirius, he had been apparently on school grounds acting as Harry's pet all year. A pet that Remus hadn't been aware that he had since apparently, he spent most of his time down with Rubeus. Probably smart of Sirius since Remus would recognize his animagus form quite quickly. After learning of this, his first reaction was to go confront Sirius for his betrayal. But he had most of Gryffindor impulsiveness beaten out of him by this point so he was able to pause and reflect for a moment.
If Sirius was actually a traitor and working for the Dark Lord, why hadn't he attacked Harry yet? If anything he had heard nothing but good things after asking around about 'Jazzles'. The mutt had apparently 'found' Harry several weeks before he returned to the school. Plenty of time and opportunity to kidnap or kill Harry. So there had to be something he was missing.
His second instinct was to go to Albus about finding Sirius and the possibility of him being innocent. It was the only conclusion that made sense for Sirius' behavior, or maybe it was Remus' wishful thinking. Either way, the thought of trusting Albus with Sirius' life and freedom for some reason made his stomach curdle.
That left Remus with an idea that was probably stupid, but if he was correct it would provide the greatest opportunity of truth and protection.
Remus called a meeting. A rather large one considering he was trying to keep Albus away from said meeting. He was placing a lot at risk if he was wrong, but… he was sure he was right.
It was a Sunday night, just after dinner when the meeting being held in the DADA classroom commenced. Remus, Severus, Madame Bones, Poppy, Pomona, and Minerva were the adults in attendance. Followed by Cassius, Beatrice, and Harry with Jazzles tagging along at his side.
Both Cassius and Beatrice held heavy suspicion in their eyes as they looked from one adult to another. It hurt part of Remus to see their distrust of adults so early in life.
"Why were we summoned?" Cassius broke in when no one said anything to start the meeting off.
"I was wondering the same thing." Madame Bones interjected.
"Ah, I invited you all here because of a problem I have discovered. I am going to ask for some faith from all of you because I believe we have delivered an injustice against someone innocent. If I am wrong then this will be a dangerous issue solved quickly, but… I believe that I am correct in stating that Sirius Black was in fact innocent in the betrayal of the Potters to Lord Voldemort." Not even Remus saying the Dark Lord's name broke the tension heavy silence filling the room.
Snape was sneering but before he could deliver any acidic response Madame Bones spoke. "What brings you to this conclusion Professor Lupin?"
"We are working with the theory that Sirius Black betrayed the Potters to the Dark Lord and that this last summer he escaped Azkaban to kidnap or kill Harry Potter to finish the job. Correct?" Remus asked nervously.
"Correct Remus, your point?" Minerva's Scottish brogue deepened with the question.
"What if I say Sirius has been with Harry all year and even some of this last summer? He would have had plenty of opportunity to attack Harry or take him without anyone knowing the wiser." Remus saw the Grim freeze in place, but several of the people around the room narrowed their eyes at Remus.
"I would wonder whose side you are on and if you really have Harry's best interests at heart if you are only now bringing up such an accusation." Beatrice bit out in a growl.
Before anyone else could accuse Remus of anything, he held up a hand to stop them. "I only just learned of it yesterday. But I truly do not believe that Harry is or was in any danger."
Cassius was halted from cursing at the Professor when Harry stepped forward, vacant-eyed but quite aware. "You are talking about Jazzles."
Everyone seemed to stop, blink, and then look at the Grim trying to hide behind Harry.
"No…" Minerva whispered. "Tell me those imbeciles did not become animagi while in school Mr. Lupin."
"Ah, I can't do that. James and Sirius completed their transformations in our fifth year and Peter at the end of sixth." Remus said with a guilty smile.
Madame Bones was rubbing her temple, eyes closed as she spoke. "Your friends were illegal animagi and that didn't seem like pertinent information to pass along Mr. Lupin?"
Remus shifted uncomfortably, his gaze avoiding the others in the room. "I thought Albus would have told you," he mumbled, feeling guilty and unsure of how to explain himself.
Pomona's eyes flickered to the large black dog that sat calmly by Harry's side, its presence a comforting and familiar one that had helped the boy through many sleepless nights. "Mr. Black," she addressed the animal, her voice firm yet gentle. "If that is you, please transform back. I would like to hear your side of this."
The dog obeyed with only a slight moment of hesitance, a swirl of black fur and magic revealing Sirius Black's human form. He was dirty, emaciated, and clearly still suffering from his 12-year stay in Azkaban. His expression was pained as he met Remus' eyes, regret and sorrow evident in every line of his face. As the truth spilled out, Pomona couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for both men who had lost so much in their youth.
Sirius' transformation caused several people in the room to gasp and reach for their wands. Remus quickly stepped forward, holding up his hands in a placating gesture.
