Chapter 27
Meanwhile, at Hogwarts
Sirius was sitting at his desk after his last class had handed in their classwork and homework that he had assigned, as much as he enjoyed teaching History of Magic, he was having difficulty getting the upper years up to speed on what Binns had failed to teach them. History of Magic is about more than goblin rebellions; it goes back to the beginning of time itself. Sirius dreads handing assignments back marked Poor, Dreadful or even Troll, however, he doesn't take points away from the students that fails, at the beginning of each class he hands his students back their homework and goes over it, explaining to them why the answer was wrong, and encourages them to check out certain books from the library that has more information on the subject. He's also considering reaching out to the goblins that have been going through Grimmauld Place to bring the books from the Black library so he could place the appropriate books in his classroom so the students can use them and hopefully improve their marks. As he reaches for a fresh sheet of parchment to write his account manager a letter, a school elf pops into his office.
"Mr. Black, a letter has arrived for you from Axegut." The elf places it on Sirius' desk and pops away before Sirius can even say thank you. Sirius grabs his letter opener and begins to read it, secretly glad that he can have a quick break from writing.
Dear Mr. Black,
I apologize for the delay in writing you, but this letter is to inform you that we are mostly done with cleaning out 12 Grimmauld Place as you hired us to do. Unfortunately, due to the number of dark artifacts that were in the household, it has taken at least twice as long as we expected to decontaminate it. We also found another one of Riddle's horcruxes in the possession of an ancient house elf, who attempted to stop us from taking it, but once we explained that we will destroy it, the house elf thanked us profusely in helping fulfill his master's last wish and passed away.
I do apologize for bearing news such as the loss of a house elf in a letter, however I thought it paramount to keep you updated on our business, and to let you know that due to the horcrux find, we are only charging you half of what we originally discussed as a price. If there is anything else I can help you with, please feel free to make an appointment with me.
Sincerely, Axegut.
Sirius was amazed that the goblins found another one of Riddle's horcruxes in his house, and he decided to take a break from grading to let Amelia know about this new development. With that, Sirius went to the fireplace in his office and threw some floo powder into the hearth and called out the address for Amelia's office.
"Hi Sirius, this is an unexpected floo call, what's up?" Amelia asks once she notices Sirius' head in her fireplace.
"Amelia, are you free for a talk? I just received a letter from Axegut, and it was quite informative."
"I can give you 15 minutes if you would like to step through, so your old bones don't fall apart." Amelia says with a smile on her face, knowing that Sirius would not appreciate the joke of him getting old. He just gave Amelia a death glare once he had stepped through into her office.
"Just because I'm an uncle and a professor, doesn't mean that I'm old Amelia. At any rate, how's it going at the DMLE?"
"It's harder than we thought finding out how many people Voldemort actually had planted in the different departments, luckily, the protocols we have started to implement are helping, plus I was able to get some interesting information out of Lucius the other weekend." Amelia replies. "Anyways, what did Axegut have to say?"
"To make a short story long, after I was cleared of charges and met with Minerva and Harry at Gringotts, I hired the goblins to clean out my childhood home, since my parents are dead, and I need a place to live come summer. Anyways, Axegut just sent me a letter that said the goblins that are cleaning out Grimmauld Place just found another one of Riddle's horcruxes, which they have confiscated and in the process of cleansing. What did old Lucius have to say?"
"After I poured the Veritaserum on his tongue, he admitted that Riddle gave him an old diary and gave Bellatrix Hufflepuff's cup." Amelia said. "He also admitted that Bellatrix was planning on hiding it in her vault in Gringotts. Now, we just need a way to let the goblins know that there's a horcrux in their territory."
"I will write Axegut a letter and ask for a meeting with all of us present, all of us meaning Minerva, you, and I, hopefully we won't have to wait too long for an appointment. At least now you'll be able to search Malfoy Manor with a fine-tooth comb, maybe ask the house elves there to help break any spells that Lucius used to hide the stuff, or for any hidden rooms in the house." Sirius says, already reaching across Amelia's desk for a blank piece of parchment and a self-inking quill to start writing the letter.
