He lay on the private beach silently, thinking about the past year, and even more specifically about the last few days. He had finally met his godson! He couldn't get over how much he looked like James (except for the eyes) and how he seemed to act like James. It had greatly surprised him that somehow Harry Potter had gotten the Marauder's Map, but nothing had prepared him for what happened next. Just when he had thought it was over, that he was about to have his soul sucked out by a dementor, Harry and his brilliant friend Hermione had rescued him on Buckbeak. Silently he wondered if it should have been the other way around. The adult should have rescued the children. But then, he always knew that Harry was no ordinary child. He'd never forget the day James had confided the prophecy to him. That prophecy was what had led to the death of two of his best friends. He didn't want to think about that now. The dementors had made sure he'd thought about that enough while he was in Azkaban. What he wanted to think about was the prophecy. He wondered if Dumbledore had told the boy about it. Scowling, he realized that the Headmaster wouldn't want to burden that child with the truth, instead letting him live in ignorant bliss until one day he's attacked unprepared and murdered. That boy was destined to duel Voldemort, yet he probably hasn't even been taught to duel properly. It was right then and there that Sirius Black decided to take matters into his own hands.

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It was early morning, about a week after he'd left his home to spend the summer with the Dursleys. He missed Hogwarts so terribly when he was in this house. He was lying on the bed sleeping when he heard a tapping at the window. He got up to see what owl had come, expecting to see Errol, or even Ron's new tiny owl Sirius had given him. What he saw surprised him and made him chuckle. It was some sort of brightly-colored tropical bird he'd never seen before, and it had an envelope tied to its leg. He pulled off the envelope and indicated for the bird to drink from the water in Hedwig's cage. Hedwig hooted indignantly at this and flew out of her cage and out the window, clearly upset that this flashy bird was going to share her water. The envelope simply said, "Harry." It had two pieces of parchment in it. The first was a letter, and the second one was blank. He quickly opened it and read the letter.

Harry was at that moment doing his best to stop himself from performing accidental magic. He was crying from thinking about his parents' deaths, but more than anything he was furious. He was more angry than he'd ever been in his life, and that's saying something! He was furious at Snape for what he'd done, and at least as furious at Dumbledore, for letting Snape teach at Hogwarts! In Harry's opinion, Azkaban was far too good for Snape. He was breathing very heavily while his face got redder and redder, telling himself that getting another letter from the ministry wouldn't help him. Besides, he didn't want to use magic. He wanted to rip Snape limb from limb with his bare hands. He was slightly trembling from his anger as he put his hand on the blank parchment and muttered, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." The words immediately appeared on the parchment.

Harry sat silently on his bed for about a half hour calming down. "No wonder I always end up facing Voldemort," he thought to himself. "I guess I'll have to kill him." He took a deep breath. "It's not the first time I killed anyone," he continued in his thoughts. "I killed Professor Quirrel in my first year, and a basilisk and the memory of Riddle in my second. The only problems with these are that I got lucky. Sirius is right, I have to train. He's also right that without training, Snape will kill me if I fight him. But how can I face him in class? Hermione is the logical person to ask for help. She's so brilliant. I'd better not mention my desire to reunite Snape with my parents, though. I wonder what would happen if the Daily Prophet found out that Dumbledore has the person responsible for the attack on "The Boy Who Lived" teaching at Hogwarts and tormenting him?" He then answered himself, "Snape would lose his job along with Dumbledore. Maybe I should demand that Dumbledore fire Snape. I always have to put up with the bad stuff my fame puts me through, so why shouldn't I use the good part of my fame? I won't tell Dumbledore that I know the contents of the prophecy, but just that one was made." Harry took out two pieces of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink.

Harry felt a bit bad about blackmailing Dumbledore, but then he remembered about how that murderer strutted around the castle talking about how James Potter strutted around the castle. He then tied the letter to Hedwig (who'd returned while Harry was composing the letter) and said, "Take this to Dumbledore, and hurry back. I'll have another letter for you." He then gave her an owl treat he'd had in his trunk. He then wrote to Hermione as Hedwig was flying off.

Harry got up and went downstairs to do his million chores for the day. When he finally got back to his room that evening, he found Hedwig was already perched on top of her cage. She stuck out her foot, revealing a letter. He took it, said, "Thanks, girl," and gave her another treat. He then unrolled the parchment that contained Dumbledore's reply.

Harry smiled to himself. "I guess it shouldn't be too difficult to avoid the git if I don't have class with him," he said to himself. He then attached his letter to Hermione on Hedwig's leg and sent her to deliver it. All he could do now is wait for the response. He decided to go to bed.