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The Secret Society Chapter 29
🕑 Added 2023-06-27 05:50:24 +0000 UTC“You look just like James.”
Harry was sitting across from a man who looked to be barely out of Hogwarts, though it was beyond apparent that something was wrong with him, simply with how he seemed to have that dead look in his eyes. While this Sirius Black tried to put up an unconvincing smile as he spoke, it was easy to see how false it was.
After all, Harry was proud of his genuine smiles after perfecting them in the mirror.
“Our groundskeeper mentioned that once when he took me to Diagon Alley before my first year.”
“Right, Hagrid. That’s nice,” Sirius absently nodded as he stared at Harry, “And Lily’s eyes too.”
Harry stayed silent this time, letting the man process wherever he felt. Besides, Dumbledore might have left the immediate vicinity, but Harry didn’t trust the man to let them have complete privacy. For whatever reason, this Sirius Black was important to the old man. Harry would let this fairly young, but seemingly dead inside, wizard take however long he wished.
Besides, it would let Harry study Sirius Black himself. More specifically, the rather freakishly realistic tattoo of an hourglass on the man’s forehead
He could clearly see each grain of sand inside, with most of them in the top half, though only by the smallest of margins. If Harry was forced to guess, he would say there were around fifteen grains on the bottom and a little more on top. However, how the sand shifted every time Sirius Black moved was more distracting than the intricate details.
“Hard not to look, isn’t it? I can’t stand in front of a mirror anymore because I’m the same.”
Harry met the man’s grey eyes and shrugged, not denying what was obvious.
“I hate the damned thing,” Sirius chuckled darkly as his shoulder slumped a little, “But it doesn’t matter. Did you know I was supposed to be your godfather?”
“Sorry?” Harry tensed in his seat, wondering where this man had been all these years. However, that anger was a brief flare before it was snuffed out. It would be a terrible wish to want to be raised by someone that didn’t desire to have any contact with him.
Of course, it seemed Sirius Black overlooked the multitude of emotions that flashed through Harry.
“I remember talking to James and Lily about it. Well, they were telling me about it, of how they wanted me to take care of their kid if something happened.” Sirius had suspiciously wet eyes as he focused on Harry again, “I didn’t think I wouldn’t even be able to see you until now.”
“Mr. Black, I’m not sure I understand.” Harry didn’t know anything could make him feel as unsettled as Fleur, except this was on the opposite end of the spectrum. He didn’t like it at all.
“It doesn’t matter,” Sirius shook his head, “I wish I could spend a day just talking with you, but I don’t have the time. Albus will let you know whatever you need about me. Just know one thing, James and Lily were my best friends at Hogwarts, and after we graduated, we only grew closer. If it weren’t for this Merlin-damned curse I’m under, I would have taken you in, and you wouldn’t have needed to go to the Dursleys.”
Harry nodded slowly with a blank face, not fully understanding what he was feeling. Was it a strange affection toward this man that was making many claims? Yes, a little. But luckily, Harry took comfort in the disgust that overpowered it. The thought of being raised by this overly affectionate man seemed… too comfortable. Too convenient. Too much like blatant manipulation.
He didn’t believe what was coming out of Sirius Black’s mouth. He didn't want to believe it but kept quiet because of Dumbledore’s promise. He wanted to learn the mind arts from one of the greatest wizards in known history.
“It might be too late to preserve anything of Black Family outside this place, but I would say the house is more valuable than the gold that the Lestranges and Malfoys have taken. I haven’t been able to raise you like I promised James, and I won’t be able to help you in the future either. The most I can do to show you how much I care for you in the inheritance of what remains of the Black Family.”
It felt like the world had gone silent. Harry stared at Sirius Black’s apologetic expression with a lost look. Still, he was able to hold himself together to ask a question that would let him know just how utterly moronic he had been with agreeing to Dumbledore’s deal so quickly.
“Mr. Black-”
“Sirius. Call me Sirius, not Mr. Black or some other nonsense.”
“Right, Sirius,” Harry agreed readily, “I appreciate your trust in me to do something like this, and while this might sound like I’m ungrateful, could you tell me if the Book is part of the inheritance?”
Usually, a bit of tact would be required when someone told him a possible windfall might be coming at him unprompted, but Harry couldn’t help himself. Thankfully, it seemed the man was happy that Harry seemed interested in what was being offered.
