Chapter Five: A First Glimpse of Evil
Sirius wiped sweat from his eyes as he scanned the Pitch, watching the Bludger and deciding where he should intercept it. The match was going reasonably well for Gryffindor; they were up sixty points, and Sirius had almost no doubt that Lillian would catch the Snitch before the Slytherin Seeker, who appeared to be tailing Lillian everywhere she went. The only problem, as seemed always to be the case, was how dirty the game was getting. The Slytherins were determined to cause as many injuries as they could, if they couldn’t win, and all of the Weasley chasers were sporting minor cuts and bruises. Sirius and Greg were returning as good as the Slytherins gave, in their way, but legally, and that left them at a disadvantage.
Sirius intercepted the Bludger as he’d planned and knocked it towards one of the Slytherin Beaters. He was good, and knocked it right back, which Sirius had been planning on. Instead of hitting the Bludger again, he rolled beneath his broomstick and let the Bludger fly past him and into the Slytherin Chaser he had seen coming. The crowd roared with laughter and applause as the Chaser dropped the ball and Lee caught it up, zooming back towards the Slytherin goal posts. Sirius followed, waving at the crowd to a fresh wave of cheers.
“And Sirius Potter tricks the Slytherin Beater into Bludgering his own team-mate, allowing the devilishly good-looking Lee Weasley to take possession of the Quaffle!” Chris said, his voice booming out over the Pitch. For a wonder, Hermione said nothing about the show of favoritism. She must be upset about the way the Slytherins are playing too, Sirius thought dryly.
Sirius stayed next to Lee as he wove through the Slytherin players toward the goal posts; he had to knock back a Bludger three times, sending the furious Slytherin Beaters dodging out of the way. As two of the Slytherin Chasers caught up to try and steal the Quaffle, Sirius signaled Greg urgently. The other Beater responded quickly, hitting a Bludger towards Sirius, who had the right angle to hit it at one of the Chasers. He managed a square hit, and though the other player managed to stay on her broom, she spiraled out of control down to the ground. The other chaser, expecting to have a second person to distract Lee, was dodged easily. Lee made a great pass to Jack, who was waiting on the goal post farthest from the Keeper, Damian Zabini, and the next goal was scored.
Sirius swung away while the Quaffle was being put back into play in Slytherin possession, marking where Lillian was still looking for the Snitch, and finding the two Bludgers instantly. One was being pelted at Brian, who dodged at the last minute, and Greg was knocking the other away from Lillian. The Slytherins had been aiming for Lillian more than they would have normally, as far as Sirius could tell, but so far nothing had happened that made Sirius think they were trying to do anything more than improve their chances for winning. Sirius was still sure they would use the Quidditch match as a chance to get their revenge, and he was ready to stop it at all costs.
Sirius was just getting ready to go after the first one to herd it towards the action, when a shouted warning from Lee caused him to turn and dive. The hurled Beater’s bat must have been aimed poorly to begin with, however, because it connected with Sirius’ face despite the dive. Sirius saw stars for a few moments, and had to shake his head to clear his mind, sending drops of blood flying in both directions. As his vision cleared, he barely realized he was hurtling towards the ground in time to stop himself. He leveled off and headed back into the air, his ears ringing with both the impact and his rage. The Beater who had thrown the bat was watching him smugly, barely acknowledging the telling off he was getting from the referee. Hermione was on her feet as well, sternly chastising Chris, who must have said something particularly inappropriate by his chagrined expression. Sirius spat out blood and shook his head again, though that worsened the headache that was developing. Lillian was looking at him questioningly and he gave her a thumbs up and a determined smile, and she waved, acknowledging that he didn’t need a time out. Gryffindor got a penalty shot, which Lee made easily, and the game was back on.
Sirius was sure he had a concussion, and assumed his nose was broken as well. His headache was getting worse, and his aim was being thrown off when his vision would start swimming again occasionally. Still, he managed to hold his own, and the crowd was cheering him on wildly.
An hour later, the match still wasn’t over, Lillian still hadn’t been attacked in an untoward manner, and Sirius was starting to feel weak. The score was still in favor of the Gryffindors, though now only by forty. Still, Lillian hardly ever missed the Snitch, and against the Slytherin Chaser, who still hadn’t made a move for herself, it wasn’t likely she would miss this one. And then suddenly, while Sirius was flying above Lillian, knocking a Bludger away from her, the Snitch appeared. Lillian shot off in quick pursuit, with the Slytherin Chaser hard on her heels. Sirius kept pace above them, determined to keep anything away from his sister. Lillian was within a foot of the Snitch when he noticed both of the Slytherin Beaters closing in, one directly below him, both about to hit Bludgers in front of them. They were close enough to Lillian that it would be difficult for them to miss, and Sirius was not in the best position to stop them, though he knew he had to try.
