The Dark Witch

P.O.V. – Albus Dumbledore

Two weeks had past since I had accepted Becky Sinclair, the sixteen year old untrained witch, into Hogwarts. Two weeks since I had taken Harry to the Burrow and convinced Horace to return to his old post as head of Slytherin house and Potions Master. Two weeks since I had last placed a piece in the fascinating puzzle that was the Dark Witch. Something that I would soon change.

Cautiously I swept forward to examine the large parcel that four large burly owls had just deposited upon my desk. I already had the jest of what it was of course, it was a chest that had belonged to the late Sirius Black, and while I knew I had no right to it, Sirius had left everything to Harry in his will, I had to know. The answers to all that I had been seeking could be just a foot away. I would be doing Harry a a favor to know everything about the Dark Witch as soon as possible. I justified to myself, lied to myself.

“Oh, just open it, Albus!” Said the the portrait of Isabella Twine exasperatedly, an ex-headmistress. I nodded my head to aknowledge her and reaffirm myself, as I whipped out my wand and muttered a spell under my breath causing the brown packaging to vanish. And there it was, a locked simple brown chest, taunting me as if it were the holy grail itself.

I took a step forward, my arms outstretched, an intense longing in my eyes. I was almost there…my dead hand brushed the chest. I closed my eyes and sighed, at last. “Alohomora.” I whispered quietly, pointing my wand at the chest’s lock, it snapped open easily, almost too easily for my taste. I pushed the top open to reveal its contents.

It was a mess, filled with pictures, letters, a long black cloak, two silver rings on a chain (one covered in diamonds, the other plain), and another, miniature, chest. I decided to ignore that for the time being and instead reached for the top photograph.

It was a picture of the four marauders (they honestly had thought I didn’t know their code name), Lily Evans, and Maria Le Fay. The picture was very revealing, James and Lily stood close together, lost in each other’s eyes. Maria stood in between Remus and Sirius, looking bored in her face, but happy in her eyes, as she inched closer to Sirius. Peter stood away from them all, making one believe that he had just wandered into the photo by accident, instead of actually belonging there.

I sat the photo down and picked up the letter that had been closest to it.

Dear Sirius,

I’m sorry. I can’t do this. I didn’t mean to, lead you on, I guess that is the proper term, but this isn’t my choice. Look Sirius, I know what a temper you have, but don’t do anything rash or stupid! I mean it! Lay low for awhile, promise me! I don’t want anything to happen to you. Don’t you dare think, ‘don’t worry about me’ and laugh to yourself, this isn’t funny. I…can’t see you for awhile, if ever. Just, don’t forget me, okay. I love you.

Maria

I smiled, sorrowfully at her signature, a bead of a tear on my cheek. So they had been in-love. My eyes drifted to the two silver rings, a new question forming in my mind. Instinctively I reached for the small black chest, it had no lock. I opened it, and found just what I had expected, tiny viles of memories, ten viles, ten memories, the ultimate jackpot.

With the care of a mother with her small child, I lifted the box out of the chest and, after staring at it for the longest of moments, walked over to my pensieve to drop the memories into it, one by one.