It had been seven years since the Dark Lord fell. Seven years since Neville Longbottom was called the Boy Who Lived and hailed as a national hero. People were happy, days were sunny and women were beautiful.

On one of such sunny days, an old man decided to visit a person he had not seen for many years. With his elegant, black robes and grey hair, he posed quite an intimidating figure. After coming through the doors he spotted the person he was meant to visit.

Years have not been gentle for Sirius Black. His once handsome face became like a skull, his once elegant black hair became messy and greasy. For seven years he had been living in hell, tortured every day by dreadful creatures. He was beginning to think that hope was the cruelest thing for him. Death did not seem so terrible.

The sound of opening doors pulled him out of such thoughts. When someone entered the room, he had to search through his memories to recognize the figure before him.

"Hello, Sirius", the man said.

"Grandfather. You have aged", replied Sirius

"I have come here to learn the truth". The man sat in a chair he'd just conjured "What happened 7 years ago ?"

"7 years … you have not hurried"

"You abandoned your family, you cut all ties with us … and yet you have yourself been abandoned by your friends. Your whole life did not matter for them, only because you have been accused of a murder. Such great friends they are…what happened 7 years ago ?

"Peter was named the keeper of the secret. He betrayed James and Lily", with each word he seemed more lively and more furious. "He led death eaters to their house and killed Lily from the back. I was too late! I could not save them! And all because of this fucking rat who ran away when aurors came!"

"I see", spoke the old man quietly. "In this case I have a proposal for you". He waited a moment before continuing, "I will free you from this miserable life. In return you will become an heir worthy of the house of Black"

"Me, an heir ?" Sirius looked surprised "Blood traitor, follower of the light, black sheep of the Blacks, asked to become an heir of Arcturus Black himself ?"

Arcturus was quiet for a moment "I am old, Sirius. Soon I will be dead, Regulus is dead, and you are here. The only person who could become lord Black is Narcissa's son, Draco Malfoy. And I would sooner die than let them take over my family", Arcturus said with gritted teeth. "These pathetic servants of a filthy halfblood who killed Regulus"

"I want you, Sirius", he continued "to become the man you were meant to be. Not some puppet of this old bastard Dumbledore".

"Oh, it seems Voldemort is not so great as he was before, is he ?", asked Sirius curiously.

"This son of a muggle almost destroyed us. Many pureblood families have ceased to exist because of him. My grandson has died because of him". Arcturus looked Sirius straight in the eyes ,"Answer me, Sirius !"

Sirius Black innocent and freed.

After 7 years of incarceration in the Azkaban Sirius Black has been freed and declared innocent. How could an innocent man been imprisoned without a trial ? Arcturus Black, head of the House of Black, immediately fired charges against Bartemius Crouch who had been the head of DMLE at the time. Sirius Black himself commented that after his release he is going to renew his ties with the family and finally meet his godson Harry Potter.

Rita Skeeter

Life has not been easy for Harry Potter. His aunt and uncle ignored him at best, and beat him at worst. He did not know how had he deserved such treatment. He was an intelligent boy who was interested in everything, and yet he was given angry looks whenever he asked a question. His cousin was a fat whale without a brain, whose only talent lied in beating Harry.

Harry quickly learned to avoid Dursleys as much as he could. He spent much time outside, playing by himself or sitting on a roof dreaming about his family who would suddenly appear and take him away from this dreadful place he couldn't even call home.

He was small for his age, had black messy hair, green eyes, and with his worn, baggy clothes he looked even smaller than he really was.

Sometimes, when he was angry or scared, he felt something. Something inside him. Something waiting to come out, like a beast on a chain. A few times he tried to reach it, to release it and when he almost could feel it within his grasp, he was falling asleep.

This day was terrible for Harry. All rainy days were. He could not go out, and Dursleys were at home. The only consolation was that it was already evening and soon they would go to sleep.

"Boy, bring the wine!", shouted aunt Petunia, who had already emptied one bottle.

On his way to her, he had to go past Dudley who was playing on a console.

"Freak, move away! They will kill me!", he shouted "Noooo! They killed me. It is all your fault!". He suddenly stood up and punched Harry who dropped the bottle on the carpet.

"What have you done !?", cried Petunia, as the glass shattered. "Do you know, how expensive this carpet was ? And the wine ? You only bring us costs". She stopped for a moment as if she was reminiscing something. " You are so useless, just like your mother was."

Harry was beginning to get angry. He felt something familiar gathering inside him and concentrated like he never had.

