A fine day
Reggie took off through the portal and flew towards the hospital. The wetter in London was nice, with a bit of sun and a light breeze. She flew over the city and looked around her, scanning the air around her for bigger birds, like Matthew taught her. She saw green trees, people walking around being all busy. She smelled sweets and grease and smoke from the cars beneath her. When she saw the shimmering of the hospital she descended and landed on a little bench. There she preened her feathers and looked around.
Now knowing how to enter the building, she hopped over to the ground and went through the window. Inside, she looked around her and saw a man who had a cauldron on his head, a woman with yellow wings coming from her feet, and a toddler whose parents were trying to calm down. Magic…she thought…right.
No one paid her any mind, so she went over to the elevators, just as she had done the two times Matthew was with her. Sirius’ room was on the 4th floor. A very nice witch, who had bright colored spots all over her, was kind enough to press the right button and after arriving on the right floor, Reggie went over to Sirius’ room.
Sirius was lying on his bed, bored out of his mind once again. He really wanted to leave this place. The Healers had told him that in two weeks, he could leave, if and when he had a place to stay. Since he learned that, he was thinking about where he could live. There was Grimmauld Place, his childhood home. Not that he ever wanted to set foot in that house again. There was the Black Manor, where his grandfather still lived. He had not seen the old man in over a decade…so it felt a bit weird to just pop over and live with him. He just imagined how that would go…nope, not a good idea.
The Ministry had paid him a hefty sum of gold for his wrongful imprisonment, which meant he could just buy a house somewhere. That idea appealed to him the most. Somewhere in the country, with lots of green. Yes, that would be nice.
A flutter of wings alerted him to a presence in his room and he looked up. A little raven sat on his nightstand, looking at him with those familiar eyes. A flash of sadness was felt, knowing he would probably have to wait years before he could finally see her in her human form. That flash was quickly replaced by enthusiasm, for seeing her again.
‘Hey, you made it, come here gorgeous!’ Reggie hopped over to the bed and Sirius lifted her up in his hands. He brought her closer and gave her a kiss on her head. ‘I am so happy you are here. How long do we have?’
‘Until the sun sets.’
Sirius sat up a little straighter and crossed his legs. Reggie hopped off his hands and went to sit on his knee. ‘Can you tell me about my mum and dad? And Hogwarts…and uhm…about magic and stuff?’
‘Sure thing kiddo. I will tell you everything you want to know and more.’ And for the following hours, Sirius regaled his goddaughter with tales about her parents, the school, the Houses, the pranks he and the Marauders had played on others, and his Animagus form. Soaking it all up, Reggie listened enthusiastically and asked many questions. She felt totally at ease with Sirius and was quickly becoming less and less shy.
They were interrupted around 4 in the afternoon by one of the Healers, who came to check on Sirius. When she came in, Reggie was concerned she might had to leave, but the Healer simply smiled at Sirius, told him he had a beautiful raven, checked his vitals and left again.
‘Is it normal, that wizards have ravens?’
‘Well no, not ravens in particular, but wizards have familiars. This can be birds, mammals, reptiles, you name it.’ He mused a bit. ‘Ravens are special though. Only very skilled wizards, or wizards of great importance have had ravens as familiars. Merlin was rumored to have one.’
‘Dream took me to meet the ravens of the Tower. They are very cool.’
‘Did he? Tell me all about it.’ So Reggie told him about her visit and also a bit about her life as a raven. ‘I am learning elemental magic. I can do air now, and earth is going better every time I try it.’ Sirius beamed with pride. ‘Did you know that most wizards cannot perform elemental magic?’
Reggie ruffled her feathers. ‘Why not?’
‘Well, we use our wands and spells. It is not something that is separately taught in school, but some, like Dumbledore and even Voldemort, could muster the elements. Not all, but air, like you said. And water, I think. But you are much better than those two, you mark my words, pup.’
When the sun began to set, Reggie was reluctant to leave. She had enjoyed her time with Sirius immensely and felt sorry for the older man that he was to stay behind. But she had promised Dream she would be on time, so she said her goodbyes, promised to be back and left the hospital. She flew towards the portal and entered the Dreamlands once again. Dream was waiting for her and she landed on his shoulder.
‘Hello sir,’
‘Did you have a good time?’
‘The best! Sirius told me about my mum and dad. He showed me some magic with his wand and he told me all about Hogwarts.’ Noticing she seemed happy and sad at the same time, Dream knew this was bound to happen. ‘You wished to stay?’ Looking at the King of the Dreamlands, the man who took her in, Reggie sighed. ‘Yes, because I felt sorry that he had to stay behind. Why did Dumbledore do this to me? Why couldn’t Sirius raise me, as my mum and dad wanted? It’s not fair.’
‘And yet, when you laid eyes upon Dumbledore, you felt sorry for him?’ They needed to talk about this. Walking towards the room where Reggie slept, Dream waited for an answer. ‘You punished him? Like you did my aunt and uncle?’
‘Yes.’
‘Do you not think he deserves to be punished?’ Reggie hopped over to her perch and ate a berry from the food bowl. ‘He looked so…I don’t know sir. I know I was with my aunt and uncle because of him, but he looked to be in so much pain.’ Dream said nothing, simply watching her. He pondered what to do. ‘Do you know what his punishment is?’
Shaking her head, Dream explained that Dumbledore was confronted by everyone he ever manipulated, hurt, or used for his own selfish ways. ‘I don’t punish people out of spite, I punish because people deserve it. Just like your aunt and uncle. Do you feel sorry for them?’
She took her time to answer him. ‘No sir,’ came her softly spoken answer. ‘Does that make me a bad person, sir?’ She looked down. Dream lifted his hand and stroked her feathers. ‘No. But I understand your feelings.’
Feeling that the subject was closed, at least for now, he sat with her until she was done eating and had fallen asleep. That night, Reggie had a very pleasant dream about Sirius as a dog and she as a raven, getting into all kinds of mischief. Sirius had the same beautiful dream.