This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Author's Note: You may ignore my 'Bard Song' and proceed directly to the prologue that follows it. This silly rhymer just wanted to try and create a classical epic feel.

Betaed by: darko & Kerryanah Black


Allow me to tell a tale about the Ancient House of Black,
Their deeds, histories, myths, as well as the facts.
By their own hand, this family was destined to die.
A child who chose the light, allowed ancient knowledge to slip by.

He rejected his roots, the good as well as the bad;
To know them was a chance he never had.
Allow me to weave a different tale of this ancient house,
Allow their last, to live and not be betrayed by that mouse.

A chance to embrace and know his family's history,
A chance to unravel the darkness and its mysteries.
All events in this story will still be the same,
But in this new time, he would not know and befriend James.

I will tell a tale where the last of the Black survived,
A tale of creatures, artifacts and ancestral guides,
Pranks and mischief, will also play a part,
This tale would make you laugh and pull your heart.

A journey, and a family's sins to amend...
An epic tale designed to feel like a legend...
A comedy with a mysterious essense...
And a story teller who would enjoy your presense.

---

Prologue

---

The Dog Star shines brightly this Black night
A child is born to an ancient house known for its might
The fate of this noble house lies in his hand
He will bring about a new beginning or an end

A dark hooded figure stood regally by the shadows, Orion Black the current patriach of the wizarding world's most ancient pure-blooded family, regretted that he gave in to his wife. He had planned to just get old Mr. Soong, just like his brother Aurelius had for his girls, instead his wife insisted they get Cassandra Trelawny - one of the finest seers of their time. Orion had hoped for a generic 'This child will be strong and will bring great honor to the house of Black.' Instead he got this sort of rubbish.

Walburga held the sleeping child to her chest, she had insisted that they name the child Sirius, after the Dog Star which the prophesy had mentioned. She vowed to raise her beloved first-born child as a proper Black. The child would be strong as was common to all Black heirs, she could feel it.

Orion's brow furrowed as he contemplated on the implications of the prophesy, he was glad that he didn’t believe in those nonsense or else he would have been worried. He looked down at the child and vowed that this one would not be pampered. For Sirius would need to be strong, the future of the Blacks depended on this.

(Six years later)

There was a soft click and a squeaky door was slowly pulled open. Two young boys crept into the room. The long narrow room was shrouded in darkness; the walls were lined with shelves crammed full of dust covered items of various shapes and size. The younger child paled and shivered, “Sirius, I think we should leave. I have a bad feeling about this.”

The other child snorted, “You always have a bad feeling about everything. Honestly, you’re such a wimp.”

“Am not!”

Sirius clamped his hand on his brother’s mouth, “Shush Regulus. Are you trying to get us caught?”

Regulus sighed. “We wouldn’t get caught if we leave right now and return that key.”

As always Sirius ignored his brother’s word of caution and walked deeper into the room.

“Sirius!” Regulus called as he ran after his brother.

Sirius stopped in front of a shelf and stared at a conical object within his reach. He couldn’t take his eyes off it, like it had some sort of magnetic power over him.

Sirius slowly held out his hand and touched the object. He suddenly got a vague feeling that touching the artifact had started something irrevocable.

“Mum’s going to be so mad. I mean there’s a reason why she always locks this door.”

Sirius picked up the object and examined it. It was a made of glass, with a little brass dial at the bottom and fine green sand inside. He grinned and started to twirl the dial around, “I wonder what this thing is.” His grey eyes twinkled in fascination as the sand glowed brighter with each full turn of the dial.

“I think I hear Kreacher coming. Come on, Sirius!” Regulus grabbed his brother’s arm in an attempt to pull him away. This sudden move, however, startled Sirius and he dropped the conical object that he had been holding.

The artifact seemed to move in slow motion as it fell toward the floor and shattered between Sirius’ feet.

Regulus staggered back, and both boys stared at the broken artifact in horror. However, before either could react, the broken pieces started to glow. Regulus watched as the light enveloped his brother and screamed, “SIRIUS!”

-End of Prologue -

Author’s Note:

I hope to bring something new to all you readers. Basically this is an AU. It will focus on the Sirius and the rich Black Family history, the myths, the legends, the betrayals, etc.

Thank you for reading!

Note: Thanks Laura! You're absolutely right on those transitions. It did wonders to the chapter. Chapter One �“ Out of His Time

---

(Year 1987)

It was a cold, gray October morning. The rain ran down the glass windows of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. Two men stood outside, their cloaks soaked and dripping wet. The taller man shivered slightly.

The shorter man had a thick crop of long gray hair and stern features. His unusual magical eye swiveled to his left, eyeing his companion exasperatedly. “Shacklebolt, there is such a thing known as a heating charm."

The taller, dark-skinned man, named Kingsley Shacklebolt, frowned.“It’s not due to the cold weather, Alastor, it’s that house.”

Alastor Moody raised an eyebrow.

Kingsley Shacklebolt sighed. “I mean, this is the home of the Blacks, the most ancient and darkest wizarding family our world has ever encountered. They're the most powerful wizards that had fought by the Dark Lord’s side. The Black family line may have ended with the death of Orion, Walburga, and Regulus but still...”

Moody nodded. “I know... the death and destruction wrought by their hands... had there been just one more Black who fought by Voldemort’s side...”

The younger man smiled at his mentor “But you and Dumbledore defeated them.”

“Just barely. Had we not faced them on that final stand, the Blacks would have re-gathered the Death Eaters and took over where Voldemort left off.”

“I’m just glad we no longer have to worry about another Black.”

Moody smirked. “You do know that Regulus had an older brother, right?”

Shacklebolt paled. “You mean to say that there could be another Black out there?”

Moody sighed. “Relax kid, Sirius Black disappeared at the age of six and was never heard from again. Rumor has it that the Blacks offered their eldest child as a human sacrifice for some sort of dark ritual. Of course that’s only a rumor.”

Shacklebolt shuddered. “I wouldn’t put it past the Blacks.”

“Enough talk; let’s get working on those wards.”

Deep within the once grand house the air stirred, and the dark halls seemed to whisper their welcome to one of its former occupants.

Sirius Black groaned and looked around. The room was still dark and full of dust; however, above him the once empty ceiling was now covered with spider webs that looked like giant hammocks. A little mouse hobbled across and vanished into a hole in the wall.

Sirius searched the room for his brother.“Regulus? Are you still in here?” Getting no answer, he headed towards the door.

Sirius slowly pulled opened the squeaky door and slipped out. “Mum? Dad? Where is everyone?”

Sirius shivered as he looked around. Everything seemed the same. Dustier and darker, the house looked as if no one had lived there for years. “Regulus! Come on out! I promise to never turn your hair green again. Please, Regulus? Mum! Dad! I’m sorry! I promise never to sneak into that room again! Mum! Dad! Anyone? Please? I’ll be good! I promise! Just come out!”

Sirius looked around expecting either his parents or his brother to step out from the shadows, but there was only silence. Not knowing what else to do, he sat down on the floor and cried.

Sirius stopped crying and listened as someone or something seemed to be hobbling towards him. He wiped his eyes and grinned, he watched as a short figure came out of the shadows.

“Kreacher!” Sirius frowned as Kreacher looked really old. “What happened to you?”

“Master Sirius is back. Come. Mistress asked that Kreacher give you something. Come Master.”

Sirius frowned. “Mum? Where is she? MUM! WHERE ARE YOU!”

Kreacher covered his ears with his hand. “Master Sirius always noisy. Bad Master Sirius. Mistress never happy when Master Sirius is noisy.”

Sirius rolled his eyes and followed the cranky house elf. Kreacher led him down into the basement. It was large and dark and smelled of dust and stale potions. He watched as Kreacher hobbled to a large desk and pulled open one of the drawers, as he muttered,

“Beautiful Mistress’ face appeared in the fire. Poor, poor mistress.”

Sirius walked over and stared at the house elf “Mum? Why? What’s wrong? What happen to mum?”

Kreacher continued to rummage inside the drawer as if Sirius hadn’t spoken. “Mistress throws this in and told Kreacher to wait for Master Sirius. To give this to Master Sirius together with old book. Then fire gone. Kreacher alone and no Mistress.” The house elf then pulled out a book and a piece of jewelry, and handed it to the boy.

Sirius stared at the objects at hand. As he recognized them, the boy grabbed the house elf and shook him. “Kreacher! This is Dad’s ring! Where’s Dad?”

“Unhand Kreacher! Bad, bad Master! Mistress would punish Master for harming Kreacher!”

“Dammit, you daft elf! Tell me what’s going on!”

The elf started to wail. “Mistress gone! Mistress won’t be able to punish Master Sirius for harming Kreacher.” Suddenly the elf gasped. “Intruders! Blood Traitors! In Mistresses’ beautiful house!”

Sirius’ eyes widened in fear, for he knew that as crazy as the house-elf may be, he could truly sense when anyone entered the house. He bit his lower lip and asked.

“How many Kreacher?”

“Two Blood traitors!”

Sirius headed towards the shelf full of old wands, each carefully labelled with the name of the noble ancestor who wielded it. He grabbed a wand and it glowed in his hand. Sirius glanced down at the label:

"Nathaniel Black �“ Maple wood, Unicorn and Kelpie hair."

Sirius rushed up the stairs, hoping that the only two spells he knew would be enough to handle the intruders. His father had always told him that Blacks were stronger than Half breeds, Mudbloods and Blood Traitors, therefore he should be able to handle this. He was a Black after all.

The two Aurors observed with grim fascination the eerie choice of decor, the house's former occupants had picked. Heads of old house elves were carefully hung onto the whole distance of the hallway. Due to some trick of light, the heads appeared to watch the two intruders accusingly.

Moody signaled his companion to stay back “Someone’s coming.”

“Alastor, you worry too much. The Blacks used to have a house elf. It's probably just that old thing and...” Before Shacklebolt was able to finish his sentence, a flash of light appeared and headed his way.

“Tarantallegra!”

Shacklebolt felt his legs begin to move involuntarily, and his mentor ran towards him to tackle him down in time to avoid...

“Reducto!”

The wall behind them blew up, covering both Moody and Shacklebolt in dust and debris. Alastor Moody raised his wand. “Expelliarmus!”

As the wand flew towards Moody’s hand, he pointed his wand towards his companion. “Finite.”

Soft footsteps echoed through the empty halls as their attacker attempted to make a run for it. Moody and Shacklebolt easily caught their attacker and were surprised to see that...

“It’s a kid!”

Moody frowned and knelt in front of the frightened child. “We’re not going to hurt you. What is your name child?”

“Si-Sirius Black.”

Both Aurors looked at one another in surprise.

“Alastor, I thought you said an elder brother.”

Moody stared intently at the child before him. “Sirius, can you tell me about the last time you saw your parents or your brother?”

Sirius gave both men a look of confusion. He just frowned, crossed his arms, and looked intently at the ceiling above.

Alastor Moody sighed. “Kingsley, hand over those packets of Chocolate Frogs.”

“What makes you think I have some on me now?”

“Just hand them over!”

Shacklebolt grumbled and emptied his pockets. Sirius eyes brightened at the sight of the candies.

Moody grinned “Now Sirius, are you ready to talk?”

Sirius nodded enthusiastically.

-0-

To the Muggles this appeared to be just another simple office building, an illusion that kept them ignorant about what truly stood beneath this unimpressive facade. This simple office building was far larger than it appeared and it also served a grander purpose.

A short balding man paced around his office and turned towards his audience. “So what do we do about him?”

A tall, thin woman with graying-black hair tied in a tight bun looked straight into the Minister’s eye and answered, “It's simple Cornelius, we simply send him back to his time. The child clearly does not belong here.”

Alastor Moody shook his head. “It’s not that simple Amelia. Time has moved on without him. Should we send him back, we might jeopardize our own existence.”

Barty Crouch turned towards Moody and asked, “Why do you say that, Alastor?”

Alastor Moody started to rub his temple with his hand. “Who knows. Had he stayed in his time, Sirius would have been in the same year as the Potters. He would have also been involved in the war. The boy's involvement may change events as we know it. Moreover, he’s a Black. Orion, Nadine, and Regulus were hard enough to deal with.”

Barty Crouch contemplated on the dilemma. “We can just send him to live with Muggles and make sure magic never touches him.”

Amelia Bones shook her head. “We can’t. By law, his relatives can take custody of him.”

Barty Crouch waved his hands angrily. “But he’s a Black!”

“And we are the Ministry of Magic. We should always uphold the law. Whether or not he’s a Black, should not be important.”

Alastor Moody sighed. “Amelia’s right.”

The door squeaked open and a man with a long, white beard and half-moon shaped glasses entered.

“You’re late, Albus.”

”My apologies Cornelius, I was talking to the boy. I trust you’ve made a decision?”

The Minister of Magic nodded. “He is to live with his relatives if they want him.”

Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts Headmaster nodded “I figured as much. I’ve already contacted both Andromeda Tonks and Nacissa Malfoy. Narcissa is willing to take the boy in."

Alastor Moody and Amelia Bones looked at one another.

“How does he do it?” Amelia grumbled;

Moody grinned.

-0-

The Malfoy Manor was such a grand mansion. She had stood for five generations of Malfoys. The whiteness of its walls gave it a welcoming appearance. The flowers bloomed on the balconies in various shades of pinks, oranges, and yellows. It was hard to imagine anyone living in such a place to be dark wizards. However, the Malfoys had been dark wizards for centuries. The manor and its inhabitants share this certain aspect; they maintained a façade and appearance which could indeed be deceiving.

“Lucius, the child is my cousin.”

“Narcissa, you are so quick to forget that the Black name is not what it used to be. I have finally cleared my own name. Accepting a Black, moreover the ‘Last heir of the Black’, in my household will give people the wrong impression.”

Narcissa Malfoy would normally have accepted her husband's decision. However in this case she made an exception, she felt that it is her obligation to her late family to ensure that the last of their children be brought up as befitted a Black.

“I also happen to be a Black. The child is Uncle Orion's heir. He and Aunt Walburga wished that the child should be raised by pure-blooded relatives. I am but obligated to take the child in.”

Lucius growled. Seeing the determined look in her husband’s blue eyes, Narcissa decided to use another tactic.

“Lucius, be reasonable. We both know that our holdings are depleted, whereas the Black Family fortune is still fully intact. As Sirius’ guardians, we will be entitled to all the interests earned from his fortune. That in itself will be more than enough to tide us over."

She smiled and placed a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Moreover, you do know that Arthur Weasley is a distant relative of mine. Should we not take the boy in, Arthur will certainly get his grubby hands into the fortune that is rightfully ours.”

Lucius frowned “You do know that our current position is all Regulus’ fault. Regulus who happens to be the brother of that...”

“Yes Lucius I know.”

“I had to pay-off so many people to ensure that we would be cleared...”

“Yes Lucius, you did it very well. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

Lucius Malfoy smiled at his wife.

“Just think of this as a way for Regulus to make up for all the trouble he caused you my dear husband. Also a way for you to make sure Arthur never rises from his state of drudgery and poverty.”

Lucius smiled and took pleasure in the knowledge that he had once again deprived Arthur Weasley of something. The fact that he did not want the child in the first place would not matter, all that mattered was the fact that Arthur will not get the money.

“So when should we pick up this cousin of yours?”

End of Chapter 1 -

Facts: * Arthur Weasley is Sirius' second cousin once removed. (source HPLexicon) A/N: This story will take place in Harry Potter's timeline. Here, Sirius Black would be around the same age as Harry, Ron and Hermione. The events as we know it may change slightly due to his involvement, but my main plot will not be the events in Philosopher's Stone. Black Chronicles is about Sirius Black's journey to discover the truth behind the Most Noble and Ancient House of Blacks. Thank to everyone who took the time to read this ^_^

Edited by: darko

Chapter Two �“ Off to Hogwarts we go

---

It was another listless Thursday morning. The Ministry’s staff workers milled around, a few relaxed by the corridors, others on their desks, or some just plainly leaned by the wall. Most of them enjoyed their early morning coffee. Suddenly, a young woman with spikey pink hair came and zigzagged around everyone, she jumped over some file boxes, and amazingly not a single drop spilled from the cup of coffee she carried. She finally reached her destination and smiled. She took a deep breath to compose herself before she opened the door and stepped inside the room.

Behind the large desk sat a man with shoulder-length gray hair, a slightly hooked nose, and an eerie magical glass eye. On the front, right-hand side of the desk sat a tall and well built black man without a single hair atop his head. The young woman nervously cleared her throat. “Ummm...Mr Moody, I have your coffee.”

The man behind the desk nodded. “Ah yes, Nymphadora please come inside and take a seat.”

The young woman walked forward and muttered under her breath. “It’s Tonks.” To her horror, her right foot caught on the carpet, she stumbled forward and found the contents of the cup, which she held spilled all over Alastor Moody. The dark skinned man tried to keep a straight face, but unfortunately his shoulders shook, and thus gave away his mirth.

Moody glared at his former student and muttered a spell to clean off the mess. He mumbled. “It must be in the blood.” Then he introduced the two other occupants in the room to one another, “Kingsley Shacklebolt, meet Nymphadora Tonks. You will be acting as her mentor for the next few months.”

“Tonks?” Kingsley started, “Any relation to the Hell Spawn?”

Tonks stared at her newly appointed mentor. “Excuse me?”

Kingsley Shacklebolt grinned. “I meant Sirius Black.”

Tonks could not believe the audacity of the man in front of her. He dared connect her to the Wizarding World's most feared dark childe, right in front of Alastor Moody. Her purple eyes bored into the man. “My mother renounced that family, their ways, and everything they represented! I was never ...”

The dark haired man raised both his arms in surrender. “Calm down. No offense meant. I happen to like that particular Hell Spawn.”

Tonks’ jaw dropped in shocked. “But ... he ... he’s...”

Alastor Moody sighed. “A mere child that was often left to our care whenever the Malfoys had to attend a function. Due to unfortunate prejudices, no witch or wizard is willing to take the job.”

Kingsley Shacklebolt smirked. “They wouldn’t have been able to handle him. Even the Ministry’s best Auror has had a hard time keeping up with the kid, isn’t that right Alastor?"

Moody shook his head and grumbled. “Mr. Shacklebolt, would you and Ms. Tonks kindly show yourselves out of my office I have lots of work to do.”

Both Aurors left the room and closed the door. Tonks curiously turned to her new mentor. “Hell Spawn?”

Kingsley chuckled. “Moody gave him that nick name. That little second cousin of yours is quite a prankster; my favorite was that time when he placed hysteria flowers on each and every cafeteria table. You do know how those flowers tend to affect the nervous sort? Halfway through lunch most of the occupants where having some sort of paranoia fit about the contents of the meat loaf. Moody actually thought it was some new form of the Imperius curse designed to hit numerous people with a single spell.”

Hestia Jones, another Auror joined them and smirked. “I think I liked the one where he spiked the water cooler more. I never knew Alastor had a nice singing voice, and 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' truly suits him.”

Kingsley howled in laughter. "Moody was grumbling about sending 'the hell spawn' off to Azkaban to replace the dementors for weeks."

Hestia laughed as she too recalled the event. "He figured that our hell spawn would be just as effective as those creatures in driving the prisoners crazy."

"I think I even saw the first draft of that proposal on his desk," Kingsley gave both women a conspiratory wink.

Tonks laughed. “I’m now truly looking forward to meeting this cousin of mine.”

Kingsley Shacklebolt sighed. “Unfortunately, he will be leaving for Hogwarts this year. We, at the Auror Department, are really going to miss our little Hell Spawn.”

Hestia Jones grinned. “And we hope to assist him in bringing as much joy to Hogwarts as he did here.”

Tonks gave both her seniors a puzzled stare.

“Those Devil’s Advocates sent the little Hell Spawn a Zonko’s Professional Set!”

All three Aurors turned around to see Alastor Moody as he stood by the doorway and rolled his magical eye.

-0-

Inside the grand white house with tall white columns, a child’s wail could be heard, “Mum! Dad!”

Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy rushed towards their son’s room, they found their son and his two companions in a tangled mess of arms and legs. All three were stuck on the eastern corner of the wall. The fourth child sat calmly in the middle of the room, his gray eyes twinkled in silent mirth.

Nacissa looked at all four boys and asked “What happened?”

Draco Malfoy whined “It’s Sirius. He taught us how to perform the flying charm, but he snuck some sticking charms onto our clothes and ...”

Lucius frowned and cursed the problematic child that he had been forced to take in. He grabbed the dark-haired boy by the arm and dragged him towards the door.“Narcissa, you take our son, Crabbe and Goyle down from that wall. I will be having a talk with this irreverent cousin of yours.”

Sirius’ cousin-in-law painfully dragged him into his room, closed the door, and uttered a silencing charm, “Silencio!”

Sirius then felt a hand slapped on his face with such force that he fell towards the floor. He bit his lip and winced, for he knew what was to come again.

“You ungrateful brat! We take you in and this is how you repay us?”

Sirius slowly got to his feet and performed the usual formal bow, he kept his head down as he spoke. “I’m sorry, sir. I again overstepped my bounds.”

Lucius glared at the child “Yes, you did! I don’t even know why I put up with you! You remember, boy, that NOBODY wants you! Even that blood traitor cousin of yours, Andromeda, wants nothing to do with you! Because you’re far worse than a blood traitor! You’re filth! The whole Wizarding community wants nothing to do with you! We still took you in, despite everything! We gave you everything that money can buy! You should be grateful that we even bothered. Had we not, you would have been sent to Azkaban with the rest of your kind! ”

Sirius winced and nodded.

“Now go fix yourself up, and tomorrow, when you leave for Hogwarts, you must stick with Draco and do whatever he says.”

Sirius stared at his feet and nodded again.

“And remember, Slytherin is the only proper house to be in. Hopefully they’ll be able to fix you up, because heaven knows we tried."

At that Lucius Malfoy left the room, slammed the door behind him.

Sirius sighed and opened his trunk. He pulled out a portable potions set, and started to brew a ‘Healing Potion.’ He bit his lip and dreaded whatever it was that would come the next day. His thoughts were suddenly disturbed by a soft tapping on the window. He opened the window, accepted a large package, and opened the card that went with it.

---

Our dear Hell Spawn,

We will surely miss all of the laughter that you’ve brought into our dreary jobs. Here’s a little something to assist you in your future endeavors. Don’t be a stranger. You’d better write and tell us about how you’re putting our gift to good use.

Kingsley and Hestia

---

Sirius grinned as he once again looked forward to Hogwarts.

-0-

It was a busy morning in the train station as usual. The only thing unusual was the number of people who seemed to be in their night gown that walked about. Most of them had children who wore similar attire and carried owl cages atop their trunks. The train operators shook their head for this had been an annual occurrence. They figured that it must be some cult congregation, strangely though they found themselves uninterested on its going ons.

A boy with messy, dark hair pulled his trunk towards the end of the train. He figured that fewer people would pass by that area, thus avoid any more uncomfortable stares. The whole Wizarding World viewed Harry Potter as a hero, but he did not believe that he had ever did anything to deserve to be seen or treated as one. Those looks of awe that people gave him, made him extremely uncomfortable. He was not used to attention, after all the Dursleys ignored him whenever they could. He slid open the door to the last compartment and was surprised to see another boy already in it. The boy had his back towards Harry and had just placed a pitcher on a small side table. He whirled around in surprise as he heard Harry’s entrance.

Harry bit his lower lip nervously. “Uhh... Hi. Do you mind if I sit here?”

The other boy quickly placed the pitcher on the table and nodded. “Of course you can. I don’t think this compartment is taken ... I was just ... well ... taking a tour around.” Harry took note of the mischievous twinkle in the boy’s gray eyes.

Harry gave a small smile and mumbled, “ Umm..thanks.” He decided not to introduce himself whenever possible, for it would cause more unnecessary stares and requests to see his scar.

The other boy smirked, pulled out his wand, and tapped it on Harry’s glasses. “Reparo!”

Harry took off his glasses and stared at them in amazement. Gone was the thick line of tape that was holding it together, as the glasses were now whole and undamaged. The other boy gave a formal bow. “Sirius Black, at your service.”

“Thanks. Nice to meet you, I’m Harry.” Harry smiled. The other boy wore an expensive looking robe with what seemed to be a family crest on the front. Judging from his manner, he must've been from an old Wizarding class family, much like the boy he met in Diagon Alley. However, Sirius Black seemed open and friendly, unlike Draco Malfoy.

Sirius frowned; he had expected the other boy to run out the room or maybe just flinch, as this was the reaction from all of the other students whenever he introduced himself. He shrugged and figured it didn't really matter. The laughs he got from those types of reactions got old pretty fast anyway. He raised an eyebrow, and tried to figure out the reason for the other boy’s lack of fear. “Mudblood?”

Harry flinched as he remembered Draco asking him the very same question. Sirius must thought that he was rude for he did not gave his last name, and thus assume he knew no better that a Mudblood. He sighed. “No, my dad was a wizard and my mum was a witch. It’s Harry Potter, by the way.”

Sirius nodded. “Figures.”

Harry blinked, as this is not the typical reaction that he’s accustomed to. “What figures?”

Sirius shrugged “That you wouldn’t cower upon hearing who I am.”

Harry stared at Sirius totally confused. “Why would I ...”

The door slid open and another boy about their age with orange-red hair entered “Uh...hi. Mind if I sit here with you guys?”

Harry shrugged “Sure I’m Harry. This is Sirius.”

Sirius turned around to face the newcomer, whose eyes widened at the sight of him. “Black!” He then started to back away from the compartment.

Sirius raised an eyebrow “Don’t bother, Weasley isn’t it? That red hair of yours is a dead give-away. I was on my way out anyway.” He walked towards the door and the red haired boy jumped out of the way to give him a wide berth. As he passed the opened doorway, Sirius turned around and once again gave a formal bow. “It was nice meeting you, Harry.” He nodded towards the other boy, who flinched at meeting Sirius eyes. “You too Weasley.” Sirius smirked as he slid the compartment door close.

Harry shook his head. He would have wanted to ask for Sirius to stay, the boy seemed interesting, but socializing was not something Harry was experienced in. The Dursleys had always locked him in the closet to hide him from any guests. He does not understand why the new boy seemed scared of Sirius. Come to think of it, Sirius did seem to expect that he be scared too. Harry frowned, Sirius Black seemed nice and not a bit scary. He wondered what all that was about.

The red haired boy smiled hesitantly at Harry “I’m Ron Weasley.”

“Harry Potter.”

“THE HARRY POTTER!”

Harry stifled a sigh.

(later)

Harry grinned and listened as Ron enthusiastically explained the mechanics of Quidditch to him. Their compartment was now quite full; Ron’s third year twin brothers, Fred and George, and the twin’s friend, Lee Jordan, had joined them. Also in there was a couple of fellow first year students by the name of Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom.

Almost everyone chatted and drank the free lemonade left in their compartment. Fred, George, and Lee raved that this was the first time Hogwarts Express was thoughtful enough provide free lemonade in every compartment. Of course they attributed this to the fact that ‘the famous Harry Potter’ was currently in the train, thus the added service.

Harry uncomfortably refused another cup, for he remembered that mischievous twinkle in certain gray eyes when he entered this compartment, making him a bit wary of this gift.

The door suddenly slid open, and in walked Draco Malfoy, flanked by two companions that seemed a tad too big to be first years, and behind them Sirius Black followed looking extremely bored.

“Potter, I’ve been wondering where you’ve been,” Draco looked disdainfully at Harry’s new friends. “Associating with mudbloods and worse, Weasley trash, I see.”

Ron glared at Draco. “Better than being in-bred gits like you and Black, Malfoy!”

Sirius raised an eyebrow and drawled. “Finally found your backbone Weasley? You weren’t so brave a while ago.”

Ron, Fred, George, Lee and Neville glared at Sirius. Harry and Hermione looked at one another in confusion.

Draco ignored Ron’s remark and continued. “Being that you were raised by mud-filth and don’t know any better, I’ve decided to do a bit of charity and introduce you to the right people. You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, I can help ensure that you do not make friends with the wrong sort. Associating yourself with mudbloods and trash like these could hurt your future.”

Harry blinked and shook his head. “I appreciate the offer Draco, but no thanks, I can choose my own friends. I can fairly determine who the wrong sort are.”

Fred, George, Ron and Lee laughed.

Draco eyes flashed angrily. “You’ve just made your first great mistake, Potter.”

Fred smirked. “Get over it, Malfoy.”

Draco, seeing that he was outnumbered, turned to walk away. “You’ll regret this, Potter.”

Ron laughed out loud as Malfoy and his two goons’ hair and skin turned into an interesting shade of neon pink. He turned to face the two likely perpetrators and was surprised to see that Fred and George also turned neon pink. He slowly looked down in his own hands. “Ahhhhhh!”

Various screams could be heard all over the Hogwarts Express as a vast majority suddenly found themselves pinked.

Back in the last compartment there was only two non-pinked people. One of them was Sirius Black, who laughed and leaned on the nearby wall for support. The other one was Harry Potter, who was unsuccessful as he attempted to suppress a laugh.

-End of Chapter2 �“

Author's Notes:
This is a lot lighter than the Prologue and Chapter 1, but I just want a light chapter before I peel off the first layer of the plot … just seems more dramatic that way.

The next chapter will explain as to why this work was entitled: "Black Chronicles" and the twist that aims to set this work apart from other fan fictions.

Hope you like it. Thanks for reading.

Edited by: darko

Acknowledgement: To Magical Maeve - Thanks for your advice on the book desciption portion of this chapter. ^_^

Chapter Three �“ The Most Noble and Ancient House of Black.

---

He marched toward the last compartment as he muttered under his breath, that they had gone too far this time. Percy Weasley suspected that they did this just to get on his nerves and they were successful, by far. He slid open the doorway to the last compartment. Gryffindor’s newest prefect then loudly and angrily marched inside. The laughter and wails that had emanated from that compartment were suddenly put to a stop as all eyes turned to him.

The moment Fred and George saw the pinked form of their brother, they slipped off their chairs due to fits of laughter.

Percy glared at his mischievous twin brothers. “I knew you two are responsible for this! Undo this right now!”

Fred laughed. “As much as we would want to take credit for this marvelously executed prank...”

George gasped between laughter. “We didn’t do it!”

Accustomed to his brothers’ antics, Percy Weasley rolled his eyes. “Don’t try to play innocent with me, I know you two well enough. Moreover it has already been confirmed that the lemonade was laced with ‘Zonko’s Pinktaceous Quencher’; we all know you two are Mr. Zonko’s most loyal patrons.”

“But we didn’t do it!”

Ron cleared his throat. “Uhh... Percy, wouldn’t that just require an anti-dye solution, and the last time Fred and George pranked us with the Pinktaceous Quencher, I don’t remember the effects being this shade of neon-pink.”

Fred nodded. “Pinktaceous Quencher comes only in the shade of bright pink not neon pink.”

George grinned. “Our prankster must have tampered and improved upon the effects of that quencher.”

Fred smiled. “And he got almost everyone in the train too.”

George smirked. “I would love to congratulate the genius who pulled this off.”

Percy glared at the two. “Cut that out! Just tell me what you did to the drink.”

Fred and George looked to one another in confusion.

“And that innocent act won’t work on me. I’ve seen that far too often.”

George sighed and looked his brother in the eye. “Percy, we already told you, we didn’t do it.”

Fred joined in to support his brother. “Yeah, look at us, we’ve also turned pink. Do you think we’d be stupid enough to prank ourselves?”

Lee decided to voice his support for his friends. “Yeah, if you’re looking for suspects, its best to start with those people who didn’t drink the lemonade.”

Percy frowned as he realized that his brothers spoke the truth. He sighed. “Don’t bother with the anti-dye Ron, it didn’t worked." He scanned the other occupants and he gazed fell onto a mop of messy dark hair in the sea of pink.

Harry feeling Percy gaze upon him shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t like pink lemonades. And I’ve never heard of Jonko’s Pink Quenchers before.”

Ron rolled his eyes. “Give it a rest Percy, I’m sure Harry didn’t do it. He’s never set foot on Zonko’s before.”

Percy’s eyes then settled on the other unaffected person. The three other students nearest the boy, must have just realized that he was not infected as well. The smaller of the pinked boys shoved the dark haired one onto the wall.

“Black! I should have known you were responsible for this.”

The dark-haired boy looked calmly down onto the other. “Draco, the only reason as to why I wasn’t able to drink any, is because you three drank it all up by the time I reached our compartment.”

Draco Malfoy frowned and released his captive.

This gave Percy Weasley a good view of the silver crest that decorated the other boy’s robe. His eyes widened as he turned to his brothers and asked. “Were these guys bothering you?”

Ron, Fred and George nodded.

Percy turned to the four boys by the corner “I suggest that you four return to your compartments.”

Draco sputtered. “But what about ... this?” he gestured to himself and his pink companions. “I’m sure they’re responsible for this.”

Percy sighed. “As you can clearly see Mr. Malfoy they are also affected. We’ve already tried the disenchantment charm which didn’t work so it’s obviously potion-enhanced. Some seventh years are already working on it. We’ll bring the counter-potion to your compartment too.”

Draco grumbled. “Typical Weasley, trying to cover up for one another’s blotches. Dumbledore probably made that buffoon a prefect, just to show that he treats trash just as fairly as he does other students.”

Percy opened his mouth to retort when Sirius Black stepped forward and made a half bow. “I apologize for my companion, one tends to forget his manners when surrounded by rude and ignorant gits.” He then looked pointedly at Ron Weasley and smirked.

Ron shot Sirius a dark look. “I guess that explains Malfoy’s behavior, being that you’re with him.”

Sirius shook his head and gave Ron a forlorned and exasperated look. “My point proven.”

Harry bit his lower lip to stop his laughter as Ron glared at Sirius.

Draco rolled his eye and grabbed Sirius by the arm. “Come on Black, you should know better than to waste good manners on trash. Let’s get out of here. I can’t stand all this Weasley stink a second longer!”

Sirius met Harry’s eyes, he grinned, and made a face as Draco dragged him out of the compartment, flanked by their two over-sized companion.

The doorway slid shut and Harry once again burst out in laughter as all occupants of the room looked at him, as if he was crazy.

Percy shook his head. “Well, now that everything’s in order, I’d better check on the other compartments” He then turned his heels and left the compartment with only its original occupants.

Ron looked pointedly at Harry. “Harry I think you should be careful, don’t even think about trusting Sirius Black. He is not what he seems.”

Harry looked to Ron confused, and Hermione butted in. “Why? He’s been nice, and very polite. The rest of you, especially Ron, were quite rude.”

Ron rolled his eyes. “Don’t let his manners fool you. Blacks are very deceptive. You did notice that one of their family symbols is a kelpie.”

Harry was now thoroughly confused. “What’s a kelpie? And what does that have to do with anything?”

Hermione once again butted in. “Kelpies are guardians of the rivers and lakes, they are said to be sleek, black and beautiful, as well as harnessed by a golden bridle. They are wild and spirited horses, with teeth like those of a wild cat. Kelpies are powerful magical creatures that are capable of shape shifting and opening travel portals. The Lochness Monster is said to be a kelpie disguised in a sea serpent form. They are dangerous, for they tend to drown all humans they’ve come across. I don’t see how this has anything to do with Sirius Black.”

Ron sighed and shot an irritated look at the girl who's such a know-it-all. “I did not ask for a lecture, Professor Granger. All I meant is that Kelpies, like Blacks, may seem friendly and nice at first, so as to try and trick you into trusting them. Then, when you do finally climb on their back, they’ll drown you.”

Fred grinned. “And feast on your flesh, using those sharp teeth of theirs to tear your flesh ... piece by bloody piece, starting with ...”

Ron turned a bit green as Fred described the organs to be teared chronologically and graphically. Hermione glared at Fred.

Fred gave them an innocent look. “What?”

Harry looked at his new friends incredulously. “You’re saying he’s a bad person because he has a kelpie on his family crest?"

Ron tried to explain further, "Harry, the Blacks are the most ancient and darkest wizarding family that has ever graced this world. They have fought in the side of the dark in every war known to wizarding kind but, they usually find a way to escape prosecution."

Fred Weasley suddenly turned serious, "At least that is, until the last war..."

"The Blacks were finally wiped out .... or so we thought..." George mused.

Hermione frowned. "If throughout all those centuries, they were never pinned down for all those war crimes. How can you say that they've really committed them? The Black could merely be misunderstood." Hermione noticed that Harry nodded to agree with her statement, as Neville winced slightly at her words. "Neville? Is something wrong?"

Neville who had been quiet all through-out the exchange suddenly spoke in a soft voice. “My parents are presently still staying at St. Mungos in a comatose state due to the Cruciatus curse, thrown by Bellatrix Black-Lestrange. My grandmother was killed with a Killing curse thrown by Walburga Black. I am now a ward of the state, and in that state-home where I’m staying almost half the kids there lost their parents due to a Black.”

Everyone stared at Neville in shock. Hermione placed a hand on Neville’s shoulder. “Neville, I ...”

Neville stared intently at the floor to avoid their gaze, “It’s alright. It happened a long time ago. Harry, just be careful and stay away from Sirius Black. Believe me I know what a Black is capable of.”

Lee Jordan cleared his throat. “I noticed that there were four horses on that crest. What are the other three?”

Harry, Hermione, Ron, Fred and George glared at Lee.

Lee gave them a wide-eyed innocent look. “What? I was trying to lighten the mood by changing the topic.”

George shook his head and place his arm around his friend. “Lee, has anyone ever told you that you’re such a genius at ruining such dramatic moments?”

Neville once again spoke in a near whisper, “A thestral, a flying horse with bat-like wings, it symbolizes death. A dark unicorn, an innately magical monster that brings death and diseases. Lastly a hinoema, a fire horse that wrecks havoc wherever it goes and consumes everything in its path.".

All six eyes turned to Neville in surprise. The timid boy shrugged uncomfortably, “Know thy enemy.”

Harry frowned. He did not believe that your blood could determine who you were. It was scary thought for him to be anything like Dudley, but he was sure his friends meant well when they warned him about Sirius Black. All of his life, people made judgments on Harry although they never truly knew him. The Dursleys deemed him to be trouble and blamed him for every little thing that went wrong. The wizarding community deemed him a hero, although he never really did anything heroic. Harry Potter just wanted to know the strange boy a bit more before he made judgments.

-0-

The sun started to set as the train continued its journey toward Hogwarts. The earlier excitement had died down as the counter-potion had been made. In the front-most compartment, three of the occupants lay asleep while the other one enjoyed the little bit of privacy that was previously absent.

Sirius pulled out a book and examined it from all angles.

It was bound with tawny-colored leather and was soft to touch. A Silver Shield was embossed in the leather cover; the shield was divided in four parts, and each division contained a horse. On the middle of the shield was a large dark ‘B’ with a snake entwined around it. Without any doubt this emblem was the Black Family Crest. Below the Crest were intricate letterings bearing the title ‘The Black Chronicles’.

Anyone else who happened to leaf through the book would find it empty, however, in the hands of Sirius Black, it is anything but a blank book. The dark stone on the family ring, that had once belonged to his father, glowed as he touched the familiar emblem. He remembered fully the words that had appeared on the book when he tried to read it years ago...

It has come, the fate of our ancient house hangs in balance,

Sirius, son of Orion, the last child of Black

You are still far too young for this glimpse or glance

When you leave for Hogwarts do come back



Through me passage of all ancient knowledge is made possible

The wisdom of all your great ancestors can be found in this chronicle

Sirius breathed deeply and listened to the loud snores of his three bunk mates. Secured with the fact that they were indeed asleep, he opened the book. On the left hand edge of the inside cover were three ovals in succession. Each oval was bordered with two snakes biting each other’s tail. Sirius wondered on the purpose of these, for it looked like a place to put in photographs, but he could find no opening for such purpose.

Words slowly appeared on the pages once again:

Welcome Sirius, glad to see that you’re back

I am Aris the first of the Black

If you find my instruction lacking

Get your quill and start writing

First you should choose three ancestors

To be your guide and instructors

Your three choices will appear on those frames

Choose well for these decisions are only yours to blame

Sirius picked up a quill and wrote: Aris, do me a favor and quit all this rhyming bit.

Aris’ swirly script appeared once again:

I may be a historian

but I’ve always aspired to be a poet'ician.

Sirius wrote: Well you’re not a very good one.

You’re an insolent one.

Fine, make your choice and then be done.

Sirius thought for a moment and wrote: Regulus Black

You’ve chosen to hear your brother’s voice

Unfortunately Black Patriarchs are your only choice

Sirius stifled a sigh: Aris, I told you to quit that rhyming bit

I just think I need to practice

Who knows I might hit my solstice

Sirius held back an urge to groan and wrote down: Orion Black. Sirius smiled as his father’s face appeared on the first frame.

Orion Black, known for his knowledge of dark magic and power

All those who face him shiver and cower

Sirius wrote: Aris, I want to talk to my dad. Go away!

Chat with your chosen ancestor you could not

Not until all you’ve chosen, all three and that’s that

Sirius shook his head and smiled. Although Aris was a slight irritation, Sirius could not help but like this cheeky ancestor, thus he wrote down: Aris Black. An elderly man wearing a Greek Toga with a laurel headpiece by his ear appeared on the second frame.

Excellent choice my dear boy

Sharing to you our rich family history will be my joy

Sirius suddenly realized that the train had finally come to a stop. He then placed the book into his trunk and proceeded to wake his bunk mates.

-End of Chapter Three �“

Next Chapter: The sorting ceremony and Sirius chooses his third ancestor.

EDITED BY: darko

Chapter Four �“ A Black in Gryffindor

---

Sirius took a look out of the window. He saw the full moon as it shone brightly above a great black lake. Across the lake, perched atop a high mountain, was a majestic castle with many towers; its windows sparkled in the starry sky.

“Black! Quit dawdling around and hurry up!"

Sirius sighed and ran to catch up with Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle. Once they had stepped outside, they saw an overly large man with a black shaggy beard. Sirius’ eyes widened in surprise, for that particular man could even make Crabbe and Goyle look like dwarves.

The man continued to shout, “Firs’ years! Firs’ years! Gather ye around, Firs' years!"

Draco wrinkled his nose. “A half breed, what is Dumbledore thinking? And not just any half-breed, it’s a half giant!”

Sirius curiously observed the tall figure. “I’ve heard that giants are not affected by the Stinging Hex.”

Draco grinned evilly. “Oh really? Crabbe, Goyle, let’s put Mr. Black’s theory to a test.” All three raised their wands and before Sirius can say a word to stop them, bright red lights flew towards the large man calling for the first years.

The half giant yelped in pain as the bout of stinging curses hit him. He glared darkly at the three sources of the curses and marched in their direction. Draco Malfoy and his two companions immediately pointed to Sirius, who stood a few feet away from them. “It was his idea! Black told us that giants cannot be affected by the Stinging Hex!”

Sirius opened his mouth to protest but half-giant cut him off.

“I have half a mind to have McGonagall deal with ye fours, but time is a-wasting. Now go get yerselves a boat!”The large man turned around to face the other first years “Fours to a boat! Fours to a boat!”

Sirius shook his head as he felt the glares from the vast majority of the first year students gathered. Malfoy and his loyal followers ignored the glares and snickered about. Flashing green eyes watched the foursome indignantly, unable to believe the childish, rude, and inconsiderate behavior of the four.

Harry approached the half-giant “Hagrid, are you alright?”

“Don’t ye worry about me, Harry. Me skin is tougher than most.” The giant smiled down at the concerned boy “Now go get yerself a boat.”

Harry nodded and joined Ron, Hermione, and Neville in a boat. A short distance away he saw that Malfoy, Black, Crabbe, and Goyle had taken a boat as well. Sirius excitedly told his three companions about a giant squid that supposedly lived in the lake. Draco Malfoy rolled his eyes, “Really Black, do you think I'm gullible enough to believe your tall tale about a giant squid?Go try your luck with a half-witted half breed.”

“But it’s true! Kingsley told me all about it!”

His curiosity piqued, Harry turned to Ron and Neville. “What do you guys know about a giant squid in this lake?”

Ron nodded. “Fred and George told me that there’s one in this lake, but it's quite rare for it to come out.”

Harry looked toward the other boat on their left. He saw that Sirius leaned halfway down from the boat, with his hands in the water. He moved his hands to and fro. The students on the far right, suddenly screamed. Harry turned around and saw giant white tentacles headed their way; his eyes widened in shock. Behind him he heard Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle scream as well.

“I told you there’s a Giant squid in this lake!”

Harry turned around once again to face Sirius. The other boy smiled smugly as his right hand reached into his pocket and pulled out some small gray objects. The white tentacles reached out towards Sirius’ right hand. Sirius was about to pat the squid’s tentacle with his left hand when Draco started to scream, “It’s going to attack us! Help! ” The blond haired boy and his two companions jumped up and attempted to move away from the squid. Sirius' eyes widened in alarm, he tried to stop his companions. “Draco, don’t ...” The boat capsized before Sirius was even able to complete his sentence.

Harry eyes widened and called for help, “Hagrid!” Hogwart’s caretaker was on the scene even before Harry could finish his sentence. The half-giant righted the boat and proceeded to pull out three panicky first years and a trouble-maker who laughed merrily. When the crowd realized that all four were safely back on their boat, scattered laughter could be heard.

Draco Malfoy’s face was flushed and he angrily glared at the moron he deemed responsible for his predicament. “This is entirely your fault Black! My father will not be pleased.” However, Sirius Black was too busy laughing to even register the threat thrown at him.

Harry shook his head and smiled. He turned towards his friends to tell them that Sirius Black definitely knew how to stir some excitement, but remembered that he best hold his tongue in front of Ron and Neville whenever Sirius Black was concerned.

Hagrid looked curiously at the laughing boy. “What were ye holding back there. How did ye get that squid to come to ye?”

Sirius smiled. “Kingsley told me that the squid likes Bertie Bott’s Fish Flavored Beans.”