"Dear Axegut,
Thank you for telling me about Kreature, I don't have a lot of fond memories of that elf, but I know he was my brother's favourite elf and considered him more of a friend than a member of staff. I would like to make an appointment for Saturday at 1:00pm if that works for you, I would also like Amelia Bones and Minerva McGonagall in attendance as well if this is alright with you. I have some information for you that I cannot disclose in a letter.
Sincerely,
Sirius Black
Although the letter was short, Sirius attached it to one of the few barn owls that the ministry still uses to send letters and sent the owl off to Gringotts. Ever since someone had the idea to fold the memos into paper airplanes and charm them to fly through the ministry, they don't need as many owls, so they have slowly been rehoming them.
"Thank you for letting me use your office supplies Amelia, once I receive a response from Axegut I will let you and Minerva know and we will meet at Gringotts, I requested an appointment for 1 on Saturday." Sirius says once the owl is on its way.
"Not a problem Sirius, by the way, how's teaching going?" Amelia asks.
"It's a struggle, Binns did such a ghastly job teaching them, that you would be amazed how many failing grades I have had to hand out, which I honestly hate doing. I don't hand out many detentions, but I'm going to have to start a study group to get the 5th years up to speed so they don't fail their O. ." Sirius explains.
"Honestly, I'm impressed with you Siri." Amelia says, using on of her old nicknames for him. "From being the mastermind behind many of the maurauder's pranks, and frankly, a bully to Severus, to becoming a professor and actually looking out for the student's best interest. What do you hand out detentions for?" Amelia asks, genuinely curious.
"Mainly for playing hooky from class and catching the students in broom closets after curfew." Sirius explains. "Anyways, it looks like my 15 minutes are up, I should get back to grading my essays. I'll be in touch once I get a response from Axegut." With a wave of his hand, Sirius turns back to the fire to floo back to his office.
"Siri, umm, if you're free Saturday night, umm, would you like to get dinner?" Amelia asks, wondering why she's so nervous about rekindling their relationship.
"Why Amy, are you asking little ol' me out?" Sirius says, turning to look at Amelia.
"Yes, I am, and did you know you just admitted to being old?" Amelia jokes.
"I am not old, just finally matured, and I would love to grab dinner with you Amelia, we can head for dinner after our meeting with Axegut." Sirius says, secretly glad that she took the first step, because he has secretly been trying to figure out a way to rekindle the relationship they had before James and Lily had to go into hiding.
"Sounds like a plan, I'll see you Saturday Siri." Amelia says as Sirius grabs a handful of floo powder and floos back to his office.
The next day: November 30
"Class, a moment of your time please." Sirius says before dismissing his fifth years. "I understand your frustration with the outcome of your assignments since I have taken over the class. I know it's only been a month, but this year you have your Ordinary Wizarding Level exams, and I also know that a lot of you will eventually take over your parent's seats in the Wizengamont when the time comes. Although you may not realize it, History of Magic plays an important role in how the Wizengamont was founded and why how its run is still important today."
"What do you mean professor?" A student asks, intrigued by what Sirius has said.
"In the 4 years you have taken this class, who has actually read the textbook?" Sirius asks. Seeing maybe half a dozen Ravenclaws raise their hand, he continues. "I'll ask a simple question then, and I would like you guys to just yell the first answer that comes to mind. Does anyone know why the Statue of Secrecy was made?"
"To hide us from muggles." A Slytherin student says.
"But why did we have to start hiding from the non magicals?" Sirius asks, after a few minutes of no responses, he continues, "Let me ask another question, has anyone here heard of the Salem Witch Trials?" A Gryffindor half raises her hand, after Sirius nods for her to explain, she says, "They took place back in the early 1800s, in Salem Massachusetts. The non magicals, or muggles as we call them, were scared that we were going to curse them, murder them for being different from us, so they let fear run their lives, started putting everyone that they thought was magical on trial. Although it was a farce of a trial, the trials that the accused were put through was actually attempted murder, plain and simple. They would first attempt to stone the accused to death, and if they survived, they were a witch, if they died, they weren't. Another trial they would do was tie the accused up, weigh them down with stones, and throw them in a body of water, if they managed to escape and survive, they were a witch, if they drowned, they weren't. They would also tie the accused to a pole and try to burn them alive. If they survived, they were a witch, if they died, they weren't."
