With Harry in the infirmary, Gryffindor lost their first game of the year and somehow the nimbus still ended up falling into the Whomping Willow. And with Poppy being who she is, she forced Harry to rest in the infirmary for the weekend in order to recuperate for his encounters with Dementors.
But with that over with, the next two months we're passing by as peacefully as possible. When one wasn't getting affected by the hooded parasites anyway. Which Dumbledore was furious about when they came on the school grounds, making the Minister apologies profusely for that one. He knew how bad it would look if the papers got a hold of this news. 'Dementors attack the-boy-who-lives at Hogwarts' would be an absolute nightmare for the man.
What pleased me greatly about two weeks before the break, was that I figured out how to maintain the dragon fire sealer. I ended up going down the time enchantments route by analyzing the Time-turner in my hand and minimizing the similar effects to within the box, instead of letting the entire world be affected. I basically made a mini time loop activate once the box has sealed the fire. The loop lasts half a second and is active continuously after something is introduced within it. The only down side is that the product becomes a one-time use item. It can last about three days, but once that time is up the enchantments and runes get completely used up and are rendered useless.
Although it was a one and done item, it was still an impressive little piece of equipment. It's unfortunate I can't sell these to muggles, it would help a good amount of people who are in line for organ transplants get the best they could. But with that line of thought, the illegal side of things might get more aggressive with their 'acquisitions' too.
But with a finished prototype, i had it delivered to Scott. He would arrange for the testing and send me feedback on the performance. We are going to be using a common welsh green for the test, since I own most of the reserve and it the easiest dragon we could quickly arrange to test on. Hopefully it works well.
The break was just around the corner now, and I decided it was time to visit the Shrieking Shack. I wish to talk to Sirius about his actions and make the proper setup without being overt.
So one night, I decided to quietly approach the Whomping Willow guarding the passage to the Shack. It was fairly simple to recognize the knot on its trunk and immobilize it, my grades in Herbology not being just for show.
I made it through the narrow passage and came out to see the interior of Remus' old place. Just like any abandoned home, which used to house a werewolf transforming, the place was just decrepit. I don't know why Sirius didn't make his stay more comfortable. You know, a little cleaning and repairing wouldn't go amiss. The place was covered in dust, with broken furniture laying around, boarded up windows, tattered walls, unhinged doors and some good old fashion claw marks.
I used my senses to feel around, and sure enough, the big dog was upstairs. I'm sure he's noticed my presence and is waiting in ambush too. He might be a bit unhinged at the moment, but he's also desperate to catch the rat. Desperate not to go back to Azkaban. And desperate people are some of the most dangerous beings in existence.
So I walk up the uneven steps, calmly and confidently. And before I enter the room Sirius was hiding in I stopped.
"Hello Mr. Black. Mr. Folster told me you had come as I thought you would. So can we talk civilly or do I have to subdue you first?" I asked loud enough for the man to hear me through the door.
After hearing nothing still, I sighed.
"Subjugation it is then." I said with a hint of disappointment as i draw my wand.
I open the door and as soon as I walk in, the man on the run shoots a full body bind from behind where the door swung to. I shift my to the side and use my dodges momentum to completely turn towards the man and deflect a disarming and stun chain off to the side with ease. The man was an aggressive and confident fighter. He tried to overwhelm in terms of attacks by forming spell chains. He struck with jelly-legs curse, disarming, stunning then incarcerating charms, finishing his rush with three consecutive stunners, making me quickly defend myself with dodges, deflections and a severing Charm to slice the conjured ropes right in the middle as I deal with his stunners and copy Professor Flitwick's little trick from our showcase as i redirect his last spell at him. I used this as my own opportunity to counter attack, since the man was the type to become more aggressive as the fight went on, overwhelming his opponents until he wins, I needed to break his rhythm. So what I did in the in the brief moment he had to defend was to blow all the dust in the room against the man, then shooting debilitating jinxes to dim his vision, slow his reaction time and fatigue him while he was dealing with the dust, which he tried to wipe from his face whilst keeping himself on the move. My jinxes hit, but for him nothing changed so he thought they were duds, until he opened his eyes to see my own stunning spell nearing his head quickly, forcing him to duck, and only then noticing my knockback jinx did he try to roll away. Unfortunately for the man, he did what I wanted him to do. With his vision hampered, sudden weariness and his thought process delayed a bit, he didn't realize I lured him near the window. So with him in position I shot two quick disarming charms and then shot two spells at the man. But seeing them miss, Sirius thought I made a mistake and immediately tried to go on the offensive again, but when he moved his wand arm it was completely restrained my the now moving curtains. With a surprised shout, the rest of his body was getting wrapped up by the fabric and I disarmed the man as it finished making the Sirius Black burrito.
The man now wrapped up on the floor like a blunt was trying very hard to wriggle out, but he could barely move his hip and knees to flop like a fish. Made me chuckle a bit, getting a glare in return.
"Hello Mr. Black, I really didn't want to have to fight you, but you wouldn't believe me so here we are. I am Aedan Bones, a pleasure to meet you. And I must say that your unfortunate incarceration has not dulled your skills much, but it has wrecked havoc on your body. I can help with that if you wish since even Madam Pomfrey has admitted my superiority in the field." I say politely to the man as he lay on the floor.
"Yeah right. Beaten by a kid and says my skills haven't rusted." He murmured sulkily.
"Please don't be so down. I do train with three senior Aurors regularly enough. You are actually very skilled and I can see why you aimed to become one in the past. Aside from your hot temper, you would have made a fantastic Auror and I'm sure my aunt would have loved to have you in her department." I say with an honest smile.
