Darius had a lot he needed to inform both Sirius and Harry about. But he also had to pace it. No need to overload them with information on the very first day. But he had promised himself, he would not keep Harry from the truth like the old manipulator had. It would do much more harm than good. Dumbledore might have always held back because of Harry’s youth but the poor guy had gone through a lot and deserved to at least have the truth laid at his feet.

“First of all, I must tell you the information I have could be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands. I know that the two of you are trustworthy, but that doesn’t mean much in the magical world. There are Legilimens who can pull the truth out of your minds, potions to make you spill your deepest secrets, lethal poisons which can be used to threaten or blackmail you and much more.”

Darius would have liked to place the information under Fidelius if he could. It would have solved all the problems. Nobody could have gotten a hold of the information and he could discuss it with those he shared the secret. But despite having full knowledge of the spell from his Grimoire, he couldn’t cast the spell yet. Voldemort had researched extensively into the spell when his enemies began using it to evade him and the knowledge was helpful but for the moment, the spell was still beyond him. Maybe he could Fidelius a location, if he had wardstones with him to support him but doing so for some knowledge just about made it twice as complicated.

“I would have liked to place the knowledge under Fidelius if I could, but it is still beyond me for the moment. For the time being, I would like you, Sirius, to teach Harry everything he needs to know about Occlumency. You may even delve into the Black Library to see if you could rustle up some quick method to train in it. The Blacks were not known as the foremost family in the mind-arts for nothing.”

“Of course, I want to do so. But you already know I will be spending significant amounts of time in St Mungo’s. Won’t it be better to get a new teacher for this. We could easily afford a tutor.”

“It’s not a matter of money, Sirius. Do you really want a random Legilimens going through your Godson’s mind? No, it needs to be you. And you need to go through those family tomes sharpish. You’ll have to settle down in St Mungo’s for a while now. And moreover, Harry needs to spend some significant time as well. Maybe you could even room together.”

“Alright when you put it like that, I don’t have much choice, do I? But what’s this about Harry going to the hospital? Why would he need to spend time there?”

“I’ll get to that later. I have several matters to discuss and don’t have much time. We have an important appointment later and can’t afford to miss out on it.”

“Very well! Let’s hear of what you have to say.”

“Right! This is going to be somewhat long, so just sit tight and listen. You can ask all the doubts want to later.

First of all, Harry, do you know why Voldemort came to your house 12 years later. Everyone knew he did, but there may be less than five people who know exactly why. And I happen to be one of them.

There was a prophecy made about a year before your birth. It was made by Sybill Trelawny, a fraud if there ever was one, but she did have seer blood in her veins. It was made to Albus Dumbledore, who was interviewing her for the Divination post at Hogwarts. But as fate would have it, she chose that meeting to make the prophecy and it happened to be overheard by a Death Eater. The prophecy was as follows-

The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ...

Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ...

And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ...

And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives …

Now, if the prophecy had been made in some corner of the world with no one to listen, it would have been worthless. As it so happened Dumbledore did hear it, as did a death eater, who promptly reported it to Voldemort, who also took it seriously. As it turns out the DE did not hear it in its entirety and only heard the first couple of lines. Voldemort would have never gone ahead with his murder attempt rashly if he had heard the rest of it. But he did not and therefore made the attempt on your life.

Strangely, there were two children who the prophecy could have applied too. Neville, who was born just a day before you, could also be the person in the first couple of lines. But it is Voldemort’s choice which made all the difference. He chose you, marked you with the scar and thus practically ensured that you were the child of prophecy.”

The two of them had their jaws dropped. Whatever they were expecting, it certainly wasn’t this. That a simple prophecy could have so much effect on their lives was not a very pleasant thought. Nevertheless, at least they were getting some answers to their questions and they were eager for more.

“All that is well and good, but how do you know so much? This truly does sound fantastical but it also seems somewhat probable. But that makes the question all the more pertinent. How are you privy to this information? According to you, even Voldemort only knows the first two lines. By what I know, you are a simple Hogwarts student who is a year older than Harry and two years his senior at school but who are you truly.”

“I am exactly who I say I am, Sirius Black. As for the source, that is a bit more difficult to explain. I have thought about this, believe me, and the best explanation I could come up with is I have some seer like capabilities myself. I am sorry, but I won’t disclose any further. But I am almost completely sure about said information. Plenty of other incidents and pieces of knowledge confirm it.”

