Chapter 10: A Goblin Never ForgetsChapter TextThe following few days at Hogwarts were rather quiet and uneventful as the students began to settle into their newly forming habits and routines. Some of their classes, such as Charms and Transfiguration, had multiple classes throughout the week that they had to attend while others, such as Herbology and Potions, were limited to one or two. Hermione had been the one who had quickly identified that this didn't necessarily mean they had a smaller workload for those subjects, however. In fact, after looking over their potions textbook and the structure of the content, it was quite clear that having less time in the classroom would only make those subjects harder, and required 'more' self-directed study on their part.
With this knowledge in mind, Skyla, Neville and Hermione were quietly preparing in the common room for their upcoming Potions class the following morning, while the rest of the first year Gryffindor students relaxed around the fire, idly chatting and playing games together.
"You guys really don't quit, huh?" Lavender called out to the trio, "it's Friday tomorrow. It's one class, and then we have all weekend. You should lighten up a little. Do something fun."
"I don't want to fall behind," Hermione replied, "there's actually so much content that we have to fit into each week. I know it doesn't seem like it now, but later on when-"
"Fall behind?" Parvati laughed, "you guys are so far ahead of everyone else. You aren't gonna fall behind, even if you stopped studying altogether."
"That's not true," Hermione said, "even if we are ahead now, once you fall behind, it becomes very difficult to catch up again. For any of us. Especially when it comes to exam time; you don't want to be scrambling to study then."
"Exams? It's our first week," Lavender chuckled, "we have months until our exams."
Hermione shrugged, "they'll be on us before you know it. What if we get asked questions about this week's content? Will you remember any of it? I'd rather make sure that I'm prepared early."
"Well, you can do what you like," Ron said unconcernedly, while getting Lavender and Parvati's attention, "but for the rest of us… who's up for a game of chess?"
He indicated to the chess set that was sitting beside him.
"I don't know how to play," Lavender said.
"I haven't the faintest clue," Parvati agreed.
"I can teach you," Ron offered, "it's real easy. Come, sit with me-"
The rest of the first year Gryffindors who had nothing else to do (aside from actually study), gathered around to watch the amusing sight of Lavender and Parvati attempting to learn chess. Skyla watched on with mixed emotions; she wasn't exactly 'jealous' since she had no interest in chess (or in playing with Ron either, if she was being honest), however she did feel a certain sense of regret at having not been included in the overall group. She completely agreed with what Hermione had said, and it did make sense, yet part of her privately wished that Hermione had agreed to go over and play with them, so they could all go. Skyla wasn't going to leave Hermione out on her own of course, but she was a little wistful as she watched the much larger group of students chatting and having a fun time together while the three of them quietly studied potions in the corner. It was too late now at any rate, so with a quiet sigh, she looked back down to her book and resumed her work.
The following morning arrived and despite having enjoyed her first week (for the most part), Skyla was admittedly looking forward to taking a break from their classes over the weekend. They just had the one extended class to get through and then they were free until Monday (well, as 'free' as they would be on Hermione's rather intense schedule). Regrettably it was to be three hours spent down in the dungeons with Slytherin and their Head of House, but, at least it was just the one class. Skyla was a little worried about whether she would have any incidents with the Slytherin students since she hadn't interacted with them since their D.A.D.A. lesson where she had zoned out for awhile at Draco's insult, but she tried to push it from her mind as best as she could. While they may have had some failings, to their credit the rest of the Gryffindors had forgotten about it almost immediately, although that was likely only due to a juicier piece of gossip appearing in the news circle among the students. Skyla could little more than hope that the rest of the school were as easily distracted as the Gryffindors had been.
"I must admit, I am curious what potions is going to be like," Hermione mused as they made their way down to the dungeons below the castle, "I know that it's taught by Professor Snape but I don't know much about him. Only that he's Slytherin's Head of House."
"I know he has a Mastery in potions," Neville commented, "which is exceedingly rare. There are only a handful of 'Masters' left in any discipline around the world, and Hogwarts holds three of them. It's quite the point of pride among magical Britain; my Gran kept bringing it up before I left for Hogwarts."
"What is a Mastery?" Skyla asked.
"Someone who has been certified by the International Confederation of Wizards as an expert and leader in their field," Neville explained.
"Confederation of Wizards? Are witches not allowed in or something?" Skyla asked with a hesitant laugh.
"Uh… no, it's just called that 'cause… well, I don't really know why. Traditional, I suppose. I'm pretty sure there are witches who represent some other countries. Dumbledore represents us, of course. I don't know much more about it than that though."
"Who are the other two 'Masters' that Hogwarts has?" Hermione asked curiously, "I guess one must be Professor Dumbledore."
"Yeah, Professor Dumbledore for Alchemy and Professor McGonagall for Transfiguration. Even to people like my grandmother, they are household names. There's not that many magical schools left around the world so any 'Masters' are highly contested."
"I would love to study Alchemy under Professor Dumbledore," Hermione sighed rather dreamily, "can you imagine how fascinating that would be? The things you could learn…"
Skyla frowned at the mention of Dumbledore's name, but she had no desire to ruin Hermione's dreamy moment so she said nothing further on the topic as they found their way into the potions laboratory and occupied a bench at the front of the class.
