Percy Jackson and the Hound of Hogwarts [Book 3]

33) Revelations

"All the same," Fudge sighed, "they are here to protect you all from something much worse.... We all know what Black's capable of...."

"Do you know, I still have trouble believing it," Rosmerta said keenly. "Of all the people to go over to the Dark Side, Sirius Black was the last I'd have thought... I mean, I remember him when he was a boy at Hogwarts. If you'd told me then what he was going to become, Id have said you'd had too much mead."

"You don't know the half of it, Rosmerta," Fudge huffed. "The worst he did isn't widely known."

"The worst?" Rosmerta's voice was filled with curiosity. "Worse than murdering all those poor people, you mean?"

"I certainly do," Fudge said.

"I can't believe that. What could possibly be worse?"

"You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta," McGonagall mumbled. "Do you remember who his best friend was?"

"Naturally," Rosmerta gave a small laugh. "Never saw one without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in here — ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter!"

I'm fairly certain Harry dropped his cup while I choked. I couldn't jump out and stop them from saying anything, Fudge wanted me up at the castle with Harry. He'd get mad. I definitely did not want an angry Fudge.

"Precisely," McGonagall said. "Black and Potter. Ringleaders of their little gang. Both very bright, of course — exceptionally bright, in fact — but I don't think we've ever had such a pair of troublemakers—"

"I dunno," Hagrid chuckled. "Fred and George Weasley could give 'em a run fer their money."

"You'd have thought Black and Potter we're brothers!" Flitwick chirped. "Inseparable!"

"Of course they were," Fudge said. "Potter trusted Black beyond all his other friends. Nothing changed when they left school. Black was best man when James married Lily. Then they named him godfather to Harry. Harry has no idea, of course. You can imagine how the idea would torment him."

"Because Black turned out to be in league with You-Know-Who?" Rosmerta whispered.

"Worse than that, m'dear...." Fudge said lowly. "Not many people are aware that the Potters knew You-Know-Who was after them. Dumbledore, who was of course working tirelessly against You-Know-Who, had a number of useful spies. One of them tipped him off, and he alerted James and Lily at once. He advised them to go into hiding. Well, of course, You-Know-Who wasn't an easy person to hide from. Dumbledore told them that their best chance was the Fidelius Charm."

"How does that work?" Rosmerta said breathlessly.

"An immensely complex spell," Flitwick cleared his throat, "involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul, the information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find — unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it. As long as the Secret-Keeper refuses to speak, You-Know-Who could search the village where Lily and James were staying for years and never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed against their sitting-room window!"

"So Black was the Potters' Secret-Keeper?" Rosmerta questioned.

"Naturally," McGonagall said. "James Potter told Dumbledore that Black would die rather than tell where they were, that Black was planning to go into hiding himself... and yet, Dumbledore remained worried. I remember him offering to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper himself."

"He suspected Black?" Rosemerta gasped.

"He was sure that somebody close to the Potters had been keeping You-Know-Who informed of their movements," McGonagall said darkly. "Indeed, he had suspected for some time that someone on our side had turned traitor and was passing a lot of information to You-Know-Who."

"But James Potter insisted on using Black?"

"He did," Fudge said, frowning. "And then, barely a week after the Fidelius Charm had been performed—"

"Black betrayal then?" Rosmerta exhaled.

"He did indeed. Black was tired of his double-agent role, he was ready to declare his support openly for You-Know-Who, and he seems to have planned this for the moment of the Potters' death. But, as we all know, You-Know-Who met his downfall in little Harry Potter. Powers gone, horribly weakened, he fled. And this left Black in a very nasty position indeed. His master had fallen at the very moment when he, Black, had shown his true colors as a traitor. He had no choice but to run for it—"

"Filthy, stinkin' turncoat!" Hagrid said loudly, and half of the room went quiet.

"Shh!"

"I met him!" Hagrid growled. "I musta bin the last ter see him before he killed all them people! It was me that rescued Harry from Lily an' James's house after they was killed! Jus' got him outta ruins, poor little thing, with a great slash across his forehead, an' his parents dead... an' Sirius Black turns up, on that flyin' motorbike he used ter ride. Never occurred ter me what he was doin' there. I didn' know he'd bin Lily an' James's Secret-Keeper. Thought he'd jus' heard the news o' You-Know-Who's attack and come ter see what he could do. White and shakin', he was. An' yeh know what I did. COMFORTED THE MURDERIN' TRAITOR!"

"Hagrid, please!" McGonagall said. "Keep your voice down!"

"How was I ter know he wasn' upset abou' Lily an' James? It was You-Know-Who he cared abou'! An' then he says, 'Give Harry ter me, Hagrid, I'm his godfather, I'll look after him—' Ha! But I'd had me orders from Dumbledore, an' I told Black no, Dumbledore said Harry was ter go ter his aunt an' uncle's. Black argued, but in the end he gave in. Told me ter take his motorbike ter get Harry there. 'I won't need it anymore,' he says.

"I shoulda known there was somethin' fishy goin' on then. He loved that motorbike, what was he givin' it ter me for? Why wouldn' he need it anymore? Fact was, it was too easy ter trace. Dumbledore knew he'd bin the Potters' Secret-Keeper. Black knew he was goin' ter have ter run fer it that night, knew it was a matter o' hours before the Ministry was after him.

"But what if I'd given Harry to him, eh? I bet he'd've pitched him off the bike halfway out ter sea. His bes' friends' son! But when a wizard goes over ter the Dark Side, there's nothin' and no one that matters to 'em anymore. . . ."

Silence followed Hagrid's story. I glanced at the seat behind me, wondering how Harry felt about these knew revelations.

I knew I would be angry beyond belief.

This chapter is mostly full of stuff that I didn't really know how to take out of the story. I didn't want to put all of that super descriptive dialogue in there, but this was an important moment for Harry. I don't think I had the right to take it out. Very sorry.

For the annoying dialogue I didn't want to add, today shall be a double post.