Different Paths

Chapter 5: A Sirius Challenge

Sirius Black was not a happy wizard. He had been on the run for years, a fugitive from the law so he was used to not having a roof over his head. He was used to wandering around the country getting to places far and exotic where no Ministry agent would dream of chasing him. He was used to avoiding law enforcers, usually with the aid of his ability to transform into a large black dog. But if there was one thing Sirius Black was not used to, it was being lost.

When he left Hogsmeade chasing after Harry, Sirius had thought he was heading south toward London. However, when he arrived at Loch Ness a few days later, Sirius realized that he had taken a wrong turn somewhere on the way, most likely while he was confused in his anger. Unfortunately, he had no idea where he had made his wrong turn and after a close encounter with a few Ministry Hit men, Sirius had completely lost his bearings. He had started heading South once more, but since he had no idea where he was at present, he had no idea if he was getting closer or farther from London.

At present, Sirius was resting in a deep forest. It was a rather nice place with a stream nearby meaning that he could catch fish if wished to. However, he a rather difficult time starting camp fires the muggle way. Although Sirius had a wand, he was avoiding using it so as not to attract Ministry attention.

"Bloody typical I get lost in some forest," Sirius muttered as he took a bite into his roasted fish. "Who knows if I´ll ever make it to London on time. It´d be pointless if I showed up at London only to find out that Harry had been killed by Voldemort because I wasn´t there to help him. On the other hand, it´d probably awkward if I showed up and he had already defeated Voldemort: `Thank You Sirius, but I really didn´t need your help´." Sirius realized that he was talking to himself and immediately shut up. He hoped that his tenure in Azkaban hadn´t finally caught up with him.

`What I need,´ thought Sirius, `is a way to be really useful to Harry. Aquire some kind of new attack or weapon that would increase are chances against Voldemort. Someway I could help. Once I get London, maybe I should check out a few books at Flourish and Blotts; they might have some book on a newly developed Dark Arts Defense Tactic or something. Then again, maybe I could polish my magical skills while I´m traveling somehow...´

BOOM!

"What the..." Sirius sprang to his feet and listened closely. When he heard nothing he sighed and thought, `Maybe I am losing my mind.´

BOOM!

Sirius froze again. No, he wasn´t losing his mind, there was boom coming from somewhere nearby. Sirius listened closer.

BOOM!

Yes! No denying it. The booming sound was coming from a thicket about 50 yards away. And Sirius swore that he also felt the ground vibrate every time there was a boom.

BOOM!

There definitely was a vibration. Sirius started to make his way over to the thicket and peered into it.

BOOM!

Sitting in the thicket, starring away from Sirius was a man in his late forties. The first thing Sirius observed was that this man was dressed as a Catholic monk: a friar to be more specific. But the only thing monk like about him was his clothes. The friar was huge, taller than Sirius at 6´ 5" and his rippling with muscle. In fact, his build reminded Sirius of those supposed Muggle sportsmen called Pro-Wrestlers.

Sirius tried to look around the Friar and saw the source of the booming. The Friar was carrying a wand, and he was hitting the ground with the wand´s tip. Every time the wand hit the ground, it generated a magical pulse that vibrated through the ground causing the booming sound. The vibrations were shaking some of the small rocks surrounding the monk. Finally, with a last hit to the ground, the rocks shattered. Sirius was surprised to say the least.

"Wow!" he muttered. The Friar heard Sirius and turned to face him. He was completely bald, had a thickset chin, and hollow brown eyes.

"Who may you be stranger and what are you doing on this sacred ground?" he asked. He spoke with a distinct Irish accent.

"Me? I´m just a fellow wizard like yourself brother friar," replied Sirius. "I mean you no harm."

"A wizard are you?" said the Friar. "Then you will have to prove it to me or else I will be forced to remove your memory."

"Easy said and done," said Sirius. He transformed into a dog, made a few barks, and transformed back.

"An animagus," said the Friar clearly impressed. "Those kinds of wizards are so rare. Come my friend, you must join me for dinner." He pulled out a full meal of roast mutton, corn, and wine. Sirius, for whom one fish was not enough was more than happy to join. After a hearty meal, Sirius brought up the subject of the strange magical pulse the Friar was using.

"So tell me, what was the trick you were doing. Some kind of divine power granted to only those in the clergy." He chuckled but the Friar did not appear to be amused.

"I have no divine power," said the Friar rather bitterly. "What is the point of divine power? When has God ever come forward and stick up for the oppressed. When has he come in his glory to save those who need him?"

Sirius didn´t know what to think about the Friar´s bitter tone. "You sound like someone who´s lost his faith," he observed.

"That I have," answered the Friar. "That `trick´ as you call it that you´ve seen, it is called the `Double-Neutral Spell´ a technique I developed myself after I have lost my faith as you call it. It is a power I have developed on my own, not from a divine source."