"This is certainly a… mood," Neville commented with amusement.
"Not the most productive workspace," Hermione agreed with a slightly wrinkled nose.
It was quite a dark and depressing room that their class was to be held in; there was no natural light since they were below sea level in the dungeons and the only sources of light were a handful of burning torches on the walls. Even those torches seemed a little sad and withered as whatever spell kept them burning seemed to be slowly fading and dying out.
"It's not so bad," Skyla offered, "it's pretty large; it's nice to have all this space to ourselves. I actually kind of like it, honestly. Look at all this equipment we can use."
Neville and Hermione looked at her like she had gone mad, but Skyla just shrugged in response. She was perhaps the only student who felt comfortable in the environment as the trio noticed even the Slytherins had retreated towards the sides and rear of the room in search of light and air. Most of the students seemed to be contesting the seats by the door, perhaps in eager anticipation of leaving the classroom as soon as it finished.
There was no mistaking the entry of Professor Snape a few minutes later as he pushed the door to the potions laboratory fully open with a loud bang, startling the waiting students.
"There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class," he announced immediately as he strode down the aisle between the benches with his long black cloak swishing behind him, "I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion-making. However, for those select few…"
Snape paused when he reached the front and turned around to peer at the class for a moment, causing many students to lower their gaze and avoid his penetrating stare as he inspected his new first years.
"... who possess, the predisposition... I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death."
Skyla stared at the strange (and admittedly rather dramatic) man with interest. In the back of her mind, she knew that it was likely a pre-rehearsed speech performed with flair in order to stimulate some interest in the subject from the students, however it was rather effective and she found herself leaning forward and hanging on every word. She wasn't particularly interested in fame or glory, but halting death? She was especially interested in that one; she wasn't afraid to die, yet she couldn't help but wonder if such skills could have potentially saved her parents from their fate. If she could learn how to prevent death, she could stop someone else from having to grow up like she had-
As if he had heard her thoughts or something, Snape suddenly turned to look at her, startling her with the intensity of his stare.
"Miss Potter," he eventually said, "our new celebrity."
Skyla frowned at being singled out, once again, in a classroom. She was starting to get very annoyed at being the forefront of every class; she just wanted to sit and quietly learn. Was that so bad? She didn't dare say anything to him however and simply said nothing in response, waiting for him to say whatever it was he clearly wanted to say.
He appraised her for a surprisingly long amount of time, before he suddenly asked;
"Tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
"Oh," Skyla furrowed her brow and tried to recall what she had read over the break. She remembered that they were useful for something, what was it…?
"... they are core ingredients in… the Draught of Living Death, aren't they?" Skyla said hesitantly, "at least, I think they are…"
She glanced over to Hermione and was relieved to see her nodding approvingly. Snape simply continued to peer down at her with a rather unreadable expression.
"And where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
"Oh, that one is easy," Skyla said with relief, "in the stomach of a goat. They are a simple cure for all kinds of poisons; it mentions them in our textbook as a good emergency prevention."
"That it does," Snape commented in a neutral tone.
"What is the difference then," he continued, "between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
"Aren't…" Skyla began, but paused with a frown, "... aren't they the same thing? Or am I missing something? I thought wolfsbane was just a nickname… it has another name too, I'm pretty sure…"
"Aconite," both Snape and Hermione commented at the same time.
"Right, that's the one."
"So… you've done some reading," he said quietly.
"Yes sir," she said a little nervously, "I've read my textbook twice."
A few students laughed at the rear, and she distinctly heard Ron snort in amusement.
Snape said nothing however and simply peered down at her, clearly thinking deeply, which only left Skyla feeling more confused.
"Was… was there anything else, sir?" Skyla asked hesitantly, when Snape said nothing further.
"No…" he said slowly, and turned his attention back to the class, giving them an introduction to potions and what they will be learning, leaving a very confused Skyla sitting at her bench and wondering why she had just been so suddenly targeted like that.
"Shame you didn't get any points for all that," Hermione whispered while Snape began to write a potion recipe on the chalkboard at the front.
"I don't know why I was singled out in the first place," Skyla whispered back, "why is it always me?"
"Gee, I wonder why, Miss 'Girl-Who-Lived'," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes.
Potions class had ended up being a surprisingly quiet affair after that; Professor Snape seemed slightly subdued and almost confused from Skyla's earlier answers while Draco (who Skyla had been worried would make a scene after their D.A.D.A. class) merely sat in the corner with his friends and ignored everyone else. Even Ron seemed to be rather preoccupied with Dean and Seamus as the three seemed to be struggling slightly to get their potions correct.
It had ended up being quite an enjoyable class in the end and she finished with a picture-perfect Cure for Boils potion sitting bottled in front of her, and a satisfied expression on her face. Neville hadn't faired quite as well as she had, however with a little assistance from his two new friends, he too was able to complete the potion to an acceptable degree (though his was perhaps not quite as vibrantly blue as Skyla's and Hermione's potions were).
The class was eventually dismissed, and Skyla made to depart with Hermione and Neville, however Snape suddenly stopped her before she reached the door.
"Potter. You will stay behind."
