Just in case you're confused, let me clear up the matter. I am not J.K. Rowling, and I do not own Harry Potter, and am certainly not making any money off of this. I'm writing this purely because I enjoy it.
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A Sirius Matter
Prologue
He lay on the private beach silently, thinking about the past year, and even more specifically about the last few days. He had finally met his godson! He couldn't get over how much he looked like James (except for the eyes) and how he seemed to act like James. It had greatly surprised him that somehow Harry Potter had gotten the Marauder's Map, but nothing had prepared him for what happened next. Just when he had thought it was over, that he was about to have his soul sucked out by a dementor, Harry and his brilliant friend Hermione had rescued him on Buckbeak. Silently he wondered if it should have been the other way around. The adult should have rescued the children. But then, he always knew that Harry was no ordinary child. He'd never forget the day James had confided the prophecy to him. That prophecy was what had led to the death of two of his best friends. He didn't want to think about that now. The dementors had made sure he'd thought about that enough while he was in Azkaban. What he wanted to think about was the prophecy. He wondered if Dumbledore had told the boy about it. Scowling, he realized that the Headmaster wouldn't want to burden that child with the truth, instead letting him live in ignorant bliss until one day he's attacked unprepared and murdered. That boy was destined to duel Voldemort, yet he probably hasn't even been taught to duel properly. It was right then and there that Sirius Black decided to take matters into his own hands.
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Chapter 1 - The Letters
It was early morning, about a week after he'd left his home to spend the summer with the Dursleys. He missed Hogwarts so terribly when he was in this house. He was lying on the bed sleeping when he heard a tapping at the window. He got up to see what owl had come, expecting to see Errol, or even Ron's new tiny owl Sirius had given him. What he saw surprised him and made him chuckle. It was some sort of brightly-colored tropical bird he'd never seen before, and it had an envelope tied to its leg. He pulled off the envelope and indicated for the bird to drink from the water in Hedwig's cage. Hedwig hooted indignantly at this and flew out of her cage and out the window, clearly upset that this flashy bird was going to share her water. The envelope simply said, "Harry." It had two pieces of parchment in it. The first was a letter, and the second one was blank. He quickly opened it and read the letter.
Dear Harry,
I hope you are well. First of all, I'd like to once again thank you and Hermione for helping me. I'd also like to say I am safe and happy where I am, but can't tell you where that is in case this letter gets intercepted. But that's not the main purpose of this letter. There is a much more serious matter I need to tell you about.
What I really wanted to tell you was the true reason Voldemort tried to kill you. I'm guessing that Dumbledore hasn't told you yet. If I'm wrong, then I owe him an apology. I believe that you have the right to know the truth. Shortly before you were born, a prophecy was made to Dumbledore by Sybil Trelawney, who was applying for the position she currently holds at Hogwarts. They were in a room at the Three Broomsticks discussing the job, when all of the sudden she went into a trance and made a prophecy about you. Snape, who was a Death Eater (one of Voldemort's followers) at the time (Dumbledore now believes him reformed, although I do not believe you can stop being a Death Eater, so please don't turn your back on him) overheard the beginning of this prophecy before being caught eavesdropping by others in the pub. He eagerly brought this information to his master. That's why he wanted to kill you. Snape sent Voldemort after you, Pettigrew led Voldemort to you, and Voldemort himself killed your parents and tried to kill you. Those are the people responsible for your parents' deaths. Sometimes I blame myself for those deaths, but the truth is that these people are responsible.
The prophecy is on the blank sheet of paper. To read it, put your hand on it and say the same phrase that activates the map. Even then you are the only person who will be able to read it. It is very important to keep this information secret.
Your godfather and friend,
Sirius
Harry was at that moment doing his best to stop himself from performing accidental magic. He was crying from thinking about his parents' deaths, but more than anything he was furious. He was more angry than he'd ever been in his life, and that's saying something! He was furious at Snape for what he'd done, and at least as furious at Dumbledore, for letting Snape teach at Hogwarts! In Harry's opinion, Azkaban was far too good for Snape. He was breathing very heavily while his face got redder and redder, telling himself that getting another letter from the ministry wouldn't help him. Besides, he didn't want to use magic. He wanted to rip Snape limb from limb with his bare hands. He was slightly trembling from his anger as he put his hand on the blank parchment and muttered, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." The words immediately appeared on the parchment.
Harry,
These are the words of the prophecy.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches....Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies."
Voldemort only heard the beginning. He didn't hear about marking you as his equal with the scar he gave you. At first this prophecy could have referred to either your family or the Longbottom boy, as both your parents and his had escaped from Voldemort three times, and that boy was born the day before you were. But once Voldemort marked you, the prophecy could only be about you. I wish I knew what power you have that he doesn't know. Hopefully one day you'll discover that.
The reason I'm telling you this is so that you'll prepare for it. One day you will have to fight Voldemort to the death, and I for one want you to win. I wish I could be there to personally train you, but we both know that for now, it's impossible. If Dumbledore hasn't told you about the prophecy yet, he obviously doesn't think you're ready, so I doubt he'd train you at this time. In fact, he'd probably be upset that I told you. He doesn't even know that James told me the prophecy. It might be best for now to leave him in the dark the way he's left you in the dark. I was hoping you could get help from your friends. That girl Hermione seems very bright, and I know you trust her. I suggest telling her about the prophecy, and asking for her opinion on how to train. I do have one suggestion though. I own a house at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. It has many charms protecting it, and magic, underage or otherwise, is not detected there so you could practice spells there. I have summoned the crazy house elf who lived there away, and found out he'd let the place get very messy. I don't know how bad it is. Fortunately, you can use magic to clean out space to practice, if you choose to use the house.
