August 1st, 1990, Baker Street, London, 0:54 AM.
With a wave of Ethan's wand, the black dog squirmed in discomfort as his body began to bulge uncontrollably.
Animagus reversal spell
"Grrr....arr.." With a slight growl, Sirius found himself back in his human form, and immediately he surrendered. "P-Please, I beg your mercy! I-I mean you no harm!" The aftermath of staying in that prison still rendered the manners of Sirius somewhat contorted, resulting in his plea being somewhat maniacal.
On the other hand, Ethan's eyes were constricted at the true visage of the Animagi; instinctively, he mumbled something inaudible seven times...
Looking down at the golden pocket watch's hand turning clockwise aggressively, Ethan heaved a sigh. "What a fate, to meet you in such circumstances, Mr. Black."
Sirius eyes dilated at Ethan's calm words. "Y-you know me?... Right, of course, after what I... what they did to me..."
Ethan narrowed his eyes at Sirius words. The suspicion that time stirred up his mind, but for now he must dismiss it. "In fact, you were quite famous back at Hogwarts, you and your little brotherhood can hardly pass anyone's mind."
Sirius showed a confused look at the time; the mention of his time at Hogwarts made him wonder: did he ever meet the young gentleman before him. His fragile mind puzzled as he took a closer look at Ethan; still, it would take quite a while for his memories to stir up.
"Anyhow, Mr. Black, how can you get here? It's quite an impressive feat, but more importantly... Why are you here?" Ethan's tone stayed neutral as the hand holding his wand remained at the ready."
Sirius gulped as he tried his best to look sincere. "I read it, on The Daily Prophet, that Harry is here. Is he okay? Is he happy? I-I just want to see the boy, please, I mean no harm; I'm his godfather for Merlin's sake!"
Ethan raised an eyebrows at the man in rag words, despite his incoherent manners, his intuition told him that all of this was true.
*Thud Thud Thud*
Coming out of 221B, another man dressed elegantly in a brown blazer; his footstep was hasty, and his eye bore worry as he could see the blueish dome curtain. As a werewolf, Remus's senses ought to be outstanding, so even such little commotion was hardly missed by him, especially when he could smell the disturbing sound of quite a large amount of magic unfolding right outside the house.
Seeing the bluish dome made up of curtains, Remus assures us that this must be Ethan's craft and that he must have caught something or someone trying to break through the protective barrier.
"Ethan! What's going on!" Readying his wand, Remus raised his voice.
Remus's voice was heard loud and clear inside the dome. Following Ethan's gaze, Sirius turned to look at where the sound came from, and this time his face actually showed genuine relief.
Seeing the figure of Remus, Ethan darted his look between the two old friends before waving his hand to open up a way in for Remus.
'What a coincidence, not to mention it was Harry's birthday a few hours ago, Nice move, Fate.'
As the curtains lifted up, there was a small opening for Remus to enter What greeted the man was a scene he could have thought of. "Did someone try to break in... Y-you... How?" Remus's eyes widened in utter surprise and were somewhat sceptical as he saw the haggard figure of Sirius standing in the middle of the dome, between him and Ethan. The man darted a confused look towards Ethan before focusing his gaze on Sirius.
In contrast to Remus attitude, Sirius smiled brightly with his yellow teeth all exposed. " Moony, you're here? Of course, Harry is here after all. Blimey! You look so different; I mean, look at you, all bright and confident."
Just when Sirius was about to get closer, his arm open wide for a hug, Remus replied with a wand pointing at his face. The werewolf's eyes shone with determination and scepticism.
"Enough! Sirius, how dare you show up here, mentioning Harry like that after what you have done-."
"I'm innocent!" Hearing the familiar accusations, Sirius began to laugh hysterically as he shouted at the top of his lungs. "I didn't do it; it was the wretched Rat! That despicable traitor! He framed me, it was his trap, they were all fooled by that sly, Ha! I was a fool, a fool." Sirius dropped to the ground, his face contorted with despair.
"Peter is dead! He's even only had a finger left." Remus renounced Sirius's claims.
"A finger! Ha, that swine, he's a Death Eater, Moony; of course he could fake his death with a finger; he's still out there, lurking in some hole!"