"Well, if that´s the case, you wouldn´t mind taching it to me do you?" said Sirius with a hopeful smile. "I could really use a spell like that in the near future."

For a moment, the Friar starred at Sirius as if considering his request. Finally, he said, "Tell me, what is your opinion about the British Ministry of Magic?"

"What? The Ministry of Magic?" Sirius thought this was an odd question but decided to answer honestly anyway. "Well, to be honest I don´t like it. They threw me into Azkaban Prison for 12 years without a trial after I was framed of murdering twelve muggles as well as betraying my best friend to death. That hasn´t bode with me well. And the insistance they have of refusing to acknowledge Voldemort´s (Sirius was impressed when the Friar didn´t flinch) return hasn´t boded with me as well. So I suppose, you can say that my overall thoughts of the Ministry aren´t on the happy side."

After another minute of thought the Friar said, "Very well, I´ll teach you the Double-Neutral Spell. However, there is one condition. This spell is very special and I don´t just teach it lightly. You must show me that you are completely serious about mastering this spell, even if it costs you your life."

"Meaning?"

"If you fail to master this spell in one month, I will kill you."

`Whoa, that´s harsh!´ Sirius thought. He certainly hadn´t expected such harsh conditions from a clergy man but then, this Friar said he had lost his faith. For a split second, Sirius considered forgetting about the "Double-Neutral Spell". However, there were two things about Sirius Black. The first was that he some times had a tendency to speak without thinking. The second more important aspect about his was that he could never let a challenge passs. It had been that challenging nature of his that had eventually led to his and his best friends´ transformation into Animagi during their fifth year at Hogwarts. And it was this determination that had led to him being the only one ever to escape from the Dementors when they controlled Azkaban.

"A month?" Sirius said with a laugh. "Ha, no way! I´ll master this skill in one week!"

The Friar was clearly surprised by Sirius´s challenge but quickly recovered himself. "Very well. You have one week." He passed a small rock to Sirius. "The `Double-Neutral Spell´ is best learned without a wand and is quite simple in theory. Simply place your hand over the rock and send in first a burst of negative charged magic immediately followed by a burst of positive charged magic."

Sirius shrugged and gave it a try. The rock first glowed with a blue light from the negative charged magic then red from the positive charged magic. "Hmm, doesn´t seem to be working," he said.

"All you did there was send in a flow of positive charged magic after the negative charged magic," said the Friar as he picked up another rock. "The key is to send in the two charges near simultaneously, yet with the negative only slightly faster; like this," With that, the rock in the Friar´s hand exploded into dust.

"Whoa," said Sirius clearly impressed.

"You can still back out if you like," replied the Friar. "Mastering this spell is a lot more difficult than one can expect and I sincerely doubt you want to risk your life for just one spell." Sirius however started laughing.

"Are you kidding? I said I was going to master this spell in one week and that´s what I intend to do!"

* * *

Four days later however, Sirius was starting to have second thoughts about his challenge. The "Double-Neautral Spell" was even harder than Sirius had anticipated and every single attempt at it he had made had ended in failure.

"Dammit!" Sirius cursed. He was shirtless and drenched in sweat nearby the river and his hands were starting to burn from excessive attempted uses of wandless magic. He also hadn´t eaten or slep much the past few days and it was starting to take it´s toil.

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" He yelled, clearly frustrated by his lack of progress. "How different is this spell from the Reductor Curse anyways?!" In a yell of frustration, Sirius grabbed his wand, pointed it at a nearby rock and yelled, "Reducto!", blasting it away. That calmed him down a little.

"Wait a minute," he observed. He quickly examined the rock he had blasted away with the Reductor Curse and realized something. While the "Double-Negative Spell" obliterated a rock from it´s inside, the Reductor Curse blasted solid objects out of it´s way.

`OK, I´m beginning to see how this spell works,´thought Sirius. `It looks like that when I use this spell, the negative charge first causes the atoms of the object to implode on them selves on the inside, though if it were a negative charge alone those atoms would instantly rearrange themselves. The positive charge however causes those imploded atoms to explode before they have a chance to rearrange; in effect, it neutralizes the object. That must be why it´s called the "Double-Neutral Spell": double spells used to neutralize the object.´

As educational as this was however, it brought Sirius nowhere nearer to actually being able to master the spell. So, with a sigh, Sirius started trying to attempt the spell again.

* * *

It had been six days now and Sirius still hadn´t mastered the spell. It was night now, and the stars and half moon were shining brightly in the sky. The week would be over in the morning and Sirius had been panicking. He was now completely exhausted, his hands completely burnt by the countless attempts at wandless magic. At present he was lying on the ground looking up at the stars while panting. `Maybe this´ll be the last stars I´ll ever see in my life,´ he thought. `Who would´ve thought, especially after escaping Azkaban that this would be the way I go.´ Sirius shook his head. `No, can´t give up now! Must master the spell! I owe it to Harry! I owe it to James!´ That thought more than anything, gave Sirius the strength to pull himself up to his knees. He looked down at the ground as he tried to catch his breath.

