I, Sirius Black, Formally Declare War on the Poltergeist

Chapter 5 - James Potter Picks a Fight with a Painting

The thing about Charlie Denson was that he refused to talk to Sirius Black. This in itself was not an issue, as Sirius really couldn't care less. But, rather unfortunately for him, James Potter had declared himself Sirius Black's best friend. So, by extension, Charlie Denson refused to talk to James Potter. And James absolutely hated it.

So, while Peter Pettigrew rattled off far too loudly all of the strange things he and James had witnessed the night before in Sirius' left ear, James' incessant chattering to Denson filled his right.

"No, Remus, you don't understand, Filch looked so mad. And he was obviously after those older students we saw on the second floor. We probably saw them right after they set off that awful prank everyone's talking about!" Peter said animatedly.

"Charlie, what do you think of Professor Charwinkle -- you reckon she's better than Flitwick or what?" James persisted.

"I suppose you might have, Peter," Remus said, with a book in front of him that held most of his attention.

Sirius wondered how angry his parents were about his being sorted into Gryffindor and stabbed his potatoes violently with his fork. They certainly wouldn't be thrilled by his choice in company. At least James and Peter were purebloods, right? That had to count for something, even if they were blood traitors, right?

"I heard it's actually her first year teaching, I think we were her first class. But if what those Gryffindors were saying last night is true at all, she's probably leagues ahead of anything they got last year. Apparently Dumbledore pulled someone out of retirement, but he was awful," James continued the conversation by himself, as Denson was decidedly ignoring him.

Sirius considered whether Slytherin would have been a better fit. He thought not, Dumbledore had reaffirmed last night the sorting hat had seemed quite decisive, but he couldn't help but wonder. But the fact that it had been a week since Sirius sent a letter with the news and he still hadn't heard any use from his parents left him rattled. Maybe he could get Andromeda's opinion on the matter.

"I don't think it was a might, Remus, I think we did! Can you imagine if we had caught them in the act? We'd have been heroes!" Peter went on.

"Possibly," Remus hummed in agreement.

Heroes...Sirius highly doubted that. If anything they'd have been caught and kicked out. On the whole, not a bad idea. He could live on his own in London, maybe make a living as one of those "lowly street magicians" his mother was always on about. Oh, but he'd have to know spells first...

"Where do you come from, anyway? Did you learn any Defense before you came to Hogwarts? Some kids have, and I've got to say I'm pretty jealous of them. My folks wouldn't let me start anything myself, the tutors always focused on boring stuff, but I raided the library a fair bit. You got any siblings?"

Regulus! What Regulus must think of him. Sirius might not have cared what his parents' opinions were, but he certainly cared about Reg's. What if he never spoke to him again? What if Sirius became like Uncle Alphard, unofficially excommunicated and considered a "bad influence"? Regulus would never be allowed to write!

"I almost wish we had stuck around, just so we could have seen what they were up to. Must have been wickedly advanced magic if the teachers are this uptight about it. James reckons they were Slytherins, but I could have sworn I saw a blue robe and that would make so much more sense. Ravenclaws are supposed to be smart, right? I just wish we could have seen them in action!" Peter mused.

"Well, next time we'll stick around for the light show," Sirius said sourly, the lunch conversation giving him a headache. He needed to put everything out of his mind.