The events of Harry's trip on the Hogwarts Express had driven all thought of Theresa from his mind until he was in the corridor outside Professor McGonagall's office, waiting for her to finish with Hermione so they could go down to the feast. When Hermione emerged from McGonagall's office looking very happy about something, he immediately said, "Professor?"
"Yes?"
"I met your sister this summer, and I was wondering if you would give her a message for me the next time you see her?"
Professor McGonagall didn't look at him as they started down the marble staircase. She pressed her lips together and said stiffly, "I haven't seen my sister in twelve years, Potter, and I don't expect to see her for another twelve."
Stunned, Harry stopped short and stared at her. "But — she said she came here to see you this summer!"
"I spent the summer with friends in Greenland." Professor McGonagall stopped and turned back to him. She said gently, "My sister was blessed with a charming nature, Potter. She has fooled wizards much less trusting than you are. It's how she gets along in the world."
Hermione looked at Harry sympathetically. Professor McGonagall smoothed her robes and turned back toward the Great Hall. "Come along, then. We'll have missed the sorting by now."
* * *
The next day at lunch, Harry told Ron what McGonagall had said. "There has to be some explanation." He shook his head. "I know she wasn't trying to hurt me. I just know it."
"I dunno, Harry," Ron said between mouthfuls of mashed potato. "The way Mum and Dad talked about her, you'd think she was the bride of You-Know-Who."
"I know you were hoping you'd met someone who knew about your parents, Harry," Hermione said gently, "But don't you think she could have been making up all the stuff she told you?"
Scowling, Harry stood up and hefted his bag.
"Where are you going?" Ron asked with dismay, his fork stopping halfway to his mouth.
"We have Care of Magical Creatures next," Harry said. "I'm going to go early and ask Hagrid about Theresa." He turned and left them both at the table.
Trudging down to Hagrid's hut, he struggled between his annoyance at Ron and Hermione and the cheering effects of the bright sunshine. Hagrid was anxiously pacing the length of the small dooryard of his cottage while Fang trotted behind him on his leash. When he saw Harry coming, he stopped and grinned widely. "Harry!" he called cheerfully. "Lookin' forward to our firs' class, I see! Knew I could coun' on yeh."
Ignoring this, Harry asked, "Hagrid, did Theresa McGonagall come to see you this summer?"
Hagrid frowned and reached down to pat Fang's head absently. "Er, no, not exactly."
Harry felt his face fall.
"I mean," Hagrid continued, "Really she came ter see Professor McGonagall, didn' she? She looked so disappointed tha' she wasn' here, I invited her in for a cuppa."
"So you did see her?" Harry said eagerly. "She told me she had come here, but then Professor McGonagall said she hadn't seen her."
"Sad business, tha' is." Hagrid nodded."When fam'ly don' get along. Brave of Theresa to turn up in the firs' place, if yeh ask me."
"Why don't they get along?" Harry asked.
"Yeh'll have to ask them about tha', Harry. Ain' none of my business." He looked over Harry's head toward the school, then resumed pacing.
Harry said, "But, you did ask her to look in on me when she got back to London, didn't you?"
Hagrid glanced at him sideways. "No, I wouldn'a done tha'. I knew she'd get inter trouble if she wen' to see yeh."
"Why? Why does everyone think she was trying to hurt me?" Harry demanded.
Hagrid shook his head, frowning. "Look, it ain' my place ter be tellin' yeh tha'. Theresa don' mean yeh no harm, tha's what Dumbledore says, and tha's good enough fer me."
"But they arrested her, Hagrid!"
"Tha's her own fault. She should know better'n ter get mixed up with yeh again."
"Again? What do you mean, 'again?'"
Before Hagrid could answer, a bell rang somewhere in the castle, and students started coming out of the front doors and strolling down the sloping lawns toward them. Hagrid made himself busy pulling on his moleskin overcoat. Harry would have to wait for more answers.
That night, Harry awoke in the dark and jumped out of bed, his mind lit by an idea so simple, he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it sooner. He opened his trunk and felt around in the bottom of it until he found the photo album Hagrid had given him two years earlier. Climbing back into bed, Harry flipped through the album by wand light, scanning each photo of his parents until he found the one he wanted.
