Chapter 23 : Settling Sirius
I do not own Harry Potter
Author's Notes :
Alright. So I took some time away from the story to reflect on what I'd noticed had been happening recurrently in the last couple of chapters - a lack of direction or progress. For the about 15k words, there was a lot less accomplished than should have been. At the same time, I noticed the spark from back when I began the story to be missing, to the point where the work just seemed uninspired. I'd also hastily written myself into a corner with the whole Lupin thing, without having thought it through. In my eagerness to create some thrill, I damaged the story pretty badly in the intermediate term. That was an alarm bell that I needed to be patient and plan better.
So, for the sake of the quality of the content, I stepped away.
Granted, this sabbatical may not be enough to save this chapter, but it will benefit the story as a whole.
Let's get this show on the road again, with the magic of old.
Enjoy!
The werewolf leapt at his targets with a ferocious speed. Harry ducked and barely managed to roll away, claws mere inches from piercing him. He did not want to imagine how that would feel.
"Protego!" he cast, as another wild blow thudded against the third-year's shield.
"Fulgur!"
A jolt of lightning struck 'Were-Lupin' right in the back.
As the beast charged towards his new target, Harry cast "Gladii Saltare!". The legs of a nearby ragged table transformed into sharp wooden blades, and hurled themselves into their charmer's adversary.
Lupin let out a painful howl as stakes penetrated his flesh. Capitalizing on the vulnerable target, Sirius fired a bludgeoning hex, sending Moony flying across the room. The werewolf crashed against the wall and fell flat on its face. The fragile interior soon collapsed on him, burying him under a pile of wooden rubble.
"...is it over?"
ROAAAARRRR!
Moony rose up again, flinging the collapsed material towards his prey.
While Sirius shielded, Harry elected to leap to the side, dodging one of the projectiles, but not getting so lucky with the other. One of the shrapnel form his own spell pierced him painfully on his left shoulder. Harry cried out in pain, not managing to get up from the ground.
Capitalizing on the downed opponent, Lupin pounced with a renewed vigor. However, his leap was intercepted mid-air by a tall, lanky black dog.
As Padfoot, Sirius was safe from risking lycanthropy. He engaged his old friend at close range, but was defeated, being in much worse shape. The werewolf sunk his teeth into the grim, eliciting a painful shriek. Keen on putting at least one of his two 'enemies' down for the count, he knocked Padfoot to the ground with a vicious strike, tearing at his abdomen.
As Moony raised his claw to deal one final blow, he was blasted back several feet as a desperate bludgeoner from Harry hit him on his ribs, launching him to the wall again.
Supporting himself with the wall, Harry stood up again, his good arm and legs shaking. He walked directly in front of Lupin wand outstretched, inwardly thanking his luck his wand arm wasn't hit.
Lupin rose up too, growling menacingly. The werewolf was bleeding profusely from his back, and his fangs were red with blood, not entirely his own.
Harry stared back defiantly, contemplating whether he would need to fire the spell that had hospitalized him less than 4 days ago.
'Better I at least give myself a chance' he said to himself, glancing at Sirius' downed firm. 'I'll pull him on my way out'
But it did not come to that.
Lupin ran out.
Whether it was fear that he could die himself, or the Wolfsbanes he HAD taken giving him some sort of control, Harry did not question it further. Still shaking, he rushed over to Sirius, who'd transformed back to human. Immediately he checked for a pulse, which was thankfully present.
"Ferula!" casted Harry, as bandages wrapped themselves around the Marauder. He levitated him out of the Shrieking Shack, all the way through the tunnel and out of the Willow, before being confronted with his next problem - what now? He couldn't take him to the infirmary, but at the same time, both of them needed medical attention.
Chamber of Secrets. That was the only option now.
The pipelines of the school were not the only exit from the Chamber. Near the edge of the Forbidden Forest was another opening, which the basilisk used to hunt in the rare instances a highly adapted creature like that needed to it. Harry had used it a few times before... for a specific purpose. He covered Sirius with the Invisibility Cloak and prayed to god no one saw him.
Walking along the boundary for the better part of 15 minutes, he finally reached his destination, recognizing it by the design Salazar had told him about.
'Open' hissed Harry, and a disk from the wall rolled up, revealing a deep shaft, just wide enough for the basilisk to slither out.
"How're we going down"
"Bah!"
"Shh!"
"Sirius! You're awake!" Harry whispered
"For now. I'm still losing blood though, so we need to hurry" he croaked
Harry took a deep breath, stepped back and stretched his arms
"Are you really stretchi-" Sirius ate the rest of his words.
Harry hands began to transform, getting replaced with shiny brown wings. The rest of body soon followed, as a beak and talons became apparent. And slowly but surely, where was once a third year Gryffindor now stood a golden eagle, towering over a laying Sirius, its majestic wingspan spreading to near 30 inches
"You're an animagus?!"
Harry stared back at a flabbergasted Sirius with the expression of 'are you stupid?'. The avian then jerked its head downwards, pointing to where Harry's glasses had fallen. Reaching out as far as he could, Sirius grabbed the spectacles, before gesturing a 'got 'em'.
Then, as if picking up a book from the table, Harry latched onto his godfather with talons on either leg, careful not to pierce his skin. And in one swift motion, he took flight, flying a little lopsidedly because of his shoulder, but still able to carry Sirius in tow.
Harry had completed his animagus transformation a few weeks into the semester, transforming in the Chamber. Harry and Salazar, and later Lily and James, were delighted by the success, and by the tremendous form itself, though Salazar did say he was hoping for a more conspicuous form, and harry's was about as conspicuous as a large briefcase that said 'I'm Inconspicuous' on it.
