Book One of the Heritage Series:

Harry Potter and the Return of Heritage

Chapter One

Crossroads

The most recent dark era to beset the British magical community had ended fourteen years previously at Halloween when Lord Voldemort was defeated by the Boy-Who-Lived. Since then the magical community had enjoyed fourteen years of peace.

That peace was nothing but an illusion.

Unbeknownst to almost all, Lord Voldemort had not died as people believed and instead had been banished to the fringes of their world. Now after over a decade he had returned to his physical form and threatened to break the illusion over the ignorant masses.

A terrible war loomed, and it was a war the country was ill prepared to face.

Weeks previously the Minister of Magic of Great Britain, Cornelius Fudge had been informed of the return of the Dark Lord. Fudge had refused to acknowledge the truth. Instead of listening to his long-time confidant and advisor Albus Dumbledore, and the word of a sincere fourteen-year-old boy, the Minister turned against them out of fear.

His fear led him to begin a campaign to ensure that the truth would be dismissed as the foolish scaremongering of an old man and a deranged child. Fudge's cowardice, weakness and incompetence was preventing the witches and wizards he had sworn to serve and protect from being able to prepare themselves for what was lurking unseen in the shadows.

Back during the previous war a group of people led by Albus Dumbledore had banded together to combat the threat of Voldemort. This secret society of witches and wizards had fought the Death Eaters often aiding the struggling Ministry of Magic in their endeavours. They were never named or recognised but their efforts helped stem the tide of the bloody war.

This organisation had been the Order of the Phoenix. They had disbanded following Lord Voldemorts defeat but mere hours after the Dark Lords rebirth the call had gone out to its surviving members to reconvene. Resuming their mission to watch and undermine any sign of Death Eater activity. They did this to ensure that the dark forces could not gain a foothold from which they could use to dominate and gain control of the country.

Unlike the last war the Order now had to hide in plain sight and ensure their actions went undetected by the Ministry of Magic.

Sirius Orion Black sat in an old and damp basement kitchen looking out at the assembled members feeling restless and bored. He was an original member of the Order but now he was infamous and incapable of doing anything, his status as a supposed mass murdering wizard and an Azkaban escapee stopped him going out in public.

Sitting there, Sirius remembered meetings from the First Order. He had been recruited not long after leaving Hogwarts and had joined along with his best friends. Many of the faces around the table were familiar from back then, however there was a large number that were missing. It was painful a reminder of all the friends that had been lost fourteen years ago.

Sirius chose not to dwell on the losses of so many of his old friends, instead he tried to remember the happier times.

James and Lily Potter - His best friends and the parents of his godson – who would sit silent, watching and listening without comment until their opinion was asked for. Unless of course it was to intervene when they believed that the Order was taking a path that would endanger lives. Both had been resolute about bringing down their enemy but so determined not to become the monster they were fighting.

Then there were the Prewitt Twins, Fabian and Gideon, the rowdy troublemakers who could lighten the mood even on the most sombre day. Alice and Frank Longbottom, both level-headed aurors who had cared for those who suffered under Voldemort's terror.

Lastly, there was Marlene. Marlene McKinnon. Oh, how he remembered her long, blonde elegantly curled hair, the piercing purple-blue eyes, and her melodious laugh. It had sounded like a melody of singing Wood Nymphs. She had loved to sing and dance. It was Marlene alone who had claimed his heart all those years ago.

Sirius pushed away memories of the past that often haunted him, it only served to sour his mood and drive him to drink more fire whiskey than was good for him. Not that the past was his only trigger. The Order refused to allow Sirius to aid them in any way, fearing he would be caught and kept reminding him to stay home and to do nothing. He felt utterly useless, and he despised it.