"Please, give him a chance to explain," Remus implored. He turned to Sirius, his expression filled with hope and trepidation. "Padfoot, tell us what really happened that night."
Sirius' voice was hoarse and cracked from disuse as he began to speak. "I convinced James and Lily to switch Secret Keepers at the last moment. I thought I was being clever, picking Peter instead of myself. I thought Voldemort would never suspect him." Sirius' face twisted in anguish. "It was my fault. I might as well have killed them myself."
Severus snorted derisively, but Madame Bones silenced him with a sharp look. "Go on, Mr. Black," she said evenly.
"After...after it happened, I went to check on Peter at his hiding place," Sirius continued heavily. "But he was already gone. I realized then that he must have betrayed them. In my grief and rage, I went after him instead of going to Dumbledore like I should have."
He shook his head, closing his eyes against the painful memories. He looked pleadingly at Remus and then Harry. "I would never betray James and Lily. I wasn't the Secret Keeper, it was Peter Pettigrew. When I confronted him, he blew up the street, killed all those Muggles, cut off his finger, transformed into a rat, and disappeared into the sewers. I realized how it looked, that everyone would think I betrayed them, so I just...lost it. Laughed like a madman until the Aurors came and carted me off to Azkaban without a trial." His shoulders slumped in defeat. "But I swear on my magic, I was not the Potters' Secret Keeper and I did not betray them to Voldemort." A wisp of magic sealed his oath.
Madame Bones sighed heavily. "The paperwork for this alone is going to be outrageous, never mind the backlash for imprisoning an innocent man."
"Why did you break out now? Of all the times, why this last summer?" Beatrice asked stiffly.
Sirius looked down at Harry with a soft, sad smile. "When I saw the picture of the Weasleys in the Daily Prophet, courtesy of Fudge leaving me the newspaper during one of his annual visits, I recognized Peter in his animagus form. He was posed right there on one of the boy's shoulders, living as a pet rat after betraying his best friends to Voldemort." Sirius' expression hardened. "I knew then that he was perfectly positioned to strike at Harry, to finish the job if Voldemort ever returned. I had to protect my godson, so I broke out and came after Peter. Everything else...it didn't matter anymore. Wasn't until I got here that I learned that the rat was playing as a pet to Ron Weasley who had been expelled so he wasn't in the school anymore. I planned on trying to hunt him down during the summer."
"I will need to make plans to secure Mr. Black's safety before we go public with this knowledge. I will need copies of your memories Mr. Black as well as written testimonies from all of you. I suggest Poppy does what she can for Sirius right now, but for him to remain in his animagus form until I can pull together more concrete proof to present to the Wizengamot to prove your innocence." Madame Bones said in her still stern tone, but there was a slight smile on her lips as well. "We will do what we did last summer, Harry, you will stay with me and Susan for the first half of summer so I can have access to Mr. Black. I do not think I can have your pardon before the end of summer, but hopefully, by next summer you will be cleared as a free man and able to take custody as you should have done all of those years ago."
Sirius looked at Harry first. "Would that be alright with you Harry? For me to take over as your Guardian. I know I have spent the year lying to you, pretending to be an animal, but your parents did make me your Godfather. I would like to prove to you and them that I can take that role on and care for you as you should have been."
Harry seemed to consider this and study everyone's reactions. The adults, except for Professor Snape, seemed to have all relaxed they seemed happier, less sad. But looking over at Cassius and Beatrice, they both seemed livid in a way he hadn't seen them. Harry tilted his head. "What's wrong Cassy? Bee?"
Cassius and Beatrice silently communicated for a moment before Beatrice took a step forward to speak. "Why should we trust Harry to you? Not only have you lied for the last year, but more importantly, when Harry's parents were murdered you decided to take revenge over taking care of your godson? And by the sounds of it, you were going to do it again. Instead of telling Harry the truth of who you were you were just going to disappear this summer to find Pettigrew? I think you will need to reevaluate your priorities before we let you near him."
Sirius looked to the floor in shame. Snape seemed quite giddy to see him taken down by a seventh-year Hufflepuff.
Harry considered Beatrice's words and studied Sirius some more. "I am not … upset? I knew you were different, not a dog exactly. Plus I think you are like me, just different. Your brain doesn't work the way it should, but that's okay. Mine doesn't either and it gets me in trouble too. I want to get to know you as a human. But I also trust Bee and Cassy to look out for me since my brain doesn't work. So you have to prove to them that I can stay with you, otherwise they will probably kidnap me from you anyway." Harry said with a simple shrug and a smile.
Sirius agreed to those terms with tears in his eyes.
Cassius was definitely developing heartburn because of this tiny chaotic human.