Hagrid grinned. “Well I’ll be. I’ll have to remember that. Now ye just keep yer hands inside yer boat from now on.” He then turned his boat around and once again led the group of first years towards the castle.

Draco stared at Black incredulously and hissed. “Black, you idiot! Why are you even talking to him? Didn’t you hear me tell you that he’s a half-breed?”

Sirius looked to Draco in confusion. “Huh? So?”

Draco rolled his eyes. “Father’s right, you are hopeless.”

The rest of the ride went on without event, for this Hagrid was thankful. He led the first years toward the Hogwarts doorway, making sure that the four dripping wet first years stayed in front of him. Three of them sulked as they marched forward, and the fourth one annoyed the other three even further through his hyper-active ways.

“Black, stop that! Now I know why father never wants to take you anywhere!”

“Oh come on Draco, this is an old castle full of secret passage ways! Who knows I might find one in this pathway!”

Harry, who walked beside Hagrid, looked up to his overly large friend and grinned. Hagrid smiled in recollection, “That boy sure reminds me of yer father, if not fer the company he keeps, he wouda been exactly like James.”

Harry started in surprise. “My dad?”

Hagrid nodded. “Yeah, yer father was always laughing, and troublesome, and could never stay still whens he was yer age.”

Hagrid and the group stopped in front of a large oak door. On each side of the door stood majestic stone sculptures of the Gryffindor lion. The door itself was no less magnificent, for it was covered with intricate carvings depicting the founding of Hogwarts by four great wizards. The oak door creaked open and there stood a severe looking woman with her black hair held tightly in a bun, her eagle-like eyes hidden behind square glasses. She gauged, the gathered students before her.

One dripping wet student suddenly walked up to her and gave a bow. “My lady, did anyone ever tell you that you’ve got the most beautiful eyes?”

Hagrid’s jaw dropped. The rest of the first years were also shocked by Sirius’ bold act.

The woman gave the young boy a hard stare “I don’t know what you’re up to Mr...”

“Black, Ma’am. Sirius Black.” He gave the woman a charming smile, “I was hoping to butter you up a bit, so my companions and I may be excused to our rooms, and we can change to something drier.”

Minerva McGonagall held back an urge to roll her eyes “Mr. Black...”

“You may called me Sirius, my dear lady”

By now McGonagall could not hold back the urge to roll her eyes "I’d rather not Mr. Black. As I was saying before you interrupted, you will not be assigned a room until you are sorted. So for now, this will have to do." McGonagall waved her wand and the four dripping wet first years found themselves dried.

“May I comment that the lady not only possess beauty but skills as well.”

Professor Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Head Mistress glared at Sirius Black “That would be enough, Mr. Black.”

Sirius grumbled “It’s no wonder that chivalry is dead, ladies nowadays can’t even accept a proper compliment.”

Harry was unable to hold back any longer as he chorted with laughter. A handful of first years who had also recovered from their shock, chuckled as well. However, the loudest howl of laughter came from Hogwarts own caretaker.

Harry's laugh and the knowledge about the hard life that the boy has had to live, made Minerva McGonagall decide to take it easy on the cheeky first year before her. She gave a pointed look to the crowd before her and one especially for Hagrid, which effectively silenced the crowd. She then looked to the one in front of her and asked, “Are you done Mr. Black?”

Sirius grinned and nodded. “Yes, my steely eyed goddess.”

To Professor McGonagall’s relief, she was able to lead the first years to the Great Hall without any further incidences. The first years stared in shock at the singing hat that sat in the middle of the Great Hall:

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty, but don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find a smarter hat than me.

There's nothing hidden in your head the Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you where you want to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff, where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning, will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin you'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means to achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid! And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands for I'm a Thinking Cap!"

Sirius worked hard to keep a calm façade. Inside he was a bundle of nerves, he tried not to think about the possibility that the hat just might decide he wasn't good enough for any house or that someone with a dark heritage like him should not be taught magic.

A few feet away, Harry Potter has similar thoughts. He was worried that the hat would not place him in any house or would find that there was nothing special about him at all. He shuddered at the thought of being sent back to the Dursleys.

Harry looked around at the different professors, and saw Professor Quirrell, the one he had met in Diagon Alley; still the same pale face man that quivered and stuttered. He still wore a turban on his head. Beside Quirell was Professor Snape, a scary-looking man with a hooked nose and shoulder length greasy hair, he taught Potions. Snape caught Harry's eye and glared. Harry winced as he felt a pain struck into his scar.

The Deputy Head-Mistress stifled a groan as she read the next name. “Black, Sirius”

A low murmur traveled in the crowd as Sirius walked over with his head held high. He sat down on the stool and grinned at McGonagall. Before he could utter a word, McGonagall promptly dropped the hat on his head.

"Now what have we got here? Ah yes, a Black. What’s this? You want to be in Slytherin? Cunning you may be, but ambition you have not. I can also see that this is not what you truly want."

Sirius frowned, all Black heirs had always been in Slytherin. He bit his lower lip and wondered if his earlier worries were founded after all.

"Ah, but not all of the Black heirs were sorted into Slytherin. You are more like Nathaniel Black than all of the other Blacks I’ve encountered. Wit and intelligence you have, but you’re not exactly prone to studies. Loyalty, I can also see, but toil is something you try to avoid. There’s only one place for you then...

“GRYFFINDOR!”

All eyes widened in shock, low murmurs spread into the crowd. Sirius Black took off the hat and regally walked towards the very edge of the Gryffindor table and sat down miserably.

The brightly lit dining hall that was full of students just a few hours ago, was now empty. The moon shone brightly against the dark backdrop of the night sky. Inside one particular room, the atmosphere is not as tranquil...

Sirius closed the curtains around his bunk as he politely declined Harry Potter’s invitation for a game of Exploding Snap. He could hear Ron Weasley's scathing comment on how a Black thought that he was better than the rest of them. He glared at the red curtains that surrounded his bed as he fumed about gits who do not understand his need to brood. He contemplated on the hat’s words and looked at the wand, which he held in his hand. He took out a familiar leather book and wrote down: Nathaniel Black.

"Tragic Nathaniel of the horses
The only one who fully comprehends our power sources"

A sad young man in his mid-twenties, wearing fourteenth century robes and beret, appeared on the last frame.Sirius yawned as this had been a long day. He placed the book inside his book bag and laid down to sleep.

Harry stared at the closed curtains and wondered how this withdrawn boy had been the same exuberant one hours before. Then again, Harry could understand Sirius’ misery. The glares he received from the Gryffindor table were bad enough without those from the Slytherin table as well. Even the other Gryffindor first years, who had found Black’s earlier antics funny, chose not to sit near Sirius. For they fear that that act would earn the ire of their seniors. Upon his arrival to the Gryffindor table, Harry was first pulled aside by Neville and Hermione as they congratulated him. Later he had a found it difficult to get away from all his fellow Gryffindors. By the time he was able to reach the end of the table, Sirius Black had already left. Professor McGonagall brought Sirius to the Gryffindor common room. Sirius claimed that he was in the Owlery and had gotten lost on the way back.

Later that night Harry dreamt. He walked in a dark corridor,and in the middle of the corridor was a stool. Atop the stool was Professor Quirell’s turban. He approached the stool as he did in the sorting ceremony, and placed the turban atop his head. A voice emanated from the turban, it continuously told him that he must transfer to Slytherin, because this was his destiny. Harry told the turban he did not want to be in Slytherin; it got heavier and heavier; he tried to pull it off, but it tightened painfully. And then, there was Malfoy, who laughed at him. Harry continued to struggle with the turban. Then Malfoy turned into the hook-nosed Professor Snape, who gave a menacingly low laugh. A figure from the shadows emerged. Harry saw that it was Sirius Black. He called for Black to help him, but Sirius just crumpled to the ground and screamed in pain. Then a burst of green light enveloped them all. Harry woke up, he shirt damp in sweat and shivered slight as he tried to shake the memory away.

-End of Chapter Four -

The Sorting Hat Song was taken straight out of JK Rowling's Philosopher's Stone.

Next Chapter: The fate of the Marauders and Regulus Black would be revealed (Yes, Remus Lupin will be on the next chapter and future ones as well). Of course Sirius will also have to pull a few pranks. Who will he drag along to be his partner-in-crime? ^_^

A/N: I promise the next chapter will be longer and more eventful that this one ^_^

Edited by: darko

Chapter 5 �“ Remus J. Lupin

---

Harry shook his head, as he tried to forget his nightmare. He paused and listened carefully as he heard a soft shuffle, he wondered, which of his roommates would be awake at this ungodly hour. He pulled open the curtain and saw Sirius Black fully dressed and on his way out the door. Harry yawned and greeted the other boy, “Good Morning.”

Sirius turned around, surprised “Uh...sorry, did I wake you?”

Harry shook his head and smiled “Not really, I just couldn’t sleep any longer. Where are you off to?”

Sirius eyes twinkled mischievously “Oh, I’m just going to take a walk get plenty of fresh air.”

Harry smiled as this was an opportunity for him to finally get to know the other boy. “Can I join you? That is, if you don’t mind.”

Sirius frowned. He did not want to offend the other boy, so he might as well be honest. “The truth is, a walk is not the only thing I had planned for this morning.”

Harry looked at the boy, puzzled and disappointed. “Oh...”

Sirius bit his lip “If you promise to keep quiet and go along ... we can feed the giant squid afterwards.”

Harry smiled “Ok. I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

Sirius nodded “I’ll wait for you downstairs.” As he walked down towards the common room, Sirius Black shook his head and wondered why he agreed to let Harry Potter come along. Maybe because Harry seemed to be the only friendly face in this whole house, or maybe he just felt he could trust the other guy. After all, he was sure that Harry figured him out on that pinktaceous train prank, and still had not given him away.

Harry walked down, he smiled at the other boy and asked. “So what do we plan to do?”

Sirius smirked, eyes twinkled mischievously. “We plan to have a little fun.”

Harry bit his lower lip and wondered what he’s gotten himself into, as he followed Sirius out the common room.

Harry continued to follow Sirius through a maze of corridors, he wondered how the other boy seemed to know his way. “Sirius, I have to ask, have you been to Hogwarts before?”

Sirius shook his head “Nope, just got here yesterday. The same as everybody else.”

“Then how is it that you already seem to know your way around?”

Sirius led them to a corridor and pointed to the wall to their right. “Here it is, the map of Hogwarts. This thing shows all the rooms and corridors of this castle. It’s too bad it doesn’t show any secret passage ways. I came upon this while wandering around yesterday. Most first years will be consulting this map before they head towards their first class.” Sirius grinned mischievously and pulled out his wand and tapped the map “Confundus!”

Harry’s eyes widened as the corridors changed shape and the classrooms began to shift around “What did you do?”

Sirius smirked “Just a little confusion charm. Come on, time for phase two of my plan.”

“Phase two?”

“We’re gonna switch the classroom placards”

“But we don’t know where the rooms are, and this map is now useless.”

Sirius grinned “Relax Harry, I’ve got a photographic memory. I know exactly where we’re heading. When McGonagall found me, I noticed that she was holding the first years’schedule and for their first classes; Gryffindors has History of Magic. Slytherin has Transfiguration, Hufflepuff has Charms, and Ravenclaw has Defense Against the Dark Arts. So now, all we have to do is switch the names of all four classrooms.”

Harry placed the Defense Against the Dark Arts plaque onto the History of Magic classroom. Sirius watched the corridor to warn his partner should there be anyone headed their way. The classroom door swung open. Harry paled and stepped back. “Sirius!” Sirius turned around and his eyes widened, for he knew that they were caught red-handed.

Standing under the classroom’s doorway was a tired looking man, with sandy hair that was graying on the sides. The man smiled kindly at the two boys. “Hello, are you lost?” He then noticed the newly placed plaque and raised an eyebrow.

Harry bit his lower lip and mumbled, “Please don’t let me get expelled for this.”

Sirius gave his worried companion a look, and whispered, “Relax, the worst he could do to us, is detention.”

Warm, golden-brown eyes turned to both boys. “Expulsion and detention for getting lost? That’s not how things are done at this school.” He gave both boys an impish smile. “I’m Professor Remus Lupin, and I could have sworn that I was assigned to teach History of Magic.” Both boys laughed. “Now where were you two headed?”

Sirius answered, “Harry and I were heading for the lake.”

-0-

The History of Magic classroom had a good view of the lake. Professor Remus Lupin smiled in reminiscence as the two boys fed the giant squid, ran around, and engaged in a bit of horse play. Harry Potter look so much like James, and Harry’s friend Sirius, who looked vaguely familiar, sort of reminded him of James too. Remus wondered if he and James were ever like those two.

-0-

“Harry, look over there. Let’s go check out that green house!” Sirius ran ahead before Harry could say otherwise.

Harry entered the greenhouse and saw that Sirius has already gathered several honking daffodils and placed them on each corner of the greenhouse. “Hey Harry! What’s the most irritating Muggle song that you know?”

Harry shook his head as the daffodils honked and 'the chanting cheery blossoms' sang to the tune of ‘The Song That Doesn’t End’. Sirius then gave Harry a packet of Zonko’s dancing charms. When he saw Harry’s confused face, Sirius grinned. “We sprinkle it on the ground on the way out. Those charms will stick to any shoe sole it comes in contact with. Too bad we won’t get to see our victims dancing to the tune of this music. You can take the right flank, I’ll cover the left.”

Harry started to sprinkle the contents of the package about the pathway. As he did this, he asked his companion, “Where do you get these things, and how did you learn so much about magic, when we haven’t started classes yet?”

Sirius grinned “I got a Zonko’s professional set, a gift from my Auror buddies. They’re the ones who taught me plenty of charms and spells.”

“What’s a Zonko’s Professional Set, and Aurors?”

Sirius smiled, he had forgetton that Harry, although a full blooded wizard, was raised in the non-magical world. “Aurors are Magical Law Enforcers. As for the Zonko’s Professional Set, I’ll show you. Come on, it’s in my trunk.”

-0-

(later that morning)

Remus Lupin smiled as students slowly trickled into his class. He would bet that Harry and his friend, where the ones responsible for that little prank with the school’s main map as well. He smiled as the thin, messy-haired boy entered the room, but realized that there was something wrong, for Harry seemed utterly miserable. He looked hopefully at a red haired boy who pointedly ignored him. Just then, Sirius entered the roomed and took a seat at the far end of the room, away from both Harry and the red-haired kid. Remus wondered what all this was about. “Good Morning I’m Professor Remus J. Lupin and contrary to what it says outside, I’ll be teaching you History of Magic.”

Ron glared darkly at Sirius Black. He had been willing to give the other boy a chance, for Harry’s sake, but that prat dared to call him a ‘tag-along, below average leech’. Ron Weasley growled, his family may be dirt poor, but at least they were not dark wizards. Moreover, he did not need to hang around with Harry Potter to build himself up. Ron would show him, he’d show that miniature dark wizard that Ron Weasley is indeed somebody!

Sirius felt mightily satisfied. No, he did not feel an ounce of guilt for anything he had said. He fought an urge to bite his lower lip, as he tried to convince himself that he really wasn’t feeling guilty, not the slightest bit. Harry looked a bit too miserable, but the git deserved it. He probably just felt lonely without his tag-along. Well, served him right. Sirius Black shouldn’t really feel guilty, for he only told the truth. If those gits could not take the truth, why should he care?

Harry stared miserably into a space, and wondered where he went wrong, and how in the world he had managed to lose two friends in such a short period of time.

“Mr. Potter? Harry?” Harry Potter jumped. Professor Lupin gave the boy a sympathetic smile “Classes has been over for quite sometime.”

Harry blinked and bowed his head to mumble an apology. “Sit down Mr. Potter, do you want to talk about this? What’s going on with you, Mr. Black, and Mr. Weasley?”

Harry looked up in surprise. If anything else Professor Remus Lupin was extremely perceptive. “How?”

Remus smiled down at the boy “It doesn’t take much to figure it out. The fact the Mr. Black took a seat far away from you, considering how you two seemed to have gotten along well earlier this morning. The way you kept on looking at both Mr. Wealey and Mr. Black, and finally how Mr. Weasley kept glaring at Mr. Black."

Harry sighed he didn't understand why, but he just felt that he could trust Professor Lupin. “I don’t know what I did wrong, but it all started when Sirius and I came back to the Common Room. People were staring at us, and I’ve always felt uncomfortable with staring. Sirius misinterpreted this as my not wanting to be seen with him, so he stalked off. Ron decided to come along as I try to talk to Sirius and..."

-Flashback-

Sirius angrily stuffed a quill, a bottle of ink, and some parchment into his bookbag, when Harry and Ron entered the room. Sirius drawled sarcastically, “Well, well, here comes Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, champion of all wizarding kind, and his loyal lap dog. I’m sooo deeply honored.”

Harry winced. Ron rolled his eyes “Look Black, Harry just wants to talk and explain some things.”

“Oh, so you’re talking to me now? It’s so easy to do that isn’t it? Now that you have a bit of a back-up.”

Ron frowned “What exactly do you mean by that, Black?”

Sirius smiled evilly and drawled, “Ron Weasley...” Sirius then gave a look of mock confusion. “Who? Oh... Percy’s brother, or maybe Fred and George’s brother. Always just ‘the brother’, unrecognized because he’s so damn below average. Always whining about being pushed into the backdrop. So he hangs around Potter, hoping that by being around someone recognized, he may finally be noticed.”

Harry’s eyes widened “Sirius...”

Ron glared “Better being an unknown, than a known dark wizard.”

Harry shook his head “Ron, don’t...”

Sirius gave a bark-like laugh “At least I am secure with my own identity, but WHO ARE YOU? You’re nothing more than a tag-along, below average leech.”

Ron’s face turned as red as his hair. “I don’t have to take this from you, Black!”

Harry placed his hand on Ron’s arm “Ron, wait. I’m sure he didn’t mean...”

Ron turned to Harry in surprise “I don’t believe this! You’re taking his side!”

Harry shook his head “No, I’m not Ron. It’s just...” However, Ron had already left the room before Harry could finish his sentence. Sirius sat on his bed and laughed as Harry glared at him. “Sirius, that was uncalled for.”

Sirius raised an eyebrow and drawled, “Talk to someone who cares, Potter.”

-End of Flashback-

Harry finished “...And so, both are currently not speaking to me.”

Remus Lupin sighed “If you ask me, you didn’t do anything wrong. If anything Sirius Black and Ron Weasley are the ones at fault. Mr. Black was out of line when he said those things, but Mr. Weasley shouldn’t have blamed you for anything Sirius Black had said.”

Harry looked hopefully at his professor “But how do I fix it?”

Remus Lupin gave the young boy a patient smile “Friendship is a two-way street, Harry. You’ll just have to wait. Not to worry, I’m sure they’ll come around. Now, I believe you had better run off to your next class, you’re already late as it is.”

Harry jumped and started to gather his things. Professor Lupin smiled and gave the boy a piece of parchment. “Here, give this excuse slip to Professor McGonagall. Tell her I’ve kept you.”

Harry smiled “Thanks Professor Lupin, Sirius was right, you’ve got to be the coolest teacher ever.”

Remus Lupin smiled “Oh... and Harry, whenever your dad and I had a disagreement, I used to shove a chocolate frog down his throat, so as to effectively shut him up, just long enough to make him listen.”

“You knew my dad?”

“You’re already late for your class, Harry.”

-0-

Harry didn't know why, but Professor Severus Snape truly hated him. He stifled a sigh as the greasy haired professor once again asked him a question he could not answer. “So Potter, do you know what the most common use for the Avaniko Weed is?” Harry shook his head as Hermione Granger, once again, raised her arms frantically. Professor Severus Snape sneered. “The Avaniko Weed is most commonly used to brew the Avalesco Potion, which is a perfect cure for boils.” Hermione lowered her hand and frowned, for she now knew better than to butt in and answer. “Three more point from Gryffindor due to Mr. Potter’s ignorance.” Few seats away from Harry, Draco Malfoy snickered.

All were surprised when a voice from the back of the room drawled “Then you should deduct six points from Slytherin, because their House Head is an even a bigger ignoramus, feeding us poor students with outdated facts. Avaniko weed is most commonly used in Dungbombs. Your information is almost a decade old, Professor Snape.”

Harry turned around to see Sirius with his feet propped up his desk and a bored smile on his face. Professor Snape glared at the insolent boy. “Alright Black, ten points from Gryffindor for your insolence and for inventing facts. Detention after dinner as well”

Sirius pretended to check his schedule “Oh sorry Professor Snape, I’ll have to take a rain check on that one. I already have a ‘date’ with Professor Mcgonagall” The way Sirius emphasized on the word ‘date’ caused several bouts of laughter on the Gryffindor side.

Snape glared “After your detention with Professor Mcgonagall then, and another ten points from Gryffindor.”

Sirius sat up straight and grinned“Double or nothing, Professor Snape?”

Snape frowned “What are you getting at, Black?”

Sirius smiled. “If I can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Avaniko Weed is more widely used for dungbombs than the Avalesco Potion, you’ll give back to Gryffindor all the house points they’ve lost in this class. If I can’t, then you can double the points we’ve already lost.”

Hermione gasped in surprised, as did the rest of the class.

“Are you crazy Black? It clearly states in the text book that Avaniko Weed is most commonly used for the potion!”

Severus Snape sneered “Another three points from Gryffindor because Miss Granger butted in without being called on, once again.” This effectively shut Hermione up. “Alright Mr. Black, since you’re so eager to lose more house points, you have our full attention.”

Sirius smirked “Accio Magical Weeds Inc. Annual Report!” A thick green ring-binded report came flying towards Sirius hand.

When the ‘potions class from hell’ has finally ended, the First Year Gryffindors all cheered and clapped Sirius Black at the back. Professor Severus Snape had decided that he disliked Sirius Black as much as he disliked the son of James Potter. He would indeed look forward to Mr. Black’s detention, for the foolish boy had forgotten to include his detention in that double or nothing deal.

Hermione approached Harry “Hey Harry, I heard about what happened with Sirius and Ron. I just wanted to say that I think that they’re both being jerks.”

Harry noticed that Sirius sat alone under a nearby tree “Uhh... Hermione? Do you happen to have a chocolate frog with you?”

Hermione gave Harry a puzzled look “Yes, I think so...” She then handed a packet over to Harry.

Harry grinned, and marched over to Sirius. Hermione followed curiously behind.

Sirius looked up to Harry and smirked. “So Potter, I see that you’ve found yourself another...” Harry hesitated then shoved the whole chocolate frog straight down into Sirius mouth before the other boy could finish his sentence.

“Mmmpmh...”

Harry bit his lower lip and proceeded quickly. “Now that I have your full attention, first of all, I don’t mind being seen with you Black. I actually think of you as a friend. Ijust happen to not like it when people stare at me. Secondly, I don’t think you’re a dark wizard. Dark wizards wouldn’t know how to have fun. Thirdly, I think you were a real jerk back there with Ron. And finally, thanks forgetting Snape off my case, at least temporarily.”

Harry looked nervously at Sirius as he struggled to swallow the chocolate frog.

“What the hell was that for?”

Harry shrugged. “Well, it worked.I managed to shut you up long enough for you, to listen to what I had to say.”

Sirius’ jaw dropped he them grumbled. “I guess... I'm sorry for jumping to the wrong conclusions, and for being such a jerk to you.”

Harry grinned “So this means that we’re friends again? Now all we have to do is find Ron and...”

Sirius pouted and crossed his arms “I’m not apologizing to that git. He started it!”

Hermione, who had stood behind Harry the whole time, raised an eyebrow as Harry sighed.

“Ok” Sirius finally relented “I sort of started ‘that’ particular argument but he deserved it.”

Harry and Hermione continued to stare down at Sirius

Sirius looked up with an expression akin to a lost puppy “Ummm...he sort of deserved it?”

-0-

Harry sighed as he, Hermione and Sirius couldn't seem to get a hold of Ron, as the red haired boy made sure that he was out of class before they could catch him. Sirius suggested that a permanent sticking charm be casted on Ron’s seat to ensure that Ron won’t be able to leave the room, before they can reach him. Harry was just glad that Hermione was around to put a stop to Sirius’ many off the wall schemes.

Harry stifled another sigh as he saw that Ron still refused to look at him during dinner. Sirius leaned over to Harry, “How about we jump him and tie him up now?”

Hermione glared at Sirius “How about you stop from being such an idiot?”

Harry sighed, as another round of senseless arguments started once again.

“Who are you calling an idiot?”

“You!”

“If I’m an idiot what do you call yourself? I happened to be the one who transfigured the match stick into a needle before you did, and you don't even know the most common use of the Avaniko Weed!”

“Only an idiot would attempt to flirt with Professor Mcgonagall in the middle of a class!”

Harry decided to put a stop to this argument and cleared his throat “Sirius, don’t you have detention?”

Sirius grinned “I prefer to call it a date.”

Harry and Hermione groaned.

-0-

Harry sighed and waited, as it is almost curfew time. Finally Ron entered their room. “Ron!”

Ron walked in and pointedly ignored Harry.

“Ron. We need to talk. There’s no truth in what Sirius said.”

“And you think I care about the lowly opinion of that lowly person?”

“And if you have such a low opinion of my lowly opinion because I'm a lowly person, why does it make you feel so low then?” Both boys turned to see Sirius leaning by the doorway.

Harry rubbed his forehead feeling the start of a headache. “Sirius please, we’re having a serious conversation here.”

“Are you saying that I, Sirius Black, am incapable of being serious? Do you seriously think that of me?”

Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan, who were engaged in another conversation at the other side of the room, looked to one another in confusion. They now gave their full attention to the other exchange that trtranspired in their room.

Sirius faced Ron and sighed. “Look Weasley, you don’t have to like me and I don’t have to like you, but you shouldn’t really care about anybody's lowly opinion of your lowly self. The moment that you do, you lose your identity and truly become a lowly nobody. That being said and all, I just went through double detention so I’m tired. Night everyone!”

All those in the room looked to Sirius in confusion as he sauntered off.

Ron looked at Harry, “Can you repeat what he just said?”

-0-

Later that night, Remus Lupin tossed and turned in his sleep, haunted by the urgency of memories and the torture of recollections.

In the vast darkness a familiar voice echoed...

“James, it’s the perfect bluff.”

“I-I was under the im-imperius cu-curse. I d-don’t know how th-they knew to to fi-find me”

“Unfortunately, your memory will never be fully restored, but some of it will slowly trickle back to you given time.”

There was a flash of white light and Remus knew that he was remembering...

His vision cleared, and the first thing he saw were his fingers, which felt broken on the cold stone floor. But, that was the least of his problems. The dungeon stunk with the smell of blood and urine. Remus Lupin had thought that nothing could be more painful than his monthly bout of lycanthropy, but he was wrong. The deep cuts still bled slightly, most of them criss-crossed all over his back, three broken ribs grated painfully in his chest. The cuts on his face still stung. He heard voices just outside the dungeon.

“How do you live with yourself? Those people were your friends.”

“Do-don’t you dar-dare judge me. You don’t un-under-st-stand.”

“Tell me, how does it feel to let your friend suffer and be tortured like this, and set another up to his death? Friends who would have gladly died for you!”

“Shu-Shut up Black!”

“I don’t know how a traitorous coward like you ended up in Gryffindor.”

"Shu-Shut up!"

(laughter)

Remus felt the strangely light-headed as the scene shifted once again.

He stared into a face that strongly reminded him of Sirius Black. But the man before him was not Sirius, this man was older, darker, and a deep sadness emanated from him.

“Remus, it’s over now. You and James have been betrayed by the one you have both trusted. He who has betrayed both of you, also revealed that Severus Snape is a spy for the Order. Severus is now in Bellatrix’s hands.”

Remus felt tears in his eyes and refused to acknowledge the man with an answer.

“You’re probably wondering why you’re not yet dead. I have convinced the Dark Lord that you can be turned. For it is only your memories that gives you strength to remain loyal to your cause and your friends, thus you resist him. I have been tasked to do the mind wipe.”

The man knelt down in front of him “Remus look at me, do not lose hope. There’s nothing I could do for James Potter and his family, for the Dark Lord himself is personally taking care of this. However, the Order has been informed of yours and Snape’s location. They will come for you.”

Remus looked at the man in surprise. “You’re...”

“Yes”

The man frowned as he heard familiar footsteps headed their way. Remus moaned in pain as the man kicked him hard on the stomach. “Filthy half-breed!”

A high feminine voice laced with malice crooned. “Oh hello cousin!”

“Nice of you to visit, Bella. Don’t you have to take care of that bloody traitor, Snape?”

“I was wondering if you’d want to trade prisoners?”

“Not today, Bella.”

“Very well then, Sevy’s waiting for me.” She cackled and left

Remus was roughly pulled to a sitting position. “Look Remus, we don’t have much time. This is a memory glass. I want you to concentrate hard and place as many thoughts and memorable events of yours into this ball. It may be able to help you regain some of your memories later on, but I can’t truly guarantee this.”

The next scene Remus saw was of the man with his wand raised and pointed straight at Remus. He yelled “Obliviate Totalus!” and everything went black

Remus felt himself float in a white room. He looked down and saw himself on a bed, he recognized the room, he was inside Hogwarts' infirmary. The same dark haired man sat by his bedside.

“War is a terrible thing, isn’t it Remus? It reveals the dark inner conflict within us. It unmasks and shows us the ugliness, cruelty, and inhumanity lurking within. It destroys all that was once innocent, good, and pure. We lose more friends than we gain allies. There are no true heroes in war, only victims. I know you can’t hear me now, but I have to say I’m sorry. Voldemort may be gone, but it’s not yet over. Funny, isn’t it? It was so much easier then, I knew Voldemort was evil and choosing sides was so simple ... so black and white...but, it’s not so easy now. Now all I see are shades of gray. I have chosen my shade of gray. I’m sorry, I cannot go against my family. I only pray that when you wake up, you’ll stay away from this conflict, else next time we meet, it will be as enemies. Farewell, my friend.”

Remus Lupin woke up with a start. His hand shook as he reached for a familiar glass ball. He breathed in deeply and whispered, “There comes a time when nothing is ever black and white, only shades of gray.” He closed his eyes and whispered a name he has long forgotten. “Regulus”

-End of Chapter 5-

Special thanks to Sophia Montgomery for all her suggestions to improve this chapter especially on the Fred/George/Percy dialogue.

Chapter 6 �“ S.P.A.W.N.

---

The sun rose and spread its warm fingers into Hogwarts School for Wizards and Witches. A small blue canary perched itself on a window sill, it sang a cheerful melody.

Behind the window a red-haired boy pulled a pillow tighter over his head as he grumbled, “Damn Bird!” He was surprised when he felt a cold draft entered their room and realized that one of his roommates opened the window.

“Wow, a blue bird! Hey Harry! How does that other song you taught me go again?”

Ron grumbled, “Damn Black,” he heard Harry, Seamus and Dean’s grumbled in a similar fashion.

“Oh I remember now... Zip de dee do dah! Zip de dee hey! Mr. Blue Bird on my shoulder!”

Harry groaned as he grabbed his extra pillow, and threw it towards his annoying roommate.

“Oouff.”

On the bunk beside Harry, Ron screamed, “Shut up Black! Some of us are trying to sleep here and for god’s sake close that damn window!”

Harry sighed in relief as he heard Sirius close the window. The other boy grumbled about a ‘grouchy git’, Harry was about to snuggle deeper into his blankets, when one particular pest suddenly pulled his curtains open and jumped on his bed. “Hey Harry wake up! We’ll need an early start, to get even on a particular greasy haired git for the way he treated us yesterday.”

Harry groaned and buried himself into his blankets and mumbled, “Go away Sirius.”

Sirius jumped up and down Harry’s bed excitedly as he continued to ignore Harry’s earlier request, “I was thinking, that in honor of that blue bird, we’ll have ol’ Snivellus grow blue feathers on his butt, and I have just the thing to do so. We can also rig his quill to spray sparkly blue ink all over him too!”

Harry peered up from his blankets, “Snivellus?”

Sirius smirked. “I think it fits him seeing that he has an overly large nose.”

Harry felt a smile tugged on his lips, but decided not to give in to Sirius too easily. “Sirius, I’ll make a deal with you, I’ll go along with you for this particular prank, but for the whole of next week - we will not be hearing a single pip out off you until it’s time for us to go down for breakfast.”

“Hear! Hear!” Dean Thomas mumbled from the other side of the room.

Sirius frowned. “But...”

Harry crossed his arms and looked at Sirius straight in the eye. Harry struggled to keep a straight face as Sirius silently pleaded for him to reconsider. The pest, gave him a doe-eyed expression that reminded Harry strongly of a begging puppy.

Seeing that Harry wasn’t about to give in, Sirius sighed. “Ok, it’s a deal then.”

-0-

Harry grinned at the thick layer of ‘Zonko’s Blue Feather Growth Gel’ that he and Sirius placed onto Snape’s seat. He pulled out his wand and waved it in the way Sirius has instructed,“Lateo”

Harry smiled as the gel turned invisible to the naked eye. Harry would not admit it to the prankster, but he learned more spells from the pranks they pulled, than he did in from his classes. “Ok Sirius, I’m done here.”

Sirius placed the rigged quill on Snape’s desk and grinned. “Then let’s get out of this stuffy place.”

-0-

The two boys passed by a forest on their way to the lake. This particular forest is dark and deep; students had been warned to stay away due to the numerous creatures that resided within. As they walked by the forest one of the boys stopped and turned towards the dark woods, “Harry, did you hear that?”

Harry looked towards his friend in confusion, “Hear what?”

Sirius frowned for in the back of his mind he knew he alone could hear the panic and pain of a creature within those woods. For what he had heard has not an audible cry, whatever it was, it had reached out to him making him feel the cold panic that it experienced. The ring in his finger grew warm. Sirius was surprised, when he saw the dark stone glowed with a faint blue light. The woods called to him, the cries pulled him and Sirius knew that he could not resist.

“Sirius!” Harry muttered a curse as he went after his impulsive friend into the dark woods.

Sirius ran deeper into the woods he had long abandoned the pathway, for he guided himself purely by instinct as he jumped over a rotten log and turned to his right. He stared in horror for right in front of him was at least a dozen Acromantulas. These giant spiders were four feet tall and twice as wide with four large bristly black hairs on each side. Red eyes glowed and sharp metallic pinchers that acted as mouths clacked dangerously. Sirius knew right then, that these spiders were the ones that attacked the creature that had called out to him. He pointed his wand at the largest of the spiders and shouted “Reducto!”

The largest of the spider blew up and splattered white gooey substance all over Sirius and the other spiders, all of which now turned their attention towards Sirius. Harry appeared behind Sirius. Eyes widened as he cursed the stupidity of his impetuous friend.

Sirius waved his wand once and threw a curse that aimed to slow the creatures’ movements. “Immobulus”

Harry pulled out his own wand, he racked his mind for one of the spell Sirius taight him, “Rictusempra!” One of the spiders flipped over and twitched repeatedly.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at Harry, “The tickling charm?”

Harry shrugged. “It worked.”

Sirius raised his wand and pointed it to the spiders once again, “Tarantallegra!” Two spiders began to dance uncontrollably, the others started to back away from the two wizards. Both boys saw this and thus pressed on.

“Rictusempra!” Harry tickled another spider.

“Incendio!” As fire sprouted out of Sirius’ wand, the remaining spiders retreated.

Both boys approached a crumpled black mass that the spiders attacked. Harry’s eyes widen as he remembered Hermione lecture on the train. “Sirius! It’s a kelpie!”

-0-

Three dark-haired boys staggered out of the woods. Two of them were struggled to carry the third one. The reason for this is because the third boy was much taller than the other two; he looked about 15 years of age with his long hair braided onto his back. All three boys were covered with gooey white substance; however, only the taller boy in the middle seemed hurt.

“The lake’s not much further now,” Harry huffed.

“That’s a matter of opinion,” Sirius panted.

The third boy raised his head, red brown eyes as he observed his two rescuers, “I didn’t get your names.”

“Harry Potter.”

“Sirius Black.”

The older boy gaped at Sirius, “A Black?”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “What is it to you?”

“A lot. My name is Seidon.”

Sirius looked at the kelpie in confusion.

-0-

Harry and Sirius watched in amazement, for as soon as Seidon touched the water, he turned back into a horse and his wounds miraculously healed. It was later explained that kelpies drew their strength from water.

Harry looked at the kelpie curiously, “Seidon? If I may ask. What were you doing in there?”

The kelpie changed back into his human form and sighed. “There’s a small lake inside that forest. It used to be my lake.”

Sirius sat up straighter. “Used to be?”

The kelpie turned towards the forest as if to reminiscence. “We kelpies need pure water to survive, water that’s untainted. Three days ago, someone dumped a unicorn’s body into my lake. As you know, a unicorn’s blood would enable one to live forever, however it’ll be as a half-life. That unicorn’s blood tainted the waters,” he sighed, “all the creatures that once lived in my lake, the fishes, frogs, ... they are now half-life. My inability to draw strength from that water weakened me. I had been searching for another water source when I was attacked,” he looked at the lake in front of him and smiled. “This will do well, and I thank you both for this.”

Sirius looked curiously at the kelpie, “You said that my being a Black mattered, why?”

The kelpie nodded. “Contrary to popular belief, kelpies are not solitary creatures. Yes, we each guard our territory with a vengeance, not even allowing other kelpies near our power source. In the same manner we guard our waters from humans who might destroy the purity of our waters. But all of our kinds congregate in ‘the haven’. A haven created for us by Aris Black; he calls this haven, Black Isle.”

Sirius looked thoughtful for a moment. “Why haven’t I heard of Black Isle?”

The kelpie gave the boy a sad smile. “The last Black to have entered the Isle was Nathaniel, after which we had never again had any contact with the Blacks, but we know the family had survived; for as long as there is a Black, the magic that kept the isle safe survives. It is but symbolic that a kelpie is saved by someone from that most noble and ancient house, thus rekindle that which was once lost.”

The dark haired kelpie walked up to Sirius and whispered, “donum aqua.” A faint blue glowed on Sirius right little finger as a simple ring with a small blue stone appeared. Seidon changed back in a horse and nudged the boy affectionately, trotted towards Harry to bow slightly; he then galloped into the gleaming waters of the lake.

Harry smiled towards the water and turned to Sirius, “I think we best clean up before breakfast.”

Sirius moaned. “Do we have to? We can just stay here all day and...”

Harry sighed and grabbed Sirius by the collar and proceeded to drag the other boy towards the Gryffindor tower.

-0-

It’s a Friday morning, the students of Hogwarts enjoyed their breakfast most of them waited excitedly for the owls to bring in their mails. This giddy anticipation was not shared by two students who sat on the Gryffindor table. Harry Potter had no wizarding family and he hardly even expected the Dursleys to write to him. Sirius Black, on the other hand, dreaded the mail that was to come.

-0-

The owls arrived Harry was surprised to see that he received a letter, unable to recognize the untidy scrawled he opened it and smiled as it is an invitation from Hagrid to have tea in his hut. On his left, Ron smiled as he read his letter. On his right, he saw Sirius frowned. “Sirius? What’s wrong?”

Sirius shrugged. “Not much, Cissy just told me that I’m a big disappointment for not being able to get into Slytherin. Lucius is furious, for he heard about my behavior from dear ol Draco. So he doesn’t want me home for Christmas since Christmas is supposed to be a happy occasion. Of course they tried to get Dumbledore to allow me to change houses being unsuccessful at this; they’ve gotten to good ol Snivellus to agree to let me sit with the Slytherins during Potions class." Sirius slumped onto the table.

Harry gave the other boy a sympathetic look. “Aren’t you going to open the other letter?”

Sirius gave an exaggerated sigh. “I’m too depressed...” A mischievous smile suddenly lighted onto his face, he just saw Professor McGonagall enter the breakfast hall. “And I see just the person to cheer me up.”

Harry gave the other boy a look of warning, which was ignored as Sirius pulled out his wand, “Orchideous!” Harry shook his head as flowers sprouted at the end of Sirius’ wand and the other boy sauntered off towards the Deputy Headmistress.

Beside Harry, Ron stared at the other boy in disbelief, “He’s not actually going to...”

Harry covered his face with his hands and moaned. “You obviously don’t know Sirius that well yet.”

“Minerva, my goddess and my muse,
I wait on you hand and foot.
Thy beauty and wisdom I admire
Thou art the object of my desire.”

Hermione’s jaw dropped. “Is that guy serious?”

Harry gave her a small smile, “No, he’s Sirius.”

Ron and Hermione groaned at Harry’s bad pun. However, they heard neither the rest of Sirius' proclamation of devotion, nor Professor McGonagall’s angry reprimand. For they were distracted by the commotion a few feet away; Draco and his two goons had decided to harrass poor Neville.

Ron approached the group and angrily told Draco off, “Leave him alone you in-bred git! He didn’t do anything to you.”

Draco raised a brow and drawled haughtily, “Oh defending him are you? I guess dirt tends to clump together after all. What are you gonna do about it, Weasle?”

Ron Weasley raised his wand; Draco, Crabbe and Goyle pointed their wands towards Ron. Harry and Hermione stood by Ron’s side, and they raised their wands towards the Slytherins as well.

“Is there a problem here?” All six jumped and saw that kindly Professor Lupin has approached their table.

Draco smiled up at Professor Lupin, “No Sir.”

Ron pointed an accusing finger towards Draco, “He took Neville’s remembrall!”

Draco feigned surprised, “I was only looking at it.” He turned to face the Professor and gave a convincing confuses and innocent act.

Remus sighed. “Mr. Malfoy, kindly return the remembrall to Mr. Longbottom and we’ll all forget about this incident.”

At this point the Deputy Headmistress approached the group, followed by Sirius who continued to carry on with his ‘love-sick puppy’ act.

“Remus, is there a problem here?”

“No Minerva, everything’s been resolved.” Remus Lupin then gave Draco a pointed look as the boy reluctantly handed Neville his remembrall back.

“I just love women with such command of authority. Marry me!”

Minerva McGonagall glared down at Sirius as Harry sighed and shoved a chocolate frog down Sirius’ throat.

“Mmphh!”

The Deputy Headmistress smiled down at Harry, “Very good Mr. Potter. Crude but effective. Three points for Gryffindor!”

-0-

"Thank you Miss Granger, for that skillful demonstration of the Reparo Charm. Is there anyone else who'd like to demonstrate a few Charms that they already know?" Filius Flitwick scanned the room for another volunteer.

Lavender Brown raised her hand, "Sirius can pull the Summoning Charm."

Flitwick blinked in surprise, he turned his attention to the dark-haired boy, "Really, that is quite an advanced spell for your age. Do you like to read about charms, Sirius?"

The boy shook his head. "I only read when I have nothing else to do. I saw Moody use that charm several times, whenever I ... uhm... relocate his Magical Eye Cleaning Kit."

Professor Flitwick smiled, as this year's Gryffindors class just might surpass his own Ravenclaws in terms of brilliance. "Learning through observation can sometimes be even more effective than reading. Care to demonstrate to the class this Charm?"

Sirius jumped up enthusiastically, "Gladly!" his eyes sparkled as he tried to hold back an impish grin.

Flitwick nodded in approval, for one of the things the short professor liked was a student’s enthusiasm.

Sirius grinned with his wand on hand, he shouted, “Accio Beehive!”

Flitwick’s jaw dropped as the enthusiastic first year shouted, “Hey! It worked!” Sirius then proceeded to dive under his desk as the summoned beehive crashed onto a wall.

Harry and Ron immediately ducked under their desk. Ron laughed, “What was he thinking?”

Harry rolled his eyes. “I for one don’t want to figure out how Sirius Black’s mind work.”

From under her desk, Hermione looked at the two incredulously, “You mean to say that he actually has a working mind!” Beside her Neville whimpered. “I hate bees!”

Screams were abundant as Professor Flitwick shouted for the class to stay calm.

-0-

Professor Flitwick growled, his nose was swollen and it throbbed. The repaired beehive flew back outside, much to everyone’s relief.

Sirius Black’s head popped out from under his desk and asked, “Can I try that again?”

Professor Flitwick started to count to ten and gave his first detention for the year.

-0-

Percy Weasley entered the Gryffindor common room, he looked around in search for his brothers and found them by the fireplace. “Fred! George! That was bloody amazing!”

The twins gave their brother a confused look.

Percy laughed. “Don’t worry, I won’t report you guys just this once. I don’t know how you two came up with this one, but Snape was so livid that he was turning purple! Not that anyone could tell due to the amount of blue ink on his face... and those feathers...”

Fred frowned. “Percy...”

Percy continued to enthusiastically deliver his blow by blow, “...Penelope was in the infirmary due to a slight headache. She told me that she overheard Madame Pomfrey comment on the gel, it had penetrated deep into Snape's skin; Pomfrey had to pull it out one bloody feather at a time. Snape’s backside was so sore that he couldn’t even sit down for dinner a while ago. Oh and Snape screams like a girl too...”

George sighed. “...we didn’t do it.”

Fred nodded in ascent, “The fire candy on the Slytherins table and the dung bombs in Filch’s office are ours, but this one I have a feeling it’s our pinktaceous train prankster.”

“And I think it’s about time we have a little chat with the boy,” George mumbled.

Percy looked at his brothers in confusion, “Who are you talking about?”

George grinned. “We can’t tell you, oh prefect brother of ours.”

Fred gave his brother a solemn look, “For we are honor-bound by the Prankster Code.”

Percy frowned in confusion, “What the hell are you two talking about?”

Both twins placed a hand on their chest. “We who take pranking seriously follow a certain code of conduct. Rule number 1: Never squeal on your fellow prankster. Proper courtesy entails that you respect your colleague's desire for privacy”

“Rule number 2: Try not to get caught. If ever you were caught be sure to have an excuse handy,” Fred continued.

George laughed. “Rule number 3: Gits are the best victims. They fall for the trap easily and their reactions are priceless.”

“Rule number 4: Pranking is an art, creativity and originality are much appreciated.”