"So what? A few muggles died, the witches didn't, why is this important?" Another student asks.
"It wasn't a few, due to these trials, thousands of people were murdered for nothing!" The Gryffindor says, "If the elders back then didn't find a way to protect their people, we would have gone extinct as a race! I will try to put what I've said into perspective for you, back during the witch trials, imagine every single student in this school, which is roughly 1,000 students, gets taken by the faculty, dragged to Hogsmeade, and the town then stones, drowns, or lights them on fire. If only a quarter of the students survive, which is 250, we have lost three quarters of our population, all because non magicals feared how we may act towards them."
"Well said." Sirius said, "Now she said it correctly, the elders got together and attempted to figure out how to protect their families. It took a while, but eventually, they decided the best way to protect everyone, was to go into hiding. So, they wrote the Statue of Secrecy, and the original copy of this document is on display at the MACUSA office in Salem, so that all magicals remember why it's important to remember our history. For as the saying goes, 'those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.' Any questions?"
"I have one," the Slytherin student said, "I understand that they wrote the Statue, but how did they get it into effect? Did they use a form of the Fidelius Charm?"
"Excellent question, now, while the Fidelius Charm helps hide a secret like that, it would be difficult, anyone know why?"
"Does it have something to do with the secret keeper?" Another ravenclaw student asks.
"Partially, also, how do you get every magical person in the world in one room in order to enact the charm?" Sirius asks
"It's almost impossible to do that, so how did they enact the Statue?"
"Anyone remember Newt Scamander?" Sirius asks the class. The Slytherin student raises his hand, once Sirius nods at him, he says.
"He wrote Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, what does he have to do with anything?"
"While Grindewald was on the rise, Newt was in New York when he had a mishap with his magical suitcase that was full of magical creatures, including a Thunderbird. Long story short, he was able to recreate a potion that would erase the minds of the non magicals, and using a storm created by the Thunderbird, he dispersed the potion which acted as a blanket obliviate. Anyone care to take a shot at where I'm going with this?" Sirius asks, his quick moment of his student's time quickly turning into them losing time at lunch.
The Gryffindor who lectured the class spoke again. "The elders did something similar? My guess is once the Statue of Secrecy was written, they dispersed copies of it to the other magical elders, and gave them instructions on how to brew the potion and disperse it across the globe, to erase the knowledge of magicals from the muggle's memories?"
"You would be guessing correctly. Now do you see why this class is important?" The class nods. "With that, since I know a lot of you are stressing about your other subjects, I am going to try and help you. Every Saturday morning, from 10am until noon, I am going to host a study group in this classroom, open to everyone. If that isn't enough, or you are too embarrassed to be coming in for extra help, simply write a short message on your next assignment, and I will find time to give you one on one help in my office." Sirius saw looks of relief in several student's faces. "Any other questions, or can we all head for lunch?" Sirius asks as his stomach lets out a loud growl, which causes the class to chuckle. The Slytherin then asks.
"Are you just going to help us with History? Or would you be able to help us with other subjects we're struggling in?"
"Has any other professor offered extra help?" Sirius asks, and sees the entire class shake their heads no. "At the moment, my focus will be on helping you get up to speed on History, however, I will talk to the other professors and see what we can do about other tutoring sessions for your other classes. Now, I have taken up enough of your lunch hour, so everyone, lets get out of this classroom and grab some grub." Sirius then picks up his satchel and holds the classroom door open and as the students file out, Sirius hopes that he can pull a miracle out of his hat and get these students a passing grade.
Author's Notes:
Hey everyone, I swear I'm not dead, it's just been an extremely busy year for me. I have not abandoned this story, but I am hoping to wrap it up shortly. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I wanted to show everyone my version of Sirius as a teacher. Again, I thank everyone who has favourited, followed and commented on my story.
Until next time, which unfortunately, I have no idea when that will be.