Madam Pomfrey insisted on keeping Harry in the hospital wing for the rest of the weekend. He didn't argue or complain.
"Who are you, and what have you done with Harry Potter?" Fred asked in faux shock.
"You always argue about being in the hospital wing," Ron agreed.
"The peace and quiet was nice," Harry shrugged. Nobody particularly believed this was his main reason for not arguing about time in the hospital wing, but considering what they'd learnt in the previous chapter, nobody pressed him further either.
He wouldn't let her throw away the shattered remnants of his Nimbus Two Thousand. He knew he was being stupid, knew that the Nimbus was beyond repair, but Harry couldn't help it; he felt as though he'd lost one of his best friends.
"It's not stupid," Sirius assured him.
He had a stream of visitors, all intent on cheering him up. Hagrid sent him a bunch of earwiggy flowers that looked like yellow cabbages, and Ginny Weasley, blushing furiously, turned up with a get-well card she had made herself, which sang shrilly unless Harry kept it shut under his bowl of fruit.
Ginny blushed but made threatening motions with her wand as the twins opened their mouths. They quickly closed them again.
"Flowers that look like cabbages? That's nice of him, but why those?" Ted wondered.
"He has some in his garden, maybe he just through they'd cheer Harry up because they look quite ridiculous," Tonks suggested.
The Gryffindor team visited again on Sunday morning, this time accompanied by Wood, who told Harry (in a hollow, dead sort of voice) that he didn't blame him in the slightest.
"Convincing," Charlie snorted.
"For Wood, it was. He really didn't blame Harry at all, he was just still depressed about losing," George explained.
Ron and Hermione left Harry's bedside only at night- But nothing anyone said or did could make Harry feel any better, because they knew only half of what was troubling him. He hadn't told anyone about the Grim, not even Ron and Hermione, because he knew Ron would panic and Hermione would scoff.
Ron and Hermione both grimaced at that, both at the fact that Harry was correct in predicting both of their reactions, and that it made him feel like he couldn't confide in them.
The fact remained, however, that it had now appeared twice, and both appearances had been followed by near-fatal accidents; the first time, he had nearly been run over by the Knight Bus; the second, fallen fifty feet from his broomstick. Was the Grim going to haunt him until he actually died?
Sirius cringed horribly.
"Possibly, but not in the way you think. After reading about all of your adventures, you'll be lucky if Sirius ever leaves your side again," Remus chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. Harry gave a fake shudder of horror but gave in to his own laughter when Sirius gave him an offended look.
Was he going to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder for the beast?
"No need for that. He'll be right underfoot," Emmeline grinned. Sirius stuck his tongue out at her.
And then there were the dementors. Harry felt sick and humiliated every time he thought of them.
"You shouldn't. There was over a hundred dementors at the game and they all seemed to target you. Anyone would have reacted the same way to that sort of attention," Kingsley told Harry firmly.
Everyone said the dementors were horrible, but no one else collapsed every time they went near one.
"It was hardly just one," Tonks pointed out.
"But nobody else passed out just from having them nearby," Harry reminded her. "And I passed out from just the one on the train."
"You do have worse memories than most people though. Especially your age," Ted said fairly.
"It's not your fault you're just doubly appealing," Bill told him, giving Harry a pointed look. Dumbledore looked sharply over at Bill. Harry frowned in confusion. Then Bill's eyes flicked up to his scar and Harry's eyes widened. Was it possible? Was that the reason the dementors took such an interest in him? He had a second person's soul inside him. Or at least a bit of one. The thought still made him nauseous, but it did explain a lot. Why all of the dementors targeted him over everyone else. Was that piece conscious enough to have memories of its own? Did it react to the dementors as well, giving him double the reaction, even if he could only hear his own memories?
No one else heard echoes in their head of their dying parents.
Sirius put a slightly shaky arm around his shoulders.
Because Harry knew who that screaming voice belonged to now. He had heard her words, heard them over and over again during the night hours in the hospital wing while he lay awake, staring at the strips of moonlight on the ceiling. When the dementors approached him, he heard the last moments of his mother's life, her attempts to protect him, Harry, from Lord Voldemort, and Voldemort's laughter before he murdered her.
Several adults flinched at that.
Ron stared at his best friend. He'd known what Harry heard when confronted with dementors, but somehow, hearing this, he finally understood, properly, why the books said Harry envied him. He absolutely hated being poor, but all the money in the world wouldn't be worth having to hear his mum like that. Pleading to be killed instead of him.
Harry dozed fitfully, sinking into dreams full of clammy, rotted hands and petrified pleading, jerking awake to dwell again on his mother's voice.
Harry grimaced and buried himself deeper into the blanket that was still around him. He was grateful when Moody kept right on reading, though his voice was a little rougher than usual.
It was a relief to return to the noise and bustle of the main school on Monday, where he was forced to think about other things, even, if he had to endure Draco Malfoy's taunting.
"Sorry, Harry," Draco said quietly. "I didn't know." And he knew full well that, even if he had, he wouldn't have cared. He would have even found it funny before they came here. Before he was forced to hear everything from Harry's perspective and before his mother forced him to properly interact with him. To see what he was really like.
"It was a distraction," Harry shrugged.
Malfoy was almost beside himself with glee at Gryffindor's defeat. He had finally taken off his bandages, and celebrated having the full use of both arms again by doing spirited imitations of Harry falling off his broom.
"Shocking. His arm is magically fixed as soon as the Quidditch game is over. He wasn't well enough to play but two days later he's completely recovered. And nobody found that at all suspicious?" Tonks asked.
"There was nothing to be done about it. Once the swap was agreed that was it," Pomona told her. "Even if he'd admitted to being fully recovered before the match, unless both captains agreed to switch back, it wouldn't matter."
"Although, if he had, I'm not sure why Slytherin should have had a say in the matter. They were the ones faking an injury to avoid playing in conditions they knew they would lose in. If Draco was fine and Cedric wanted to switch back it should have been allowed regardless of what they wanted," Fred pointed out.
"That didn't happen either way," Charlie sighed.
"Their loss anyway, dementors invading the pitch is the only way Malfoy would ever catch the snitch before Harry," George said confidently. "And even then, it's not a guarantee."
Malfoy spent much of their next Potions class doing dementor imitations across the dungeon; Ron finally cracked and flung a large, slippery crocodile heart at Malfoy, which hit him in the face and caused Snape to take fifty points from Gryffindor.
Several people rolled their eyes. They couldn't argue with the points deduction, though it was on the heavy side, but his ridiculous bias was still irritating.
"Good shot, Ronnie," Charlie chortled.
"Don't encourage your brother," Molly frowned at her second eldest.
"Yes, wasting potion ingredients is a terrible thing," George said in a faux solemn voice.
"Hardly a waste. Normally Ron gets held back before he can do anything remotely interesting. At least this hit him in the face," Fred argued.
"Fred!" Molly scolded.
As they headed to Defence, Ron stated he would be skiving if Snape was teaching again.
Severus sneered.
"If there is any reason to skive a class, that's a good one," Bill muttered.
He told Hermione to check who was in there and she announced it was ok, Lupin was back. It certainly looked as though he had been ill. His old robes were hanging more loosely on him and there were dark shadows beneath his eyes.