“Rule number 5: If all else fail, Run!”

“Rule number 6: Anything that explodes is good.”

“Rule number 7: Pranking is a social activity, sharing information with fellow pranksters is fine but, keep prats in the dark”

“Rule number....”

Percy threw his arms in the air. “Oh, just shut it!”

Fred and George looked at one another and grinned as Percy stalked off.

-0-

Sirius stepped into his room and was surprised to see the that the right side of their room has been redecorated. Ron’s brothers sat on the two beds by the far right, instead of Dean and Seamus. “What’s going on?”

Ron rolled his eyes. “We’ve been asking these dolts the very same question for the past half hour. Apparently these two offered to switch rooms with Dean and Seamus.”

Fred grinned. “Amazingly, we didn’t even have to bribe them.”

Ron and Harry exchanged a grin, for they both knew all too well, the reason why their ex-roommates were so eager to leave. Fred and George have no idea what they have to face every morning, at the most ungodly hour too.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, “So you want me to switch rooms with Percy so y’all would be one big happy family?”

Ron looked at his brothers hopefully; for despite the fact that Percy was an annoying git, he was not half as annoying as one of his present roommates.

George made a face, “Hell NO!”

Fred grinned. “We just figured that this arrangement would work better if you agree with our proposal.”

George smirked. “If you don’t then we’ll have plenty of opportunity to convince you otherwise.”

Sirius looked questioningly at Harry and Ron, but both looked equally baffled.

Fred nodded towards the Zonko’s professional set on Sirius’ bedside. “Think about this Sirius, your Zonko’s Professional Set, your twisted mind, as well as finesse in potions and charms, together with our creative inventions, unmatched genius, as well as other hidden resources.”

George grinned. “Hogwarts will never see a finer combination of magical mischief makers.”

Ron and Harry looked at one another and groaned. Ron mumbled, “And now there’s three...”

Sirius smiled as he saw the possibilities of this arrangement. “We’ll need a name, and Harry’s in too...He’s my venerable partner-in-crime.”

Fred and George stared at Harry in surprise.

"You know Fred, just when you thought you have someone figured out...”

Fred nodded. “...then they surprise you.”

George began to contemplate on Sirius' idea, “Ah yes a name. It should be name that will sow mystery and fear”

“The birth of a new breed of pranksters.”

Sirius nodded. “We’ll be the connoisseur of wizarding nonsense”

Harry jumped up and shouted, “Spawn!”

All four pair of eyes turned to Harry in confusion. The messy haired boy explained. “Secret Pranksters Association for Wizarding Nonsense.”

-0-

Behind the closed curtains in his bunk, Sirius pulled out his quill and a familiar leather book: Summoning Aris Black.

Hello my lad
Don’t summon your dad
For he’s still mad
That you’ve landed on Gryffindor’s pad

Sirius sighed and shook his head: I just want to know if the voices within these pages are truly yours or my dad’s?

Our souls have gone and passed
All that is left are essence that will last

Aris could you please speak in proper English?

All Black patriarchs wear the ring
Till death, to their fingers does it cling
The ring will copy their minds and essence
Upon their ends give to this book a presence

Sirius sighed: Why do I even bother asking ... So are you saying that this is not truly you, but your memories and personalities perfectly captured till the moment of your death

Very perceptive of you my boy
Your understanding gives me great joy

Tell me about Black Isle.

To the Family it is lost
Nothing more than a ghost
It awaits a worthy heir
Four rings he will snare

Aris, you’re speaking in riddles here:

Alas I cannot tell you more
You yourself must find that door

What are you talking about? Aris! Don’t leave me in the dark here.

One you’ve already met
But you must complete the set
My child you are not ready yet

Sirius sighed, seeing that he wouldn’t get any more answers from Aris. He closed the book.

- End of Chapter 6 -

EDITED BY: Bunny T AND Orlaith

Chapter 7 �“ Seidon the Kelpie

It was 5:18 in the morning, and a boy lay awake on his bed. He sighed and stared at the ceiling above. Sirius Black was bored, and he couldn’t do anything about it. He wondered why he had agreed to Harry's proposal; Why had he agreed to stay quiet until breakfast time? Sirius grumbled and contemplated on what he ought to do for the next few hours. He pulled the curtains of his bunk aside, and was surprised to see a single sheet of paper by his bureau. His eyes searched the room; it seemed that all his roommates received a similar note. He shrugged and began to read the contents of the note:

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

North, South, East and West

Earth, Air, Fire and Water

In Nature United but Diversified

Such power within them personified

Beware of them my friends and colleagues, beware.

The horses of darkness are the symbol they share

The four dark horses of apocalypse and the serpent

All of them known to be powerful and extremely violent

The hidden Thestrals who restore to death those who escaped

The dark Unicorn ensures that violence and pain is your fate

The Hinoemas, in chaos and destruction do they revel

The Kelpies who tempt and betray at the highest level

Dark creatures, dark family

Stay away from them for the sake of your sanity

Our clan is nearly destroyed

Dark tricks and tactics the Blacks have employed.

This was written by Jordan Whithen back in the 16th century. The Blacks were strong then, and by the 1650's, the Whithens were completely wiped out. We foolishly ignored their warnings. We let ourselves be blinded by the glamour and regality of the Blacks. We ignored evidences that had strongly linked the Blacks to Grindlewald. We therefore allowed the Blacks to once again betray, bring about death, pain, and destruction in the War with You-Know-Who. Never Again! For we now know the true nature of the Blacks.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Sirius bit his lower lip, and stared at the pamphlet. He had thought that he had overcome all the prejudices ... well, at least in his house... but, he could no longer deny the fact: people would always hate him because of his name. He stared at the closed curtains that surrounded the bunks of his sleeping roommates and dreaded what was to come. He stood up and decided to go find another place to be alone and wallow in his misery.

The school was empty at this time of the morning; Sirius found solace on a covered bridge way between two of the school's many towers. Large arch-shaped windows covered every four feet of this stone bridge way and allowed the sunlight to spread its warmth onto the whole corridor. Sirius Black sat on one of the window ledges, but the sun did nothing to warm the coldness he felt in his heart. He stared at the glistening lake below and smiled slightly at the sight of a black horse galloping freely by the distant shore.

Some distance away, Remus Lupin also watched the lake; he frowned at the sight before him, closed the windows, and turned to leave his room. He would be a bit too early for the faculty meeting, but he believed that the headmaster should be informed immediately of this dire news. Remus, however, chanced upon a sad looking boy who sat on the window ledge.

“Morning, Sirius.”

The boy looked up, startled that someone would be strolling by this area of the castle at this hour of the morning. “Professor Lupin?”

Remus Lupin gave the boy concerned look, “Is anything the matter? Did you and Mr. Potter have another disagreement?”

Sirius shook his head and continued to stare at the lake below.

Remus sighed and took a seat on the window ledge, opposite to Sirius.

"When I first went to Hogwarts I was afraid to make friends I thought I didn’t deserve them, because of my ... uhm... condition. And when I finally did, I was afraid that they would abandon and despise me should they find out the truth about my condition ..."

Sirius looked to his left and stared at the History Professor.

“But they accepted me, they accepted even the darker parts of my lineage. I could never ask for better friends. True friends will accept you for the whole of you.”

Sirius closed his eyes, pulled out the piece of paper, and waved his wand as it floated towards the perceptive Professor. Remus took the paper, and read its content.

Across from him, Sirius continued to stare at the waters below, “I befriended a kelpie yesterday. I'm not even afraid of him, and I now wear a symbol of that friendship. Does the fact that I got along with a dark creature, mean that I’m a dark wizard? And what if darkness is truly in my blood?”

Remus frowned, for the kelpie was the reason he had wished to seek the headmaster. He watched the boy at the opposite side of him; memories of the words uttered long ago by another messy haired boy, one who dared to maintain a friendship with him. The brave lad had fully known about Remus' condition, yet he was not afraid. That boy was gone now, but Remus found warmth and strength as he repeated the words the boy had spoken. It felt as though the past seamlessly blended to the present.

"Someone once told me that people fear what they don't understand. Creatures that evade our present understanding are immediately labeled as dark. Dark Creatures are merely some of the most misunderstood creatures of all. It's a pity that no one is willing to make an effort to truly find out the nobility shrouded under all those prejudice. As for your other concern, trust me, dark wizards are not determined by their blood, but by the choices they make. History shows us that the most dangerous and the darkest wizards can even come from families known to serve the light."

Sirius turned his head towards the older man, "Who said that?"

Remus smiled sadly, "An old friend of mine." He stared upon the horizon as he remembered James Potter.

"So Seidon and his kind are most likely just misunderstood, because people gave too much credit to myths and old wives tales. Moreover, I shouldn’t really care about what ignorant people think of me.” He cocked his head and gave his professor a small smile.

“Seidon?”

Sirius explained as he pointed to the lake below, “He’s a kelpie. That’s him down there. Come on Professor Lupin, I'm sure he'd like to meet you.” His eyes sparkled, and there was no trace of the loneliness and gloom that was evident, just a few minutes ago.

“Maybe later, right now I’m due for a faculty meeting.”

Sirius slumped back onto the ledge, disappointed.

Remus gave the boy a kind smile, “The meeting will be over by 8:30, and I’d be glad to meet Seidon after breakfast.”

Sirius’ eyes twinkled, and a mischievous smile lighted upon his face.

Remus shook his head, he was amazed at how quickly the boy changed his moods.

“Will Snivellus also be in that meeting?”

“Snivellus? Remus blinked, "Who's Snivellus?” he asked.

Sirius realized what he had let slip, and bit his lower lip, “Ummm...I meant Professor Snape.” He closed his eyes and prayed that he did not put himself in any trouble.

Remus chuckled. "Yes Professor Severus Snape will also be in that meeting. But I should warn you, after that unfortunate incident with the blue feathers, he now locks the potions dungeon room. That room is further protected by a Bubonic Ward."

“A Bubonic Ward?”

“Turns the skin black and bloated, I hear that it can also be quite itchy,” Remus explained.

Sirius stared, “Is he allowed to do that?” His surprise evident from his voice.

“Unfortunately, yes. He should, after all safeguard the potion ingredients in that dungeon. However, there's no need to worry about the ward causing irreparable damage. Madame Pomfrey has already prepared the cures and has them at hand. The dear lady however, is very much against Professor Snape's extreme methods."

Sirius smiled, he had heard plenty about the nurse's over protective manner when it came to Hogwart's students, "I'll bet she told him off good."

Remus Lupin chucked at the memory, "If I remember correctly, her exact words were 'I hope that ward of yours hits you before it does any of our students!' I’ll see you later, Mr. Black.”

Professor Lupin stood up and left. Sirius watched the lake below as his kelpie friend frolicked by the waters. A wicked smile crossed his face, for Sirius Black was once again 'up to no good'.

-0-

Sirius had just used the Summoning Charm to send for his Zonko's professional set. He grinned and began to pick out the items of his choice. Beside him a black stallion cocked its head in bemusement. Sirius grinned, "All set. Don't forget to re-open the portal after 20 minutes."

The horse changed to his human form and shook his head. “I still don’t see the point for all this.”

Sirius patiently explained, “The points are: First, Snivellus is a git and second, pranking is fun.”

The kelpie narrowed his eyes, for he sensed two people headed their way, "A pair of humans are coming."

Sirius turned around and grinned, for the ones Seidon had sensed, were none other than the Weasley twins

“Hey Sirius, we saw your Zonko set fly out of the room.”

“Figured you’re up to something.”

“Quite rude of you not to invite us to join your fun.”

“Who’s your friend?”

The kelpie, in human form stared at the two red haired boys suspiciously. The twins in turn, raised their eyebrows at the stranger’s unfriendly manner.

Sirius placed his arm around the taller dark haired boy by his side, “Relax Seidon, these are friends of mine." He gestured towards the general direction of the two red-haired boys, "may I introduce Fred and George Weasley, my fellow pranksters. Fred and George this is Seidon, a noble creature who now guards this lake.”

The kelpie lifted his chin and smiled for he liked Sirius’ description. “A pleasure to meet the two of you. Friends of Sirius are welcome to join us.”

“Creature?” The twins stared at the boy in front of them in bewilderment, for the boy looked perfectly normal.

“I’m a kelpie.”

Fred and George's jaws dropped in surprise.

Sirius smiled, “I’ll explain later, right now Seidon’s going to help us enter the Potions Dungeon, despite the wards that a certain large nosed git placed onto the doors and windows.” He motioned the twins to come closer towards the lake shore.

The kelpie gave the three a thoughtful look. “Mind if I watch, while you go about this human ritual?”

“But I thought you can’t keep the portal open for over a minute, and that you won’t be able to open another one without a body of water nearby.”

The kelpie walked towards the lake and swirled his finger into the clear blue waters.

Sirius was surprised to see a view of the dungeons, he looked at the kelpie in awe. “That’s a totally rad spying pool.”

“Kelpies do not spy. This trick is mostly used for us to get a good view of our destination before we jump in. It’s important to look before you jump, especially when it comes to portal traveling.” Seidon tossed his head back indignantly.

“Seidon my friend, it seems you still have a lot to learn on how to have fun.” Fred shook his head at the kelpie.

The kelpie ignored him and changed back into a stallion, he trotted further into the lake. The horse reared back and made a huge splash on the water. The water flew upwards and started to swirl, the whirling waters cleared a bit and revealed the potions room. Sirius grinned and jumped into the portal, the twins followed closely behind.

-0-

A dark haired man with a slightly hooked nose glared angrily at the sandy haired one across from him, “That is a preposterous idea Lupin! I would have thought that you’d know better than to listen to a foolish boy," he sneered, "Those creatures are not to be trusted.”

Remus Lupin sighed for he had expected this reaction, “Severus, historically speaking, nothing good has ever come about whenever there was an attempt to drive a kelpie away from its chosen habitat. When threatened, those creatures are known to turn to malice, and they will lash out to all, regardless of age, sex and disposition. We cannot afford that. We would be putting the students in danger.”

Severus Snape growled, “Those creatures do not need incentive to turn to malice. Why do you think they're referred to as 'Dark Creatures'?" dark eyes glinted maliciously, "Then again you're also ...”

Minerva McGonagall stood up to interrupt, “Kelpies are magical creatures that are often categorized as dark creatures. Remus has a point. Most kelpies will not act against human beings until provoked." She sighed, "But the problem is, we know not what provokes these creatures."

"We should however note, that there are plenty of Muggle settlementsthat haveremained unharmed, despite sharing a lake with a kelpie. We have the means to arrange an understanding with the creature, I believe we should take it. This is by far the most peaceful way to handle the situation," Remus argued.

The Deputy Head Mistress frowned, Although she saw the History Professor's point, there was one detail in his plan that she was not comfortable with. "However, I don’t feel it unnecessary to involve the child. Sirius Black, may be an annoyance that I would personally wish to be rid of, but I can not willingly throw him into the middle of a dangerous situation.”

Filius Flitwick's voiced his agreement, “That child is definitely brilliant, although he is not a mere annoyance; he is a major annoyance. I swear even James Potter was never this much trouble.” His brows furrowed as he thought about the troublesome pest.

Most of the faculty members nodded in agreement.

Albus Dumbledore cleared his throat, "Gentlemen, ladies, we are straying from the topic. Unfortunately Minerva, kelpies are suspicious by nature, and Sirius is our best chance to make the creature listen. Professor Lupin has already discovered that the boy has befriended this particular kelpie."

Snape glared darkly at the group, "This is a mistake." He crossed his arms and muttered, "Even the Dark Lord himself, does not wish to deal with those creatures. They're powerful, unpredictable and dangerous." He looked up and glared at no one in particular "What I want to know is: How did this creature get past the magical ward that has protected our lake from their kind? The ward that has served us well for so long."

Flitwick frowned as he thought about the ancient spell, "That ward should have prevented kelpies from seeing or sensing the lake, it is very likely that someone unwitting led the creature there," he paused to contemplate then added, "I suspect that someone had to be Mr. Black."

"I knew that boy was trouble," Snape grumbled.

-0-

The sun continued to shine brightly upon Hogwarts. By the lake shoreline, three figures rolled over with laughter. A taller and older boy, stood a few feet away as he stared at the three. Seidon raised an eyebrow and frowned, “I still don’t understand how pranking can be fun.”

Sirius and the twins looked at one another, each tried to figure out the best way to explain the art of pranking to the kelpie. The creature obviously had not yet discovered a sense of humor.

“Okay Seidon, imagine this ...” Sirius started to explain, “Snivellus will pull down the Bubonic Ward before he enters ...”

The twins looked to one another in confusion, “Snivellus?”

Sirius smirked, “Professor Snape.” The twins once again rolled with laughter.

“As I was saying, Snivellus will pull down his ward and enter. Then, BLAM! The second ward, which we created from that duplicating spell, will hit him! Everyone would think that old Snivellus was simply dumb enough to walk straight into his own ward; that the addled-brain twit forgot to pull it down. Best of all, Madame Pomfrey would never let him live it down.”

"Imagine how silly he'll look with lavender hair too. The dye that we spiked his shampoo with will last 60 hours..." Fred grinned as he imagined the scene.

George gave an identical evil grin, "Of course he'll likely attempt to cover his hair with his bowler hat. The hat which we charmed to turn glittery pink and feathery 15 minutes after he puts it on, that is..."”

Sirius let out his familiar bark-like laugh. “And that’s only for Snivellus alone. The Slytherins, are of course, not forgotten...”

“No, never the Slytherins,” Fred drawled as he wiggled his eyebrows knowingly.

George excitedly hopped from one foot to another, “The Weasley Tail Growth Formula planted on their seats will ensure that they’ll be in for a big surprise.”

Seidon frowned, “I don’t think they’ll be happy about those gifts you’ve left.” The kelpie was now more confused than ever.

“Seidon. They’re not supposed to be happy, but it’s supposed to be funny for everyone else.” Sirius sighed at the kelpie's inability to understand.

The kelpie stared and gave them a blank expression.

Fred shook his head. “Sirius, you might be going about this the wrong way. I’ll do the explaining." He turned towards the horse and attempted to clarify matters. "Look Seidon, what do kelpies do for fun? I mean, activities that involve others, not just of you running and galloping about alone.”

Seidon cocked his head to his right, “Well, we do feel a strong sense of satisfaction whenever we drown the irreverent humans who dare to attempt to pollute our waters.” He tossed his head proudly and scanned the area for humans, who were foolish enough toharm his lake.

Fred and George’s jaws dropped simultaneously.

“Okay Seidon, imagine this; you wish to get on the nerves of someone, but you’re not allowed to drown him. You don’t have a purpose or aim for this stunt, except for a bit of satisfaction, or a laugh. What would you do?” Sirius asked.

Seidon looked thoughtful for a moment. “Get him wet? Humans do not like getting drenched.”

Sirius smiled, for it’s a start, “I know that kelpies are creatures of great cunning and creativity. So do you have a particular tactic in mind?”

The kelpie lifted his head up high, for flattery was something he enjoyed and complied with well. “I’d fill his room with water.”

Fred jumped up enthusiastically, “By George! I think we have a very promising student here! Who should we give the honor to be the recipient of this ingenious prank?”

“I think this would be perfect for dear Professor Quirell. Heaven knows that the Defense Against Dark Arts classroom needs to wash off all that garlicky smell.” George grinned and rubbed his hands in anticipation.

“Not to mention the fact that the water just might sweep off that turban of his,” Sirius added.

-0-

Back in the Gryffindor Tower, a not so merry scene unfolded. Harry Potter marched down toward the common room with a familiar pamphlet at hand, Ron Weasley right behind him.

Harry knew what it is like to be ostracized and to have no friends. Before he came to Hogwarts, people at his old school made fun of him and basically treated him badly, because everyone there had feared Dudley and his gang. Harry did not want Sirius to go through the same thing. The least he could do as a friend was to try to put a stop to all this.

His eyes narrowed as he spotted his target, “Neville! I know that you don’t like him, but this is downright low!.”

The slightly chubby boy across the room jumped, when he heard Harry’s accusation.

Harry felt all eyes turned towards them. Harry never liked all the attention he received, and knew that when he started a scene like this would only make things worse. But he felt the need to do this, for he knew that no one else would stand up to defend Sirius.

Neville stared at Harry, “Harry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Shock was evident in his eyes.

Harry glared at the other boy and shoved and pamphlet at him, "You mean to say that you have no idea how this has ended up on every bedside table in this House. The same pamphlet you've shown us on the train ride here. Everyone knows how you feel about Sirius because of the things his parents have done; but you don't even know him! Sirius isn't anything like that!"

“Har-Harry, I-I didn’t... I mean I may not like Sirius Black but...but I didn’t do this...” The boy looked utterly miserable, "...I wouldn't..." he stuttered

Ron Weasley glowered at the slightly chubby boy,“I guess I shouldn’t expect much. Given the cowardly nature of this act, the coward responsible will NOT likely admit.”

Hermione placed her hands on her hips, “Neville said he didn’t do it! Unless either of you have proof otherwise, you can’t throw accusations like that! Have you not heard the term 'innocent until proven guilty'!” She glared at Harry and Ron angrily.

Neville gratefully acknowledged the girl.

Ron opened his mouth to throw back another retort, but he was interrupted by a familiar voice.

“It’s alright guys. What he and the other gits like him think, doesn’t matter to me. What matters, is what my true friends believe.”

Harry and Ron turned around and saw that Sirius, Fred and George stood by the Common room opening.

Ron gaped at the three, “How long were you guys standing there?”

“Long enough to hear Harry say that I’m not anything like my parents andlong enough to hear you defending me as well. Although I’m surprised Weasley, I thought you hated me as much as Longbottom does.”

Ron shrugged, “Like you said Black, we are who we choose to be.”

Sirius gave the other boy a look of confusion, “I don’t remember saying that.”

“Actually it’s Harry’s more understandable translation of your ‘lowly, low and lower’ speech the other night,” Ron explained with a grin.

Fred gestured to the open doorway. “So you guys up for breakfast? We can brief you on our recent activities, as well as our new honorary member.”

“We’d better hurry up so Fred and I can get ready to leave for Hogsmeade. By the way, is there anything you guys want us to get while we’re there?” George added in.

Sirius smirked, “Last one to the breakfast hall is a greasy haired git!”

Harry and Ron laughed and ran out. The halls of Hogwarts rang with laughter as the five boys raced towards the breakfast hall.

-0-

The breakfast hall is now full with students from all the different houses, the Gryffindor table buzzed with discussions on the morning's incident. Feelings were mixed, some admired the strong bonds of friendship that was developed, others feared that ‘the-boy-who-lived’ just made a big mistake by trusting a Black too much. Neville Longbottom miserably sat down on one end of the table with Hermione Granger by his side. On the other end, sat five boys; they were too engrossed in their own conversation, their laughter rang loudly across the room; the stares they received were entirely ignored.

After the morning's pranks were recounted; Sirius, Fred, and George moved on to discuss the design they would like to use for their ‘S.P.A.W.N.’ calling cards. Ron rolled his eyes at the direction of the three, and gave his copy of the Daily Prophet to Harry, “Look here, it says that Gringotts has been infiltrated but nothing was stolen, for the vault targeted was emptied a couple of days before the attempted burglary. My brother Bill told me it was Dumbledore’s vault.”

Harry eyebrows rose, he remembered the small brown paper bag Hagrid had taken out of the vault during their Diagon Alley visit. He then proceeded to tell Ron all about this. Both had decided to ask Hagrid about the package later, when they have their tea with the half-giant.

-0-

As the three boys walked towards the large shack of Hogwart’s ground keeper, Harry silently recounted the afternoon's events. He was still unable to believe that the kelpie actually had dared to create a portal above Professor Lupin and Headmaster Dumbledore’s head. The portal was used to drench the two adults with a deluge of fresh lake water. Seidon claimed that he merely followed 'human traditions' his exact words were: “When with humans, do as human does.”

Harry smiled; Sirius and the twins were definitely a bad influence on the kelpie. Sirius just laughed, thinking the kelpie's antics funny. Fortunately for everyone present, Professor Lupin and the Headmaster were just as amused.

Hagrid apparently saw them coming; the giant of a man stood by the doorway waiting. His face was almost completely hidden by his long, shaggy mane of hair as well as a wild, tangled beard, but they could still make out his eyes, which merrily glinted like black beetles under all the hair. “Ey! Harry! Glad yeh could make it! Come in yeh all! Got cauldron cakes ready fer yeh. Tea is brewing too.”

Harry and Ron sat on the table and pretended to enjoy Hagrid’s rock hard cauldron cakes. Sirius on the other hand was preoccupied, he laughed and wrestled with Hagrid’s giant boar-hound, Fangs.

“Hagrid, have you heard about Gringotts? I hear that the vault targeted was the same one that we...”

Hagrid jumped up, “Harry. Don’t. Fer yer own sake don’t even think about it. Ferget what yeh saw. And just trust Dumbledore on this.” Panic was evident on the half-giant's eyes.

Ron and Harry looked at one another, still unable to figure out this puzzle, but their curiosity now fully piqued.

Hagrid attempted to change the subject, “I’ve heard ye’ve met that magnifecent creature by de lake. If it's not too much, could yeh do me a favor? I’d would like teh see him as well.” His large black eyes shined at the thought of meeting the creature.

Ron grinned at Harry, both of them knew full well how this would end up. “Hey Sirius! Hagrid would like to meet Seidon!”

“Hagrid, I should warn you though, that kelpie had somehow acquired a weird idea on the proper way to greet new acquaintances,” Harry's eyes glinted merrily as he imagined the outcome.

From his position on the floor, Sirius shook his head. “I wonder where that kelpie gets his ideas.”

Harry and Ron raised their eyebrows toward their friend.

Sirius in turn gave them an innocent smile, which would have been believable had Harry and Ron not known better.

-0-

Sirius leaned on his headboard, the now familiar leather chronicle in one hand, a quill on the other. Sirius was not in the mood for any more of Orion's lectures, but neither did he wished to seek more of Aris' headache-causing riddles. Sirius was about to summon the only remaining choice when his curtains were pulled back.

The startled boy looked up and saw a very excited George, “Sirius old pal! Since you were so kind as to allow us to join you in the morning's festivities, we thought we ought to return the favor.” the red haired boy simultaneously handed Sirius a handful of cards. “Oh, we had the cards made. Now we can make sure that we get full credit for all the pranks we’re about to pull - and not the detentions that go with it.”

At the center of the cards were menacing red eyes that gleamed with internal fire, and below it was 'S.P.A.W.N' typed in blood-red ink. Printed in a smaller print at the back of the card was ‘Secret Pranksters Association for Wizarding Nonsense’. What Sirius found notable however was the color chosen for the cards.

“Pink?”

"It’s every respectable prankster’s color of choice!” Fred bounded onto Sirius’ bed.

Ron and Harry reluctantly followed the overly enthusiastic twin.

Sirius shook his head and laughed. “So what are we up to?”

“Our baby brother here, still has to prove himself worthy to become a member of our prestigious organization.” Fred hopped off the bed gleefully and started to mess-up with Ron's hair.

Ron frowned and took a step away from his brother. “Look guys I’m not interested in helping you turn this school upside down.”

“Excellent idea Ron! But, let’s start with the dining hall for now,” Sirius jumped off his bed and grinned.

Harry’s jaw dropped. “And how do you plan to do that?”

Sirius’ eyes once again twinkled with mischief, “The Floatation Charm and then the Permanent Sticking Charm!” he answered.

“You are seriously thinking of using the permanent sticking charm to stick the tables onto the ceiling?” Ron’s eyes widened, as he stared at his insane friend.

Sirius smirked, “Of course I’m Siriusly thinking about it.”

Harry, Ron, Fred, and George groaned at the tired old pun.

Harry attempted to tone down Sirius' enthusiasm. “Sirius, I don’t think we need a permanent sticking charm when a normal sticking charm will do.”

"Have you guys forgotten that it’s past curfew? Filch and Mrs. Norris are circling the grounds at this very moment; not to mention we would likely to be caught by the teachers,” Ron protested.

George turned to his twin, “Show them the map Fred.”

Fred unrolled an old piece of parchment then pointed his wand on it. “I solemnly swear that I’m up to no good.”

The three first years were surprised to see a map of Hogwarts with small moving red dots on it.

“This is the Marauders map. George and I swiped this from Filch’s office. It showed us plenty of secret passageways... among other things. Pointing your wand on the red dots will reveal who’s wandering in that area. All we have to do is avoid those red dots. " George explained.

Sirius grabbed the map and studied it. “Cool! Let’s try out some secret passageways!”

Harry, the twins and Ron looked at one another, amazed at how their friend can be so easily distracted.

“Aren’t we supposed to pull a prank?” Ron asked.

Sirius shrugged and grinned, “We can do it all!”

Harry gave Sirius a firm look. “No Sirius. We can check out the passageways tomorrow. There’s no need for us to sneak around in the middle of the night and run the risk of getting caught unnecessarily.”

Sirius started to protest, “But...” He however saw that he wasn't likely to change the minds of his friends, thus he relented. “Okay then ... let’s go have a little spawn-type fun! Hey, maybe we can also place a sticking charm on the Slyhterins' seats as well. So when the teachers return the tables and chairs onto their proper place...”

Fred grinned, "Phase 2 will take over."

"Operation Sticky Situation is ready to commerce!" George pumped his fist high up in the air enthusiastically.

The five boys left the room, their voices softly echoed through the halls.

"Can I use the permanent sticking charm?"

"NO!"

"I meant on the Slytherins' seat."

"NO!"

"Spoilsport..."

-0-

Late that night the five boys slept peacefully. The moonlight cast a slight silhouette into the room. It revealed a familiar leather book that momentarily lay forgotten on one of the bedside tables. Small green hands reached out and carried the book silently out of the room.

- End of Chapter 7-

Next Chapter... Troll attack, the flying lessons, answers on the Neville situation, and my personal favourate: 'Operation Snivellus Vampirous'.

Black Chronicles

Acknowledgements:
First of all I would like to thank Orlaith and AbnormallyAbnormal for editing this chapter

Special thanks to SeriousSiriusFan for Operation Snivellus Vampirous.

Chapter 8 �“ House Divided

On his hand was a conical glass artefact with green sand inside. He flipped it over to examine the familiar brass dial at the bottom. The artefact began to glow and he felt it slip through his fingers. A soft green light surrounded him; cold yet comforting, it was as if it promised him a better time. A better fate.

“SIRIUS!”

A few feet away he saw Regulus desperately reach out for him, but this was not the Regulus he remembered. This Regulus was older, far older and Sirius felt the sadness and regret that emanated from the man. He tried to reach out and take his brother with him, but he grasped only air.

“Regulus!”

The light cleared and Sirius was once again alone in the dark room. Fog rose from the old wooden floorboards beneath his feet. The fog grew thicker until Sirius could not even see his hands in front of him. He heard strong footsteps
that seemed vaguely familiar coming from his right. The fog slowly cleared as his turned towards the source of those footsteps. He was no longer in a room but upon a dark rocky plain, and in front of him was his father.

“Dad?”

“You are a disgrace! A traitor to all that the Blacks stand for! You’ve ruined the Black family name!”

“That name has already been ruined. My being in Gryffindor has nothing to do with it!”

“Power and ambition has always been what being a Black is all about. You had a chance to redeem our family and remind everyone of that fact, and you’ve failed.”

From a distance Sirius could hear Lucius’ voice: “You remember, boy, that NOBODY wants you. Even that blood traitor cousin of yours, Andromeda, wants nothing to do with you because you’re far worse than a blood traitor! You’re filth! The whole wizard community wants nothing to do with you!”

Sirius turned around and ran until he came upon a man, who had his back turned from Sirius. The man’s right hand softly stroked the soft mane of a dark horse with a single spiky horn on its forehead, his left had laid upon the creature’s neck in an affectionate manner. This man was young yet he possessed a quiet and dignified air about him, his attire was reminiscent of the renaissance era.

“Nathaniel?”

"There was a time when a Black was not dark: power and ambition did not define us. Power, we’ve always had, Aris’s gift, as I have foolishly called it. I tried to understand why we were chosen and the root of it all... The rest of my family embraced and guarded it jealously, they lusted for it... I never saw this coming ... I was a fool, it was not a gift - it’s a curse. Power corrupts, it had made us strong, yet it can destroy us...” The man sighed. “... It had killed me.”

The man turned around and Sirius gasped as he saw blood running from a stab wound on Nathaniel’s chest. A dagger was still embedded on his chest; it contained the Black family crest. “His blood runs in your veins. Will you be strong? Will you be able to fight the darkness that has enveloped them all? Best it be destroyed, else it destroys you!”

Sirius stepped back in fear, “I’m not like them! Please, I don’t want to be...”

It has come; the fate of the Blacks hangs in a balance
Dear Sirius, to darkness or to light will you dance
With you, I believe light has a better chance

Sirius was relieved to hear a voice was at first unfamiliar to his ear but strangely felt recognizable at the same time as well. “Aris!” The elderly Greek ancestor sat atop a large black horse; the horse had eerie red eyes and smoke coming out of its nostrils.

One, you’ve already met
Will you have the strength to complete the set?
Or will darkness trap you within its net.
The outcome, I have to see yet.

Sirius stepped further back. “Please, stop the riddles and just tell me what I have to do!”

Secrets of the past
Unravel them you must
Seek them out, for it is your task
That’s all I ask, of the Black’s last

Sirius took another step back and felt himself fall into a deep abyss.

“SIRIUS!” This time it was Harry’s voice he heard, but he could not stop himself from falling deeper. A soft blue light appeared above him, Sirius saw that it was a portal with Seidon at the other end, his hands outstretched in an attempt to reach him. However Sirius still continued to fall. Suddenly a hideous creature of skin and bones with bat-like wings swooped towards him.

Sirius woke up with a start, his shirt dampened with sweat. He breathed in deeply and tried to forget the nightmares. Maybe he should stay away from that book for a while; he reached toward his bureau and was surprised to find that the book was missing. Sirius frowned and started under his bed and bureau but still found nothing.

He looked around and saw that his roommates were still asleep. His eyes narrowed towards the right side of the room where the Weasley Twins slept, the two most probable suspects. Sirius smiled evilly. 'The twins will be in for a scare,' he thought.

-0-

“You can’t be serious?”

Sirius looked solemnly at George, “I am serious and I don’t mean Sirius. Of course that theory has not been tested in centuries, and the last thief only had the book for 12 hours.”

Fred looked shocked, “But I thought the ministry banned those sort of protection spells.”

“You forgot, that the book is ancient, it was created before there were such rules, so hand it over ... I don’t want it in my conscience when you guys lose the ability to have children,” Sirius smirked for the twins obviously believed his wild story.

George shook his head “A eunuch ... I’m curious though...What if the one who stole it is a girl?”

“I for one hope Snape took it, although it would be interesting if Percy was the one.” Fred said as he stiffled a laugh.

Both twins rolled over with laughter.

Sirius eyed them calmly, “Time is a-wasting you two... Just hand it over before...”

George’s eyes widened, “It wasn’t us!”

A pillow suddenly flew towards their direction. “Black! Fred! George! Shut up you blistering morons! People are trying to sleep here! It’s a Sunday morning! Go talk loudly someplace else!”

Behind close curtains, Harry moaned, “Thanks a lot Ron. I think you should follow your own advice.”

“Don’t blame us!” Fred raised his hands in protest.

“Sirius was looking for this cursed book of his...”

Harry groaned, “Have any one of you ever heard of this THING called ‘the Summoning Charm’?”

Sirius grinned, “Good Idea!” He was about to raise his wand when Fred stopped him. “No wait! I want to know who’ll end up a eunuch. Let’s use a locating charm instead.”

Sirius smirked, “No one’s going to become a eunuch. I made that story up.”

“You WHAT?”

Harry and Ron groaned at the loud ‘crash’ that was heard on the right side of their room. For both Weasley twins jumped on Sirius Black and a mock scuffle ensured.

-0-

Neville Longbottom sighed and wondered where he went wrong. He had thought Harry and Ron to be his friends. After all, they had both stood up for him against Draco Malfoy, but now Sirius Black had turned both boys against him. Neville may not have proof, but he knew that the Blacks were famous for their cunning. Sirius Black must have framed him but for what purpose? And why him?

Neville thought hard on this and decided that it was maybe because his family was the modern-day enemies of the Blacks. His parents were the ones who gathered enough evidence to expose the family’s strong involvement with You-Know-Who. His late grandmother was a journalist, and had never been afraid to tell the truth on the atrocities committed by the Blacks.

Neville pulled open his curtains and was surprised to see an unfamiliar book on his bureau. He gasped as he saw the Black family crest on it, he reached out and hesitated, however curiosity won out. He flipped the book open only to find it empty. A beam of light suddenly entered the room and landed on the book.

“This way everyone!”

The door slammed open, standing by the recently opened doorway were two identical boys with bright red hair, one of them held a wand from which the beam of light originated. Behind them were three other boys.

“Great! Not only is he a coward, but a thief as well,” Ron hissed.

Sirius Black marched into the room and grabbed the book away from Neville.

Neville jumped up to defend himself. “I didn’t take it! I found it on my bureau!” He lifted his hand and pointed at Sirius Black, “He must have planted it here. Can’t any of you see he’s manipulating you! He wants to turn you all against me.”

“You’re pathetic, you know that Longbottom?” Sirius drawled and raised his wand, “And I have this great urge to...”

Harry placed a hand on Sirius’ shoulder, “Sirius, don’t. Let’s just get out of here.”

Fred glared at Neville, “Longbottom, the only one who’s turning people against you is yourself.”

“We’re not letting him get away with this, are we?” Ron protested.

George supported his brother, “Yeah, we ought to hex him or something.”

Harry spent his life being clouted by Dudley and bullied by both Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon; after being the tail end of such treatments, he had vowed he would not be anything like them. Five against one were not fair odds, so Harry decided to take a higher ground. He hoped to convince his already angered roommates to do the same.

“We shouldn’t stoop ourselves to his level.” However, Harry saw that his roommates were not going to back off easily, he decided to use a different tactic, “...besides I’m not in a hurry to lose house points.”

“You’re right, Longbottom is not worth it,” Ron relented; Fred and George nodded in agreement.

As the five boys left, Sirius Black turned around and smiled. “You got off easy for now Longbottom, ’till the next time then...” He turned back towards the door and sauntered off.

Neville felt all his roommates’ curious eyes on him as he suppressed a shudder, for Sirius Black had just thrown a threat; Neville Longbottom was terrified.

-0-

Severus Snape was not having a good day. He wished he could wipe off that smug expression on Madam Pomfrey’s face. However, he knew that he should not say anything at present, for the hag would likely refuse to treat him if he managed to offend her too much. Severus growled; it was bad enough that Lupin was the one who found him unconscious, blackened and bloated in front of the dungeon. Lupin made things worse when he called Diggory to go and fetch Pomfrey. That Hufflepuff 4th year had probably told half the school by now. To say that this was a bad day for Severus Snape would be an understatement.

-0-

Albus Dumbledores eyes twinkled in amusement as the Slytherin students found themselves stuck on their chairs. A few minutes earlier, everyone had been surprised to find all the tables and chairs stuck to the ceiling. He chuckled merrily.

A soggy Professor Quirrel had entered the hall earlier with his turban in disarray, his hands held the dilapidated turban in place. The Defense Against Dark Arts Professor was hysterical, and stuttered about the school being under attack by a malevolent spirit named Spawn; the spirit that tried to drown him and attacked Professor Snape as well. Albus held in his hand, a small pink card; he flipped the card over and chuckled. Beside him, Minerva McGonagall stared at him incredulously, and some distance away Remus Lupin attempted to hold back his laughter.

-0-

This Sunday night was not the usual quiet night at Hogwarts. Students congregated in their common rooms to discuss the activities of this new secret club, as well as speculate on the identities of its members. Meanwhile, inside his quarters, Professor Severus Snape stared at the mirror and screamed in frustration.

-0-

Ron’s head was on his pillow and he counted all the tiny cracks on the ceiling. A particular pesky roommate interrupted him in mid-count.

“Hey guys, I have an idea!”

Ron groaned and grumbled, “No Permanent Sticking Charms, Black.”

“I wasn’t going to suggest that. I was just thinking about how Quirrell is deathly afraid of vampires.”

This got Fred and George’s attention. “Are we going to fill his room with vampire bats?”

From his bunk, Sirius shook his head. “No, that lacks originality. We are going to make him and the rest of the gullible student body believe that Snivellus is one!”

“How are we going to do that?” Harry asked, curious to hear what Sirius was up to now.

Sirius smirked. “Fred and George will tell everyone that Snivellus is a vampire.”

George grinned as he caught on. “And all that grease on his hair is used to protect him from sunlight!”

Fred laughed as he got into the idea as well. “And how he sucks the blood of students assigned to detention with him, then uses an obliviating charm to make them forget the incident.”

Harry smiled as he too joined in. “After which the victims will forever be under the vampire’s control. Since Sirius just got detention with him last week, I’ll just say that he sometimes blacks out and acts out of character, especially
when Snape is around.”

“And Sirius would act like the model student that he isn’t during Potions, to further prove our point. We can also charm some bats to follow Snape around too,” Ron finished with a grin.

“Then Phase 2 of Operation Snivellus Vampirious can commence!” Sirius gave a bark-like laugh and rolled off his bed.

Ron blinked. “Phase 2?”

Sirius smirked. “Since when do my plans not have a Phase 2?”

-0-

Neville dreaded Monday mornings such as this. The first class of the day would be Potions with the Slytherins. To make matters worse, the feared five, as Neville now called Sirius and his group, were snickering all morning. Draco was at least a straight forward enemy; Sirius Black, on the other hand, was subtle and sly. Neville wondered what sort of dark trick the boy used to get the Sorting Hat to place him in Gryffindor. To make matters worse, he just heard a rumor that his most feared Professor might actually be a vampire. Hermione of course scoffed at the idea, but Neville vowed to himself, that he would avoid detentions with Snape.

Beside Neville, some third year students were deep in discussion.

“And those bats following him around, it’s like how minions pay tribute their vampire lord...”

Fred and George, when they had overheard the said discussion, could not help but toss in an insult of their own, “We’ve always thought that he’s slightly batty.”

-0-

As usual, Hermione Granger was the first student to arrive in class and she was surprised to see Professor Severus Snape wearing a fluffy pink hat with feather and glitter all over. It sort of reminded Hermione of those flamboyant things that Las Vegas Showgirls wore. “Professor? Why are you wearing...?”

Snape glared at the nosy girl in front of him, “The rule about not being allowed to wear a hat inside the classroom only applies to students, Miss Granger. Now take your seat before I deduct any points from Gryffindor.”

Hermione’s jaw dropped, but she quickly recovered and took her seat at the very front of the room. She then signalled all her fellow Gryffindors who entered, to shut up and not ask about Snape’s weird hat. The Slytherins who entered knew better than to ask, as they were often on the receiving end of the Potions Professor’s dark glares.

Sirius Black then sauntered in, followed by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Snape smirked evilly, “Mr. Black, I’m sure you’ve already heard from your cousin, from now on you will sit beside Mr. Malfoy, and I expect you to be on your best behavior.” Sirius was about to protest but he remembered his role for their vampire prank so he merely nodded, and proceeded towards the Slytherins’ side of the room. Students from both Gryffindor and Slytherin stared in shock, for they had expected for Sirius to at least protest. Somehow Sirius’ reaction only confirmed the rumors of Snape’s unnatural hold over the boy.

Sirius held back a curse as he sat down beside Draco, knowing that it would not take long before the ‘Weasley Tail Growth formula’ would also affect him. From across the room, Harry and Ron were holding back their laughter as one of Sirius’ pranks backfired on him.

-0-

Because this is the song that doesn’t end.
Yes it goes on and on my head.
Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was...

Albus Dumbledore was carrying a tray of honking daffodils and a chanting cheery blossom. Professor Sprout was quite delighted and eager when Dumbledore asked to keep these singing plants for himself. Albus hummed along with the plants when a small crowd of hysterical first years ran up to him. Albus raised an eyebrow, for half of them where sporting various types of tails.

“Headmaster, save us!”

“I’m too young to die!”

“I don’t want to end up his slave for eternity!”

“Professor Quirrel fainted and he’s still back there! He just might suck him dry!”

Albus looked around and saw Ron Weasley, who attempted to hold back his laughter; Harry Potter, who looked slightly guilty; and finally Sirius Black, who looked nonchalant and bored. However, the black dog-like tail that he now sported wagged merrily and therefore betrayed his mirth.

“Miss Granger, would you care to explain?”

Hermione bit her lower lip. “Sir, there’s a rumor going around that Professor Snape is a vampire.”

“What do you mean, a rumour! He is a vampire and we saw those teeth, so did poor Professor Quirrell and he...”

Hermione glared at the boy who interrupted and continued, “While we were bottling our potions, Quirrell came by and suddenly the guy fainted...”

“Snape must have cast some sort of vampire spell on him!”

“Do you mind?” Hermione glared at the crowd once again. “Snape turned towards us and asked someone to get Pomfrey. He had sharp animal-like fangs, and everyone screamed and ran out of the room. I don’t see why, except that he looked ridiculous with that pink head-dress and fangs. It’s probably the work of S.P.A.W.N.”

Albus Dumbledore’s blue eyes twinkled in amusement, but he held back a chuckle and smiled towards the gathered first years. “I assure everyone that Professor Snape is no vampire, and that our resident pranksters were merely keeping themselves busy. I advise all of you to hurry up and prepare for your first flying lessons.”

Draco Malfoy glared at the snickering Gryffindors, “Headmaster, what about these tails?”

“Step right up folks, get your 'Weasley Tail Growth Formula' over here! One of the official sponsors of S.P.A.W.N.’s extraordinary pranks. A mere 35 knuts!”

“We provide the counter solution as well for only 20 knuts!”

Albus Dumbledore smiled, as the Weasley twins were quick to set up a booth. Ron and Harry had already dragged Sirius Black towards the said booth.

