{Filch's office, Hogwarts}

{10th Sep 1991}

{3rd Person POV}

Albus looked at the small room, his brows furrowed as his eyes swayed around it. A familiar Magical signature was lingering around the room. He had rushed here after Filch's warning, and even still, most of the magical residue had mingled with the ambient mana. It had taken him quite a while to get used to Mage Sight. Ignoring the ambient mana was still quite hard after decades of using it.

'I'm too late. Only the place where Sirius fired the two spells is somewhat distinguishable but even unsuitable for revealing any tracks. Any further markings have long since disappeared.' Albus frowned. He stopped channeling mana to his eyes as he hummed, his thoughts calculating the potency of the effects of Sirius's stunning spell.

'Just as I thought, he's weak right now. The spell should have knocked Filch right out until all of his magical signatures should have disappeared. If I consider the dissociation rate, then he's at 20-25% of his max power...' Albus thought. Still, the whole situation irked him. Sirius's actions hadn't made sense to him for decades now, and his actions today just further proved that something was amiss.

'He used the stunning spell. Why was he afraid of using any unforgivable and revealing himself to me sooner? But it doesn't make sense, even though I try to imply that I would know through the Hogwarts wards about any use of Unforgivable. Anyone who had spent his schooling in Hogwarts would know that it wasn't entirely true.'

'And even then, a stunning spell wouldn't make sense. Sirius should have harbored enough resentment toward Filch, who was responsible for landing the 4 of them in detention multiple times, to warrant something stronger. A stunning spell leaves a trace. Filch was able to tell me that Sirius was able to infiltrate the castle because of the non-lethal spell. A mass murderer making this mistake is rather odd...'

Albus prided himself on being a good judge of character. He had been wrong just once in his life, and that was with Sirius. His mistake had cost the lives of two of his brightest students and the fracture of his own Order after the end of the War. Quite a lot of the members had to hide once it was revealed Sirius was a spy, as he had been part of the main core of the Order.

'Was it a blessing that Tom died attacking the Potters? Otherwise, the Order would have been in too much disarray after Sirius's betrayal. Other than me, no one was in a stable condition to resist Tom after that night,' Albus thought. His musings were interrupted as Minerva ran into the room. 

"Is it true, Albus? Sirius was here?" Minerva asked. She tried to remain composed, but it didn't matter. Even without a Legilimency probe, he could tell that the older woman was in disarray. If there was another person who had been hit hard by that night almost two decades ago, then it would be Minerva.

The Mauraders were her pride. Even though she always tried to hide it, she was quite protective of them. Her eyes scanned around the room, and then they returned to Albus. Her question lingered in the air for a moment before Albus sighed.

"...Yes, I'm afraid that I recognize that Magical Signature. Sirius Black was here, in this room, around 50 minutes ago." His voice was calm as he tried to instill some confidence into his deputy.

"Why? Why is he here?" Minerva questioned aloud. She was leaning against the door. Her eyes were a little dazed.

"I could think of two reasons..." Albus spoke.

"According to the Minister, a newspaper page was left behind in Sirius's cell. Some auror had shoved it into his room, the article about his 'son' being the next Dark Lord." Albus continued.

"Rigel..." Minerva exhaled, her eyes seeking Albus's once more.

"He's here for his son? But according to Rigel, his Father is Regulus, not Sirius. Did he try to go to the dungeons? I suspect he knows where the common rooms of all the houses are." Minerva questioned, her words stopping as Severus thundered into the room.

His eyes surveyed the dingy room, the disgust on his face might be from the fact that the room was cramped and dirty, or rather on the fact that one of his teenage tormentors was back in the castle.

"Did you track him, Albus?" Severus asked, his voice determined. Albus decided that when Sirius was captured again, he would do well to keep these two apart. He still remembered the man dressed in death-eater clothes who had pleaded to him to keep Lily safe. They had managed to do it, and if not for Sirius, it would have been impossible to breach the Fidelius charm.

"I'm afraid not, Severus. The magical signature had already faded by the time I arrived here," Albus watched as Severus turned away from him. Even if he didn't look at Albus anymore, the old wizard could tell the accusation in his eyes.

"Now is not the time to dig up old feuds, Severus..." Albus spoke, and then he turned to the last two Head of Houses who had arrived behind the dark-haired professor of potions.

"We don't have much time, even though I'm sure that Sirius Black left the castle after an attempted theft. We need to be cautious in times like these." Albus started, "...I need all of you to lead your houses to the great hall. I'll be initiating a full lockdown of Hogwarts in 20 minutes." 

Albus could see the hesitance in all of their eyes, but it only lasted a moment before they turned back and ran toward their respective common rooms. It wasn't necessary to lock down the castle, that much he knew, but he knew the repercussions that would follow what happened today.

As much as he detested it, he knew that the minister had enough cause and power to make it happen now, and the lockdown was necessary to make sure he pushed his point across. He fingered his beaded wand lightly as he got ready for the upcoming battle.

...

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