Tonight he was paying little attention to the conversation around the table since as usual they spoke in useless circles that drove him crazy. Instead he silently mused over the various reports they had received on Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

Voldemort was cleverly remaining hidden since his return and had done nothing to draw attention to himself. His Death Eaters who had escaped Azkaban remained active in society seemingly unchanged. The Minister successfully blocking the truth and then the talk that both his godson and Dumbledore were mad, attention-seeking liars. The Daily Prophet had also slowly begun sprouting all manner of sly propaganda.

All of these things were subtly connected and utterly untraceable, but it was of course the masterful strategy of Voldemort pulling strings from the shadows. Sirius was no fool and his keen mind and sharp intellect had not been dulled in Azkaban, despite some of the Order thinking him unstable. Instead of talking in circles with the rest of the group he instead tried to find his own way to contribute to the war and not feel so useless and powerless.

So engrossed was he in his thoughts Sirius didn't see the concerned or irritated looks that were cast in his direction, not that he particularly cared what they thought of him. He was more concerned with trying to find a better way to fight back but the solution eluded him.

The meeting ended an hour later, and Sirius barely acknowledged the people leaving or bidding him goodnight. He retreated to his bedroom and began to pace. There were so many things buzzing through his mind, there were so many connected events, and from them he could make plausible guesses as to what might come to pass and there had to be a way to stop it.

He stopped pacing when Remus entered his room, concern radiating from his pale green eyes that were flecked with dull amber.

"What is going through that head of yours Padfoot?" Remus asked. "You may have been sitting in that meeting, but your mind was elsewhere. I haven't seen you like this since the last war."

"I don't like what's happening, Moony," Sirius said, resuming his frustrated pacing. "Fudge is going to get us all killed, and Harry is right in the middle of it!"

"Then I take it you have a plan?" Remus cautioned quietly. "You do remember the last time you acted without planning in advance?"

"Of course I do!" Sirius snapped. "I ended up in Azkaban for twelve years and was nearly kissed by a hundred dementors!"

Remus said nothing, instead he took a seat on Sirius' bed and waited.

"Sorry," Sirius relented moments later, it wasn't Remus's fault. "I'm just frustrated, I feel so useless. A powerless Black! What would my family think of me now? Merlin, I bet they must be disgusted with me, and for the first time they would be right! I never thought I would hear myself admit such a thing!"

"You're not powerless Sirius." Remus reassured him quietly, "You might not have the political power of your grandfather Arcturus, but you are an equal to his magical power. We have enough politicians as it is anyway. You have a brilliant mind when you apply yourself, you know how to fight and are motivated, we'll need that in the war to come."

"Grandfather Arcturus was a cold bastard, though he did make a formidable Lord Black…" Sirius started but trailed off as he suddenly had a thought.

Lord Black. It was as much an office of power as it was a title. One that was technically Sirius's, he was the last male in the direct family line.

There was old power within the Noble and Most Ancient Houses. Ancient laws, many of which were overlooked but still held great sway over the country. But could Sirius use that power now?

Sirius had run away from his family all those years ago but had been groomed by his father and grandfather to be the heir to the House of Black. Despite being a renegade Black, he had never forgot those old lessons but instead chosen to walk his own path.

His mother might have disowned him personally, but old Arcturus never had, nor had he ever named a new heir to House Black. It had surprised Sirius to learn these facts when he had fled Hogwarts a year before but had chosen to turn his back on his birth right as he always had.

But perhaps now was the time to embrace his heritage, it was after all his by blood and law and couldn't be challenged by anyone, even the Ministry of Magic. Becoming the next Lord Black would open various possibilities he had not considered before, one of which would enable Sirius to help his godson who most likely didn't even know of his own heritage and place within the wizarding world.

A new path began to set itself before Sirius and it was one he would need to tread lightly, and much like Voldemort he needed time and secrecy if he was to successfully navigate the twisted path before him and it was not without its complications.

The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black had fallen from its position as one of the most dominant and important high-born families in Britain decades prior. People had forgotten the power this now dormant and absent family seat once held but that would change Sirius vowed. The Wizarding World would remember that no one crossed a Black or any who fell under its protection.