“But I want to keep this tail!”

“No way, Black! That damn tail of yours wags too hard and it keeps hitting me on the leg.”

“But it’s MY tail!”

Albus Dumbledore smiled for he understood Sirius’ sentiments exactly. After all, a tail is not such a bad thing to have.

-0-

Sirius Black rolled over with laughter as Neville Longbottom fell off his broom and broke his wrist.

Harry glared at his friend, for it was not funny. Draco and the Slytherins joined in Sirius’ laughter.

Madam Hooch helped Neville to his feet. “Settle down everyone, I’ll take Mr. Longbottom to the hospital wing. The rest of you, please stay put and don’t try anything.”

When Hooch had left, Draco smugly walked over to Neville’s things and took the Remembrall. “I believe that fall might addle Longbottom’s fragile brains even more. I wonder how he’ll survive without this.”

Harry marched over to Draco. “Hand it back over Draco. That doesn’t belong to you.”

Draco Malfoy grinned evilly, “Come and get it if you can, Potter.” He flew into the air on his broom and started to taunt Harry. “What’s the matter Potter, afraid? Never rode a broom before?”

Harry angrily grabbed a broom.

Hermione Granger tried to stop him, “Harry don’t. Madam Hooch specifically told us to stay put. You could get hurt up there.”

“More importantly, Longbottom is not worth it,” Sirius added.

Harry ignored them and took off after Draco.

From the corner of his eye, Sirius saw that Crabbe and Goyle were about to assist Draco. He grabbed a giant acorn on the ground and hurled it toward Crabbe’s head. As Crabbe fell face first towards the ground, Goyle had gotten up on a broom and was about to fly off. Sirius grabbed a stick on the ground and shouted, “Ron, toss me that acorn!” Sirius hit the acorn with the stick and it struck Goyle straight at his forehead, which made the large first year
fall two feet to the ground.

Meanwhile, fifty feet up in the air, Harry dove and he caught the Remembrall before it hit the ground.

“Mr. Potter!”

Harry felt his heart dropped to his stomach as Professor McGonagall marched up towards them. Sirius made a futile attempt to distract the Deputy Headmistress.

“Minerva! How nice to see you today.”

“I’m not in the mood, Mr. Black. By the way, good arm.”

“The better to hug you with, my dear.”

“Are you in the mood for some more detention, Mr. Black?”

“The better to spend time with you, my dear.”

“Mr. Black, if you don’t shut your mouth...”

“The better to kiss yo-mmpphhhh!”

Ron decided that it was bad enough that one of his friends’ in trouble; he didn’t want both of them to be in trouble. He shoved one of Harry’s chocolate frogs into Sirius’ mouth. “Sorry Professor, the poor guy is still grieving about his lost tail, and umm... he’s dealing with the grief by ...ahh ..quoting the big bad wolf...so...”

Minerva McGonagall held back an urge to roll her eyes at the both boys’ silly attempts to get a friend out of trouble. “I don’t want to hear about it, Mr. Weasley. Mr. Potter, come with me.”

-0-

Harry had never been this excited in his whole life, he couldn’t wait to tell Sirius and Ron. He grinned as he saw that the two saved him a seat. “You guys won’t believe what happened.”

Ron’s eyes widened. “You’re not in trouble?”

“Minerva finally admitted her love for me?” Sirius supplied with a smirk.

Harry laughed. “Better! You’re both looking at Gryffindor’s newest seeker.”

“What!” Draco Malfoy had overheard the tail end of the conversation and was gaping at Harry.

Harry gave the Slytherin boy a smug grin, “And I have you to thank for that, Malfoy.”

Draco glared at Harry. “You should be expelled for that stunt Potter, not rewarded. Goes to show that Gryffindors’ stupidity is catching even to Professors.”

Ron glared angrily at Draco. “At least we’re not cowardly gits like you, Malfoy!”

“Very well, Weasley, since we’re talking about bravery... Are you and Potter brave enough for a midnight wizard’s duel?” Draco drawled with his arms crossed.

Ron continued to glare at the blond Slytherin boy. “You’re on Malfoy!”

Hermione Granger who was within hearing range gasped, “That’s illegal and a grounds for...” she was interrupted by Sirius Black “Hey what about me?”

“You’re not invited Black, I’m only interested in putting half bloods and Weasley trash in their place. Mudbloods are however welcomed to join, Granger.” Draco saw that the Gryffindor Quidditch team were about to approach the group. “Seems we ought not to continue this interesting conversation, I’ll see you both later.” At this, he and his two constant companions turned and left.

-0-

Sirius Black was stuck in his room, for Ron and Harry had insisted that he stay behind, else Draco would just use Sirius’ presence as an excuse to not push through his with challenge. He heard his roommates enter the room. He quickly pulled open the curtains, stood up and placed leather book inside his trunk and then turned towards his friends. “Well, what happened?”

Harry sighed and proceeded to tell his friend on how Hermione tried to stop them and, due to unfortunate circumstances forced to tag along, they bumped into Neville. Draco never showed up. Filch chased them until they found themselves lost in a corridor; it was the forbidden corridor on the third floor, and was guarded by a humongous dog with three heads, standing over a trapdoor.

That night as Harry lay on his bed, he realized that the only place more secure and safe than Gringotts was Hogwarts. He now believed that the little package from the vault was located under the trapdoor.

-0-

Two months went by and Harry could hardly believe how comfortable he felt at Hogwarts. He was busy with classes, S.P.A.W.N., Quidditch practice, and mastering magic. Today they would be taking up the floatation charm, he grinned towards Sirius and Ron for they’re all quite familiar with this charm due to all the pranks S.P.A.W.N. pulled.

As they head for charms class, Professor Quirrell screamed by with his turban on fire. Harry held back a laugh as the Weasley Twins were back in business. For the past month they had abstained from pranking because all the prefects and Professors had suspected them to be behind the pranks pulled by S.P.A.W.N. However, he, Sirius and Ron continued to pull the most outrageous pranks, clearing the Weasley Twins from any further suspicion.

-0-

“Wingardium Leswordslash!”

Neville Longbottom yelped as a sharp feather flew by his nose and embedded itself onto the wall.

“Mr. Black!”

Sirius gave Professor Flitwick an innocent grin. “Sorry professor, I must have gotten that one wrong.”

“It’s ‘Wingardium Leviosa’ and you wave your wand like this,” Hermione Granger demonstrated, “Wingardium Leviosa!”

Professor Flitwick beamed as Hermione’s feather floated up in the air perfectly. “Very good, Miss Granger five points for Gryffindor! Would you kindly demonstrate that to the class again?”

Sirius rolled his eyes as he waved his wand. “Wingardium Lebouncesa!”

Sirius’ feather flew straight towards Hermione, who yelped as it bounced off her head and it ricocheted straight at Neville who screamed. All students started to duck away from Sirius’ bouncing feather.

“Mr. Black!”

“Sorry Professor, I must have gotten it wrong again.” Sirius then aimed his wand towards his bouncing feather. “Wingardium Leviosa!” Much to Flitwick’s relief the feather stopped bouncing and floated up the air.

“Good aim, Mr. Black.”

“Professor, he’s doing that on purpose. Black’s been picking on Neville for months.”

Sirius rolled his eyes and drawled, “Really Granger, just because I do better than you most of the time, doesn’t mean I have to do a spell perfectly all the time.”

“You’ve never liked Neville, that’s why you pick on him!”

“Granger, I don’t like Neville because he’s a cowardly thief!”

“How dare you! You can’t accuse someone without the burden of proof.”

“One you want facts Granger? Let me tell you some facts about yourself then. First, you’re a pompous know-it-all and thus the second fact that no one really likes you.”

Hermione’s jaw dropped. Neville bit his lip, afraid of facing Sirius Black head on.

Sirius smirked. “See? No one is standing to defend you. Not even your cowardly so-called friend. So is he really your friend? Do you truly have any?”

Ron grinned. “Way to go Black! About bloody time someone told her off!”

“Mr. Black! Mr. Weasley! That is enough!”

Hermione’s eyes widened as she saw that everyone’s attention had been focused on her and Sirius. She bowed her head and kept her silence for the rest of the class.

After class Harry saw Hermione leave the class in tears, he shook his head as Sirius had gone too far once again. He pulled his friends aside. “Sirius, that was uncalled for.”

“She started it!”

Ron nodded in ascent. “I can attest to that.”

Harry raised an eyebrow. “You mean to say, you really made some mistakes in casting those floatation charms?”

Sirius relented. “Ok, if you put it that way. She doesn’t have proof that I did that on purpose, thus making her just as guilty as those accusations she threw at me.”

“But you did.”

“Harry!” Sirius whined.

“Come on Harry, give the guy a break. Neville was the one who started this war.” Ron protested.

“And Hermione only defended Neville, as we had defended Sirius.”

Ron frowned. “Well she took the wrong side and she even tried to get Sirius in trouble.”

“Because Sirius was truly picking on Neville.”

Sirius moaned. “Whose side are you on anyway?”

“Sirius, its ok to defend yourself or to pull a few harmless pranks but sometimes you have to draw the line on people who can’t defend themselves.”

Ron moaned. “I’m telling you, Harry’s been spending too much time with Lupin.”

Sirius grumbled. “It’s not my fault that Longbottom’s a coward.”

“Hermione was only trying to defend Neville. Is that wrong?”

Ron grumbled, “She should have minded her own business.”

“Then what kind of friend would she be?”

Sirius opened his mouth but couldn’t find an answer and mumbled, “She’ll get over it.”

Hermione Granger did not show up in the next couple of classes and Sirius heard that she had locked herself in the bathroom and had been crying for the past couple of hours. Guilt started to gnaw down onto him. He walked up to Ron and Harry. “Guys, I think I should go look for Hermione.”

Harry beamed, for he knew Sirius would eventually come to his senses.

Ron frowned. “Want me to come with you? After all I did sort of encourage you back there.”

“No. I think it’ll be best if I talk to her alone.”

“Ok we’ll see you later. Good luck.”

-0-

“Alohomora”

The bathroom door swung open, he saw a red-eyed Hermione glaring at him.

“Go away, Black. I don’t want to listen to anymore of your damn facts!”

“Granger, I ... uhmm ... actually came here to ...uhh... talk.

“Leave me alone! Go back to picking on Neville. I’m not up for it anymore.”

“You don’t mean that. I mean, you don’t honestly want me to pick on Longbottom, do you?

“Like you care?”

“Actually, I do. I admire people who stand up for friends despite everything. I’ve got Harry and Ron. Despite the fact that he doesn’t deserve it, Longbottom’s got a good friend in you.”

Hermione blinked and stared at Sirius. “But, you said ... and he didn’t even...”

Sirius smirked. “Since when does anyone ever give any credence to anything I say? You should know better. Aren’t you the one who said that I’m an idiot in the purest sense?”

Hermione laughed. “You know Black, you actually sound intelligent once you get serious."

Sirius grinned. “Siriusly?”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “I knew it was too good to be true, you’re reverting back to idiocy.”

Sirius laughed. “You know I haven’t been to the girl’s bathroom before. You won’t mind if I do some exploring?”

Hermione groaned. “You are an idiot in the purest sense.”

Sirius gave a formal bow. “My family’s motto has always been 'Toujours Pur'.” Sirius proceeded to open the door to one of the stalls and peered in. Hermione screamed.

Sirius examined the stall and wondered what was so special about the girl’s bathroom, when Hermione screamed and the stall walls went crashing down on top of him. Everything then went black.

-0-

Professor Quirrel ran into the hall. “He-headmaster! The-there’s a-a-a Tro-troll lose in-in the du-dungeons!”

McGonagall’s eyes widened. “Prefects lead everyone back into their dormitories and stay together! All head of the house will accompany their students. Remus, take over for Gryffindor.”

Harry held back a smile as he imagined the idiotic lines Sirius would have fed Professor McGonagall at hearing this. He suddenly felt a cold dread, and worried about Sirius and Hermione. They wouldn’t know of the troll and might be in danger.

-0-

Harry pushed Ron back and held his breath. Professor Snape walked by; but he did not notice the two boys hiding behind a column

Ron hissed, “What is he doing here? Isn’t he supposed to be with the Slytherins?”

“Ron do you smell that?”

Ron gulped. “Must be the troll ... come on.”

As both boys turned the corner they heard a scream.

“That must be Hermione. Come on!”

-0-

Minerva McGonagall examined Sirius Black when the boy groaned. “Mr. Black? How do you feel?”

Sirius blinked, looking a bit dazed. After a moment of silence he suddenly gave her a bright smile, “Minerva, my angel. Have you come to take me with you?”

McGonagall sighed. “That means he’s fine.” Behind her Remus Lupin chuckled. McGonagall glared at the History Professor. “Remus, take the boy to Pomfrey. I would like to have a word with these three.”

Remus nodded and conjured a stretcher for the boy. Sirius looked curiously around the bathroom and asked, “What the hell happened? For the record, I didn’t do this!”

-0-

“Why did you do it?” Ron asked.

Hermione sighed. “Because she’s bound to take it easier on me than either of you.”

Harry smiled at the girl. “Thanks Hermione.”

“Yeah, you’re alright after all. Want to join us and see if Sirius managed to drive Madam Pomfrey over the edge?”

Hermione laughed. “Gladly.”

-0-

Sirius grumbled as Madam Pomfrey refused to let him leave. Grey eyes twinkled mischievously as an evil idea formed inside his head. If things went as planned, it wouldn't be long before the nurse would gladly throw him out. He pulled out his wand and began to switch the labels of the 'Sleeping Draughts' and 'Pepperup Potions'.

Sirius was about to pull the 2nd stage of his plan, when his attention was caught by an awful looking brown substance in a smoking bottle. His curiousity piqued, he picked up the substance and wrinkled his nose. "I wonder if this thing tastes as bad as it smells and looks," he mused to himself.

-0-

George grinned as he and his brother carried the toilet seat towards their destination, behind them were Harry, Ron and Hermione. The Weasley Twins were surprised to hear Madame Pomfrey scream at Sirius, for the motherly nurse rarely screamed at her beloved students.

"Mr. Black! Do you have any idea what you've almost did!"

"But I only wanted to know what that thing is..."

Hermione sighed for as she expected, Sirius was once again being an idiot.

"That thing could have poisoned you! You ought to know better than to try and taste unknown potions!"

"But, we're in an infirmary, I don't think you'd leave poisonous substances out in the open. So what is it?"

Pompey Pomfrey sighed for the boy is incorrigible. "You, young man, will be under observation and will stay the night here."

"But I barely had a drop!"

The nurse then noticed the Sirius' guests by the door. "Get that toilet seat out of my infirmary! That's unhygienic!"

Seeing the nurse's bad mood Fred hesitated, "We, uh... just wanted to see if Sirius needs anything..."

George grinned stupidly. "We thought he might want to come to the bathroom."

Fred gave his brother a discreet nudge and a look that said: 'shut up you moron'.

Sirius grinned. "We if you guys can break me out, I'll be forever grateful."

The nurse glared at Sirius,. "You will be staying here tonight, and no one will be sneaking out." She waved her wand and Sirius found himself stuck on the bed. "This should make sure that you won't be going anywhere."

"Not fair!" Sirius whined.

"Children, please take this to Professor Lupin, and don't try to drink it! Tell him that Professor Snape left it for him." She handed the brown substance to Ron.

Hermione asked. "Maybe, Sirius would want a book..."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Boring..."

Madame Pomfrey sighed and picked up a 'Sleeping Draught', "Why don't you try drinking this instead?"

Sirius grinned and downed the potion, smoke started to come out of his ears as he gasped. Help!! I'm melting! Its Snape's poison! It must be reacting with that Draught. Help me!!"

Madame Pomfrey's eyes widened in panic, she however noticed the color of the potion that remained in the bottle. Her eyes narrowed into slits as figured out the switch.

"I have but one last request before I die. Unstick me and let me see the stars one last time..." Sirius gasped weakly.

"Very funny Mr. Black. You're quite an actor and a comedian, nice try but not good enough."

Sirius crossed his arms and grumbled. "Everybody's a critic."

-0-

Fred handed Sirius the tawny leather book. “So you never told us why that thing is so important.”

Sirius took the book. “It’s a family heirloom, and a chronicle of the Black Family’s History.”

George rolled his eyes, “Sounds boring.”

-0-

Fred pulled George behind a suit of armor. They were hiding near the entrance of the Slytherin common room. The twins planned to plant dung bombs around that were set to explode at 7:45 AM, when Draco arrived with his two constant companions.

“Draco, I don’t think your plan is working. Gryffindor is still ahead in terms of house points.”

“Crabbe, I’m surprised that you’re thinking at all. I’ll try to explain again, causing division in a house is the subtle or should I say Slytherin way of destroying the competition.

“But I thought your plan was to get Black to intentionally sabotage Gryffindor’s chances.”

“Goyle, you moron that was the old plan. Potter ruined it by defending Black, but he gave us the perfect opening by blaming Longbottom. Thus, divide the house to either take Black’s side or Longbottom’s. Kreacher’s planting of that book of Black’s at Longbottom’s desk only served to intensify matters. Too bad Potter ruined it again by stopping a fight that would have lost Gryffindor plenty of house points.”

“So what do you plan to do now?”

“For the past couple of months I’ve been perfecting this plan and now I...” Draco was interrupted as a house elf suddenly appeared in front of him. “Kreacher! What are you doing here?”

“Kreacher senses blood traitors over there.” The house-elf pointed towards the direction of the Weasley twins’ hiding place.

“Draco smirked and grabbed Goyle’s wand and gave it to Kreacher. “You know what to do, Kreacher.”

Both red haired boys started to run when the old and crazy house-elf appeared in front of them.

“Obliviate!”

End of Chapter 8-

Next Chapter: The Mystery behind Nathaniel Black and the Black Chronicles

Author’s Notes:

Eunuchs are castrated men who serve as servants and advisers of ancient kings

This chapter deals mostly on canon related events but the next one would concentrate more on the ‘Black Chronicles’ which is one of the focus of my storyline.

Yes Sirius was pretty mean, but as we all know JKR didn't make him out to be the ideal hero. He's arrogant. He and James Potter tend to be bullies who hex people just because they can. But he's still a good person at heart, just not perfect. Hopefully, Harry would be a better influence to Sirius than James was.

Oh, and the potion Sirius was stupid enough to try and taste was the Wolfsbane Potion.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Thanks to Orlaith for editing this chapter SeriousSiriusFan for the Snape song and dance idea Harriet Evans for that bit of advise on using transitions.

Chapter 9 - Draconian Methods

He did not know how he ended up in this room, although the room itself possessed a warm and airy feel. Smoke rose from the brass lamps that stood in each corner, and the high narrow windows were left open for the cool night air to enter. Sirius gingerly approached one of the unfinished portraits that stood in one corner, beside it were pots of paint, and brushes that stood upright in earthen jars. Some of the portraits watched the intruder with interest; others ignored Sirius and continued to go about their business.

"Where am I?" Sirius muttered as he took a seat on one of the two wooden stools that stood in the middle of the room.

"Your mind and consciousness is inside ‘The Chronicle’, at least in my section of it."

Sirius turned around to the sound of the voice; a man dressed in blue velvet with his dark hair parted in the middle walked in.

"Nathaniel?"

Smoky eyes glared at the young boy. "It is extremely foolish of you to pull off this stunt!"

Sirius looked at the man utterly confused. "But I only followed your instruction. You asked me to..."

"Have I not taught you enough? You should never trust anyone. Blind faith is not something you can afford."

Sirius bit his lower lip. "But you’re one of my ancestral guides...family..."

The man sighed and lowered himself unto a stool. "One should not always give too much faith in blood. Do you even realize that by coming here you are opening your mind to me...and if I choose to do so, I could take control over you?"

"Then why did you teach me how to do this?"

Seeing the boy’s strickened look the man gave the child a mischievous grin. "I merely wanted see how gullible you are."

"You do know that you’re such a prat."

"Although I was telling you the truth, you are putting yourself at risk and giving the consciousness that resides in this book the opportunity to control you. So I do not advise you do this again."

"Then why bother teaching me this trick?"

"You wanted to have a long talk and I find that speaking with you face-to-face is far easier than the usual way."

Sirius stifled a groan. He didn’t give too much credence to his father’s version of the Black’s family history and Aris only spoke in riddles. Nathaniel on the other hand was unpredictable, but at least he gave straight answers.

-0-

Heavy brooding men slouched by the nearby table. A man on a desk counted the galleons handed to him, before placing them into the cash box. On one of the small tables sat a short, chubby man with a pointed nose. He took a swig of his fire whiskey and wondered why his old friend had insisted upon their need to talk. Peter Pettigrew had not spoken with his childhood friends for almost 10 years. He wondered on the man’s sudden call, and his insistence on their need to talk.

"Hello Peter, it has been a long time. How are your wife and daughter?"

"Re-remus, why the sudden need of this... this reunion? Dolores is fine and Paerissa is looking forward to Hogwarts in a couple of years from now."

Remus sighed. "I’ve been having some dreams. I believe portions of my memories are coming back. I need to ask..."

-0-

Fred groaned as he struggled to open his eyes, he felt his twin stir beside him.

"Fred?"

He pushed himself against the cold stone floor to bring himself onto a sitting position. "What the hell happened and where are we?"

"I don’t know; the last thing I remember was delivering to Sirius that cursed book of his."

George frowned. "I remember we have a prank all planned out but I don’t remember what it is?

"You haven’t answered my first question: where are we?"

George looked around. "I think we’re in the Potions’ room. How we got here I have no idea."

The door swung open and Severus Snape entered and glared darkly at the two 3rd year students.

-0-

Remus Lupin shook his head, for he was now more confused than ever. "Are you saying that I told Voldermort you were the Potter’s secret keeper?"

The other man shifted uncomfortably. "Remus, I don’t blame you. Even I was not able to withstand the torture. You must not trust all of your returning memories. Remember that it was a gift of Regulus Black. You know how cunning the Blacks can be."

-0-

The man held a brush in his hand stroked the canvas gently. Behind him was a boy on a wooden stool, who watched him paint as well as listened to his tale. "Asclepius was a skilled healer during 1200’s BC. Eventually, through myth and legend he came to be worshipped as Asclepius, the Greek god of Healing. Asclepius always carried his ‘snake familiar’ on a staff wherever he went. The snake eventually became the Greek symbol of healing and wisdom. Asclepius was Aris’ father and teacher."

"You mean people actually believed that Aris was a half-deity?" Sirius laughed at the thought.

The painter gave him a lop-sided grin. "I’d imagine that the idea went through Aris’ head - thus his poor emulation of the Oracle of Delphi."

Sirius gave a bark-like laugh. "But how did he come up with that family crest and our family name? Black just doesn’t sound like a Greek name. Aris also said that he was the first of the Blacks."

"That he is. Asclepius focused on the art of healing and although Aris was also adept at this, his heart wasn’t in it. Aris’ love was for history, poetry and magical creatures. Initially he followed his father’s footsteps, but after Asclepius death, Aris decided to pursue knowledge and skills beyond those that his father has taught him. In his travels he developed a tight friendship with four misunderstood horse-type creatures. Aris vowed to protect these creaturesfrom persecution and extinction so he found a barren island full of black stones..."

"Black Isle?"

"Yes, people though him crazy to have bought such a place. Aris spent several years of his life creating a haven for his friends. He traveled far and wide to garner knowledge on magic, but always returned to the Isle. People started to call him Aris of Black Isle, it eventually became..."

Sirius smiled for everything made sense now. "Aris Black."

Nathaniel nodded. "The snake in our crest was placed there to honor Asclepius. The four horses are the creatures for whom Aris had created the Haven."

"But surely no wizard could have created an isle of magic all by himself. Hogwarts required four powerful wizards and witches..."

Nathaniel smiled. "The four creatures eventually heard of Aris’ goal and went to the Isle to assist him. Aris was able to channel and tap into these creature’s innate magic to create the perfect haven for them. To protect them he further enchanted the island with protection spells that will ensure that no one can enter without the consent of all four creatures."

Sirius looked puzzled. "Then why did Seidon say that for as long as there is a Black, the island will stay protected?"

"That ancient magic was linked to Aris’ blood. These magical creatures needed a medium from Aris’ bloodline to channel and strengthen the island’s defenses. Thus the Black family ring was made; this was passed on to all of Aris’ heirs. That ring allowed the creatures to channel their magic into Aris’ heir so as to continuously secure their haven. The side effect is that it enhances the heir’s inner magic. This is root of the Black family’s strength. It also stretches towards the direct family of the ring-bearer making them the indirect mediums of these creatures as well."

Sirius was now totally confused. "But Aris said that the ring is used to record all the wearer’s thoughts and emotions so that a replica would be available in this book for all future descendants."

Nathaniel smiled. "That part of the ring was created by Aris, for his only regret is that he was unable to pursue his love for history and poetry, thus he made a tool for which his family’s history will always be preserved.”

"But there was no such thing as leather-bound books during Aris’ time."

Nathaniel grinned. "The Chronicle used to be a slab of stone ... the book was an enhancement of mine. But that’s a tale for another time. It’s almost morning in your world."

Sirius frowned. "But I want to stay."

Nathaniel smirked. "You forget, in this realm I’m the one in control, and if I say that you should leave, I can make you leave."

Sirius tried to protest. "But I also want to know how you died. I had this dream..."

Nathaniel’s expression turned to one of anger. "Begone brat! I no longer wish to speak." He waved his hand and Sirius felt himself being pushed back and the scene about him began to fade.

Sirius woke and found he himself surrounded by unfamiliar white curtains; he then remembered that he was in the hospital wing. He groaned as his headache felt a whole lot worse. He grumbled about his lack of sleep and his temperamental ancestor. He looked down at the opened book and specifically at the third portrait. Instead of seeing Nathaniel’s face he saw a black horse. He wondered where his ancestor had run off to and closed the book.

-0-

Harry dragged a very sleepy Ron Weasley towards the hospital wing.

Ron yawned. "I still do see why we have to go at this ungodly hour."

"Ron, we just need to make sure that the idiot stays put. We both know how he likes to wake up early and wander about for his little escapades. After that concussion the last thing we need is Sirius getting himself into trouble again."

"What are we? The bloody idiot’s babysitters?"

"No, we’re that bloody idiot’s friends."

Both boys reached the hospital wing and proceeded to unlock the door. "Alohomora!" They walked inside and found the bed empty.

Ron frowned and wondered where Sirius got all that energy to wake up early just to set up his pranks, be a notorious hyper-active pest for the remainder of the day, and plan more pranks at night. "That bloody idiot has already left. Where do you reckon, he’d run off to?"

Harry frowned. "Let’s go check the lake first. If he’s not there, we might be able to get Seidon to help."

"No way Harry! I’m not in the mood to further inflame that overbearing kelpie’s ego."

"Oh come on Ron. Seidon’s not that bad."

"Really? Mr. I’m-an-all-powerful-kelpie, trivial human matters are beneath me, and if you don’t pay me the proper respect-I will drown you. Is not so bad?

Harry laughed. "He’s not allowed to drown anyone. That’s a term on that deal he struck with the Headmaster."

Ron rolled his eyes and followed Harry out the door and towards the lake.

Standing underneath an oak tree, Sirius gave an irritated grunt, for the Weasley Twins were late. He perked up a bit as he saw two people headed his way. "Hey Harry! Ron! Where are Fred and George?"

"Sirius!"

"So now that we’ve found the git, we don’t have to see the kelpie anymore do we?" Ron hopefully asked Harry.

"Fred and George are asleep, and you should be too."

Sirius grumbled. "Lazy gits. I suppose they sent you two to take their place. Come on."

"Wait-a-minute! Why are you headed for that lake! Do we have to see that damn kelpie?"

Sirius sighed. "Didn’t Fred and George explain it to you two? Snape is a Potions Master thus, he’ll likely detect the potion if we plant it on his drink. He’s also an expert in Occulumency, so voodoo mind control is also out of the question. Therefore, good ‘ol Seidon is our best solution."

"What the hell are you talking about, Black?"

Sirius blinked. "You mean those two didn’t even explain the plan to you!"

-0-

An Eagle Owl flew towards a great white house. A man with long white-blond hair and pale, pointed face opened the window and accepted the letter.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Dear Father,

I thank you for sending Kreacher over. His housekeeping skills have not improved, however he is of a great assistance in our endeavor. You were right, he is quite adept with the wand and has sufficient knowledge especially those of the Dark Arts. His former mistress taught him well.

It is unfortunate that Kreacher had to perform an obliviating charm. You need not worry, he used Goyle’s wand and not my own. But to be on the safe side, I have sent Kreacher home and made sure that he removed all traces that he had ever been here in Hogwarts.

Give mother my love

Your son, Draco

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Lucius Malfoy smiled proudly, for his son is a true slytherin.

-0-

It was just another boring day at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry; however, the students and staff did not believe it would stay that way for long. The reason for which, was the fact they found a small pink card on each and every table. Some waited in gleeful anticipation while others anxiously hoped it would be over soon and they not end up the victims of whatever S.P.A.W.N had planned.

Heads turned in surprise when Severus Snape entered the Great Hall wearing a red robe over lion printed pajamas. The scene was further enhanced by the fact the stern Professor was wearing fluffy pink bunny slippers, his greasy hair was set in curlers and he had a clothes pin clipped on his hooked nose.

All gaped except for Professor Remus Lupin, who was still deep in thought with regards to his conversation with Peter Pettigrew the other night. He wondered if his betrayal was the reason, as to why Peter made it a point to avoid him, despite the fact that they were the closest of friends during their Hogwarts days. He did not notice Severus Snape, as the man skipped over towards him until the former grabbed him and started to twirl him whilst singing, "Why can’t we be friends? Why can’t we be friends..." in a nasally high pitched tone.

The hall erupted in laughter and Remus Lupin did not know whether he should be amused or mortified.

A loud explosion was heard outside. Remus found himself sitting on the floor as Snape dropped him and sauntered towards the large door.

Snape turned around and once again and sang in that awful, nasally, high-pitched voice, "So long, farewell. I need to say adieu. Adieu to you and you and you and you..." And pirouetted his way out the hall.

From his position on the floor, Remus Lupin laughed.

Outside the Great Hall, Sirius Black looked thoroughly disappointed. "Professor Lupin was not even slightly pissed!"

Fred and George rolled over in laughter. "Brilliant! How did you guys get Snape to do that?”

Sirius stared at the two incredulously. "You both know that, that’s not Snape."

George looked puzzled, "Then who?"

Ron sighed. "Seidon the egotistical kelpie."

Fred looked surprised, "How did you managed to convince Mr.-Human’s-trivial-form-of-entertainment-is-beneath-me to cooperate."

Harry frowned. "First you two, don’t remember how you ended up in Snape’s dungeon and now you don’t even remember planning this?"

Fred and George shook their heads.

Ron rolled his eyes. "You two are too young to start getting senile. It must be all those inventions of yours. You gits should stop testing that stuff on yourselves. Anyway, it wasn’t that hard to convince the kelpie..."

Harry chuckled to himself, as he remembered the kelpie's haughty attitude when Sirius explained the plan to the creature...

Seidon snorted. "Those trivial human activities do not interest me. We kelpies are above such petty forms of entertainment."

Sirius pretended to plead, "Come on Seidon, It’ll be fun!"

"It is not even worthy of my attention." Seidon crossed his arms defiantly.

Ron rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner. "Sirius, can’t you take no for an answer? Seidon does not want to do it."

Harry nodded. "Besides I don’t think Seidon’s capable of doing what you’ve asked of him. You’re over-estimating our friend’s capabilities."

Seidon turned towards Harry and glared. "Who says I’m not capable. A kelpie can take any human form and are natural actors."

Sirius sighed. "No Harry’s right. Kelpies are known to take on beautiful forms to seduce and tempt. We’re asking him to imitate an ugly greasy haired git and to sing badly."

"I can do it!"

Ron shook his head. "And don’t forget all that grease on his hair... Kelpies are water horses. We all know oil and water does not mix."

"You dare doubt my capabilities!"

Sirius gave the kelpie an understanding smile. "Its ok Seidon, your capabilities does not matter to us. We’re your friends after all."

The kelpie growled in frustration.

-0-

Draco Malfoy felt pretty pleased with himself. He placed the Weasley Twins in the potions dungeon and tipped Professor Snape off. This had resulted to Gryffindor's loss of 40 points, thus Slytherin was now leading in terms of house points. However, Draco was not through with Gryffindor yet. He saw Harry Potter enter the Great Hall together with the Weasleys and Sirius Black. Draco decided it was now time to set his plan in motion. He picked up a bag of sweets and approached the group with his two bodyguards behind him.

"Black."

"Hey, Draco!"

Draco smirked as Harry and the Weasleys glared at him. He handed the bag of sweets to Sirius. "Mum heard about your little accident with that troll, she thought you’d need this."

Sirius looked puzzled. "How could Cissy know, it only happened yesterday and she’s never sent me sweets before. I’d expect a long lecture letter on Gryffindor recklessness.

Draco rolled his eyes "Fine. I want you to have those sweets and mum won’t blame you for what happened. I already told her you were merely at the wrong place at the wrong time. The reckless idiots were only Potter, Weasley and Granger.”

Harry, Ron, Fred and George now stared at Draco suspiciously. Sirius, however was oblivious as he smiled brightly at the other boy. "Thanks Draco. Glad to hear I’m not in trouble for once."

"Black, you do realize that hanging around these sorts will drag you into trouble. I may not be around to save your neck all the time."

Ron glared at Draco. "Saved him! Get real Malfoy. Harry and I were the ones that ..."

Sirius placed a hand on Ron’s shoulder. "Ron, I’ll handle this." He then grinned at Draco and shook his head. "Draco, have you forgotten that I get into trouble plenty of times without anybody’s help."

Draco sniffed. "That may be true Sirius, but you’re still one of us. You do remember that some wizarding families are much better than others. By hanging around half bloods and worse - Weasley trash, you demean yourself. You’re welcome to sit on the Slytherins’ table anytime."

Ron Weasley angrily pulled out his wand. "That’s it Malfoy! I’ve had enough of your..."

Harry attempted to stop his friend. "Ron No!"

Draco smirked for Ron Weasley had reacted the way he was expected to. It was typical Weasley stupidity to lose one’s temper and threaten another in such a public place.

"What’s going on here?" All eight students turned around and all five Gryffindor students held back a laugh.

Severus Snape’s skin was a sickly shade of yellow thanks to the ‘Weasley exploding skin dye bombs’ planted on his quarter’s doorway. Harry had thought that it be best to have some sort of explosive signal to warn Seidon that the real Severus Snape was coming. However, given their present situation, yellow or not, Severus Snape looked intimidating.

Draco once again pulled the innocent act. "I was only inviting Black to come sit with us."

Snape sneered, "Well then, 10 points from Gryffindor and Weasley goes straight to detention..."

Sirius protested, "But it was only a misunderstanding."

"Shut up Black. Potter, the other two Weasleys will also join Mr. Weasley’s detention."

Sirius gaped. "But they didn’t do anything!"

"Mr. Black, unless you wish to lose more house points, I suggest you shut up and just join Mr. Malfoy at his table."

Draco smirked. "Come on Black. Let’s get out of here before those Gryffindorks drag you down with them." He then yanked Sirius towards the Slytherin table.

From the Gryffindor table, Hermione Granger frowned and her eyes followed Draco Malfoy and Sirius Black. She knew for a fact that Sirius Black was cunning, but the boy was an open book; he had always been straight forward when he picked on Neville. She however felt that Draco Malfoy was the subtle and devious one; Draco tried to get Harry and Ron into trouble on more than one occasion. She watched as Professor Snape limped slightly as he led the four boys towards detention. This seemed to be one of those occasions where Draco succeeded.

Beside Hermione, Neville Longbottom shivered slightly, for across on the Slytherin table, both Sirius Black and Draco Malfoy eyed him evilly. Both boys, individually picked on him on several occasions, but Neville did not want to imagine how bad it would be if both boys worked together.

Ron frowned as he heard a familiar bark-like laugh. Ron glared toward the direction of the Slytherin table. Draco Malfoy succeeded to have gotten him, Harry and his brothers into trouble. However, far worse was the fact that Sirius, their so-called friend had decided to hang out with the enemy. Ron turned around and took note of Snape's limp. He remembered Sirius had laughed about Snape coming in to Madame Pomfrey's last night with a bloodied leg which looked as if some large animal had attacked it. Sirius had told everyone who would listen that it was Mrs. Norris who attacked Snape. Ron wondered if the bite came from the large three-headed dog that guarded a certain trap door.

-0-

Some students yawned and others listened attentively as Professor Kettleburn droned about the Nosferer Leech’s ability to suck the vampire’s poison from a victim at an early stage of the infection. No one had noticed Sirius Black as he charmed some ‘Bat Wings Powder’ and ‘Vampire Dust’ to float toward Neville’s robe, no one that was, except Draco Malfoy who snickered with a malicious gleam in his eyes. He raised his hand...

"Professor, I can help you carry those leeches." All the Gryffindor and Slytherins present were shocked to hear Draco Malfoy’s offer to assist.

"That’s very nice of you Mr. Malfoy, Thank you.”

Draco walked up front and picked up the large wooden box. He then deliberately tripped himself and had the leeches fly-off to...

"Yaaarghh!" Neville Longbottom screamed as he tried to swat the leeches off. "Get them off! Aaaahhh!"

Professor Kettleburn gaped in shock. "They’re not suppose to latch on anything that not infected by vampires."

Sirius jumped up. "It must be all those detentions with Snape! Everyone knows he’s a vampire! Neville must be one by now!"

"Noooo! Someone please help me!" Neville continued to futilely try to swat off the leeches as more clamped on to him.

Draco Malfoy sneered. "I heard those Nosferrer Leeches are capable of draining a vampire dry."

Neville paled even more as Hermione attempted to help the panicked Gryffindor. "Someone call Madame Pomfrey!" As she attempted to pull a leech off, she noticed the light grey substances on Neville’s robe. She took a step back "Aguamenti!" Her wand sent a spray of water towards Neville, and thus washed off the gray substance; the leeches then fell off.

Draco Malfoy, Sirius Black and the rest of the Slytherins laughed at the red-faced Neville.

Professor Kettleburn shook his head. "I’ll take Mr. Longbottom to Madame Pomfrey. Please read Chapter 12 while you wait for my return."

As Professor Kettleburn and Neville left, Hermione marched right up to Draco and Sirius "You idiots! He could have gotten seriously hurt by that stunt of yours."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "How many times, should I repeat myself to you, Granger? He deserved it. And here I thought you’re smart enough to figure that out."

Harry frowned. "She’s right, Sirius. You’ve gone too far this time."

Ron nodded. "Malfoy’s definitely a bad influence to you."

Sirius blinked in shock. He never thought that Harry and Ron would go against him.

Draco smirked. "I told you, you can’t depend on them. They’re all traitors, blood traitors they’ll betray you in a blink of an eye. Mudbloods, half breeds, and Weasley trash will never understand you, or truly accept you."

Sirius glared angrily at both Harry and Ron, "Fine! Take his side. Take that cowardly, lying thief’s side! I don’t need you! You lot deserve one another."

"Sirius.." Harry tried to calm the other boy but, Sirius Black turned on his heels and left.

Ron felt a strong urge to hit Draco Malfoy's smug face but Harry stopped him. "Come on, Ron. Let's go after him." Ron sighed and nodded, for now was not the time to deal with the insufferable Malfoy prat.

As soon as he was out of their field of vision, Sirius ran. He did not know where he was headed, but he just wanted to get away. He was surprised when a large black horse blocked his way. "Seidon!"

The kelpie snorted and changed to his human form. "Want me to drown them?"

Sirius blinked and then laughed. "Is drowning people your only solution for everything?"

Seidon shrugged. "What can I say? I’m a kelpie."

Sirius couldn’t stop himself as he rolled over in laughter.

The kelpie frowned. "That was a serious offer."

Sirius smiled, "How long were you watching?"

The kelpie shrugged. "I was bored. I wanted to see what you’re up to. I never realized how much humans hate water. I don’t see why that girl would blame you. She was the one who had gotten him wet."

Sirius laughed.

The kelpie tossed back his head and grumbled. "Humans are silly."

Harry ran with Ron closely behind with the Marauder’s map at hand. They were both surprised to hear the sound of a familiar bark-like laugh. Ron re-checked the map. "Seems like Seidon’s cheering him up."

When Harry and Ron reached the clearing, they saw Sirius, who rolled over in laughter and Seidon, who looked indignant.

"Sirius!"

Sirius and the kelpie turned towards them, the kelpie snorted. "Humans nowadays, do not know how to properly respect a kelpie. In olden times, that would have been grounds enough to drown them."

Sirius gave the kelpie a look of warning. "Seidon, remember you can’t drown anyone. That was under the terms of agreement you made with Headmaster Dumbledore."

Ron noticed the kelpie’s glare and sarcastically drawled. "Hello your majesty, how may we serve you today?"

The kelpie tossed back his head proudly. "That’s better."

Ron rolled his eyes as Harry laughed.

"Sirius, we need to talk."

"I’m not apologizing for what I did. Longbottom had it coming. I thought you’d see it that way too."

Harry sighed. "Sirius, we’re not condoning what Neville has done. I just want you to take it easy on him."

"Why should I? He didn’t pull his punches. And contrary to what Miss know-it-all said, those leeches can’t kill him. Maybe, suck a bit of his blood but, there’s no permanent damage."

"And it wasn’t Sirius’ fault that Miss know-it-all has gotten the Longbottom boy wet," Seidon added knowingly.

All three boys stared at the kelpie and laughed.

The kelpie snorted and wondered how much sillier could humans get.

-0-

Draco Malfoy never liked using Hogwart’s house owls, he thought them ugly and filthy. However, it was necessary for this particular task. Draco’s own Eagle Owl would have been far too obvious, and could be traced back to him. He watched as the owl fluttered towards the night sky and smiled slyly.

Historical fact:

Asclepius is the god of Healing. He is the son of Apollo and the nymph, Coronis. While pregnant with Asclepius, Coronis secretly took a second, mortal lover. When Apollo found out, he sent Artemis to kill her. While burning on the funeral pyre, Apollo felt pity and rescued the unborn child from the corpse. Asclepius was taught about medicine and healing by the wise centaur, Cheiron, and became so skilled in it that he succeeded in bringing one of his patients back from the dead. Zeus felt that the immortality of the Gods was threatened and killed the healer with a thunderbolt. At Apollo's request, Asclepius was placed among the stars as Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer.

A/N: I just thought wizards during the classical times would have staffs instead of wands kind of like Gandalf. Asclepius just fits the wizard criteria well. BTW in case you've noticed Aris and Nathaniel are not names based on stars... I'll explain this on later chapters.

For anyone who wants more on the mythological theories and the back story on Asclepius (as well as see more of Nathaniel Black) - check out my Quarterly Challenge Entry: The Healer ^_^

Edited by: Orlaith

Acknowledgement: Special Thanks for SeriousSiriusFan for providing some assistance in the Snape limericks and gave the idea for that particular prank as well and also Healer 25 for that suggestion on the thestral.

Chapter 10 - Tricks and Deceptions

The room had always been dark; the smell of herbs and potions permeated on to the cold stone walls. The fact that this place used to be a dungeon gave it a menacing air. The place fit Severus Snape well. This dungeon was his haven, a place where he could empty all other thoughts, and concentrate on the precise art of potion-making. Snape was about to add another Axpira herb, when the cauldron suddenly grew a nose and mouth. Then it began to chant.

"Ohh ... I see a slimy snake,
While my caldron boil and bake;
Eyes like a newt, the ugly frog,
And a nose larger than that of a hog,

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

That hair so full of grease,
All I can say is: 'Shampoo please!'
Oh I've never seen a bigger git.
Me thinks, he's gonna have a fit!

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble."

Severus Snape gritted his teeth for S.P.A.W.N. had struck once again. He had enough of those hooligans ... first they stuck blue feathers on his behind, and then made his 'Bubonic Ward' backfire on him. He also suspected that they were the ones responsible for the vampire rumors, as well as the stupid pink hat. Of all these he had no proof, but S.P.A.W.N. were obviously the ones responsible for the latest debacle that had made Severus Snape the laughing stock of the whole school, with a certain song and dance number, not to mention his current yellowed skin. And now they charmed those darn cauldrons; Severus had thought he had gotten rid of all those insolent things. To say that Severus Snape was downright irritated to have one of those cauldrons sing their insults in the middle of a class, would be an understatement.

What the Potions professor could not figure out was: how they did they do it? Obviously some high level magic, and extreme cunning was required on a handful of those pranks. How else could they have gotten past his ward? Thus he believed that S.P.A.W.N. was not composed of the Weasley twins alone, for those Gryffindor morons were never this uncontrollable. Moreover, they wouldn't dare target Severus Snape continuously. But who was their accomplice? A fifth year? Or maybe a seventh year?

-0-

Harry and Ron had decided to drop the 'leech' issue; they knew full well that should they try to stop Sirius. The dolt's natural rebellious tendencies would just take over. Instead they had both decided that the best move was to distract Sirius from Neville. They had done so by throwing a few challenges, Sirius was now far too busy planning and performing elaborate pranks to bother Neville. The only problem, was the fact that they were both running out of ideas.

"I've got it!"

Ron sighed, for a bit of peace and quiet was never expected to last long with Sirius around.

Fred and George perked up, for they knew that any of Sirius' ideas were bound to be fun.

"I call it 'target the teachers day'."

Harry grinned slyly, for he had just figured out a way to keep Sirius busy for a longer period of time. 'Target the teachers day'? Why not 'target the teachers week'? That way you can give special attention to all the professors."

Sirius and the Weasley twins grinned; they liked the sound of that suggestion.

Harry sighed. "If only you three put as much effort in your school work. Sirius, you do remember that McGonagall's essay is due tomorrow. She specifically warned you that she'd dock Gryffindor by 8 points if you failed to submit your homework again."

