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A/N: Timeline wise this chapter shows some of Sirius point of view staring between Chapter 184 and 189.
Padfoot eventually arrived in Hogsmeade mid-August, weary and footsore, though looking a little less like he'd been starved. He'd managed to catch a ride in a freight train as far as Edinburgh and had picked up a couple of rides on local farm trucks during the rest of the journey and the odd meal from friendly farmers and truck drivers, but it had been a lot of walking for a dog still recovering from years locked in a eight foot by six foot cell.
Steering clear of the dangers of the forbidden forest he found shelter in one of the caves above Hogsmeade and food in a warren full of rabbits nearby.
After several days spent recovering from the journey Padfoot slunk into Hogsmeade to catch up on the date. He rummaged through the bins behind 'The Three Broomsticks' making a good meal of Rosmerta's cooking before stealing a newspaper to find out what was happening in the world, running back to his cave and waiting to be sure he wasn't followed before turning back into a human.
Sirius was shocked to read false reports of himself being sighted approaching Hogsmeade. He literally hadn't been in his human form since he'd left the Dursley's and there was no mention anywhere in the paper of his Animagus form, and he was sure that they wouldn't hold back a fact that would help the public identify him like that if they knew it. There was also reported sightings in Glasgow which he hadn't been anywhere near since it wasn't in the direct line of travel from Surrey. He wondered whether it was just hysteria or whether the ministry had a motive for wanting the public to think he was travelling towards Hogsmeade or Hogwarts. He had planned to hang about the town and hopefully get himself taken in by someone so he could be looked after for a while and keep up with the date and what was going on in the wizarding world but that was out of the question if his Animagus form had been publicised at some stage, though it wasn't in today's paper and he thought that it would have been repeated every time the wrote about him if they'd had the information. There were plenty of people who were aware of it and might have given up the secret, or who had kept quiet until now and might come forward because the paper was insinuating that he was a threat to the students returning to Hogwarts. He still intended to remain close to Hogsmeade so he could meet the train but now he would have to stay hidden as much as possible and plan more carefully. He wasn't sure if the newspaper was todays or yesterdays but it couldn't have been much older, so he knew that he had just over a week until the Hogwarts Express arrived on the first of September. He needed to find out the exact date in the next few days.
-o0o-
Padfoot wedged himself into a small gap between the side of the platform and the storage shed for the Hogwarts Express well before dawn on the first of September. He'd already set up water and food for the day in an unseen corner so he could remain there unnoticed until evening. He'd stolen another newspaper and read about the plan to stage Dementors around the school, allegedly to keep the students safe from him, and if he'd been able to work out how to get access to an owl he would have sent the Minister of Magic a howler telling him what a stupid idea it was and vowing never to harm a student if the Dementors were removed. With a copy of the memory of him making the vow to 'The Daily Prophet' and the Wizarding Wireless Network. He figured that this was what the supposed sightings of him moving towards the school was about but he couldn't figure out a reason why the ministry wanted Dementors to leave Azkaban and surround the school or the only magical village in Britain. It just did not make sense no matter which way he tried to look at it.
Hopefully Harry would believe his innocence and be willing to lend him a quill and parchment and help him send the letters via the school owls, or perhaps he could sneak in through one of the secret passages and send the letters himself. Surely one of the students would leave some parchment lying about the library or one of the rooms near there, that students used to use to study in back when he was at school. That or he could use the margins of the paper to write a short note to accompany the memories he wanted to send.
The wait was boring and Padfoot felt himself drifting off to sleep. He wasn't worried about sleeping through the arrival, the noise of the train would wake him and sleeping was a better way to spend the time than worrying about Harry's reaction and whether he could get his godson to listen to his story and believe him. Twenty minutes before the train was due to arrive, Padfoot was woken by the sudden icy cold air.
Dementors!
Padfoot wasn't terribly concerned about his own safety, he knew they couldn't sense him in his Animagus form any more than they could affect his mind or emotions. He stayed where he was and waited for them to finish checking the station before the train arrived.
He started to worry as the minutes ticked past and the Dementors showed no sign of withdrawing to a suitable distance. Surely nobody thought it was a good idea to allow the soul sucking creatures to be that close to the children! It wasn't safe, children, particularly teenagers just released from months of parental scrutiny and supervision were notoriously unlikely to all follow the rules, not to mention that younger minds were more sensitive to the effects of being in a Dementor's presence. Padfoot only hoped that Madam Pomfrey was standing in the entrance hall with enough chocolate and calming draughts for the entire student body. He looked around and was even more horrified to see that there weren't any aurors or professors on the platform to control the situation and keep the student's safe. There wasn't anybody at all in sight, the Dementors had even driven away the people that would normally be hanging about. Hopefully the Aurors would arrive on the train to protect the students.