"Say all you want, Sirius; it's just empty words. It's best if you stay here; the Ministry will be here soon; I don't know how you got out, but this isn't a place for you." Remus's tone was harsh and cold.
"No, don't-"
"Ehem!" Ethan, who had been listening quietly all this time, broke the tension with his usual pleasant voice. "Gentlemen, is already late and cold outside. It's inappropriate to let our guest stay outside."
Under the other two's bewilderment, Ethan calmly lifted the dome as he stride towards his house. "Come in, Mr. Black! Oh, and would you like some tea?"
"Ethan! What are you-"
Replying to the Remus puzzlement, Ethan only gave an assuring look as he opened the door for Sirius.
...
Inside the warmly lit guest room. One man was calmly enjoying his newly brewed oolong tea, while the other two were in awkward positions. Sirius was sitting uncomfortably opposite Ethan, but he looked much more sane. Remus stood against the wall; his stern eyes never left the ragged man; his wand stayed firm in his hand.
For a while, there was only the sound of tea sipping and a cracking fireplace. Suddenly, Ethan announced.
"I believe you, Mr. Black."
Both Sirius and Remus eyes widened at such words.
"Just what were you thi-" Ethan cut Remus off as he continued. "I have looked through your case's file; it was... inappropriate. You were sentenced to Azkaban without a single trial, unlike other heinous followers of the Dark Lord. And regarding Peter Pettigrew... I must ask Mr. Black, you weren't the Secret-Keeper right? What exactly happened that night?"
"How-how..." Sirius eyes widened, while Remus narrowed his.
"Revelations." Ethan replied nonchalantly as he sipped his tea.
"You're a seer?" Sirius mind began to swirl as he seemed to remember who Ethan's was, though he left it aside as he began answering Ethan's questions by telling the true story of that fateful night.
"So that was how it was." Ethan put down the cold tea, and his eyes swirled with contemplation after hearing the story coming from Sirius's side. On the other hand, Remus tried to keep a straight face, as he wasn't totally believing what Sirius said, yet he couldn't deny something was off about the event of that night.
"Right, Mr. Black..."
"Please, just Sirius." As if effected by Ethan's calmness, Sirius's mind began to feel much more clearance. He even almost shed a tear for being able to sip tea after so long.
"Right, Sirius, the thing is, Remus does have a point; it's now just all empty words; you need poof, solid poof, evident that Peter Pettigrew is alive."
"How can I find him, Where do i start." Sirius said depreciatingly, for he's now just a criminal on the loose. I would be lucky to survive the Ministry's hunts, but finding a guy regarded as a valiant hero who died years ago with zero clues seemed hopeless for him.
"I have a vision that you will find him through his Animagus form." Ethan smiled. Sirius and Remus were in deep contemplation of his words. Soon, Sirius's eye's shone with determination; despite his haggard appearance, he's going to hunt that rat down.
Ethan continued. "It would take a long time, Sirius, but I assure you can do it. Call it a seer's intuition."
"But for now, you must avoid the Ministry, I suggest that you lay low for awhile, waiting for things to quiet down before starting your investigation. As you could guess, tomorrow your face will be all over the news.
"Muggles or Wizards, they will hunt you down."
Sirius laughed it off. "Worry not, I can take care of that myself."
Remus on the side seemed to know what Sirius was thinking; they were best friends after all. On a side note, he would 'aggressively ask' Ethan later about this whole 'revelations' thing, for all of this was still unbelievable to him.
"Brilliant! Then I won't keep you here any longer. The sooner you leave, the better." With that said, Ethan and Remus saw Sirius off, but just when Sirius reached the door, he slowly turned back to ask.
"Harry, the boy, is he, I read in the paper..." his eyes slightly reddened.
Remus was quiet, while Ethan answered with a smile. "He's doing great, though; he's much more... shy, but overall, the boy is happy. I must say that he still thinks that you're the one who betrayed his parents so..."
"I understand...Thank you." Sirius's eye dropped as he turned to the street.
Ethan watched as the figure of a black dog quietly disappeared into the night like a wind.
"Right, Mr. Seer, can you care to explain what all of this was?"