Douglas's voice was icy as he spoke:
"Harry, I'm truly disappointed in you. Have you forgotten everything I taught you in class?
Voldemort is a ruthless killer. If you can't control your emotions and think clearly, then as the so-called 'Savior,' you'll end up nothing more than a stepping stone for his return."
Harry was breathing hard, struggling to force his emotions back under control.
Back when Douglas didn't know Harry was his own nephew, he hadn't cared nearly as much. Even when Harry had foolishly tried to hunt down the basilisk, Douglas hadn't been particularly moved.
Kids, after all, are meant to grow up in their own time.
But now that Harry was family, Douglas found himself nitpicking everything—his lack of motivation, his impulsiveness…
Once Harry had mastered his feelings, Douglas continued,
"Sirius Black was born into the pure-blood Black family, but unlike his ancestors, he chose Gryffindor over Slytherin.
At school, he became your father's closest friend—even ran away from home one year and moved in with your grandparents.
After graduation, during the war against Voldemort, he fought alongside your father and, according to Headmaster Dumbledore, accomplished quite a lot.
But then, that night changed everything. Your parents died, and Sirius was suddenly branded Voldemort's lackey.
He was sent to Azkaban without a trial, and Sirius himself never tried to defend his innocence.
They say he just kept laughing—wildly, uncontrollably—right up until he was locked away.
Now, Harry, what do you make of that?"
Douglas glanced at Padfoot, who had fallen silent, lost in memory.
Harry looked back at Douglas, thought for a long moment, then shook his head, embarrassed.
Douglas wasn't disappointed—he hadn't exactly given Harry many clues.
"Harry, I have a mission for you. Think you're up for it?"
Harry instantly cleared his mind of all distractions and nodded, determined.
Douglas explained,
"This term, I want us to uncover the truth behind Sirius's case—whether he was truly guilty, or wrongly imprisoned.
But your mission isn't just that. I want you to organize students from all four houses to investigate the story behind this case together."
Harry was baffled. Investigating on his own, he could understand—it was personal. But getting all four houses involved? That sounded impossible.
"Uncle, I don't think anyone besides Hermione and Ron would listen to me."
Douglas smiled,
"Exactly. That's the challenge. How you manage it is up to you.
Complete the mission, and you'll get a very special reward."
Before Harry could reply, Padfoot gave Douglas's leg a symbolic nip.
He'd realized Douglas was dangling a carrot in front of Harry.
Harry beamed, "Mission accepted!"
Douglas watched Harry's excitement and rubbed his nose, amused.
There was plenty he hadn't told Harry—he wanted him to discover it for himself.
For example, to those who knew the whole story, Sirius hadn't just betrayed justice—he'd betrayed his friends, revealing James and Lily's whereabouts to Voldemort.
Right now, Harry hadn't yet connected his parents' deaths to Sirius, which explained how quickly his mood could shift.
As for why Douglas didn't simply train all the students himself, but instead wanted them to organize and act independently:
On one hand, he wanted them to see the Ministry's true colors for themselves. At the very least, when Voldemort returned, Hogwarts students wouldn't be so easily swayed by the Ministry's stance.
On the other hand, he believed the truth shouldn't belong to just a handful of people.
In the original story, Sirius died carrying the world's scorn as a murderer and a traitor—because only a few ever knew the truth.
As for whether Peter Pettigrew would escape this time, well, that depended on his luck.
If he was caught, with Sirius's experience as precedent, Pettigrew would have a hard time escaping Azkaban as an Animagus.
If not—so much the better. If he dared eat Douglas's special pet food, he was destined to become a most useful tool.
After Harry left, Sirius returned to his human form.
He glared at Douglas, growling,
"To be honest, I don't care if the world knows the truth. As long as I can kill that traitor, I'd die happy right now."
Douglas was certain that, if Sirius had a wand, he'd have stormed into Diagon Alley today to hunt down Pettigrew.
He curled his lip, unimpressed.
"Then why didn't you show yourself just now? Seeing your godson willing to fight for you—you must feel pretty good about that, deep down.
And you know as well as I do, there's no real danger this time.
You heard Dobby—Pettigrew's already eaten the special pet food. The last threat is neutralized.
All he can do now is sleep until Harry and the others uncover the truth."
Sirius huffed,
"If you ask me, we should've done things my way—give him some slow-acting rat poison and let him rot…
Your potion just makes him fat and happy. Hmph. That filthy traitor doesn't deserve such luxury…"
SMACK!
Douglas slammed the table, scowling.
"Padfoot, you're insulting a proud member of Hufflepuff…"
Over the next few days, Douglas didn't invite Hermione over—just Harry, who spent his time either reviewing textbooks or drafting plans to organize his classmates for the investigation.
He couldn't help but think—if Hermione were here, this would be a breeze.
Soon enough, the first day of term arrived.
Harry showed up at Douglas's house with a troubled look.
After breakfast, Douglas asked,
"I thought you'd finished all your homework. What's worrying you?"
Harry pulled out a permission form, looking at Douglas hopefully.
"Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia still refused to sign my form. They even laughed and said, 'Oh my, a permission slip that needs a guardian's signature? But we're hardly fit to be your guardians, are we? Sorry, we're not worthy to sign it.'"
Douglas smiled, taking the form.
"So they sent you to me?
Too bad for them—they don't realize that, in a way, I'm your guardian too.
I'll sign it. And if Professor McGonagall has any questions, I'll explain."
With that, Douglas wrote on the form:
[I, Douglas Holmes, cousin to Harry Potter, grant permission for him to visit Hogsmeade on weekends.]
Harry accepted the form eagerly, tucking it away like treasure.
Douglas then produced a small wooden charm, much like the one he'd given Dudley.
Harry took the charm, eyeing Douglas curiously.
"I thought you were just fooling Aunt Petunia, giving her some random trinket."
Douglas sniffed,
"I'm a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor—do you really think I'd trick a Muggle child?
This works just like the other one. It'll protect you when it matters most…"
Harry slipped the charm on, satisfied, and said earnestly,
"Don't worry, Uncle. Even if you're not at school, I'll finish the mission you gave me.
But I'm really curious—who's the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor? Are they as good as you?"
Douglas grinned mischievously.
"You'll find out soon enough!"
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