Remus sighed while Sirius eyed his friend worriedly. He hoped that, as they were in a stasis here, Remus would get a break from transforming. Given how long they'd been reading already, and how thick the remaining books were, it was more than likely they'd be in here for at least one full moon, maybe even a second. If he stayed human, it would be the longest he'd gone without transforming since he'd been bitten at five years old.
Nevertheless, he smiled at the class as they took their seats, and they burst at once into an explosion of complaints about Snape's behaviour while Lupin had been ill. They complained about the homework and Lupin asked if they told Snape they hadn't covered werewolves yet.
"Like that mattered," Sirius scoffed.
"Hermione certainly tried to tell him. Parvati too," Tonks stated.
"Remus could have left flashing neon signs all around the room saying what topic they should have been covering and it wouldn't have mattered. Snape had his agenda, and nothing was going to change that," Charlie said.
"True, but it would have been really funny if Professor Lupin did do that," Fred grinned. Several people nodded.
"Please, call me Remus."
There were more complaints and Remus smiled. He said he'd speak to Snape, and they didn't need to do the homework.
Severus rolled his eyes. Just because the wolf didn't want his secret getting out didn't mean the homework wasn't valid.
Hermione was disappointed saying she'd already finished it.
"Given that it was due on that Monday, and you didn't know Remus would say it didn't need to be done, everyone should have finished it," Emmeline pointed out, amused.
"I did start it, but he only gave us the weekend to do it and, well, we had a lot of other homework," Neville admitted.
"Not to mention we were worried about Harry," Ron put in.
"Like you need an excuse to avoid homework, Ron," Bill chuckled. "Hermione was just as worried about Harry, and she finished it."
"She's Hermione," Ron shrugged.
They had a very enjoyable lesson. Professor Lupin had brought along a glass box containing a hinkypunk, a little one-legged creature who looked as though he were made of wisps of smoke, rather frail and harmless looking. Lupin told them they lured travellers into bogs with the lantern in its hand.
"It's pretty cool that you managed to get so many of those creatures. We never got to see even half as many as you guys," George said.
When the bell rang, everyone gathered up their things and headed for the door, Harry among them, but then Lupin asked for him to remain. Harry doubled back and watched Professor Lupin covering the hinkypunk's box with a cloth. Lupin said he heard about the match and was sorry about his broomstick. He asked if there was any fixing it.
"I wish I could have been there," Remus sighed.
"It wasn't your fault," Harry told him. It wasn't like Remus could choose when the full moon happened.
Harry said no as the tree smashed it to bits. Lupin sighed. He told Harry the Whomping Willow was planted the year he came to Hogwarts and people used to play a game trying to get near it which ended with someone nearly losing an eye.
Minerva shook her head, lips pursed. She remembered the incident; it had been a very close call. Half an inch higher and he would have lost it.
Harry asked if he'd heard about the dementors, and Lupin agreed he had. He said he didn't think any of them had seen Dumbledore that angry. They had been growing restless not being allowed into the grounds.
"Well, it makes sense. They went from guarding Azkaban and having a constant supply of food to have almost none. I don't like it, obviously, but it does make sense. And highlights how poorly the Ministry thought this plan through," Emmeline stated. Kingsley and Amelia both grimaced.
Then he asked if they were the reason Harry fell to which he agreed. He hesitated, and then the question he had to ask burst from him before he could stop himself, asking why they affected him like that and if he was just… Lupin cut him off saying it had nothing to do with weakness. The dementors affected him worse than others because there were horrors in his past that others don't have. A ray of wintery sunlight fell across the classroom, illuminating Lupin's grey hairs and the lines on his young face.
Remus grimaced slightly.
He continued that dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk the earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them. Even Muggles feel their presence, though they can't see them.
Several people shuddered.
"That must be awful. At least we know what's causing it and that there are defences. Do dementors attack muggles? Try and kiss them?" Fred wondered.
"They do, but they aren't a dementor's preferred food source," Remus told him.
Get too near a dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, the dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself... soul-less and evil.
Sirius shuddered. He really hoped the topic was changed soon.
You'll be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life. And the worst that happened to you, Harry, is enough to make anyone fall off their broom. You have nothing to feel ashamed of.
Many people nodded in agreement of Remus' words.
Harry admitted what he heard when the dementors were nearby. Lupin made a sudden motion with his arm as though to grip Harry's shoulder but thought better of it.
Remus leant over slightly to squeeze Harry's shoulder. "I'm sorry…" he began, but Harry cut him off.
"It's fine."
Remus would have argued but it wasn't really the time or place. He made a mental note to speak to Harry later. He had wanted to maintain the appropriate boundaries of teacher and student, even if he'd failed rather miserably on several occasions. But it had been to protect him, not Harry, because if he didn't keep those boundaries, then he'd have had to explain about being close friends with James. And Sirius. And it had been too painful to dwell on past memories no matter how much Harry had deserved to know.
There was a moment's silence, then Harry asked why they had come to the match. Lupin told him they were getting hungry as they weren't allowed into the school so they couldn't resist the large crowd with emotions running high. Harry commented that Azkaban must be terrible.
Several people nodded.
"Are there no other alternatives?" Hermione asked suddenly. "Are people sent to Azkaban no matter what crime they commit?"
"There are fines, and time spent in Ministry holding cells, but generally, yes, Azkaban is the main punishment. There are different levels of dementor exposure," Amelia told her.
Lupin nodded grimly. He explained the fortress is on a tiny island, way out to sea, but the prisoners were all trapped in their own heads and go mad within weeks.
Almost everyone shuddered.
Harry pointed out that Sirius Black escaped. Lupin's briefcase slipped from the desk; he had to stoop quickly to catch it.
"Always the subtle one, Moony," Sirius chuckled slightly.
"Like you're any better," Remus retorted.
Lupin agreed that Black must have found a way to fight them, which he wouldn't have believed possible. Dementors were supposed to drain a wizard of his powers if left with them too long.
Sirius shuddered again before forcing a smile on his face. "You really should have known better. How many times did I do something you didn't think was possible?"
"It wasn't that I didn't think you could. I didn't think you should," Remus told him dryly.
"If only he'd listened," Minerva muttered.
Harry recalled that Remus had made the dementor on the train leave. Lupin agreed there were defences one could use, but there had only been one on the train. The more there were, the harder it was. Harry asked if he could teach him. Lupin stated he didn't pretend to be an expert.
"You don't need to be an expert. You can conjure a patronus yourself, and we've already seen you are a more than competent teacher," Emmeline pointed out. Remus smiled.
"I didn't want to get Harry's hopes up."
Harry protested that he wanted to be able to fight them if they came to another match.
"You wanted to master the patronus charm in a matter of months, at the age of thirteen?" Amelia blinked.
"Certainly no harm in trying. It's a highly beneficial spell, especially given the interest they've shown in the lad," Moody grunted.
Lupin looked into Harry's determined face, hesitated, then agreed to try and help. However, it would need to wait until the following term as he had a lot to do before the holidays, having chosen an inconvenient time to fall ill.
"Yes, chose," Sirius scoffed.
