Remus Lupin finished reading the article and threw the paper away with a snort. Sirius was not going to let this one go. He sighed remembering his meeting with Sirius and Harry, he still hadn’t been permanently admitted to the wards, and he guessed Sirius would hold that one over his head for a while. Not that Remus could blame him, he was right. Remus had betrayed his and the Potters’ trust. He wouldn’t forgive himself any time soon.  He had just accepted Dumbledore’s orders and word that Harry was fine where he was. He didn’t even check. He convinced himself Harry would be better off without him and stayed away. Sirius hadn’t been satisfied with the answer.

“Better off?” he had cried taking a step forward in a menacing way. “Better off for who Remus? You or him?”

“You know what I’m talking about,” Remus had hissed with a furtive look at Harry who had been watching both of them avidly from the couch. The last thing he wanted was for Harry to learn his secret right away.

“You know what Remus, someday you’re going to have to stop hiding behind Moony,” Sirius said flatly and turned on his heels towards Harry who had a completely confused look on his face but did not ask anything, “Our food isn’t going to prepare itself. We got a Christmas dinner to prepare,” then to Remus he said without looking at him as he stalked back to the kitchen area, which was really only divided from the living room by a counter. “You can stay, that is, if you can brave that much.”

But at least Sirius and Harry hadn’t outright rejected him and Sirius had even asked for his help with Harry’s education and they had invited him for  Christmas dinner.

Harry, oh Harry. Harry seemed to be a bit wary of him, which was understandable with all that had happened to him, but at the same time he was willing to give him a chance for the sole reason that he had been James’s friend, and at times, he thought Sirius hadn’t just decked him because of the little boy who sat patiently at his side while Remus tried to apologize for disappearing like that.

At least the boy seemed to trust Sirius, somewhat. He could see he wasn’t completely comfortable with the man. He still looked as if he was ready to duck but he would at least sit next to Sirius and trust Sirius’s judgment. Considering that in the last few weeks Sirius had been protecting Harry and taking care of him, which was something Remus learned the boy never had, it was understandable why the boy trusted him.

He glanced at the article and winced. Dumbledore was going to get a nasty surprise and Remus didn’t envy him. Remus had avoided him the last couple of weeks, not wanting to break Sirius and Harry’s confidence. He wrote back to Dumbledore’s inquiry on if he had found the two outright lying and saying he had no luck. He picked the newspaper and read Sirius’s statement again:

“Hogwarts should be called Hogwarts Training Camp for Death Eaters. Albus Dumbledore has had the habit of letting children and teenagers run rampant and exert their cruelty freely without the fear of consequences. Why wouldn’t they think they could continue so in adulthood? He says they deserve second chances, that they are just children.

But children grow up, and if they don’t learn right from wrong they will have no problems in just taking what they want regardless of other people’s rights. It’s not just about punishing them for kicks, it’s about giving them boundaries, teaching them to be better people.

A fine example of that is the fact that in my school days Severus Snape and his friends, Avery and Mulciber, frequently sent students to the Infirmary with their Dark hexes. Did Dumbledore expel them, discipline them?

No. He claimed that if he turned them away or was harsh with them he’d encourage them to join (here Lord Black said You-Know-Who’s name) as many of their housemates had. Back then being in Slytherin automatically gave them a free pass despite the fact that the other houses have produced criminals and Death Eaters as well.  But apparently, the other houses were tougher, could stand whatever is thrown at them and would always stay good, not the poor delicate Slytherins.

Well, where is Snape’s mate Mulciber right now? In Azkaban, for torturing Muggles and Wizards alike, for killing. Where did he start? Hogwarts.

 And Severus Snape, known Death Eater, where is he now? You ask? Once again Dumbledore shielded him from his crimes. He is at Hogwarts where I learned from a reliable source Snape routinely and freely verbally abuses and intimidates his students without any fear of consequences.

In the Muggle World Severus Snape would have been sacked long ago. He would probably have been arrested too. But not here, no, because the likes of Albus Dumbledore wants to make sure children learn that human life is not something valuable that should be protected. That they should not feel safe in the hallowed halls of Hogwarts. That they should expect to be attacked, have their property violated at every turn and should not expect any adult to help and protect them.