"She was so full of herself, so arrogant. She thought she was so much better than me ! She got what she deserved!".

Suddenly, it got cold in the room. The wine on the carpet began to freeze.

"What are you doing ?! Stop it !", screamed Uncle Vernon, who was visibly afraid.

Harry was feeling ecstatic. He felt free. It was the greatest feeling in his life. He sensed something in the air, and he knew it was this "something" he had felt before. He looked around the room and saw uncle Vernon approaching him with his hand raised.

Other emotions stormed inside him. He looked at his uncle and felt fear mixed with hate. He promised himself that he would no longer be abused by these people. As uncle was about to hit him, he could sense this weird power in the air getting stronger with each moment. The Dursleys stared at him with fear, and then…he felt tired, and the darkness surrounded him.

Sirius Black was nervous. After seven years he finally was to meet his godson, the person he failed most as he was not there to look after him. What was he going to say to him ? "Hello, I am your godfather, I am taking you with me" ? That sounded stupid even in his mind. What would he do if Harry did not want to do anything with him ? After all, he was just a stranger.

And there were the Dursleys. He had never met them but he could easily remember the tales Lily related about her sister and brother-in-law . How could his godson be placed with people who hated everything about magic, just because they were afraid of it. He could only hope that Petunia found at least a slight amount of love for her sister and took care of her son.

With such thoughts, he anxiously approached the house. As soon as he knocked, he knew something was wrong. He felt cold, he could almost feel magic in the air. He looked around almost expecting a dementor to show up, but nothing happened. There was only one place that could be the origin of this weird energy.

After a minute of waiting he entered the house. The only things that welcomed him were the growing cold and the fear he felt inside him. Slowly, he went deeper. He cast homenum revelio spell, which showed him, that there was only one person alive in the house.

When he opened the door to the living room he could only stare in shock. Everything was turned into ice. The sofa, the table, the walls, the ceiling and the floor. But what picked his interest were three frozen statues resembling humans.

The one thing standing out in this arctic surrounding was the young unconscious boy with black messy hair, dressed in too big clothes. He quickly examined the boy, and with a sudden burst of relief he took him into arms.

It was near midnight, when Sirius finally returned to his home. He silently went through the hallway and entered a room where he found his grandfather talking to a black-haired woman who seemed to be a bit younger than the old man. They stopped their talk, and focused their attention on Sirius.

"What is the meaning of this ?", asked Arcturus looking at the boy in Sirius' arms.

"It would be better if I showed you", said Sirius with a wand pointing at his own head and something silver gathering at the palm of it.

The grey-haired man did not say anything but took out a stone basin from his desk.

"Incredible", said Arcturus quietly. "Truly incredible".

"Cassiopeia, examine him", he added after a moment of silence. The woman just nodded and quickly left levitating the boy. She seemed very lively.

"Ministry will get interested in it, as will muggle authorities", said the older man.

"I set fire to gas and incinerated the house. They will think it was an accident."

"Good job. Dumbledore will surely look for the boy. After all, he was the one who placed him with those muggles. I am sure he has his own plans regarding him."

"I will not give Harry away. I am his godfather, it is my duty not only to him, but also to my friends. Now we are also his only living family. His grandmother was aunt Cassie's sister", said Sirius looking Arcturus in the eyes.

Arcturus slowly nodded and asked "What about the other thing ?"

"As we feared, I will not be able to. They said I had been in Azkaban for too long" said Sirius sadly

They sat in silence for a few minutes, until Arcturus finally broke it.

"You will blood adopt the boy"

"What !?" shouted Sirius in shock

"You will blood adopt him. You can't have children of your own, and as you have pointed out, he already is part of our family."

"He is my friend's son, I can't replace him."

"You can and you will. He will be raised in our house, taught in our house, and he will become your son and heir."

"But…"

"The matter is closed", said Arcturus firmly.

Sirius was dumbstruck for a while, before saying.

"Just…give me some time. I want to get to know him. But tell me, grandfather, why would you, the right hand of Grindelwald, lord Black and member of Wizengamot, want a halfblood in your family ?"

"You have seen it", answered Arcturus. "He will become a very powerful wizard. And even I must admit that his mother was a talented witch"

"I just…"

"You just don't know anything about me. You were too prejudiced against your own family and did not even try to get to know us", said Arcturus coldly ."Now leave, I believe you have a son to look after."

"How is he ?" asked Sirius as he entered Cassiopeia's room.

"He is magically exhausted", she replied "He was malnourished, and he has some bruises over his body. I believe he was beaten frequently", she added with anger. "These muggles deserved their fate."