What with the promise of anti-dementor lessons from Lupin, the thought that he might never have to hear his mother's death again, and the fact that Ravenclaw flattened Hufflepuff in their Quidditch match at the end of November, Harry's mood took a definite upturn.
"That would cheer anyone up," Fred agreed.
"We had quite the party after that match," George grinned. "You'd have thought we'd won."
"Any excuse for a party," Charlie said with a grin.
"Oh, yes," all the Gryffindors agreed.
Gryffindor were not out of the running after all, although they could not afford to lose another match. Wood became repossessed of his manic energy and worked his team as hard as ever in the chilly haze of rain that persisted into December. Harry saw no hint of a dementor within the grounds.
"I should hope not," Emmeline said.
Dumbledore's anger seemed to be keeping them at their stations at the entrances. Two weeks before the end of the term the muddy grounds were revealed one morning covered in glittering frost. Inside the castle, there was a buzz of Christmas in the air. Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, had already decorated his classroom with real, fluttering fairies.
"Really? How did you manage that?" Tonks wondered.
"They were probably Blibbering Humdingers. They look very similar," Luna said.
Everyone stared at her, in bemusement.
The students were all happily discussing their plans for the holidays. Both Ron and Hermione had decided to remain at Hogwarts, and though Ron said it was because he couldn't stand two weeks with Percy, and Hermione insisted she needed to use the library, Harry wasn't fooled; they were doing it to keep him company, and he was very grateful.
I really did need to use the library," Hermione said.
"What you needed was a break from work," Ron told her.
"I had homework."
"You had homework and all the extra work you did that wasn't strictly required," Neville pointed out. Hermione coloured slightly.
To everyone's delight except Harry's, there was to be another Hogsmeade trip on the very last weekend of the term.
Fred and George exchanged grimaces, knowing what was about to be revealed. Harry shot a worried glance at Professor McGonagall.
Hermione said they could do all their shopping, suggesting some Toothflossing Stringmints for her parents. Resigned to the fact that he would be the only third year staying behind again, Harry borrowed a copy of Which Broomstick from Wood, and decided to spend the day reading up on the different makes. He had been riding one of the school brooms at team practice, an ancient Shooting Star, which was very slow and jerky; he definitely needed a new broom of his own.
"It was awful," Harry grimaced.
"You still caught the snitch on it though," Fred reminded him, trying to cheer him up.
"Eventually," Harry sighed.
"I'm glad you didn't manage to make up your mind on a broom," Sirius said quietly. Harry smiled.
On the Saturday morning of the Hogsmeade trip, Harry bid good-bye to Ron and Hermione, who were wrapped in cloaks and scarves, then turned up the marble staircase alone, and headed back toward Gryffindor Tower. Snow had started to fall outside the windows, and the castle was very still and quiet. Someone called Harry's name.
"Remus again?" Emmeline wondered.
"Not me this time," Remus denied.
He turned halfway along the third-floor corridor, to see Fred and George peering out at him from behind a statue of a humpbacked, one-eyed witch.
Severus' eyes narrowed. He knew there was something suspicious there. The rest of the teachers were also immediately suspicious.
Harry asked what they were doing and why they weren't going to Hogsmeade. Fred winked and said they'd come to give him a bit of festive cheer before they left.
"I dread to think," Bill chuckled.
"It was nothing bad," George assured him.
"I'm not sure I'd trust your word for that," Charlie said with a grin.
"We wouldn't do anything terrible to Harry," Fred protested.
"Now that I do believe," Bill said, looking at Fred thoughtfully. He had noticed that the twins were unusually careful with Harry. He'd not heard a single tale of a prank they'd pulled on him and that was certainly unusual.
He nodded toward an empty classroom to the left of the one-eyed statue. Harry followed Fred and George inside. George closed the door quietly and then turned, beaming, to look at Harry. He said they had an early present for him. Fred pulled something from inside his cloak with a flourish and laid it on one of the desks. It was a large, square, very worn piece of parchment with nothing written on it.
Everyone who didn't know about the map frowned in confusion.
Those who did exchanged more nervous looks.
Harry, suspecting one of Fred and George's jokes, stared at it. He asked what it was supposed to be and George told him it was the secret to their success.
"That sounds ominous," Minerva noted.
Fred said it was a wrench giving it to him, but they decided the night before his need was greater than theirs.
"That's very good of you," Sirius told them.
"Well, turns out it's rightfully his anyway," Fred smiled.
"Sounding more ominous by the second," Pomona noted, looking mildly amused.
George told him they knew it by heart, and they didn't need it anymore.
Sirius put on a faux offended look. "You don't need it anymore?"
"It's brilliant and useful, of course, but Harry needed it more and we know he's got a guilt complex," Fred shrugged. Harry frowned and Fred winked.
Harry asked what he needed with a bit of old parchment.
Sirius sucked in a pained breath and Harry chuckled at his antics.
Fred looked as if Harry had mortally offended him and told George to explain.
Everyone not in the known was looking more and more curious, glancing between the twins and Sirius, the latter of whom was nodding approvingly at Fred's reaction to Harry's comment.
George began, saying that in their first year when they were young, carefree and innocent.
Several people snorted.
"You've never been innocent," Molly told them. Both twins grinned.
Harry snorted. He doubted whether Fred and George had ever been innocent.
Many chuckles sounded throughout the room.
George corrected that they were more innocent than they were then, and they'd gotten into a spot of bother with Filch.
"Nothing surprising there then," Charlie chuckled.
"Well, we didn't have the experience we do now, we got caught more easily," Fred shrugged.
He continued that they let off a dungbomb in the corridor and it upset him.
"Imagine that," Draco snorted.
"Well, we got what we needed out of the endeavour, and more besides, so all's well that ends well," George grinned.
Filch hauled them to his office and started threatening them with detention and disembowelment.
"He did what?" Molly frowned.
"Eh, nothing unusual there," Fred shrugged.
"You've heard what he's like, Filch does love his threats," George agreed.
"Not the most creative fellow either," Charlie mused. "It's the same few threats he'd never be allowed to carry out."
"I really don't know why he works at the school," Kingsley shook his head.
George continued that they couldn't help noticing a drawer in one of his filing cabinets marked Confiscated and Highly Dangerous.
"Who wants to bet almost nothing in that drawer is actually dangerous," Remus grinned.
"Fools bet," Sirius told him.
"Definitely," Tonks agreed with a smirk. "There are many interesting things in there, but the most dangerous things are probably the fanged frisbees."
"You'd know all about those being confiscated," Charlie chortled. She shot him a glare.
"That was entirely Tulip's fault," she replied grumpily.
Harry started grinning, saying not to tell him. Fred asked what he would have done.
"He'd have read private letters on his desk," Sirius said teasingly. Harry blushed while a few others laughed.
Fred continued that George caused a diversion by dropping another Dungbomb and he whipped the drawer open, and grabbed something.
"You stole from Mr. Filch?" Molly asked.
"It's not his stuff in the first place," Fred pointed out.
George put in that it wasn't as bad as it sounded. They didn't think Filch had ever figured out how to work it, though he possibly suspected what it was, or he wouldn't have confiscated it.
"He confiscated it because it was ours," Sirius grinned. "We wanted to leave it for the next generation of mischief makers, so we let him catch us with it."