Ron nodded. "You do know our house is already behind in terms of house points, so we can't afford to..."

"Done that," Sirius drawled nonchalantly.

Ron stared at the guy in shock; Sirius had never done his homework before.
"Wow, this I have to see. May I have a look?"

Sirius smirked and pointed to the single roll of parchment on his desk. Ron unrolled the parchment; his eyes widened as he read the two-inch tall handwriting, there were only eight lines on the two feet long parchment.

Transfiguration is the change of physical form
A form is something by which you were born
To be born is something of a norm
To change that, requires magic honed

Emotions are something transfiguration does not touch
My feelings for you, dear Minerva are such
My heart, in your hand you've clutched
The years between us, are not that much.

Harry peered over Ron's shoulder and shook his head. He started to wonder about Sirius' sanity.

-0-

Minerva McGonagall's steely eyes stared down at the boy. Most of the students in the class shifted uncomfortably; the target of that glare however remained unaffected. "Sirius Black! Are you trying to be funny? Or do you not understand what an essay is?"

Sirius gave the Transfiguration Professor an innocent smile, "An essay is just a literary composition. You've inspired me to be more creative."

"You are testing my patience, Mr. Black."

"I just love it whenever you purse your lips that way. Minerva McGonagall, will you marry me?"

Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown giggled, and started their own whispered discussion about how cute Sirius Black was. Beside them Ron muttered, "Just when you thought that it's not possible for him to be a bigger idiot than he already is; he surprises you."

-0-

Ron had just finished his lunch, across from him, Sirius and his brothers laughed about some prank they had planned. An owl arrived and dropped a red envelope between the three brothers.

From the Slytherin table Draco watched and smirked knowingly.

-0-

Hermione Granger observed Draco Malfoy's self-satisfied smirk as the Weasley brothers headed for the infirmary. Percy continued to mutter darkly about future dark lords being allowed into Hogwarts. Ron angrily told his brother to shut up. Unfortunately, Professor McGonagall docked Gryffindor by 15 points for Sirius' recent stunt.

Hermione just did not trust Draco Malfoy. She remembered that Neville told her that he could not find the pamphlet, that he must have lost it before he got his Remembrall. Hermione frowned, for Draco Malfoy could have easily filched the pamphlet as he bothered Neville with the Remembrall. Now that Hermione thought about the situation, Sirius could not have framed Neville. It was perfectly obvious that the boy got upset every time his dark heritage was brought up. Draco Malfoy however, was a different story altogether. Hermione decided that she'd get to the bottom of this.

-0-

"Sirius, slow down! Percy's just being a prat. I'm sure Ron, Fred and George don't share those sentiments."

Sirius faced his friend, his grey eyes burned with anger. "They defended Percy!"

Harry sighed. "Because you hexed Percy and turned him into a spider."

Sirius pouted and crossed his arms in a stubborn manner, "He deserved it."

Harry felt a smile tug the corner of his mouth. He remembered Ron's panicked state, and how their friend almost threw his history book onto the 'spidered Percy'. Percy was lucky, because Fred and George managed to stop Ron. "Sirius, Ron almost squished Percy with that history book," Harry couldn't stop himself as he smiled, and recollected the recent events and finally, the image of a full sized bugged-eyed, bristly-armed Percy. "After Fred and George managed to blotch up that reversal spell. The least those three could do, was to tell you off for hexing Percy in the first place."

Sirius smirked and leaned on a doorway. He suddenly fell backwards onto the cold stone floor.

"Sirius, are you alright?"

Sirius brushed the dust off his robe. He looked about and saw that they were inside one of the unused rooms in the castle. Cobwebs covered most parts of the walls and ceiling like giant hammocks. The formerly tawny limestone walls were now grey due to dust and grime. In the middle of the room was a mirror that was almost as high as the room's ceiling; the mirror's frame was golden with something inscribed on top.

Harry walked up to the mirror and he saw a group of people smiled back at him. The woman waved at Harry, and a man placed his arm around her. She had the same eyes as Harry, and he had the same wild hair. Harry realized that this was his family. He saw his family for the first time in his life... The Potters smiled and waved at him. He stared hungrily back at them, his hands pressed flat against the glass, he hoped to fall right through it, and reach them. He felt someone pull him back away from the mirror. Harry felt had a powerful kind of ache inside him, as he struggled to get back to the mirror.

"Harry!" Sirius was terrified as he tried to shake his friend off his trance. "It's not real! Wake up! Don't trust those illusions!"

Harry blinked in surprise, "Sirius?" he smiled up to his friend. "Did you see them? My parents they..."

Sirius shook his head. "Harry, your parents are dead. That mirror shows nothing more than the deepest, most desperate wishes of your heart. It gives no knowledge and truth, only lies fuelled by desire. It's evil, it will tempt you away from what is real and offer you nothing back in return, it wants you to stare at it and waste yourself away, to drive you away from the realities of life... dark magic."

Harry was surprised, for rarely had Sirius shown this serious, and more insightful side of him. He, however did not agree with Sirius' assessment; the mirror did not feel evil... Moreover, Albus Dumbledore would never allow an evil artifact be left around unguarded.

"What did you see, Sirius?"

Sirius frowned; he did not want to talk about it, but Harry at least deserved some sort of explanation. "I saw myself as someone else. Someone without my dark heritage..."

Harry frowned, for he had just realized how much that howler must have affected Sirius. "Ron's mother doesn't know you. There's no such thing as pre-destiny. Sirius, you may be a prat, reckless idiot, and one hell of a pest at times, but you are not a dark wizard. You're not destined to follow your family's footsteps."

Sirius smiled. "I ought to shove you down the lake for calling me a prat, idiot, and pest. Come on let's get out of here. Don't you have Quidditch practice?"

Sirius walked out off the room as Harry hesitated; he gave the mirror one final look. He'd have to come back some other time, for Sirius obviously did not like to hang around the place any longer. Moreover, Oliver Wood was always slightly anal whenever any of the team members showed up late.

-0-

The staff of Hogwarts blinked, unable to believe the Headmaster's decree on the issue. They had called this emergency meeting to discuss, and put to a stop certain 'S.P.A.W.N.' problem. Severus Snape jumped up angrily,

"Dumbledore, you insufferable old dingbat!
How dare you take it easy on these rule-breaking prats!
They're full of irrepressible gall,
They have no respect for their betters at all!

Beside Snape, Professor Quirrell gobbled like a turkey in ascent to Snape's sentiment. Remus Lupin hiccupped, and stifled his laughter. S.P.A.W.N. had somehow managed to gas Snape with some substance that forced the Potions Professor to speak in rhymes. Remus again hiccupped as he smiled, for he had thought Quirinus Quirrell's stutters were bad, now that he also gobbled like a turkey, no one could understand a word he said. Remus again gave another hiccup.

Minerva noticed her colleague's amusement. "Remus!"

"(hic) Sorry Minerva, (hic) you know (hic) there's something (hic) different about you (hic) today."

Minerva gave him a look that Remus interpreted as the 'Shut up or else' look.

Albus Dumbledore smiled. "Well then, since that's over, your students are waiting. Oh and Minerva, you look lovely today."

Minerva McGonagall gave the Headmaster a cold glare. She had thought Sirius Black as one major pest. However, S.P.A.W.N. managed to spray her with 'pheromone-laced perfume', and of her new crowd of admirers, the biggest pest at the moment was Cedric Diggory.

-0-

"... and so as usual, Hermione was being the know-it-all that we all know she is. Snape opened his mouth and said:

Granger, you I'd like to flunk,
You look like an electrified chipmunk
Putting on airs and shows
Bragging about how much you know

So Sirius, started to goad Hermione to lodge a complaint to the school's Board of Governors about teachers having to give proper respect, even to know-it-alls. Eventually, Snape snapped at Black, he said:

Black, you insolent warmonger!
I ought to have you stand at a corner.
Get out of my classroom!
Go fly out on a broom!
I don't care where you'll wander
I just can't stand to see your face any longer."

Fred and George laughed as Ron recounted the recent events. Harry smiled, he could hardly believe, given the number of pranks that they had pulled, no one had caught them yet.

The door opened and Percy walked in and glared at his brothers. "You three got a howler and still you idiots don't listen. Mum, specifically told the three of you to stop hanging out with him," he looked pointedly at Sirius. "First it'll seem that all he taught you would be just harmless fun, but before you know it, he'll have you throwing Unforgivables."

Sirius pulled out his wand, but before he could throw out a curse, Harry and Fred managed to tackle him on to the ground.

"Leggo! I'll show the git that I don't need Unforgivables to handle him."

Percy glared down at Sirius. "Mum asked me to watch out for all three of my brothers, since they're all akined to use bad judgment."

Fred and George kept their silence as Ron frowned and bit his lower lip nervously, "Look Percy, you don't have to tell mum..."

Hurt grey eyes turned towards Ron. "So now I'm not only the next dark lord, but some deep dark secret to be kept as well?"

"Sirius, you know that's not what I meant."

"Oh really? Then what exactly do you mean?"

Ron opened his mouth, but no answer came to mind.

"Thought so..." Sirius then glared at Percy. "I hope that someday you'd find yourself on the opposite side of your family."

"Is that a threat, Black?"

"No. I hope that one day you'll realized what it's like to have no one by your side to believe in you. To have believed that you've gone far on your own, and then have those you've trusted..." Sirius stopped and breathed deeply as he tried to get a-hold of himself. He gave the Weasleys one last glare. "I hate you all, and if I knew how to throw those Unforgivables ... I'd throw..."

"Sirius..."

"Leave me alone, Potter!"

Percy stared in shock at the closed curtains, as all four set of eyes turned angrily towards him.

"Way to go, Prefect," George grumbled.

"I was only following mum's instructions," Percy protested. "And didn't he just threathened to throw some Unforgivables?

Ron sighed. "It's an empty threat, even you could tell that. A house was supposed to be your family here. He was placed here for a purpose. I guess we just failed him as a family."

-0-

Sirius leaned back and closed his eyes remembering what he saw in the 'Mirror of Erised.' He had been surprised to see that his reflection was not his own image, but someone else. Sirius knew that he had envied the other boy for the support and love that surrounded him. The other boy didn't even realize this. Sirius had looked into the mirror and found himself surrounded by a family that was not truly his own. The image that the mirror reflected was not Sirius' image, but that of Ron Weasley and his family.

Sirius sighed and his hands reached out for the thing that somehow gave him a bit of comfort, despite the fact that it reminded him strongly that he was a Black, a family known for its dark heritage and power.

He remembered that dream where Nathaniel told him: 'There was a time when a Black was not dark. Power and ambition did not define us', Sirius knew that Nathaniel did not like to talk about his past, thus left only one other option: Aris, tell me about Nathaniel Black.

On his chosen craft he was a god
He met his end by the hands of his own blood
The family's fall to darkness he envisioned
To prevent this was his mission

Give the ring back to the creatures was his plan
Very much to the horror of his clan
Mix his blood with a kelpie he attempted
A bride which the family rejected

His life ceased by their hand
'Toujours Pur' became a family brand
At the hour of his death did he prophesize
Through a star a new beginning will rise.

Sirius frowned and stared at the ring he wore. It was said to be the root of the Family's power and all the evil they had wrought. Familiar voices echoed in his mind...

(All Black patriarchs wear the ring)
(Till death, to their fingers does it cling)

(The ancient magic is linked to Aris' blood'; thus the ring was made.)
(That ring allowed the creatures to channel their magic into Aris' heir so as to continuously secure their haven)

He began to wonder about himself, and his late family. He thought about Nathaniel, who despite all his skills and powers, was unable to prevent the family's fall to darkness. What if they were truly destined for darkness? That it was truly inevitable? Sirius contemplated on the last part of that prophecy. For this explained his family's obsession with 'star names'. But despite naming generations of Blacks named after stars, they continued to produce dark wizards...

He picked up the book once more. "Father, I need some advice..."

-0-

Heavy green tapestries lined the walls of the room. A boy with pale blond hair and a pointed face leaned back onto his thick velvet pillows. A fur rug was on the right side of his dark wood carved bed.

"Draco."

Draco Malfoy smiled as he opened the bureau drawer and pulled out a small mirror. "Hello, Sirius."

"You were right."

Draco pretended to feel sympathy for the other boy. "I tried to warn you. But you had to go all noble and Gryffindorkish defending them. They do not truly want you around. They only tolerate your presence due to Harry Potter, but he too will reject you once he realized what your being a Black truly meant"

-0-

By the lake, the soft moonlight reflected on the glossy black coats of two horses, both creatures stared down onto a small pool between them. One of the horses changed shaped and took a human form.

"Oh what a tangled web these humans weave,
Do you think its time for us to intercede?"

The other horse turned its dragon-like head towards the sky at the constellation of Canis Major. The creature's white eyes shone brightly against the darkness of the night. It flapped its bat-like wings and flew into the night sky.

-End of Chapter 10-

Next Chapter: The Quidditch match, *smirk* and 'The Dark Lord of The Chess Set'

Edited by: Orlaith and Cinderella Angelina

Chapter 11 - Mirror Mirror

The air around the forest was cold; it was nearly winter again. The moon above was full, but was only a drifting ghost through view of the mixed pine and cedar that surrounded the area. A creature with bat-like wings and a head like a dragon landed on a small clearing; she struck her hooves on the ground impatiently.

As she waited, Tenebrus thought about the dense kelpie who took things a little too literally. She had initially thought that it was a good thing for Seidon to have reached Sirius Black before Thetis did. However, she saw how naïve and unprepared Seidon was; she was not so sure anymore. Thetis would at least be a better guide than the current kelpie that fate had thrown to young Sirius Black. Dyrdar was also not very pleased with the fact that a kelpie had reached the last of the Blacks, before she did. The unicorn's only consolation was that Thetis was also displeased that another kelpie had stumbled across the child before she could. Neither Tenebrus nor Dyrdar trusted Thetis' motives; that kelpie from Lochness is known to be deceptive. Seidon was at least brutally honest.

"Hello, Tenebrus. What brings you to my side of the forest?"

By all accounts, the creature before her looked just like any unicorn, but it stood apart due to its dark colouring and spiked horn. The way that the unicorn was able to speak inside her head still unnerved the thestral.

"Dyrdar, I came to tell you that you need not worry about the kelpie. Seidon has no ill designs for the last Black child, but he is young and inexperienced. I'd like to ask for you to reconsider; that stallion would need a mentor to understand his true role in all this."

The unicorn tossed back her head in disdain. "Why should I? It is no longer my task. He took it upon himself, so best we leave him be, leave him to deal with it."

White eyes stared intently at the creature in front of her. "He accidentally stumbled upon this situation; neither Sirius Black nor his guide is ready. We cannot risk this."

The unicorn trotted towards the thestral. "Seidon will never be ready. He is nothing more that a weak river guardian. Even Thetis did not think that he was worth any attention."

"Was. He was a weak river guardian but, kelpies draw their strength from the water by which they reside. He now guards Hogwart's magical lake, he is much stronger than even he, himself, realizes." Tenebrus answered, as she watched the unicorn intently.

The unicorn stared at the thestral in surprise, "But kelpies were not supposed to see that lake. The Founders made sure that they protected that lake from the likes of Thetis."

The thestral nodded. "Which is the reason as to why Thetis has yet to find Seidon. Sirius Black, led Seidon to that lake. That foolish kelpie willingly bonded himself with the child without knowing the full implications. Seidon, is not part of Thetis' herd, I believe it best that we work with him to assist Sirius Black."

"I'll think about it."

"Do not waste too much time. It is our haven that is at stake. I for one do not trust that kelpie's judgment on human matters."

-0-

Hermione Granger's brown eyes continued to study the reflection in front of her. Hogwarts prepared her to view the strange and unexpected as normal, but this was ridiculous.

"You're my what?"

Her reflection gave an exasperated sigh. "Subconscious. It's the part of the mind below the level of conscious perception..."

"I know what subconscious means!"

"Good, I was starting to doubt your intelligence."

"Why exactly are you here?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"I've been watching you."

Hermione stared at the reflection suspiciously, "Watching me?"

"In the subconscious watching the conscious sort of way..."

"All right, I'm not falling for this. This is some sort of sick trick, either by S.P.A.W.N. or Draco Malfoy."

The image on the reflection shot her an indignant look, "Pranks are beneath me. They are an entirely pointless activity enjoyed by humans and leprechauns."

Hermione frowned and studied her reflection a bit more carefully. "Wait. If you're me, aren't you human as well?"

"You're human. I'm not. I may look human but..."

Hermione sighed. "Al right… Why don't we go back to why you're here..."

The reflection rolled its eyes. "I'm here to help you figure out Malfoy's plot, and how he pulled it."

Hermione bit her lower lip, for this seemed too good to be true. "And how did you come across this information?"

"As I said, I was watching."

Hermione frowned and with a voice tinged with suspicion, she asked, "Watching? I thought you said that you're 'my subconscious' - not some all seeing god."

The image in the mirror tossed back her hair. "A god, I like the sound of that ..." Upon seeing Hermione's confused expression; the reflection corrected its slip, "By 'watching', I meant that which I heard from other people's conversation; conversations which you had heard slightly, and had not given much thought to."

-0-

The first big Quidditch game of the season had arrived, and Harry was glad that Sirius would still watch the game and cheer for him despite last night's debacle. He lowered his head in embarrassment as a group passed by with a 'Potter for President' placard. Beside him, Sirius Black snickered and shouted, "It's a Quidditch game you dolts! He's not running for office. Can't you people even get your facts straight?"

Harry shook his head, as Sirius received numerous glares. "Sirius, I don't think you need to provoke people..."

"You're right! I ought to just concentrate on Longbottom. Now there's a guy who deserved it," he snickered mischievously.

Harry's eyes widened in alarm. "I thought you were going to concentrate on the Professors this whole week?"

Sirius shrugged. "Wrong, Harry. S.P.A.W.N. decided to concentrate on the teachers, I on the other hand, am another matter entirely." Both boys stopped as they neared the Quidditch field. "I guess this is where we split up, Wood's signaling you to hurry up and go over there. Good luck, Harry."

"Thanks. Are you going to finally talk to Ron, or maybe even Fred and George?"

Sirius crossed his arms smugly, "No."

Harry by now was a bit exasperated by Sirius' immature attitude, "Sirius..."

Sirius smirked and copied Harry's tone of voice, "Harry..."

Harry Potter watched as his friend headed for the stands. He decided to clear his thoughts for the present because he needed to concentrate on the game. He would worry about the dilemma with his friends later. Harry turned around and jogged toward the assembled team. Harry felt terrified and excited at the same time as he listened to Oliver Wood's pre-game motivational speech.

-0-

As Sirius headed toward the stands, he was intercepted by two large burly figures. "Crabbe, Goyle. Move it you overgrown apes."

"Sirius, Sirius..." The figure of Draco Malfoy appeared as the burly first years parted to give way to their ringleader. "I can see that you're developing the Gryffindorks' brusque manner."

"Aren't you supposed to sit on the Slytherin side, Draco?" Sirius drawled in a bored manner.

Draco raised his right hand towards his chin and nodded. "Yes, but I've decided that we ought to have some pre-game fun."

-0-

Hermione tapped Ron Weasley on his shoulder. "Ron, where's Sirius?"

Ron rolled his eyes. "How should I know? The git still refused to talk to me."

"We need to talk. Neville, Sirius, all of us are being set up, and I think I've figured out who's truly responsible..." Hermione was interrupted by a loud crash, which was followed by gales of laughter. She turned to her right, towards the direction of where the sound had originated. Her eyes narrowed as she marched towards the laughing group. "Leave him alone, you insufferable prats!"

Sirius gave Hermione a look of pure innocence. "He tripped."

"Trust that dolt to trip on his own shoelaces," Draco Malfoy sneered at the fallen boy.

Ron stepped up from behind Hermione, he noticed that Neville's shoelaces were tied to one another. He shook his head. "Black, I expected more from you."

Grey eyes narrowed towards the red head. "And I expect nothing from you." Sirius turned his back on Ron and walked away. Draco smirked and signaled his two goons, and they followed Sirius down the aisle.

Ron watched his friend; his mind reeled in shock at the anger in Sirius' voice. He had known that Sirius was still angry due to last night's events. Now his friend's anger was further fueled by the fact that Ron had admonished him. By now, Ron understood how emotional and irrational Sirius could get; that idiot most likely translated this recent event as: Ron siding with Neville, and therefore meant: 'Against him'.

-0-

The blond Slytherin wrinkled his nose. "Black, I have to say that this place stinks with Mudbloods, Weasley trash and Squibs. How you were able to stand this, I do not know."

Sirius frowned for he did not want to sit with Draco and the other Slytherins and listen to Draco's monologues about Mudbloods and Weasleys. However, he was obviously not welcome here. He grinned as he found 'the perfect solution' headed his way.

"Minerva my love,
An angel sent from up above.
May I seek the pleasure of your company?
In this game aimed for camaraderie?"

The Deputy Headmistress held back an urge to roll her eyes. "Mr. Black, unless you wish to be sent to detention before this game starts, I suggest you stop this nonsense of yours."

Sirius grinned and took the seat to McGonagall's right. "For the chance to sit by your side, my dear... anything."

The Transfiguration Professor opened her mouth, but decided that to tell Sirius to go take another seat was not proper.

-0-

Hermione glared at Sirius' direction, "How you're able to stand that jerk. I do not know."

Ron's eyes narrowed toward the prissy know-it-all, "How you can stand that cowardly back-stabber surprises me even more." Ron turned his attention toward at the other boy, who still struggled to untangle his shoelaces. "Sirius may be out-of-line, but he only acted out of anger. Neville, you on the other hand, acted out of pure malice. He never did anything to you. Sirius is not Orion, he is not Nadine and he is definitely not Bellatrix."

"Ron... I didn't ..." Neville stuttered.

Hermione nodded. "He's telling you the truth Ron, The one responsible was..."

"Oh shove it!" Ron turned around and stalked off. He searched the stands and found a seat beside Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan.

-0-

The game started smoothly, and both sides enthusiastically cheered for their team. Halfway through the game, Harry's Nimbus 2000 suddenly flew out of control; it vibrated, and flew higher and higher. Harry held on tight to the broom as it attempted to throw him off, as well as avoiding all his teammate's attempts for a quick rescue.

The crowd gasped as the broom continued to buck and dive. Ron spotted Snape from across the stand; he caught Hermione's eye as both realized that the Potions Professor was muttering some sort of spell; his watched Harry intently as he continued to chant. Ron nodded as both made their way towards the other side of the stand.

Sirius Black's eyes gleamed with determination as he stood up and aimed his wand towards Harry and the cursed broom. "Reverbo Plenus!" Beside him Minerva McGonagall gasped.

Harry opened his eyes and was surprised to see that he now stood on solid ground.

"Mr. Potter?"

Harry blinked, for he was surprised to see Minerva McGonagall by his left and he stood by the bleachers. Beside him the Transfiguration Professor cursed, "Black, you insufferable moron..."

Harry's eyes widened for high above them, in his former place atop the broom was Sirius Black.

On the other side of the stand Hermione managed to set Snape's robes on fire. The Potions Professor jumped up to put the fire out and accidentally knocked-out the Defense Against Dark Arts Professor in the process. Unfortunately her attempt to distract the caster came too late...

"He's falling!"

Sirius had not realized how that particular reversal spell would tire him out. He struggled to hold onto the broom, but he felt his grip slip. He closed his eyes and felt the air rush against him, and then he heard the sound of flapping wings. He could not see a thing except the bright blue sky above, but something swooped beneath him and carried him towards the stray broom.

-0-

Hagrid handed Sirius another cup of tea "Yeh sure yeh alrigh', lad?"

Sirius nodded but he was still visibly shaken. After that near death experience, he had decided to put all grudges on hold. Ron, Fred and George had looked too genuinely worried for Sirius to hold a grudge against them.

"Yeh were lucky that Tenebrus was around ter save yeh."

Sirius looked up from the cup which he held. "Tenebrus?"

"A thestral, invisible horses they be, lad. We got a whole herd here." Hagrid explained in a solemn manner.

Ron growled. "I'm telling you. Snape did it. He never liked Harry, and that night when the troll attacked, he was sneaking around. Sirius did mention that Snape went to see Pomfrey that very same night, due to some animal bite. He must be after that package."

Hagrid shook his head. "Yeh betteh watch those thoughts of yours lad. Preffeser Snape would not harm 'is students and he can't possibly know wha' Dumbledore was hiding. The Headmaster trusts him and tha' should be enough fer yeh."

Harry looked curiously at Hagrid. "What was in that package, Hagrid?"

"Yeh best ferget about it lad. Tha' package concerns only Albus Dumbledore an'Nicolas Flamel."

Harry looked at Ron who gave him a mirrored blank look, "Who's Nicolas Flamel?"

Hagrid eyes widened as he realized his slip. "Yeh best ferget wat I said. This business is not fer young lads like yerselves. Just concentrate on having fun like those three." Hagrid pointed toward the direction of Sirius and the Weasley Twins, who were going about another inane conversation amongst themselves.

Sirius leaned back on his chair and moaned, "I haven't pulled a prank all day."

"Us too," Fred echoed forlornly.

Sirius turned his attention to the twins, "Are we still a team?"

"Of course!" George smiled at the fact that they're finally re-grouping.

Sirius smiled. "Let's not fight again."

Fred nodded enthusiastically. "Ditto. It's bad for our pranking schedule."

George smirked. "So this it what kiss and make up is…"

The statement startled Sirius so much, that he managed to accidentally push his chair further back than necessary. This caused the chair to tumble back onto the floor with Sirius on it.

Fred and George laughed at their friend's predicament.

From his position on the floor, Sirius made a face. "Ewww! I'm not kissing you! Moreover, make ups are for girls."

"You're a git. Do you know that?" Fred laughed.

Sirius stood up indignantly. "At least I'm not gay!"

Fred blinked for he was unable to understand where Sirius was coming from. "Who's gay?"

"George!"

Fred fell to the floor and rolled over in laughter.

George glared at the idiotic first year. "I'm not gay, you blistering moron."

Sirius crossed his arms and drawled, "You're the one who wanted to kiss and put on make-up."

George threw his arms in the air. "It's a figure of speech, you lunkhead."

Sirius ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "See? Now he wants to talk about his figure. I mean, how gay is that?"

"Arrgh! Black! I'm going to wring your neck!" George growled and threw himself onto the infuriating first year.

Fred grinned and joined the scuffle.

Harry and Ron snickered. Both boys were glad that things were finally back to normal.

-0-

"I mean did you see how he suddenly took Harry's place? And how he floated in air? I'm telling you it's Dark magic."

Hermione shook her head. "I looked the spell up. 'Reverbo Plenus' is a spell used by Aurors for extreme circumstances, when guarding dignitaries. It is said to be very draining to the caster. How Sirius was able to float back towards that broom is what's truly surprising."

"It's simple. Dark magic gave him that extra boost of energy and enabled him to float his way back towards the broom."

From his place by the couch, Sirius shot a dark look towards the group who discussed him as if he weren't around. He started to contemplate on the hexes he'd want to throw their way.

Harry placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and shook his head. Sirius grumbled and took a seat by the fire with Fred and George. Ron and Harry continued their game of Wizard Chess.

Percy approached the group. "I thought Mum already made things clear to you three."

Ron grumbled, "Shove it, Percy."

Sirius watched Percy carefully. A smile slowly formed upon his lips. Sirius Black, prankster extraordinaire had just come up with a brilliant idea. Beside him, Fred and George looked at one another and grinned, for they liked the mischievous gleam in Sirius' eyes.

Sirius stood up and glared at Percy, the lighted fireplace behind him made his grey eyes look slightly red, thus giving the boy and even more menacing appearance.

"I have kept my silence the whole day,"

He gave each and every face within the common room an eerie smile.

"You'll all soon learn that to cross a Black has a high price to pay."

He walked across toward Ron and Harry's chess set and pick up a bishop. Ron tried to protest, "Sirius! We're in a middle of a game here..." Sirius however ignored Ron, and continued...

"Upon this chess set, thy destiny will play,
Each one you will meet a dark end, this I say."

Sirius lifted the squirming bishop piece in front of his face and smiled. He admired how his voice echoed through the room which enabled him to sound all the more menacing.

"A prefect and a pompous lout,
In two years, thy hair will thin out."

Sirius raised his empty left hand and pointed straight at Percy; the fire behind him crackled and glowed.

"Percy Weasley,
You'll meet your end through a Frisbee!"

Sirius then threw the screaming bishop piece into the fire. The flames grew brighter as it burned the remains of bishop.

Ron moaned. "Sirius! That's my bishop!"

Lavender Brown looked to the right and left, then asked, "What's a Frisbee?"

Fred grinned. "It's a Muggle beheading device."

Hermione Granger rolled her eyes. "Oh for ..." She was however interrupted as Sirius picked a pawn from the chess board. He gave it a look of disgust as he held it in front of him.

"Weak in mind and magic,
I'd suggest he stick to card tricks."

Sirius smiled evilly as he turned towards Neville, he again used his left hand and pointed toward his nemesis,

"How can I forget dear old Neville?
In 3 months time contract a deadly plague you will,
It will originate from Brazil."

Neville gasped as Sirius threw the second screaming chess piece into the flames.

Beside Sirius, Ron grumbled. "Black, you owe me a new chess set."

Sirius placed his right hand under his chin, as if he was in deep thought. His grey eyes stared down onto the remaining chess pieces.

"Now who will be next?
You people are so much fun to hex!"

A stampede of Gryffindor students ran out of the common room, all screaming for help.

-0-

Minerva McGonagall marched inside the Gryffindor common room. She had been surprised to find a large group of her Gryffindor students in hysterics. Most of them were babbling about Sirius being a Dark Lord, who had cursed Percy and Neville with the use of a chess set. Every one of them was afraid to return to Gryffindor Tower, for they feared to be the next one cursed. Never in her life had Minerva heard of such nonsense. She had planned to question Sirius Black about the matter. The scene she walked into however, clearly explained what had transpired.

Fred Weasley dramatically held up a throw pillow as his twin slowly unrolled a parchment. "And this Best Actor award goes to... Sirius Black! For his brilliant depiction as the 'Dark Lord of the Chess Set!'"

Hermione who had been trying to get a word edge-wise for quite a while, noticed the Deputy Headmistress' arrival, "Look, if you guys don't want to listen about Neville and Draco, you might want to know that Professor McGonagall is standing by the doorway." As expected the boys had not even heard a word that she had said.

Hermione sighed, for she now understood the reason why Harry found a need to shove a chocolate frog down Sirius' throat, just to get a word past that loud-mouthed dolt. Not only did Sirius Black not know when to shut up, but combined with the Weasley Twins, those three were impossible. Worse was the fact that Harry and Ron's full attention were on the antics of the three.

Sirius sauntered over and accepted the pillow from Fred. "Thank you for my second award of the night! I ..."

"Mr. Black! I should have known all this nonsense was your doing."

"Why thank you Minerva, I never knew you thought so highly of me. Does this mean that you'll finally go out with me?"

Fred protested, "Hey! How come you get all the credit, Black? A little acknowledgement to the people behind the scenes would be nice."

"Of course I deserved full credit. I wrote the script and I acted it out," Sirius lifted his chin arrogantly.

George shook his head. "Actors are such hams. They don't even acknowledge the 'Special Effects People'. Fred and I happened to be the ones who charmed the fire to glow brighter, and created all those dramatic crackles. Your performance would not have looked as eerie without our help."

"And don't forget your 'Props Manager', who charmed those chess pieces to scream as they were being thrown into the fire," Ron added.

Harry placed in his own two cents, "Let us not forget your 'Sound Effect Specialist', who enhanced your voice so everyone in the common room could hear you, and those echoes of mine made your performance even more dramatic."

Minerva McGonagall glared at all five boys, while Hermione shook her head and contemplated the 'Stupidity of Boys' in general.

-0-

The area by the lake was so quiet and peaceful this night. However, Tenebrus had not come by the lake to relax, nor admire its beauty. "Seidon."

From behind the thick bushes, the kelpie answered, "Shush Tenebrus, I'm quite busy."

The thestral tapped its hoof to the ground, impatiently. "It is a matter of importance."

"A genius need not be rushed."

The thestral sighed. "What are you up to?"

The kelpie however only gave her a vague answer, "Playing god."

-0-

Sirius Black moaned, for he had 90 more lines to go. On the board he had written: 'I will not pretend to be a Dark Lord and throw fake curses at my housemates.'

Beside him Harry busily wrote: 'I will not assist Sirius by being his Sound Effects Specialist.'

Ron and his brothers were also busy with their own lines to write.

"Guys?"

Ron groaned. "What now, Black?"

"I'm bored."

Harry sighed. "Which is why we'd best finish these lines as soon as possible and thus get out of here."

"Just a thought, its still 'Target the Teachers Week'..." Fred smirked, and faced his companions.

Ron moaned. "Fred! This isn't really the time..."

Unfortunately George did not share Harry and Ron's sentiment, "Indeed. What do you have in mind Fred?"

Sirius laughed. "I've got a good one. How do you think Snivellus' hair feels at being sooo neglected?"

Fred and George grinned at one another. "We might have just the solution for that..."

"Guys!" Harry interrupted, "You can discuss that later, inside the privacy of our room. This is not exactly the ideal place for you to plan your pranks."

To Ron's relief, their three companions saw the logic in Harry's argument and turned back to writing their assigned lines.

-0-

An eagle owl tapped softly on the window by his bedside. Draco Malfoy rose from his bed and accepted the old newspaper that the owl carried. He unrolled the paper carefully, and smiled.

-0-

Percy Weasley sighed as he pulled out a quill and a parchment and began to write:

---

Dear Mum,

I hope that you and Dad are well. I have done what you've asked and reminded my brothers to stop hanging around Sirius Black. However, it would seem that this is to no avail, for those three, seemed determined to maintain their friendship with Black.

May I say that he is not what one would have expected of a Black. I read that Blacks were cold, dignified and highly intelligent. Sirius is hot tempered and rowdy. The kid is merely just as silly and troublesome as Fred and George (maybe even more so).

I was thinking that maybe a bit of a positive influence would prevent Sirius from following his family's footsteps. However, if you wish that I continue to remind them of your request, I'd do so.

I would have asked my brothers to write to you and Ginny as well, however they're all currently in detention due to their participation in some stupid prank Black has pulled.

Your loving and obedient son,
Percy

P.S. When did Dad start losing his hair?

---

Hermione stared at the mirror in front of her and once again concentrated, but still to no avail. Tired and frustrated, she slumped onto the counter and grumbled:

"Mirror, Mirror on the wall,
Subconscious, hear my call...
Dammit! Just come out!
Or do I need to shout!"

A soft blue light enveloped the glass as her reflection ceased to be a simple mirror image. "You bellowed?"

Hermione glared at her image, "Finally! I've been trying to summon you for the past 30 minutes. My roommates are wondering why I'm in the bathroom for this long talking to myself!"

The reflection that claimed to be her subconscious flipped back a strand of hair arrogantly. "You really should do something about this hair of yours..." Seeing Hermione's glare, the reflection crossed its arms defiantly. "You don't summon me. I come to you when I feel like it."

Hermione gritted her teeth and wondered if people found her as infuriating as this subconciousness of hers. "I want some advice."

"Yes, it's only natural for a human to seek advice from a wiser being."

"You're not wiser. You're me, you dolt!"

The reflection raised an eyebrow, "So you're now calling yourself a dolt. Do you really believe that I can help you with this self-esteem issue of yours? Sorry, that is not my specialty. Go seek out a professional, or I can suggest you go to Professor Lupin temporarily, that man is good listener..."

Hermione felt an urge to literally pull her hair out, but she settled with throwing a brush towards the reflection.

"Ouch!"

Hermione stared in surprise as her brush managed to bounce off her reflection's head, and the mirror image rubbed its forehead, then glared at Hermione.

"Fine. I'm leaving!"

Hermione's eyes widened frantically, "Wait! I apologize. I really need your advice on this problem."

"And why should I assist an insolent and ungrateful brat such as yourself? I have better things to do with my time."

Hermione wondered what a 'subconcious' did in its free time, but decided that to ask that particular question would further infuriate the being in front of her. "Because I verified your version of what happened, but Harry, Ron and Sirius won't even listen to me. I don't mean that they don't believe me. I just can't get them to listen to a word I say."

Her reflection cocked its head to its right, and placed a finger on its chin. "You should take a page off Sirius' book. Now there's a boy who knows how to get people's attention." The soft blue light started to fade.

"Wait! What do you mean by that?" Hermione placed a hand on the mirror, but it was too late. All she managed was to have her hand pressed on the cold, hard glass - a plain, normal reflection stared back at her.

-End of Chapter 11-

Author's Note:

Next Chapter: Cycle of Chaos. Plenty of classroom pranks and my first attempt in an action sequence... Picture this: Kelpie versus Fudge! Stop laughing *pout* I'm being serious here.

On the horses' names:

Seidon - The kelpie's name was derived from Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. This god is said to have given horses to man (fitting isn't it?). I chose to derived the kelpie's name from Poseidon and give his personality an air of arrogance (with moronic tendencies/childishness) as is common with Greek gods.

Tenebrus - Is the name of the thestral in OOTP, she is said to be Hagrid's favorite (So she's the only horse that is not an OC). I did not have to do any thinking for this name but for those interested; Tene means 'love' (African origin) 'Bruis' means mansion/rich home (Celtic/Gaelic origin).

Dyrdar - I wanted a Norse sounding name for the unicorn. Dyr means 'deer' or 'rare' and dar stemmed from arr which means 'warrior'. Thought 'Dyr' is fitting since deers lived in woods, and also a dark unicorn is also a rare creature. As for the warrior part, it has more to do with her serious and cold personality.

Edited by: Orlaith

Black Chronicles

Chapter 12 �“ A Cycle of Chaos

Seidon stared down on the small pool and sensed that he was being watched. He looked up at the stars; creatures like the centaurs studied the stars for over four thousand years, he wondered why such things needed careful study. He only knew that in a few hours, the sun would be a glow in the eastern horizon. He changed back to his proper form and walked along the lakeshore. “Tenebrus, I believe whatever it is that you wished to discuss, can wait. We are being watched.”

The kelpie jumped as a soft voice echoed inside his head. ‘Suspicious by nature; a very typical trait of a kelpie.’

-0-

The Gryffindor common room looked quite empty. However, crouched by the shadows, Hermione Granger lay hidden as she bidded her time. Her patience finally paid-off as the doorway creaked open.

“Incarcerous!” Ropes shot out of her wand, which effectively bounded her victims.

“Hey!

“Sirius!

“It wasn’t me!”

“Fred! George! This isn’t funny!”

“It's not us!”

Hermione sighed and hoped that the guys had not yet woken anybody with their racket. She sent five chocolate frogs towards their destination. Hermione smiled, the boys ought to be grateful that she used Sirius’ stupid ‘jump him and tie him up’ idea instead of the other one, which involved a ‘permanent sticking charm’

-0-

“I can’t believe that slimy, two-faced, in-bred, prat truly had us by the palm of his hand!” Ron growled as he paced.

Sirius shook his head. “I was the one who was truly fooled. Sorry I doubted you guys, and fell for all those slick lines of his.” He stared into a space.

“I really started to believe that maybe he had sort of finally accepted me in his family and…” Sirius closed his eyes and leaned back unto the wall.

Ron frowned. “It must be truly hell to have to live with the guy...”

Sirius glared at Ron. “They took me in when nobody else would! Not everyone can have a perfect existence like you.”

Ron rolled his eyes exasperatedly. “Perfect existence! For your information Mister I-have-to-live-with-a-dark-background, at least you have it easy and get the best of everything, without even lifting a finger. You never even struggle to get those perfect grades of yours…”

Harry understood where Sirius was coming from, for he himself wished that he had a warm, loving and closed knitted family like Ron’s. But Harry had long since given up any hope that the Dursleys would eventually forget their hatred towards him, and possibly accept him. “You have to admit Ron, being poor and average is better than being hated.”

Both Sirius and Ron glared at Harry. Fred and George stared at one another in dismay, unable to believe that Harry would say something so tactless and hit both Ron and Sirius with just one statement. Harry’s own eyes widened as he realized what he’d let slip.

Hermione had decided that boys’ bickering had gone far enough. “Stop it you two. It seems that you don’t even need Draco’s meddling to go against one other.” Hermione was satisfied to see that the boys at least looked ashamed.

Sirius looked down onto the floor and mumbled. “Sorry, Ron.”

“Ditto, Black.”

Harry looked at both his friends and apologized as well, “I shouldn’t have said what I said either...”

Ron smiled up at Harry. “No problem, Harry.”

“Yeah, we both had it coming,” Sirius nodded in agreement.

Fred grinned. “Now that we have everything settled. We ought not to let dear Draco get away with what he’s done.”

“What better way to do that than through a prank?” George’s eyes twinkled mischievously at the thought.

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Is pranking all that you idiots can think of? You guys ought to first make it up to Neville for...”

She was however interrupted by Ron, “I thought its still ‘target the teacher’s week’?”

Sirius laughed. “It is, but we can make a few exceptions. I have just the prank for that two-faced snake.”

Fred and George grinned at one another and figured this ought to be a good prank for Sirius to grin so evilly. “Do tell!”

Hermione stifled a sigh and wondered if she should tie the boys up again, just to make them listen.

Sirius paused for effect and asked his question, “Are you guys familiar with the art of illusions?”

Hermione shook her head. “It’s an obsolete form of magic, for the preparation is time consuming, and it can easily be thwarted by a simple truth revealing charm.”

“True. But it’s harmless and perfect for a prank of two.” Sirius answered with a smile.

-0-

Sirius leaned back, a quill in one hand and the Black Chronicles on another. He stared at the empty page and began to write:

Sometimes I wonder. It was said that everything in life has a purpose, and I think about the purpose of my being in this time and place. Am I truly meant to be here? Am I meant to be estranged from the family with whom I was born to? Most people only have awful things to say about my parents and brother, but I remember them as my family. In a way I think I’m luckier than Harry, at least I had them for the first 6 years of my life.

The Black Family crest appeared on the page and a familiar cursive writing made its way onto the pages:

Ancient strength from an ancient line,
A legacy that is truly mine.
Horses that people fear,
Creatures that I hold dear.

We never seek to be understood,
Rely on family is all we ever could.
With you, we begin anew
Thy trusted ones would be few

Of this ancient family, thou art the last
Survive in this difficult time, you must
You should seek to understand my legacy
As well as Nathaniel’s ancient prophecy

Sirius stifled a groan and wrote:

Thanks a lot Aris. First, I didn’t ask for your advice; I happen to be contemplating on my own. Second, you have a rare gift to confuse the already confused. Why do you always insist on these riddles?

The cursive script appeared once again.

Answers easily given,
Is knowledge cheapened.

Sirius groaned, and grumbled about crazy ancestral guides as he closed the book.

-0-

Ron yawned and wondered if all this was worth it. He then remembered their targeted victim, and decided that it was worth this much trouble. Ron studied the map once again. “Okay, it’s this way.”

Behind Ron, Harry sighed. “You know it’ll be a lot easier if we did this the way Sirius originally planned.”

Ron rolled his eyes. “Look, I’m not in the mood to deal with that kelpie at this ungodly hour. Sirius and my brothers are probably still trying to convince the almighty Seidon to cooperate. At least we have a head start.”

Harry shook his head. “But, they’ll probably finish with those pranks for Snape, Hagrid, and Flitwick, before we do on this assignment of ours. All this sneaking around takes up plenty of our time.”

Ron grinned. “Then it’s a good thing we have plenty of that. Anyway our task is plenty more fulfilling. Why do you think I volunteered for this particular prank?”

-0-

Fred and George Weasley watched the small pool, when a dark haired boy emerged from a portal that had opened behind them.

“Too bad I don’t have Potions for the first period. How are Harry and Ron doing?”

Fred grinned. “Fortunately George and I have Snape for our first class. Ron and Harry are inside Malfoy’s room.”

George turned to the kelpie. “Seidon, can you help them make a quick escape?”

The kelpie snorted. “Was there ever any doubt? Why am I doing this again?”

“Because of your innate charitable nature, and willingness to share a bit of your gifts to us who are not fortunate enough to be born a kelpie,” Sirius quickly supplied.

Fred nodded. “Right. Sharing to the less fortunate is such a noble practice for such a noble creature.”

George held back his laughter, for he thought Fred and Sirius had laid the flatteries a little too thickly but, to his amazement, the kelpie took all of it in. The creature accepted their nonsense all too willingly. He shook his head, unable to believe that kelpies were known for their cunning. For George had never met anyone more gullible than Seidon.

-0-

Draco Malfoy yawned and stretched his arms. He grinned as he looked forward to create more chaos for those Gryffindorks. He put on his slippers and walked into the bathroom. He blinked as he saw his reflection, and screamed.

Crabbe and Goyle rushed in and saw snakes atop Draco’s head, instead of his normal white blond hair.

“Don’t you dolts just stand there! Do something!” Draco screamed.

Both boys looked at one another dumbly. They ran out of the room and rushed back in with their wands.

Severus Snape ran up towards the Slytherin boy’s dormitories. He could hear Draco Malfoy as the boy wailed in anger and yelped in pain. He opened the door to find that Draco had snakes on his head instead of hair; while the two bludgeoning idiots otherwise known as Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, threw fire and stinging hexes onto the snakes. Most of their hexes missed the snakes and either hit the wall or Draco himself.

“Enough!” Crabbe and Goyle stopped throwing their hexes and stared dumbly at Snape, while Draco just whimpered by the corner. Snape picked up a knife by the desk and walked up to Draco. He grabbed one of the snakes by the head and slashed it. He was surprised that, upon doing so, the snake reverted back to white blond hair. Severus Snape frowned, "This may be a new variation of the ‘Medusa Curse’,” he muttered softly to himself, as he grabbed another snake and continued to chop the snakes’ heads off, one after another. When finally, he slashed a snake head and came upon white blond hair with a small green cylinder clipped on it.