Gritting his teeth, Sirius leapt off of his broom. Time seemed to slow down as he fell toward the Beater below him, landing astride the broom behind the startled boy, and hitting the Bludger before the other had a chance, feeling intensely grateful for the top-of-the-line cushioning charm built into the Cleansweep Fury. The Bludger careened into the Slytherin Chaser while Sirius guided the unwilling broomstick he was on into the path of the second Bludger, hit by the second Beater. Sirius had intended on having the Slytherin in front of him knocked off the broom, but hadn’t counted on the other boy fighting him so hard for control. He barely had time to curse before he was knocked from the broom instead, the impact from the Bludger knocking him out before he could hit the ground.
***
“That was an impressive stunt,” the voice hissed, and the man cowered at the hate that filled the voice.
“My Lord?” he asked meekly, not trusting himself to agree or disagree. Either one could get him killed.
“I want you to stir things up a bit,” the voice said after a short pause. “Build some public ill-will against the Potters. This Quidditch match should give you all the opportunity you need.”
“Yes, my Lord,” the man said, knowing just how to take advantage of the whole situation, not just the Quidditch match.
***
Sirius woke up in the hospital wing feeling comfortable and drowsy, lying back in a bed. He could hear his teammates around him, joking and laughing about the match, and he knew he must not be badly injured. He opened his eyes gingerly, expecting the sudden light to start the headache up again, but it didn’t. He felt fine.
“Did we win?” he croaked, before reaching for the water on the table next to his bed.
“Of course we did, Sirius,” Brian said with a laugh. “Lillian had caught the Snitch right before you got yourself knocked out.”
“It’s kind of funny, really,” Jack said with amusement in his voice. “You going to all that trouble to keep her from getting hit, and it wasn’t even necessary.” Everyone laughed, including Lillian.
“Leave off,” she told them good naturedly. “Even if we had already won, I would rather it were Sirius hit by the Bludger than me. I think he likes it.”
Sirius joined in the laughter this time.
“Did anyone catch my broom,” he asked, remembering that he hadn’t been on his own broom the last he remembered.
“Right here,” Chris said while holding it up. “It flew straight at the top box, and I think it would have hit Aunt Hermione if Professor Lupin hadn’t summoned it. Too bad.” All four of the Weasleys shook their heads in disappointment while Ron Jr. let out an indignant “Hey!”
“Sirius?” another voice called, and Sirius turned to see Muriel coming into the room, grinning.
“Hi, sis,” he said with a smile.
“That was wicked, Sirius. Everyone’s talking about the way you jumped off your broom. Have you seen James? He was supposed to meet me here,” she said in a rush.
“He hasn’t been here that I’ve seen,” Sirius said, and looked at Lillian. She shook her head as well.
“He’s probably off doing some Head Boy thing,” Jack said dismissively, but Sirius was growing a little concerned. James would have come straight to the hospital wing unless there was a very good reason not to.
“Maybe we should go find him,” he said uneasily, just as Madame Pomfrey bustled up.
“You won’t be going anywhere until I say you can,” she said sternly, and began checking him over.
His teammates laughed and went off to find James themselves, sure that they would find him before Sirius would be cleared to leave.
Sure enough, Sirius was sentenced to the rest of the day in bed, and the others were back well before the day was over, though their faces were somber as they levitated James’ battered body in front of them.
***
The Great Hall was humming with excited chatter as students talked about the exciting Quidditch game they’d witnessed that morning. The Slytherin table was more subdued, though a knot was clustered around McFarren who was talking loudly about how all of Sirius’ exploits were probably on accident.
“I mean, he fell off of his broom! It was luck that he landed on the other one, and an accident that got him knocked out. If he’d done it on purpose, would he have been hit by the Bludger? That’s the only reason Gryffindor ever wins; luck,” he finished, to nods from everyone around him.
“Look, here he comes now,” McFarren went on, pointing at Sirius, who had just entered the room and was walking toward them. “It looks like the blow to his head is still giving him trouble.” The Slytherins laughed; Sirius was wearing the hospital pajamas, and looked a little crazy.
Sirius was almost to them. “Hey Potter…” McFarren began, but was cut off as Sirius hit him in the face, knocking him back off of his bench. No one had time to react before Sirius had picked him up again by the collar of his robes and was punching him repeatedly in the face.
