Author: Felipe Poseidon
Fandom: Harry Potter
Rating: G
Characters: Sirius Black, James Potter, Severus Snape, Lily Evans, Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, the Black family & others.
Genres: Gen, Biography
Summary: A formal report on Sirius Black’s first year in Hogwarts.
Notes: Story written for the Secret Coconut, a fic exchange promoted by the community Saint Seiya Super Fics Journal.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter doesn’t belong to me and this story has no profit intentions whatsoever.
The Wizarding War Files: Hogwarts
Sirius Black III – Year 1
Once upon a time, there was a family that held their blood purity sky high, proud of their fair origins. The Blacks, although not politically engaged, defended a very emphatic idealism: that the Muggles were inferior to the wizards and only the pure-blood wizarding families were true wizards.
However, even in such traditional families, there are exceptions every now and then. This file tries to trace back facts and memories regarding one of the most noticeable of such exceptions: Sirius Black III. This is part of a compilation sponsored by the Ministry of Magic in order to keep a concise record on the great individuals of the First and the Second Wizarding War. Everything written in these volumes was based on interviews, reports and files found in Hogwarts, Azkaban and in the British Ministry of Magic.
In a particularly dark night in 1971, Albus Dumbledore, then Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, selected and sent letters to a new group of prospect students. All of them were ten or eleven year-old children who were born witches and wizards, according to the British Ministry of Magic’s records. The group included all sorts of families, from the traditional pure-blood ones to the Muggles who didn’t even believe in the existence of the Wizarding world.
As soon as the owl arrived at the Black’s residence, it caused uproar. Lady Walburga Black thought it was outrageous to send her first-born son to study under the leadership of a half-blood with such liberal ideas. She’d much, much rather see him in Durmstrang, a much more respectable institution.
Sir Orion Black, however, preferred his offspring to stay nearby, in Britain, where they could make sure there would never be deviations. What’s more, Hogwarts had always been a democratic institution with room for all points of view; as long as their sons were placed in Slytherin, everything would be fine, even in such scandalous times.
Sirius, the first born son, knew that his opinion would count as much as nothing, but dared to agree with his father: it would be less dangerous to stay near London. Beaten down, Walburga had nothing left to do but to agree with her husband. Hogwarts it would be.
Sirius was eleven, and as a first-born little man, he was expected to accomplish many things to honour his lineage. The family made quick arrangements for his departure, and packed him with his cauldron, his wand and instructions to avoid Mudbloods and all the rabble around. One week after the letter had arrived, off Sirius went to his first night at Hogwarts.
Just like every human being who first goes to Hogwarts, his eyes shimmered in awe and excitement all the way. The entire train platform was able to remain unseen by the Muggles! This alone was quite an achievement, even though his family was against such spells.
“We are superior to them, aren’t we? Why hide away? Why not enslave them to our will?” his mother would say, referring to the Muggle world.
To his eyes, the Muggles were quite curious creatures. It was peculiarly beautiful the way they tried to mold things around them without magic.
With his luggage, incredulous of what he had been told to do, Sirius ran against the wall between platforms nine and ten at King’s Cross Station. At that moment, he was sure the wall would make him fall over the cart, but he kept on going like passing through air. And before he could think of anything, he opened his eyes and there it was: big, imposing, shining with its reddish metal against the sun--the Hogwarts Express.
The boy entered the train as soon as he could, just to see a profusion of children and teenagers talking and yelling and finding seats for themselves.
“Have you got where to sit down?” asked a voice on his left, along the corridor.
“No, may I?” replied Sirius, entering the cabin.
“Sure, go ahead. I’m Peter Pettigrew,” said the voice. He was a short blondish boy, filled with freckles and an anxious look in his eyes.
“I’m Sirius Black. Which House do you want to be sorted into?”
“Oh, Hufflepuff... or Ravenclaw. What about you?”
“My mom says I should be a Slytherin. It’s where the most important families got their education since the old days. So...”
“And what pet have you got?” asked Peter, anxiously.