Sirius, just let it go.

"What?" Sirius´s head sprang up when he heard the oh so familiar voice in his head; a voice he hadn´t heard in years. As soon as Sirius saw who was standing in front of him, he thought he must´ve finally lost his mind.

There, standing in front of him was James Potter. There was no denying it, he looked nearly identical to Harry except that his eyes were brown and he had no scar on his forehead. He wore glasses and his black hair stuck up all over the place just like Harry´s did. He wore casual wizard robes that he had always worn after his marriage to Lily. In fact he looked just way Sirius had last seen him, just before his untimely death. He had a small, melancholy smile on his face. Sirius, let it go, said the voice once again.

"J-James?" said Sirius while he goggled at his long lost best friend. "It can´t be. Are you a ghost?" Sirius noted that James´s form was indeed transparent though he was in full color unlike ghosts that were gray.

James smiled. Sirius, just let it go. Lily and I can´t thank you enough for all that you´ve done for Harry. So much of your life has already been wasted. You should just tell the Friar that you give up: I´m sure he´ll spare your life. You don´t have to join Lily and I just for this.

Sirius chuckled as he pulled himself to his feet. "Same old James," he mutterred. "Always looking after my well being." He stood up straight and looked "James" straight into the eye. "I can´t, Prongs. I can´t just give up now. You see James, I´m not just doing this for Harry. I´m doing this for myself. I´m doing this to prove to myself that I still have what it takes. I need this James, so that I know for a fact that I didn´t lose everything in Azkaban. I need this to prove to myself that I truly am a wizard capable of facing Voldemort standing right next to your son, my godson. And if you truly are James Potter, than you know for a fact that you can´t stop me."

Sirius took a deep breath and started walking past "James". As he passed him, Sirius said, "I don´t care if you´re really a ghost, or just a figment of my tortured imagination, or the proof that I really did lose my mind in Azkaban. All I know is that I just want to say one thing: thanks Prongs. It was great to see you again."

As Sirius walked away from "James" he could sense that the vision of his best friend was smiling at him.

* * *

The next morning the Friar came over to the river and saw Sirius lying on the ground, lifeless.

"Poor soul," he said. "You have been remarkable. But I see you have worked yourself to death. It is unfortunate that that was the way things are. It took me years to perfect the `Double-Negative Spell´, there was no way you could´ve mastered it in one week. Still, you deserve a proper burial..."

"Oh no you don´t," Sirius suddenly said, his eyes flying open. "I´m very much alive brother friar." He pulled himself into a sitting position and yawned. The Friar seemed unimpressed.

"That doesn´t matter," he said. "You have failed your challenge. Therefore the penalty is your life."

Sirius grinned. "Oh yeah?" He tossed a small rock into the air and made a gesture to catch it. As soon as the rock hit Sirus´s hand, it exploded into dust. The Friar was shocked.

"But, but how could you have..."

"Hey, it wasn´t a walk in the park," said Sirius. "I only mastered it a few hours ago, thanks to the encouraging words of an old friend. Personally I was having a few doubts about completing the task myslef. But once I got the hang of it, it was easy."

"Easy?" said the Friar in disbelief. "It took me years to master that spell, and you have done it in a week. Nothing short of genius should be said about you." There was clearly awe in the Friar´s voice.

A few hours later, Sirius was well rested and ready to resume his journey. "Well off to London, that is if I had any idea where I was."

"You are in Sherwood Forest," said the Friar. "Nottingham is just down the river."

"Sherwood?" Sirius exclaimed. He burst out laughing. "Well what do you know, I´ve been heading the right way all this time. I can make it to London easily from Nottingham." He turned to the Friar and grinned. "Thanks a lot for the spell, I owe you a lot now. The name´s Sirius Black. Look me up sometime."

"Ah yes, the famous fugitive," said the Friar. "I am Angelus O´Connell. It has been an honor to meet you Sirius Black."

"You bet!" said Sirius. With a final wave, Sirius transformed into a large dog and bounded away. Angelus continued looking out for him until he was out of sight.

"A most remarkable man," Angelus mutterred. "It would be my pleasure to meet him again, somehow."

"Mr. O´Connell?" said a voice from behind him. Angelus looked behind to see none other than Seth Soran.

"Seth! To what honor is this for you to come visit me?"

"A message from Mr. Voldemort?"

"Indeed?"

"He wishes that the Elite Ten gather in London before the full moon."

There was glint of something in Angelus´s eye. "Ah, so the final battle is upon us?"

"Yes it is," replied Seth. "I myself have just encountered Mr. Harry Potter in the village of Graypine not too far from here. He is heading toward London."

"Then the time has come," said Angelus. "Tell the Dark Lord that I will be joining him in London in just a few days."

"At once," said Seth. An instant later, both Seth and Angelus had disappeared.

To be continued...