Severus Snape blinked and he saw that Draco’s hair was back to normal, although several clumps had been chopped off. A few sections of Draco’s hair had been burnt off as well. Snape frowned and stared at the green cylindrical object. He never thought he’d come across an ‘Illusion Tube’ in this day and age.

-0-

Madam Pomfrey walked inside the teacher’s lounge. “The boy’s fine. Although it will talk a day or two for his hair to grow back to normal, his two friends caused most of the harm. What were those two thinking?”

Severus Snape sneered, “Crabbe and Goyle are incapable of thinking. It’s in their genes.”

Albus fingered the three cylindrical green objects and smiled. He had been surprised when both Hagrid and Flitwick rushed inside his office in panic; their bodies interchanged but not their voices. When Severus came and presented the first ‘Illusion Tube’, it merely took a ‘Truth Revealing Charm’ to counter-act the effects. “I have to say, I’m impressed. Constructing an ‘Illusion Tube’ is no easy task.”

Snape glared at the Headmaster. “What we ought to discuss, is how to put a stop to those misfits.”

Remus Lupin shook his head. “Severus, we have no proof that S.P.A.W.N. did this. Moreover, we do not know who S.P.A.W.N. is.”

Dumbledore smiled patiently.“You should all calm down. After all, there was no harm done.”

“Easy for you to say. You weren’t turned into Hagrid,” Flitwick grumbled.

“Being shrunk ain’t easy either!” Hagrid countered mutinously.

-0-

Fred and George Weasley grinned at one another. Sirius’ time delayed charm on Snape’s hair should work seamlessly with the charmed hat.

Severus Snape entered the room angrily, for Dumbledore still refused to do anything drastic about the S.P.A.W.N. problem. He wondered if things could get any worse.

“Oh it’s so greasy up here! All I need is a bit of heat and I’d curl up like a bacon.”

Snape whirled around and wondered where the sound emanated.

“I know what you mean. All that grease does major damage to my poor lining.”

Snape glared at his bowler’s hat, which lay on top of his desk. He pulled out his wand and attempted to un-charm the hat “Finite!” The Potions Professor was surprised when his spell seemed to ripple around the hat and then reverberated a beam of yellow light right back at him. Snape opened his mouth and found that he could not speak. A single pink card appeared on top his desk. He realized those hoodlums, better known as S.P.A.W.N., must have placed a ‘Silencing Ward’ around the hat.

The first voice that seemed to originate from above him spoke again. “I need shampoo...”

Severus Snape realized that it was his hair that spoke.

The hat answered. “I sympathize with you. Someone ought to tell him that he looks ridiculous whenever he does that whiplash move of his, which slaps his face with all that grease.”

Snape’s hair answered. “I think he believes it makes him look cool, thought it’s a statement that screams ‘I’m Mr.-Bad-Guy! Fear me!’ but nobody wants to tell him that it only makes him look like a greasy vampire.”

Snape grabbed the rude bowler hat and stalked out of the room. He swore that he’d get S.P.A.W.N. one of these days.

They waited until they were sure that Snape was finally out of an earshot, the whole class then erupted in laughter.

Fred grinned. “So, Gred, what’s the next game plan?”

“You know, Forge, I happen to think that Sirius’ prophecy on Percy’s hair is sheer genius.”

Fred leaned closer towards his brother. “You have a plan?”

George shrugged. “Not yet. We could brain storm about this tonight.”

-0-

Draco Malfoy growled as another Gryffindor student pointed to his hair and laughed. Those Gryffindorks would pay. He would tell his father about this incident and whoever was responsible would pay.

Draco smiled as he slipped the rolled up old paper in Harry Potter’s bag.

-0-

Ron still believed that this was a bad idea, as were most of Sirius’ class project ideas. However, Harry believed otherwise, and said that this particular last minute idea of Sirius’s was brilliant. Ron swallowed hard and hoped Harry’s assessment of the situation was correct, for they were the only ones who were grouped into three. Most of their class merely paired off, thus the higher expectation on them. He silently cursed Sirius and his twin brothers for all their bloody pranks, their activities distracted Harry and Ron from their schoolwork, thus all three of them, completely forgot about this project. Ron cleared his mind of one particular image of himself with his hands about Sirius Black's neck. He forced himself to smile and, with a shaky voice, started the read the introduction that Sirius hastily had written.

“Good Morning, everyone. Hermione and Neville previously discussed Leprechauns in detail, the creature of our choice happens to be a native of Scotland and are greatly feared by Leprechauns. These Scottish Water Demons are said to despise Leprechauns so intensely that they drown all in sight. Whenever this creature is in the area, you will not find a Leprechaun within the vicinity.”

Ron was rewarded by a withering look from Hermione. He, in return, gave her a triumphant smile, for it felt good to show Miss Know-it-all that she missed one particular fact in her oh-so-detailed report.

Harry took over to discuss the kelpies’ roles as guardians of lakes and rivers, as well as their magical capabilities. Sirius of course, went overly dramatic on his discussion of how a kelpie drowns its victims. Ron grinned as the class gasped and shuddered at Sirius’ graphic descriptions. The youngest of the Weasley brothers smiled. He was beginning to think that maybe, this was not such a bad idea after all. They may lack the visuals and distribution materials that Hermione and Neville had for their report, but their dealings with the kelpie made them very knowledgeable about the creature. Moreover, their planned grand finale would more than make-up for their lack of visual materials.

“...Some books stated, that to control a kelpie, all you need is to place your bridle on them, and then they will ‘act’ all docile and obedient. That’s the problem. It’s all an act...” Sirius smiled as he held the whole classes’ attention. “… a tall tale fabricated and encouraged by kelpies so they can easily trick some hapless idiot to jump onto their backs, and bide their time to drown the designated victim.”

Hermione raised her hand. “Are you saying that the books are wrong?”

Harry was glad he’d bumped into Professor Lupin and was therefore able to garner a few historical facts. “It’s interesting to know that most of the known wizards who are said to have tamed a kelpie disappeared, in more or less two years after they have tamed such a creature.”

“Gilderoy Lockhart is still alive, and gorgeous!” Lavender Brown gushed dreamily.

Seamus Finnigan muttered loudly. “I can’t wait for him to meet his watery grave.”

Most of the girls in class glared at Seamus.

Hermione continued to argue, “Just because a few of the wizards disappeared, there were no indications that the kelpies are responsible.”

Ron grinned. “We figured you’d say that, so we thought it best that everyone get their facts straight out of the horse’s mouth. Literally.”

Sirius gestured to the middle of the room. “So without further ado, we present to you, Seidon the Kelpie!”

Hermione gasped as a soft blue orb glowed in the middle of the room; this orb elongated and stretched. A large horse emerged from this portal. The horse had a silky blue-black coat, as well as cat-like eyes and teeth, droplets of water sparkled from its mane as the horse reared back and gave an eerie horse-like battle cry. Hermione stared in shock as she realized that right in front of her was a real kelpie. On the front right-hand corner of the room, Professor Quirrell fainted as the rest of the class screamed and rushed toward the door.

Ron gaped at the now empty classroom and grumbled. “Way to go, Black. Brilliant idea indeed.”

Harry sighed and sat on the floor. “I hate to say this Sirius, but maybe you should have toned down on those drowning descriptions of yours.”

“But, I had them hanging on to my every word. At least people didn’t fall asleep on me, as they did on that first report,” Sirius protested.

From her seat, Hermione cleared her throat and smirked. “At least Professor Quirrell was awake all though-out my report.”

Sirius glared at the kelpie. “And why did you have to go and give that battle cry thus scare your audience off.”

Hermione was surprised that Sirius told the kelpie off with such familiarity, and was even more so when the kelpie took in a human form. She couldn’t help but note that there was something familiar about the kelpie’s stance. Although she was sure that she had never met him before.

The kelpie held its head up high, and took the seat at the middle of the platform. “The amount of humans that a kelpie can scare with that single battle cry is a denomination of his or her power. We firmly believe that fear connotes to strength. I think I did rather well. So are there any questions for me? I look forward to enlightening you humans on our ways.”

“Open your eyes you daft horse! You scared off your audience! So there’s no one left to ask you any questions!” Ron rolled his eyes in exasperation.

The kelpie snorted. “They’ll be back. What human can resist getting a second glimpse of a kelpie such as myself?” He then changed back into a horse and strutted about the room.

Sirius laughed. “So, does this mean that classes are officially over?”

Harry grinned. “Seems so.”

Ron groaned and started to hit his head against the nearby wall and wondered what he had ever done to deserve this. He would fail Defense Against Dark Arts all because of a moron named Sirius Black, and an equally daft kelpie, and from Harry’s reaction to all this, Ron can definitely say that idiocy is a catchable disease.

“Excuse me?” Hermione raised her hand, “I’m still here, and I do have some questions to ask.”

-0-

Albus Dumbledore chuckled. For all his years in Hogwarts, a school year had never been as exciting as this one. “Calm down children. Why don’t we all just go back to that class and allow Mr. Potter, Mr. Black and Mr. Weasley to finish their report? I can assure you that it’ll be safe.” He shook his head and led the back towards the Defense Against Dark Arts classroom.

-0-

“Yes, theoretically we may be able open a portal to the realm of the dead, but it has never been done, because firstly, we don’t know where that realm is and if such a realm existed in physical form …” Seidon turned towards the door and smiled triumphantly as the class trickled back inside. “…Hah! Told you they’ll be back! And you people doubt my understanding of human nature.”

Ron moaned. “Now that kelpie is going to be even more impossible.”

Sirius grinned. “Cheer up, Ron, at least now you’ll not end up with a ‘D’. So this also means that my plan has been reverted to its ‘Brilliant’ status.” He then pointed his wand towards Professor Quirrell. “Enervate.”

-0-

Today, the first year Gryffindors would take their first practical exams for Transfiguration, and Sirius Black was bored. Minerva McGonagall made Sirius sit at the very back of the room and threatened to take off house points from Gryffindor should Sirius speak out of turn. Waiting around and keeping his silence was not something Sirius enjoyed. He stared intently at his desk, and noticed a small marking which stated ‘Fred Weasley was here!’ Sirius grinned and figured he could out-do that. He pulled out his wand and started to get to work.

Minerva McGonagall was glad that all seemed quiet; she was surprised that even Sirius Black managed to keep his silence. She back tracked her thoughts, for Sirius Black was never silent without a reason. The Deputy Headmistress intently watched the dark haired boy, who had his head bowed down and seemed very much pre-occupied on whatever it was that he was doing. The Transfiguration Professor had long since formulated a theory that ‘Sirius Black is always up to no good.’

Sirius grinned and admired his work. On the center of his desk is a full-coloured caricature of a man with an overly large nose, slightly blackened skin and stringy lavender hair. The man wore a feathery pink headdress with bright blue feathers on his backside. Underneath the caricature, Sirius wrote, ‘Watch the Snivellus Show!’

“Mr. Black!”

Sirius grinned. “Hello, Minerva, what do you think? Do I have the makings of a great artist like my ancestor Nathaniel Black? I heard that he painted that ceiling on our Great Hall.”

The Deputy Headmistress could not believe the audacity of boy in front of her, “I’ll have you know Mr. Black, defacing school property, as well as disrespect to your teachers, are punishable offenses.”

Sirius feigned innocence. “But Nathaniel was never accused of ‘defacing school property’ when he painted that ceiling, and which teacher did I offend in this masterpiece of mine?”

Minerva McGonagall held back an urge to roll her eyes, “I’m sure Professor Snape would not find your work amusing”

By now, most of the students in the room craned their necks as they tried to get a glimpse of Sirius’ so-called masterpiece. As Sirius looked down at his work and grinned. “Well what-do-you-know, he does resemble Professor Snape!”

A scatter of laughter was heard around the room. The Deputy Headmistress gave the insolent boy a hard look. “Detention after dinner for you, Mr. Black, and 3 points from Gryffindor.”

“Will we be having a nice candlelight dinner for two before that, Minerva?”

“NO!”

Sirius pouted, “You know, you could have let me down easy.”

The class erupted in laughter as Minerva McGonagall shook her head and wondered what she ever did to deserve this.

Sirius stared forlornly at his desk, for Professor McGonagall erased his masterpiece. He looked around the room and eyes settled on plain black cloth. He grinned as he just came up with another idea to pass his time.

Minerva McGonagall gave Hermione a smile as the girl successfully transfigured the cup and saucer set into a turtle and reverted it back to its original form. “Very good Miss Granger, 5 points for Gryffindor. Mr. Black, please step up, it’s now your turn.” The Transfiguration Professor frowned, for she was greeted by complete silence; she turned around to call upon her problematic student once again. “Mr. Black!”

The obviously startled Sirius Black, jumped and grinned. “Finally?”

“What were you up to, Mr. Black?

“I’m not de-facing any school property, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Dean Thomas leaned back and peered at Neville’s back and grinned. “That’s cool! Hey, Sirius, can you do mine next?”

There were a few giggles at the back of the room. Minerva McGonagall’s eyes narrowed as she made her way towards the back of the classroom once again.

The Transfiguration Professor saw that Sirius managed to draw another caricature this time at the back of Neville Longbottom’s robes. The new caricature was a moving one, where a slightly chubby boy was staring in horror at a bubbling cauldron, a man with an overly large nose and greasy hair approached. The cauldron exploded on the man’s face and the chubby boy peered up from under the table. Underneath the caricature were the words, ‘Potions 101 �“ Lesson #1 Duck!’.

“Mr. Black, are you terribly fond of detention?”

“But Neville is not school property. Unless of course he’s a school slave but human slavery has been banned for over a thousand years … or …unless…” Sirius paused and stared at Neville, then pointed his wand towards the chubby boy, who visibly cringed, “Aperio!”

“Mr Black! What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m trying the revealing charm to check if Neville’s a house elf in disguise,” was Sirius’s wide-eyed response.

The room erupted in laughter; even Neville could not help but laugh at Sirius’s idiotic antics.

“Double detentions for tonight, Mr. Black.”

-0-

Hermione Granger could not believe it, not only did Sirius Black manage to out-do her, but he also managed to gain his three detentions from Professor McGonagall in a single class. Hermione had to admit, Sirius arranged for a very impressive show. First he changed the colours of the cups to yellow, blue, green and red. He then transfigured the yellow cup to a badger, the blue to an eagle, the green to a flobber worm; this of course elicited a round of laughter from the Gryffindors. The final transfiguration, however, was the most impressive as well as idiotic. Sirius transfigured the red cup into a full-grown lion, which, as expected, caused quite a bit of chaos inside the room.

Sirius, of course was stupid enough and claimed ‘house spirit’ as an excuse for that moronic stunt, which earned him his third detention for that single class.

-0-

Classes were over; Sirius, Harry and Ron lounged by the lake. Sirius leaned on the tree trunk and complained, “It’s just not fair that every one of the teachers is singling me out. I mean what have I ever done to deserve such a treatment?”

Harry and Ron stared incredulously at their companion.

Harry smirked. “How about the fact that you never do your homework?”

Ron laughed and continued. “Or the fact that you call Professor Snape an ignoramus and Professor McGonagall your goddess, or all those detentions you rightfully earned? Just out of curiosity how many did you get so far this year?”

“612,” Sirius responded nonchalantly.

Harry stared at Sirius. “612 detentions! And it’s not even Christmas break. Sirius, aren’t you overdoing it?”

Sirius grinned. “The current record is 896. I just thought I ought to make sure that when I set a new record. I had better make it very difficult to beat.”

“No one even came close to beating that record in 20 years. Well maybe Fred and George did get 798 last year, but that’s not even close,” Ron mused.

Harry shook his head. “Sirius, don’t you think that there’s such a thing as too many detentions?”

“There you have it. I have too many detentions. How does anyone expect me to find time to do homework?” Sirius laugh as he laid upon the grass.

Ron rolled his eyes. “Maybe if you spend less time on pranks...”

Ron was interrupted as Percy approached the group. “Sirius, the Headmaster is requesting to see you in his office.”

All three first year boys worriedly looked at one another.

Ron bit his lower lip. “Now you’ve done it, Black. I told you, that lion was a bad idea.”

Sirius frowned. “I think you’re jumping the gun, Ron. No one has been expelled due to too many detentions before.”

"No one had as much detention as you do, Black," Ron sighed.

Harry’s eyes widened. “Dumbledore can’t expel you. I mean you haven’t harmed anyone, and you’re doing fine with your classes.”

Sirius stood up and acted a lot more confident than he truly felt. “Who said anything about being expelled?”

Ron stood up to follow Sirius and Percy. “I’m coming along.”

“Me too,” Harry scrambled up to follow the three.

Percy glared at the two. “The Headmaster specifically asked for Sirius, not Sirius and friends.”

Harry calmly answered the pompous prefect, “I think it’s up to the Headmaster to decide whether or not he wants us around too.”

Percy sighed. “Fine. But for the record, this was entirely your idea.”

-0-

All four Gryffindors were surprised to find Professor Lupin waiting by the gargoyle. “Thank you, Percy. Sirius, you best go up and wait there.”

“We’re coming along.”

Remus Lupin smiled, for it was quite rare for Harry to impose his will on anyone but, unfortunately, for this particular situation the Headmaster requested for Sirius alone. “I’m sorry, Harry, I cannot let you and Ron in. Sirius, please proceed upstairs.”

Sirius frowned took a step up and turned around. “Don’t worry guys; I’m sure it’s not that bad.” He forced a smile and headed upstairs.

Remus turned towards Harry and Ron and gave them a reassuring smile. “There’s no need for you two to worry, Sirius may have caused plenty of undue stress to the entire faculty of this school, but he’s not in any major trouble.”

Both boys looked relieved as Remus headed towards the stairway entrance of the Headmaster’s office.

“So what now, Harry?”

Harry decided that now was a good opportunity to check out the mirror again. “I have something to show you...”

-0-

Sirius shifted nervously in the seat as he waited for the Headmaster. He pulled out a leather-bound book from his book bag and flipped it open and wrote down on the blank page:

‘Dad, I think I’m in trouble.’

‘Whatever you do son, remember if they cannot prove it, they have nothing.’

‘That’s the problem dad, I think the problem is more my behavior. I got too much detention for it already.’

‘How quickly people forget. You’re a Black, the most ancient and noble house of wizards. We are entitled to behave as we deem fit.’

‘Really?’

‘You ought to remind these people that the name Black connotes to money and power. That which cannot be bought can be coerced.’

Remus Lupin walked in to find Sirius writing and reading intently on what seemed to be an old leather book. The history professor frowned, for the pages of the book seemed empty. He wondered what Sirius had been writing and reading from it. “Interesting book you’ve got there, Sirius, is it any good?”

The boy jumped and dropped the quill that he held. “Professor Lupin, I didn’t hear you come up.”

Remus noted that the quill held no ink stains. The book on the boy’s hand seemed old and had the Black Family Crest on its cover. “Black Chronicles? An interesting title; is it about your family's history? Or is it a journal?”

Sirius grinned and figured that he could trust Remus Lupin. Since the History Professor seemed interested in the book, Sirius gladly explained. “Both. It’s a gift from my dad, this book has been in the family for generations.”

Remus looked curiously at the book. “May I?” The man was surprised that Sirius handed him the book willingly, he thought that this would be good indication that the book held no unnatural hold on the boy. He opened the book and confirmed that the pages were indeed blank.

“Amazing isn’t it? But no one can read it except the one who wears the family ring.” Sirius sauntered over to the History Professor; he pointed to the first portrait “That’s my dad. He looks a whole lot older than I remembered him to be, but then I was 6, when I last saw him.”

Remus held back a shudder, for he did know who Orion Black was. He, however, held back his opinion back, for he knew that all of Sirius’ experiences with his parents were those in the first six years of his life. The boy would likely have an idealized picture of them despite the public’s general perception.

Sirius pointed to the next portrait, “That’s Aris, he’s the first of the Blacks and he likes to mess with my mind by writing in rhymes and riddles.” He pointed to the final portrait. “That’s Nathaniel, he’s an artist thus he thinks it gives him the right to act all moody.”

Remus Lupin chuckled at the boy’s enthusiasm. He was about to ask a bit more when the door to the Headmaster’s inner office opened. “Remus, Sirius, this way please.”

Sirius frowned and remembered that Lucius Malfoy was the current Head of the School’s Board of Governors, and given the current state of Draco's hair ... "If this is about Malfoy's hair. I didn't do it. No one saw me do it. You can't prove a god-damn thing! You can even check my wand and see that I never activated any ‘Illusions Tube’."

Remus Lupin chuckled as the Headmaster's eyes twinkled in amusement. “This has nothing to do with Mr. Malfoy’s hair. Although I’m curious how you came about that information on the Illusion’s Tube.”

Sirius bit his lower lip and knew that he had now placed himself in a bind, “Uhh...will bribery get me out of trouble?”

Lupin and Dumbledore looked at one another and chuckled.

“Oh. What has our great family come to? How could this brat even be Orion’s son? He definitely lacks the finesse and manners expected from the members of the Great House of Blacks.”

Sirius turned around and recognized the portrait. “Oh go choke yourself! Oops, I forgot, you already did.”

The man on the portrait frowned. “And such coarse display of insolence. It’s no wonder Slytherin could not accept him.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “Would the snake like another bowl of cherries?” He pretended to choke and made some gagging sounds.

Remus Lupin sighed. “Sirius, I believe the Headmaster wishes to discuss a matter to you and there are some people inside waiting.”

“Ok, Professor Lupin.” Sirius then turned back towards the portrait and gave a formal bow. “It was nice seeing you again, old bat.”

The portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black stared down upon the boy, “The feeling’s not mutual.”

Sirius walked inside the office the sight that greeted him was not one that he had expected, “Kingsley! Hestia! What are you guys doing here? Hey, Mr. Moody, miss me?”

Kingsley Shacklebolt and Hestia Jones returned the boy’s enthusiastic embrace, whereas Alastor Moody rolled his eyes.

Kingsley grinned. “Hey, Hellspawn! Don’t mind Alastor, the old guy is just disappointed that his proposal to have you replace the Dementors was rejected.”

Moody sighed. “That’s because those quill pushers had never have any hands-on experience on having you around.”

Minerva McGonagall nodded in agreement. “Amen to that.”

Remus Lupin leaned over to Hestia Jones, and asked, “Is he for real? If so, it’s no wonder people thought he’s losing his sanity.”

Hestia laughed. “No, it’s just an inside joke among us. This started when Alastor was in a foul mood and he was grumbling about the Dementors’ many demands. Sirius just happened to aggravate matters by spiking his water.”

Remus shook his head and smiled.

Kingsley introduced the tall purpled hair girl beside him. “Sirius, this is Nymphadora Tonks. Your 2nd cousin and Andromeda’s daughter.”

Sirius stared at the girl and glared. “Meda? She hates me. Cissa told me so. She hates the whole family. She is not family anymore.”

Remus sighed. “Sirius, you do understand that Andromeda does not hate you. Just everything the Black Family has come to represent.”

“Then she does not understand anything about the family.”

Nymphadora Tonks stared hard at the boy. “And you do? Do you have any idea at all, of what your parents and brother have done?”

Sirius looked at the girl straight to the eye, “That doesn’t matter. They’re family. The past is over.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You weren’t there! You didn’t lose...”

The argument was interrupted by a soft female voice, “Hem hem…” The woman who interrupted, had a somewhat squashed face, curly blond hair with a small ribbon which held it back. “…you two could discuss that interesting family matter later, what we need right now is the boy’s cooperation on the kelpie problem.”

Sirius looked puzzled. “Seidon? What has he done now? To his defense I don’t believe he pulled those pranks. Kelpies dislike pranks and believe them to be a pointless Leprechaun activity.”

The woman gave Sirius a saccharin sweet smile. “Look, Sirius, you may have been led to believe that the kelpie is harmless, but historically speaking those creatures are dangerous. The school’s board of directors would not allow such a creature to reside in Hogwart’s lake and endanger your fellow students. What we’re asking is that you assist Minister Fudge in relocating the creature.”

The short balding man smiled. “I’ll even allow you to stand by my side as the press takes pictures of me, when I place a bridle upon the creature.”

Sirius stared at the man in horror and he turned towards the Headmaster. “You can’t do this. You gave Seidon your word that you’ll let him be, as long as he doesn’t harm anyone.”

The Headmaster looked at the boy sadly. “I have informed Cornelius about my reservations on this plan of his, as well as my firm belief that it will cause undue harm.”

The squashed faced woman sneered. “I knew it. He’s a Black. He would obviously take the dark creature’s side. Let us be off then, for the press is waiting. And, Albus, do make sure that the boy stays put and not interfere.”

“I’m sorry, Sirius, my hands are tied in this matter,” Albus Dumbledore sighed.

Remus Lupin stared at all the occupants of the room in shock. “You do know that once the kelpie perceives that it’s being attacked, it will view all human beings in the vicinity as a threat.”

Cornelius Fudge scoffed the History Professor’s worries. “It doesn’t take a high-level wizard to deal with a kelpie. I’m sure I can manage. As you can see we have the best Aurors on stand-by, just in case.”

Sirius tried to plead with the Aurors. “Moody, Kingsley, Hestia .. Please don’t do this. I don’t want to see any of you or Seidon hurt.”

Hestia Jones gave the boy a sympathetic smile. “Don’t worry, Sirius. We’ll be gentle to the kelpie. Nobody’s going to get hurt.”

“You don’t understand. The bridle is a ruse. There’s no truth in that. Seidon will attack to protect his territory.”

Cornelius Fudge snorted. “And so the boy claims that all the experts were wrong. Do you claim to know more about kelpies than the hundreds of wizards far older and more experience than you?”

Sirius met the Minister’s eye. “No, but I know Seidon.”

-0-

Hermione Granger approached Neville. “Hey, Neville, do you need help in taking off that silly doodle of Sirius’? Stupid git, he promised to stop picking on you.”

Neville’s eyes widened in surprise. “I think this is pretty cool. I’m the first one to get a 'Sirius Black Original'. There happens to be waiting list for people who want one. Seamus, Dean, Harry and the Weasley Twins already got theirs.”

Hermione stared at her friend dumbfounded. She then looked around the room. “Where is everyone.”

“I think most of them went off to the lake, they said that the Minister of Magic will be there,” Neville answered distractedly.

-0-

The unicorn raised her head as she heard the sound of frantic black wings from above. ‘Drydar, It’s Seidon...’

The unicorn nodded. ‘I know. I felt him draw his power upon the waters.’

The thestral stomped her foot in frustration. ‘I can’t stop him. I tried, but he wouldn’t listen.’

The unicorn bowed her head. ‘He is beyond listening. His natural instinct has taken over. For a kelpie, this is merely an act of self defense.’

‘Is there anyway to make him see reason?’

The unicorn stared at the setting sun. ‘The only thing more powerful to a kelpie than its survival instinct is a life-debt.’

The thestral looked upon the unicorn hopefully. ‘Sirius Black and Harry Potter saved Seidon’s life.’

The unicorn’s green eyes brightened. ‘Then there’s hope yet. You seek out Harry Potter, and I, Sirius Black.’

-0-

Fred Weasley frantically studied the map.

George pointed to a couple of red dots and the names Harry Potter and Ron Weasley appeared. “There! Come on!”

-0-

Harry frowned at the rolled up newspaper paper which he found inside his bag. The paper looked old, but Harry had decided to look upon it later. For now he wondered as to why Ron saw an ideal future, whereas he and Sirius a more desirable past.

Harry was startled from his reverie when the door burst opened and the Weasley Twins rushed in.

Fred frantically grabbed Ron and pushed him away from the mirror and ignored his younger brother’s words of protest. “Ron! Harry! We’ve got to go over to the lake now!”

“Why? What’s wrong?” Harry asked, confused.

George looked at both boys straight to the eye and both first years could see the worry reflected in them. “Seidon.”

Fred nodded. “The Ministry plans to relocate him, and there are members of the press around to record the event.”

Ron looked surprised. “The Headmaster allowed this? And Seidon didn’t protest?”

Fred and George looked at one another. “We don’t know. But we’ll bet our pranking license that Seidon would protest. They also had Sirius locked inside the Headmaster’s office.”

Harry stood up and ran towards the door. “What are we standing around for? We’d better head for the lake.”

Ron frowned. “What about Sirius?”

Harry sighed. “At least he’s safe.”

-0-

Sirius grouchily kicked the door. He looked around the room. His eyes landed on a bird perch that upon careful observation, merely contained ashes. Sirius however did not have the luxury to contemplate on the Headmaster’s many peculiarities. He was surprised when the door suddenly swung open on it own, and a soft voice echoed inside his head urging him to come downstairs.

Sirius was not sure whether he should trust the voice, but curiosity and the urgent need to reach the kelpie won over common sense. He ran downstairs to meet whatever it was that had called to him.

Sirius was stunned by the sight in front of him. For by the foot of the stairway stood a dark willowy mare with a spiked horn. The horse’s strange green eyes looked straight at him.

‘Hurry up and climb on. We do not have much time.’

Sirius realized that this creature was a dark unicorn. “Who are you? And where will you be planning to take me?”

A voice answered inside his head. ‘Who I am, does not matter. Someone needs to reason with the kelpie. You and the Potter boy are the only ones who can make him listen to reason.’

Sirius gave the creature a puzzled frown. “Why do you say that?”

‘Because you saved the kelpie's life once. He will not harm you despite his instinct to attack all humans in the vicinity.’

Sirius eyes widened, “Was anyone hurt? Did Seidon...”

The unicorn shook its head. ‘I was too far away. I did not sense any death but I felt the panic among the humans. And I felt the kelpie draw upon his power and unite himself with the lake. However, I can tell you this, I worry for those humans. Seidon was able to survive in the midst of the forbidden forest with only a small river to draw upon. He is highly creative, and now with a magical lake at his command, he would be an extremely dangerous enemy...’

-0-

Harry and the Weasleys ran towards the lake when they were suddenly blocked by none other than Percy Weasley. “Stop! We, prefects are sending everyone back towards the house because the kelpie just went out-of-control. We were warned that even innocent by-standers will not be safe around that area.”

Percy was surprised when he felt an invisible force nudged him aside forcefully. Harry, Ron, Fred and George saw this as an opportunity to make a run for it. However, only Harry got past for something invisible also blocked Ron, Fred and George’s path.

-0-

Nymphadora Tonks uttered a low curse as she stumped and fell; her palms met the shallow shores and her wand clattered a few feet away.

“Tonks! Look out!”

Kingsley Shacklebolt’s warning came too late; a large wave of water fell upon his young apprentice. There was a soft blue glow and then she was gone. Kingsley knew that he would have time to grieve for his student, his former mentor, and Hestia later. That is, if he survived at all. He muttered a low curse; they should have listened to Sirius. If anything else this mission was not just any ordinary disaster. It was an extremely costly disaster.

The Minister of Magic was the first one to fall by the kelpie’s hand, then Hestia who had tried to save a couple of reporters, followed by Alastor Moody, and just now his young apprentice. He cursed himself for not being alert when all this started…

-0-

Kingsley Shacklebolt stifled a sigh as he, Hestia and Tonks held the reporters back. Cornelius Fudge had just made his big speech about ensuring the safety of the children and how he’d be getting rid of the Kelpie himself, for there was no task too trivial for the Minister of Magic. Kingsley wondered as to why he had to be dragged along for this publicity stunt. Even though he was glad to see Sirius again, he almost wished he had been assigned to Azkaban duty

The Auror’s train of thought was interrupted by a round of applause. He turned his attention back to the matter at hand; Cornelius Fudge had successfully lured the Kelpie towards himself and placed the bridle upon it.

Kingsley frowned, for the Minister seemed to be tugging the bridle in an awkward manner, then he noticed the panicked expression on the Minister’s face. He turned to his left and saw that Moody had also noticed. Both of them rushed towards the Minister, but it was too late. The creature started to drag Fudge towards the lake. The Minister opened his mouth but seemed unable to make a sound, just as he was also unable to release the bridle.

The reporters and photographers rushed in to get a better picture as well as take a closer look upon the situation. All this happened while Moody and Kingsley ran towards the lake to try save the Minister, they were blocked by a wall of water. Kingsley raised his wand and threw a hex, but the wall diverted the angles of his shots, making them miss the Kelpie. He watched in horror as the kelpie created a whirlpool that gave an eerie blue glow. The creature threw the Minister inside; its cat-like eyes narrowed as it turned its attention onto the crowd.

To his right, he heard someone scream and saw that a couple of reporters who had stood by the shoreline had fallen into a glowing blue hole. Hestia dove towards the screaming civilians. She attempted to pull the reporters out, but a new hole suddenly formed beneath her; she too fell.

Alastor Moody started to shout for everyone to get out of the water. When the water around Alastor rose up. He saw Moody throw a spell to disperse the waters; unfortunately Moody didn’t see the large glowing blue wave behind him, the wave fell on top of his mentor, and then Alastor Moody was gone without a trace.

-0-

Kingsley Shacklebolt pushed aside all thoughts about his comrades and concentrated on the trouble at hand, he ordered everyone to fall back. He realized that their intervention had made things worse. Now Hogwarts had to deal with a very angry and dangerous kelpie.

-0-

Albus Dumbledore closed his eyes and breathed deeply. “This has gone far enough. I’m sorry it had to come to this, but it seems that we no longer have a choice on the matter.”

Minerva McGonagall nodded and took her place by the Headmaster’s side.

“No Minerva, you and the rest of the staff stay back. We cannot afford to lose more people.”

“Albus, we are not going to stand around while you face this danger alone.”

“Minerva, I have gone through enough battles. I believe I can handle this kelpie.”

Steely eyes flashed defiantly at the Headmaster. "Alastor Moody also had his shares of battles, and that did not help!”

Dumbledore calmly met her gaze. "Alastor was caught unaware. No one had expected the kelpie to fight back like this, nor had we expected such an efficient strike. Just trust me on this.”

Minerva McGonagall nodded reluctantly and signaled the rest of the staff to hold back.

Albus Dumbledore walked onto the lakeshore and called out to the kelpie. “Seidon.”

The powerful stallion changed to a young man with long black hair braided all the way to his back. The kelpie eyed the old man calmly. “Hello Headmaster. So are you turning your back on our deal as well?”

“Our deal is for you not to harm anyone, Seidon.”

“I was attacked first. I did what I had to.”

The Headmaster sighed, “And so shall I.” He pulled out his wand. “I’m sorry it has to come to this.”

“So am I, Headmaster. I had you figured as a man of your word. But it seems that I was wrong. Humans cannot be trusted.”

The kelpie changed back into a horse and sent whirling blue waves towards the Headmaster.

The Headmaster sent a lightning spell towards the kelpie, “Aduro!” and shielded himself from the kelpie’s attack, “Protego.”

-0-

Sirius reached a hill where he got a good view of the lake, he watched in horror as the Headmaster and the kelpie faced off. He heard the kelpie screamed in pain.

“Seidon!”

The creature's pain must have intensified the strength of its whirling waves, thus enabled it to break through the Headmaster’s shield.

A short distance away, Harry heard the kelpie’s cry of pain and Sirius called out to it. He saw a soft glow of blue light against the backdrop of the setting sun, which emitted its last few rays onto the horizon.

-End of Chapter 12-

AUTHOR’S NOTES

This the first time I've written an action sequence. What do you think?

Edited by: Orlaith

Black Chronicles - An Ancient Legacy Chapter 13 - Aftermath and Reflections

Minerva McGonagall watched helplessly as the swirling blue waves penetrated the Headmaster’s shield and Albus Dumbledore disappeared underneath the mass of shimmering blue waters. She wondered how they could have let this situation go this far…

-0-

Albus Dumbledore looked straight at the Minister’s eye. “I assure you, Cornelius, the kelpie poses no danger to the students.”

The Minister gave the older man a look of incredulity. “Surely you don’t believe that. Those creatures are called ‘Dark Creatures’ for a reason. Regardless of your stand, Albus, I’m sorry to say that the School Board has decided, and the Ministry of Magic supports their decision. We will be rid of that kelpie today.”

Albus Dumbledore sighed. “Then I suggest a more merciful tact of just relocating the creature. My estate in the highlands has a lake beside it.”

“Hem. Hem.”

Minerva McGonagall shot the woman an irritated glare.

“You do realize that having a kelpie reside in that lake would greatly devalue your real estate.”

Albus Dumbledore nodded amicably. “Yes, Dolores, but as I have said before, Seidon is a delightful creature and I trust that he’d keep his promise. The least that I could do is to ensure that he comes to no harm. But, I do suggest you talk to young Sirius Black. He is more familiar to the creature than I am. Remus Lupin also studied kelpies in detail upon learning that we had one in our lake.”

-0-

Kingsley Shacklebolt stood rooted on his spot as the kelpie’s swirling blue engulfed the Headmaster’s form, and then Albus Dumbledore was gone just as Alastor Moody, the Minister of Magic and all the others before him.

A short distance away, Minerva McGonagall gasped. Kingsley’s eyes squinted towards the hill and saw a figure on top of a dark unicorn, the wind drowned down the rider’s voice.

Neither of them immediately noticed the young messy haired boy who ran towards the lake until the boy was already by the lake shore.

“Seidon!”

"Harry!" Professor Remus Lupin ran after the boy.

Kingsley was about to stop both the boy and the teacher, when a winged horse with a dragon like head blocked his path. The Auror started to worry about this battle they had gotten themselves involved in. Moody was gone and so was Dumbledore, although the kelpie was injured, two new creatures seemed to have stepped out to protect it.

Fudge’s assistant raised her wand as Kingsley tried to stop her. “No, Dolores, you might hit the boy...”

A clear voice cuts through the air. “Tarantallegra!”

Kingsley recognized that voice immediately. “Sirius!” He was further surprised to find his and everyone else’s legs began to move involuntarily. He looked up towards to hill to find the Unicorn’s horn glowed brightly against the dark night sky and it galloped towards the lake.

-0-

Sirius watched as the short blond witch raised her arm to throw a curse. He knew that he could not stop her, or do anything to protect either Harry or Seidon, simply because the distance was far too great for him to be able to effectively throw a spell.

A voice inside his head spoke, 'Use me to channel your spell.'

"What?"

'For years your kind has used a single unicorn's hair in the core of your wand to channel your magic. Thus when you channel through a unicorn, this would enable your to throw a more powerful spell, enough to cross this distance.'

Sirius closed his eyes and threw the first spell that came to mind.

-0-

Harry reached the kelpie and was horrified to see that his friend lay on the water unmoving. He was relieved when he found that Seidon still breathed. He was even more relieved, when Remus Lupin knelt beside him to check on the kelpie. "He's alive, Harry, but we'd better step back. Seidon's dangerous. Although he is normally a pleasant creature, he cannot think straight right now. There's no reasoning with a kelpie on a warpath."

"Don't worry, Professor Lupin, he won't harm either me or Harry, we did saved his life. But you ought to step back. Seidon may like you, but I was sure he liked the Headmaster too."

Professor Remus Lupin was surprised to see Sirius as he jumped off a dark unicorn and approached them.

"Will he be alright?"

Remus Lupin sighed. "Yes, unfortunately I cannot say the same about the Minister, Moody, the Headmaster and the others."

The kelpie snorted weakly. "Unlike you unreliable humans; I kept my word. I did not drown or harm them. I however, left it to nature's elements to take care of them."

"Seidon! What have you done to them?" However, Harry's frantic pleas were left unanswered, as the kelpie lost consciousness.

Remus Lupin observed the murky quality of the once clear waters. "These waters would take time to recover as do Seidon. But, if we hope to save our friends, I fear time is not on our side. We know not where Seidon transported our comrades, but I can tell he placed them in the worst places he could think of."

-0-

From the outer islands of British Columbia, where one of the isles held a temperate rainforest, gray wolves had inhabited this island-rainforest for over a millennia. Throughout the ages they had remained hidden, undisturbed, and mostly unseen by human eyes. Muggle scientists and journalists had recently discovered the existence of these creatures and were briefly fascinated. However the wizards secretly quelled the Muggles' fascination on this island and its inhabitants, for this tranquil rainforest and silent creatures were more dangerous than they seemed.

Nymphadora Tonks whimpered and she climbed higher. She hoped to leave behind the vigilant pack of grays. She silently thought of her wand, but remembered that it would have been useless, for these creatures not only sense innate magical ability, but also inhibit them. No witch or wizard had been foolish enough to enter these woods for over 500 years, Tonks doubted that anyone would be able to locate her, let alone come to her rescue.

-0-

Remus watched enthralled as a herd of silvery-white unicorns approached the lake. The dark unicorn that had arrived with Sirius acknowledged the herd and ran up to meet with them. The unicorns all walked up to the lake with their horns touching the waters. The waters seemed to glitter with an inner light, Remus turned to check on the kelpie and was not surprised to see that its coat had regained its former sheen. The kelpie slowly stood up and gave a triumphant cry. Remus turned around only to see the last of the unicorns disappear into the forbidden forest.

Gasps and short wails were heard from the observers by the shore. Remus turned to his left and was surprised that the legs of all of the people standing by the shore line, moved uncontrollably.

"Sirius! What did you do?"

"It was an accident. I was only targeting the fat lady with a constantly sore throat, she was about to throw a hex."

"Well, you ought to undo it."

Sirius looked around, only to find that the dark unicorn was gone; he then gave his History Professor a forlorn look. "I can't, the unicorn’s gone and, for the record it was her idea."

Harry thought that it was about time he interrupted. "Professor, don't you think we have a more pressing problem right now?"

Remus Lupin sighed. "You're right, Harry." He turned his attention back to the kelpie. "Alright, Seidon, where are they?"

The kelpie tossed back its head haughtily as he refused to give an answer.

Harry touched the History Professor by the elbow and shook his head. S.P.A.W.N.'s experience with the kelpie taught them that orders and threats did little to convince the creature to cooperate. He then turned to Sirius and nodded.

"Professor, threats and human sacrifice are beneath Seidon. A creature as civilized and superior as he is, will only answer to a fair negotiation."

The kelpie lowered its ear and stared at Sirius in confusion, but then decided that he would seem smarter if he played along; so he nodded his head in acknowledgement.

Harry grinned, for everything seemed to have gone as planned. "As a show of good faith, Seidon would return the ladies as soon as the proper authorities agreed to start this negotiation."

The kelpie snorted. "Why should I?"

Sirius smiled and explained in a snobbish aristocratic tone. "Chivalry. The olden value, long forgotten by most humans but not by kelpies."

The kelpie nodded proudly. "Right, I merely wanted that emphasized."

Harry stifled a laugh.

Remus Lupin cleared his throat and pointed back towards the lakeshore, where the ministry officials, members of the school's 'Board of Governors', and the press were still affected by Sirius' hex. "Uhm... the proper authorities are still dancing up a storm."

-0-

The dark, murky waters seemed undrinkable, and gnarled up trees gave the area an eerie feel, the humid atmosphere, the buzzing flies and the acrid smell made matters worse for Rita Skeeter. That was aside from the horde of hungry-looking alligators below. Her staff photographer tried to move higher up the boulder.

"Debbie, quit shoving!"

"Well, stop hogging the top spot!"

"Who gives the orders around here anyway!"

"Well, I quit!"

"No you're not! You're fired."

Both women started to scream, as one of the alligators attempted to climb higher up the boulder. Rita Skeeter closed her eyes and promised that she would never buy another crocodile skin purse ever again. That is, if she survived this ordeal.

Their savior appeared in a haze of blue light, he had a mop of messy black hair, and a distinguishing lightning shaped scar. Rita Skeeter gaped at the boy.

"Come on and jump this way. It's safe."

Rita need not be told twice. She was surprised that she landed on thigh deep water. She held back a triumphant squeal upon confirming her earlier suspicion that her savior was indeed Harry Potter. She pulled out a quill and parchment from her crocodile-skin bag.

"Harry Potter, the boy who lived. We all know that you've defeated You-Know-Who so a kelpie should not be such a big deal but, how did you do it?"

Rita heard a snort behind her and felt something breathe down her back. The reporter looked up from behind her shoulder and screamed. She lost her balance and fell into the shallow water with a loud splash, in her panic she started to gulp a bit of the water.

"Help! (gurgle) He's trying to drown me!"

Harry sighed and helped the reporter up.

"Seidon! Quit trying to scare everyone."

Harry smiled as he recognized that voice. Sirius and a blond Auror appeared from another portal. Water dripped from their hair and robes. The Auror tried to squeeze some of the water off her clothes.

"What took you so long?"

Hestia Jones whacked the boy beside her lightly on the head.

"Ouch! Is this the thanks I get for saving you?"

The Auror sighed. "This idiot wanted to see the island fully taken in by the tides. I had to drag him into the portal." She gave the boy a mock glare. "...some rescuer you turned out to be."

"But, it was interesting. Harry, you should have seen it. On a low tide, the island would be there, but on a high tide, it would disappear without a trace. Let's go back there! ... Ouch! What was that for?"

The Auror just rolled her eyes.

Meanwhile, the kelpie changed to his human form and tossed back his head. "When you've got it, flaunt it. I can still scare them without much of an effort." He then changed back into a horse and strutted about.

Remus Lupin shook his head as he supported a still-shaky purple-haired Auror. He had a feeling that this would be a long night, he was only thankful that tonight was not the night of the full moon.

Hestia Jones looked around. "Where's the Minister?"

-0-

Seidon had insisted that negotiations be done on a round table by the lakeshore. The round table had been Harry's idea. Remus and Harry of course vetoed Sirius' idea to have the House Elves play the trumpets, and announce the arrival of each and every distinguished representative; very much like the medieval courts of long ago. The Deputy Headmistress of course vetoed Sirius' request to sit beside her. Thus Sirius was left with no other option, than to pout on his seat between the kelpie and Harry. Harry was glad that Remus Lupin was around, for it seemed that Sirius would not be of much help, he wondered what it would take to get Sirius to act serious.

