Chat
Burned ground, a partially destroyed forest, and a lake filled with the remains of what had once been one of the oldest schools in Europe. Now all that remained was a stretch of land where, just a few weeks ago, a majestic castle had stood.
But that castle was gone now.
Nothing but broken stone, dust, and scattered remnants of what had once been towers, walls, and corridors.
It was interesting to see how even the dungeons buried deep beneath the earth had also been swallowed by the attack carried out by a bunch of idiots who were now trying to save their own skins with very little success while being judged by the Wizengamot.
Sirius, who should have been present there as the representative of House Black, was not even paying attention to the trial being held today for those idiots, including Carrow and his many accomplices. But there was no need for him to be there.
With the evidence Edward had obtained, the hatred stirred up by the destruction of the alma mater of every wizard present at that trial, and without the support of the dark faction, it was not difficult to guess what would happen to each of them.
After all, at least half of that faction was currently being judged while the other half had fled long ago.
"Haaaa..."
Sirius sighed as he looked at the place where many of his best memories had been etched.
The corridors where he and his friends caused trouble and pulled pranks.
The corridors where he first watched his best friend fall in love.
The corridors that, to him, had been even more of a home than his actual house.
And now those corridors no longer existed.
And just when he had obtained the position none of his friends would ever have expected him to hold in his life:
Headmaster of Hogwarts.
Behind him, Sirius heard footsteps approaching, making him turn around.
And the moment he saw who it was, the melancholic and depressed expression he had worn a moment ago vanished immediately, replaced by a smile that only Sirius Black could have.
"Hello, Harry," Sirius greeted happily upon seeing his godson.
Harry, who had just arrived, gave his godfather a look while raising an eyebrow.
But he did not say much when he saw that smile.
"I thought you would have already started the reconstruction," Harry said while looking at the plain where Hogwarts had once stood.
"Yeah. I've been thinking a lot about it these past few days," Sirius said.
Harry immediately got a bad feeling.
"Thinking about what?" Harry asked, glancing at him sideways.
Sirius instantly smiled even wider as he pulled several blueprints out from inside his jacket.
"Come on, I'll show you," Sirius urged at once, looking almost proud of his plans, which for some reason Harry had not even seen yet, but already felt were going to be insane.
And he was not entirely wrong after only seeing the beginning.
Harry only needed to glance at a few of the planned absurdities, such as a dueling hall that was even larger than the Great Hall itself, and surely many other rooms that McGonagall and the rest of the professors would most likely have rejected.
Not to mention the parents on the school board.
But seeing Sirius so animated while explaining his nonsense made it impossible for Harry to say anything against it.
Harry had come to see his godfather thinking he might be somewhat depressed, but it seemed he had worried for nothing.
"Why are there three combat arenas?"
"Competitions."
"Three?"
"Well, two for students."
"And the third one?"
"Teachers."
"I have so many questions about that," Harry could not help but add.
"Well, you wouldn't have so many if you saw how many times Snape comes into my office and I can feel his urge to attack me," Sirius added with complete calm.
That completely killed Harry's desire to ask any further questions.
"How much is all of this going to cost?"
"A lot. But don't worry, like I said before, I'll take care of the expenses. Besides, it wouldn't be Hogwarts if we didn't add a few secret locations and hidden chambers, right?" Sirius said, even winking for a moment.
"Aaaah..."
Harry sighed again because the more he listened to the madness his godfather had planned, the more he began to fear whether it was truly a good idea to leave the grand task of rebuilding Hogwarts to him.
Harry spent quite a while listening to strange construction plans until, without realizing it, several hours had passed on the grounds of Hogwarts.
"So then?" Sirius interrupted out of nowhere, having finally finished talking about his ideas for the new castle. "What's going on between you and Fleur? I heard you're both still playing that game of flirting and arguing," he said with an amused smile.
The abrupt change in conversation caught Harry off guard.
"Ahem. Well, I don't know what idea..."