Skyla almost rolled her eyes, having had more than enough of her share of private conversations with teachers for one week, however she didn't dare risk the man's wrath (if for no other reason than not wishing to lose her hard-earned points thus far). She let out a small sigh and waved Hermione and Neville on, who informed her that they would wait outside. Draco smirked at Skyla on his way past, clearly thinking that Skyla was about to get into trouble and Ron gave her a stern look, as if warning her not to lose any points (as though he were in any position to comment).
"Did I do something wrong, sir?" Skyla asked after the rest of the class had vacated and she was left alone with Snape.
He peered at her for a second with an unreadable expression.
"You look exactly like your mother," he said quietly.
"I've been told as much, yes."
"You have her eyes."
"Yes, I'm aware. Sir."
He stared at her for several seconds.
"Five points to Gryffindor."
"Huh?"
"For your answers at the start," Snape sniffed.
"Oh. Uh, thanks?"
She didn't really think that getting a measly five points was worth having to stay back, but, at least she didn't lose any.
"You may go."
"O-okay…"
Skyla slowly stepped back and, with no further reaction from Snape, she turned and walked out of the room with confusion.
"What did he say?" Hermione asked when Skyla emerged, looking as though she had just been asked to perform a series of complicated equations while juggling.
"He… he gave me five points for Gryffindor," Skyla said with a confused shrug.
"That's… good, I guess?"
"... yeah…?"
None of the trio seemed to quite appreciate the immense significance of the first points that Snape had given to Gryffindor in almost a decade, and the three simply stared at each other in confusion at the weird behaviour, before eventually shrugging and forgetting about it. Instead of dwelling on the matter, they almost immediately forgot about it as they began to discuss their plans for the remainder of the day, which mostly included study, at Hermione's insistence.
***************
Severus Snape sighed as he sat back in his chair, still sitting within the now empty classroom. He had just finished delivering the lesson for the first years that he had, admittedly, been planning for almost the entire week. He didn't usually put a particular emphasis on a year, let alone a class, however this one had been especially important, for rather obvious reasons.
It had come as no surprise to anyone that Skyla Potter was undertaking her first year at Hogwarts; it wasn't terribly difficult to work out that she would be turning eleven this year and thus, would be of starting age for the school. Many had marked the year out as a year of interest and Severus had known exactly which year would correlate with the entry of Dumbledore's golden child and spawn of James Potter. He had been preparing for the appearance of the child for quite some time, however even still, he had been caught unprepared by the girl's uncanny resemblance to Lily, the love of his life. He had been expecting to see a miniature James Potter; see his arrogant smirk plastered all over the girls' face while she flaunted her wealth and power, yet he had been utterly stunned to see the beautiful replication of Lily, even down to her mannerisms, though the girl herself may not have even realised just how much she resembled her mother.
Severus had never forgiven himself for causing the death of the beautiful Lily Evans (he still refused to acknowledge her as 'Potter'). He had never raised a hand or a wand towards her, not wished her any harm at all, yet it was without question his own fault that she had died. Peter Pettigrew certainly had his own input towards the Potters' death with his disgusting betrayal, yet if it hadn't been for Severus, then the Dark Lord would have never sought out the two to begin with. They were annoyances to his plans no doubt, and he would have liked to kill them had the opportunity arisen, yet he wouldn't have put himself at risk by blatantly walking up to the home of the two formidable opponents and blasting down their front door if not for Severus' actions.
He couldn't help but think back to that fateful day, when he had gone rushing off to tell his former master about the prophecy he had overheard. Admittedly, he couldn't possibly have known that the Dark Lord would immediately interpret the prophecy to mean the child of Lily and James Potter and thus, decide that the entire family needed to be eradicated as the highest priority above all else. The wording of prophecies was always vague and unclear; Severus had been fooled by Lily herself once who had read him something called 'fortune cookies' and convinced him that they were prophecies. The child in question could have been any of a dozen or more children, yet by his own actions the Dark Lord had been the one to fulfill the prophecy by targeting young Skyla and sealing her fate. It was almost amusing in a way; the strong sense of irony that came along with the self-fulfilling prophecy that had brought down the Dark Lord.
There was nothing funny about what had happened to Lily however, or the way that Severus had, pitifully, painfully, begged the Dark Lord to spare her life. It left a foul taste in his mouth to this day as he remembered pleading with the Dark Lord before he departed to murder the Potters.
"My Lord," Severus had begged on his hands and knees, with tears in his eyes and his nose pressed to the ground, "please. Spare her. Spare Lily. I will do anything you want, as I always have, but please my Lord, please take mercy on her, even if it is her alone."
"Severus," the Dark Lord had hissed back in annoyance at being held up, "if she submits to my will and serves me, she will be spared. Any resistance however-"
"Allow me to go with you my Lord," Severus had begged, "I can assist you! I will kill James Potter for you myself! I can reason with Lily, I-I can make her see that-"
"You will be nothing but a burden," the Dark Lord said in an uncaring and dismissive tone, "and you are testing my patience as it is."
"My Lord, please, she-"
"Crucio!"