“The Book…” Sirius trailed off before his eyes lit up in recognition, “Ah, the one about mind arts? I remember getting tortured with that when I was a kid. My father forced me to learn the basics before I graduated Hogwarts.”
Harry chuckled along with Sirius, though he was internally fuming that something so precious was considered torture to learn.
“It should still be in the library upstairs,” Sirius paused before saying, “As long as Molly didn’t throw it away in one of her cleaning frenzies.”
“… Sorry?”
Sirius blinked when he thought he saw Harry’s eyes flash a brilliant green. But it was so quick that it could have just been a trick of light. “She has it in her mind that the library is filled with dark books. Can’t say I disagree.”
Harry stared at Sirius, trying not to explode in anger at how casually he was accepting this.
“Harry? Are you alright?” Sirius asked with concern, “I won’t force you to accept. Don’t feel any pressure, no matter what Albus told you.”
“No, that’s not it,” Harry shook his head before speaking a half-truth, “I just hate the idea of throwing away books, no matter what it’s about.”
Sirius barked loudly with laughter. “I guess you might look like James, but you still have enough of Lily in you. Don’t worry, it should all be in the cellar. Molly might have wanted to throw them away, but I wasn’t awake to give her permission to take it out of the manor.”
The slight tension in Harry’s body was released upon hearing that, though he was starting to wonder about the emphasis the man put on being asleep.
“So, do you agree?”
“Yes,” Harry nodded firmly, “I hope I can be worth your trust.”
“No matter what you do, I don’t think you can make me think otherwise, Harry.”
Harry smiled uncomfortably at the burst of care that he felt emanating from Sirius. If he had to guess, this was the closest thing to parental care he felt in his life, though it certainly wasn’t welcome. Perhaps when he was much younger, before Hogwarts, but he was far too used to making his own decisions without having an adult watch him closely.
"Ah, Mr. Potter, Sirius, if you'll pardon my interruption, I happen to have the paperwork required."
Harry was happy to see the Headmaster, though Sirius was apparently of a different mind.
“Albus, you told me I could have a few minutes of privacy with Harry.”
"And indeed, I did," Dumbledore remarked, his hand gently patting Sirius's shoulder. "Sirius, you must realize that your endurance is waning. You can't stay awake for much longer, my dear friend."
Sirius seemed visibly frustrated before slowly nodding in agreement. He turned back to Harry and said, “Ask Albus any questions you have about me. Harry, I wish things could be different, but I’m basically a dead man walking. I didn’t even hope to see you before I passed, so I guess this is something I should be glad about.”
Harry frowned when Sirius spoke as if he would die any second. He assumed that there was something wrong since this was a rather serious talk of inheriting from someone that looked barely older than him… Harry wasn’t sure how that didn’t register more strongly in his mind.
Either Sirius hit the genetic jackpot, or the young age was the symptom or cause of the crisis.
"Here you are. Take a moment to peruse it, and place your thumb at the bottom of each page. The enchantment within the contract will handle everything else."
Harry took the offered paper and read each word carefully. He didn’t want to make another mistake like he did with Dumbledore. While he didn’t consider the deal made to be disastrous, it would have never happened if he just waited to talk with Sirius. Learning from the Book wouldn’t be as effective, of course, but dealing with Dumbledore was exhausting.
No matter what Harry did, it seemed like he was led around by the nose. Then again, part of that was the Headmaster's ability to disarm him with banal chitchat before springing a ‘trap’ on him that should have been easily escapable. While that sounded amusing, with Harry’s knowledge of what Dumbledore allowed within Hogwarts, and his seemingly arbitrary moral limits, it was beyond terrifying.
“This looks fine to me, Headmaster,” Harry commented before pressing his thumb on the bottom of the pages, feeling a bit of his blood drawn each time to form a red print.
“Good,” Sirius smiled tiredly before hesitantly walking to him. It looked like he wanted to hug Harry, but instead, he settled on awkwardly patting his shoulder, “It’ll be some time before I can see you again. Stay safe, Harry. No matter what you have to do.”
Harry tensed when he saw Dumbledore raise his wand behind Sirius and blinked when his body fell limp before it was kept afloat by the old man. However, that wasn’t what had his attention. Harry was staring at the hourglass on Sirius’s forehead.
It had frozen, no longer reacting to Sirius’s movement.
“Somnus Ultimus.”
