Chapter 5

December 31 1994
Hogwarts

Hariel sat in the common room, reading more of the various books she'd stolen from the restricted section. She was lucky that Hermione hadn't noticed, else there might've been a problem. Not that Hermione was much of a threat, but unnecessary conflict made things difficult.

She flicked through an interesting one called Anima: The Potente Arte of the Soul. Some of the empowering rituals were reasonable and concealable, while only demanding a low price. She slipped a piece of parchment into the book to mark her page, before closing it and turning to the diary.

Riddle? Any thoughts on a book called Anima? she asked, already frustrated with how tedious the task was. She would have to find some way to change the communication medium.

Anima? Well, it is certainly full of powerful rituals, however a great many of them require a very steep price. Riddle's reply was hardly surprising, though she was pleased he knew of the book. She returned her gaze to the diary when more words formed. In fact, it was a ritual in Anima that created me, though I do feel less created and more...trapped.

"Trapped..." Hariel muttered, "what could he mean by that?" For now, Hariel ignored it, finally stepping out of the Common Room, only to run into Professor Lupin.

"Hariel," he said, "I was looking for you." Hariel's relaxed expression morphed back into the cold visage that it was the last time the teacher and student met with each other. Hariel also couldn't help but remember his drunken words at the Hogs Head.

"Whatever for, Professor?" she asked, "I could've sworn I had handed in my homework." Professor Lupin laughed nervously, but began speaking.

"I've noticed the effect Dementors have on you," he said. Hariel stilled, remembering the dark, monstrous thing that brought back her worst nightmares. But she had long since read up on them. Indeed, she found it amusing that Professor Lupin had waited this long to approach her about it.

"There's no need, Professor," she said, "after all, expecto patronum is about the only spell that can be used as a suitable defence." And she also knew a spell that acted as a suitable offense. Obscure books from the Restricted Section made for fascinating reading. She brushed past the teacher and continued on her way. She had barely made it to the stairs when an arm grabbed hers. She knew who it was.

"Professor Lupin," she said, "if you do not remove your arm from my person, I will remove your arm from you." Her voice was cold, and Professor Lupin must have taken her threat somewhat seriously, as he quickly removed his arm. Hariel turned to face him with a fierce glare.

"I want to see your aptitude with the Patronus," he said, "after all, as a teacher it is my duty to see my students protected." Hariel sighed, knowing she might as well get it over with.

.

"As you seem to know," Professor Lupin said, "the Patronus charm is designed to act as a shield against creatures like Dementors." Hariel tilted her head slightly. That there was other creatures like dementors was news to her.

"What other creatures are there?" She asked. Professor Lupin smiled slightly, clearly glad to find something that the young witch didn't know.

"Well, of course, there are Lethifolds, which are only found in the tropics," he said, "though the major protection there is due to the Lethifold being susceptible to light. While the Patronus can harm Lethifolds, a simple lumos can ward it away long enough for you to flee."

"Interesting…" Hariel mused. Idly, she wondered how one would fare against the offensive spell she'd found.

"Additionally, the charm is highly effective against Shades, wolf like creatures that resemble living shadows. It can temporarily disperse the creatures form. And of course, any creature sensitive to light would be at least blinded by the Patronus. I've even heard of a Patronus so powerful, a Vampire reacted to it as he would the sun." With a smile, Professor Lupin stepped towards a large chest that was bolted shut and had several padlocks along the mouth. "In here, I have a Boggart. It was a challenge, but I think I managed to simulate a fear of Dementors powerful enough that it should take that form every time."

"But there's no guarantee?" Hariel asked. Professor Lupin shook his head. She sighed and raised her wand. "Go." With a silent wave of his hand, Lupin opened the chest and the clothed form of a Dementor rose from within. Hariel barely felt the tug of her emotions, significantly weak as it was. This pale reflection hardly compared to the true Dementors.

"Expecto patronum," said Hariel, pulling on the memories of making obscure potions under the watchful eye of Professor Snape. Immediately, a white mist seeped from her wand, swirling into a shield, before solidifying and keeping the false Dementor back.

.

Remus stared in gleeful surprise as Hariel successfully cast a Patronus on the first attempt. When she made the claim that she knew what she was doing, he was doubtful. He fully expected her to fail the first time. But this was better than he could have hoped. He noticed, though, that her Patronus wasn't as bright as it should be, and that the false Dementor wasn't so much being held back as it was inching away.

"Well done, Hariel!" He said, "I am very impressed." The false Dementor retreated into the safety of the chest, and Remus closed it, locking it once again. Hariel rose an eyebrow at the creature's actions, but Remus explained: "its very likely the Boggart reacted like that because it was not a true Dementor. It couldn't understand what was happening and retreated to a safe place." Hariel hummed, pocketing her wand and staring at Remus with her – James' – brown eyes.

"What was my father's relationship with Sirius Black?" She asked. Remus sighed. He fully expected it to come up.

"When your father was a student, he had three friends. Myself, Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black. We were inseparable. Did everything together."

"Yes," Hariel said, sarcasm dripping from her voice, "including make a voyeuristic map that tracks all movement in the castle." Remus blinked in surprise.

"How did you know?" Hariel pulled out a familiar piece of parchment.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," she said, and the map sprung to life, before Hariel continued speaking, "there are four personalities inside the map, likely enchanted to converse in some fashion after certain actions are taken. Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. Surprisingly enough, Mister Moony sounds like I expect you would as a fifteen year old teenager." Remus was surprised at both the frankness of her explanation and at her deductive ability. Almost like that strange young Muggle he met in Sussex. What was his name? Shirley House?

Irrelevant. What was important right now, was answering Hariel's question properly.

"Sirius and your father…they were more than friends. They were brothers. They shared everything," Remus explained, "when your father got married, not only was Sirius the best-man, he was also the ring-bearer. And when you were born, he became your godfather." If only because…

"So they trusted him…and he turned on them? That doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't?"

"According to Professor Snape, my mother didn't trust blindly," Hariel explained, "and he knew that despite his own bias, my father wasn't a fool. So why would they trust someone who had the slightest chance of betraying them?"

Remus frowned, thinking it over as well. It did seem odd, but what other explanation was there? Especially after what happened to Peter…He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I don't know," he said, "all we can do is hope Black doesn't kill anyone else." Hariel nodded, and Remus suddenly realised the cold visage from before was gone, leaving her face much kinder than before.

"Thank you for your time, Professor," she said, "and for your honesty."

.

The walk back to the Gryffindor Common Room was longer than normal, on account of Hariel finding an out-of-the-way alcove and studying the Map for an hour. As she did, her thoughts kept returning to the situation with Sirius Black. It made no sense, not the way it played out, or the motivations for those involved, or even certain actions. With no evidence, Hariel was certain she'd never come to a conclusive explanation.

Why would Black spit on everything he had? Why would he turn on his brother in all but blood? And…why was Voldemort after her family? Hariel got the impression that it wasn't a random raid – surely the Dark Lord has better things to do than raid a single home. Therefore, they were targeted.

But…why? What made the Potters so special that Voldemort gave them his personal attention?

Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw it. On the map, she saw the name.

Sirius Black.

He was loitering by a hidden passage, and Hariel's mind leapt to dark thoughts about flaying him alive, blocking his veins one at a time and forcing him to breath low-grade acid, among other things. Given their respective positions, she could quite easily be there in minutes, her wand at the ready and curses on her tongue. She was even half-tempted to try the Cruciatus on the slime.
She was on her feet, moving to go there when another name caught her eye.

Peter Pettigrew.

Now that…that was interesting.