Severus hardly even flinched at the pain. Pain was one of his oldest friends, the only other friend he had aside from Lily. He was no stranger to torment and he would take whatever the Dark Lord threw his way without a single sound. The Dark Lord knew it too, and merely scoffed in his direction before apparating away to the Potter Cottage. Severus had followed shortly after, consequences be damned, and since he was the only other person who had heard Peter Pettigrew's message of betrayal he was able to apparate to the Potter Cottage. By the time he arrived however, the Dark Lord had already blown the door in and was quickly dispatching James in the hallway with his immense power and skill.
Severus had frozen out the front of the pretty cottage, wondering whether he should go in or not. Silence had fallen over the house and he foolishly thought that maybe Lily would surrender and save herself, or perhaps even more foolishly the Dark Lord was being merciful towards her. Yet, when he saw another flash of green light come from the upstairs bedroom, followed a few moments later by a second one, he realised with horror what had just happened.
"No…"
He had begun to stumble forward in shock when a few moments later, a horrifying sound reached his ears that caused him to fall to his knees and cover his ears; it was the agonising, painful, deathly scream of the Dark Lord as his soul was torn violently from his body. He thought that he would never forget that sound, however when he eventually rushed into the bedroom of the Potters' child, he realised that instead he would never forget the sight of Lily lying blankly on the floor, unmoving.
His sorrow had no words.
In the years that passed following her death, Severus hadn't given too much thought for the small child in the crib. He had hated James with a passion during their school years together, and he hated the fact that James had stolen Lily away from him even more as they progressed into adulthood. As far as Severus was concerned, the child was a living reminder of the fact that James Potter stole Lily out from under Severus' nose and knocked her up with his foul spawn. He had been more than prepared to enforce an entire seven years of misery upon the child, starting with his far-too difficult questions that would no doubt result in the embarrassment and humiliation of the young and likely stuck-up Potter, if she was anything like her father.
All his bitter thoughts had left his mind however when he had finally made contact with those beautiful green eyes, that were just like Lily's. The girl was a spitting image of her mother and it utterly broke the last few fragments of his heart that were still clinging onto his chest for dear life. She clearly had James' messy black hair, but her soft features, pale skin and gentle voice were so much like Lily's that if someone had told Severus he had died and gone to heaven to see Lily once again, he would have believed them. At least the girl didn't wear any stupid glasses like her father had; he had always found it distasteful that James, a pureblood, would adorn muggle clothing for the sake of it when one could fix their sight with magic. James clearly knew that; he probably wore the stupid glasses to impress Lily and demonstrate his 'acceptance' of her culture or some such rubbish. Severus hated that it seemed to have worked, as he had thought Lily was above such things.
With nothing else to do he had decided to continue with his plan and asked the girl his questions, yet Skyla had simply answered them correctly, if a little hesitantly and clearly seeking reassurance from either himself or her friends that she was correct. It was just how Lily had been in her first year; Lily had been the smartest girl in the school yet she had been incredibly humble and if anything, a little nervous about putting herself forward in the classroom. She had every right to be arrogant since she clearly knew the answers, yet she hadn't been challenging or combative at all; she had only been concerned that she was wrong in some way or had misunderstood something.
With a private, regretful sigh, he had realised that he simply couldn't bring himself to torment the girl; he was loathe to admit it but the girl seemed quite sweet, and pure, and completely unlike her father had been at school. She didn't sit with the rest of her house, she sat at the front with only two others who seemed interested in learning. She clearly had access to her wealth based on her tailored robes, yet she wasn't flaunting it openly and she hardly even seemed to understand how to put the things on properly since they were all skewed and uneven. The final nail in the coffin for his hopes of getting revenge on James was the fact that the girl had no interested in fame or glory; he knew it was wrong to use legilimency on his students but he couldn't help having a subtle peek into her mind and finding that the only thing she seemed to think about was her parents. She was desperate for any kind of parental contact and he felt a strange sense of guilt at having considered tormenting her just to get revenge on her father. She didn't deserve it.
He even felt guilty about having not rewarded her appropriately for her excellence and diligence in having read far beyond the require readings. He couldn't imagine what Minerva's face would be like if she found out that he had given points to Gryffindor; he hoped that Skyla wouldn't mention it and hopefully, the other students would think that he was simply being his normal self and bullying Skyla for being a Gryffindor.
It was interesting to Severus that when he had lightly poked at Skyla's mind, he hadn't seen any thoughts of Dumbledore or anything of her home. Severus had originally been under the impression that Albus had taken the girl under his wing and was raising her in some secret location, likely protected by Fidelius and with a dozen house elves attending her every need, feeding the girl's ego and sense of self-entitlement. It was apparently not the case, since the only thought that Skyla had of home had been to do with some strange, dark underground location. He must have been getting her thoughts mixed up, since that couldn't have been her home. Perhaps she was just thinking about the classroom itself.
The girl had then proceeded to create a perfect potion on her first try. Yet, instead of bragging about it as he thought she might, Skyla simply bottled the potion and put it on her desk before turning around to help her friend with his own work. It almost seemed as thought she had forgotten about her own potion entirely after that, although he had certainly noticed the skillful touches she had applied to the potion as she had diligently prepared it. Perhaps he should have given her some points for that too, but, it was painful enough for him to award the five that he had.