But boy was it paying off now. Harry safely brought Sirius and placed him on a table (since the summer he'd made the Chamber a lot more homely) and began rummaging through his workstation
"Hmmph? Harry?" a drowsy Salazar (whose portrait had also been brought out of the statue) questioned questioned, awakened by the commotion
"Is that Salazar Slytherin!" exclaimed Sirius tamely, weak and light headed from his blood loss
"Later, Padfoot. Take this" ordered Harry, emptying a flask of his Wiggenweld Potion he'd kept around for emergencies, before chugging one himself. Boy if Madam Pomfrey could see him now, she'd probably put him in her will.
"Wiggenweld?" inquired Sirius, feeling better "Good brew"
"No thanks to Snape" grumbled Harry as he chopped Molinera leaves for a makeshift ointment
"Snape? What's he got to do with this?"
"He's here, Sirius. Head of Slytherin and Master of Potions"
"They made that git a Professor?!" bawled the Professor's arch nemesis
"Somehow"
"Give him a blood replenisher first, I see he's still losing blood" prompted Salazar
"Wait! So you're-"
"Yes. Yes I am"
"Wha-" Another flask was shoved into his mouth, the taste so bitter he nearly threw up
*cough* *cough*
"Geez, kid, you make Pomfrey look soft" he muttered through his violent coughs. Gods that potion was horrible.
But Harry wasn't listening. He was cluttering through his table aimlessly, his mind mixed up.
"Alcohol, third row, second from the left!" instructed Slytherin from above "And give him a sleeping potion first!"
Harry composed himself, and did as directed, getting his flow again.
Sirius on his part, cooperated readily and downed a third potion, eager to fall asleep and get away from the pain, while his doctor for the moment got back working on the ointment
"You should have had it restocked last week! Well, suffer the consequences of your procrastination!" admonished Salazar
Harry paused, shook his head, and continued chopping the neem. Salazar did not let the little gesture slide
"Attitude, was that? Well I'll be having none of it young man! Don't shrug as if you weren't the one who forgot"
"Ok, will you be quiet now?!" exploded Harry "I'm sorry if I'm a human who's got a limit! There's the classes with 3 electives, there's you, there's quidditch sometimes there's Lupin and the patronus, sometimes there's Flitwick and McGonagall, sometimes there's the projects and the exams, then you've got Hermione and Ron with their stupid bickering all the time, which hasn't stopped even though both know Scabbers was Pettigrew, and that their lack of coordination let him slip away from us!"
Harry panted heavily "But I'm allowed to have a limit, am I? So, sorry if I can't meet the world's unrealistic expectations and relax for one second! Sorry if there's only 24 hours in a day! Happy...sir?" he finished, before turning around and resuming his work without another word.
Salazar fell pensive as Harry worked into the night, the silence broken only by the occasional noise from the workstation and a steady snore from Sirius.
The Next Day
Sirius opened his eyes open, shutting them immediately as a bright white light startled them. Fluttering for a few seconds, he realized it wasn't just a light, but the entire room that was white, all the way till he could see, the expanse stretching for miles
"Hello, Padfoot" he heard a familiar voice call
He recognized it instantly. Turning around with a jerk, he saw the specter of James Potter. His eyebrows shot up into his hair and his mouth gaped open, as he stared at his long dead friend with wide eyes.
"James!"
"Been a while, hasn't it?"
"Wha- How?!"
"You're dead, brother" James told him with a sad smile
"I'M DEAD!? Sirius looked at his hands - they were spectral too!
"Harry couldn't get the blood to stop" James continued dejectedly "crushed the kid to see you like that..."
"Oh Merlin, he's blaming himself, isn't he?"
Silence from James was the only answer he'd needed.
He'd failed again.
'Stupid Black! Can't get anything right!' he cursed inwardly. Not only had he failed to do what James and Lily believed he would, which is keep him safe, no, he'd also given the kid a survivor's guilt to boot. There were no second chances now... he was done. As the shock wore off and he began to accept what had come to pass, he felt himself tearing up.
"James, I'm so, so sorry. For everything... I, I never could have thought Peter would do this, I swear!" Sirius knelt down and wept.
"I know, I know" comforted the senior Potter
Before bursting out in cantankerous laughter
Sirius looked up in confusion as 'heaven' around him disappeared, and he was back in the same room he'd landed in last night. There were Lily, in the same spectral form as her husband, and Harry, both clutching their stomachs in laughter, while an amused Salazar looked on from his portrait
"YOU UTTER!"
"Oh, your face!"
"YOU COCK!"
"Your face! Totally had you!"
Sirius couldn't help but laugh too, noticing his skin go back to normal.
He just been Marauder'd.
"I'm DEAD?!" squeaked Harry in a very passable impression of Sirius, still roaring
"Alright, that's enough you two" Lily tried to act stern, but hardly seemed so, considering she was still snickering herself.
"So how did Prongs pull off one last, magnificent prank, on death itself no less?" asked an intrigued Sirius
"This, dear Padfoot is a wonder of the Deathly Hallows"
"They're real?!"
"Of course they're real" scoffed Salazar "You had one all these years yet never-"
"US? Oh" Sirius quieted down in realization
"The cloak" chimed Harry, verbalizing what was on everyone's mind
"And you somehow found the Resurrection Stone?"
"Uh huh"
"And a portrait of Salazar Slytherin who's secretly a good guy and mentoring Harry?"
"That's right"
"And Harry is secretly an animagus?"
"Yep"
"Ok" Sirius took in a breath "What the hell is going on!"
"Story time?" Harry asked no one in particular
"Story time" affirmed Slytherin
That's all for now!
A short chapter to just to get the Lupin fight out of the way. I feel this is a good place to end the chapter, at a place where is looks good, and you guys don't have to wade through the whole explanation next time we cut in.
Thanks for reading!