Harry asked if they knew how to work it. Fred smirked, and agreed, saying that the beauty had taught them more than all the teachers in the school.
"Oh really?" Minerva asked, eyebrow raised.
The twins grinned at her while Sirius puffed up proudly.
Harry looked at the ragged old bit of parchment and said they were having him on. George asked if they were before taking put his wand and touching the parchment lightly and saying he solemnly swears he is up to no good.
Several people chuckled at the password.
"That sounds exactly like something you four would have come up with," Minerva rolled her eyes. Sirius smirked.
"It was James' idea."
"Of course it was."
"It was?" Harry asked at the same time. Sirius and Remus both nodded.
"Yeah, we all pitched a few ideas and we knew roughly what we wanted it to be, but the final version was his idea," Sirius confirmed. Harry smiled.
And at once, thin ink lines began to spread like a spider's web from the point that George's wand had touched. They joined each other, they crisscrossed, they fanned into every corner of the parchment; then words began to blossom across the top, great, curly green words, that
proclaimed: Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present THE MARAUDER'S MAP.
"A map? The secret to all of your success is a map?" Charlie raised an eyebrow.
"Not just any map," Fred assured him.
It was a map showing every detail of the Hogwarts castle and grounds. But the truly remarkable thing were the tiny ink dots moving around it, each labelled with a name in minuscule writing. Astounded, Harry bent over it. A labelled dot in the top left corner showed that Professor Dumbledore was pacing his study; the caretaker's cat, Mrs. Norris, was prowling the second floor; and Peeves the Poltergeist was currently bouncing around the trophy room.
Everyone was momentarily stunned into silence.
"How..?" Kingsley trailed off, awed.
"That explains so much," Minerva breathed.
"It's fantastic. The charmwork must have been exquisite," Filius gushed.
"You had that map the whole time and didn't tell a teacher?" Molly demanded furiously.
"Of course we didn't," George looked at her incredulously.
"You had a map that showed every single person's location in the castle and didn't think it could be useful in trying to keep Harry safe? In finding out if Sirius Black was in the castle?" Amelia asked them both. The twins exchanged glances.
"We did make sure to keep an eye on Harry when we could, especially after Halloween," Fred admitted.
"It must be incredibly hard to track an individual though, when you consider how many names must be on there," Pomona said thoughtfully.
"There is a function you can use to search for someone specific," Remus told them.
"However did you manage it?" Emmeline wondered.
"A lot of research and experimentation," Sirius told her with a grin. "Took us years. It even shows people by their real name if they are under Polyjuice."
"Don't tell me you tested that?" Amelia asked.
"Yes, but not until sixth year," Remus assured her.
"I should think so. That's a phenomenal piece of magic. Do you think you could replicate it, say for the Ministry building?" Moody wondered. Sirius and Remus exchanged looks.
"It should be possible," Remus mused.
"It will have to be confiscated," Severus said greedily. He'd seen the map in Lupin's office but had not had time to fully comprehend the implications of such a thing. "The staff..."
"Are not getting their fingers on it," Sirius interrupted angrily.
"Sirius," Dumbledore tried.
"No. That map is Harry's. It's an heirloom. And I am not allowing you to use that to make students lives more miserable."
"So you would prefer that your godson be able to evade his professors and end up in more dangerous situations?" Severus sneered. "Of course you wouldn't care about him risking his neck."
"Of course I care!" Sirius shot to his feet. "You accuse Harry of abusing the map because that's exactly what you would do."
"He uses it to break rules and end up almost dying. Naturally I prefer to stop such behaviours."
"Except you'd stop all other behaviours too. Children are allowed to have fun. You certainly weren't against breaking a rule or two in your time," Charlie stated.
"The map is Harry's property and you have no right to take it. It's not against the school rules to have a map," Sirius defended with finality. It was a fact he knew because they had checked extensively when they made it. Well, Remus had checked. "If we hadn't wanted Filch to confiscate it we'd have taken it back from him too."
Moody continued reading before anyone could continue the argument.
As Harry's eyes travelled up and down the familiar corridors, he noticed something else. This map showed a set of passages he had never entered. And Fred stated that many of them seemed to lead into Hogsmeade.
"Of course you would have a map that shows secret passages to sneak out of school and avoid the teachers at the same time," Bill chuckled.
"It's not funny. Clearly, Sirius knew about the secret passages. If they had informed a teacher then they could have protected them against his entry," Molly pointed out furiously.
"And stopped us getting out," Fred argued.
"As they should!"
"Sneaking into Hogsmeade might be a bit of a Hogwarts tradition, but there is not normally a supposed mass murderer actively trying to get into the school. Harry's life was believed to be at risk," Kingsley told them.
"Worse still, not only are you not telling a teacher about a security risk to the school, you are actively helping Harry sneak out, away from protection," Minerva added.
"What protection?" Fred shot back. "The school? Since when has Harry really been protected at Hogwarts? Sirius had already broken in once."
"Honestly, it probably was safer for him in Hogsmeade with crowds of people rather than wandering through Hogwarts by himself," Bill mused.
"He broke into Hogwarts on Halloween through a secret passage. If the staff had been informed that could have been prevented," Molly scolded her son before glaring once more at the twins.
"I can't believe you had a map of the whole school and everyone in it!" Draco complained.
"My dad is the best," Harry grinned.
Sirius kept quiet throughout the argument, just waiting for someone to continue reading. Moody obliged again.
Fred told him there were seven passages in total and Filch knew about four, which he pointed out. He continued he believed only they knew about the other three. The one behind a mirror on the fourth floor was blocked.
"That's a shame. It was dead useful," Sirius pouted.
They didn't think anyone's ever used the other one, because the Whomping Willow was planted right over the entrance.
"Well, that's certainly a good defence," Neville said.
"So, of the three Filch doesn't know about, two are unusable. That only leaves one secret passage in and out, greatly increasing the chances that Harry might run into Sirius," Ted realised.
"Only if Sirius knew that Filch knew about those tunnels," Bill pointed out.
"I knew he knew about a couple, I didn't realise it was up to four," Sirius admitted. But then, it had been a while since he'd been at school.
However, the last one lead right into the cellar of Honeydukes. They had used it loads of times. Fred added that the entrance was right outside this room, through that one-eyed old crone's hump.
"I knew it," Severus hissed.
"Well, there goes a perfectly good way into Hogsmeade," Fred groaned, half glaring over at the professors.
George patted the heading of the map, saying they owed them so much.
"Glad to be of service," Sirius grinned widely.
Fred called them noble men who worked tirelessly to help the next generation of lawbreakers.
"I certainly hope you don't mean breaking actual laws," Amelia said dryly. "School rules are one thing, laws are another."
"We meant rule breakers but it sounded better," George grinned.
Fred then told him to remember to wipe the map afterwards or anyone could read it. He gave Harry the password for that and then told him to behave himself in an uncanny impersonation of Percy.
A few people chuckled.
"At least you remembered to tell him how to clear it. As long as he remembers, he won't accidentally leave the map where Sirius could find it and use it to catch Harry whenever, if he'd been planning to," Emmeline said.
"Would have made my life so much easier if I could have gotten that," Sirius sighed.
