1. Accio 2. Avada Kedavra 3. Braking Charm 4. Blasting Curse 5. Colloportus 6. Crucio 7. Confundus 8. Diffindo 9. Disapparate 10. Engorgio 11. Expecto Patronum 12. Furnunculus 13. Flagrate 14. Horn Tongue 15. Hurling Hex 16. Impedimenta 17. Imperio 18. Incarcerous 19. Jelly Legs 20. Knitting Charm 21. Langlock 22. Legilimens 23. Levicorpus 24. Lumos 25. Mobilicorpus 26. Morsmordre 27. Muffliato 28. Nox 29. Obliviate 30. Oppugno 31. Orchideous 32. Petrificus Totalus 33. Point Me 34. Protego 35. Quietus 36. Reducto 37. Relashio 38. Rictusempra 39. Sectumsempra 40. Sonorus 41. Scourgify 42. Silencio 43. SpeRevelio 44. Stupefy 45. Tarantallegra 46. Tergeo 47. Twitchy Ears Hex 48. Unbreakable Vow 49. Wingardium Leviosa 50. Waddiwasi

Sirius Black sneered where he sat in Dumbledore’s office. In his approximate vicinity, McGonagall was in a contained rage going on and on about reckless behavior and inappropriate use of magic. Once more, Sirius Black sneered. He didn’t think it was that big of a deal. It was a simple Levicorpus spell. It hardly caused any damage at all save perhaps a fatal wound to the victim’s ego. In his opinion, it was a warranted attack. Severus Snape had grown too confident despite his meek and somewhat creepy demeanor. He needed to be put back in his place.

“Do you have any idea how badly your behavior reflects upon your house, Mister Black?” asked Professor McGonagall tartly. Her lips, which Sirius could have sworn were permanently pursed, looked particularly pinched. Her eyes had widened a fraction and her breathing seemed slightly erratic; definitely contained rage.

“Can’t be worse than what Snape’s existence means to Hogwarts as a whole,” mumbled Sirius almost unintelligibly. McGonagall didn’t seem to understand his words because she did not stop mid-speech as he had expected her to. Sirius Black did feel Professor Dumbledore’s eyes on him as the Headmaster curiously inspected him over his touching fingertips.

His fingers drummed on the study table. The boy leaned forward and hunched over the scrap of parchment his gray-blue eyes were scrutinizing. There was a message written on it; short and poignant.

Black,

I’d like to speak to you.

Lily Evans.

This was the twenty third time Sirius Black had read the note. Although the letter’s contents were simple enough to understand Sirius felt nothing but paranoia. Why was it that Lily Evans had written a letter to him? It wasn’t even the sort of letter he expected from her. If Evans had ever felt compelled to write to him Sirius was sure it would have included the words ‘git’, ‘unnecessarily reckless’, ‘unbearably rude’ and ‘do not speak to me ever again’. Instead Lily was requesting Black’s presence in what he could only assume was in privacy.

The Gryffindor picked up his wand and twirled it around his fingers. His brows furrowed together as he ceased his movements to place the tip of his wand on the parchment. Sirius top lip curled as he spoke: “SpeRevelio.” New lettering appeared.

I’m not in love with you in case you’re wondering. Meet me by the statue of the Humpback Witch.

“You’re mad,” declared Sirius as he dodged a flying chair.

“Way to state the obvious, you prat!” shouted Marlene McKinnon. “Did you think I wouldn’t be when you told Potter that he might as well bench me because I’m not agreeable enough to be a team player?”

Black scratched his head, wondering when McKinnon was going to stop snarling in what she thought was English but sounded a lot like demented gargling.

“I meant…you’re mad,” explained Sirius slowly with a brow perched high on his forehead and his mouth twisted indignantly at Marlene’s obtuseness. “As in…YOU’RE COMPLETELY BONKERS!”

In a swift movement the girl arched her arm and a study table was moving towards Sirius Black at an alarming speed. Sirius’ eyes widened and he managed to procure his wand out in time to cast a silent Protego charm in front of him.

The table bounced off his invisible shield and instead tumbled in the direction of the curious and shocked bystanders. Outraged yells filled the common room and Sirius couldn’t tell who was glaring at him or Marlene McKinnon anymore. Surely, their anger was misplaced. He was not to blame. He was Sirius Black. He was never at fault.

It occurred to me then, in that very moment surrounded by excitable faces, that I couldn’t recall one single happy memory. I couldn’t tell if I was over thinking it as I worried over my bottom lip, wand clasped in my hand. The more I tasted my own flesh and unexpectedly the iron taste of blood, the more I stressed over the definition of happy. What exactly was happiness? Was being content with your lot in life considered happiness or merely an act of settling? I hummed contemplatively although that sound soon turned into an almost woeful groan.

