His Guardian Angel

Chapter 3

Harry's third year passed relatively quietly. The Weasley twins had gifted him with a rather curious map that showed him where everyone on Hogwarts grounds was at any given time-although it didn't show the Chamber of Secrets. Harry had kept the map a secret and managed to keep out of trouble, not even using the map to try and sneak into Hogsmeade. Dumbledore made sure of that. He always seemed to be in Dumbledore's office learning more about Tom Riddle's life whenever a Hogsmeade weekend arrived.

He managed to learn how to produce a patronus charm to help him deal with the dementors that sometimes strayed into the castle grounds and found out from Professor Lupin exactly why everyone was saying that some mass murderer had broken out of Azkaban; to supposedly kill him. He'd kept his wits about him that year, ensuring that he always triple locked his curtains at night and made a conscious effort to check his map as frequently as possible. The last thing he wanted was some madman after him to manage to sneak up on him.

It wasn't until Snape set an essay on werewolves whilst covering one of Professor Lupin's classes that Harry had realized something different was happening. And when he checked and double checked himself, it dawned on him that he was right. A werewolf was teaching students at Hogwarts. Granted, the man was nice and he did seem to be fully aware of himself and his surroundings. Besides, Harry had seen Snape bring Professor Lupin a steaming goblet of something when they had been discussing Harry learning a patronus charm. According to his research, the wolfsbane potion steamed in that exact shade, which only cemented his theory further.

Harry had put the issue from his mind until later that year when he happened to catch a name on his map that he hadn't seen before. Peter Pettigrew. He didn't quite know if he should tell Professor Dumbledore about it, but he figured the worst that could happen is his map would be taken away and he'd have to serve a detention or two. Deciding to err on the side of caution, he went to tell Dumbledore.

Dumbledore was stricken when Harry told him about the map and the name he'd seen on it. His jaw had quite thoroughly dropped. He handed over the map when Dumbledore asked and pointed to the Gryffindor tower where he'd seen the name last. Currently, the name was moving from the fifth floor to the fourth.

He was told to stay in Dumbledore's office and sat in the offered chair next to Fawkes's perch. He spent nearly an hour in that office by himself, slowly stroking the bird's warm feathers while he trilled a soft song. It was relaxing, and no wonder why Dumbledore spent so much time in his office.

Dumbledore had come back into his office a little while later with the minister and patted Harry on the shoulder before rifling through his desk and handing Harry a book. With a twinkle in his eye, he praised Harry for coming to him to locate a rather interesting fairy tale book that he'd checked out of the library for some light reading, winked at him and sent him on his way. Once he left the office, he opened the book to the first page where his map lay nestled within the pages.

Smiling, he made his way back to his dorm.

The next day, headlines had splashed every paper stating that the madman on the loose was officially pardoned by the minister on grounds of a misunderstanding. The true story about a man named Peter Pettigrew hit the papers, the truth having been weaseled out of him within Hogwarts itself before he'd turned into a rat and disappeared, much to the ministry's frustration. Sirius Black had been cleared of all charges.

Harry was asked to join Dumbledore for a cup of tea that morning where he was told that Sirius Black was actually his godfather.

"Well that's brilliant, but...does that mean I have to leave the castle for the summers now?" Dumbledore shook his head.