George said they would see him in Hogsmeade. They left the room, both smirking in a satisfied sort of way. Harry stood there, gazing at the miraculous map. He watched the tiny ink Mrs. Norris turn left and pause to sniff at something on the floor. He realised that he wouldn't have to pass the dementors at all. But even as he stood there, flooded with excitement, something Harry had once heard Mr. Weasley say came floating out of his memory. Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where it keeps its brain.
Arthur smiled slightly.
Moody nodded approvingly. "You're learning, Potter."
This map was one of those dangerous magical objects Mr. Weasley had been warning against, but Harry reasoned, he only wanted to use it to get into Hogsmeade, it wasn't as though he wanted to steal anything or attack anyone.
"Ginny was just writing in a diary, she certainly didn't want to attack anyone," Bill pointed out gravely, causing both Ginny and Harry to flinch.
"But Harry does make a good point, a map like that could easily be used for both of those things," Emmeline said. "As brilliant as it is, it could easily be used for terrible purposes in the wrong hands."
Fred and George had been using it for years without anything horrible happening.
The twins grinned proudly.
Harry traced the secret passage to Honeydukes with his finger. Then he rolled up the map, stuffed it inside his robes, and hurried to the door of the classroom. He opened it a couple of inches and checked that there was no one outside. Very carefully, he edged out of the room and behind the statue of the one-eyed witch. He wondered what he had to do.
"Good point, you didn't tell him how to use the secret passage," Charlie frowned.
"Wait for it," Fred grinned wickedly.
He pulled out the map again and saw to his astonishment, that a new ink figure had appeared upon it, labelled Harry Potter.
"What? Why would Harry's name have only just appeared?" Tonks wondered.
"It probably wasn't new, just that Harry hadn't spotted his name before and now he knew roughly where to look he saw himself on the map," Remus explained.
This figure was standing exactly where the real Harry was standing, about halfway down the third-floor corridor. Harry watched carefully. His little Ink self appeared to be tapping the witch with his minute wand.
"Wait, what? I thought they were dots? Now it's a figure of Harry detailed enough to be tapping his wand?" Ted wondered. Sirius smirked.
"They are usually, but the map can give instructions to help a troublemaker open a secret passage," Sirius told him.
"That truly is incredible magic," Filius gushed.
"But Harry didn't even say anything, how did it know he needed help?" Charlie wondered. Sirius shrugged.
Harry quickly took out his real wand and tapped the statue. Nothing happened. He looked back at the map. The tiniest speech bubble had appeared next to his figure with the word Dissendium inside.
"That's… insane," Bill said, looking incredulous.
Harry whispered the word, tapping the stone witch again. At once, the statue's hump opened wide enough to admit a fairly thin person.
"Good job you're a midget," Fred grinned. Harry glared at him.
Harry glanced quickly up and down the corridor, then tucked the map away again, hoisted himself into the hole headfirst, and pushed himself forward.
"Headfirst? Really?" Hermione asked, looking slightly amused.
"It was easier," Harry shrugged.
He slid a considerable way down a stone slide, then landed on cold, damp earth. He stood up, looking around. It was pitch dark. He held up his wand and lit it. He saw an earthen passageway. Harry cleared the map the way the twins told him, before folding it and tucking it inside his robes and setting off down the passageway.
"At least you cleared it first," George nodded approvingly.
The passage twisted and turned, more like the burrow of a giant rabbit than anything else. Harry hurried along it, stumbling now and then on the uneven floor, holding his wand out in front of him. It took ages, but Harry had the thought of Honeydukes to sustain him.
"Yeah, it's definitely longer than the regular walk to Hogsmeade, but worth it," Fred stated.
"Feels like forever," Harry told him.
"It's not a short walk either way, but the passage takes about twenty minutes longer at a regular walking pace," George informed him.
"Tested it, have you?" Bill asked, amused.
"Of course," Fred grinned.
After what felt like an hour, the passage began to rise. Panting, Harry sped up, his face hot, his feet very cold. Ten minutes later, he came to the foot of some worn stone steps, which rose out of sight above him. Careful not to make any noise, Harry began to climb, losing count of the steps.
"That's a lot of stairs," Ron winced.
Eventually, he hit his head on what seemed to be a trapdoor.
The twins, Sirius and Remus all sniggered.
"We've all done that at least once," Remus told him, chuckling.
Harry stood there, massaging the top of his head, listening. He couldn't hear any sounds above him. Very slowly, he pushed the trapdoor open and peered over the edge. He was in a cellar, which was full of wooden crates and boxes. Harry climbed out of the trapdoor and replaced it. The trapdoor blended so perfectly with the dusty floor that it was impossible to tell it was there.
"Nice," Charlie whistled.
"I'm pretty sure the owners know it is there, they just don't mind," Fred shrugged.
"They don't mind a bunch of students breaking into their building?" Emmeline asked, eyebrows raised.
"Yeah. We get enough stuff from there that they know we get in somehow," George said. "We don't steal, we leave them money, so they don't seem to care."
"I guess it's extra business for them," Tonks pointed out.
Harry crept slowly toward the wooden staircase that led upstairs. Now he could definitely hear voices, not to mention the tinkle of a bell and the opening and shutting of a door. He was deciding what to do when he suddenly heard a door open much closer at hand; somebody was about to come downstairs. A woman's voice was calling for someone to fetch another box of Jelly Slugs.
"Really? Who eats those?" Charlie scoffed.
"They are nice," Tonks shot back.
"They're alright, but there are many better options," put in Bill.
A pair of feet was coming down the staircase. Harry leapt behind an enormous crate and waited for the footsteps to pass. He heard the man shifting boxes against the opposite wall and seized the moment. He came out from his hiding place and dashed up the stairs. Looking back, he saw a bald head buried in a box and headed out the door at the top of the stairs, finding him self behind the counter of Honeydukes.
"Nice, I wish I'd known about that in my day," Ted whistled.
Honeydukes was so crowded with Hogwarts students that no one looked twice at Harry.
"Wish that happened more often," Harry muttered.
"I can't believe nobody recognised you. It must have been pretty big news round Hogwarts that Harry Potter wasn't allowed to go to Hogsmeade," Tonks frowned.
"To be honest, nobody except Draco really cared that much. It was probably one of the few things nobody took much notice of," Harry told her.
He edged among them, looking around, and suppressed a laugh as he imagined the look that would spread over Dudley's piggy face if he could see where Harry was now.
Most of the room laughed as well.
There were shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable, many of which are described.
"I'm hungry," Ron complained.
"All those sweets do sound good," Fred agreed.
"We'll eat soon," Molly promised her children, looking amused.
"As long as we don't have to continue hearing about sweets," Charlie muttered.
"It's about Harry as Honeydukes, chances are we'll hear about more sweets," Tonks told him with a grin. He scowled.
Harry squeezed himself through a crowd of sixth years and saw a sign hanging in the farthest corner of the shop saying 'unusual tastes'. Ron and Hermione were standing underneath it, examining a tray of blood-flavoured lollipops. Harry sneaked up behind them just as Hermione was saying that Harry wouldn't want one.
"Too right," Harry agreed with a grin.