This table is composed of twelve seats with four seats for each negotiating party. The press and other observers were left to stand by and watch from a 10 feet radius. From his seat between Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick, Severus Snape grumbled that it looked as if it were going to rain. Kingsley Shacklebolt shook his head as Sirius grinned and picked up the quill in front of him and started to draw on a piece of parchment.

The kelpie insisted that both Harry and Sirius be allowed to join the negotiation, because they were the only humans he deemed trustworthy. Both boys in turn vouched for Remus Lupin.

Seidon stood up to speak, "My demands are quite simple. This is my lake and I want you humans to leave and never bother me again."

Harry and Professor Lupin looked at one another in dismay, for diplomacy was obviously not one of Seidon's stronger points. Harry stood up and looked nervously about. "Uhhm... Professor Lupin will now translate that to legal human terms."

Remus Lupin admired the boy's quick thinking and stood up as well; he took Sirius’ parchment discreetly and hoped that the boy would at least pay attention. "Seidon wants the legal title for this lake and all the legal property rights that goes with it."

Sirius quipped. "Don't forget tax exemption. Lucius always said that taxes are the damn goverment's excuse for legal thievery."

From across the table, Lucius Malfoy gave the child a glare. "I said no such thing. For inventing such stories, you will be grounded for the whole of the summer when you get home, boy."

Before Sirius was able to argue, someone from the ministry side of the table cleared her throat. "Hem, hem, before we start this negotiation we should have some proof, that the Minister is alive and well."

The kelpie stood and touched the first of the three bowls in the middle of the table and image of the Minister appeared on the water. “The fat one is sweating like a pig, and will soon be a roasted one if you waste anymore time.”

Peter Pettigrew, the Deputy Minister gaped at the image before him. “You... you ... transported the Minister into the mouth of a volcano? Are you mad?”

The kelpie tossed back his head proudly. “He tried to take me away from this lake, without water, a kelpie could eventually die. I thought I ought to return the favor. He’ll survive as long as he doesn’t slip or faint. That ledge is strong enough to hold even a man of his weight.”

Kingsley frowned. “What about Alastor Moody?”

“Not to mention the Headmaster,” Remus Lupin added.

The kelpie snorted. “I never knew human negotiation was so time consuming.” His hands touched the two other basins and images which showed the location of the other two prisoners appeared. “The Headmaster is sitting on top of the iceberg, drinking a warm cup of tea. The other one whom I transported to the Gobi Desert is sitting under a shade, eating ice cream.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “Why don’t those two just Apparate their way back? And why doesn’t Fudge try to at least make himself a bit more comfortable?”

Remus sighed. “First you can’t Apparate to Hogwarts, and second to Apparate, you must know where you are. Albus and Alastor are probably waiting for the stars to come out, so that they can calculate their exact location.”

Seidon smirked and tossed a broken wand onto the table, Cornelius Fudge's wand to be exact. “The fat one deserved more punishment. Now that I’ve demonstrated that I have indeed kept my word and not killed nor directly harmed anyone. Shall we begin?

Peter Pettigrew turned to his wife Dolores questioningly; the squashed faced woman stood up and glared at the kelpie. “Hem. You do know that the Ministry will not succumb to your threats.”

Sirius crossed his arms and scoffed. “Threats? The Headmaster and Moody seem to be enjoying themselves out there, and Pudgy Fudgie could stand to lose a bit of weight. Think of his predicament as a sauna rather than a ... mmphh!”

Harry frantically shoved a piece of chocolate frog into Sirius mouth, as Remus Lupin shook his head and tried remedy the situation. “Seidon demonstrated that he could have killed the Minister and the others, but he didn’t. All he asked is the right to stay here in peace, for this is his home and ...” Remus was interrupted as the kelpie tapped him on the shoulder. “...yes Seidon?”

“I would like to formally state that I agree with Sirius.”

Remus and Harry looked at one another and groaned.

Kingsley Shacklebolt’s shoulders shook as he tried to hold back his laughter. Dolores Umbridge-Pettigrew glared at the Auror.

Ludo Bagman did not bother to hide his hearty laugh. “You know? Maybe I ought to join the Minister over there! After all, I’m trying to get back in shape.”

Crabbe and Goyle senior just looked at one another dumbly, while Lucius Malfoy studied Sirius Black. The boy had arrived on a dark unicorn, and seemed to have some control over the kelpie as well. Lucius started to wonder over the myths about the Blacks and the dark horses of apocalypse. He decided to ask his wife Narcissa on what she knew of this later.

Remus Lupin ran a hand through his hair in frustration, for he now knew for certain that this would be a long night.

Harry shook his head as well, he flipped the chocolate frog card he had on hand, he was surprised to read a familiar name ... Nicholas Flamel was Dumbledore’s partner ... he placed the card inside his pocket and decided to look upon it again later.

-0-

Professor Remus Lupin was glad that the negotiations were over. The School’s Board of Governors, as well as the Ministry, had grudgingly given Seidon the title to the lake, provided that he would continue with his previous promise and not harm nor drown anyone. Furthermore he should allow the Hogwarts First Years to cross the lake by boat as was traditionally done so, and never attempt to scare them.

“Remus!”

“Peter. I would have thought you’d go home immediately after this tiring negotiation. I wonder how you deal with these things on a regular basis.”

“I thought we ought to catch up.” Peter looked nervously about, “Are you ha-having th-those dreams again?”

Remus Lupin shook his head. “Not lately, I’ve been too preoccupied to remember any dreams.”

Peter nodded and pointed to the piece of parchment on Remus’ pocket. “What’s that?”

Remus pulled the parchment out of his pocket. “I completely forgot, I took this from Sirius so he’d pay attention to the negotiation and...” Remus stared at the contents of the parchment and laughed.

Peter Pettigrew plucked the parchment from Remus’ hands to have a look. On it was a caricature of Snape with a dark cloud on top of his head, below it was a messily written plan:

---

Operation Cumulus Snivellus

STEP ONE: Transfigure a pail of water into a small storm cloud

STEP TWO: Add a bit of lightning charms for aesthetic reasons

STEP THREE: Place multiple wards and protection spells onto the cloud to make sure that it will not be too easy to get rid off.

STEP FOUR: Charm the cloud to stay on top of Snivellus’ head (maybe the rain water can wash away all those grease off his hair)

STEP FI---

---

Peter laughed. “Snivellus?”

“Severus Snape. Don’t ask me why but, Sirius just seems to see Severus as an ideal prank target.” Remus rolled his eyes as he explained.

Peter nodded. “James used to ... he used to think the same way.”

Both man just stood there silently for a while. Remus finally broke the silence, “That he did. You know, tomorrow would have been James’ birthday.”

“I remember how we used to celebrate each other’s birthday by performing an outrageous prank,” Peter reminisced.

Remus blinked. “We did?”

Peter nodded. “James usually wanted to pull one on Snape, to celebrate his birthday. I think Snape used to dread that day of the year. I have to be going, Remus, just owl me if you ever have more of those doubtful dreams again. I may now be the Deputy Minister of Magic, and Order of Merlin 3rd Class, but I’m still an old friend.”

Remus Lupin nodded as he watched his old friend walk away. He looked back onto the parchment that Peter handed back to him, and smiled as he looked out to the window to the twinkling stars above. He thought of James Potter and the past, he placed the parchment back inside his pocket. “For old time’s sake old friend, wherever you are...”

-0-

She played the piano beautifully, as always; he entered the parlor and stood behind her. She turned around to smiled at him. “Hello, Lucius. How was your day?

“Narcissa, tell me about the history of the Black Family Crest.”

Narcissa smoothed the frown lines on her husband’s forehead. “What do you want to know about it?”

“What was your family’s relation to the dark horses of apocalypse?”

“It’s just a myth, dear husband. I far flung story encouraged by the patriarchs, so to instil fear and awe.”

“Just tell me about it.”

Narcissa frowned. “Why this sudden interest?”

“That brat Sirius...”

-0-

He heard his master’s whisper, “The Blacks have served me well in the past. They have always been powerful, but this child will be stronger than Orion. He is still young and naïve, he does not understand power yet. Watch him, when the opportunity comes I wish to make him my servant.”

“Ye-yes Ma-master bu-but what a-about Po-Potter?”

“I will deal with that Potter boy soon, he will not be expecting us. Just watch over Orion’s son, we will wait till he’s ready.”

-0-

Hermione rolled her eyes. “I know that they already know, but I still have this bad feeling that Draco is up to something.”

Her reflection crossed it arms. “And you want me to spy on Draco?”

Hermione gaped. “Of course not! I don’t think you can spy on Draco. I just wanted some insight.”

The image behind the mirror tossed back her head. “Kelpies are capable of spying.”

Hermione’s eyes widened in surprised. “Kelpie? Wait-a-minute...You’re not my subconciousness?”

The reflection attempted to correct its mistake. “I mean you ought to ask that kelpie to spy for you.”

"I can't believe I've been asking a dumb horse for advice. Did Sirius put you up to this?"

"Kelpies happen to be superior in terms of intellect compared to you humans, and we never take orders from your kind..."

Hermione picked up the silver soap dish and hurled it towards the irritating creature. Seidon must have realized that he blew his cover, and immediately closed the portal. The soap dish met with solid glass and its shattered remnants twinkled on the tiled floor. A soft blue light appeared behind Hermione and her splitting image stood by its threshold.

"You do know that there's this human belief that breaking a mirror causes seven years of bad luck. A foolish belief fabricated by foolish humans. I wonder why foolish creatures like yourself create these beliefs, only to go against this belief and intentionally break your mirror."

Hermione turned around and realized the reason as to why she thought the stance of the kelpie Sirius, Harry and Ron had brought to class, had seemed so familiar. Her former sub-consciousness tossed back her head arrogantly. "Also, you obviously need to learn manners and recognize your superiors. I'm almost tempted to withdraw my offer to spy on the Malfoy kid but, I'm very charitable by nature. I have long learned to tolerate humans for all their faults."

Hermione was about to pull out her wand and hex the irritating creature, but the portal closed before she could do so.

-0-

Alastor Moody's face appeared on his fireplace. "Albus, I believe we've fixed everything here in Hogsmeade. How are things on your end?"

"The Heads of each House and the Prefects have already taken care of the situation here as well."

Alastor Moody shook his head. "That's one powerful dance hex. How's the kid?"

Albus Dumbledore chuckled. "We have all agreed, that the boy did not intentionally hex everyone from the whole of Hogwarts all the way to Hogsmeade. Therefore no House points will be deducted and no detentions will be given."

Alastor Moody raised an eyebrow. "Everyone?"

"Severus still believes that the boy ought to be sanctioned to detention for the rest of his stay at Hogwarts. But, he will respect the decision of the majority."

"He channelled that hex through a unicorn. I wished I was there to see it. Its amazing, most wizards who try that, usually end up in a vegetative state in St. Mungo's."

Albus Dumbledore thought carefully on this. "Sirius did say that it was the unicorn's idea, so I'd assume that the unicorn allowed him to channel that hex. This could be the reason as to why Sirius succeeded where others have failed."

Alastor Moody shook his head. "A black unicorn. I've always thought those creatures only existed in myths. Trust Sirius to find one, that kid always succeeds in surprising me."

Neither Dumbledore nor Moody noticed a small bug as it crawled out of the Headmaster's room.

-0-

Somewhere down in the castle basement a man danced, although there was no music. He once again shouted for someone to help him. Argus Filch grinded his teeth and vowed that whoever was responsible for his predicament would pay.

-0-

Fred placed his arms over both Sirius and his twin brother. "The week is over. So we ought to give a bit of attention of the Slytherins and the Prefects."

George nodded. "We've been ignoring those poor people this whole week. We ought to show them that they were not forgotten."

Sirius laughed. "Any particular Prefect and Slytherin in mind?"

George jumped up on Sirius' bed. "We thought that prediction of yours on Percy, should be taken further."

Fred smirked. "Not to mention the fact that we're not yet through with Draco."

Sirius grinned. "Let us never forget dear ol’ Snivellus."

Both twins stared at Sirius in surprise. "You've been targeting him all week."

"So?"

Fred and George looked at one another and grinned. "Ok then, what do you have in mind?"

"I had an idea, the problem is Professor Lupin took my outline. Doing that prank now, will definitely implicate us. I guess I'll have to come up with a totally different plan."

While the three professional pranksters brainstormed on prank ideas, Harry showed Ron the Chocolate Frog card. "It says here that Flamel is Dumbledore's partner. It's a lead ..."

Ron nodded. "It's almost the Christmas Holidays. We should have enough time to research on the particular project of theirs."

Harry nodded and placed his book bag on his desk. The rolled-up old paper slipped out.

"What's that?" Ron looked at the paper curiously.

"Oh. I almost forgot all about it. I found that old newspaper inside my bag a while ago. I already tested it and it's not hexed nor cursed." Harry unrolled the old newspaper and began to scan its contents. He paled slightly as he realized what was on it.

"Harry? What is it?"

"It's dated just right after my parents died..."

-0-

The dark mahogany wood felt smooth to his touch as he reached to adjust to lamp, and began to read the letter he had just received.

---

Draco,

I would like to say that I am proud to hear about the dissension you've been causing to the House of Gryffindor. It has come to my attention that Sirius may have stumbled across some great power source. As you know, that insufferable brat is still your mother's cousin and is the heir of an Ancient family known for its power and many secrets. Your mother has already asked Kreacher to scourge through the Black Family library at the old Grimmauld Place. I would want you to try to find as much as you can from Sirius himself. I doubt that it be difficult for that brat has a very loose tongue.

As for those people who played that prank on you. Severus Snape has assured me that he is already on the look out for those insidious pranksters. When they are finally caught, rest assured that we will not let this slide.

Your Father

---

-0-

Minerva McGonagall had a long day, she entered her room and was surprised to find the House Elves in the middle of her room, they stood in formation. Then the House Elves began to sing...

”This morning with its skies so blue I only have thoughts of you What will it take to make you see? What will it take to make you marry me?

I cannot lock my feelings in a jar. Can you not see that our fates are written in the stars? What will it take to make you see? What will it take to make you marry me?

I loved you from the moment we've met A love you have to discover yet. What will it take to make you see? What will it take to make you marry me?

I will pursue you year after year All I care is the fact that you're near What will it take to make you see? What will it take to make you marry me?

One of the House Elves held a small package; she walked up to Minerva and bowed. “Sirius Black, son of Orion from the Most Noble and Ancient House of Blacks, asks you for thy hand in marriage.” The House Elf opened the package, inside was a single blue-black ring that was woven from some sort of fabric. “This is woven out of kelpie hair, perfect for transfiguration.”

-0-

The door to their room burst opened.

“Sirius Black!”

Harry pulled open his curtains and wondered on the sort of trouble his friend had gotten himself into now.

Sirius eagerly hopped out of his bed. “My dear goddess of wisdom. Thy suppliant hath come!”

Minerva McGonagall stood in the door way, behind her was a group of giddy House Elves. The Deputy Headmistress stared hard at the boy. “Care to explain this?”

Sirius grinned. “Is this a yes?”

One of the House Elves eagerly hopped from one foot to another. “Shall Cindy send out the invitations?”

Sirius nodded. “The soonest.”

Several pops were heard as half the House Elves that had arrived with the Deputy Headmistress disappeared.

“What Invitations?”

Sirius grinned even wider. “Our engagement party, of course.”

Harry used his pillow to stifle his laughter. Sirius was at it again...

-0-

Mindy the House Elf arrived just as Cindy finished singing Sirius’ proposal song to the Headmaster. “Cindy, the Deputy Headmistress asked that we recall all those invitations.”

“Oh poor Master Sirius...Cindy will tell him that Cindy be willing to help him, the next time too.”

The Headmaster chuckled. “Well then. You two ought to go hurry and recall those invitations before people read them. Mind if I keep mine?”

-0-

Albus Dumbledore opened a glass cabinet and placed the small gold envelope in it, he softly hummed to himself:

“What will it take to make you see? What will it take to make you marry me?”

-End of Chapter 13-

Facts:

The island rainforest which was featured on this chapter really does exist. Wolves indeed prospered there for over a millennia. This was featured in National Geographic and although wolves are known to inhabit the area, their hunting patterns remains a mystery. Of course wolves are not the forest’s only inhabitants there are also the rare white Kermode bear and other forms of wild life.

WARNING: Slight spoilers for my other fic: ‘The Healer’

Black Chronicles: An Ancient Legacy Chapter 14 �“ Histories of the Past and Present

Hermione Granger marched up towards the boy's dormitories; she was determined to tell off certain idiots for sending a kelpie to pull off a stupid prank. She muttered, "Subconciousness indeed, I can't believe I fell for that." As she turned the corner, she heard the Deputy Headmistress' voice.

"There are times that I wonder about you, Mr. Black. No student in their right mind would pull the things that you do."

"Dear Lady, I plead insanity in my case, …"

"This is no court trial Mr. Black. I would only like to understand…"

"… because I'm crazy about you."

Hermione Granger held back a groan, for only Sirius Black would be insane enough to try that corny pick up line in a middle of a lecture about his psychological state.

"Mr. Black. You are trying my patience!"

"I will never stop in trying to win thy heart. O most noble and wisest of ladies, I will wait patiently for you."

Harry's face was a bright shade of red, as he pushed his face deeper into his pillows, in an attempt to contain his laughter.

-0-

"Mate, that was priceless!" Fred laughed and clapped Sirius at the back.

Sirius pretended to be upset, "The love of my life turned me down and all you can do is laugh. Some friend you are."

Hermione stood by the doorway and shook her head. "You're lucky she didn't throw the book at you."

Sirius laughed. He suddenly stopped in mid-laugh and jumped up; alarm was evident in his eyes, "The book!"

All other occupants of the room looked at one another and wondered at Sirius' sudden panicked state.

"Sirius, what's wrong?" Harry watched as his friend started to empty the contents of his soggy book bag.

"The Black Chronicles was inside this bag..."

George gaped. "Didn't you say that it's a family heirloom?"

Sirius threw aside a few of waterlogged rolls of parchment papers, a couple of soggy quills, and the soddened remains of a packet of Berty Botts Every Flavoured Beans.

Ron's eyes also widened in alarm, "Umm…Sirius, about those History notes that I borrowed from Hermione. The ones that I asked you to …"

Harry picked up one of the waterlogged rolls of parchment and handed it to a very shocked Hermione.

"Ron Weasley! You addled-brain twit! How could you entrust my notes to that nitwit for safe-keeping?"

"My bag looked as if it was going to fall apart. I thought it’d be safer in Black's."

Fred shook his head sadly. "Forget about those notes. Sirius ruined some more important things."

George nodded. "The sacrilege…"

Fred raised his arm to his forehead, "The wastage…"

Both boys stared despondently at the extremely wet and ruined remains of a few dung bombs, some filibuster fireworks, and an assortment of other Zonko's products.

Harry does not have anything that once belonged to his father, but knew that he too would be distressed if anything happened to the gift due to his own carelessness. "Sirius, maybe if we take it to the Headmaster, he can..."

Sirius gleefully pulled out a fully dry and intact leather bound book, "Still ok. I've got to hand it to Nathaniel, he did a good job in ensuring that this book survives the passage of time and other unforeseen events."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I don't see what's so special about some dumb old blank book and why you had to lug it around all the time."

Ron gave Hermione a puzzled look. "Blank?"

Hermione nodded. "Neville told me that when he found the book on his bureau and opened it. There was nothing written on the pages."

"That's because he was not meant to read it. As far as I know, only I can read it,” Sirius replied smugly.

"That book is definitely not going to make it on the best seller's list,” George quipped, his eyes danced merrily.

Fred shook his head. "Doesn't make sense to create a book where only one person can read it."

”Olden Wizarding class,” George explained.

Fred nodded in understanding. ”Those eccentricities …

”Correct my mate, it was brought about by years on in-breeding,” George snickered.

”Which does explain a lot about our eccentric friend over here,” Fred looked Sirius’ way and grinned.

Sirius ignored the Twins, and showed his friends the Black Family ring on his finger. "All heads of the family wore this ring. This ring and that book had been with the family for over a thousand years."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Who are you kidding? I highly doubt that they had leather bound books more than a thousand years ago."

Sirius sighed. "The Black Chronicles only took its present form as a leather bound book around the 15th century through the hands of Nathaniel Black. This ring not only enables a person to read it but also copies your essence. Thus when you leave this realm a reflection will be left in this book for future generations."

Ron thoughtfully studied the book, "So it's a primitive form of a portrait?"

Sirius gave his friend an indignant look. "This book is way better than a foggy old portrait."

"But with a portrait you can converse directly. With that thing, you have to write things down," Ron argued.

Sirius smirked. "Would you guys like to meet Nathaniel?"

Hermione smiled enthusiastically, "The Renaissance artist? The one you mentioned to have painted the ceiling on the Great hall?"

"The one and only."

Hermione took the book from Ron and handed it back to Sirius. "I'd love to ask him about magical painting techniques and the way of life during that era, as well as..."

Fred and George looked at one another. "Sounds boring."

Hermione gave the Weasley Twins a withering glare.

Harry gave Sirius a curious look. "How are we going to meet him? Aren't you the only one who can read that book?"

Sirius grinned. "We are paying him an unannounced visit into the realm of this book."

Harry's eyes widened. "How will we manage to transport ourselves there? Moreover is that possible?"

Sirius gave a knowing smile and explained, "Physically we'll still be here. However, our minds will be linked to this book, at least Nathaniel's section of it."

"Are you sure it's safe?" Hermione asked, her brows furrowed as she wondered on whether she could trust Sirius’ definition of ‘safe’.

Sirius shrugged. "I tried it before and I did a little research. I think I can bring a large group with me easily."

Ron eyes studied Sirius suspiciously, "Think? And how much research did you actually do?"

"Well, I haven't done it before, and I did read enough to figure this out."

Ron Weasley took a step back, "No way Black! If you think I'll be a willing guinea pig, you're nuts."

Fred smirked. "Me thinks wittle Wonnikins is scared."

George placed his fists near his armpits and started to flap his arms about, "buck buck buck… buck buck buck..."

Hermione glared at the two once again, "Cut it out you two. At least Ron's displaying a bit of common sense, unlike some people around."

Harry shook his head as Ron and Hermione chased George around the room. George ran about and sang repeatedly "Ronny and Mione! Sitting on a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

Fred on the other hand, had an arm around Sirius giving the other boy a conspiratorial wink. "Sirius old mate, forget about those wet blankets. George and I are up for this little adventure."

Harry thought deeply on this. On one hand, Ron and Hermione were correct in their assessment that Sirius' plan was reckless as well as pointless. On the other hand, Harry was curious and Sirius did say he has done this before on a certain level. "I'm in too."

Ron and Hermione stopped on their tracks and stared at Harry.

Hermione was first to voice her protest, "Harry, are you nuts? Stupidity, I expect from Sirius and those two, but I thought you had more sense in you."

Beside her, Ron nodded. "I don't mind a bit of fun, but Black has no idea as to what he's doing and we don't even know anything about that book either."

Harry shrugged. "If we get into trouble, you two can go get some help."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "We're not getting into trouble."

"Coming from you, those words hold no credibility what so ever." Ron grumbled in response.

Harry laughed, as did the Ron’s brothers.

-0-

Harry looked about in wonder, for the ceiling of this place was almost identical to the one on Hogwart's 'Great Hall'. There were plenty of semi-finished portraits scattered about the room, as well as earthen jars, which contained paints and brushes.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Nathaniel does not usually like it when I drop by. Most of the time he just throws me out."

Harry and the twins groaned.

"You are stubborn as well as reckless. I see that your friends are equally so. Although I am a clairvoyant, I need not be one to see that trouble will follow you and your friends wherever you go."

Sirius grinned at the man who stood by the shadows, "Hey Nathaniel, glad to see that you're in a good mood today. These are Harry, Fred and George. Everyone, this is Nathaniel."

The man's steely gray eyes studied each of them. "Did he not warn you about the dangers of doing this?"

Harry looked nervously about. "Yes, but he said that you're trustworthy and we trust Sirius."

Nathaniel sighed. "He has a good heart, but I would advise that you do not trust his judgment too easily."

Sirius frowned. "Hey! I happen to be standing here. Do you not think that I should at least be out of the room, before you discuss me?"

Fred and George snickered.

Nathaniel shook his head and sat on one of the stools scattered in the studio. "So. What is the purpose of this visit?"

Sirius grinned. "I thought we'd hang out."

The ancestor's jaw dropped. "Hang out?"

Sirius nodded.

The artist glared at the boy. "Give me one good reason as to why I should not throw you out, as I always do."

Sirius looked at Harry in panic. Harry in turn just gave him a blank look.

"Nathaniel ... I was only kidding..."

Harry gave Sirius a puzzled look. The twins looked at one another equally confused.

"I .. uhh... wanted to ask if you have any idea about Aris' Legacy and what this prophecy of yours is."

The artist sighed. "I know not which prophecy he meant, for I had many. As for Aris, I believe you can understand better if you understand his life."

"Are you going to tell us?"

The artist grinned. "Better. I'll show you. My other studio is a bit far, hop on."

All four boys were surprised when the man before them changed into a horse.

George's eyes widened in shock, “You’re a kelpie?"

The horse changed back into a man and laughed. "No. Animagus."

Sirius smiled. "Nathaniel of the horses... so that's what Aris meant."

Harry was now confused. "Who's Aris?"

Sirius grumbled. "A crazy old geezer who likes to confuse me by telling riddles all the time."

-0-

Ron stared at his four friends who are in a trance-like state, beside him Hermione sighed. "Maybe we should have come along. I would have loved to meet this Nathaniel."

Ron nodded and looked at Hermione thoughtfully, "You read a lot on famous wizards don't you?"

"Yes. This is a whole new world for me. I would really love to find out as much about it as I can."

"Have you come across a wizard named Nicolas Flamel?"

Hermione searched her mind and answered, "Not that I remember. Why do you ask?"

Ron began to explain his suspicions to the girl, "You remembered that 3-headed dog that we encountered? Well Harry and I...”

-0-

The painting showed Aris as he stepped down and thrust the torch into an altar. He then watched the fire consume his father's body.

Four boys and a man stood in front of the painting. The four boys listened raptly as the man explained, "Asceplius in his zealousness to help mankind gain power over death has made some enemies. He brought the dead back to life by natural and unnatural means. The knowledge that he possessed were deemed to be too dangerous, and thus a council composed of Kings, Priests and Heroes had decreed that he must me stopped. Aris knew that these men murdered his father and it would not be long before he was a target. He therefore made a deal..."

Fred frowned. "How come he didn't just expose these men?"

George nodded. "Or maybe get even by avenging his father's death."

Nathaniel laughed. "I myself would have done just that. However, Blacks in general are more cunning than they are brave. Our Family does not get themselves involved in conflicts until the very last minute, just to support the winning side. Of course there are exceptions, but these occasions are rare."

George made a face. "Sounds Slytherinish."

Nathaniel nodded. "Most of the Blacks who attended Hogwarts were usually sorted into Slytherin. Salazar Slytherin himself has descended from the Black line."

All four boys stared at Nathaniel in shock. The man gestured towards the next painting. Aris stood in front of the temple of Apollo, a large man approached him.

“That large one sort of reminds me of Hagrid,” Sirius mused.

The other boys motioned for him to shush, for they wanted to listen to the conversation at hand.

"Aris, what is the purpose for this clandestine meeting in this place?."

"Herakles, I know you performed that dark deed. That you only did so, because the Council’s decreed. I also know that this does not end with my father’s death, There are others like myself, you have to kill yet."

Sirius laughed. "He really does speak weird and here I thought he's only doing that to irritate me."

The other again gestured for Sirius to be silent.

"Your father was a good man, but I have no choice. In their wisdom, the members of the council believed that this is for the better good. You have set this meeting in front of Apollo’s temple, for you know it would be sacrilege should I cause you harm here. What do you want Aris?"

"My life, and the lives of those remaining members of my family.”

“My orders are clear Aris, I’m sorry. You know I only have the highest regards upon all of you, but…”

“Then you know that they naught possess Father’s power. Healers they are not, only surgeons and potion-masters. Of those who possess my father’s gift, only I remained. To quell ‘the threat’ is the only task which you art ordained.”

“You have another solution to propose? I’m willing to listen.”

“I will perform a death oath, A healer’s life I will not sought. I will also leave and not return. Another life, I will seek to learn.”

“Herakles agreed to Aris’ proposal, and thus the start of Aris’ journey,” Nathaniel proceeded to lead them into the next room.

Upon passing the threshold of the new room, the 4 boys then found themselves in the middle of a rocky plain with approximately a dozen black horses. This plain was enclosed within a high stone wall as the horses moved about restlessly. Upon closed inspection, Harry realized that these were not ordinary horses. Their eyes burned red with internal fire and smoke rose out from their noses.

"Nathaniel? Where are we?"

"This is a depiction of the fortress built by Lord Arjuna located in the ancient city of Surya. Those creatures were mythically referred as the sun god's horses, known as Hinoemas; modern wizards also refer to them as Heliopaths. Hinoemas were once highly coveted magical creatures, it was believed that only descendants of the sun god are allowed to own them."

Fred watched the creatures and turned towards the artist, "Surya where's that? And aren't Heliopaths mythical creatures that knights are said to hunt down before facing dragons?"

Nathaniel looked sadly upon the horses, "Surya is located near Mesopotamia. The middle ages had been hard on the Hinoemas. Knights sought them out to either capture them or eat their meat, for Hinoemas are naturally fire resistant. Riding them, or ingesting their meat is a way to temporarily transfer this ability, thus enable questors to face dragons. Hinoemas only exist in the Isle now."

Harry and the twins looked at one another in confusion. "What Isle?"

"Black Isle. I’ll tell you guys about that later," Sirius tried to touch one of the horses and only felt the flat plaster wall. "This is a painting? Those horses look so real and restless."

"Yes, this is one of my favourite paintings. Hinoemas were always sought out by men who aim to domesticate these creatures, but these horses have always valued freedom and wide open spaces."

"What has this got to do with Aris?" Harry asked.

"After leaving his home and family, Aris traveled far. He learned magic that went beyond the art of healing. It is in Surya that he found a new purpose for his life."

Fred grinned. "What did he do? Steal those horses and set them free?"

Nathaniel sighed. "Yes, I sometimes wonder if the fate of the Hinoemas would have been different had Aris not intervened. Maybe these creatures would have adapted and accepted domestication."

A hidden door was opened and the four boys were led into another gallery. Nathaniel stopped in front of a painting where Aris treated a wounded Hinoema. The man carefully extracted the arrow off the felled horse as it neighed pitifully.

"Raiden was a young Hinoema that Aris saved from hunters. He and Aris eventually started a crusade to free all the Hinoemas from captivity. In the past, Hinoemas group themselves in small herds and are easily overpowered by human or wizards. Raiden with Aris' assistance became the leader of the largest and most feared Hinoema herd."

Sirius frowned. "But, isn't it good that Aris' intervention allowed them to be free?"

Nathaniel shook his head and walked over to the next painting, which was covered by red velvet curtains. "Aris continued on with his travels and earned the eternal gratitude of Raiden and the Hinoemas ..."

Velvet curtains parted and revealed the next painting. Screams echoed in the nearly empty room and the searing heat was felt by all occupants. The painting showed a burning city, with people be trapped within burning houses, children cried on the cobble stone walkway, men and women screamed in panic as dark horses ran past the streets with fire beneath their hooves.

"Raiden was a bit overzealous in his attempts to save his kins. Cities were destroyed; the once proud fortresses decimated into smoky ruins, and thus men started to fear Hinoemas. Instead of magical creatures fit only for gods and kings, they were now seen as dark creatures who reveled in chaos and destruction. They were therefore renamed into Heliopaths"

The artist looked up towards the ceiling. "It seems your friends who waits in your realm, are getting restless and worried. We ought to continue this some other time."

Fred frowned. "George, why don't you go back and tell them we're alright?

"Why don't you go back? I want to stay."

Fred crossed his arms. "Because I'm older, thus I get to order you."

George frowned. "Then I order Harry to go."

Harry opened his mouth to protest when he felt an invisible force push him back, he watched as this force dragged them away from the gallery to the white nothingness. They were being pulled towards a light, Nathaniel's gallery now a mere speck in the sea of white. Harry opened his eyes and saw that they were back in their room.

Ron glared at the foursome. "You guys were in there for over three hours..."

-0-

Remus Lupin smiled, as he smelled the clear morning air. "Happy Birthday James. I'm sure you would have loved this one."

Not so far way, James' son was also planning a bit of mischief.

Harry dipped another one of Sirius' 'Zonko's Singing Quill' into the golden solution and handed it to Fred. "Let's hope this works."

Fred grinned. "I assure you the 'Weasley Golden Sledge Solution' will make anything virtually indestructible for 100 hours."

George nodded. "Only a sledge hammer will be capable of destroying the item dipped in the Golden Sledge Solution."

Sirius skipped over to the treated quills and waved his wand over them, "Caveo Semper!"

Ron stared at his friend in confusion. ”What did you do?"

Sirius laughed. "Can't make it too easy for them, so I placed an evasion spell on the quills," he ran to the other end of the room and opened the window. "Gentlemen, I believe we are now ready to release the quills."

Fred nodded solemnly at George. "For freedom of speech and the press."

George bowed his head and clutched the quills to his heart, "Noble quills, you are now free. Sing your music and write your messages; make us proud."

Ron rolled his eyes as Harry laughed. The twin threw the quills out the window as all five boys watched them float to ground and hopped toward their prescribed destination.

-0-

Severus Snape growled and buried his head deeper into his pillows, as the bird outside the window chirped cheerfully. He did not know why, but he felt a vague sense of dread for today. He racked his brain for a reason on this irrational feeling, and remembered what this day used to represent when he was but a student here in Hogwarts. He frowned for the chirps sounded like the birthday song. He dismissed this and thought that it's likely only his imagination.

The Potions Professor was jolted awake when a steady flow of cold water poured on top of his head. He was further confused when he heard a clap of thunder above him, and was suddenly zapped by a jolt of electricity.

-0-

Severus Snape marched toward the teacher's lounge and slammed the door open. Professors Flitwick and McGonagall faced the door and were surprised to see a small continuously pouring rain cloud on top of the dripping wet Potions Master.

"Those hooligans have gone too far this time. Now, I know for sure that Potter is part of that insidious group. I knew that boy was exactly like his father."

Minerva McGonagall blinked and shook her head. "Harry? The boy is more like Lily than James. Really Severus, you're being irrational. Your immense hatred for James is clouding your..."

"Today happens to be James' birthday. That arrogant prat used to pull a prank like this on me to amuse himself. That brat even had the bird sing a birthday song through my window."

Flitwick shook his head. "Severus, there's no need to get overly stressed about this. Allow me to remedy the situation," the Charms Professor waved his wand and was surprised that the storm clouds to failed to disappear; instead his spell transformed Snape's attire. The potions professor now wore a fuzzy pink robe, bunny slippers and a bright yellow shower cap.

"Rain, rain go away come again another day Snivellus looks pretty in pink The guy's such a greasy wimp."

All three professor were turned towards the doorway, in time to see about 20 quills hopped into the room and half of them surrounded Snape to sing their silly song.

The Potions Professor pulled out his wand and was surprised that instead of a wand, he's holding a rubber ducky on a stick. "Filius! Reverse that darn spell of yours now! So I can get rid of those damn quills."

The Charms Professor shook his head. "I don't think I can. That storm cloud is protected by a very complicated spell-twisting ward. There's no way for me to predict the effect of any spell that I might throw."

Snape growled and took Flitwick's wand and attempted to reverse the spell himself. He managed to get himself covered with soap and shampoo all over. "Argh! Damn those kids!"

"Row, row, row your boat Gently down the stream When Snivellus saw the soap He began to scream."

Severus growled and threw a hex, which the quills easily evaded.

"Snivellus had a little cloud, little cloud, little cloud. And everywhere where Snivelly went, the cloud was sure to go."

The short man frantically tried to calm the irrate Potions Professor down, "Severus, calm down. I'm sure I can figure out how to go around this ward. Just give me a bit of time."

Minerva McGonagall studied both men quietly, "At least we now know that this is not Harry's doing. A ward that complicated cannot be created by a mere first year."

"Minerva the wise A woman so divine Pale are the butterflies Goddess worthy of a shrine."

The deputy headmistress was startled to see 5 quills, which stood upright in front of her singing their praises. Her eyes narrowed as she muttered under her breath, "Sirius Black must be responsible for this."

"An unworthy child For one such as you Beauty that cannot be defiled One that all men will try to pursue."

-0-

Harry held the old newspaper at hand unsure whether or not he should read it. Part of him wanted to give in to this morbid curiosity, but an inner voice in his head told him that opening this would only serve to stir the calm waters. In the end, morbid curiosity won over. He unrolled the parchment and began to read.

"Seems that Ron and the twins are too hungry to wait up. Ready to go down to breakfast, Harry?" Sirius just stepped out of the washroom and looked at Harry curiously. "What are you reading?"

Harry jumped, stared at his friend and began to wonder.

"Harry? What's wrong?"

"Regulus, he's your brother isn't he?"

Sirius noticed the old newspaper on Harry's desk, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Yes," he then walked over to Harry's desk and flipped the newspaper open. "It says right here that my brother was the one responsible for torturing the information of your parent's location from Peter Pettigrew," the paper was thrown aside.

"So now you know why people hate my family so much. I for one, do not believe a thing written in this piece of trash. Voldermort was a half-blood, I do not think my father in his pure blood fanaticism would willingly serve him. Main question is, what do you believe, Harry?"

Harry opened his mouth but he found that he didn't know what to say nor believe.

"When you make up your mind, you know where to find me." Sirius turned and left.

-0-

---

Black Times are Near by Rita Skeeter

We had thought that it was over. We thought that we had finally buried the last one of them. Then one rainy October afternoon we found that one of them remained - the final heir. We dismissed him as a mere child and therefore not a threat. How wrong we were.

Recent events in Hogwarts showed that this child does not only have the capacity to wield dark magic but also dark creatures. He used a kelpie to capture and imprison innocent civilians, Aurors, the Minister of Magic himself and even Hogwarts Headmaster were not spared. Furthermore, he used a dark unicorn to curse the whole population in Hogwarts all the way to Hogsmeade, surprisingly this show of power was left unpunished; perhaps he used an Imperius curse… Lastly through coercion and blackmail, he forced Hogwart's Board of Governors and the Ministry to give the lake to up got his dark creature.

He was prevented from causing greater harm due to the intervention oh Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived. Incidentally, Harry Potter was also the reason as to why this reporter’s alive to tell this tale. Unfortunately our young hero has decided to take a peaceful stance and broker a peace agreement. This report notes, that all throughout the arraignment, Sirius Black maintain that haughty ‘Black’ attitude and was the reason for plenty of unnecessary delays in the negotiations.

Sirius Black is dangerous and far more cunning than all the other Blacks before him. Hogwarts is not a place for such a child. Would you allow a child like that to attend school with your children? Do you not fear that they may be slowly corrupted to join this next dark lord in the next dark war?

---

Sirius sat by the window in the now familiar bridge way. He grumbled about gits and stupid reporters.

"Sirius."

"What do you want, Draco?"

"Nothing really, but I want to tell you that dad's allowing you to come home for Christmas."

Sirius snorted. “I thought you all wanted to have a nice little family Christmas for a change."

Draco crossed his arms and drawled, "Like it or not Sirius, we are the only family you've got. Legally and biologically speaking, you are part of our family. There’s no one else who would be willing to offer to you what we do."

Sirius glared at the blond boy in front of him. "If you people don't want me around, I don't want to be there either, so let's not even go through this charade."

Draco smiled. "My father read the article and thought that it's not fair for people to treat you that way and we ought to support you as family are expected to."

Sirius narrowed his eyes suspiciously towards Draco Malfoy. "What do you people want from me? I’m tired of all these games."

"Really Sirius, whatever gave you the idea that we have any ulterior motive beyond family support? If you decide to accept our invitation, you know how to contact any one of us."

Sirius watched Draco's retreating back; he leaned back unto the windowsill, closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

-End of Chapter 14-

Facts:

Heliopaths are Spirits of fire; huge flaming creatures that gallop across the ground burning everything in their path. Luna believes that Cornelius Fudge has armies of Heliopaths at his command. (Source: HP Lexicon)

Raiden �“ is the name if the Japanese god of thunder and lightning. I just thought that since I’m basing the kelpie’s name from Greek mythology; the unicorn on Norse, the thestral in African; the Heliopaths ought to have Asian sounding names.

Surya is not an actual city, but the name of an Indian sun god and Arjuna is his son.

A/N: Although it would seem that Sirius knows too much spells, I’ll explain ‘Caveo Semper’ on the next chapter (also a bit more of teacher torture *evil grin*). The ‘Caveo Semper’ spell is highly plot related.

Other Note: Starting this chapter and onwards, Orlaith will not be able to beta for me :( ... Unfortunately, she will no longer have time to do so. But I would like to say that Robyn (Orlaith) had been a great help; because of her patience to teach me - I believe I can now handle the future chapters on my own. Thanks Robyn! I would not have been able to get this and the next chapters validated if you hadn't come along and helped me when I encountered plenty of difficulty on Chapter 7. ^_^ Will miss you!

Chapter 15 - Reflections on the Past

Remus Lupin slammed the door and sealed it shut; he gave a sigh of relief and smiled at the knowledge that he had finally gotten rid of those quills. He wondered if his fellow professors received similar gifts from S.P.A.W.N.; it would be amusing to see this particular show, he ought to go and check how his collegues fared.

As he headed for the direction of the teacher's lounge, he started to wonder how Snape took the ‘Little Cloud’ prank and if the Potions Professor was able to figure out a way around the spell twisting ward that was placed. Remus smiled for it had been a long time since he pulled something like this. He hated to admit it, but it felt great; at times this, he truly missed his old friend.

As he reached the bridgeway, he found a familiar dark haired figure sitting on his usual spot. "Is it a family trait to sit alone and brood? Your brother used to do the exact same thing on the astronomy tower on the evenings."

"Morning Professor Lupin," Sirius greeted his Professor.

“Had breakfast, Sirius?”

The boy pointed to the couple of apples by his feet. “I pick some on the way here. Would you want some?”

The History Professor sat down on the stone floor and pick up one of the apples and tossed the other towards the boy. “Don’t mind if I do.”

“Professor Lupin?”

“Yes, Sirius?”

“Why does Professor Binns take over your class, every once in a while?”

Remus smiled. “You don’t find having a ghost for a teacher interesting?”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “He’s boring.”

Remus laughed at the boy's refreshing honesty. “I used to find it hard to pay attention to his class as well.”

Sirius frowned. “Then why does he have to teach your class?”

“I was initially hired as a Mr. Quirell’s substitute for Defense Against Dark Arts during his one-year leave...”

“Quirell’s boring too.”

Remus raised an eyebrow. “I would have thought you enjoyed all your classes.”

“Just because I'm having fun at my classes, does not mean that they're not boring,” Sirius answered with an impish grin.

Remus Lupin sighed for he knew all too well on what the boy meant by ‘fun’. “Anyway, the Deputy Headmistress noted the dismal year-on-year O.W.L. and N.E.W.T performances especially in History of Magic; thus she asked that I assist on the weekend review sessions. I was eventually hired to take over History classes. Professor Binns does not like the idea of retiring, so this compromise.”

Remus smiled at the boy. "You know Sirius, it wouldn't if you tone down on your 'fun' and do a bit of school work once in a while."

Sirius made a face. "You mean homework? Why does everyone keep telling me that?"

Remus laughed for this boy truly reminded him of James, "Maybe because you haven't submitted a single one since you got here."

"I did!"

Remus cocked his head to a side and thought about it again and figured that maybe Sirius is not entirely like James; for James would never even consider ‘Flirting with Minerva’ as a fun activity. His old friend of course, concentrated those type of efforts toward a certain red-head that he truly fancied. "Alright, except for the poetic essay you gave Professor McGonagall, which she does not consider as a real homework."

"Is this your way of hinting that I do the homework you assigned?"

Remus laughed. "The faculty actually have a wish list wherein we listed down specific feats that we'd want certain students to achieve. We call it the Miracle List."

Sirius laughed. "Let me guess, one of the items on the list is that I not earn a single detention for a month."

Remus smiled for James still held the current record on the most number of detentions in a single term. Although, it would seem that Sirius would break this particular record soon. "Another item on the list is that you submit all the homework assigned to you."

Sirius snorted. "Why don't you include Crabbe and Goyle to actually earn an 'A'."

Remus gave him a solemn look. "That's actually number 2 on the list."

The boy looked at the History Professor dumbfounded. "You mean there truly is a list?"

The History Professor shook with laughter. "Yes!"

Sirius crossed his armed grumbled about teachers singling him out unfairly.

"So Sirius, why aren't you with your friends this morning?"

The boy shrugged. "I figured that they would needed some space."

Remus Lupin raised an eyebrow and waited for the boy to elaborate further.

"Harry found an article that said, it was Regulus who delivered Peter Pettigrew and eventually his parents, to Voldemort. I thought he ought to sort it out on his own. I was on my way to the Great Hall when I heard the howler Ron, Fred and George got from their mum. Finally, I've decided to just pay Seidon a visi,t but he's playing god."

The History Professor had always been fascinated with dark creatures, for he found that the books are often wrong about them. He enjoyed the time he spent teaching Seidon the basics of human language and culture; the kelpie was highly intelligent… well most of the time … He wondered, what the creature was up to now, “Playing god?"

"That's what the 'kelpie status board' says. I don't think, I would want to know what he meant by that."

Remus smiled for he gave the kelpie his old status board as a house warming present. The board used to be posted outside his classroom to allow people to know whether he's inside the room or not; it also tells if he's busy with his students. Of course, the kelpie neither understood the concept of house warming, nor did the creature know how to use the board. But it seemed that Seidon learned pretty fast.

