Melody Riddle and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Chapter 9: Sirius Black

I left shortly afterwards, hoping I hadn't kept Madam Pince waiting too long. Wondering how long I'd been gone, it was a big surprise when a big black dog suddenly jumped in front of me. I paused and slithered backwards a little bit to look up at it.

Curious... I thought. Black dogs aren't really part of the species of the Forbidden Forest, are they? Or is this the Grim?.... Crap.

Suddenly, the dog transformed into the unforgettably familiar man on every wanted paper I'd seen recently. Sirius Black. He sat down in front of me and looked as though he waited for me to do something. He was proven innocent to me by my dad now, so I wasn't afraid of him, but what worried me was the fact he absolutely suspected I was no normal snake.

He gave a small smirk, perhaps at the fact I wasn't doing anything to him. "What are you doing out here? Surely you should be in the castle working on homework?"

It was Sunday, thank heavens for that. But Madam Pince is probably starting to wonder what's keeping me so long...

I started to slither around him, but he grabbed onto me right around my neck, keeping a tight hold so I wouldn't get away. I was almost certain he was about to choke me to death. He stood up, holding me so I wouldn't choke but also so I wouldn't get away.

He walked along through the forest. Once we were close to the Whomping Willow, he looked around and started walking toward it.

Okay, maybe I was wrong, perhaps I should be afraid. Is he mad?! The Whomping Willow was the most dangerous tree I'd ever seen, it would hit anybody within branches reach of it. Then, the most bizarre part was when something orange quickly moved toward the tree and touched some knot on the trunk. As it went into the small hole, I thought, did I just see Crookshanks do that? What's going on right now?

Sirius Black slid in and walked through the corridors. I wasn't paying much attention to where he was going, all I tried to do was wrench free from his grasp. He was too strong for me. Why was I a snake?! Why couldn't I be a tiger or at least something bigger and more menacing?!

He took me into a room, closed the door behind him and set me down gently on the floor. I slithered quickly away from him.

Black looked towards Crookshanks and asked, "What do you think of this one?"

Crookshanks walked up to me, looked at me as though scrutinizing who I was, then purred and rubbed his head against mine. Hermione had introduced him to me. We'd allowed our cats to spend some time together while we were in the library, and so Crookshanks had become quite fond of me.

Sirius Black was surprised by this, especially when I also rubbed myself against Crookshanks. It's just he was so warm, and I was freezing from the cold.

"Could you perhaps show yourself to me in your true form? I know you're not a real snake."

I sighed to myself, wondering how this would go. Transforming to myself, I looked up at him from the floor, trying to allow my eyes and senses to adjust at the same time as I brushed dust off myself. Just how long had I been with dad?! Raising an eyebrow at him, I asked, "What exactly gave me away?"

"I watched you leave the castle and transform. I followed you through the forest until all those snakes suddenly swarmed around you. That's not normal."

I rolled my eyes, "Oh, really? I was quite sure that was perfectly normal."

He continued to stare at me as though waiting for something specific.