"Why did his magic not act ?" It was common knowledge that an accidental magic appeared with strong emotions.

"There was a block on his magical core. The bastard who had done that almost killed this boy."

Sirius knew that there was only one wizard who saw him after his parents' death. He felt growing anger for the person he had once thought he could rely on. "When will he wake up?"

"Tomorrow, however it will take longer for him to heal completely. His core is unstable. He will have to be trained to control it, or the bursts of accidental magic will be very frequent"

"I will see to it"

"You have neither experience nor the knowledge needed", said Cassiopeia, who'd spent many years researching magic.

"Well, my friend Remus…"

"Is not from the family"

"How…" asked Sirius, surprised that she knew about the plan.

"I have known Arcturus for many years", she answered casually.

"And you will abandon your research to teach him ?"

"How many people with such abilities have you met" she answered with her own question.

"Only Regulus."

"Only Regulus, and his was not as powerful. People with such abilities appear incredibly rarely. And with such strong ones, even rarer, she looked really fascinated. "Such potential cannot be wasted. Now go to sleep, he will not be awake until noon."

It was almost 3pm when Harry Potter finally woke up. For the first time in his life he was lying on a real bed. He did not know where he was, but what drew his attention were two people present in the room. A black-haired man in his thirties sitting on the bed, and an older woman who was muttering some weird words and waving a stick. The man noticed his open eyes and said.

"Finally you are awake. Let me be the first one to welcome you to the House of Black"

For a moment Harry did not know what to say. He expected to wake up in the cupboard under the stairs.

"Why am I here ?" he finally asked.

"Because, I know it sounds weird, I was chosen by your parents to be your godfather, and I picked you up".

Harry could not believe that. It was like a fairytale, a dream come true

"Are you serious ?"

"Ha ha, actually I am", answered the man, very amused. "Sirius Black, you may call me Sirius. This dangerously looking woman behind me is Cassiopeia Black, who you can address as aunt Cassy. You surely must have a lot of questions. I will do my best to answer them."

"Where exactly am I ?"

"You are in the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. London, Grimmauld Place 12"

"What about Dursleys ?"

"You do not have to worry about them. You will never see them again", came the answer that made this moment the best in Harry's life.

"What happened to them ?"

"I will tell you another time."

Harry was curious but decided to let it go for now. There were some other questions he wanted to ask.

"Why haven't you come to meet me earlier ? Isn't it the role of the godfather to look after godson if something happens to his parents ?"

Sirius became visibly tense. He must have anticipated and feared this moment.

"I…could not do this", he answered,

"Why ?"

"I was in prison,"

"Why ?"

"For something that I did not do. Ask about something else. Soon, you will get to know this."

"What are there these weird…things that I can detect here ?"

"What things ?" replied Sirius. He did not feel anything weird.

"I feel something in the air. It is stronger over the desk, but the strongest comes from you two", said Harry cautiously. He had not felt anything like this before, and he was getting scared that something happened to him.

"Wha…", for the first time the man did not know what to say.

"Hmm", the woman spoke for the first time. "Can you sense anything over my hands?" she said as she raised her hands.

"Yes, over the left hand. It is a bit similar, but the "signals" from you two are different from each other" ,he said with relief that he might not have gone insane.

After this answer Cassiopeia started to study him for a bit.

"Interesting, how very interesting", she said, not particularly to anyone. "It seems, you can detect magic."

"What ? Magic is not rea…", he started to speak what he was taught by Dursleys, but he suddenly remembered the weird feeling he had had, and what had happened before he passed out.

"Not real, you wanted to say ?" interrupted the man with a grin. "Then, how would you explain this", he turned into a black dog, and then back into human.

"You are full of surprises Sirius. I have not known you are an animagus", said aunt Cassy, who seemed interested by the transformation.

"It is good to have skills which are not publically known", came the reply.

"How very Slytherin of you. Maybe there is still hope for you", she was clearly satisfied with Sirius' answer, but she quickly turned her attention back to the boy. "Magic is very real. There are many people who use it. They are called wizards. You are one of them."

"How is It possible that normal people don't know about magic ?"

"We have a ministry of magic whose main task is to prevent muggles – non-magical people, from discovering our world."

"Why do you hide ? The magic could be used for so many things."

"Once we were hunted, nowadays most people do not believe in our existence. If they found out, a war would eventually be unavoidable. They would become scared of us and once again we would be hunted. Compared to them, there are few of us. Relationships between us and muggles are debatable subjects and I will not bore you with politics", explained Cassiopeia, while Sirius was listening carefully to her words.