"I don't think anyone except vampires eat those. Not even Remus," Sirius chuckled.
Ron asked about Cockroach Clusters, shoving the jar under Hermione's nose.
"Really Ronnie?" George asked, bemused.
"I wanted him to be able to try anything," said Ron, his ears going red.
"But Cockroach Clusters? Nobody really likes them either," Charlie pointed out.
Harry said no, causing Ron to nearly drop the jar.
Several people sniggered.
Hermione squealed his name and asked what he was doing there. She asked how he, before she was interrupted by Ron declaring Harry had learnt to Apparate.
"Honestly, Mr. Weasley, you should have known that you cannot Apparate from Hogwarts," Minerva sighed.
Draco rolled his eyes.
Harry denied this and told them how he really got to Hogsmeade. Ron was outraged, asking how come the twins had never given him the map and he was their brother.
"You didn't need it, Ron. Not the way Harry did, and we hadn't planned on passing it on that early if he hadn't been treated so unfairly," George said. "Besides, Freddy insisted," he added. Smirking at his twin. Fred glared, the back of his neck turning red. Harry stared at Fred in surprise.
"Yes, how unfair of us to try and keep Mr. Potter safe," Minerva drawled.
"It's not like you were succeeding in keeping him safe inside the castle. He might as well enjoy himself," Fred argued.
Hermione declared that Harry wasn't going to keep it, he was going to hand it in.
"You seriously thought he was going to give that up?" Tonks asked, incredulously.
"I was thinking about Sirius and if he found that map," Hermione said.
"At least one of you thought about such a thing," Amelia sighed.
Harry denied this. Ron asked if she was mad, wanting to hand in something that good. Harry pointed out that if he handed it in, he'd have to say where he got it, meaning Filch would know the twins had stolen it.
"We'd have been fine, but thanks for thinking of us. And not handing such a precious item in," Fred grinned.
Hermione asked about Sirius, saying he could be using one of the passages and the teachers should know.
Several people nodded.
Harry quickly shut this idea down, saying Filch knew about four passages, one was caved in, and one had the Willow over it. The last passage was really hard to see so unless Sirius knew it was there, Harry trailed off, wondering if Sirius did know it was there.
"Also, you'd have no way of knowing if Sirius knew that Filch knew about the passageways. Filch can't be watching over all four at once and doing the rest of his duties, Sirius could easily have snuck in through one of those," Emmeline pointed out.
"True, but if Filch knew about them, I figured he'd told the professors about them and so those would be protected," Harry answered.
Ron, however, cleared his throat significantly, and pointed to a notice pasted on the inside of the sweetshop door which declared that Dementors would patrol Hogsmeade after sundown every night.
"I suppose that was to give them something to do other than guard the school," guessed Andromeda.
"It was the Minister's attempt to prevent another occurrence of the Quidditch match," Amelia agreed.
Ron stated he'd like to see Black break into Honeydukes with dementors swarming all over the village and that the owners would hear a break-in.
"Not necessarily. If Sirius had obtained a wand somehow, silencing spells would be easy enough," Kingsley shrugged. "At best, they might notice something amiss and report it, but by then it could easily be too late."
Hermione seemed to struggle to find another argument, settling on the fact that Harry didn't have permission and could get into a lot of trouble. She also pointed out that it wasn't night fall, and Sirius could turn up right then. Ron argued that if he did, he'd have trouble spotting Harry through the thick snow that was falling outside.
"That's true. Between the crowds and the snow, it would be harder to find Harry," Tonks agreed thoughtfully.
"He still does not have permission to be off of school grounds," Severus muttered.
"But the whole reason he didn't have permission was because of Sirius, and if he was safer in Hogsmeade anyway, then it makes sense," Ron protested.
"That's not how rules work, Mr. Weasley," Minerva told him sternly.
Ron added that it was Christmas and Harry deserved a break. Hermione looked worried, and Harry asked if she was going to report him.
"You didn't, did you?" Sirius asked, looking horrified. He was pleased Harry got to enjoy some semblance of normality, going to Hogsmeade, sneaking out using the map. He didn't want his godson's first trip to the village ruined by him, especially as he wasn't even there.
"No," Hermione told him quietly. She almost wished she had, given what they had overheard, and given the boys had ignored her for months anyway after the Firebolt incident.
She said of course not, and Ron distracted Harry with Fizzing Whisbees. Ron showed him other sweets such as Acid Pops, which Fred had given him at the age of seven and nearly burnt a hole in his tongue.
Fred winced. That hadn't been one of his better ideas.
Ron asked if Harry thought Fred would take a Cockroach Cluster if he told him they were peanuts.
"Not a chance, " Fred told him firmly.
"They don't look that much like peanuts," George said.
"And I'd never trust Ron of all people, offering me food," Fred added.
"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Ron.
"It means you have literally never offered me food before, and I would automatically be suspicious if you did so out of the blue," Fred stated, rolling his eyes.
When Ron and Hermione had paid for all their sweets, the three of them left Honeydukes for the blizzard outside. Hogsmeade looked like a Christmas card with the little thatched cottages and shops all covered in a layer of crisp snow. There were holly wreaths on the doors and strings of enchanted candles hanging in the trees. Harry shivered; unlike the other two, he didn't have his cloak. They headed up the street, heads bowed against the wind, Ron and Hermione shouting through their scarves.
"You should get inside before you get too cold," Sirius said worriedly.
"I was fine," Harry assured him.
The other two showed him different shops before Ron suggested they go for a butterbeer.
Several people nodded.
Harry was more than willing; the wind was fierce, and his hands were freezing, so they crossed the road, and in a few minutes were entering the tiny inn. It was extremely crowded, noisy, warm, and smoky. A curvy sort of woman with a pretty face was serving a bunch of rowdy warlocks up at the bar.
"Madam Rosmerta," Sirius sighed, dreamily. Several blokes nodded in agreement, while most of the women in the room rolled their eyes.
Ron told Harry who it was and offered to get the drinks, going slightly red.
Several people chuckled.
Harry and Hermione made their way to the back of the room, where there was a small, vacant table between the window and a handsome Christmas tree, which stood next to the fireplace. Ron came back five minutes later, carrying three foaming tankards of hot butterbeer. He said 'Merry Christmas' and raised the tankard. Harry drank deeply. It was the most delicious thing he'd ever tasted and seemed to heat every bit of him from the inside.
Several people smiled, but Minerva suddenly went pale. She suddenly recalled going to Hogsmeade on the weekend before Christmas and the conversation that had taken place. Had Harry overheard them? She could only hope that he had been gone before they had arrived, as that was not something she would have wanted him to find out that way, rule-breaking or not.
A sudden breeze ruffled his hair. The door of the Three Broomsticks had opened again. Harry looked over the rim of his tankard and choked. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick had just entered the pub with a flurry of snowflakes, shortly followed by Hagrid, who was deep in conversation with Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic.
"Oh no," Fred groaned.
"Talk about the worst luck," Charlie grimaced sympathetically.
Minerva and Filius both paled.
In an instant, Ron and Hermione had both placed hands on the top of Harry's head and forced him off his stool and under the table.
"Quick thinking," Charlie nodded approvingly.
