Listening to the GoF audiobook, for the umpteenth time, and I’ve had a thought …
Bertha Jorkins in the pensieve telling Dumbledore -
‘He put a hex on me, Professor Dumbledore, and I was only teasing him, sir, I only said I'd seen him kissing Florence behind the greenhouses last Thursday...’
Surely has to be about Sirius, it tallys too well will Sirius’s (somewhat irritable) remarks about her -
‘Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins. She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all.’
‘Maybe she's changed since I knew her, but the Bertha I knew wasn't forgetful at all - quite the reverse. She was a bit dim, but she had an excellent memory for gossip. It used to get her into a lot of trouble, she never knew when to keep her mouth shut.’
And the fact that Dumbledore so readily bought this particular memory of her up 😂 … all I can think of now is Sirius, in his GoF state, having an intense discussion with Dumbledore about the strange things going on, the disappearances, what could have happened to Bertha Jorkins … and Dumbledore just whips this old memory out
@thecat-isblogging-blog validated this new hc with her excellent insights -
Sirius + never forgetting a grudge = 🤝
And then the beginnings of a missing moment crackfic were born…
Sirius, feeling slightly nauseas after having succumbed to eating rats out of near starvation, stood staring in utter bewilderment at the memory of a sixteen year old Bertha Jorkins before looking back at his old Headmaster, the tiniest of smirks upon his face, his long silver beard twitched.
‘You do recall, Sirius? Your hex hit not only poor Bertha but also Professor Sprout's Devils Snare.’
… Sirius:
