Little Red |Sirius Black|

Moment Of Truth - Sirius

While the rest of the students sitting in the Great Hall were watching the sorting of the first years, the Marauders were busy making bets.

"Twenty knuts say Arianna ends up in Ravenclaw." Remus whispered.

"She's going to Slytherin, she said so herself." insisted James. "What's your bet Padfoot?" he asked Sirius with a mischievous smile.

"Gryffindor." said Sirius absent-mindedly.

"Gryffindor?" James asked dumbfounded.

"Just trust me." said Sirius. Remus shrugged and wrote it down on a piece of paper.

It was an unspoken rule amongst the Marauders that whenever they made bets, Remus would be the record keeper, since he was the most responsible of the lot- and the least likely to destroy evidence if he lost.

"And you Wormtail?" asked Remus, barely looking up.

"I'll go with what Prongs says." Peter answered quietly.

"Good man!" said James grinning, and raised his hand for a high five and Peter obliged happily. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Vera?" Remus continued.

"Gryffindor." said Sirius immediately.

"Slytherin." James said and Peter echoed him.

"I'm thinking Gryffindor too." said Remus smiling at Sirius and wrote it down.

"Mandy?" he asked and was answered by a unanimous "Slytherin." Remus shrugged and put the paper aside.

By now, the rest of the school was abuzz about the arrival of the Salem transfers. News of a couple of girls pranking the Marauders spread like wildfire.

From where he was sitting, Sirius could hear whispers of "Pranked the Marauders on the train." "Rookie mistake." and "Wonder what they'll do next." Sirius did what he always did and ignored all of them.

It took longer than Sirius had anticipated, but the sorting of the first years was over at last. Professor Dumbledore stood up.

"As most you know by now, we have three new students joining us this year from the Salem Witches Institute. So please help me extend a warm welcome to the beautiful girls of Salem and their headmistress, Anastasia Frost." he said and the Great Hall burst into applause.

The applause subsided as music began playing. Sirius couldn't understand where or from what the music was coming from, but it was pleasant, and soothing to the ears. The candles dimmed significantly.

"She walks in beauty like the night." a deep, solemn voice rang throughout the hall, and everyone turned towards the doors.

There, at the entrance, stood a tall figure of a man in robes, his hood pulled over his head.

"I love this poem!" Sirius could hear Evans exclaim from somewhere nearby.

The man began walking gracefully towards the front of the room, followed by some ten other hooded figures, who were walking so gracefully they were practically gliding.

All the hooded figures behind the man had their wands in front of them, the tips of their wands glowing with a blue light. The darkness and the blue light combined to give the figures an ethereal look. The whole school watched them, mesmerized.

The man, who Sirius guessed must be the bard, kept a steady pace with both his words and his steps, as he made his way towards the head table. But Sirius wasn't listening to this poem that Evans seemed to love. He was too busy trying to figure out why there were so many hooded figures behind the bard.