With a sigh he rubbed his tired face with hands. He had been so prepared to wallow in his hatred and to make the girl suffer on behalf of her father, yet she clearly took much more after her mother. Disappointingly, he knew he would have to find another way to relieve his stress and find someone else to torment. He didn't really know any other way to feel better about his own miserable life, since he was forced to live with the heavy burden of his decisions every single day.
'Oh well,' he thought to himself with a small shrug, 'there are no shortage of idiotic students to come through my classrooms. The next one to screw up better watch out though."
***************
In the middle of the Gryffindor common room while joking around with Dean and Seamus, Ron suddenly felt a strange shiver run up his spine, though he had no idea where it came from.
***************
"I was wondering," Skyla mused thoughtfully over a late breakfast on Saturday morning, "how much of the conversation that I had with Remus did you actually hear?"
"Oh," Hermione's cheeks turned slightly red as she recalled, "well, I mean, I heard a fair bit…"
"I told her not to listen in," Neville pointed out while he cut up his bacon, "said it wasn't right."
"I wasn't purposefully eavesdropping or anything!" Hermione said quickly, "I just… I wanted to make sure you were okay and didn't need any help. And you were listening too, Neville!"
"Only once you started!"
"It's okay," Skyla said with a shrug, "it's not like any of it was a secret or anything. I don't really care if you know."
"I… I'm sorry to hear about how you grew up," Hermione said softly, "I knew it was bad, but… you never really told us any details. I'm sorry if I was insensitive. You know, about your ability with the light and-"
Skyla shook her head.
"No, not at all, I'm not bothered by that. If I knew how I was doing it I'd gladly teach you to do it too," Skyla said regretfully, "but I just… I just kind of do it. I don't really know how."
She had tried to teach Hermione how to summon her own blue ball of light for several hours last night, yet they had absolutely zero success and had eventually given up on it in favour of studying other more practical magic for their classes.
"Oh don't worry," Hermione said with a smile, "I admit I'm a little frustrated that I can't get it, but that's only at myself, not you."
"If you can't do it then there's no way I could," Neville added, "I'm still getting the hang of levitation."
"You've improved a lot, though," Hermione said encouragingly.
"Thanks to you two," he scoffed slightly, "I'd be failing otherwise."
"Well, we're a team," Hermione said brightly, "right?"
"It doesn't feel like I'm adding much though," Neville said, "between you teaching me Charms, Transfiguration, Potions-"
"I've done almost nothing for our Herbology project," Skyla pointed out with a laugh.
"Yeah but that's one subj-"
"Eurgh!"
Skyla and Neville looked at Hermione would was making a rather pained face while looking down to the end of the table.
"How does he do… that?"
Ron had several astonished pairs of eyes on him as he demolished a gigantic plate of what appeared to be nothing but sausages and bacon with pure bliss.
"Don't stop there," Hermione grumbled slightly in disgust, "I think there's still a bit of the farm you are missing…"
"I'd be rolling around on the floor like a balloon if I ate all that," Skyla said, almost sounding impressed.
"Well, I'm no small boy myself," Neville laughed, indicating to his own rather lavish portioning, "so I can't really judge. My grandmother keeps telling me I'm too fat."
"Better than being starved," Skyla said, "trust me on that one."
Neville and Hermione looked sadly at each other, however Skyla didn't notice as she took her eyes away from the fascinating display of Ron eating to watch a few owls sweep into the Great Hall, dropping letters and newspapers down to the students and staff.
"You know… I was thinking; I think Professor Lupin was right," Hermione began hesitantly to Skyla, "I don't think you should just go racing off to find Sirius. I'm glad that you took his advice to wait."
Skyla looked down with a slight frown, before sighing softly.
"Yeah… yeah I know… it makes sense, it's just-"
"-it's worse knowing, right?" Neville said with a nod, "it's like an itch you can't scratch. You sometimes think it might be better that they be dead, then knowing they are right there and you can't reach them."
"I-yeah actually," Skyla said with surprise, "that's… that's pretty much what it feels like."
Skyla peered at Neville for a moment.
"Did you lose someone?" She asked.
"Well-" Neville paused, before sighing softly, "I'll tell you some other time. Not over breakfast. Not here."
"Alright."
"I can't really pretend to understand what you're going through," Hermione added gently, "but… I think your parents would want you to look after yourself first. Go through school, finish your education, have a life of your own, you know?"
"You're probably right," Skyla said reluctantly, "I bet that's exactly what they would want. But I can't leave this alone, not now that I know he's out there, and the closest thing to family I have left. The same with Remus, I suppose, but… I don't really know how I feel about him."
She thought back to her conversation with Remus and she knew that that rushing off in search of the mysterious Sirius was a foolhardy errand, since she only had a single location that he had visited years ago. Even if he was still in London, she couldn't count on just bumping into him on the corner; she needed more information, and better tools, to aid her future search. She knew that logically, however her heart still yearned to simply take off and go find her father's best friend. She had been slightly disappointed by Remus; she hadn't expected to find the man at all, yet now that she had; he hadn't really been what she had hoped for. But then, perhaps she was being unfair; there was still so much she didn't know about everything that had happened and she only hoped that finding Sirius might add the missing pieces into place. She had been truthful when she said to Remus that she wanted to see the man that her parents had liked, because there was clearly a reason that she was missing as to why her parents were friends with him. There had to be.