He turned his attention toward the boy beside him. For though Sirius seemed like such a carefree child. Remus knew better; he saw how Lucius had easily threatened to punish the boy as well as the boy’s nonchalant response. He figured that Sirius must have been punished on a regular basis, even for the littlest thing. Now that Remus thought on it, punishment must be the most common type of attention that the boy knew. The boy obviously sought attention, maybe the child just could not distinguish the wrong type of attention to the right one. He ought to discuss this with Minerva; that is, after he figured out what’s currently bothering the boy.

“The article by Rita Skeeter?”

Sirius shrugged. “I’m used to it. People can believe whatever it is they want, I don't really care. I’m just bored.”

Remus laughed at the simplicity of it all, “How would you like to see the teacher’s lounge?” he asked.

The boy was obviously intrigued, “You want to show me that list you mentioned?”

Remus shook his head as eyes twinkled in laughter. “No. Better.”

Sirius hopped off the ledge eagerly. “My school file?”

“I’m sure that would be fun read, but I was referring to Operation Cumulus Snivellus”

Surprise was evident on Sirius’ face as he gleefully asked, “You didn’t...”

“Shh... It’ll be our little secret.”

“Master! We’re back! Thy chosen ones!” Remus groaned as those irritating quills had not only escaped the room, but they had also found him.

“We will follow you to the ends of the earth, oh great one!”

Sirius laughed at his professor's predicament. "Quite devoted aren't they?"

Remus gave the boy a mock glare. "Obsessed is more like it."

The quills started to blow down in front of History Professor chanting, "Uoohhh... Uuuhhhmmm... Uooohhh... Uuuuhhhmmm..."

Remus sighed. "Sirius, do you happen to have a list or a catalogue of all the Weasley's Counter Solutions?"

"Yes and all their prank products too ... why?"

"Get me all of it. One of them is bound to get rid of these quills."

Sirius smirked for he knew that the 'Weasley Golden Sledge Solution' does not have a counter potion; one either squash the infected object with a sledge hammer or wait 100 hours for the potion to lose it's potency. Fred and George would be very pleased to hear about the amount of potential sale that they could garner from the faculty.

-0-

Hermione and Neville took a step back. Gryffindors are known for their bravery, but both of them were not feeling particularly brave right now. The dark shadow followed them and crossed the threshold; Hermione nervously pulled out her wand, "Take one step further and I will hex you!"

Neville bit his lower lip pressed himself farther onto the wall, "Hermione, throwing threats won't help. Zombies can't understand anything ..."

The figure by the doorway snorted. "Zombie? And here I thought you'd be smarter than that."

Hermione found the courage to finally speak up, "What are you then?"

He was obviously once a striking young man, but the graying skin, that nasty red scar slashed across his face, and those tattered robes made him a frightening figure to behold. "I'm a ghost."

Neville nervously peer up from behind Hermione, "But, you're solid."

The self proclaimed ghost threw back his head haughtily. "Ghost comes in diffrent forms, human. Stronger ones can appear to be solid."

Hermione frowned for she has never read anything in 'Hogwarts, a History' about solid ghosts wandering around the school grounds. "Who are you? And what do you want from us?"

"Diones D. Pilkee. I came to help you because you summoned me."

Hermione shook her head. "I did not."

"Did too!"

"Not!"

"I'm the ghost here! So I know better."

At this, Hermione decided to keep her silence for strong ghosts are indeed said to have the ability to appear in a solid form; she does not wish to anger this one. "Alright, I suppose you're right, but why did I summon you?"

"Information," the 'ghost' pulled out a parchment and offered it to Hermione.

Hermione hesitated, but took the parchment; she unrolled it. "How did you come across of this?"

The being rolled its eyes. "Are humans incapable of thinking? I took it from his desk of course."

Hermione looked up from the parchment she held to give that arrogant prat in front of her a piece of her mind, but all she saw was a retreating shadow leaving through the door.

"Hermione? What did he give you?"

Hermione handed the parchment to Neville, "It's a letter."

"Letter?"

"From Draco's father. It asked for Draco to keep an eye on Sirius. Seemed that Rita Skeeter was not the only one who interpreted Sirius major mistake on that dancing charm as a show of power."

Neville frowned. "You know, I don't think that guy's a real ghost."

Hermione gave the boy a puzzled look, "Why do you say that?"

The chubby boy shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure. He's scary enough I give him that, but he doesn't seem angry enough. From what I know only angry ghosts can appear solid and he doesn't give me that prickly ghostly feeling."

"Prickly ghostly feeling?"

Neville sighed. "You know, the one that have the hairs by the back of your neck stand up. I usually have that sensation whenever a ghost is near, but not this time."

Hermione frowned. "There's only one way to find out if he's really who he says he is."

Neville watched in confusion as his companion strode forward towards the door and gestured for him to follow. "Where are we going?" he asked her.

"To the library, we're going to find all that we can on Diones D. Pilkee."

Neville absently placed the letter inside his pocket and followed Hermione to the door.

-0-

"This old man, he played one He doesn't mind when SPAWN has fun. Snape blew up, Flickwick's a hairy king kong, This old man just whistled a song."

Albus Dumbledore chuckled as he headed for the teacher's lounge to check on his staff; those amusingly witty quills trailed behind him as they continued to sing ...

"This old man, he played two He only smiled when we turn him blue, Lupin's got hiccups, Snivellus wearing a tutu, This old man played on his kazoo."

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore had always expected the unexpected; however, not even in his wackiest dreams, did he expect to see the scene before him. Papers littered the floor and furnitures were in a state of disarray as three of his House Heads each attempted to hex the quills that flew about and sang their inane songs. Furthermore, Professor Snape wore a pink bathrobe, held a rubber ducky wand, and a small storm cloud rained above his head. Albus Dumbledore chuckled and greeted his staff, "Wonderful sunny morning we have today, don't you think?"

"This old man, he played three We gave him a purple goatee. Quirell's so scared; he tried to stake Snape. This old man went to bake a cake."

Severus Snape growled for he had have enough of the complacent old fool. "Headmaster! I don't care what you say! It's about time we put a stop to these delinquents!"

Minerva McGonagall voiced her ascent, "I agree with Severus on this one..."

The door to the faculty lounge suddenly swung open.

"Wow! And I though our room was bad."

On the opened doorway stood Sirius Black with Remus Lupin behind him.

"Minerva a woman of great power Beauty beyond that of a mere flower To you, gifts men will shower..."

Sirius grinned for the quills just gave him the perfect opening, "Minerva, will you my lover?"

The Deputy Headmistress glared at the boy.

Remus Lupin sighed and pulled Sirius aside, "Sirius, do you remember that thing we talked about earlier? About the proper time to be funny; as well as the proper time to shut up?"

"Yes, Professor Lupin."

"You just missed an opportunity to shut up."

"Oh..."

Snape glared at the boy, for he figured: if Harry Potter was not responsible then it had to be Sirius Black. For Sirius was amazingly adept in the ways of magic.

"Alright Black! I know you're responsible for this! Reverse this 'Spell Twisting Ward' of yours right now!"

Sirius gaped at the Potions Professor and hid behind Remus, "I didn't do it!"

Minerva McGonagall and Filius Flitwick glared at the boy as well.

"He's charming and cute, but he can't reach his desk. A man of good repute, but he can't reach your chest."

Filius Flitwick once again tried to hex those irritating quills. Unfortunately, the quills were too quick; they evaded his hex and continued to sing.

"Knowledge he loves to share A man, the size of a hare... He's a small guy after all!"

Minerva McGonagall glared directly at the boy who continued to hide behind her colleague. "You, Mr. Black are our number one suspect. The lines being thrown by these quills, points directly at you; no other students would dare do this."

Remus stepped forward, "I think we all ought to calm down and not accused Sirius when you have no proof; except for a few circumstancial evidences... Oh and Severus, that cloud prank was my doing."

"Of course Sirius did..." Severus Snape stopped in mid sentence as his colleague and rival's words had sunk in. Remus Lupin had just confessed to pulling the cloud prank. "What! Lupin, you bloody *&^%$&^#!"

By this time, Sirius felt slightly bored and decided to sing along with the quills,

"He's a small guy after all, He's a small guy after all, He's a small guy after all, He's a small, small guy."

The History Professor sighed. "Sirius?"

"Yes, Professor Lupin?"

"Please shut up."

"Okay."

The quills that followed Remus, further added to the confusion. "Our Master is sooo Great! That's why we worship only him! Oooohhhmmmm Uuuuhmmmm!" the five quills continued to bow towards Remus.

Sirius looked up towards his History Professor awe was evident on his face, "Professor Lupin?"

"Yes Sirius?"

"About doing the homework you assigned to me. I'll do it, if you would teach me how to throw that wicked Spell Twisting Ward."

Albus Dumbledore chuckled, but the rest of the faculty were not amused.

"Remus, I'm appalled that YOU, a member of the faculty would..."

"Lupin! I'll have you fired for this!..."

"Remus, this is hardly an example to set for the students..."

Albus decided that now was a time for him to intervene. He calmly raised his hand. "Everyone, I request a moment of silence."

All turned towards the Headmaster; even the singing quills seemed to comply due to the silent aura of power that the Headmaster held. The only sound came from Severus Snape, who yelped in surprise; this was due to a little bolt of lightning that a certain cloud sent. "Now Remus, what's the meaning of this."

The History Professor gave the occupants a sheepish grin, "I had a blast of nostalgia about James' birthday tradition; I figured since it's the weekend, this little prank would be harmless. I didn't expect S.P.A.W.N. to pull a prank today as well."

Minerva McGonagall sighed. Filius Flitwick shook his head. Severus Snape continued to glare at the History Professor. Albus Dumbledore laughed heartily.

"Well Remus, I think you had your fun. You ought to undo your spell." The Headmaster gestured towards Snape. Remus nodded and pulled out his wand.

"Wait! I don't trust him!" Snape eyed his rival suspiciously.

Remus Lupin held back an exasperated groan, "Severus, I apologize. It was a childish prank on my part. I was not thinking straight. Now let me undo this..."

"No! Flitwick will be the one to help me take care of this!"

The Charms Professor tried to reason with his colleague, "Severus, I'll gladly help you figure out a way to get past that ward, but having Remus get rid of it for you, would be the faster and the more practical alternative."

Snape growled. "Just try and fix this, Filius!"

The Charms Professor sighed and once again tried to get rid to the cloud.

Remus Lupin tried to hide a smile as the wards twisted Flitwick's spell; Snape now wore a yellow flowery sundress; the cloud hanging above once again greeted the Potions Master with a miniature bolt of lightning.

"Snivellus gets zapped and rained, zapped and rained, zapped and rained, Snivellus gets zapped and rained, He makes such a fair lady!"

Sirius took this inopportunate time to butt in, "Headmaster? Since I'm being accused without proof can I get legal counsel and moreover can I sue the school?"

Remus sighed. "Sirius..."

"Yes, Professor Lupin?

"Now is another time for you to shut up."

"Oh...uhmmm... Professor Lupin, I'm curious, can Professors give their fellow Professor detention?"

Remus Lupin bit his lower lip as he held back his laughter; he shook his head and said, "Sirius, what part of shut up do you not understand?"

-0-

Harry found Ron Weasley and asked about Sirius, but his friend had not seen the dark-haired boy all morning either.

"Maybe he's with Seidon. Fred and George went off to check the lake a while ago..." Ron did not wish to see the over-bearing horse, so he did not follow his brothers to search at that area.

George approached the pair, Fred right behind him, "Sirius was not there and neither is Seidon. Seidon left a note stating that he's 'Playing God'; I don't know what that meant, but maybe Sirius is with him."

Harry shook his head. "No, whatever Seidon was up to, Sirius was not with him. I saw him leave this tower on my way here. He galloped away before I could call him, but that kelpie was alone."

Ron grinned for he came up with a solution. "The map!"

Fred shook his head. "We've already tried that. We've looked at every red dots wandering alone, but Sirius is obviously not walking alone."

Harry frowned as he thought about the possibility of Sirius hanging around Draco Malfoy. "What about the other dots?"

George shook his head. "There's too many people moving about right now. It'll be hard to discern Sirius from the other mass of red dots, especially if they overlap one another."

Harry saw Hermione and Neville headed their way; the high pile of books they carried indicated that both came from the library. "Hermione, Neville, did you two happen to see Sirius on your way here?"

Hermione shook her head. "No but I'll bet wherever chaos is, Sirius is bound to be nearby."

Fred turned to his twin brother and grinned. "Of course! Why didn't we thought of that?"

George smirked. "He ought to be at the teacher's lounge!"

Neville felt utterly confused by the twins' assessment. Beside him, he saw that Hermione Granger was equally confused as well. He scratched his head and asked, "Don't you mean detention?"

Rom grinned. "No, they meant teacher's lounge. Bloody brilliant of you Granger. Come on guys, let's go find that git of ours."

Hermione blinked and wondered what that was all about. She handed her pile of books to Neville.

"Hermione!"

"Neville, I'll meet you at the common room. I'll go check on those idiots."

"Hermione, whatever it is, you don't want to get involved."

"I know, but someone have to watch those morons. We ought to make sure that they stay out of trouble; we wouldn't want to lose anymore house points."

Neville sighed as Hermione ran after Harry's group. He struggled to balance the high pile of books, and headed towards the Gryffindor common room.

-0-

On the surface Albus Dumbledore continued to smile, but beneath this carefree facade he was very troubled. The Headmaster was able to dis-enchant the 'evasion charm' off the quills. However, much to the staff's dismay, their hexes had barely affected those persistent quills. A hex or two was enough to knock a quill down and silenced it for a few seconds, but the quills would just hop back up then continue their songs. The quills however, were not the concern that troubled Albus Dumbledore's mind.

The Headmaster was all to familiar with the evasion charm used for this particular prank...

-0-

Albus Dumbledore pushed open the trap door and entered the familiar dingy room. Only Remus would arrange a secret meeting inside the Shrieking Shack. He greeted the man who stood by the shadows. "Hello Regulus, I received word from Remus, what is this matter of great importance that you needed to tell me directly?"

"It is confirmed, my whole clan had just pledged their support to the Dark Lord."

The Headmaster gave his former student a sad smile, "Ah... so do you now wish to withdraw your allegiance to the Order? You wish to tell me because you do not have the heart to tell this to Remus directly?"

The young man shook his head. "I will not fight my family; however the Order's fight is with Voldermort. I will remain as I am."

"Ah... so this meeting is a reassurance of your loyalty. I do not doubt your heart Regulus; however in setting up this meeting, you put yourself in risk."

Regulus Black gave the old man a wry smile, "That is not the purpose of my wanting to meet with you," the young man walked towards the broken wooden stool by the wall and waved his wand, "Caveo Semper!" he then pointed his wand back towards the chair, "Reducto!"

Albus Dumbledore was glad that the villagers believed this shack to be haunted and ignored all noise that emanated from it. Although the blast was not an especially strong one, it created a cloud of dust and debris as it shattered the chair and wooden floor. The Headmaster had to blink when he realized that the chair managed to remain intact.

The dark haired man explained, "One of my father's favourite trick, this powerful evasion charm could not be affected by a mere dis-enchantment spell. The group of Aurors massacred in the Roscoe House ... My father placed a spell on those muggle weapons to attack those men and women; then he further layered this 'evasion charm' onto those objects. Those weapons were unstoppable due to this charm."

The older man frowned. "I have never heard of this charm before."

"You wouldn't. It was one of those spells passed only to the direct line of the family. Knowledge passed from one generation to another by oral tradition; it has never been shared outside our circle before."

"And how could we stop an object charmed by the Caveo Semper charm?"

Regulus gave his former Headmaster a sad smile, "Normally, I wouldn't share such a secret for this feels like I'm betraying my family, but plenty of lives are at stake .. so..." he waved his wand toward the direction of the chair. "Repmes Oevac!" He then waved his wand and sent the chair crashing onto a nearby wall just to prove that the 'evasion charm' had indeed been removed.

"Why tell me this? It would have been easier to just tell Remus."

The young man's grey eyes darkened as he mumbled, "It would seem more believable to my father, if Albus Dumbledore was the one who figured-out the counter spell."

-0-

The old Headmaster closed his eyes and whispered, "Sirius, where did you learn that spell?" Hhs thoughts were interrupted as all the quills began to chant:

"You have gotten past the first layer. To get past the second requires a sound knock, A knowledge that needs to be hammered; Else, you can always wait 8 turns of the clock."

Severus Snape yelped as he was struck by another mini bolt of lightning. "What the bloody hell does that mean?"

Minerva McGonagall sighed. "It's a riddle..."

Filus Flitwick could not help but smile a bit, although S.P.A.W.N. was a major irritation, the Charms Professor had to admire the amount of planning that those pranksters go through. He was also proud of their undeniable skills in charms. "Clever...extremely clever."

Remus Lupin contemplated on the riddle, "Eight turns of the clock could mean 4 days..."

"What!" Severus Snape glared at the sandy-haired man, "Lupin, you're supposed to be the master prankster! Get rid of these quills!"

An extremely bored Sirius quiped, "Professor Lupin, I don't understand. Does Professor Snape expect you to prank the quills, so to get rid of them? Sounds incredibly stupid if you ask me. Then again I don't really ..."

Remus sighed. "Sirius please shut up."

"Lupin, I don't know why you brought that brat here, but he leaves NOW!"

Remus explained, "Sirius was supposed to show me a catalogue of the Weasley Twin's counter-solutions. I figured since S.P.A.W.N. either modify Zonko's products or makes use of the Weasley Twin's creations - a counter for these quills might be found in that catalogue."

-0-

Sirius closed the door and pouted. Snivellus the grouch threw him out and now he's bored once again. He started to wonder on the reason behind the Potion Professor's grouchy disposition.

"Sirius!"

Sirius turned around and was surprised to see his friends headed towards him.

"You dolt! We've been looking all over for you."

"Hey Ron, nice to see you too," Sirius drawled and leaned on the nearby wall.

Fred gave the dark haired boy a hurt look and thumped a fist above his heart, "You went to spy on the professors and didn't care to invite us?"

George who looked equally hurt, he grabbed Sirius by the shoulders and started to shake the younger boy violently, "How could you be so thoughtless? Did it not occur to you that we'd like to watch as well?"

Both twins gave an melodramatic wail. "You are not our friend anymore!"

Behind the twins, Ron rolled his eyes and Harry chuckled. Ron was pretty sick of his brothers' constant clowning around; Harry on the other hand, always found the Twin's and Sirius' antics to be a never ending source of amusement.

Sirius raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Would money buy back your friendships?"

George cocked his head to the left and pretended to deeply consider the proposal, "A couple of galleons would be nice."

Fred shook his head vehemently. "You can't bribe us with your money. Although I'd accept your Zonko's Professional Set."

Harry laughed. "A new broomstick for me!"

Ron sighed. "How about an undisturbed moment of sleep?"

Sirius gave his friends a smug grin. "George, you would get your couple of galleons. Fred, I'm sorry but that Zonko's Set is mine, although this could a way for you to buy yourself one. Harry, same goes for you. Ron, I suggest a sleeping drought, you can use the money to buy some, but you could also get a bottle from Madam Pomfrey for free."

All four boys stared at their friend in confusion.

Sirius slowly pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and amiled triumphantly, "I've got here in my hand, several orders for each type of your Weasley's counter solutions..."

Fred plucked the piece of paper away from Sirius; he began to read its contents, George peered over his brother's shoulder to read as well.

"Wicked!"

"We're just got our first 'major' order."

As the Fred and George celebrated their newfound business, Harry decided to ask the question that was in all their minds when they saw Sirius leave the faculty lounge, "Sirius, what's went on in there? Did we get them?"

Sirius answered with a wicked grin. "Oh, we got them. It worked better than expected. But the best part was the prank Professor Lupin pulled on Snivellus ..."

Behind a potted plant Hermione listened as Sirius described the various reactions of the professors to their singing quills. Sirius also went into details on Remus Lupin's prank on Severus Snape. She shook her head; just when she thought that it would be impossible for those boys to be a bigger idiots than she believed them to be - they surprise her. They had the nerve to pull pranks on the teachers. Hermione certainly hoped that they'll never be caught. She shuddered, as she imagined the repurcussions it would have on their house. Hermione frowned for everything fits... Harry, Ron, Sirius, Fred and George were the members of the elusive Secret Prankster Association for Wizarding Nonsense, better known as S.P.A.W.N. Her brows furrowed as she vowed to stop those nitwits from causing more trouble and endanger Gryffindor's house standing.

"Guys, have you ever wondered as to why Snivellus is such a grouch?" Sirius asked.

"Probably because he has no life and he's so unloved, Fred quiped.

Ron scratched his head. "So are you saying that all he needs is a bit of love and he'll be nicer?"

"Let's put that idea to a test," George suggested.

"I have an idea," Sirius eagerly shouted.

"Me too! I think Snape needs a girl since no woman deserves to suffer that fate ... we could ..." George started to explain.

Sirius scrunched up his face. "Ewww! A girl? Why would anyone want that?"

"I agree with Sirius on this," Ron stated.

"Ron ... Sirius ... such innocent little kids they are..."

"Dear brother, they are still too young. Someday they would understand ..."

-0-

Ron reached out for another cauldron cake when Hermione approached their group, "I know what you guys are up to. I came to ask that you not pull anything incredibly stupid."

Sirius sighed and placed his glass of pumpkin juice on the table. "We've done it before. I don't see why we shouldn't try again. You can join us if you want; our room after lunch."

Hermione stared at the idiot incredulously. She could not believe the audacity of the boy, he invited her to help them pull a prank. Does he really think that Hermione Jane Granger would go along with his stupid pranks? Her eyes narrowed into slits as she glared down upon Sirius Black. The object of her ire however, appeared oblivious as he picked his glass of pumpkin juice up once again. Her nosetrils flared at being ignored; "And what makes you think, I'd want to join you, in your bout of stupidity?"

Ron looked somewhat confused as he scratched the back part of his neck. "Well, yesterday you were gripping about missing the opportunity to meet Nathaniel. So, I told Sirius you might want to come along this time around..."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Forget about it Ron, girls are finicky. She merely changed her mind about wanting to come along."

Fred nodded his ascent. "Who knows she'll change her mind about wanting to come along again...in a minute or two...or...three...or"

"Shut it you insensitive gits! My poor brother had just been turned down by a girl for the first time in his life and this is how you morons comfort him," George gave both Fred and Sirius a look of mock anger.

Fred's jaw dropped and he threw himself unto Ron and gave the other boy a bone-crushing hug. "I'm sooooo sorry Wonnikins! How could I be so insensitive!"

The Weasley Twins stood side-by-side and thumped thier chest, "Ronald you need not worry. Your brothers are here to help you with your girl problems!" they swore in unison.

Both Harry and Sirius had fallen off their chairs laughing. Hermione felt the heat rise to her cheeks and saw the Ron was equally red-faced.

"You bloody gits! I'm not asking Hermione out!"

Fred gave his brother a sympathetic smile, "It's alright Ron, everyone gets rejected once in a while. It does not in any way mean, that she doesn't like you."

George nodded, "Some girls likes to play hard-to-get." he nudged Hermione with his elbow in a not-so-subtle manner and winked. "Ain't that right Hermione?"

"I had enough of you morons!" Ron jumped up from his seat as Fred and George made a run for it, and chanting, 'Mione and Ron sitting on a tree... K-I-S-S-I-N-G!' all the way out the Great Hall while Ron chased after them. Harry and Sirius looked at one another and chuckled as they too stood up and followed the Weasleys' trail. Hermione sighed and followed them as well.

-0-

Sirius blinked and looked around, the place felt familiar, but for some unknown reason he felt a cold dread envelop him.

Ron bit his lower lip and held back a shiver; the row of creepy house elves heads stared straight at him, “Where are we?”

“Grimmauld Place,” Sirius' right hand felt the familiar stone walls. This version of Grimmauld does not have the neglected and abandoned feel as the Grimmauld Place of the present, but somehow this one felt darker as if the inhabitant imbued his own darkness onto the place.

Fred excitedly drank in his surrounding, “The Black ancestral home? I’ve heard so much about this place. It’s a lot creepier than they say it is.”

George nodded. “Wait till we tell Lee that we were actually in the place.”

Hermione frowned. “But, we can’t apparate out of Hogwarts so how did we get here?”

Sirius continued to browse around, “This isn’t the Grimmauld Place of the present, nor is it the same Grimmauld Place that I grew up in…”

Harry drank in his surrounding and shivered, “So you’re saying that we’re in a different version of Grimmauld Place somewhere in the book.”

“I think so...”

Ron moaned. “You’re not even sure. I knew this was a bad idea.”

Sirius tried to sound a lot more confident than he felt; he reassured his friend, “Relax Ron, I know this house like the back of my hand.”

Unfortunately for him Hermione saw right through his bluff, “If this house is not of our plane, then how sure are you that it’s the same house. Moreover, what lies outside this house.”

Fred grinned. “Then we’ll find out.”

Ron rolled his eyes. “Brilliant plan, Fred.”

Sirius cupped his hands in front of him and shouted, “Hello! Anyone there!”

Hermione sighed. “Great. Announce our presence. Why didn’t I think of that?”

George smirked. “Simple, it's because you don’t possess our natural brilliance.”

Harry ignored his friends’ banter. He does not like the general feel of this place. They were obviously not anywhere near Nathaniel’s portion of the book. The Renaissance artist have a preference of a light, airy, and informal atmosphere. This place, in contrast, was stuffy and has a menacing air about it. Sirius obviously messed up. Harry remembered Nathaniel’s warnings on the danger of entering the book - he only hoped that they were not in any danger.

“Sirius?”

“Dad!”

Harry has heard plenty about Orion Black, he swallowed hard and looked nervously to his right; he saw that Ron, Hermione, Fred and George wore equally grim expressions. Sirius on the other hand, seemed glad to see the man and launched himself towards him.

The man looked disapprovingly at his son. “Young man, this is not the proper way by which a Black should carry himself!.”

Sirius remained undeterred, “Come on, dad. I haven’t seen you for 5 years; for you it’s much longer. You ought to be glad to see me.”

The man frowned. “Obviously, Gryffindor teaches its student nothing on self restraint.” He then smiled, there was a malicious gleam in his eyes; this made Harry and the others take a step further back, away from the man.

Sirius on the other hand remained oblivious, “Dad, I want you to meet my …”

“You are indeed a true Black, you brought to me not one but five Gryffindors. And who’s this? Those features are unmistakable, Harry Potter the one who brought down the Dark Lord…”

Sirius stared at his father, utterly confused, “Dad?”

Orion raised his wand…

“Dad No!”

A strong wind flew in and pushed Orion straight to the wall. A dark Horse ran in front of Harry, Ron, Hermione and the Twins and changed into a familiar form of a man they had plan on visiting.

“Nathaniel?”

Orion Black's eyes narrowed, his anger was evident in his voice, "You! You're not supposed to be here. It's not possible for anyone, aside from Aris, to move about the different sections."

The former Renaissance artist grabbed Sirius by the arm, "You forgot Orion, if anyone should know this book just as well as Aris does, it would be me. For I am the one who re-made this book."

Nathaniel pushed Sirius behind him towards the rest of his friends; they were enveloped by a white blinding light.

Harry blinked as they were once again in Nathaniel's studio. The Black ancestor laid himself down on a Roman-style couch and closed his eyes. He appeared pale and drawn, he was breathing heavily as well.

"Nathaniel?"

Grey eyes that were so much like Sirius' own narrowed as he sat up and glared angrily at their group. "Had I not warn you of the dangers? The least you could do was to double check your Arithmancy before you went about this!"

Harry blinked in confusion. "Arithmancy?"

Hermione recited her facts, as usual, "Arithmancy is a branch of magic that is concerned with the magical properties of numbers. It involves the use, and understanding of complicated number charts."

Harry scratched the backside of his head. "But Sirius never used any number charts to get us here."

It was now Nathaniel's turn to be surprised, "What!"

Sirius raised both palms up in a defensive manner, "Arithmancy is boring and moreover, we don't have Arithmancy classes yet. Did I not figure out the correct trajectory the last time we got here? I didn't even have to use a foggy old number chart."

Nathaniel's jaw dropped and wondered if the boy was serious, and if he was - he could make up his mind on whether Sirius was a natural genius, or the biggest idiot that their bloodline had ever produced. Nathaniel mused, that to have calculated the trajectory of a transporting spell correctly without the chart; made Sirius a genius. Although he missed his mark this time around, Sirius only missed it by a couple of degrees; but to attempt to perform that spell without a chart was ...

Hermione could not believe it. A transporting spell such as the one Sirius used, required accurary; and the moron actually tried to do it without a number chart. "Sirius Black! You are indeed an idiot in the purest sense!"

Nathaniel could not have agreed more...

Fred and George looked at one another and grinned "Toujours Pur, dear Hermione...Sirius is a true Black. Toujours Pur," both twins drawled in unison.

"Argh! You three morons reminds me too much of the 'Three Stooges'!"

Fred and George looked blankly at one another, "Three Whatsis?"

"I have no idea either."

Harry laughed. "They're popular muggle characters."

Sirius grinned, "I know what they are!" he raised his wand and shouted, "All for one, and one for all!"

Fred and George grinned and raised their wands to tap Sirius' raised one and shouted in unison. "All for one, and one for all!"

Ron frowned. "Hey! Don't Harry and I get to be stooges as well?"

Harry rolled over in laughter, while Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation.

-0-

Narcissa Malfoy closed an old book and smiled for Lucius would be very pleased with her findings. She stood up and checked her reflection, she moved a stray hair in place and walked out the room to search for her husband.

Lucius had always complained on how she made him take Sirius in, and how troublesome her cousin was. Nacissa Black Malfoy was pleased for not only had her decision to take Sirius in brought to them the Black Family fortune, but it seemed that Sirius had access to exclusive knowledge and spells that was only known by the Black family's direct line. Narcissa had believed that all the knowledge was lost with the death of Uncle Orion and Regulus, but Sirius found an access to those knowledge...

"Lucius, I may have found something."

Lucius Malfoy turned around and smiled at his wife, "So what sort of magic did that brat use to take control of those creatures?"

"I do not know that, but I found some information on 'the book' that was left to Sirius."

Lucius Malfoy frowned as he struggled to remember all the ancient Black family artifacts that Sirius was allowed to keep inside his room. "The blank book?"

Nacissa smiled serenely and nodded. "The very one. It seems that only the bearer of the family ring can read it and the book contains all the memories and knowledge of our ancestors. Sirius probably learned some spells from that book."

Lucius brows furrowed as he started to make plans on taking the book away from Sirius. "So all we need to do is get the ring and book away from that brat and ..."

Narcissa raised an aristocratic eyebrow at her husband, "Unfortunately only Black family heirs can wear that ring. It is protected by an ancient magical force which would kill all those who attempted to wear it but were not designated to do so."

Lucius frowned. "You're a Black..."

"Black heirs had always been male."

Lucius Malfoy contemplated on the issue, "Draco has your blood in him..."

Nacissa glared at her husband. "I will not risk my son's life for this. That ring could very well reject and kill him."

Lucius threw his hands up in exasperation. "So why do you bother telling me this? Sirius has an access to a power that we cannot touch. What do you suggest then!"

Narcissa gave her husband a sly smile, "I think, it's about time you try to be nicer to my cousin..."

-0-

Hermione Granger was having the time of her life. Nathaniel showed her on the mechanics of Wizarding paintings. She had been amazed at the beautiful painting of the ceiling at Hogwart's Great Hall, but the ceiling was nothing compared to the quality of some of the works shown to them.

"You mean water nymphs are nothing more than a herd of kelpies in disguise?"

The artist nodded. "They were once minor magical creatures, afraid of humans who could easily overpower them."

Ron snorted. "That doesn't sound like Seidon. He's one arrogant prat who believes himself to be overly powerful and..."

Nathaniel smiled. "Yes, Aris' involvement changed the human perception of kelpies. Also the kelpie's outlook on humans as well... that which were once perceived as beautiful, shy and peaceful water nymphs, became malicious water demons."

He showed them another painting where Aris sat on a rock surrounded by water nymphs and horses; some of the nymphs morph into horses and vice versa as they appear to listen to Aris. "Aris showed the kelpies that thier strength lies from drawing power on a water source. For as long as they share a water source, the power by which they can draw upon it becomes limited or scarce."

Hermione's eyes widened, "So the herd broke up and each kelpie became solitary creatures. Because these creatures rely on the river and lakes for their power, they become over-protective of it."

Harry nodded as he thought about the time he met Seidon. "A creature that wanders alone can easily fall prey thus, a kelpie is highly vunerable when it loses it's river ... so they protect their waters jealously ..."

Nathaniel bowed his head solemnly, "They sometimes over-do it. I think you all know how the kelpies developed a penchant to drown human beings. Whence before they feared human and hid from them, with the endowment of greater strength, kelpies now views human beings as threats and drowned all in sight."

Sirius frowned. "But, Seidon never attempted to drown us."

"That's because you and Harry saved his life and later he made a deal with the Headmaster." Fred answered.

Harry defended their friend, "But, he didn't drown anyone, even when he thought Professor Dumbledore broke his word."

Nathaniel smiled. "Kelpies are just like us, some are nobler than others."

Ron grumbled. "Don't let Seidon hear that, his head is big enough as it is."

Fred and George laughed as Harry and Sirius looked at one another and grinned. They all knew that Ron found the creature to be extremely infuriating .

Hermione wished she brought a quill and parchment with her, so as to jolt down all these facts. Although she doubt that she can physically bring anything from this world back to their own.

-0-

Dark storm clouds blocked the rays of the afternoon sun, it would be raining soon. Albus Dumbledore stood by the entrance of a small Muggle cemetery. This cemetery was only a short distance away from Grimmauld Place. The Headmaster walked inside and approached a single unmarked grave. A short distance away were two other similar graves. It could be his imagination, but those two graves carry a dark aura about them whereas the one in front of him carried only melancholic despair.

He closed his eyes and quoted a line by a famous muggle writer. "The evil that man do lives after them. The good is off interred in their bones..."

This was the grave of Regulus Black. The two other unmarked graves were that of Orion and Walburga Black. Albus had to pull quite a few strings to have made this possible, but he believed that he. at least owed Regulus a proper burial. The young man would have wanted the same for his parents. A single bouquet made from poisonous flowers like azaleas, baneberries, irises, nightshades and periwinkles laid on top of Walburga Black's grave; it would seem that the old house elf was still alive and loyal.

Albus Dumbledore placed the small Slytherin prefect badge and the seal of the Order of the Phoenix on top of the grave before him, "Hello Regulus, its been long since I came by. One of these days I should bring your brother here. Yes, he's now here at this time. A child with a good heart, but is strongly misunderstood. He reminds me of you... although he does have a penchant to break rules instead of abiding by it ... no ... he's not really like you... very much to the dismay of my staff." The Headmaster chuckled lightly at the thought of all the headaches Sirius had given his professors.

"It's strange that Sirius knew some of those spells that you've shown me. Spells that cannot be found in any books. Spells that should have been lost by your demise... I wonder how he came about those knowledge."

The winds blew softly seemingly to whisper to the trees undiscernably. Albus Dumbledore sighed for he knew he could not get any answers here, his visit was purely for sentimental reason. "I wish you were still around to give light to this puzzle, you always did have this great interest on histories and mysteries; especially those that involved your family. This love for history had alway been one of the reasons as to why you and Remus got along well..."

The Headmaster thought well on this; Regulus was quite a loner, but he got along well enough with Remus Lupin and Severus Snape. It was a longshot, but the Headmaster thought that it is possible for Regulus to have said something to either men... a little piece of knowledge that could help enlighten him on this mystery. Albus Dumbledore would speak to both when he return to Hogwarts.

-0-

Fred stared at the painting in awe, "It's so hard to believe that a dark unicorn is not at all different from those silvery-white variety."

Hermione nodded knowingly, "That totally makes sense, the color and the horn shape is just a matter of a recessive gene."

Ron gave the girl a blank expression. "Recessi-what?"

All present, gave the girl an equally blank expression.

Hermione sighed and explained, "It has to do with a branch of Muggle science called 'Genetics'. Recessive genes lay dormant and will not come out unless given a rare combination. It's rare for those traits to come out dark unicorns is the effectof those recessive genes. It's very likely that the silvery variety carry the same genes to create a black unicorn, but not the right combination."

Nathaniel listened to the girl attentively and commented, "Muggle science is indeed interesting..."

Sirius decided to interrupt, before Nathaniel and Hermione go about it again. "Uh... Nathaniel? Before you and Hermione go about your lenghty discussion about magical paintings or Muggle science. Care to tell us why dark unicorns are perceived to be evil, if they were just ordinary unicorns?

Nathaniel walked over to a painting that revealed Aris shooting an arrow to kill a hunter. The hunter was targeting a dark unicorn. "People foolishly believed that dark unicorns are dark reflections of the unicorn. Aris saved Regin, a dark unicorn. He made Regin realized that he is in greater danger from human beings than those of his siblings and cousins. For the dark pigmentation made him a target, that he ought to adapt to survive."

Fred frowned, for given Aris' track record he had a bad feeling about this outcome. "Adapt?"

The next painting revealed a man walking inside a forest a bow slung casually behind him. A dark unicorn suddenly appeared out of the shadows and the man fell; he laid on the forest floor sweating and shivering. "Stealth and attack. To harm as well as heal ... Aris' lessons learned. Regin took it upon himself not only to protect his own life, but those of his complacent relatives as well..."

-0-

Draco kicked a stool angrily, for the article he sent failed to cause trouble between Potty and that idiot Sirius. He paused and smirked although he failed to cause trouble between Sirius and Potty... the Weasels are another matter entirely. Draco believed that it ought to be the right time for him to send Mama Weasel another letter. He chuckled evilly as he picked up a quill and parchment.

-0-

Nathaniel opened a door and gestured for them to enter the next room. Hermione gasped for the air felt hot and arid, she now stood in the middle of a desert. All she saw upon the distance were miles of sandy dunes; the high temperature blurred her vision and made her unable to see much in the distance. "Where are we?"

Nathaniel waved his wand and a walled city appeared. "Welcome to the ancient wizarding settlement of Wulbari. This magical city was once ruled by brothers named Guruhi and Gunab. Gunab took pride on his small herd of domesticated winged horses, he loved these horses and took them wherever he went," the artist pointed to the majestic winged horses that flew in and out of the city. "During a hunt, a small accident with a stray spell spooked the flying horse that carried Gunab, the young king fell off the spooked horse and died. Guruhi, in his anger cursed the unfortunate herd..."

Fred and George grinned. "Turned them ugly and to have a penchant for blood?"

"As well as invisible?"

Hermione glared at the twins. "Shush it you two. I want to hear Nathaniel's tale."

"Ooohhhh! Hermione likes Nathaniel!"

"Poor poor Ron ..."

Hermione has had enough of these pests, she therefore raised her wand, "Silencio!"

Fred and George opened their mouth, but no sound came out.

Ron grinned. "Way to go Granger! About time someone shut those two up."

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow an irritated frown upon his face, he was obviously displeased by the fact that his audience were not paying attention.

Sirius grinned and reassured his ancestor, "No offense Nathaniel, they're always like this. So tell us about those thestrals."

The artist looked up as the sun started to set. "I think you children ought to go back."

"Just finish your tale about the thestrals and we'll leave," Sirius pleaded.

Grey eyes stared straight at the boy. "I will finish my tale about the thestral and you, as well your friends leave and not return until you've mastered Arithmancy."

Sirius pouted. "That's boring..."

"Well then," the artist drawled, "Then you can leave and I won't have to ..."

Sirius moaned pitifully, for he saw that he had no other option. "Okay then, it's a deal."

Nathaniel nodded and led them inside the walled city. Hermione was once again amazed at the realism of the paintings. Inside they saw a small herd of skeletal black horses with glowing white eyes, bat-like wings and a dragon-like face. "This is fate of Gunab's horses. Guruhi cursed them to lose their beauty and be attracted to the smell of blood. It was a dark curse wielded with such great anger."

One of the creature attempted to drink some water from a bucket; a woman screamed and pointed towards the creature. Her husband man came out with a sword and drove the creature away. "Gunab's horses became known as thestrals.

Nathaniel opened another secret door and gestured for them to enter. They once again found themselves inside a gallery. The artist pointed them to a painting where Aris seemed to be deep in conversation with a dark haired woman. "Orunmila, was Guruhi's daughter. She took pity on the thestrals, she felt the presense of a wizard of whose power is greater than that of her father; thus she sought and found Aris."

The next painting showed Orunmila feeding the thestrals some sort of potion as well as Aris waving his staff over the herd; the thestrals then faded from sight. "Unfortunately, such a dark curse, brought about by such a deep anger cannot be reversed."

"Saddened by his failure and knowing that Orunmila cannot return to her father; also backed with the knowledge that the thestrals were domesticated horses who could not live in the wild - Aris took Orunmila and the thestrals with him. He sought a place to settle down and care for these horses, as well as his new wife. He brought them to a place north of his native Greece. There Aris realized that his attempts to cure the creatures only resulted into making the thestrals invisible to most humans; that only those who witnessed death can see the creatures. The thestrals became known as Hades' horses, an omen of death. Horses that were believed to escort souls down to the Underworld. They were very much feared by the populace. Years later, Aris started the construction of Black Isle, not only for the thestrals, but also for the other horses that he met during his travels."

Harry thought on this and asked. "Then if that's true, thestrals should have all settled on the Isle, but Hagrid said that we have a herd right here in Hogwarts."

Nathaniel smiled. "I did mentioned that Salazar Slytherin was decended from our line. He brought the thestrals to Hogwarts."

-0-

Loud crashes can be heard inside the room, Remus Lupin closed the door and winced at the thought of the disaster area that he left behind.

First, they tried all the Weasley counter solutions, but with no avail, so they tried their luck on the riddle. Flitwick was quick to figure that the riddle meant a hammer of some kind, the task of trying out each and every hammer known to Muggle and Wizard had been an extremely time consuming one. Presently, the rest of the Faculty were still chasing their quills with a sledge hammer at hand. Remus chuckled at the thought and counted himself lucky; his quills were too busy bowing thus easier to be rid off... unlike those that tailed the others... Of course, they were too busy slamming those hammer to have noticed that Remus Lupin took a few pictures.

"Remus."

"Hello Headmaster, I assume you'd like some copies. I see you've gotten rid of those quills as well."

The Headmaster smiled, "Copies?" he then noticed Remus' camera,. "Ah yes, I would love to have copies. As for my quills, I have them locked safely in a box at my office. Amazing how they modified a simple Zonko's product. It would be a shame to destroy such a quill."

Remus shook his head, he had long given up on trying to understand the Headmaster. "Something on you mind, sir?"

The Headmaster nodded. "It's best we discuss this in my office."

-0-

Harry frowned. "I don't know Sirius, I don't think Proffesor Snape would want a Puffskein as a pet."

Ron defended their idea,"But it's the easiest pet to care for and it's very affectionate."

Sirius nodded. "Unless you'd rather join Fred and George on their stupid idea..."

Harry closed his eyes and stifled a sigh for he liked Fred and George's idea less. "Why are we doing this again?"

Ron and Sirius grinned and explained in a perfect imitation of Fred and George, "Because Snivellus is such a grouch, and we believe that he only needs is someone to shower him with affection."

Harry sighed. "And thus the Puffskein?"

Sirius and Ron nodded enthusiastically.

"And how do you make sure that Snape doesn't scare it off?"

Sirius grinned. "Remember that charm we used on those bats? The one that made them follow Snivellus around?"

Harry finally relented, "Alright then, but I wonder about you Sirius. Why do you want to do something nice to Snape? I thought you'd rather torture the guy."

Sirius pretended to be hurt by Harry's insinuation, "You actually think that bullying Snivelly is all I care to do? Is it so hard to believe that I do care for that greasy-hair git's welfare?"

Harry and Ron fell off the bed laughing.

-0-

Seidon stared at the portal and frowned. He grumbled on how forgetful humans are.

"Seidon, when I asked that you keep an eye on Sirius and his friends, I did not mean this." The thestral sighed in exasperation.

The kelpie ignored her and contemplated on his next move. "Seems that 'the god' ought to give the human a little reminder."

The thestral once again tried to stop the kelpie, "Seidon... did you not agree to, 'not scare' any first years?"

The kelpie tossed his head. "I agreed to not scare them as they crossed this lake. Fear is a way to move humans, trust me on this."

The thestral sighed.

Dyrdar snorted. "Wiser beings would choose not to get involved with human affairs. And so, we see the reason as to why so many kelpies die young."

The kelpie glared at the unicorn. "Our kind grew and prospered whilst your numbers dwindled, to the point that the humans believed you to be nothing more that myths."

The two horses glared at one another as the thestral sighed. "Stop your petty squabblings. You two are acting like humans..."

-0-

Remus shook his head. "No, Regulus never told me anything ancient spells of the Blacks, but if what you say about the spell is true; then Sirius might have learned that particular spell from the ancient book, which he usually carries"

Albus Dumbledore shook his head. "Regulus told me that spells such as the one mentioned, were never written down."

Remus wondered if he should tell the Headmaster everything that Sirius told him about 'The Black Chronicles'.

-End of Chapter 15-

Facts:

1. Quill Songs: Dumbledore's - "This Old Man"; Flitwick's - "Small World"; Snape's "London Bridge"

2. Regin is a Norse name that means 'the god's power'

3. Wulbari is the supreme god of the Krachi of West Africa and not an actual city

4 . Gunab & Guruhi - are African gods of evil

5. Orunmila - African god of compassion

Author's Note:

Anyone wants to read the complete "This Old Man" song? Just ask for it. ^_^ I tried to submit it to the Poetry section, but song parodies are not allowed there. So I'll just post it on a review reply if anyone asks... ^_^

This chapter is long and serious... what do my readers say to just having some wacky fun on the next?