The Tree of Blacks (English version)

The Sirius' Escape

"No. It's true that Sirius loathes Snape with all his heart, but he wouldn't go so far as to make such a gesture. It was a skirmish, that's all."

"But -" muttered Regulus, pondering gloomy assumptions.

"Reg, hear me out: I managed to swipe the letter Dumbledore sent to our parents..."

"How on earth did you do that?" interrupted Regulus incredulously.

"Mum had given it to Kreacher to throw away and he kept it in his lair as a trophy: he loves anything that can get our brother into trouble." replied Alya, hastily. "Anyway, Dumbledore in the letter only mentions a bad prank that thankfully went wrong, with no consequences. There is no mention of attempted murder. Snape must have inflated the story just to get Sirius and his clique of thugs expelled. He's always hated them," the girl explained to her brother, who listened to her with an unconvinced air.

Indeed, no matter how convincing she tried to sound, even Alya harboured doubts about what had really happened between Sirius and Snape. Despite the placid tones in which Dumbledore had written the letter, it was obvious that something serious had happened.

***

The sudden summoning of James Potter and Sirius Black by Dumbledore soon became a favourite subject of Hogwarts gossip during the run-up to Christmas break. It was rare for the headmaster to call students into his office in such a peremptory manner. Usually, punishments and action for acts against the school rules were the responsibility of the headmasters of the four Hogwarts Houses. Dumbledore's direct intervention revealed the seriousness of the situation Potter and Sirius had gotten themselves into.

Within the walls of the castle, the most disparate theories began to circulate about the alleged crime committed by the two brilliant Gryffindor students, many of which, in Alya's opinion, bordered on the ridiculous in how absurd they were.

The only thing certain was that Severus Snape also seemed to be involved in the affair. According to the rumours that were bouncing from mouth to mouth among the curious and scandal-hungry students, it seemed that the astute Slytherin, who had always been at war with the detestable Gryffindor couple, had openly denounced Sirius and Potter for deliberately making an attempt on his life. To this end, according to what Snape proclaimed, the two boys had involved another friend of theirs, Remus Lupin, who had turned out to be nothing less than a monstrous werewolf. According to Snape's statement, the prank set up by the two Gryffindors would certainly have ended in his death, if at the last second Potter had not panicked, pulling his Slytherin companion away from the now completely transformed Lupin.

Although this was the most popular and popular version among all Hogwarts students, no one seemed to take it seriously. Alya and the other Sepeverds had listened so many times to Snape's tirade and his suspicions about Lupin's supposed lycanthropy, that they had had it up to their necks. It had been years since the boy had accused the scruffy Gryffindor of such insinuation, but no one had ever given him any credit.

What Headmaster would have been so dastardly as to introduce a dangerous and potentially lethal werewolf into a school like Hogwarts? Not to mention that Remus Lupin had been attending the magical institute for six years now: someone would surely have noticed his hypothetical monthly transformations, which certainly could not have gone unnoticed.

Still, Alya had been seized by a suspicious shudder when she had heard Severus Snape's latest ramblings. She vividly remembered seeing him sneaking out of the Slytherin common room on the same night she had met Pettigrew in the Forbidden Forest. A shining full moon had been a silent spectator to all that had happened that night. But the girl was careful not to share that information with anyone. She didn't want to get into trouble.