Chapter 27 

Guardian

Despite his attempts to keep tabs on what was going on at Hogwarts with the Triwizard Tournament, Sirius was having a rather difficult time. He had no issue getting onto the grounds to hopefully get some information. It was just that nothing was going on. He'd seen both the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students around of course, but other than that, nothing was new. 

The students minded their own business, and the Hogwarts students were pretty normal as well, albeit a little more excited than usual. The most interesting thing he'd seen was Hagrid in a rather horrible hairy brown suit, with an equally horrible tie, and his hair done in an absurd style, slicked down with what appeared to be axle grease, walking around the castle grounds with Madame Maxime. Sirius was happy for them. If Hagrid's getup was any indication, he fancied her. 

So when he got a letter from Harry, brought to him by a large barn owl, Sirius was taken by surprise. He figured Harry was just going to tell him about the champions being selected and whatnot. He was half-right. He was lounging around in the cave with Buckbeak when the owl came in. Now, Sirius stood up and untied the scroll from the leg of the bird. He unfurled it and began to read. 

Dear Sirius,

                        You told me to keep you posted on what's happening at Hogwarts, so here goes - I don't know if you've heard, but the Triwizard Tournament's happening this year and on Saturday night I got picked as a fourth champion. I don't know who put my name in the Goblet of Fire, because I didn't. The other Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory, from Hufflepuff. 

Hope you're okay, and Buckbeak.

- Harry

Sirius was aghast. Of course, something had to go wrong. But never could he have imagined this. The Triwizard Tournament was canceled because of the dangers before. And sure, maybe they would have imposed more safety measures and all, but it wouldn't be the Triwizard Tournament if it wasn't life-threatening for the contestants. 

And Harry, he couldn't even begin to imagine what he was going through. Harry might have not known about all the dangers involved, but it was common knowledge that the Tournament had claimed many lives throughout the centuries. Not to mention, he was probably having some trouble with his peers. Sirius suspected a good lot of them were jealous, or simply ostracized Harry for getting in the Tournament in the first place. 

Something had to be done. He was Harry's guardian, after all, and it was he, Sirius' responsibility to at the least, make sure Harry didn't die. He had to write back. He ran over to the back of the cave, where in his satchel, he'd kept all his spare scraps of parchment, a few quills, and a couple of bottles of ink. To his dismay, Sirius realized that he'd carelessly let his parchment run out.  There was no time to waste. No doubt Harry was avidly awaiting a response from him, and he was going to see to it that Harry got one. 

Bidding a quick goodbye to Buckbeak, Sirius bolted out of the cave and transformed. Now, as Snuffles, he dashed along the country road towards Hogsmeade. It took him a little longer than usual today, thanks to an unfortunate encounter with a woman, who was taking a stroll through the country.

He hadn't meant to scare her. If his coat wasn't so matted and he wasn't so thin, he would probably be able to pass off as a regular dog. Right now he supposed he looked positively terrifying. Why else would she have abruptly screamed at the sight of him, and fled, shrieking about seeing the Grim?

Finally, he was in the village, with no further episodes have occurred. His first stop, The Three Broomsticks. It had been a while since he'd seen Madam Rosmerta, and he could do with a good proper meal right about now. Sure enough, he'd only been sitting outside the shop for a few minutes when he'd caught her eye. A delighted smile formed across her face, and she ran into the back of the shop coming back with a bag.

"Hello, darling!" Rosmerta said, bending down to scratch him under his chin. Sirius wagged his tail happily. Oh, how he loved Madam Rosmerta. However, the smells coming from the bag at their feet were even more lovable. Sirius could smell beef, sausage, biscuits, and all sorts of other things he could have only dreamed about. 

After another few minutes, Rosmerta bade him goodbye, and Sirius was trotting down the dirt path with a bag full of food for himself and Buckbeak. Next, it was off to Flourish and Blotts. Sirius knew from experience, mainly from the past year, that the shop had plenty of items stored that they wouldn't get to sell, given that no one wanted them.

He went around the back of the shop and set his bag down. Then he transformed once more and took out his wand. Tapping the handle of the door with the wand and whispering, "Alohomora," he stepped inside the dark storage room. "Lumos," he whispered, igniting the tip of his wand.

Sirius knew that the shop had a small area in a corner, where they had inventory that they weren't able to sell. Rolls of parchment that were frayed at the edges or too thin for the customers liking, feather quills that were a little beaten up, and bottles of ink that were only half-full. It was just fine for Sirius though, and besides, he'd be doing the shop a favor by cleaning some of this out. 

 He got enough to last him a full year's worth of letters to Harry and stuffed those into the bag as well. He transformed, and picked it back up in his jaws. Then he ran out of the room and didn't stop until he'd reached Zonko's Joke Shop, which was a little ways away, and then started walking once more. 

When he was back at the cave, Sirius wasted no time. It was already evening, so he tossed Buckbeak a link of sausages, which the hippogriff happily dug into. Then, transforming yet again, he sat on the floor near the mouth of the cave and wrote his reply hastily in the light of the setting sun. 

Dear Harry,

                         I can't say everything I would like to in a letter, it's too risky in case the owl is intercepted - we need to talk face-to-face. Can you ensure that you are alone by the fire in Gryffindor Tower at one o'clock in the morning on the 22nd of November?                                               I know better than anyone that you can look after yourself and while you're around Dumbledore and Moody I don't think anyone will be able to hurt you. However, someone seems to be having a good try. Entering you in that tournament would have been very risky, especially right under Dumbledore's nose.                                                                                                                                                         Be on the watch, Harry. I still want to hear about anything unusual. Let me know about the 22nd of November as quickly as you can.

- Sirius

Sirius stood up, heading towards the owl, who'd perched on top of Buckbeak's back. To its credit, it had stayed in the cave, waiting for Sirius to write a reply to the letter it had delivered. Sirius gave it a few pieces of a biscuit as a reward and tied the letter to the bird's leg with the piece of string he'd gotten from Harry's letter, and sent the owl on its way. 

He knew his reply would probably confuse Harry if anything. He probably had no idea that one could use fireplaces to communicate. He'd chosen that form because he didn't want Harry sneaking about the grounds to talk to him, given that he was already in danger. If whoever had put his name in the Goblet saw him, Harry would be the perfect target in the dead of night.

As for the 22nd of November, Sirius had given himself some time to find out how exactly he would be able to talk with Harry. He would need access to someone's fireplace, and he would need to scout around Hogsmeade to see which shops would have the ones that were most easily accessible. 

Before that though, he would have to see if it was possible for Harry to do so in the first place.