"Maybe we should forget about it for today?" Hermione suggested as she looked at Skyla's downtrodden expression, "we can even… we can even skip studying for the rest of the morning and we can do something fun instead?"
"Who are you, again?" Neville asked playfully, getting a roll of her eyes from Hermione in response.
"I have been thinking that I'd like to go and see Hagrid at some point," Skyla admitted hesitantly, "but I can go alone if that's something you'd rather not-"
"We can do that," Hermione nodded.
"We did just say we're a team, right?" Neville added.
"Okay. I know he lives on the grounds somewhere, but I'm not really sure where…"
"We can just go for a walk and see if we find him? I'm okay with getting some fresh air for a bit."
The three spent a little time leisurely exploring the Hogwarts grounds in greater detail, which was a rather enjoyable activity by itself. They walked around the quidditch pitch and Neville explained the concept of the game to the two girls, wandered around the greenhouses and stopped by to check on their project, and they even roamed the edges of the Forbidden Forest, although both Neville and Hermione were reluctant to get too close. Skyla could see why it had its name as she peered into the depths; the unnatural darkness within the trees and the eerie aura that it generated caused shivers to run down her spine at the sight. She almost thought, for a bizarre moment, that she could see strange eyes behind a tree yet once she had blinked, they were gone.
"Trick of the light, I suppose…" Skyla said quietly to herself.
"Hm?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, nothing."
"Look, there he is," Neville pointed out, indicating towards a small hut on the edge of the forest where Hagrid was chopping wood outside on a large log, heaving his axe above his head and striking down with immense force.
"Hi Hagrid," Skyla called out as the three approached.
"Oh? Skyla!" Hagrid said happily as he huffed and lowered his axe, "how nice to see ya."
"Nice to see you too Hagrid," Skyla said with a smile, "is this your house?"
Skyla looked curiously at the hut; it looked quite cosy, although perhaps a little small for someone of Hagrid's size. It had a beautiful location though; on the edge of the forest with a good view of the grounds and the lake. It looked quite peaceful and serene.
"Yeah this is where I live," he said with a shrug, "it's not much, but it's better than nothing."
He paused guiltily after seeing Skyla's slightly amused expression at his words.
"Ah… right," he chuckled nervously, "I guess I shouldn't really complain to you about something like tha'… anyway… please, come inside."
The hut turned out to be a single cramped room, with a bed squashed into the corner next to a stone fireplace and a puffy, well-used lounge pushed up against the single window that was open and letting in some warmth and air. His 'kitchen' space was extremely cluttered with utensils everywhere and by standing in the middle of the hut, Hagrid almost had everything he needed within arms reach.
"Sorry 'bout the mess," he said awkwardly, "I uh, I didn't expect to be having company."
"I meant to come visit sooner," Skyla said quickly, "but, it's been a very busy week."
"Oh don't you worry about tha'," Hagrid said with a smile, "it's your first week at Hogwarts! How are you finding everything?"
Hagrid indicated towards the lounge and the three students made their way over and sat down.
"It's going good," Skyla said happily, "this is Neville and Hermione, friends of mine."
Skyla introduced the two, who both gave their polite greetings to Hagrid.
"Nice to meet ya both. Making friends already, eh?" Hagrid chuckled, "just like your father. He was popular in school and all. But then your mother was just as well liked, I suppose. Maybe more so, now I think 'bout it. Ain't no-one who didn't like Lily."
"Did you go to school with my parents?" Skyla asked curiously, "how did you know them?"
"Me? Nah, younger than me they were by a good thirty years," Hagrid laughed, "though I guess I should be flattered that you think I'm that young. I hadn't been long working the grounds when they came through, and was still there after they left."
"Thirty years?" Skyla asked in surprise, "just how old are you?"
"Skyla," Neville whispered, "it's considered rude to ask people their age in magical society-"
"And muggle," Hermione added, but Hagrid just waved them off with a laugh.
"That's alright," he said warmly, "I'll be goin' on sixty-four this year."
"Sixty-four? But you don't look that old at all!"
Hagrid chuckled again, "I'm glad to hear it. Magical blood will do that to you, though. I know it's rare for muggles to get to over a hundred, but for those with magic in them it's not uncommon at all. Professor Dumbledore is over a hundred and still pretty spry as it were. Plenty of witches and wizards out there in the world who are pushing one-fifty. Some of the lucky ones might even make close to two hundred on occasion."
"I didn't know that," Hermione mused, "that's incredible. How is there such a big difference?"
"Yeah, look I'm no expert but it's somethin' about our bodies usin' magic to repair itself unknowingly as we get older," Hagrid said while scratching his head slightly, "it's a good thing and a bad thing."
"Why would that ever be a bad thing?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Well, 'cause I think when people live too long they don't feel the need to do anythin'," Hagrid explained, "no-one wants to change or improve things. I mean, look at the muggles; in the last sixty years muggle London has changed and looks like a completely different country. When you might die at seventy though, I think you want to get a lot more done in your life than when you think you may live to two hundred."
"That makes sense, actually," Hermione considered, nodding along, "I've read a few biographies of famous historical people and most of them were motivated by the need to change things within their short lifespan, especially way back in the past. Those who only lived into their thirties or forties seemed to have a lot of drive to achieve things."