"That was in the past." He said sadly to himself almost. "But how long are you going to leave me on the floor like this?" He then suddenly said as he wiggles disapprovingly.
"That was punishment for attacking me even after Mr. Folster told you about how I know of the truth." I say with a light scolding tone as I wave my wand and break the spell.
The now free man jumps off the ground and shakes himself off.
He looked a bit better than when I saw him last. His skin was less pale, his eyes more focused, his hair had been cut in my facility and he wore a black duster coat with a warm shirt of the same color, sturdy jeans and outdoor boots. He was still skinny due to not being able to eat much while on the run, he needed a bath but this wasn't exactly a livable house, and his body language was still wary of everything has it hadn't regained its confidence.
"That's better. So why did you come here kid? And how did you know I would even be here?" He questioned as he was really getting a good look at me.
"The latter is because I know of Professor Lupin's situation, your school days and how it was managed back then. The former has to do with how you've been handling things." I answered simply.
"Professor now. I wonder how happy he feels to be able to do it? He always was the gentlest of us." Asked Sirius as he was stuck in his nostalgia.
"He's doing better, especially with the new Wolfsbane recipe released recently." I say with a bright smile.
"That's good. But why do you care how I'm handling things? It's none of your business. This is between me and the rat! And nothing is going to get in my way!" He declared as his irrational thoughts came forward.
"First problem is twofold. Your presence is causing Harry's own emotions to be in turmoil. You appearing as a large black dog and everyone telling him it's a grim has made the kid feel like death is approaching him, that being because of you as well."
"Why would he think that!?" Exclaimed the man in disgust at the idea.
"Because to him, you are his parents betrayer, your are the hand of the dark lord, a vicious criminal responsible for the deaths of thirteen people before your imprisonment and everyone thinks you want to finish what He started, planting the idea into his head." I explain seriously to Sirius. (Or Siriusly if you will.)
He was silent as he thought and become very dispirited when he realized that his best friends son thought he wanted to kill him.
"Why didn't you tell him anything? You obviously know the truth and are close enough to him to know how he feels?" He finally asked, with some accusation in his voice.
"Harry is a very emotionally driven kid." I reply with a sigh. "How about this? So what would you and and James do in a situation where your parents betrayer was near you and you could have a free shot at him?" I asked the man before me.
"Go after him ourselves!" He replied instantly, but realized the problem with that quickly as well.
"Precisely. Do you think that a 13 year old wizard, who wants nothing more than to find the man responsible for his parents death would just think rationally about the situation? No. He would try to catch the rat himself. He would confront a lying, scheming and cowardly man, who would hid has a rat for twelve years. A man who, besides his nature and inferiority next to his past friends, could easily take care of Harry and his friends if he felt the need to or simply scurry away and hide like he usually does." I explain to the man.
Although he doesn't want to admit it, I am right. Harry would do just that and try to take on the man himself without involving any truly capable people.
"It doesn't matter. He will know everything after i catch the rat. It won't be too late then." He said with some sadness and determination .
"I would actually like to help with the clearing of your name." I say as he perks up a bit at the thought.
"How?" He asked seriously.
"I have two things here to obtain concrete evidence of Pettigrew being alive." I answer as I took out two objects from my expanded pouch.
I lay a voice recorder and a camera on the table.
"This is?" He asked after looking at them.
"These are new products that came out in recent years. That is a new model of camera based on modern muggle ones, enchanted to work perfectly in around magic. Capture Pettigrew, restrain him and take some pictures so that in the extremely unlikely event he escapes you have proof of him being alive and well. They can't be older photos either because this baby is being released as we speak. And this is a voice recorder. Same origin as the former, but it lets you record any sound in its range. It can record for about 4 hours continuously and is more than good enough to record every sound that happens in this room. I'm sure you understand the uses." I say with a prideful smile.
"He won't get away from me!" He simply said intensely.
"Mr. Black. This is to assure your freedom no matter what happens. If you decide to underestimate how desperate the rat is to get away from you, then you will regret when he escapes. This will make it so it doesn't even matter if he escapes. Any of his tricks will only lead to him living a bit longer as he becomes the hunted man. Until he is recognized as the traitor. And you can then actually be there for Harry." I end softly.
He struggles for a while. He is too sure of himself. Too aware of how much better he should be than his former friend. But he also knows how cowardly he is. The rat won't stay still when Sirius nears or catches him.
"Alright fine. I'll use your muggle contraptions. It'll probably make my mother turn in her grave anyway." He finally agreed.
"Thank you Mr. Black. I'll show how to use them to assure you freedom." I say with a happy smile.
I spend a few minutes making sure the man knew how to use both. I also gave the man some proper food and drinks, a few polyjuice potions with different looks, some money to buy supplies, things to keep himself moderately clean and some clothes.
"You really are prepared aren't you?" He said mostly to himself.
"I don't think you're complaining about it when it's benefiting you." I reply with a smirk.
"Yeah Yeah, thanks kid." He said a bit awkwardly, but still gratefully.
"No problem Mr. Black. Before I leave though, I have a question." I say to the man seriously.
"What's the question?" He responded curiously as to what the kid who figured out everything about his past and the present wouldn't know.
"Did the Potters write a proper will before going into hiding? Something explaining their reasons and last requests?" I asked the man.
"Yes. The day before they hid, they went to Gringotts to have it kept there... you don't mean?" He started to answer when he realized why I asked.
"It's always good to have a few plans in motion." I nod with a devilish smile.
"Why do i feel like anyone who goes against you won't ever end well?" Then asked Sirius with a shiver running through him with excitement at the fact I'm helping him, and some dread at the thought of me ever being against him.
"Because I make sure they don't." I replied with the smile growing wider.