Chapter 44.5: Side Story, Sirius Black's Job Hunt

The worst mass murderer. A traitor. An escapee from Azkaban. Sirius Black, who had been labeled in such a way, is now a free man.

Currently, he lives with the house-elf Kreacher in the Black family mansion at 12 Grimmauld Place in London.

But it was clear to anyone's eyes that Kreacher was reluctantly obeying Sirius.

Sirius has always hated this house-elf. Just looking at this guy, who is wholeheartedly devoted to the pure-blooded Black family, makes him feel sick.

However, apart from Sirius, the blood of the Black family has died out, and without at least one house-elf in this large mansion, they couldn't get by.

He really didn't want to return to such a house, but he had nowhere else to go.

If Dumbledore hadn't forbidden it, he would have wanted to take Harry Potter, the child of his best friend, as his godson and live somewhere else right now.

But now he had to face reality rather than such unfulfilled wishes. Sirius Black was currently in front of the Ministry of Magic's reception desk.

His purpose was job hunting.

Considering the compensation for wrongful imprisonment and the unnecessarily accumulated wealth of the Black family, he has more than enough assets to live a life of leisure. But that doesn't mean he wants to spend time doing nothing and playing.

It's not because he thinks he has to work because he's an adult.

His purpose hasn't changed since he escaped from Azkaban. Revenge on the traitor Peter Pettigrew.

When he thinks about Peter, who betrayed his best friend and slandered him, he still wants to rage with hatred.

But he doesn't know where that guy is now. That's why he decided to get a job as an Auror, where information about dark wizards is likely to gather.

Dumbledore was convinced that the Dark Lord would revive someday.

Peter will probably join that side too. Maybe he's looking for the Dark Lord somewhere.

This time he won't fail. He will definitely teach him the weight of his sins using the information and rights of the Aurors. And then he'll bring good news to James and Lily.

The Auror exam consisted of two types: written and practical. It seemed to test necessary knowledge and skills, but for Sirius it was easy. Both were so well done that even the examiners were surprised. Immediately after the exam, he was told that he had passed.

"Congratulations on passing. But I never dreamed that I would be working with you in the same workplace just a few months ago."

Rufus Scrimgeour, head of the Auror office, who gives off an impression like a lion mixed with white hair, says so.

Sirius couldn't have imagined that this would happen either. You never know what will happen in life.

"Indeed. The last time we met was when I was thrown into Azkaban, wasn't it? I look forward to working with you. Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of the Auror Office."

"Ah. Well, I have another test for you right after you pass. It's just something to gauge your abilities. You'll just have to duel with one of my subordinates."

"Fine. I'll take it."

The two go to the dueling field in the Auror office. As Sirius opens the door, he asks Scrimgeour.

"Who's my opponent? Just so you know, I'm pretty strong? My opponent might cry."

"I see. Then I won't hold back."

There was a man waiting in the middle of the dueling field.

When Sirius Black took in sight of that man, his thoughts changed from how to win the duel to how to escape or somehow minimize his injuries.

"Oh come on... Seriously? The opponent is..."

"That's right. The strongest man among Aurors. Deputy Head Erskine Taylor. Well then... Good luck."

Saying so, Scrimgeour quickly left the dueling field.

Sirius also tried to leave with him, but the door was firmly closed.

"No running away. Now, let's start the duel quickly."

"No, no, wait! Why you?"

Sirius' will to fight was already zero. He had experienced enough of Scrimgeour's randomness during his school days.

Playing pranks as a mischief-maker, targeting Phyllis was undoubtedly the biggest mistake. That led to being blown away by Phyllis and knocked down by Erskine's inhuman power.

Honestly, it's not fair, and I don't feel like I can win. There are only two people who can beat him.

"Why me? Well, I'm the deputy head. And I'm stronger than the head."

"Then why aren't you the top!?"

"Well, I don't have the charisma to be on top, and the head seems to have a lot of work so he probably can't go home."

"Speaking of home, how about your family? Are you still getting along well with Phyllis?

"Oh yes. Even now, or rather now, I can say that I love her."

(Alright! His attention has shifted from the duel. Let's make it vague and escape!)

Such a sloppy plot of Sirius, which could be called a plan, ends immediately with Scrimgeour's voice.

"Can you hear me both? This is also a test to measure Sirius Black's strength. Start right away. The time is 10 minutes."

"Oh. We can't talk forever. Well then, let's go?"

Seeing Erskine getting ready for battle, Sirius prepares himself.

The signal to start the duel comes from Scrimgeour.

At the same time as the signal, Sirius starts running sideways while deploying the Protego shield spell.

Erskine points his wand at Sirius who is running away.

At that moment, Expelliarmus disarming spell and Stupefy stunning spell are fired out from the wand like a Muggle machine gun.

Erskine Taylor's magical power was abnormal. The Taylor family has a fairly long history and is not pure-blooded so they accept Muggle blood.

Although it is not a particularly excellent lineage, Erskine's magical power was incomparable to ordinary people.

The result of researchers' investigation was unmeasurable, and it was estimated that it would not be strange if it was hundreds to thousands of times that of ordinary people.

Because of this abnormal magical power, if he uses magic normally everything becomes too effective so he has a lot of trouble controlling it.

If he carelessly uses a fainting spell on someone it will result in the same result as Avada Kedavra.

So Erskine came up with a solution to use silent spells.

If you activate a silent spell with a firm image you can exert the same effect as using a spell by speaking.

However, normally the effect drops significantly. Erskine took advantage of this and decided to use silent spells as normal spells.

And because it is silent it has the advantage of not letting the opponent know what kind of spell it is and activating it just by thinking about the spell in your mind. Thinking is faster than speaking out.

As a result, normal or even more powerful magic can be used silently and at high speed in succession which doesn't make sense.

"Woooooooooooooo!"

Screaming and running away Sirius. Spells are constantly rushing in. Shields made by magic are crushed by their overwhelming numbers. His attacks are blocked by silent shields.

(Damn! He's become more untouchable than when he was in school! How many more minutes!?)

Erskine was impressed. Honestly he thinks that there are only two people stronger than him Dumbledore and that person. Even if the opponent is a Death Eater he could probably win against about ten people. He is dueling with such him and he hasn't even been able to hit a spell yet let alone counterattack.

(It seems his strength hasn't changed even though he was in Azkaban... Three more minutes...)

In the end Sirius managed to escape until the end. Both are unscathed but one is gasping for breath lying on the floor. The other has an easy expression. The victory or defeat would be obvious to anyone.

"Good job. And welcome to the Auror Office."

"Th-thank you... Nice to meet you..."

Thus Sirius Black was able to get a job safely for now.

As soon as he returned home he fell asleep like mud without noticing Kreacher's sarcasm.

That day's dream was a nightmare of being beaten up by Erskine and Phyllis during his school days.

---

Sirius successfully found a job.

Sirius, who had been harboring hatred for Peter for a long time in Azkaban,

 is a bit mentally broken. He goes berserk when it comes to matters related to Peter (and Harry by extension). Otherwise, he's excellent.

The protagonist of this story, Leonard Taylor, is written as quite a cheat character.

His father, Erskine, is also a broken character, albeit of a different type.

The Goblet of Fire arc starts from the next chapter.

So, stay tuned for the next chapter.