"Mooney I have a plan." Sirius said finally and smiled dangerously.

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Sirius was out in the overgrown garden of the house grooming the hippogriff Buckbeak. It had been a week and a half since he had made his vow and he had been hard at work getting things ready and reconnecting himself with the lessons of his youth.

The Order were completely ignorant to Sirius's activities when he was locked away in his room, this was in no small part due to Remus telling the Order that he had begun to drink and was often passed out drunk in his bedroom. The excuse was working well, almost too well Sirius thought, and he had seen the looks the Order members gave him when he did interact with them.

He sighed as he brushed the large beast and distracted himself by remembering the night he had acquired the hippogriff. It was certainly a memorable occasion and could be described as odd, yet it was one of his happiest memories in a decade.

That confrontation with Wormtail had not gone as Sirius had planned. Admittedly he hadn't planned anything it had been sheer chance he discovered the rats location. One factor of that night he couldn't have accounted for was Harry.

Oh how he remembered how Harry had the courage and nerve to come to his friends aid and how in his cold fury he had even attacked Sirius physically. Once Remus had arrived his old friend extracted the story and eventually everything had been straightened out and the truth was revealed. Yet Harry had refused to allow Sirius to kill Wormtail and become a murderer and instead had insisted that they turn the filthy rat over to the ministry so that Sirius could be proven innocent and Wormtail rightfully punished.

That decision had shocked Sirius, but he had respected it and had felt proud that his godson could make such a hard decision at such a young age and knew his parents would have been proud too. Harry was so much like his parents, but it had been that moment, that decision that had cemented Sirius's realisation of who his godson was than his previous observations of him during the year.

Of course, everything had gone horribly wrong due to the full moon, Remus hadn't taken his potion in his haste to get to the shack that night. Moony had tried to kill them but as Padfoot he had protected his godson and friends, but the fight had left him injured and weak, and a werewolf had not been the only danger. Dementors had come, hundreds of them ready to devour his soul and he had passed out accepting his fate.

It had been surreal to find himself in Hogwarts very much alive and in possession of his soul, he had had to convince himself he was in fact alive and not moved on to the other side. The room had been heavily warded and once again Sirius was imprisoned but unlike last time Dumbledore came and sat and listened to Sirius and finally learnt the truth.

Dumbledore had been pensive following the tale, he didn't have the power, authority, or the time to prevent the ministry carrying out its sentence but promised Sirius that he wouldn't die that night and had left him quite suddenly.

Sirius remembered the regret he had felt once Dumbledore had left, he felt he had failed Harry again. He didn't know what Dumbledore would do but resigned himself to his fate, it would be a fitting punishment for all of his mistakes he had thought.

But then Sirius had one of the biggest shocks of his life in the form of a simple knock of the window. Outside the tower had been an incredibly determined Harry Potter sitting astride a magnificent hippogriff with his friend Hermione. His godson had come to rescue him, and Sirius had escaped from Hogwarts with the hippogriff.

Smiling to himself as he brushed Buckbeak's rump, Sirius now knew he should have known that Harry would save him somehow. Harry would risk everything to help someone he cared for. Sirius had seen that in him, and despite only knowing each other for a few hours, Harry had come for him too.

James and Lily would have been so proud of him.

Lily may have been more level-headed than James but if someone she cared for was in trouble, then she would have moved the very earth to help them. Whereas James would become enraged when overcome by powerful emotions, the day his father had died he had been near unstoppable in his fury. It seemed that Harry managed to take after his parents even though he had only been with them for just over a year.

"Sirius!" He heard Remus bellow.

Running back into headquarters, he saw that people were arriving through the floo quickly and a sudden rush of panic overcame him.

"Remus, what's happened?" He asked urgently as he dashed down into the kitchen, "is it Harry?"

"Dementors attacked him! Dung just informed us; he had to defend himself while Dung bunked off to do business," Remus said.