"That talent of yours for changing the subject whenever it suits you isn't going to work on me. Your mother used that very particular skill all the time to keep your father under control. I think she learned it from her good professor Horace Slughorn. And I used to enjoy watching good old James Potter get wrapped around her finger so easily. Though of course it helped a lot that he was hopelessly in love with her," Sirius said calmly.
"I... didn't know that," Harry said.
But Sirius asked again.
"So?"
Sirius simply kept looking at him, waiting for an answer.
Even if he often seemed quite foolish and reckless, Sirius was far more observant than most people believed.
"Aah."
Harry let out a sigh, knowing he had no way out.
"Honestly, I have no idea," Harry admitted.
After all, no matter how eccentric Sirius could be, he was still a father figure to Harry. And even if he wasn't his mother Wanda, Harry felt like there were many things he could tell him that would embarrass him a little if he said them directly to his mother.
"Sometimes I feel like I'm my own worst enemy. I can't help it. It's like..."
"You're afraid of showing your feelings, so you hide behind that silly cat-and-mouse game?" Sirius said, looking at him gently.
Harry looked at him, raising an eyebrow.
"That's not exactly how I was going to put it, but... I guess it works," Harry said before smiling in amusement. "And now I've basically trapped myself with all my own words and jokes about age, which honestly isn't even that big of a difference. I mean, look at Tonks and Lupin," Harry added.
"What about Tonks and Lupin?" Sirius asked, confused, as if he had just realized something he had somehow failed to notice.
Harry looked at his godfather.
Who was, indeed, still his godfather.
"Nothing," he said, shaking his head.
"And have you ever told her directly? Asked her out?" Sirius asked calmly.
"Well, I invited her once and got rejected," Harry said, remembering the past.
Maybe that had been the moment when that strange relationship between them began, where neither of them could stop teasing the other.
"Did you really ask her out? Or did you use some excuse to do it?" Sirius asked again, being painfully perceptive.
"I... well..."
Harry didn't answer immediately.
Remembering that, exactly as Sirius had said, he had only used an excuse.
Back then neither of them wanted to admit that they actually liked the other.
And honestly, the first person to truly take a real step forward had been Fleur during the final task of the tournament.
"Normally you're pretty brave, Harry, and you do crazy things that no wizard your age could ever pull off. So for us older folks, it's honestly pretty entertaining watching you completely freeze whenever Fleur gives you a hug," Sirius said in a slightly mocking tone.
"Wait, you all know about that too?" Harry immediately asked.
"Oh yes. Daphne can't keep her mouth shut for very long. You should know that," Sirius said, amused. "Aaah, and to think little Harry has finally reached the age where he's looking for the love of his life. Or maybe..." Sirius paused. "Maybe he already found her."
"Those are annoying words coming from a bachelor," Harry couldn't help but add with disdain toward his godfather, making Sirius choke for a moment.
"Hey. Believe it or not, both James and I were pretty popular back in our school days. Even quiet old Remus. The only one dragging down our popularity was that rat Wormtail. Besides, you'd better hurry up before Draco's romance starts before yours does," Sirius added, changing the subject.
This time it was Harry's turn to look confused.
"What are you talking about?"
Sirius smiled at that.
"The two of you, for being some of the greatest geniuses of this era, can also be incredibly stupid. Even that little brat Daphne is further ahead than both of you. Come on, we'd better head back. We're having dinner with everyone tonight, right? Let's not keep them waiting. That harpy Selene always gets pretty annoying when we're late. And today I don't feel like having a duel with Edward," Sirius added.
Harry couldn't help but laugh.
As always, the rivalry between Selene and Sirius was still there.
And the one defending his wife's honor by fighting Sirius was none other than her husband.
Which was why Edward inevitably ended up dueling Sirius at practically every family dinner ever since Harry and the others had been children.
And it was nice that some things never changed.
"Come on. I'm sure the uncles, aunts, and my mother will be very interested in seeing your plans for the new Hogwarts," Harry added with amusement.