“You look constipated,” whispered Preposterous Potter.

I laughed half-heartedly. Although his humor had not failed to reach me and I normally wasn’t beyond being self-deprecating I couldn’t shake the gloominess off my shoulders. It weighed me down with thoughts about my family and amongst the gloom the young face of my little brother blossomed. That was it, wasn’t it? Reggie, the brother I had taught how to ride a racing broom at the tender age of five which had led to a broken bone and lots of wailing.

“Expecto Patronum!” I chanted as an unrecognizable blue shape came out from my wand.

“THIS IS UNHOSPITABLE!” yelled James, waving his arms about. “YOU SHOULD JUST STAY AT A FAMILY INN OR A NICE LITTLE COTTAGE IN IRELAND.”

Remus stared at Potter, dumbfounded, before glancing over at Sirius. The raven haired boy shrugged. He never put too much thought into James’ random shouts. They rarely made sense and were often inappropriate for the situation he was in. Instead of worrying over the concealed insults Moony was throwing at a huffy Prongs, Padfoot turned his eyes upon the filthy floor of the Shrieking Shack. He took a cue from Peter’s clever idea.

“Tergeo,” said Sirius quietly when he pulled out his wand, siphoning the grime that had crusted over the musty wood floor of the shack.

“That’s a lovely idea, Prongs,” remarked Remus pinching the bridge of his nose. “Let me go to the nearest family run inn and ask them to lend me a room, yes, so when the full moon comes I can transform into a werewolf and destroy all their furniture and patrons.”

Peter found Remus’ morbid humor funny and chuckled. His laughter died out and was replaced with a sharp yelp when his foot went through a rotting plank.

James laughed.

“We’re lost!” she yells and turns her brown eyes on me. The accusatory nature in them makes me bristle and I do my best to keep from making a rude gesture with fingers in her direction. I’m doing the best I can but it doesn’t seem to be enough for her. She points a finger at me. “This is your entire fault, Sirius Black! If you had listened to me we wouldn’t be here! We’ll starve! We’ll never be found!”

She’s exaggerating. She knows this too. I can tell because she refuses to look at me and instead starts kicking one of the tall hedges. I snort and cross my arms against my chest. It’s up to me to save us; as per usual.

“Relax, Andy,” I drawl. “If we can’t find a way out we’ll just have to make our own.” I pull out my wand and aim it at the edge. Andromeda moves away. “Reducto!” I yell. The spell blasts through the greenery. It leaves a gaping and fuming hole. Andromeda yelps in disbelief. She starts yelling obscenities at me. I merely grin and blow on the smoky end of my wand.

A job well done yet again.

“Accio schoolbag!” mumbled Sirius from the four post bed he had claimed at the beginning of his sixth year. It was the one farthest from the sole window in the dormitory and the one closest to the door. Sunlight had managed to ruin his mornings for several terms until he learned to pick properly and the close proximity of the door was a convenience. Early mornings would one day be the death of him and there was a rare day that he was not late to his first class.

It took another summons before the schoolbag made it to its owner. The fault did not lie in his wand work but in his pronunciation. It was so hard to sound out words at the end of a school day. All Sirius wanted to do was shower and nap. Those activities had to be postponed until he completed, at the very least, half of one of his four assignments. He had managed to finish reading four paragraphs on the Advanced Principles of Transfiguration chapter before his eyelids began to droop and his mind to wander. Minutes later, Sirius Black was quietly snoring with the open book resting on his peaceful face.

Sirius wondered if a Furnunculus spell would work. Somehow, even in his state of panic, Black realized it was an idiotic idea. Covering his body in boils would do nothing to ease Remus Lupin’s pain. It would ease Sirius’ mind, however, and it would distract Remus long enough to keep the corners of his mouth from drooping so pitifully. No. It was a dumb idea. The tallest of the friends shook his head and reached forward. He wrapped the sickly looking Remus in his long arms. There was a feeble protest from Lupin’s part and somewhere amongst his muttering there were subtle insults Sirius was quick to pick up but he forgave them immediately as they were followed by grunts of pain.

“I’m alive,” mumbled Remus sourly, dark circles around his eyes. “But I won’t be for long if you keep suffocating me.”

Sirius would laugh normally but there wasn’t any humor left in his big frame. He tightened his embrace.

“I know but I don’t know what else to do,” confessed Sirius earnestly. Remus held still for a split second before trying to break free again. “Stay still, Moony and let me hug you! It makes me feel better.”