Chapter 1
Prologue, Part 1: Quidditch Admission
Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were sitting in their living room when they got a letter by owl. It was from Harry’s Head of House, Professor Michael McGonagall. It read as follows:
Dear Mr Black and Mr Lupin,
At my suggestion, Gryffindor Quidditch Captain Oliver Wood admitted your son Harry onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team—a rare honour for first-years. I myself used to play Quidditch with your friend James, and I can see that Harry has inherited James’ flying skills.
Do you know how I was able to see that? When Harry’s classmate Neville Longbottom had his Remembrall stolen by Draco Malfoy of Slytherin during a flying lesson, and Malfoy flew away with it, Harry did exactly what James might have done in the same situation. Harry got on his broom—despite Madam Hooch, our flying teacher, telling everyone to stay on the ground while she took Longbottom to the hospital wing—and was able to catch the Remembrall just before landing, after Malfoy threw it in the air.
Wood and I agree that Harry will need a decent broom; my aunt Minerva, our headmistress, has agreed to make an exception to the rule that first-years cannot have their own broomsticks. If you can afford one, I would personally recommend that you buy a Nimbus Two Thousand for Harry.
Sincerely,
Michael George McGonagall
Head of Gryffindor House
“Well, I think we can afford the Nimbus Two Thousand, despite its relatively high price,” said Sirius. “It’s such a nice broom, it’s worth it to me. Let’s go to Quality Quidditch Supplies.” So that’s what Sirius and Remus did.
Prologue, Part 2: The Knight Bus
Harry stayed with the Weasleys for part of the summer of 1992 (with Sirius and Remus’ permission), but even though the Weasleys took Harry to King’s Cross Station in their Muggle car, Sirius and Remus came to see Harry off anyway. For some reason, even though everybody else could get through the magical barrier to platform nine and three-quarters, Harry and his best friend Ron (who went through together) could not get through it. Sirius and Remus were on the Muggle side of the barrier; they were planning to follow Ron and Harry, but were surprised that they could not get through.
Ron said, “What are we supposed to do, fly my parents’ car to Hogwarts?” Sirius said, “James and I might have done that in our younger days, but now we have the sense to put you two on the Knight Bus.” Sirius and Remus took Harry and Ron outside King’s Cross, and Sirius stuck out his wand hand; a bright purple, triple-decker bus appeared out of nowhere.
A young man in a purple uniform stepped out and said, “Welcome to the Knight Bus. We can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor today.””Thanks, Stan,” said Sirius. “Can you take my son and his friend to Hogwarts? They missed the Hogwarts Express.” “Sure, we can go there,”said Stan. Sirius gave him eleven Sickles, and Harry and Ron got on the Knight Bus, which they then took to Hogwarts. The Knight Bus did not have fixed upholstery, which was really bad because it would jump from one place to another with a loud BANG and shake up all the chairs that were there.
Prologue, Part 3: The Chamber of Secrets
Toward the end of Harry’s second year, Sirius and Remus were again relaxing in their living room when a silver vapour cat came into their house. “What’s Minerva sending us her Patronus for?” asked Remus. “She wasn’t an official member of the Order,” Sirius reminded Remus, “but she could still be aware that this was our method of communication.”
Minerva’s voice said, “Mr. Black, I need you to come to Hogwarts—and bring your house-elf Kreacher with you. He and other house-elves can Apparate into—and within—Hogwarts, while we wizards can’t. You need to get to Harry as soon as possible—he and Ron went into the Chamber of Secrets to find Ron’s sister Ginny, who has been taken into the Chamber and likely killed. Come to my office first, though—I’ll give you something you need to save Harry.”
After Minerva gave Sirius the Sword Of Gryffindor (which she said could perhaps be used to kill the Basilisk within the Chamber—which Sirius must not look at directly, otherwise he could be killed), Sirius summoned his family’s house-elf Kreacher. Kreacher did not like Sirius, but had to obey his orders anyway; after Minerva explained where the Chamber of Secrets was, Kreacher took Sirius into the Chamber. Sirius blindly aimed at the Basilisk with his wand, shouting “Sectumsempra!” (a spell that Harry’s Potions teacher Severus Snape, a friend of the family, said would help); Sirius finally cut both of the Basilisk’s eyes, making it no longer dangerous through its gaze. It smelled Harry and went toward him, but Sirius got between Harry and the Basilisk—and Sirius stuck the Sword of Gryffindor up the Basilisk’s mouth, killing it. Once the Basilisk was well and truly dead, Sirius pulled out one of its fangs, and Harry had the idea to destroy Tom Riddle’s diary—which had magically hypnotised Ginny—with it. (Tom Riddle had turned out to be the birth name of Harry’s mortal enemy, Lord Voldemort.)
Ron and Ginny’s parents, Molly and Arthur Weasley, were extremely grateful to Harry and Sirius for saving Ginny. “This really shows what good parents you both are,” said Sirius to Mr and Mrs Weasley. “If my parents had been okay with losing one of their children, it would undoubtedly have been me. You two clearly would be devastated to lose any of your children—and would never disown any of them like my parents disowned me.”