Harry glanced at Dumbledore, who seemed to be patiently waiting for him to stop studying the mark on Sirius. “What was that, Headmaster?”
"The condition Sirius is currently in results from a curse known as Somnus Ultimus. It compels the afflicted to descend into a deep slumber devoid of dreams, from which they cannot be roused until their natural life span comes to its conclusion."
“Really?” Harry looked at Sirius doubtfully, “Then why does he seem like he’s just sleeping?”
"I must confess there is a caveat within the curse," Dumbledore acknowledged, his wand executing intricate and unfamiliar motions. "The individual who cast the curse has the ability to awaken the affected until all the grains of sand have descended to the bottom half of the hourglass."
Harry stared at Dumbledore incredulously, wondering how it was possible for the man to casually say that he had basically killed a man to his student. Not only that, but this was suddenly turning out to be like some sort of inheritance scam.
"I do hope you do not perceive me as utterly reprehensible, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore gently scolded, raising Sirius's body higher. "I assure you that Sirius would have perished over fifteen years ago if it weren't for the curse. As you can observe, it bestows upon the victim the gift of suspended aging, a lifesaving measure for Sirius after the atrocities inflicted upon him by the Dark Lord."
“… I see,” Harry muttered as he was reminded of the muggle fairytale, “So how many times can you still wake him?”
"There is no definitive answer to that question. Regrettably, each time I awaken Sirius without any progress toward finding a cure, his will to persevere diminishes. I fear your encounter, Mr. Potter, does not contribute positively to his resolve. I am convinced that Sirius has endured thus far solely to witness the arrival of the boy who carries his best friend's legacy. Now that this has been accomplished, the next awakening may prove to be his final."
Harry once again felt a strange feeling that wasn’t welcome. Something bittersweet, knowing that the only man that might have genuinely cared for him was useless to him. It was a harsh thought, but anything else, and Harry suspected that unwelcome feeling would become overwhelming.
“That’s… upsetting, Headmaster.”
"There is still a glimmer of hope that a cure may exist," Dumbledore said, levitating Sirius's body horizontally. "Come, Mr. Potter, allow me to guide you to the library. I understand that's what you're eagerly anticipating. There is a book that provides an exceptional explanation of the curse."
Harry’s eye twitched in irritation at Dumbledore's casual tone. Not only was it strange with the gloomy house and the still body of Sirius floating beside him, but it was also directly mocking the hasty decision Harry had made in shaking Dumbledore’s hand.
“Ah, Professor! Do you mind if I tag along? I couldn’t help but overhear that the library was still intact. I would love to see the original parchments on some creatures hunted to extinction.”
Harry wondered what happened to the privacy that Dumbledore was supposed to give them, but when the Headmaster looked at him in question, Harry shrugged. “As long as you don’t take anything with you.”
“Agreed!” Cassandra nodded with a smile.
Harry shuddered when he felt something change in the manor and froze in wariness.
"Ah, splendid, Mr. Potter! It appears that the manor recognizes you as its true master! Consider it a staunch enforcer of your desires. Should Cassandra attempt to remove a book from the library, the consequences will be far from favorable for her."
“Professor, I would appreciate it if you don’t sound so excited about the harm that could come my way.”
Harry ignored the two bantering as he followed Dumbledore up the stairs. He could feel something strange about his supposed connection with the manor. It felt… ravenous, and that was more than a little disturbing.
Comments
Gopard
Thanks for the chapter! I see, I was expecting some kind of "curse" on Sirius, to be honest I was thinking some kind of aggressive "mutation" of the werewolf curse (kind of like with the "true Veela" who gets extremely dangerous once around people for some time, or something similar) and Sirius basically refusing to "make others suffer for him to live", therefore making the matter if inheritance important! I think this way is similar and totally fine for the sake of the story! Its very much obvious that if Sirius of all people had just "existed normally" after this ending of the war, Harry definitely wouldn't have to live with the Dursleys, so "putting him in storage" like that is a good compromise (and sure its not "realistic" but honestly the "magic system" in HP is so unclear that it's basically "anything goes" with situations not clearly defined in Canon, so this may as well be an existing combination if magic who knows?)! :)
CC100
It is okay if it is not a happy ending, but closure is good at some point. If he goes off into the beyond and unites with old friends, better than suspended animation. Plus his death or revival could launch off a new set of tensions and challenges.
