The New Trio and the Philosopher's Stone

Chapter 1: The Boy Who Lived

Sirius Black and Remus Lupin of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, would have been quite happy to demonstrate their magical prowess to anyone who asked... or rather, Sirius would have been happy to do so; Remus would probably just have mumbled something vaguely offensive under his breath. The Bonded pair were quite different from each other, with Sirius being a high-ranked Auror and member of the Wizengamot, and Remus forever being in between jobs due to his unhappy state as a werewolf, but they managed quite well together. If you'd known Sirius during his Hogwarts days, you'd know that he was the first person one would expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, and he would often go out of his way to remind everyone of that fact.

However, on the morning of the first of November, 1981, the couple could not be found cooking up a storm and relaxing at the huge dining table, as was normal for them to do on any other Sunday. Instead, Sirius could be found in the Headmaster's Office at Hogwarts, arguing furiously with a tall, thin, and very old man wearing long robes, a deep purple cloak, and half-moon glasses which focussed his sparkling, light blue eyes. Sirius had been arguing with the Headmaster for the past hour, trying to convince him to let him retain his rightful position as godfather to his best friend's son, and take him on as a ward.

"Dumbledore, please... don't you understand? I've heard so many atrocious things from Lily about her sister alone, and nothing could make me believe that Petunia Dursley is in any way more fit to raise Harry than Petunia Evans might have been! I remember when Lily found out her sister had gotten married without telling her, and Lily visited them when they got back from their honeymoon. She told all of us about that... that walrus of a man Petunia had married, and how he was every bit as horrible as she was!" Sirius shouted.

Dumbledore, however, didn't seem very frightened of the highly irritated, very powerful wizard pacing back and forth in front of him, wearing a hole in the carpet. "My dear boy, I understand that the Dursleys may be slightly unpleasant, but Harry is their nephew, and I have every belief that—"

"Oh, no you don't! Don't you 'dear boy' me! I am Harry's godfather, and since Alice and Frank are... unable to take care of Harry, I am the one who should take custody of him."

"Sirius, you simply do not understand. When Lily sacrificed herself for Harry, she caused Blood Wards into being. Surely you know of this type of magic?" asked Dumbledore benignly.

Sirius looked up from the floor and pierced the man with a withering glare. "Of course I know about it, but even I know that Blood Wards are a very old, very unstable bit of magic. It would deny entry to anyone who was entirely focussed on causing direct physical pain upon the Wards' centre, but there are other sorts of pain. I should know! From what I know about the Dursleys, their main form of hurting people is verbally, which wouldn't register to the Wards, and I would bet that purposeful neglect wouldn't register either. I will not allow James and Lily's son to be abused in any shape or form, and I am willing to fight you in court for his custody! Is that clear, Albus?"

Dumbledore gave a sad sigh and threaded his long, thin fingers together on the desk he sat behind. After a long moment of staring into Sirius' eyes as though they would tell him whether he was telling the truth, he sighed again and said, "Very well, then. I will tell Hagrid to change course and head to number twelve. You should expect him in about four hours. I expect monthly reports for the first three years, then one report every six months until he reaches eleven. Understood?"

Sirius closed his eyes for a split second in relief, but opened them again after remembering that showing that kind of emotion around Dumbledore was not necessarily a good thing. "Yes, sir. Thank you."

With his godson now safely in his care, he made his way out of the Headmaster's Office, down many stairs, and was just about to make his way outside, when he bumped into none other than Severus Snape, the Potions Master. Snape, a sallow-faced, greasy-haired man who always wore black, looked even more pale than he normally did, and looked surprised to bump into Sirius, but that was quickly covered up by a large sneer. "Black," Snape growled.