“How does that feel?” Sirius shouted, his eyes blazing. He got in one last punch before he jerked back and away from McFarren as though he’d been shocked.
Hermione stood in the aisle between the tables, her wand raised and her face white with anger.
“Sirius Potter, what is the meaning of this?” she said in a quiet voice. Slytherins who had been watching the fight with open mouths were now finding excuses to leave. No one wanted to be around when Professor Weasley started using that tone.
“He almost killed James,” Sirius said, glaring daggers at both Hermione and McFarren, who was starting to coming to his senses, wiping at the blood running down his face.
“I didn’t do anything to James,” McFarren denied loudly.
“Liar!” Sirius shouted, before running after him again. Hermione raised her wand and cast a full-body bind, but Sirius merely turned to look at her. There was no doubt this time; his eyes were glowing with actual fire. The spell bounced off of him without doing anything. He turned back towards McFarren and had him pinned up against the wall again. McFarren was cowering in the face of his fiery gaze, whimpering with fear. Hermione tried again, but the spell merely bounced off again, and Sirius didn’t even turn her way.
“I’ll make you pay for what you did, McFarren,” Sirius shouted; by now the entire student body was watching in awe. Then Sirius noticed the flames that were growing on his hands, causing McFarrens robes to smoke and blacken. Sirius was so shocked that he dropped McFarren to stare at his hands. The flames vanished, and Sirius looked up in confusion, just before two stunning spells, from Flitwick and Hermione, hit him squarely in the chest.
***
Lillian watched in horror at the scene before them. The Gryffindor Quidditch team had followed Sirius, after James had been stabilized and taken care of, though they hadn’t been able to keep up. They arrived to see Sirius holding McFarren against the wall, with fire flaring in his eyes and on his hands and arms, while Hermione repeatedly tried to stop him with different spells. Finally, she called Flitwick, who stopped staring in shock and joined her, and both of the cast stunners at Sirius. Only Sirius had already dropped McFarren and was staring at his hands in shock, the flames gone, before he collapsed at the force of the two spells.
Hermione, her eyes wide, though still furious, turned to McFarren and said in a dangerous voice, “Now what is the meaning of this?”
McFarren was so stunned himself, that it took him several moments to speak. Lillian and the Weasleys ran up to tell Hermione what had happened.
“We found James, after the Quidditch match, and he’d been beaten up really badly,” Lillian said with tears in her eyes. “McFarren had threatened to attack James and I to get back at Sirius, and Sirius was sure McFarren had done it. We tried to stop him, but he was too fast.”
Hermione’s eyes had narrowed in anger at hearing about James, and she turned back to McFarren.
“Is this true?” she asked simply.
“No!” McFarren shouted. “I mean… I did threaten them… but I didn’t do anything! I’ve been with people all day who can back me up.”
“You lying…” Lillian shouted, trying to run at him; Chris and Lee caught her and held her back, though they looked like they were about ready to charge themselves.
“He’s not lying, as far as I can tell,” Hermione said quietly. Lillian’s mouth fell open in shock. Harry had taught Hermione Legilimency and she had become very good at it; almost no one could lie to her without her knowing it, and it was absurd to think that McFarren could be one of those few.
“Enough of this,” a deep angry voice interrupted, and Headmaster Shacklebolt strode into the center of the discussion. He was very imposing, and no one dared say a word.
“Professor Weasley, I want you to take McFarren and find these witnesses who were supposedly with him all day and find out for sure. Professor Flitwick, will you kindly escort Miss Potter back to the hospital wing, and take Mr. Potter with you as well. As soon as all three of them are awake, I want to see them in my office. The rest of you will go about your business.”
This last part was directed at the room at large, and all of the students quickly turned back to their food, though no many were eating. Within a minute, a low buzz of excited talk had sprung up as everyone discussed what they had just seen. At the Slytherin table, bets were being placed as to whether or not the Potters would be expelled.
In that same minute, Professor Flitwick was levitating Sirius down the hall while trying to comfort Lillian. The Weasley quadruplets had left with the rest of the team for the Gryffindor common room. When they got to the hospital wing, Muriel looked up from James’ bedside, tears running down her face, and a fresh bout of sobbing took her as she saw Sirius being levitated to the bed next to James.
“I don’t understand,” she sobbed, “what’s going on?”
Lillian put her arms around her sister, though she didn’t try to answer. If McFarren had been telling the truth, she had no idea what was going on either, and she didn’t like that one bit.