“I understand. And I am sorry for the forward questions. I don’t want to interrogate the person who made it possible to meet my Godson but you have to admit it all sounds a bit fantastical.”

“Of course, I do. I can hardly believe the circumstances I am in myself. Anyways, I am sure you want to know about the DE in question but revealing that would cause a lot of trouble right nw. The person is directly responsible for a lot of the grief that befell the two of you but his current position makes it extremely difficult to take him to task for it and I won’t have the two of you endangering our entire cause for it. I will reveal the truth to you one day, but that day isn’t today. I assure you though, that this person will get what is coming to them.

Now, the next part of my information. It is my belief that Dumbledore believes himself the only one who can enable this prophecy to be completed. Therefore, he took it upon himself to do so. His first action was to send Harry t the Dursleys, as that would leave Harry totally unaware of the wizarding world when he entered it and thus malleable to Dumbledore’s will. I believe Dumbledore intends for Harry to perish to Voldemort and then step in himself-”

“LIKE HELL HE WILL! I HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO YOU LONG ENOUGH AND NOW IT IS TIME FOR THAT GOAT FUCKER TO ENTER THE GRAVE-”

“SIRIUS! You have been apart from Harry for 12 years. Do you wish to be apart from him forever? Murdering the Chief Warlock will have you sent to the Veil before you can say trial. This is the reason I wanted to speak to you in private. I can’t have you gallivanting off after that whiskered arse and then end up leaving Harry alone again. We will deal with the old manipulator at a later time. Now will you let me speak my piece?”

“Yes, I will. I am not happy about it, but I will. But that white-whiskered arse will get his someday. And the day is fast approaching. For now, I’ll hold my peace, for Harry’s sake.”

“Good, in fact you should expect Dumbledore to goad you sometime in the near future. I don’t expect him to release too many secrets but he will try to agitate you, maybe make you attack him.”

Sirius was rather flustered at that. He didn’t see that one coming.

“And why the hell would he do that?”

“Because you are Harry’s best hope of getting out from under his thumb. Being his godfather, you are Harry’s legal guardian now and are in a position to influence him. Something which does not suit Dumbledore’s needs at all. He doesn’t want a strong-willed, intelligent and knowledgeable boy-who-lived. He wants a gullible boy who will dance to his tunes. Making you out as violent or mentally unstable would be a convenient way to pry away Harry’s guardianship from you.”

“That sounds almost too far-fetched. Yet after hearing everything you had to say, it sounds almost exactly what he would try to do. Very well, I’ll keep on my toes and be careful around him. And with so much information, I understand why you would wish for both of us to be well versed in Occlumency.”

“Good, make sure you do. And now for the last piece of knowledge that I’ll be sharing today. I know the source of Voldemort’s immortality. The very reason he isn’t dead yet.”

““WHAT!?””

“Oh yes! In fact, I believe you may be able to find it in the Black Library if you searched hard enough, Sirius. It is one of the darkest rituals known to man and it involves objects known as Horcruxes. Familiar term, Sirius?”

“Maybe. I do seem to have heard it or read of it somewhere, but I’m not sure where. What do you know about it.”

“All I need to tell you is that it is a dark ritual requiring the murder of a person in cold blood to rip a piece f one’s soul from the whole and store it in a phylactery of sorts. This object, in which the soul is stored, is then called a Horcrux. It anchors the soul to the mortal plain, preventing it from truly moving on. Making just one is a horrendous prospect that risks the person’s very sanity. Though I would say any person doing this ritual never had any anyway. Nevertheless, it will shock you to know that Voldemort has no fewer than seven Horcruxes and he can’t be truly killed till they have been truly destroyed.”

“My god! Now I remember about horcruxes. And I can’t believe that madman made seven of them. He is beyond insane to do that.”

“Well, no one said that he wasn’t a bit demented. But in any case, there is good news.”

“What is it? I could really use some right now.”

“Well, I have personally seen to the destruction of two of them and know the current location of four more.”

““WHAT!?””

“Yup! I’ll explain shortly. In the meantime, Sirius, mind calling your house-elf Kreacher? He has a story of his own to share with us.”

Sirius looked dumbfounded at that. He couldn’t help but call out in surprise.

“Kreacher!?”

CRACK!