"Let us finish with questions for now, you will have much time to learn everything about our world", said Sirius. "Come, I will show you around, and then we will eat something."

When the tour was over Harry was very hungry. The house was much bigger even than the Dursley's. When Harry and Sirius entered the dining room, the food was already served.

"Who made all these ?" asked Harry "I have not seen anyone but you and aunt Cassy."

"Kreacher, our house elf", replied Sirius. "House elves are magical creatures. They serve wizards, do the house work. Before you start to pity them, know that it lies in their nature, they want to do it. They are a bit like dogs, they need a master to survive. It is a deal in which we give them magic they need to live, and in exchange they care for our houses."

"They must be very useful", said Harry, content that he will not have to work like he used to. "Can I eat all these ?"

"Of course you can, you will not starve when you are in this house". Sirius once again wondered how hard a life his godson had had.

"It is delicious."

"Hmm, personally I think he did not really commit himself to it. He doesn't like me very much "

"Why not ?"

"I ran away from home when I was 16 "

"Why ?"

"I will tell you later."

At this moment the door to the room opened and another man entered. An elegant old man with grey hair, dressed in black robes. As soon as he walked in, Sirius stood up and Harry who did not really know what to do, did the same. The man looked around the room and noticed Sirius and Harry.

"Hello, young man, I am sure Sirius has already done that, but let me officially welcome you to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black," he said. "I am lord of this house, Arcturus Black."

"Good evening sir, my name is Harry Potter," replied Harry who got rather nervous in the old man's presence.

"As long as you live in this house, you may call me grandfather," he sat down and told them both to do likewise.

"Grandfather, how was the Wizengamot session ?" asked Sirius

"Very entertaining. Dumbledore was about to organize an official search party. You would love to see his face when I announced that you had already found Harry and taken him to our house. He tried to take him away, saying that although you are his godfather, you have also spent many years in Azkaban, which makes you not qualified to be his guardian."

"How did it end ?"

"I said that not only you are his godfather but his grandmother was Dorea Black, so we are also his closest living relatives," he said with amusement. "Lucius Malfoy even proposed to take care of the boy himself as Narcissa is his wife, and he has a son the same age. I believe we were considered the lesser evil, so it is official. Sirius, you are now Harry's guardian."

When he heard this, Sirius grinned widely and threw his hands up in the air.

"Harry, go to Cassiopeia after the meal," Arcturus said after Sirius calmed down a bit. "She will tell you about the history of magic."

"History ? Come on grandfather, it is so boring," Sirius looked disappointed.

"I think history is very interesting," Harry disagreed.

"History is an incredibly important part of our lives and tradition," said Arcturus, clearly pleased with Harry's words ."We can learn much from it. It is a crime that it is so pathetically taught in Hogwarts. Let me know when you get to the 20th century. It is the most important period, as it influences us most."

"Let me know too", said Sirius with a weird look on his face. "I would also like to hear about it."

"Magic exists as long as the world. No one knows its origins," started Cassiopeia. " The first wizards appeared along with first muggles. They have been present in every civilization. They used to live in temples posing to be priests or just lived as seemingly normal part of society. Very rarely, special children were born who had the abilities. Some of them are known even these days by both us and muggles. They had such powers that sometimes they were worshipped by people as gods."

"Zeus, Hades, Poseidon," she continued, "they are good examples. Zeus could create thunders, Poseidon had power over the water, and Hades could manipulate the earth. They were known not only in Greece, but also in Rome and in Egypt. They just had different names there," she stopped for a moment, when she saw that Harry wanted to say something. "Next time raise your hand if you want to ask a question."

"Did wizards not want to become rulers themselves?"

"Sometimes they did. Many pharaohs could use magic. Babylonian Gilgamesh was also a wizard."

"Why did muggles worship these gods for such a long time? They could not have lived so long."

"Stories, legends, and religion have always had great influence over minds. Don't forget that priests could also use magic. Do you have any other questions?" He did not say anything so she moved on.

"In such way we continued to live for many years. However at some point, changes are inevitable. The number of non-magical people has always been increasing much faster than ours. About two thousand years ago, another person with a very strong ability appeared. His name was Jesus Christ," she noticed a raised hand.

"Jesus was really a wizard ? He is believed to be the son of god."