Dripping with butterbeer and crouching out of sight, Harry clutched his empty tankard and watched the teachers' and Fudge's feet move toward the bar, pause, then turn and walk right toward him. Hermione cast a spell, causing the Christmas tree beside their table to move in front of their table, hiding them from view.
"Nice," George whistled, winking at Hermione.
"Might have attracted some attention doing that," Moody grunted.
"It could easily have been passed off as someone moving the tree out of the way. It was crowded enough," Ron said.
Harry peered through the lower branches and saw four sets of chair legs move back from the table right beside theirs, then heard the grunts and sighs If the teachers and minister as they sat down. Rosmerta brought over their drinks and Fudge invited her to join them, which she did. Harry wondered why he hadn't thought that it was the last weekend of term for the teachers too.
"Because you weren't thinking of anything except being able to get to Hogsmeade," Remus noted, sounding amused. Harry grinned sheepishly.
Rosmerta asked what brought the Minister there. Fudge checked for eavesdroppers before saying Sirius Black.
Sirius grimaced.
"Didn't check for eavesdroppers very well, did he?" Fred chuckled.
"CONSTANCE VIGILANCE!" Moody roared. Several people jumped while those who hadn't, glared at him in exasperation.
Fudge asked if she'd heard what happened at Halloween, and she admitted to hearing a rumour. McGonagall asked if Hagrid told the whole pub.
"That man," Minerva sighed.
Rosmerta asked if the Minister thought Black was still in the area, and he agreed. She stated the dementors had searched the village twice and had scared all her customers away. They were bad for business.
"There was a supposed mass murderer supposedly incredibly nearby, and she's worried about losing a bit of business?" Bill asked.
"It probably affected the local businesses quite a bit. There are other shopping areas that sell pretty much anything Hogsmeade sells, but without dementors roaming the place. Once they did that, Hogwarts Hogsmeade weekends were probably the only times they did much business," Ted pointed out.
Fudge stated he didn't like them anymore than she did, but they were a necessary precaution. They were in a fury against Dumbledore, but he wouldn't let them in the grounds.
"I should think not," Pomona stated.
"They have clearly proven they will disobey instructions if hungry enough. If they were allowed within the grounds and were to go rogue…" Amelia trailed off, looking horrified.
McGonagall wondered how they were supposed to teach with those horrors floating around. Professor Flitwick agreed, his feet dangling above the floor. Fudge pointed out they were protecting them from something worse as they all knew what Black was capable of.
Sirius winced at being described as worse than the dementors.
Rosmerta said she had trouble believing Sirius would go over to the Dark Side as she remembered him at Hogwarts.
Sirius smiled weakly.
Fudge told her she didn't know the half of it and that the worst wasn't widely known. Rosmerta was clearly curious, asking what was worse than murdering all those poor people.
Sirius flinched again. Harry leant against him, offering support and Remus squeezed his thigh gently.
McGonagall stated that Rosmerta recalled Sirius from Hogwarts and asked who his best friend was. Rosmerta said you never was one without the other, Sirius and James Potter were quite the double act.
"Oh, Harry didn't know James and Sirius were friends, did he?" Emmeline winced.
"No. Nobody thought it was worth mentioning," Harry said bitterly.
Harry dropped his tankard with a loud clunk. Ron kicked him.
"I'm sure there was plenty of other noise going on that it wouldn't be noticed," Fred told his brother. Ron shrugged.
McGonagall agreed, saying the two of them were the ringleaders of their little gang, both bright but troublemakers.
Sirius smiled slightly at the description. "Why thank you, Professor."
"We'll have to up our game," George told Fred.
"No!" All four heads of house called out in unison.
Hagrid said that Fred and George could give them a run for their money.
The twins puffed out their chests proudly.
"That is not something to consider an accomplishment!" Molly hissed.
Flitwick stated that you would have thought Black and James were brothers.
"We basically were," Sirius croaked. "James was…" he trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.
Fudge agreed they were inseparable, and Potter trusted Black even after school, naming him best man when he married Lily. He was also Harry's godfather who had no idea.
Everyone winced at that.
"What a way to find out," Bill grimaced.
"No good comes to those who eavesdrop," Kingsley pointed out.
"It was hardly intentional. They were already there when the staff and the Minister for Magic decided to start discussing such a topic with crowds of people around students who knew Harry," argued Charlie.
"Even if Harry wasn't there, Ron and Hermione might have been and then told Harry this after hearing it," added Tonks. Minerva and Filius both looked ashamed. They really should have known better.
Fudge continued that they could imagine how the idea would torment Harry.
"True, that must have been awful to find out, let alone like that," Ted muttered.
Rosmerta whispered that it would torment him because Black turned to the Dark Side. Fudge dropped his voice, saying it was worse as the Potters knew Voldemort was after them, as Dumbledore had a number of useful spies.
"Did Fudge know about… well, about the Order?" Minerva asked Dumbledore quietly.
"He had a suspicion," Albus told her.
He alerted James and Lily at once and advised them to go into hiding and their best chance was the Fidelius Charm. Rosmerta asked how that worked, and Flitwick explained.
"That's powerful magic," Bill noted.
"So, only their Secret-Keeper could tell anyone where they lived?" Ted asked.
"Yes," Filius confirmed.
Rosmerta asked if Black was the Potter's Secret-Keeper. McGonagall agreed. James had told Dumbledore that Black would die before telling where they were.
Sirius nodded vigorously. He would have done if he could.
She continued that Dumbledore was concerned and had offered to be the Secret-Keeper himself. Rosmerta asked if he suspected Black and McGonagall stated that he was sure someone close to the Potters was the spy.
Sirius and Remus both growled furiously.
"Bloody rat," Ron grumbled.
Rosmerta stated that James insisted on using Black and Fudge agreed. He added that barely a week after the charm had been performed, Black betrayed them.
"But, who performed the charm?" Emmeline wondered.
"I did, but when I performed the spell, Sirius was the Secret-Keeper," Albus stated.
"Lily then redid the spell with Peter as the Secret-Keeper," Sirius admitted. "We didn't want anyone to know."
"It worked a little too well," Remus said, closing his eyes. That had been part of why he so readily believed Albus when he said Sirius was the traitor. The fact that the headmaster had cast the spell with Sirius as the Secret-Keeper. It had felt like irrefutable proof.
Fudge agreed that Black had tired of his double agent role and had planned for the moment. Once Voldemort met his downfall, it left Black in a nasty position, and he'd had to run for it. Hagrid interrupted, yelling so loudly that half the bar went quiet that he was filthy, stinking turncoat.
"Oh Hagrid," Pomona sighed.
McGonagall shushed him, but to no avail. Hagrid continued that he must have been the last one to see him before Sirius killed all those people. He had rescued Harry from the house with a slash across his forehead when Sirius turned up on the flying motorbike. It had never occurred to him what he was doing there.
"It didn't occur to him Sirius would turn up at his best friend's house?" Emmeline frowned.
"I guess he means it didn't occur to him how Sirius knew to be there," Kingsley offered.
Hagrid hadn't known Sirius was supposedly the Secret-Keeper and had thought he'd just heard the news, so Hagrid comforted him, voice rising rapidly. McGonagall told him to keep his voice down.