“Oh, just a stupid family owl. But it’s old and my mother wants it to stay with me because she thinks it’s loyal to us. And you?”
“I’ve got myself a mouse... see?” And Peter showed a giant rat the size of his forearm, lying under his robe.
“Oh, my! It’s not a mouse, it’s a rat! How can you like it?”
“It’s a marvelous creature. And everybody hates it unfairly.”
Before he could answer, a tall, slim silhouette interrupted their conversation by the cabin’s door.
“May I come in?” a boy’s voice said.
“Sure,” Sirius Replied.
The boy had a sickly face, with a visible scar coming up his neck. His looks were grim overall, but it was impossible to tell why. He had an odd smell, too. Peter’s rat tried to hide under his robe when the new boy sat on the bench.
“I’m Lupin. Remus Lupin. Nice to meet you,” said the boy, quite formally.
“Nice to meet you, too. My name is Sirius Black. And our friend here is Peter Pettigrew; he’s got a hideous rat.”
“I see,” Remus answered with a strange shimmer in his eyes. “Are you both from London?”
Their conversation led to small talk until it died down under the pressure of the landscapes they were passing through. Dense forests, followed by clear lakes and absolutely no human activity all the way. Hogwarts was very well isolated from civilization, and there were great views to contemplate on the way. Little did the three boys in the cabin know that their bonds would be so strong from then on.
Soon enough, the train arrived to Hogsmeade and deviated into Hogwarts’ terrains. The lake, the glistening towers, the forest: all was visible from the wagon’s windows now, and the first-years’ eyes couldn’t help but shine with awe before the castle. Their hearts leapt with excitement while they got out of the train and headed towards the boats, crossing the Black Lake and looking straight at the castle in the night, all the small windows glimmering against the dark sky. Oh, the possibilities of that place!
The Sorting Ceremony that year was a particularly important one. It was when future role models of the wizarding world started their studies: Lily Evans, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Severus Snape, Remus Lupin and more. Much had Sirius heard about the Sorting Hat, but it was even more impressive in real life. It really could speak! And it was capable of reading everyone’s thoughts!
As soon as it touched Severus Snapes’ head, it shouted “Slytherin!”
What a snobbish boy, thought Sirius at first sight. Slytherin suits him well.
The House’s table was full of pure-blood snobbish wizards whom Sirius knew because of his family. Boring people, untrustworthy, second cousins who would always play cruel tricks on him during family meetings when he was younger.
A boy named James Potter was next. The Potter family was respected in the wizarding society, but Sirius’ mother loathed them.
“A bunch of blood traitors who don’t deserve our acknowledgement at all,” she used to say.
Sirius had different opinions.
Oh, boy, that Potter one seems to know how to have fun, he thought, looking at the fellow’s naughty smile with the Sorting Hat on his head.
“Gryffindor,” shouted the hat, after deliberating for some seconds.
“Sirius Black!”
It was his turn. He felt as though everyone in the room was looking at him, as silence had bestowed upon the four tables. It wasn’t true, of course. Anxiety took over him as he sat down and the hat was put on his head.
Mother says Slytherin is the best, he thought.
“Yes, yes, but what do you think?” a voice replied, inside his head.
Slytherin is full of idiots. Ravenclaw may be a fair choice, but...
“But...?”
I’d love to see my mother’s face if I were sorted in Gryffindor.
Then, before he could make up another thought, the voice shouted outside of his head:
“Gryffindor!”
He was sorted.
Was this it, then? He didn’t have to go to Slytherin? Was he in the same house as half-blood Dumbledore had been? Would he be a housemate of blood traitor Potter?
Oh, he needed to write to his mother immediately. She’d be so proud. He couldn’t avoid laughing at the situation. He had no idea how addicted to defying his family he would become after that night. It felt so good!
Of course, his parents reacted quite scandalously, sent him many Howlers the weeks afterwards, and even visited Hogwarts in person to convince Dumbledore about how wrong the sorting had been.