"Yes. Along with some other wizards who are known as apostles, he came to the conclusion that if muggles were to be left as they were, they would eventually start to fear us and want to kills us. They decided to manipulate the world, so that people would become more tolerant. They started to travel around the country showing the "power of the god". Their legend started to grow as they gathered more and more followers. A key point in their great scheme was the revival of Lazarus and the resurrection. Jesus was a necromancer which gave him the power to revive. In order to resurrect himself, he created a ritual which I will not talk about."

"For many centuries, it seemed that they have succeeded, however peace never lasts forever. With increased tolerance, lots more marriages between wizards and muggles appeared. As they were becoming more and more aware of our existence, they were also becoming scared. The tension between us grew stronger and stronger, wizards started to consider complete separation from non-magical world"

"Morgan Le Fay was a supporter of this idea. She is the most influential woman in the history of magic, and my personal favorite hero from the tales," she added with a grin.

"She, along with some of her supporters, drove out or killed all muggles in a certain area and built a village only for magical society. It is called Hogsmeade and it still exists. It is the only place in the whole Britain that is inhabited only by us."

"Her great rival was Myrddin Emrys. You may know him as Merlin. He believed in coexistence. He helped a boy named Arthur to become a king, and then became his advisor. Practically it was Merlin who really ruled, as Arthur preferred to search for adventures."

"Merlin built a castle of Camelot, where he invited both muggles and wizards to live in. Although it was a success, Merlin knew that sooner or later extremists would turn their eyes to Camelot. He and other wizards who lived in the castle were checking every incomer using legilimency – mind reading"

"No enemy could attack his castle from the outside, however it could not be defended from the inside. Arthur became jealous of magic. He stabbed Merlin in the back and let the extremists into the castle. Without Merlin, the wards became powerless. Most wizards escaped, however they could not live in the castle again. When Morgan heard about this betrayal, she burned Camelot to the ground and left no one alive"

"What is it ?" Cassiopeia was interrupted by a risen hand.

"Why would Morgan avenge Merlin ? They were enemies"

"They were rivals, not enemies. Remember that you can be someone's rival and still have great respect for this person. Besides, not only Merlin died that day, but also a few others, and many lost their homes."

Harry nodded his head and became silent.

"About a hundred years later, four great magicians were born. Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. Together, on the ashes of Camelot, they founded the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – Hogwarts"

"About the same time, muggles really started to hunt us. Truthfully, they very rarely caught someone who could use magic, however wizards could no longer even think of coexisting. Many defensive spells and wards were created at that period of time. In order to cut our ties with muggles, we established a ministry of magic whose task was to hide our existence, which was not easy."

"As I told you before, there was a time when marriages between muggles and wizards were quite common. Because of it, magical children were born in the muggle families. Many wizards would not admit it, but every muggleborn had a wizard in family at some point"

"The most powerful and wise of us created a magical council in order to create laws and enforce them. Nowadays this council is called Wizengamot and the place in it is hereditary. You can also get a place in it if you achieve something great and are rewarded with first class order of Merlin. Yes?"

"Why is it hereditary? Wouldn't it be better to choose the wisest?"

"And who would choose them? Soon, the richest would start to buy out places, corrupted politicians would be all over the council. You can say what you wish, but most members of old families are very proud. They would not serve another house. Soon, you will meet them yourself ."

The boy looked content with this answer, so Cassiopeia continued the lesson.

"You must wonder why we did not strike. Magic gave us an advantage after all. The truth is not known by many, but we did. Our ancestor, Stephan Black created the plague which he released on the muggle world. It killed almost 100 million people. Nowadays this epidemics is called after its creator, the black death"

"Was it not too cruel to kill so many people ?" Harry interrupted.

"As cruel as it may seem, it was needed. It turned muggles' attention away from magic, which allowed us to vanish from their world almost completely. The only problems were muggleborns and magical creatures which were too stupid to hide. Nothing our newly created ministry couldn't handle."

"The epidemics and going into hiding have been the last very significant events until the 20th century. Before we cover this topic we will call Sirius and Arcturus as they wanted to participate in this part", she communicated ."Listen carefully to what they will say. They were part of the history themselves. People are the greatest sources of information."

"I will remember it aunt Cassy," Harry replied.

After ten minutes, both Sirius and Arcturus came into the room. Arcturus sat in the armchair near the fireplace. Sirius chose a place opposite him, next to Harry.

Arcturus gathered thoughts for a moment and began.

"20th century is the most important for us as we still live in it. Most of things that happened in it have influence on our lives. We shall begin from the first world war which took place in the muggle world," he stopped for a moment.