The Hogwarts tower clock chimed in the distance, the train was late, it had never been this late when he'd caught it. Padfoot began to worry what had gone wrong. The train finally arrived and Padfoot watched eagerly as the students poured out onto the platform shivering in the icy air and the prefects tried to keep control as they hustled the older years into the horseless carriages, and the first years up to where Hagrid was calling for them. Padfoot couldn't believe that other than the seventh years, the only adult in sight was the half giant who wasn't even allowed to carry a wand. Could any of them cast a patronus? Had they had a decent defence professor for a change who'd even tried to teach them? He was only slightly relieved to see Moony get off the train at the other end of the platform. At least there was one competent adult present now, but one adult was no match for more than a dozen Dementors in such a target rich environment. It was a wonder that nobody had been kissed yet.
-o0o-
Moony looked around suspiciously, thinking that he could smell Padfoot, but the scent was too muffled by the smell of the students and Dementors surrounding him and it had been years, it might have just been some village resident's dog. He pushed his suspicions away, it was more important to get the students safely up to the school before one of the soul sucking monsters lost control, or any more students fell into hysterics.
-o0o-
Padfoot worried for a moment that the smell of his presence would distract Moony and he'd abandon the children to chase him down but after a moment the werewolf turned his attention back to hurrying the students along, keeping them together as much as possible as they filled the carriages. He was pleased to see that the Dementors ignored the group of shaking first years being led to the boats by Hagrid in favour of remaining on the platform, searching for something.
Padfoot was puzzled by the Dementor's behaviour, but he put it out of his mind only paying them enough attention to know they weren't about to find him. He was searching for his pup, wanting to see that he was healthy and happy, to see his friends were. But as time passed and the students all crammed into the carriages, he realised he couldn't see him or smell him. Harry Potter hadn't been on the train, unless he was well disguised and his scent masked. None of the conversations he'd overheard mentioned him either, though the students hadn't been talking much as they hurried past the Dementors.
-o0o-
In the early hours of the next morning, after escaping up into the mountain and finding a cave to take shelter in, Padfoot was able to become Sirius and think about what he'd seen in more depth than his doggy brain was capable of.
Sirius went through his memory carefully, hoping he'd just not noticed his godson in the crowd of anxious and rushing students. He didn't know exactly what Harry would look like after all this time but there was nobody coming off the train who looked like James or Lily Potter, and he hadn't picked up Harry's scent among any of the students passing by him. He'd been slightly upwind of the platform but he had been downwind of the carriages and he was sure Harry hadn't come close to him and pretty sure none of the students who did come close enough for him to get a good smell of had just spent eight hours in the same compartment as Harry either. Harry hadn't been on the train. Did that mean he wasn't at Hogwarts? Or had he been brought back to the school early due to the threat everyone believed he posed to his godson? He hoped that the boy hadn't had to spend the summer alone at school.
Sirius tried to reassure himself that Harry not being on the train didn't necessarily mean that he wasn't at Hogwarts. The newspaper at the start of the summer definitely said that the boy with the rat on his shoulder was dorm mates with Harry last year so he should have been there with his friends. But perhaps given the rumours Padfoot had overheard in Hogsmeade, that Sirius was looking to kill Harry the Headmaster might have thought it too much of a risk to have Harry travel to school with the other students. His closest friends would probably have been told, but even if Harry's absence was unexpected, it would've been discovered by his friends hours ago when the train left London, they wouldn't still be exclaiming over it now.
Putting Harry out of his mind for the moment he thought about the Dementors, hanging around Hogwarts or Hogsmeade was going to be difficult if they were going to stay. He'd noticed that something was wrong with the Dementor's behaviour at the time but now he realised how odd it had been, he knew they were supposed to be searching for him but they didn't seem to be looking around, all their attention seemed to be focused on the students and they seemed agitated. The Dementors weren't looking for him on the platform unless they thought he'd be disguised as a student. They'd behaved like they were looking for someone coming off the train, and they had no reason to believe that Sirius Black had been in London, let alone managed to hide on a train full of curious kids for eight hours so they shouldn't have been looking for him among the students. Sirius didn't think they'd been happy not to find whoever they were looking for either, which worried him. He had a sinking suspicion that they'd been looking for the same student he'd been hoping to see.
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