The difference between when I was in school and now is that this time Dumbledore isn’t shielding just the Slytherin bullies but an entire school of bullies. Well, I’ve had enough of that. I am taking the Black and Potter seats on the board of governors and Albus Dumbledore better be prepared because I will not let another generation of Witches and Wizards grow up to be criminals.”

Dumbledore rubbed his temple as he dropped the article on his desk. Sirius had not lied in his intentions. And yesterday he had the first taste at the emergency Board meeting that had been called after Justin Fitch-Fletchley was petrified a couple of days after the start of term.

“I don’t understand, you have something petrifying students and not only you haven’t administered an antidote to these students but you haven’t sent the others home before someone else gets hurt?” the dark haired man had asked.

Dumbledore had been surprised at finding Sirius seated there when he entered the room set aside for Board meetings at Hogwarts. Especially since he had not had the chance to talk to the man yet. He didn’t seem to be the only one surprised or even displeased. Lucius Malfoy had been voting in proxy for the Black and Potter seats as well as the Malfoy seat for the last decade because of his marriage to Narcissa Black and apparently was sore at losing both votes back to Sirius.

“We didn’t think the situation warranted sending the students home,” Dumbledore tried to explain calmly.

“Of course not! Better wait for someone to die first,” Sirius said sarcastically and the other board members all looked at him disapprovingly for his tone, though none of them seemed to contest the content of the outburst, just the tone. Albus continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted.

“And the mandrakes needed for the antidote are not ready yet.”

“Are you telling me that Hogwarts can’t spare the coins to buy the ingredients? The Hogwarts mandrakes might not be ready but the Apothecary in Diagon Alley grows various batches all year long and will certainly have properly matured mandrakes to sell. Or is Hogwarts reluctance to spare the money for the ingredients due to the two petrified students being Muggleborn? Maybe if a pureblood gets petrified you’ll finally decide to stop being cheap.”

Dumbledore had visibly bristled at the implications of Sirius’s accusations. Yes, the boy was angry, but to say that he, Albus Dumbledore, was being prejudiced against Muggleborns was too much. Dumbledore just did not want to ruffle the feathers of whoever was helping Tom Riddle open the chambers once again. He knew quite well who the current self proclaimed Heir of Slytherin was and he also knew he needed Harry to deal with him. After all, the boy had been prophesized to be the one able to vanquish Voldemort.  It was better to deal with it here in a controlled situation. Making Tom irritable by thinking his actions were having no results would not help and then Albus might never learn how he did it.

And the students were perfectly safe, though petrified. But they were safe. To his surprise Sirius let out the tiniest satisfied smirk. As if he knew exactly what Albus was thinking which he had to remind himself, was impossible. Sirius leaned forward and said in a dangerous quiet voice.

“This is a school Albus. Not you personal recruitment and training camp. Don’t think I didn’t realize why you brought a dangerous artifact that had been perfectly safe for over six hundred years into the school. Who you wanted to lure and who you wanted to test,” he then threw a coin bag on the table with a sneer. “If Hogwarts can’t afford the ingredients there you have it. Those petrified students better be out and about by dinner time, Albus, or I’m calling a vote to dismiss you of your duties.”

Albus looked around the table expecting the others to cry in outrage, well, all except Malfoy and his cronies, but was surprised to see nods of agreement from the other Governors. Even Augusta Longbottom looked at him seriously and said:

“Young Sirius has a point Albus. Many things have been happening at Hogwarts that shouldn’t be allowed and maybe Hogwarts needs a Head whose sole interest is the children and nothing else. Maybe you’ve been stretching yourself too thin. Please prove me wrong. Find the culprit or send the students home.”

Albus had been speechless as the governors rose and left. Never, in all his years as headmaster had they so blatantly threatened to sack him. Not even Malfoy had the guts to try. And he would soon find out that was not to be his only surprise.