"We knew that the muggles were rapidly developing, but the scale of it caught us by complete surprise. The size of this war made it impossible to ignore. Sometimes our houses hidden behind wards were destroyed, people killed. It created a great stir in our society. Once again wizards started to fear and hate muggles," he said.

"Even when the war was over, the atmosphere was not very good. Somewhere in the thirties, two very powerful wizards appeared. They were Gelert Grindelwald and Albus Dumbledore. I know that once they were friends but something happened and their ways split up"

"What !? Dumbledore and Grindelwald were friends ?!" shouted Sirius.

"They were, but I don't know any details. Grindelwald wanted to control muggles. He knew that they were becoming a threat to us. He gathered people who thought likewise, me and Cassiopeia included. We took control over Adolf Hitler and after a few years of preparation we started a war. The beginning was very promising. With our support, the German army could not be stopped. We conquered almost the whole Europe, but our involvement in the war was at last discovered. The whole magical world split into two fractions. Those who supported us and those who did not."

"We were fewer in numbers, but people on our side were more skilled as most of them came from pureblood families. Our enemies were mostly muggleborns or halfbloods who still had strong connections to their muggle families. The more muggles, the more muggleborns. We were outnumbered, but we shared a goal, and we also had a leader," he stopped for a moment.

"Three years after the war started Dumbledore joined in. He had already been a very respected member of our society . He called us dark wizards, and publically condemned dark magic. All these powerless fools gathered around him like moths around the light. He divided our society into two camps – the light and the dark, marked people as good or evil. And this campaign worked."

"We were branded as evil, dark wizards. It was everyone's duty to fight against the evil. Soon, Gelert challenged Dumbledore to a duel. There were no witnesses to it, but Dumbledore won. Gelert was imprisoned in a fortress we built ourselves. The Light triumphed over the dark. The rest of us who survived, returned homes. Our cause was lost."

"After the war the dark arts became forbidden. Do you know what the dark arts are?" he asked Harry.

"No, I have not learned about it, yet," Harry replied completely absorbed in Arcturus' tale.

"It is magic whose purpose is to harm. Dark spells are used mostly in duels, but some of them have uses in medicine, like for example bone breaking curse – it can be used to break bones which healed wrongly. Remember that magic is not good or evil. The only thing that matters is the purpose it is used for. Also, the dark spells are usually stronger. Magic relies on intent, which dark arts require. Although they are not evil, they cannot be overused. If you use them without self-control, they can twist your personality," the grey-haired man explained

"The worst thing was not the hate that many people felt for us," he continued his story "The worst was that our children began to hate other people. I think that the source of it was Hogwarts. Most of our children were sorted into Slytherin. This house became like a ghetto. They were feared and not liked by the rest of the school. They had to stand united, so they created their mutual enemy – the rest of the school and the muggles."

"That is why so many people followed Voldemort. He posed as lord Slytherin, he used their hate and gathered them under his banner. The once proud families became servants to this power hungry creature. His actions gave Dumbledore yet another chance to ostracize us. Dumbledore created Voldemort, and Voldemort played his role like an ideal puppet."

"After the war I fell into despair. I watched the fall of my family. I watched Bellatrix turning into a twisted caricature of a witch. I watched as Regulus tried too hard to please his hateful mother. I watched as Sirius became Dumbledore's servant. I watched as the Blacks were dying one by one. And I did nothing. I failed," he quietly said with a blank look in his eyes.

He looked around the room and addressed everyone.

"We are all that is left of Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. Don't let anyone manipulate you, use your own minds, and remember: you are the Blacks," saying this, he stood up and left the room.

Sirius and Harry were left speechless. They stared into the fireplace thinking about what they had just heard.

"Remember this lecture well," said Cassiopeia ,"As you will not here it again. It must have been hard for Arcturus to finally let go of the thoughts he has been hiding for years," she stood up.

"Aunt Cassy ?"

"Yes, Harry ?"

"What happened to this Voldemort ?" asked Harry.

"That is a mystery. Seven years ago he went to Longbottom's house to kill them. He killed Frank and Alice Longbottoms, but something weird happened when he tried to kill their son Neville. The spell that was meant to kill the child backfired. From this day Neville Longbottom has been known as the Boy Who Lived. Dumbledore has very strong ties to the boy. It is said that he has been teaching him for a few years. You will surely meet Longbottom, you are the same age"

"The day Voldemort fell was also the day your parents died," said Sirius. "Death eaters came to your house, led by someone we thought to be our friend, Peter Pettigrew. When I came to your house I saw him killing your mother. With a blind rage I wanted to kill him. He escaped, and I was found above her corpse with a wand. That is why I was thrown into prison. I did not even get a trial."

