Freedom is fleeting || Prisoner of Azkaban || Ch 8
“You have questions, I believe I have the answers too.”
He wasn’t smiling, not anymore. The look he had in his eyes was a familial one, one of care. Of sympathy. One Harry did not recognise.
“Professor?”
“Harry. You want to know why I stopped you from facing that boggart, yes?” and while that wasn’t Harry’s only question, it was definitely a prominent one. “I’ll thought it’d be obvious, I assumed it would take the shape of- Lord Voldemort.” He laughs softly as he says this and it clicks for Harry what had happened.
Harry doesn’t seem to share his light amusement, he didn’t know what his boggart was but he isn’t scared of Voldemort, not like he should be. “I did think of Voldemort. At first. But then I remembered that night on the train-“ Ah, answered his own question.
“Well, I’m very impressed.” He leans against the opening on the bridge and looks out next to Harry, “That suggest what you fear most is fear itself. This is very wise.” He looks back at the boy who’s face had contorted as if he’d swallowed a lemon.
“Before I fainted.. I heard something…” His voice lulled off slowly, uncomfortable with what he was about to share with his professor. “A women screaming.” Harry looked down over the bridge, avoiding eye contact and the urge to cry.
“Dementors force us to relive our very worst memories.” Remus quotes, his tone urging softly so the boy knew to trust him, as though he didn’t already have a guess as to what Harry heard.
“I think it was my mother.” His voice warbles as he mentions her, reliving his darkest moment, “The night she was murdered.” Not looking up, he takes a deep breath pushing back down those vulnerable feeling, the vulnerability that got his parents killed.
He doesn’t change the subject, but he does lighten it; knowing that’s what Harry needed right now. Not to avoid his emotions but not to dig up past trauma either. “The very first time I saw you, Harry, I recognised you immediately. Not by your scar, by your eyes.”
“My eyes, professor?”
“They’re your mothers, Lilys. Yes I knew her. Your mother was my best friend, was there for me in times no one else was. Not only was she a particularly gifted witch. She was also uncommonly kind.”
Harry looked back up at the professor, his lopsided grin slowly forming on his pain ridden face. The memories of his parents that were not his own always gave him a sense of peace, that he can know them through others if not though himself.
“Your father on the other hand was also my best friend. He however, had certain talent for trouble.” He’s looking at Harry now, grinning mischievously. “A talent, rumour has it, that has been passed onto you.” Eyes softening as his puts his arm around the boy, so much younger that himself when he went through that kind of trauma. “You’re more like them than you know, Harry.”
The talk was exactly what he needed on this horrible day of October 31st.
~
The castle, old and croaky, laid in silence while its students resided in Hogsmeade for the day. He was grateful for his talk with professor Lupin, however he was always grateful for some peace and quiet. Getting used to your magic really enhances your senses, and not just the ones that you would use for your magic like sight and touch. Harry walks down along the corridor heading nowhere, resting his ears and soothing his migraine as he crashed into someone.
“Potter. We have to stop meeting like this” His tone while mocking was friendly, no one was around after all, he could play nicely with the-boy-whose-magic-just-became-more-prominent.
“Ah Malfoy, I’m sorry- why aren’t you in Hogsmeade?”
“I was Potter. Everyone will be coming back in thirty minutes or so and I wanted to beat the rush.” He said, matter-of-factly.
“Oh, of course.” He bowed his head politely, not wanting to start something by accident. “Well I’m sorry again Malfoy, uh bye!” He spoke fast, but left faster.
In any case, Malfoy was dead on with the half hour thing. Students were coming in waves like a terrible marching band so Harry left for the Gryffindor stair case, knowing the common room is where his friends would expect him to be, then he bumped into Ron, (Not quite as physically as he keeps doing to Malfoy, thank Merlin), who without a doubt will be bragging about Hogsmeade without realising just how upset that might make Harry.
“Honeyduke’s sweetshop is brilliant!” see. “but NOTHING beats Zonko’s joke shop!” Whatever happened too, hello? How are you? “We never did get to go to the Shrieking Shack. You heard it’s-”
“The most Haunted building in Britain. Yeah. I heard.” Harry looks up, utterly done with this conversation, when he notices the human traffic jam outside the portrait. “What’s going on?”
“Probably Neville’s forgot the password again.” Ron states, as Harry turns to make eye contact with the boy who’d been walking with them this entire time.
“Oi!” Neville appears to be just as done with Ron as Harry is, and it’s a brilliant sight.
“Oh! You’re there?”
“No one is to enter this dormitory, until it has been searched!” Percy, head boy was making a show of power, but why? Harry couldn’t even see what the worry was all about.
“The Fat Lady! She’s gone!” Ginny appeared out of nowhere, it’s a surprise family reunion.
They look up to see what was now visible, The portrait has the large gash marks in it, someone had attacked the painting. “Serves her right, singing was terrible.” – “Its not funny Ron!” The rest of the characters, painted to life, were in a panicked frenzy, everyone was looking for The Fat Lady.
“The headmasters here, everyone move!”
Ah the man of the hour, avoid eye contact or magic using is his presence. Harry reminded himself.
“Mr Filtch, round up the ghosts. Tell them to search every painting in the castle.” The headmaster stated, not even making a move to look at Harry, which he was grateful for.
“There’s no need for ghosts, professor.” Filtch points to a portrait just over yonder and everyone scrambles to her over the stair cases.
“Dear Lady! Who did this to you?”
“Eye’s like the devil, he’s got, and a soul as dark as his name.” She’s shaking, crying crocodile tears as she spills the story to everyone. “It’s him, headmaster. the one they all talk about.” As she looks around frantically, she says the words everyone dreaded to hear. “He’s here, somewhere in the castle! Sirius Black!”
~
The moon so close to full is bright the night the castle went into lockdown. Everyone locked in their dorms apart from the Gryffindor’s who were locked tightly into the great hall. Everyone seemed to be asleep as the last of the lions breathing had steadied, apart from one who’s heart was full and ready, Harry knew not-so–deep-down he was going to have to fight for his life, again. As dementors swarmed around the castle, the professors did their 5th lap of the hall, ready to be awake all night to protect their students.
“there is no sign of Black anywhere in the castle.” Snapes familiar voice drawled.
“I didn’t really expect him to linger.” He replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world, sarcastic to Snape, knowing he’s the only one who could get away with it.
“Remarkable feat, don’t you think.” Snape spoke quietly as to not wake the children but also, “to enter Hogwarts Castle all on ones own, completely undetected?”
“Quite remarkable.”
“Any theories on how he managed it?” Harry’s curious too, it sounds like Snape has a theory of his own and yet won’t speak out unless Dumbledore confirms his theory without even knowing it.
“Many. Each as unlikely as the next.” Now that is just unhelpful.
“If You recall. I expressed my concerns prior to the start of term, about your appointment of Professor-“
“Not a single Professor in this castle would’ve helped Sirius Black enter it. I’m quite convinced the castle is safe, and I’m more than willing to send the students back to their houses.” Harry really hates how evasive Dumbledore can be and wishes he would let Snape finish his sentence, now there’s a weird thought-
“What about Potter should he be warned?” Yeah PrOfESsoR should I be warned?
“Perhaps. But for now, let him sleep.”
So that’s a no. Thank god I already know, he’s my god father and definitely coming for me next.
And the next day, it was if nothing had happened. Like Sirius Black had never entered the Castle.