His mum sat up in a bed, looking tired but triumphant, holding a tiny, newborn Harry in her arms. Leaning in from either side were Harry's dad, waving and adjusting his glasses with a big grin, and Theresa, who seemed to be laughing at a joke as she turned away from the camera to make eyes at the baby. Thirteen years hadn't changed her face very much, but there was a difference about the eyes ... Harry had to think for a moment before he could place it. The woman he had met that summer had a bit of a muted look to her eyes, as though even when she was smiling she was still a little bit sad. The woman in the picture had nothing but happiness in her eyes. Harry realized her husband must have been taking the picture, and that of the five people in that room, Harry and Theresa were the only ones still alive. Still clutching the photo album, Harry drifted back to sleep and dreamed about a huge, flying motorcycle.
* * *
Deep in the Forbidden Forest, Theresa crouched on a tree branch, wrapping her Chameleon Cloak around her carefully. Ten feet below her, a juvenile Acromantula scuttled into view and paused to look around. Theresa raised the cloak to cover her face. James Potter himself had put the permanent Disillusionment charm on it, many years ago, and it had served Theresa well during her years of exile. The four-foot spider would hardly be a challenge to her — there was a village in Indonesia where she would always be remembered as "the Spider Slayer" — but becoming an enemy to the local Acromantula tribe could make her task here more difficult.
When Theresa looked again, the animal was moving on. She found North with her wand and swung down from the tree, keeping well away from the spider. It had taken her weeks to track Sirius to the Forest, but she was certain he was hiding here somewhere. Now she was following one game trail after another, searching for any sign of him. Coming to a spot where the trail turned into soft earth, she crouched and shined a blue light from her wand over the dirt, illuminating one footprint after another. Acromantula ... something hoofed, probably a deer ... rabbit ... a huge goat ... no, that must be a unicorn ... tire tracks —?
Suddenly, a deer spooked out of the bushes just ahead and bolted up the path straight at her. Theresa dove out of its way and rolled to her feet, looking around wildly. Deer didn't just bolt for no good reason.
The forest was silent. Too silent; the birds and locusts knew something was wrong too. She fought an instinct to climb a tree — many things could climb better than she could, and anything big enough to hunt a deer was big enough to hunt Theresa. Holding her breath, she strained her ears to hear any sign of movement.
She whirled an instant before the attack came. An Acromantula that was taller than she was grabbed her with the sharp hooks on the ends of its feet and jerked her towards its dripping jaws. "Impedimenta!" Theresa cried, and the spider lurched backwards, dropping her. She scrambled to her feet and turned to run, but the spider leapt on top of her, its awful weight bearing her to the ground. Theresa tried to roll out from under it and collided hard with three of its legs. The spider collapsed, its exoskeleton missing her by inches. Before it could regain its balance, she got free and came to her feet. "Oculus Acies!" she shouted, throwing as much power behind the spell as she could. The Acromantula screeched, flailing its legs as her Conjunctivitis Curse seared its many eyes.
Theresa turned and hared away. Acromantulas hated that curse; it would be furious when it recovered. Fortunately, they weren't good trackers, so if she could just get far enough away from the beast —.
Before she'd gotten thirty feet, though, a second Acromantula sprang out of the undergrowth, narrowly missing Theresa's head. She skidded to a stop — the monster changed direction and sprang at her again — she waved her wand clumsily and shouted "Contego!" The spider bounced off the invisible barrier she'd conjured between them. Backing away, Theresa saw that the first Acromantula had recovered and was scuttling towards them. She cried, "Locomotor Mortis!" at the nearer spider before turning and bolting as fast as she could. Behind her, she heard a squeal of displeasure and knew her Leg-Locker Curse had hit home.
A fallen log barred her path, and she vaulted over it, hoping to find another game trail. The heavy undergrowth impeded her more than the leggy Acromantula, which she could now hear crashing through the bushes behind her. Her mind was racing as fast as her legs — briars and nettles wouldn't get through its bony armor ... it could climb trees faster than she could ... she didn't think it could swim, but no body of water presented itself ... she could run longer than it could, if only she had bought herself enough of a head start — she must be nearing the school now; surely it wouldn't chase her within range of Hagrid's crossbow — but she could hear it getting closer ... it was nearly within springing distance —.