"Yeah there's a lot of things in our world that haven't changed much in the last two hundred years," Hagrid said sadly, "and the thing is tha' a lot of magical people hold it over the muggles 'cause we grow up quicker, develop faster, and live longer. But, if you didn't do nothin' in those two hundred years, does it really matter?"
"What about muggleborns?" Hermione asked, "like me?"
"If you got magic then you got magic," Hagrid shrugged, "don't matter who your parents were, you'll probably live as long as the rest. They say it's in your blood and such, but I don't know about all tha' truth be told. I think it's just magic, you know? Not everythin' needs to have an answer."
"I can't imagine living to two hundred," Skyla mused, "what would you even do for that long?"
"Not much of anythin' if you ask most old mages," Hagrid chuckled, "but I ain't done that much in my first sixty years either if I'm bein' honest. I'm not really much better than the others in the end. Did ya want a cuppa, by the way?"
The three had quite a pleasant day with Hagrid as they discussed all manner of things relating to magic and magical society. Hermione and Skyla were both quite interested to hear his perspective, having grown up in muggle environments. Neville nodded along with a few things that Hagrid said, and added his own input when he knew something that Hagrid didn't.
Eventually the topic came back around to Skyla's parents once again, however, as Hagrid told a few stories from his younger days.
"-and then I says to Professor McGonagall," Hagrid laughed as he finished his story, "but Professor ma'am, it wasn't his fault! And then she asks me who it was then and… well it was actually your father truth be told, but I couldn't tell her that, could I? So I just says it was Filch and she goes off on him instead! And the whole time, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were all sitting behind the statue tryin' not to laugh and get caught!"
The trio laughed along, Skyla smiling slightly at the idea of her trouble-making father and what sounded like his gang of adventurous youths.
"Remus doesn't seem like that now though," Skyla said with a slight frown, "it's hard to imagine him being part of something like that. At least, not from the conversation we had. Can't imagine him running around and causing trouble and getting up to all sorts of things with my father."
"He took the loss of your parents quite hard, he did," Hagrid said with his laughter slowly fading away, "we all did, really. It was a mixed day; on the one hand people were rejoicing 'cause You-Know-Who was dead, but then on the other we paid a very heavy price for it. That day changed a lot of people, some for better and some… well."
"Do you remember Sirius?" Skyla asked.
"Aye, of course," Hagrid said slowly, "what do you know about him?"
"I know that he was my dad's best friend, and that he's wanted for mass murder of over a dozen innocent muggles," Skyla said.
"Ah. So you have heard 'bout that."
"I also know that he's still alive and out there somewhere," Skyla added, "and that there are a lot of questions he has to answer."
"Oh, well- I mean, that's true he's still meant to be alive in theory, but he hasn't shown up for ten years. Not a peep. He's long gone to somewhere far away by now anyway, you don't have to worry about Sirius Black coming back. I wouldn't be surprised if he was dead, truth be told-"
"Yes, well," Skyla decided to withhold the information that she had actually had a conversation with the man before (in a manner of speaking), "I was just hoping you could tell me more about him. From your perspective."
"Oh? Well when he was at school, Sirius was a wild one," Hagrid chuckled slightly, "I tell you; there was no girl in this school who didn't have an eye for him. A few boys I'd wager as well. He was wealthy, dashingly handsome and came from a noble family, the Black family. But more than that, he was very clever and an exceptionally talented young wizard. Bit arrogant at times, truth be told, but a good heart under the outward persona. I think he and James both riled each other up, you know, made everything a competition and such. They caused a lot of trouble for the teachers, yet, I bet ya' most of those teachers still here will tell you they had a soft spot for those boys."
"Would you say he was a good person?" Skyla asked.
"Oh Sirius Black was a good boy, no doubt about it," Hagrid nodded, "he was a bit reckless when he was younger and they often bullied-well, someone, but in their later years they kind of grew out of that a bit and matured slightly. Sirius was very brave and always the first one to step forward and back up James in anything, they were a bit full of themselves at times but then they also did some good deeds; helped out students who were in trouble at times and even once went racing out into the Forbidden Forest to rescue a lost first year! I had to drag them all out myself! Right headache that was…"
Skyla smiled at her mental image of the scene.
"That was those boys though," Hagrid said fondly, "they were smart but sometimes, their sense of daring outweighed their logic. Especially if it came to rescuing some other student in distress."
"I find that very interesting then," Skyla said.
"Why is that?"
"Because the more I hear about Sirius," Skyla mused, "the more I don't think he sounds like he would blown up a dozen innocent muggles in the street."
Hagrid paused.
"Ah. Look… I've often wondered meself, but… that was what they said, wasn't it? Eye witnesses and that saw the whole thing. I'll admit that it don't seem right, but, he had just lost James and Lily and gone off the deep end a bit… he was certainly strong enough to pull it off, at any rate. I dunno Skyla, grief does things to people it does."
"Hm…"
Skyla said no more on the topic but simply continued to think deeply to herself for the remainder of their visit, even as the sun began to start lowering down towards the horizon.
"I better let you lot go," Hagrid said eventually with a sigh, "you spent enough time out here with a dinosaur like me."
"It's been fascinating," Hermione said eagerly, "I feel like I've learned a lot from this. Thank you, Hagrid."