---

Hogwarts students arrested and charged

In an unimaginable turn of events Aurors arrived at Hogwarts this afternoon arresting four Ravenclaw students and delivering subpoenas to almost every other Hogwarts’ student save one. When questioned, Amelia Bones stated:

“One of the parents pressed charges against the students. The four who were arrested physically attacked this student and the rest either threatened him with physical harm or destroyed his property, or were witnesses to these actions.  The students shall present themselves on the specified date for questioning at Aurors Headquarters from which point we can have a better idea of what happened and decide if a trial is warranted and who is implicated. Failure to comply will incur in the punishment foreseeable by law.”

When asked who the parent was the Head of the DMLE was not forthcoming but this reporter did not have to wonder much as the parent in question came forward with a statement himself.

“The school did not take any disciplinary action to what can be considered by our law as criminal activity by the part of the students. Therefore I was left no other choice than to resort to the Legal System. People are not allowed to harm others and I will teach my godson so. And the first step for him to understand this so he can grow up to be a good person and a law abiding citizen is to know that if someone hurts him there will be consequences. That people cannot break the law and just walk. How can he learn not to hurt others if he sees those who hurt him go unpunished?”

Sirius Black stated in no uncertain terms that he will ensure that all aspects of the law are seen to. Having been the victim of a gross miscarriage of justice Lord Black did confess to this reporter that he would have preferred that the Headmaster of Hogwarts School or Witchcraft and Wizardry had taken disciplinary action and that he did not have to introduce these children to what he calls “Our very flawed legal system”. He ensures that he does not wish any miscarriage of justice to happen. He will make sure that the accused be prosecuted by the extent of the law and only the law and that their rights to defend themselves will be upheld, but in a direct quote from Lord Black “That does not mean that they will not have to face the consequences of their actions.”

Mr. Black also stated that that is not the only legal action he will take:

“I have had the displeasure of finding out that my godson spent the last decade in the hands of child abusers. I intend to press charges on them too but being Muggles I will resort to the Muggle legal system for them. What I am curious about is why no one at Hogwarts took any action to remove a child from an abusive situation despite the fact that said child was under the care of the Hogwarts Medi-witch at least twice and that his acceptance letter from Hogwarts was addressed to “The cupboard under the stairs” in a house with two empty bedrooms. That he was dressed in rags when it is well known by the Headmaster, seeing as he was the one to take care of the practical aspects of Harry’s placement, that his relatives received a sizeable sum every month for his up-keeping. A sum that would provide for the entire family of four comfortably and not just Harry. Last time I checked educators and School Nurses are obligated by law to report such suspicions to Wizarding Children’s Service. In my tenure as a student at Hogwarts I learned of a few cases of students who had been removed from their homes and placed in foster care for this very same reason. So, why the breach in protocol for this particular child?”

When questioned about the whereabouts of his godson he had no comments but it is the belief of this paper that Lord Black is indeed in contact with young Mister Potter.

Sirius read the article satisfied though he winced a bit at the end. He knew Harry had not been pleased at his situation with the Dursleys being published like this but Sirius had told him in no uncertain terms that what the Dursleys had done to him was wrong and they had to press charges. That Harry should have been removed from their care long ago.

The mind Healer he had contacted, Psychologist they were called, which he had been pleased to find out was the sister of a muggleborn witch who Remus had known so they could speak freely, had also told Sirius it was important for Harry to confront his abusers. See them be punished for what they’d done so he could understand that it had not been his fault. Sirius also knew that once the Muggle relatives of the Boy-Who-Lived were sued for child abuse, in the Muggle world or not, the press would have a field day, so it was best to release the news on their terms.

Harry had made his opinion of the fact clear by the silent treatment he was dolling out since the Prophet arrived that morning. Sirius looked at the boy who was doing the homework Remus had assigned him (as angry as he was with Remus he did have to admit that hiring him as a tutor for Harry was the right move. Remus just had a professor way on him). Harry looked up feeling watched, narrowed his eyes and scowled and then turned back to his homework turning around a bit so that his back was turned to Sirius. Well, according to the mind healer, this was a good sign. Meant Harry trusted him enough to show his displeasure.