Thoughts were racing through Sirius' mind at an alarming rate; this was why Harry had been given a guard! Fudge wanted an excuse to discredit him and now he had one. Luckily, underage magic was only a disciplinary matter in Amelia Bones' office.

"Wait until I get my hands on that thief!" Sirius snarled, his hands gripping the kitchen table tightly imagining it was Dung's neck. "Is Harry okay?"

"Dung said he was fine. Arabella's cover is blown though, she was alerted by her kneazles," Remus informed him quickly.

They were interrupted by the chime of the floo upstairs and then the sound of frantic feet heading down to them, and Arthur Weasley emerged into the room.

"Arthur, what is it?" Molly Weasley asked urgently noticing his haste.

"Fudge!" He said between breaths, "He tried to expel Harry and was about to send an official to snap his wand! Thankfully, Dumbledore has arrived to sort it out, he's furious! I sent an owl to Harry telling him not to relinquish his wand."

Sirius nodded before quickly pulling out his wand and summoning some parchment and a self-inking quill. He rushed out into the garden to write his note, then grabbed the owl that was sitting out there and tied the letter to its leg.

"Go, get that to Harry as quick as you can," he said to the owl, "It's an emergency." He threw the owl into the air; it quickly took flight and was off as fast as it could fly.

He stormed back into the house and went up into the attic. He tried a summoning spell but the item he needed didn't come towards him. Frustrated he hissed, "Kreacher!"

"Master calls?" The elf said, more a statement than an actual question. He gave an exaggerated bow, as always, wanting to show 'appreciation' to his master.

Sirius paid him no heed; he needed something important now. "Where is the riding tack, Kreacher? We should have some here."

The elf looked at him carefully, "Kreacher threw it out many years ago at Mistress' insistence, Master," he croaked, and threw Sirius a dirty look.

Sirius cursed. "Then go to Ravenwood Hall and get me a set. Now. I need it immediately, Kreacher, go!" The elf bowed and was gone with a loud pop.

Sirius quickly descended the stairs and met Remus halfway down.

"What are you doing, Padfoot?"

"What we planned," Sirius replied. "Can you cover for me while I am gone?"

Remus frowned but nodded. "Tonks should be there when you arrive. Kingsley just told us that Dumbledore slipped her a message when he was at the Ministry. I'll tell them that I stunned you in your bedroom and locked you in there to make sure you didn't do anything. How will you get there?"

"Thank you," Sirius said "I'm going to – "

The rest of his sentence was interrupted by the sound of Kreacher's apparition and in his arms was a set of black leather tack.

"As requested Master," he said, and he dumped it all on the floor before disappearing with a crack.

Slowly, Remus realised what was going on. "You cannot fly a hippogriff!" Remus exclaimed as Sirius picked up the mess of straps and leather. He began to descend the stairs three at a time. "It's still light outside Sirius!"

They walked into the garden, Remus protesting expressively. Sirius pointedly ignored him and bowed to the hippogriff. "I will place disillusionment charms on us both, it'll be fine! Besides, it's getting dark now and after being cooped up for so long Harry will relish in the freedom the same as I will."

Remus nodded begrudgingly. "Fine," he muttered, defeated. "I better go. Be careful Sirius, and remember, our entire plan resides on Harry getting here; he doesn't need to get in any further trouble."

Sirius nodded and pulled out his wand, pointed it at the tack. It glided gracefully towards Buckbeak and secured itself to the hippogriff and Sirius quickly got into the saddle with practiced ease.

Holding the reins in his hands, he gave Buckbeak a nudge with his legs. Buckbeak began to move towards one end of the garden and shifted in anticipation. Sirius cast the disillusionment charm on them both.

"Right then Buckbeak, get me to my godson," he said, and without the need for further command, Buckbeak propelled them up with his back legs. With two powerful sweeps of his wings, he was in the air. Sirius looked out in the direction of Surrey, he just hoped that Harry had received his message.

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Edited: March 2024

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