Good luck.
Sirius.
P.S. Please don't murder Snape. Leave him for me when I come back. Seriously, don't trust Snape, but don't provoke him either. He is a powerful wizard and could kill you.
Harry sat silently on his bed for about a half hour calming down. "No wonder I always end up facing Voldemort," he thought to himself. "I guess I'll have to kill him." He took a deep breath. "It's not the first time I killed anyone," he continued in his thoughts. "I killed Professor Quirrel in my first year, and a basilisk and the memory of Riddle in my second. The only problems with these are that I got lucky. Sirius is right, I have to train. He's also right that without training, Snape will kill me if I fight him. But how can I face him in class? Hermione is the logical person to ask for help. She's so brilliant. I'd better not mention my desire to reunite Snape with my parents, though. I wonder what would happen if the Daily Prophet found out that Dumbledore has the person responsible for the attack on "The Boy Who Lived" teaching at Hogwarts and tormenting him?" He then answered himself, "Snape would lose his job along with Dumbledore. Maybe I should demand that Dumbledore fire Snape. I always have to put up with the bad stuff my fame puts me through, so why shouldn't I use the good part of my fame? I won't tell Dumbledore that I know the contents of the prophecy, but just that one was made." Harry took out two pieces of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink.
"Dear Headmaster,
Sirius Black has just informed me that Severus Snape is the reason my parents are dead. That he overheard part of some prophecy about me and told his master, Voldemort, and that is why he went after my parents. I don't know why you trust him, and frankly I don't care. What I do care about is that you've let that murderer taunt me and speak ill of my parents to me since I came to Hogwarts. I absolutely refuse to sit in another classroom with that person.
For the first time, I'm going to use my fame to my advantage. If you do not fire Snape immediately, I'm going to take this story to the Daily Prophet, telling them how the man responsible for the murder of `The Boy Who Lived's' parents is currently teaching at Hogwarts and making the bloody `Boy Who Lived's' life, along with every other non-Slytherin's life, just a little worse!
If I do that, you'll probably be removed from Hogwarts as well as Snape. Maybe that will be for the best. I once trusted you and looked up to you. I want you to know that is no longer the case. Don't try to talk me out of this, because you won't succeed. If you're protecting him or something, do it another way! I will not put up with Snape ever again! If he's not fired within the week, I will tell the Daily Prophet everything!
Very sincerely,
Harry Potter - blackmailer, boy who lived, and the most famous wizard of his age
P.S. Snape isn't even a good teacher anyway - he always favors Voldemort's house."
Harry felt a bit bad about blackmailing Dumbledore, but then he remembered about how that murderer strutted around the castle talking about how James Potter strutted around the castle. He then tied the letter to Hedwig (who'd returned while Harry was composing the letter) and said, "Take this to Dumbledore, and hurry back. I'll have another letter for you." He then gave her an owl treat he'd had in his trunk. He then wrote to Hermione as Hedwig was flying off.
"Dear Hermione,
How are you? I'm fine. Have I ever mentioned what a wonderful friend you are? I know that during last year, I wasn't a very good friend to you, and I want to apologize. Your friendship means a lot to me, even if sometimes I forget that.
Listen, there's a very serious matter I want to discuss with you. It has to do with Voldemort. I'm afraid to put it in a letter (or say it over the phone if the Dursleys would let me), so if it's at all possible, I need to see you in person to discuss it. It would probably be a good idea to go someplace besides this house to talk about it. To warn you in advance, the Dursleys will probably be very rude to you once they learn you're my friend. If you talk to them, tell them Sirius Black, my escaped murderer godfather, sent you.
Your friend,
Harry"
Harry got up and went downstairs to do his million chores for the day. When he finally got back to his room that evening, he found Hedwig was already perched on top of her cage. She stuck out her foot, revealing a letter. He took it, said, "Thanks, girl," and gave her another treat. He then unrolled the parchment that contained Dumbledore's reply.
"Dear Harry,
I am quite disappointed in you for resorting to blackmail. However, I gather that you're very disappointed in me as well. As you guessed, I am keeping Professor Snape at Hogwarts for protection. He turned spy for us at great personal risk. However, since you are aware of his role in your parents' death, it would be very difficult to have you two in the same classroom. I must admit that his teaching methods are very different from mine.
I have decided to remove him from teaching, instead to have him working on an important potions-related project. He will still be living at the school, and still be the head of Slytherin house. However, he will not be teaching anymore indefinitely, at least until after you graduate. I will not be informing him of your role in this decision. I will inform him of this change in two days. If this arrangement is not acceptable to you, then respond before then.
I hope you have a good summer. I must stress however, that I only agreed to this because I know what horrible tempers both you and Professor Snape have, and fully believe that if you were in the same classroom, a duel would most likely erupt, and that would not be conducive to learning potions.
Sincerely,
Professor Dumbledore "
Harry smiled to himself. "I guess it shouldn't be too difficult to avoid the git if I don't have class with him," he said to himself. He then attached his letter to Hermione on Hedwig's leg and sent her to deliver it. All he could do now is wait for the response. He decided to go to bed.
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Please review. I know this chapter was more introspective than anything. I felt it was a necessary setup for the rest of the story, which will definitely have dialogue and interaction between characters.
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