***
“First, I want to hear from James,” Shacklebolt said sternly. “Do you have any idea who did this to you?”
James, Lillian, and Sirius were all together in the Headmaster’s office, James looking battered, but not nearly as bad as he had been before, and Sirius had dark circles under his eyes. It took him almost six hours before he could be woken up from being hit by two stunners simultaneously.
“I really don’t know,” James said honestly, with a nervous look at Sirius. “I was walking down the corridor towards the hospital wing, and I think I was stunned, because I don’t remember anything after that until I woke up in a lot of pain.”
“And Sirius, you assumed that it was Mr. McFarren that did this?” Shacklbolt asked.
“He threatened both James and Lillian,” Sirius said heatedly. “I still think it was him.”
“He was with other students all day, and several of the ones who vouched for him were not Slytherins, so they would have no reason to back him up if it wasn’t true,” Shacklebolt said patiently… again.
“Maybe he got someone else to do it for him,” Lillian offered.
“We’ve thought of that, and Professor Weasley has interviewed most of the Slytherin students, and even some others. What was done to James was very serious and we want to get to the bottom of it. But what you did to McFarren, Mr. Potter, given the circumstances, is almost equally serious. Moreover, I want to know how you were able to shake off repeated spells from Professor Weasley, and why you had fire coming out of your eyes.”
Sirius had nothing to say to all of this, so he merely kept his gaze at his feet, while Lillian and James looked at their brother in concern. Or fear, Sirius thought bitterly.
“Very well,” Shacklebolt said with a sigh. “Mr. Potter, I’m giving you nightly detentions with Professor Weasley for the next week. She’s going to work with you to try and find out what is going on with your magical powers. And it won’t be pleasant. Furthermore, if you are caught fighting just one more time after this, I’m going to ban you from playing Quidditch.”
Sirius’ mouth dropped open in shock, and Lillian looked to be on the point of arguing.
“And if that doesn’t stop this behavior, Mr. Potter, I will be forced to expel you.”
Sirius was dumbstruck. He’d been threatened by Hermione with this before, but it had never been serious.
Shacklebolt sighed and rubbed his eyes. “You know that I think very highly of your father, and your family, Mr. Potter, and I would really prefer that matters not make that necessary. Please see that they don’t.”
Sirius nodded numbly. Lillian was equally shocked.
“Mr. Potter,” Shacklebolt went on, turning to James, “I am sorry about this attack. I’ve already spoken with your father and mother about it, and I want to reassure you, as I did them, that we will find out who was responsible.”
James nodded soberly.
“Until we do find out who was responsible, I would ask the three of you not to accuse anyone else, and also to leave the investigation to the staff. And…” Shacklebolt hesitated. “And please be careful. This seems aimed at your family in particular, and there is no shortage of people here who have reason to hate you. Keep an eye on each other, and on your younger sister. And if you need to defend yourself or your family, Mr. Potter,” he said turning back to Sirius, “I will not punish you for that.”
With that, he dismissed them all, and they all made their way soberly back to the Gryffindor common room. There didn’t seem to be anything to say.
***
Three days later, Sirius was stalking angrily down the hall. His detentions with Hermione were awful. She seemed to believe that the spikes in his power came when he was angry, so she spent the entire time trying to make him mad. She was very good at it, and he generally spent the time feeling as furious as he thought he could be, but there was still no change.
Truthfully, Sirius felt like destroying something, but the threats he had received in the Headmaster’s office were never far from his mind. Being banned from Quidditch seemed even worse than being expelled, though he knew his parents wouldn’t see it that way. He was going to stay out of trouble this time.
That was the last thought in his head as he rounded the corner and found himself staring at the body of Timothy McFarren, lying in the hall with blank eyes staring into space.
He heard a squeak of surprise and horror behind him turned to find Professor Flitwick staring at him in shock. He opened his mouth to deny that he had done anything, but Flitwick, perhaps remembering how difficult it had been to stop him in the Great Hall, stunned him instantly.
A/N: Okay, THIS is my idea of a better cliffhanger, and a better chapter in general. And... I'm not one to complain about reviews or anything, but it seems like the reviews have fizzled a bit over the last couple of chapters. I'll keep posting as quick as usual and everything, but it doesn't take much to give a review, the box is right below this message. Plus, if you have good ideas, I'd love to hear about them; this book isn't finished by any means, and I would able and happy to incorporate anything that doesn't violate my major plot points. Okay, I'll stop whining now. Thanks for reading!