He sighed and thought of the students. He knew that most of them would just get away with a slap on the wrist. They were minors and what they had done was a misdemeanor, not to mention the fact that the vast majority was guilty of just standing and watching without doing anything, and thus, giving their silent support. Only a few had actually done something but he hoped the shock of having to go through the whole process would teach them some kind of lesson.

Not the four Ravenclaws though. They weren’t just of age but the hexes they had used were vicious and they had been brutal. Harry was lucky he dodged fast enough or he would be dead. Attempted murder was what they were being charged with as Madam Bones had been horrified when watching the pensieved memory.

Turns out those Ravenclaw weren’t just attacking Harry for being a parselmouth either. They had just been waiting for a good excuse to mete out the revenge for their father’s imprisonment and one for their older brother’s death since the year before but hadn’t had a chance till then. Two of them had Death Eater fathers who had been arrested, one by Auror James Potter and the other because he was named after Voldemort’s downfall. One of the Ravenclaws’ older brother had been killed by a Death Eater with the Killing Curse a few days before Harry survived it and he had been furious at a baby surviving the curse when his brother hadn’t. The fact that he allied himself with the sons of the very people who killed his brother seemed to be a minor detail for him. The fourth Ravenclaw had just followed his friend and the other two. But hadn’t been less vicious just because he didn’t have a cause. Sirius actually was disgusted by him the most, he just went because he thought beating a little kid up would be fun. The other three, misguided and sick as they were, at least had a reason.

Sirius watched Harry as he wrote on the parchment and pondered what to do. It wasn’t healthy for Harry to continue this isolation they had both created. No matter how much Sirius liked to be here with his godson. In their bubble.

Harry hadn’t wanted to go to Muggle school. He had even said yes at first and Sirius had enrolled him but on the actual day of the start of term Harry had been petrified and wouldn’t let go of Sirius’s hand to go inside the school. Sirius’s resolve to take him back home was made when Harry, who rarely initiated physical contact and who had scowled when Sirius insisted on holding his hand when outside despite Harry’s age (lest he lose Harry in the crowd), grabbed him in a desperate hug and begged Sirius to go home. Sirius had then agreed to do so and when Remus arrived for their afterschool lesson he went back to the school and explained the situation. Saying Harry had been attacked at his old school and had not recovered yet. That he would arrange for homeschooling instead.

Watching Harry Sirius wondered if magically healing the wounds was such a good thing. Physically Harry had been completely healed by the Gringotts healer in a matter of minutes. But emotionally he was still hurt. The Psychologist had said that sometimes that made it harder for Harry to face what he went through since he can just pretend it hadn’t happened.

Right now Harry was completely comfortable only with him. After the holidays when Remus came to see them and Harry had gotten used to Remus, Sirius was able to leave him alone with Remus, but he knew the boy was always on edge when that happened. And he only stayed alone with the Psychologist because he knew Sirius was sitting in the next room waiting for him.

Sirius bit his lip and slowly slid down to the floor. Pretending to look the other way he noisily moved with his bum towards Harry. When Harry looked up from his spot Sirius made a point of trying to innocently look around as he whistled. When Harry turned his head down again Sirius moved again till he was right next to Harry who turned his head up and pursed his lip in a manner way to reminiscent of his mother for Sirius’s comfort and a look that clearly stated he knew what Sirius was up to and was not amused.

Sirius innocently fidgeted with a piece of parchment and asked “Whacha doing?”

“I think you know,” Harry said flatly and Sirius leaned his head into Harry’s line of view.”You can’t be angry at me forever. It was for your own good.”

“Humph, watch me.”

Sirius didn’t. Instead he transformed and Padfoot turned over with his paws facing up and tongue lolling out in a clear doggy plead.

“That’s not going to work,” Harry said sternly and crossed his arms. Sirius didn’t move from his position and neither did Harry for a good five minutes until Harry finally sighed and huffed at the same time.

“Fine, but this does not mean I forgive you,” Harry said as he started scratching Padfoot’s tummy who barked happily.