"Bit late for that," Andromeda muttered.
"Trying to keep the conversation private was a futile endeavour as soon as Hagrid was part of it. Especially as he was drinking," Ted put in.
Hagrid asked how he was supposed to know Sirius wasn't upset about Lily and James.
Sirius closed his eyes. 'Upset' didn't even come close to how he'd felt upon arriving at their cottage. There were no words to describe how devastated he'd been, how there had been a hole torn in his heart where both of his friends had been.
The half-giant continued that Sirius had told him to give Harry to him as his godfather, but Hagrid had had orders from Dumbledore to take Harry to his aunt and uncle.
Several people glared at Dumbledore.
Black argued, but in the end, he gave in.
Harry sighed. At least Sirius had tried to fight for him.
Sirius had told him to take the motorbike as he wouldn't need it anymore. Hagrid said he should have known something was up then as he loved that bike. But it was too easy to trace, and Dumbledore had known he was the Secret-Keeper. Black had known he would have to run for it as the Ministry would be after him.
Sirius desperately wished Harry would leave and he could stop hearing about this conversation where people discussed how little they thought of him. How they thought he hadn't cared about James and Lily more than himself.
Hagrid continued asking what if he'd given Harry to Sirius.
"He'd have had a better childhood?" Ron offered bitingly.
"Not if Sirius had been caught. If he'd disappeared with Harry, the Ministry would have stopped at nothing to find him. Harry would have grown up on the run, or sent to the Dursleys when they were caught," Kingsley said.
Hagrid reckoned Sirius would have pitched him off the bike halfway out to sea.
Sirius felt bile in his throat at the very idea. "Harry…"
"I know. You would never," Harry said easily. Despite the limited time they'd spent together, he trusted Sirius. More than most people in his life. And it was obvious Sirius would never have hurt him on purpose, let alone thrown him off a flying motorbike into the sea.
He said that when a wizard goes to the Dark Side, nothing and nobody mattered to them anymore. A long silence followed Hagrid's story. Then Madam Rosmerta said with some satisfaction that he didn't disappear, the Ministry caught up with him the next day. Fudge bitterly wished they had as it was Peter Pettigrew that found Sirius, another one of the Potters' friends.
Sirius and Remus both growled at the mention of their former friend.
"Would it have been better if the Ministry did find him? He wouldn't have had the murders of twelve muggles pinned on him," Ted wondered.
"No. Everyone thought he'd betrayed the Potters' who were considered heroes. Besides, nothing could have saved him if Crouch and Bagnold decided against giving him a fair trial," Kingsley said unhappily.
Fudge suspected he was maddened by grief and had gone after Black himself. Rosmerta asked if Pettigrew was the fat little boy that was always tagging around after them.
Sirius barked out a harsh laugh at that description.
McGonagall agreed that he worshipped Black and Potter, though he was never quite in their league talent-wise.
Sirius sneered at that comment.
"Very few were in their league talent-wise," Filius pointed out. Minerva nodded her agreement. For all of their trouble-making, James and Sirius had been two of the brightest students in their year.
She admitted to being rather sharp with him, which she now regretted.
Minerva scowled to herself.
Fudge kindly told her that Pettigrew died a hero's death.
Sirius snarled.
Fudge continued that eyewitnesses, muggles who had had their memories wiped, told them Pettigrew had cornered Black, sobbing and asking how Sirius could have. Then he pulled his wand, but Black was quicker and blew him to smithereens.
"I should have," Sirius snarled.
"Then it would be that much harder to prove your innocence," Remus reminded him quietly.
"But he wouldn't be around to be a threat. He's escaped, and who knows what he'll do now," Sirius reminded him.
McGonagall said Pettigrew was always hopeless at duelling, and Hagrid commented that if he'd gotten to Black first, he'd have ripped him limb from limb.
Sirius winced.
Fudge told him he didn't know what he was talking about. He said nobody but trained Hit Wizards would have stood a chance. He, himself, had been a Junior Minister in the Department of Magical Catastrophes at the time and one of the first on the scene after Black murdered all those people.
"How did he go from Junior Minister to Minister for Magic so quickly?" Fred wondered.
"Capturing Sirius Black played a big part in kickstarting his career. And the downfall of Crouch. Between those two factors, when Bagnold retired it was almost a done deal," Kingsley told him.
"Were there no other candidates?" Percy asked interestedly.
"None that were viable. Fudge won by a landslide," Emmeline stated.
Fudge said he would never forget it, the scene and Black standing there, laughing, with what was left of Pettigrew. Muggles were screaming and only a few fragments, Fudge trailed off and Harry heard five noses being blown. Fudge continued that Black was taken away and Pettigrew received the Order of Merlin First Class.
Sirius snarled once more.
Amelia scribbled on her parchment. If it was indeed proven that Pettigrew was alive, and not murdered by Sirius, then his Order of Merlin would likely be taken away.
Madam Rosmerta let out a long sigh and asked if it was true that Black was mad. Fudge stated he wished he was, but while he was unhinged for a while, but when he'd met Black in Azkaban, he had been shocked to see how normal Black was, sounding bored and asking for his newspaper as he missed doing the crossword.
"Really?" Remus asked, bemused. Sirius shrugged.
"I didn't want to give him the satisfaction."
"Satisfaction?"
"I'd been thrown in Azkaban unlawfully, without trial. Even if it wasn't Fudge, I didn't want them to see how badly it was affecting me. And the newspaper was my only way of trying to get news of Pettigrew."
Fudge had been astounded at how little effect the dementors seemed to have on him.
Sirius grimaced.
He had been one of the most heavily guarded with dementors outside his door day and night.
Sirius cringed horribly at that reminder.
"Even as a dog, that must have been horrible," Harry murmured. Sirius nodded, unable to give a verbal answer as he was lost in memories.
Rosmerta asked what Fudge thought he'd broken out to do. If he'd broken out to rejoin Voldemort. Fudge answered evasively, saying they hoped to catch Black long before that as he'd likely rise again with his faithful servant by his side.
"So, does Fudge believe Voldemort isn't really gone then?" Bill frowned.
"It sounds that way, but if he heard even a hint of that actually happening, I doubt he'd be so bold about it," Amelia said. "Fudge is, at heart, a coward, and cares for ratings more than anything else."
"Like most politicians," Kingsley added.
There was a small chink of glass on wood. McGonagall suggested they head back to the castle. One by one, the pairs of feet in front of Harry took the weight of their owners once more; hems of cloaks swung into sight, and Madam Rosemerta's glittering heels disappeared behind the bar. The door of the Three Broomsticks opened again, there was another flurry of snow, and the teachers had disappeared.
"Well, that was unfortunate timing for that whole conversation," Fred muttered.
"They shouldn't have been talking about that in a pub where anyone could overhear, especially with Hagrid, and Harry shouldn't have been in Hogsmeade to overhear. A perfect storm," Bill sighed.
Ron's and Hermione's faces appeared under the table after calling his name. They were both staring at him, lost for words.
"Done," Moody grunted.
Sirius sighed in relief. He didn't think he could deal with hearing much more of that.
"Guess that's my turn then," Percy said tentatively. Moody tossed him the book, which he caught and turned to the right page.