QLFC: Puddlemere, BEATER 2: Write an AU you've never written before → Communist AU

Additional prompts: (dialogue) "It's like the blind leading the blind.", (word) corporation

Assignment #10 Muggle Education: Task 2: Write about someone learning something new

Title is taken from a Karl Marx quote ("The proletariat has nothing to lose, but their chains.")

Word Count: 936

nothing to lose (but for chains)

It all starts when Sirius sneaks out into Muggle London one day. There had been no intention to do so when he had woken up that morning, but when the chance to do so presented itself, how can he not? How can he remain in 12 Grimmauld Place with pretty much all of his living extended family — obviously excluding those that had managed to be removed from the family tree and all such an act implied — when Andromeda creates a wide opening for him to flee?

That would be irresponsible of him, especially given the fact that he is well aware that she is going to marry Ted Tonks, a Muggleborn Hufflepuff, come autumn. She will be thrown out of the family without any doubt. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing.

The fact that she is willing to endure what was likely to end in a tirade of some fashion — there certainly was no lack of options — means that Sirius should use this chance as good as he can.

So he goes out into the non-magical world. His first impression is that it is a whole lot bigger and more confusing than he had been expecting. He could spend hours — if not days or even weeks — just wandering around, looking at the countless things fascinating and unfamiliar to him.

He decides to go to a bookstore with the attention of finding something for his brother. The kid is only twelve; there is still a chance that he, too, could stop believing what their parents had taught them.

Sirius browses the shelves, looking for something his brother will enjoy. Maybe a fantasy book? That way he can at least let out some anger while ranting about the inaccuracies in a worst case scenario.

That sounds like a good plan to him, so Sirius heads to the fantasy section and picks out a book that looks somewhat promising, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

As he is making his way towards the register, he notices one book that's shoved away behind a curtain, almost as if whoever had placed the book there was trying to deny its existence.

And that is something that makes Sirius curious. This aura of it being forbidden.

He has about ten Galleons with him, that should be enough for two books, right? If not, he can always place one of them back on the shelf, he decides as he picks the book up. He continues to the register and places the books on it.

"You're paying with actual gold?" the shopkeeper questions upon seeing him take out his purse.

"Umm, yes?" Sirius drags the word out, unsure of what the shopkeeper is getting at. He takes out four coins.

She sounds kind of desperate as she continues. "For Karl Marx's The Capital?"

"And for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, if you will let me," Sirius responds. Because he's not stealing this and he certainly isn't cursing her to get it.

"Yeah, of course I will… I'm pretty sure this is actually worth more! So much more that I'll throw in the Communist Manifesto for free." She pauses after she produces the aforementioned text, which is kept below the desk for some reason. "It just isn't compatible with my current world view."

"Um, alright…" How exactly is he meant to respond to this?

Thankfully, the worker just takes three of the Galleons and punches the third as well as the books back towards him so he can leave.

He hurries home, and his absence does not seem to have been noticed, which is good.

Regulus is still engaged in the event or whatever, and since Sirius has no death wish, he has no intention of interrupting it to give Regulus a Muggle book.

Instead, he decides to go to his room and give his book — and pamphlet — a try.

Sirius has never been a particularly fast reader, but he manages to read through the Communist Manifesto and The Capital within a day.

And, oh boy, had that been an experience. He had learned about how the corporations and the bourgeoisie shamelessly exploit the workers of the proletariat.

Sirius is no fool. He is well aware that discrimination and exploitation are things that happen in this world, but somehow the sheer audacity of it all still manages to surprise him.

He has overheard conversations from Muggle raised students where they talked about how they and the government — and a bunch of organisations whose abbreviations Sirius can not remember — feared a communist invasion, but he can not see what would be so bad.

Of course, it is like the blind leading the blind, with there being no way how someone from the proletariat could afford to take the time to govern, as they had to work to earn enough to survive. A World Revolution, a complete restructuring of society into a newer, fairer model is certainly needed in the magical world. Sirius does not know enough about the Muggle world to have a proper opinion about it, but if people are afraid of such a revolution, the people who aren't in power would probably benefit from it.

And Sirius will become an ally of the proletariat and work towards them achieving what they truly deserve. The fact that he will get to fight his family and other arrogant purebloods of the bourgeoisie in a proper revolution — they won't exactly sign up for their resources to be fairly distributed, after all — is only a part of the motivation behind it.