“The Sorting Hat is never wrong,” the Headmaster said many times.
Things would never get calm again in the House of Black; the entire situation was way too shameful for Sirius’ parents, and way too pleasant to the boy himself.
Even better than defying his family was jeopardizing Slytherin students. Now he had the freedom to show his real feelings without his mother tailoring him into the Black way. He was no Black, he was no pure-blood, if that meant to be as much of a buffoon as the pure-bloods he knew.
Of all the Slytherin students of his age, the worst one was, undoubtedly, Severus Snape. Rumour had it that he wasn’t even pure-blood, but behaved as one: snobbish, rude, a typical know-it-all and a loner. However, those were not the worst things about him: the guy was a prick who would never leave Lily Evans alone. She was lively and funny, one of the best female companies to have around, intelligent, pretty and pure-hearted. Snape was always around her, ignoring the fact that she was a Gryffindor student. It was clear for Sirius how much Snape used to upset Lily with his pure-blood-slytherinish talk. Soon, for sure, Snape would gather with other Slytherin idiots to start offending her for being a “Mudblood.”
Sirius had three roommates: James, Remus and Peter. The first night, James introduced himself to the other three and asked them to vow loyalty as a brotherhood.
“Our bonds made today are to last forever, and we’ll always trust each other,” he said, quite maturely and formally for a eleven year-old boy. “We shall be together in good and bad moments, and we shall rely on each other during school and adult life until death embraces us.”
Sirius and James were to become a remarkable pair of naughty students, who would enter the school’s history as its greatest explorers. They had an accurate sense of exploration and, during their first weeks in the castle, got to know more of its corners than most of their seniors. Every hidden door, every statue that led to underground tunnels, all the corridors and dark spots of the castle grounds were rapidly tracked down by the duo.
However, maybe due to adolescence and hormones, their objectives were not noble at all during their first years. The four of them really got together mostly to make Severus Snape suffer.
Once, in one of the first Potions lessons with Professor Horace Slughorn, the students had to try a random potion on themselves and, before sensing its effects, ingest a bezoar-based antidote. Potter and Black replaced Snape’s bezoars with dark pumpkin seeds while he was preparing it. Snape, then, drank a pepper-flaming potion, and immediately ingested his antidote, which was ineffective. He got redder and redder and started sweating unstoppably. Almost suffocating, he was saved by Slughorn, who pushed an entire bezoar down his throat. Snape’s skin got all burned and his tongue got pinkish-purple and itchy for a week. And he knew who had sabotaged his antidote, as James and Sirius were his bullies since day one. It was the beginning of a never-ending war between the pair and the nerdy boy.
An the end of year one at Hogwarts, Sirius had to go back home. His brother, Regulus, was getting prepared to go too, but their parents were strongly considering sending him to Durmstrang. Sirius only reinforced their intentions by hanging Gryffindor flags and Muggle posters on his bedroom’s walls. What a shameful son he was! If that really had to go on, his mother would order the house-elf to extract his face from the family tree tapestry in the drawing room.
Such threats only made Sirius laugh; his family’s beliefs sounded so shallow now. He was just a little boy, but his thoughts were mature enough. His first year at Hogwarts had already changed his life completely.
At the end of the day, what defines one’s nature? Is it the experiences that mold our own personalities or the blood which flows in our veins? In the Wizarding world, blood is a particularly overrated matter. One can’t just ignore their blood condition. Some have suffered social exclusion throughout history only for being half-blood or Muggle-born. There are several records that show that, even if you get to be born a pure-blood, your attitude towards this very fact isn’t but a political one and, as such, leads to consequences.
Blood traitors, for instance, may have proven to be some of the most interesting wizards in Britain. What is the true value of being born in a “pure” family? Shockingly, this is a valid discussion still ongoing nowadays.
What a jolly day will it be when all the pure-blood families give birth to “blood traitors” such as Sirius Black.
Hermione Jean Weasley
Department of Magical Law Enforcement
Department of Magical Law Enforcement
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