Suddenly, the ground dropped out from under her. She rolled down a steep slope and scrambled to her feet. She tried to keep running, but she'd twisted her ankle. She swore, but looking up, she saw a split-rail fence ahead of her. Surely that meant Hagrid was nearby! Gritting her teeth against the pain, she struggled to the fence and scrambled over it. She started to dash forwards, then stopped abruptly.
Seven pairs of yellow eyes turned to peer at her suspiciously. She was surrounded by an entire herd of Hippogriffs. She ducked her head into a bow so fast she nearly toppled over and waited, panting, her eyes darting from one regal beast to another. Getting no response — it was a bad idea to try this with seven Hippogriffs at once — she started to back away from them. Before she reached the fence, the gray one and the black one squawked indignantly, reared up and hurled themselves at her with wings spread wide. Theresa turned to run — and found herself face-to-face with the Acromantula. It reared back, ready to strike — Theresa shrieked and flung herself out of the way — the two Hippogriffs shot over her head and tore into the Acromantula.
Staring at the titanic battle before her, Theresa backed into one of the other Hippogriffs. She turned and bowed quickly, but it gave her a dismissive nod and turned back to the fight. The two Hippogriffs made short work of the spider, and it soon retreated, leaving one of its legs behind. Pressing a hand to her chest and trying to catch her breath, Theresa bowed to the gray and the black in turn, trying to remember what Hagrid had called them when he'd introduced them to her this summer. They bowed regally, and then she flung her arms around the gray one's neck, hugging it in gratitude.
After hugging the black Hippogriff and then the roan one, which hadn't fought the spider but seemed to want a hug anyway, she limped out of their pen and started toward Hagrid's hut to ask him to wrap her ankle. At least she knew which part of the Forest Sirius probably wasn't hiding in.
* * *
The commotion following the discovery of Sirius Black's attempt to break into Gryffindor Tower had long since died down, and Harry was near to drifting off in his sleeping bag in the Great Hall when he heard the tread of two people passing near his head.
*"Headmaster?" It was Snape, followed by Professor McGonagall. Harry kept quite still, listening hard. "The whole of the third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch has done the dungeons; nothing there either."
"What about the Astronomy tower? Professor Trelawney's room? The Owlery?"
"All searched," Professor McGonagall said.
"Very well," Professor Dumbledore sighed. "I didn't really expect Black to linger."
"Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?" asked Snape.
Harry raised his head very slightly off his arms to free his other ear.
"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next."
Harry opened his eyes a fraction and squinted up to where they stood; Dumbledore's back was to him, but he could see Percy's face, rapt with attention, and Snape's and McGonagall's profiles. Snape looked angry, McGonagall very worried.
"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before — ah — the start of term?" said Snape, who was barely opening his lips, as though trying to block Percy out of the conversation.
"I do, Severus," said Dumbledore, and there was something like a warning in his voice.
"It seems — almost impossible — that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when you appointed ...."
"If anyone helped him," McGonagall interrupted, whispering hotly, "I think it is obvious who that would be, Severus."
Snape's eyes narrowed. "Theresa has not been here today."
"But Hagrid saw her in the Forest last week. She's taken a room in Hogsmeade, hasn't she?"
"No one in Hogsmeade will rent to her," Snape hissed through clenched teeth. "She's living in the Muggle village on the other side of the mountain, because of close-minded people like ...."
"I do not believe a single person inside this castle — or Theresa Black — would have helped Black enter it," said Dumbledore, and his tone made it so clear that the subject was closed that no one replied. Dumbledore turned and walked away, followed doggedly by Percy. McGonagall cast a spurious glare at Snape and moved off. Snape stood for a moment, watching the others with an expression of deep resentment on his face; then he too left.
Harry glanced sideways at Ron and Hermione. Both of them had their eyes open too, reflecting the starry ceiling.
"Theresa Black?" Ron mouthed.
*This passage borrows heavily from Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter Nine, Pages 165-166, American hardback edition.
Prisoner of the Past by ThessalyRose
Chapter Notes: Sorry for the long delay, folks. This chapter got rejected the first time, but I think it's okay now.