#james. lily. marlene. dorcas. both his parents. regulus. various order members

[enbysiriusblack]

sirius' animagus being a hellhound to him. like he's named his father's dog (sirius being the dog of orion) and to sirius, his father is like the devil. making him his hellhound. he sees his animagus and thinks that. about how he's bound to the black name and condemned to follow his father like a dog, hurting others at his father's orders.

and then james sees and and his eyes widen as he whispers 'padfoot', the name of a ghostly black dog in english folklore. and sirius realises james saw him and thought he was an omen of death and feels even worse about his animagus form.

so they sneak into the library and peter finds a book on english folklore that describes 'padfoot' as a ghost dog that only attacks travellers who antagonise him, and that the dog has a chain tied around its neck that clanks as the dog walks but is cut, not tied to anything, like the dog has freed himself from an owner.

sirius rips the page out and immediately declares himself 'padfoot'.