"Oh?"
Skyla snickered slightly as she watched Hagrid swell with pride and his cheeks turn a little red.
"Well, you know I am a staff member after all," he said proudly, "education is a part of everything we do here, even if I don't teach a class myself."
"Have you thought about teaching?" Neville asked.
Hagrid shook his head, "nah. I know about life and all that, but I don't know much about magic and books and-"
"That's what we have have books for though," Neville pointed out, "we can read books on our own. I think you could make a good teacher; you explain things nice and simply."
"You think so?" Hagrid mused for a moment, before shaking his head quickly, "nah… nah not me…"
Despite his adamant denial, the three students departed his hut a few minutes later and he seemed to be lost in thought and a little distracted as he said goodbye.
"I'd like to be taught by him I think," Neville commented as they left, "he's really easy to listen to and learn from."
"Well, I doubt he would be good for transfiguration or something," Hermione pointed out, "since you need good magical theory for that, but, maybe History of Magic would suit him? He can't be any worse than Binns, that's for sure… that ghost doesn't even know which way is up. Literally. Are-are you alright, Skyla?"
Skyla was still slightly distracted and hadn't commented too much towards the end of their visit, and was simply walking alongside the other two silently.
"Yeah, I'm okay," she said distractedly, "just… just thinking about Sirius. I just want to see him, find out the truth, you know? I hate not knowing."
Hermione looked at her with a sympathetic expression.
"Well… maybe in the holidays Professor Lupin will be able to track him down, and you'll get some answers then?"
"I hope so…"
Skyla sighed as she looked out to the sky, wondering what Sirius was doing right now. Part of her desperately wanted to know, yet another part of her couldn't help but wonder nervously;
What if everyone had been right and Sirius was actually a horrible person?
It seemed as though for every answer she found in the magical world, another unanswered question immediately came along to replace it.
***************
While Skyla stared into the sky in the far north, at that very same moment, back in the heart of London, Sirius Black was striding straight down the middle of Diagon Alley. He might have been one of the Ministries 'most wanted' criminals, but even the Ministry wouldn't have recognised him due to his altered appearance, courtesy of the 'image-copying' polyjuice potion he had painfully brewed over the course of the previous month. He was currently appearing to the outside world to be a middle-aged man with brown hair and glasses, taking an afternoon stroll through the shops. It had been easy enough to pluck a hair from the random man and leave him knocked out harmlessly in a locked bathroom; that had been the least of his worries. It had been the easiest part in fact; it had been far more difficult to obtain the highly specific ingredients for the potion as he couldn't exactly walk into an apothecary and buy them (some folk had long memories and would spot him immediately) and even with the ingredients, he hadn't brewed the immensely complicated potion since his fifth year (though the memory of it did still cause him to smile). With a small amount of guile, some application of force and a lot of theft, he was able to get what he needed and had finally brewed the potion (with a little luck), which had all lead him to this one, important moment.
Ten years worth of living like an animal (quite literally) had finally brought him to this. Everything that he had planned rested on the outcome of the next few minutes; he would either achieve his goal right here and now, or he would spend the rest of his life behind bars.
He took a deep breath in as he approached the front of Gringotts bank and the door magically swung open for him. He clutched the smooth, stone bowl that he was holding in his arms and headed straight for the front counter. He knew that he was short on time; the goblins were exceedingly clever and he had no doubt that he was already being appraised by security as a potential thief. They may have already detected that he was under polyjuice potion; it wasn't exactly an uncommon method of attempting to gain access to the vaults and there was no doubt in his mind that the goblins would have specific protections in place against the potion.
He didn't need to get into the vaults however, he only needed the potion to safely get him to the front counter, which it did. He strode confidently towards the desk, meeting the dark and beady eyes of the goblin who was seated there.
"Yes?" The goblin said nonchalantly.
"I need to see Krylk. Bleeding Eyes."
The goblin slowly stopped what he was doing and stared at Sirius suspiciously.
"And why would you need to see him, out of anyone…?"
"He is still the Potter account manager, is he not?"
The goblin stared at Sirius for a moment, clearly debating about calling for security (who were already beginning to 'casually' wander over in Sirius' direction).
"Perhaps he is… and perhaps he is not," the goblin said curiously, "and why would that be of any interest to you?"
Sirius placed the stone bowl down on the desk with a challenging look.
"Because I need to show him a memory. One that I think he will be very interested to see. One that ALL of Gringotts will very interested to see."
The goblin raised a finger at that, halting the approach of the security guards.
"Why would we care about a memory?" The goblin asked.
"Because this memory," Sirius said seriously, putting all of his sincerity into his words, "will allow you to get what you have always wanted. Will give you what you goblins have always desired above all else."
"And that is?"
Sirius smirked slightly.
"... the downfall of the Ministry."
The goblin stared at him for a moment, as if gauging the truth in his words. His finger still hovered in the air, as if he were an executioner waiting to swing the final stroke.
The seconds continued to drag out as Sirius and the goblin faced off, neither backing down or looking away.
"Blacktooth..." the goblin eventually said to another goblin behind him, all the while keeping his eyes locked firmly on Sirius.
"... get me Bleeding Eyes. Right now."
***************