"It got late, get so sleep," commanded Cassiopeia. "Tomorrow I will begin to teach you how to control magic"

Harry couldn't sleep. He had so much to think about. He was thrown into a completely different world from the one he knew. The world his parents lived in. He had a place he knew he would be able to call home. And at last he had people who did not hate him. He thought about this weird house with moving portraits and dancing magic. Somehow he knew that he would love this place.

"Tell me what you remember about the abilities," asked Cassiopeia,

"They are very rare. They are special powers. A few people with them became well known not only in this world, but also in non-magical one," answered Harry.

"That is true, however possessing the ability does not equal the skills to use it. Most people who have them, cannot use them. Their strength differs greatly. Some are very powerful and some are just affinity to some kind of magic," she explained. "For example, Zeus could create thunders but Regulus could only slightly manipulate shadows. What do you remember from your last day at the Dursleys?"

"I was…angry and scared. I also felt ecstatic. It got cold, the wine froze. Dursleys were visibly scared, uncle Vernon shouted at me and tried to hit me. I felt something that I now know was magic. Then I fell asleep," Harry recalled.

"Had something like this happened before ?"

"A few times I had this weird feeling like something was inside me, but when I almost reached it I was falling asleep."

"These were the moments in which you were meant to use accidental magic. You did not perform it however, because there was a block on your magical core."

"Why was there a block ?"

"Because someone put it inside you. The only person who could have done it was Albus Dumbledore, as I doubt your parents would have done something like that."

"Why would he…?"

"That is a question for him," aunt Cassy interrupted. "What is important is that your magic became too strong and it forcefully destroyed the block. From now you will not be falling asleep anymore. What happened in this house indicates that you have a strong ability. You have the power over ice," she looked at the very surprised boy.

"You must learn how to control it. Your core has become unstable, and I do not want to freeze. You can also sense magic. A mix of these abilities makes you a potentially very powerful wizard"

Harry was listening carefully and recorded every word.

"Now, sit comfortably and try to calm yourself as much as you can. Do you remember this feeling inside you ? Try to find it. Focus only on it, the outside world doesn't exist. Nod your head when you succeed."

Harry did as she said. He closed his eyes, calmed, and focused only on himself. He tried to let go of every thought. At first he could not feel anything, but as the time passed he slowly became aware of magic that was hidden inside him. He focused on it even stronger, recalled the feeling that he got when he finally used magic. Finally, he did it. He slowly nodded his head.

"It is present in every part of your body. Become aware of it, magic is part of yourself," he heard.

Again, he did not know how much time passed, but at last he became aware. He could feel magic flowing through his veins, magic in every inch of his body.

"Now raise your hand and concentrate on it."

When he did as he was told to, he could feel magic gathering inside his arm.

"Try to slowly release it. You will be able to, it is your magic, you are its master. Think about the ice, feel the cold. Imagine it forming over your hand."

He tried and tried. Time passed and he could not do it. He did not want to fail. If he failed he would disappoint his teacher. He focused even harder, and something began to happen. He could feel magic slowly leaving his hand, ice crystals began to form. Harry felt very proud.

"I did it, I did it" he shouted, but in this moment he lost his concentration. Magic poured a lot faster from him and he knew that he lost control. In a moment ,magic burst out of him and froze almost the whole room.

"…Sorry," he muttered.

"That was fantastic !" Cassiopeia shouted as she released the shield around her. She was very excited, "You even froze the fireplace."

"But, the room…" he felt relief that she was not angry.

"Don't mind the room. Next time I will just put some wards around you. I did not expect something like this to happen so quickly."

"Why am I tired ?"

"The more magic you use the more tired you get. You can use magic for longer if your body is in good condition. That is why, you will also train physically," she explained.

"What are these wards ?"

"They are used for many purposes, mostly defensive ones. However they are very useful as traps. You can see the defensive ones around wizards' houses. One used as a trap is used in our hallway, on this troll leg umbrella stand. Many years ago Bellatrix created as a prank for her sister Andromeda, it activates only to attack her."

"Incredible, will you teach me how to use them ?" asked Harry with hope.

"If you want to, however you will need to sacrifice a lot of time to learn runes," she said with a smile. "Let's finish for now. We will continue tomorrow."

"Aunt Cassy ? What happened to the Dursleys ?"

She looked at him for a moment before she said.

"They froze to death."

"I…killed them ?" he asked with a breaking voice.

