Sirius Black and the Golden Lion

The Howler

"Finally!"

Sirius recognised the prefect of the night before, and guessed that he must be the John Kidgell that the first-year girl had mentioned.

"Right. Black, Lupin, Pettigrew and Potter." Kidgell sorted through a pile of parchment and produced four sheets. "These are your timetables. Make sure that you remember them, if you're late for lessons, Gryffindor will lose points. And seeing as we want to keep up our four-year record of winning the House Cup, you will not be popular if you lose as much as a single point."

With that threat, the prefect swept away, his Hogwarts robe billowing out behind him.

"What've we got?" James asked, his mouth already full of breakfast.

"Yeah, pass the timetables, Remus," Sirius said, helping himself to cornflakes. Remus passed two of the sheets of parchment down the table and looked at his own. Peter reached across and grabbed his.

"Hmm. Double Herbology this morning, then Charms. Should be all right, " Remus read from his timetable. "You've all got the same?"

Sirius nodded. James opened his mouth, still full of cereal, to agree, then noticed the red-haired girl looking at him with an expression of disgust on her face. He chewed rapidly then gulped his mouthful down.

"Have we got all our lessons together?" he asked. "And what've we got this afternoon?"

Remus pulled James' timetable back towards him and compared it to his own.

"Yeah, I guess all Gryffindors are together for all the lessons," he said, looking up again.

"And this afternoon?" Sirius asked.

"Erm, Transfiguration. Doesn't Professor McGonagall teach that?"

"I heard she's really strict," James commented.

Sirius thought back to the angry woman who had stood in the dormitory doorway and thought that he rather agreed with James. It seemed to him that that particular professor was not one to be trifled with.

"What...what's that?" Peter squeaked, looking at the roof. Sirius followed the boy's gaze. The enchanted ceiling showed a hazy blue sky, with one or two fluffy white clouds. Sirius thought how nice the day was looking, but couldn't see what Peter was fussing about.

"Owls," Remus said distractedly, still poring over his timetable.

Sirius looked upwards again, and saw what looked like a speckled cloud coming towards them all.

"Oh great!" James exclaimed. "Mail!"

All around the Great Hall, students were standing up and holding their hands out as the owls swooped down, dropping letters and parcels out of their claws. A small tawny owl dropped a letter in front of Remus, closely followed by a large eagle owl, which perched on James' shoulder.

"Hello Athena," he murmured, gently scratching the bird on the top of it's head.

"Family owl?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, my dad bought her two, three years ago. He named her too. Trust him to call her after some muggle mythology."

"She's beautiful," Peter interrupted, admiringly.

"Sirius, what's up?"

Sirius was staring at a large red envelope in front of him.

"They...they sent me a howler," he said, worriedly.

"You knew they wouldn't be happy," Remus said reasonably. "Anyway, you better run, unless you want it to go off in here."

Sirius nodded, picked up the letter as if it would bite him and started to sprint towards the doors. But even as he did so, he knew he'd never make it. The envelope was already smoking around the edges, and just as he reached the end of the table, it burst into flames in his hands. His mother's voice rang through the Great Hall.

"SIRIUS BLACK!" Sirius wished he knew a spell to make himself shrink and disappear, as all eyes in the hall turned to him. And his mother's voice didn't drop in volume either.

"HOW DARE YOU! NOT ONLY HAVE YOU REJECTED YOUR FAMILY VIEWS AND VALUES, YOU HAVE NOW REJECTED YOUR INHERITANCE! I SUPPOSE SLYTHERIN ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU? WELL, LET ME TELL YOU ,BOY. SLYTHERIN IS FAR TOO GOOD FOR A BLOOD-TRAITOR LIKE YOU. AND DON'T THINK YOU CAN COME STROLLING BACK HOME CONFIDENTLY. YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO REALLY PROVE YOURSELF NOW..."

With that last threat, the ashes fell to the floor and smoked one last time.

Laughter broke out all around the hall, but Sirius noticed that it was loudest from the Slytherin table. Still desperately trying to make himself small, he walked out through the doors, his mother's voice and the laughter still ringing in his ears.

He was halfway up the stairs when he heard someone clattering behind him. He turned around and saw James following him.

"Whoa, Sirius, that was heavy. Was that your mother?"

"Yes," Sirius replied bluntly. He turned around and continued on his way.

Sirius checked his watch. It was a handsome silver analogue device, given to him by his Aunt Andromeda because his old digital one would not work in the highly magical environment of Hogwarts. He saw that he still had half an hour before he needed to be at his lesson. It was Herbology, wasn't it? Sirius realised that he had left his timetable in the Great Hall. But he didn't want to go back in there and face all the other students, so he carried on up the stairs hoping to be able to sit in the Gryffindor common room for a few minutes.

After wandering the corridors for ten minutes, Sirius gave up and accepted that he was lost. He wished that he had paid more attention the previous night, rather than talking to James the whole way. He rounded another corner, and ran straight into the person he least wanted to see.

"Well, if it isn't the little Gryffindor," Bella smirked at him.

"Shut up, Bella," Sirius mumbled, making to turn around and walk in the opposite direction. He found his path blocked by the greasy haired first year who had shared his boat the previous evening.

"Oh yes, Siri, meet Severus, " Bella remarked lazily. "His parents are friends with yours, but I don't think you two have met."

"Don't call me Siri," Sirius snarled through clenched teeth.

"Temper, temper." Bellatrix leant against a nearby pillar. "So, I hear that mummy isn't very pleased with little Siri..."

"Just leave me alone!" Sirius exploded, pushing past Severus to head back towards the Grand Staircase. He had barely taken two steps before there was a large bang, and Sirius felt something hot strike him on the side of his head. He raised his hand up to his face, and felt blood. Angrily, he whirled around, expecting to see Bella with her wand out. However, it was the first year who was pointing his wand at Sirius whilst Bella, laughing hysterically, leaned against the wall for support.

Sirius thought of retaliating, after all, he knew one or two basic hexes. But something in the other boy's eyes suggested that this would not be a good idea. So Sirius merely walked off, hoping that they wouldn't follow him.

He hadn't gone far before he remembered that he was still hopelessly lost. He sank down by a pillar, and touched the blood on his face. It was sticky, but he thought that it probably wasn't as bad as it felt.

"Hello, young Gryffindor!"

Sirius jumped. A pearly white ghost had just floated out of the wall next to him and was looking at him with a concerned expression.

"I'm Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, the Gryffindor ghost."

"Er, hello," Sirius said nervously, jumping to his feet.

"You haven't been fighting, I hope," the ghost continued "That's a good way to lose points for Gryffindor."

"I didn't do anything!" Sirius protested indignantly. "It was a Slytherin..."

"Say no more!" said Sir Nicholas sympathetically. "So, what are you doing sitting here?"

"I was lost," Sirius said, hesitantly.

"Where do you need to be? " the ghost asked. "Can't have you late on your first day."

"Erm, Greenhouse 2, I think," Sirius said, screwing up his face, trying to remember.

"Then follow me!"

Sirius ran after the ghost as he floated down the corridor. Sir Nicholas stopped and looked back.

"Better not run, lad, I hear that the new caretaker is quite strict."

Sirius slowed to a walk, and before long, he was stood at the front doors.

"Well, I'll leave you here," Sir Nicholas said. "I'm sure you can find your way outside."

"Thanks!" Sirius called after the ghost as he floated through a nearby wall.

"Oi, Sirius!"

Sirius turned to see Remus and James coming out of the Great Hall, with Peter tagging along just behind.

"There you are," James said. "Thought you'd gone on without us!"

Sirius pushed open the doors, and stepped out into the sunlight.