"You defended yourself, they brought this upon themselves. You are not guilty of their death as you were not aware what you were doing," she reassured him. "That is why you must learn how to control your ability. With great power comes great responsibility."

It had been a week since Harry started living at Grimmauld Place. It has been the greatest period in his life. For the first time he was really happy. He learned so many new things. He could ask as many questions as he wanted. He was also getting attached to his new guardians. To Sirius who often joked and pulled pranks on him, to aunt Cassy who was like a dictionary when it came to magic, and to Arcturus who everyday asked him what he'd learnt and taught him about the society.

Cassiopeia was very proud of the progress he made in just a week and told him that soon, she would teach him new things. He really enjoyed these lessons, but his favorite activity was flying. He was nervous when Sirius announced that he must learn how to fly, but soon it appeared that Harry had real talent for it.

That day Harry got up earlier. He did not want to be awaken by cold water and a laugh. He quietly opened the door, tried to sense if there were no magical traps and went to the kitchen. Suddenly something caught his leg and he found himself swinging upside down with a rope tied to his leg.

"Ha ha," laughed Sirius "You are a hundred years too young to outsmart a marauder."

"Just wait. One day you will be begging for mercy," threatened Harry. "Now, get me down."

Sirius just laughed, took a sandwich and started to slowly it eat. Harry was irritated that he got pranked in such an easy way. He raised his hand and froze the rope which broke up immediately.

"Before you start to eat, I have an announcement to make," said Sirius who'd just finished his meal. "I have spoken to grandfather and he agreed. I want to blood adopt you. Would you like to officially become a Black ?"

Hearing this, Harry brightened up.

"Of course, I want to. I have been here only for a week but you are my family much more than the Dursleys ever were. I will be honored to be able to carry your name."

Sirius looked puzzled for a moment. He did not anticipate such a reaction.

"Just don't forget about your parents. We are your family, but they gave their lives for you."

Harry just nodded.

"We will go after breakfast."

Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there

"I am Griphook, how can I serve you ?" said goblin

"My name is Sirius Black and this is Harry Potter. I want to perform a blood adoption ritual," replied Sirius.

"Very well, follow me."

They went through many corridors until they finally entered a room with nothing, but a desk and weird runes on the floor. Harry could feel that the runes were highly magical but did not know their use.

"Drop your blood onto these," said Griphook after he handed them two sheets of paper and knives.

Sirius did it first. When blood touched the paper, it formed letters:

Sirius Orion Black, born 27th February 1959

Father – Orion Arcturus Black

Mother – Walburga Irma Black

Heir to the House of Black

Harry did the same after a moment. His paper looked completely different:

Hadrian James Potter born 31th July 1980

Father – James Charlus Potter

Mother – Lily Anne Potter

Heir to the House of Potter

Heir to the House of Peverell

Heir to the House of Le Fay

"What ?" Harry looked completely surprised.

"Let me see," said Sirius and took a look at the paper "Peverells were Potters' ancestors, as an heir to the Potters you are also an heir to the Peverells. LeFay however…", Sirius thought for a moment. "It seems that one of your mother's ancestors was from this family. Lily had never performed blood test so she would not know about this."

"My name is Hadrian ?"

"You have just learnt that you are part of one of the most famous magical families and you are asking if your name is Hadrian ?"

"Mr Potter, come here please" Griphook interrupted them, while pointing on the middle of the room. "It will hurt"

Harry did as he was said to and tried to relax. He could hear Griphook chanting words in his own language, and he could feel the magic in the runes getting stronger. He sensed as magic started to twist around him and finally entered his body. At first nothing happened, but after a few moments he started to scream.

"Did it work ?" asked very worried Sirius Black who has never seen this ritual.

"Let us check" answered Griphook with a knife in his hand.

"No, you will not come near my godson with a knife"

Griphook did not say anything and just passed Sirius the knife and the sheet of paper

"The physical appearance will change in next 24 hours" he informed

Sirius nodded his head and made a shallow cut on Harry's hand. When the blood dropped on the sheet it formed similar, but different form.

Hadrian James Potter-Black

Father – James Charlus Potter

Mother – Lily Anne Potter

Father – Sirius Orion Black

Heir to the House of Potter

Heir to the House of Peverell

Heir to the House of Le Fay

A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing. Your attention mean a lot to me.

I would like to especially thank wolfgang108 for his review. Some constructive criticism is welcomed.

I am a new writer and I would like to know your opinion of my work.

For some time I will not be able to publish new chapters due to my job and finishing my bachelor studies.

Thanks for reading this, and see you next time.