Imagine the advances to wizarding society if Sirius Black had lived…
After the war, Sirius would have had a huge inheritance from parents he wanted to spite and a lot of leisure time to find good uses for it. We could have had…
1. Fleamont House: A house - perhaps even a heavily renovated 12 Grimmauld Place - where Hogwarts students can stay over breaks if going “home” wouldn’t be good for them (i.e., students like Sirius, Harry, or Tom Riddle).
2. Rest for Regulus: A seemingly bottomless grant awarded to the Auror department with the goals of:
Researching a way to deactivate Inferi;
Applying this research to deactivate all Inferi in Voldemort’s cave;
Identifying the remains taken from the cave using the best of both wizarding and muggle technology; and
Returning the remains to their next of kin for proper burial, or, if no next of kin is available, interring them respectfully within the Ministry.
3. Justice for All: A lobbying organization dedicated to pressuring the Ministry to improve their legal system, most notably,
By requiring that all suspects be awarded a full and fair trial before being sent to Azkaban; and
By working to outlaw the use of dementors in any correctional facility, including Azkaban.
4. Gentle Jails: Working in close collaboration with Justice for All, Gentle Jails builds small, secure, and humane (in particular, dementor-free) holding facilities for suspects awaiting trial. Gentle Jails funds their construction projects with donations, thereby cutting through all financial excuses the Ministry has for only using Azkaban to house suspects.
And finally, his personal favorite, the first one to be founded, the most heavily funded, the one that gets the most of his personal time and attention…
5. The Moony Institute for Lycanthropic Studies: A multidisciplinary research and applications powerhouse dedicated to improving the lives of people affected by lycanthropy.
The research division includes:
Anthropologists who document the life experiences of werewolves both in and outside of packs;
Psychologists studying the mental impact of lycanthropy, and how to make it easier;
Historians working to prevent the erasure of werewolf accomplishments and contributions; and of course,
Medical scientists searching for better treatments, and ultimately, a cure.
The applied research and services division works in a tremendous and ever-expanding variety of ways, including:
A hotline number that can be called anonymously with any lycanthropy-related question or crisis;
A counseling program, based largely on the research of the anthropology division, aimed at helping newly-bitten werewolves find social support within their community rather than joining a pack;
A second counseling service available to packs to improve their standard of living and help integrate them into society to whatever degree they desire;
A third counseling service, which provides short- and long-term therapy to werewolves and their loved ones on a sliding payment scale, with many clients treated for free;
A library of all things related to lycanthropy, which is open to the public (anyone can view the materials in the building; getting a card to take things home requires a small fee);
Partnering with potioneers to provide Wolfsbane potion (and other treatments developed by the research division) on a sliding scale of payment - with many patients paying nothing;
The construction and management of a building full of secure but comfortable transformation rooms, available at no charge and without any ID. Any werewolf can request a safe place to spend the full moon, no questions asked, no money required. Rooms come equipped with sound-proof walls, soft furniture, a pool of drinkable water, a protein-rich meal, and things like sticks or toys to chew on and destroy if the mood strikes;
An awareness team that visits schools and other events to dispel myths about werewolves and discourage prejudice;
Employment services to help clients find werewolf-friendly jobs. In addition to helping with job searches, this division keeps track of their clients’ experiences with different companies to better inform future applicants;
Lobbying efforts to repeal hateful laws and pass new ones including laws to (1) give werewolves equal rights as non-werewolves, (2) criminalize anti-werewolf discrimination in employment, housing, and public access to services, (3) establish Safe Haven zones for parents to abandon their bitten children (proposed after the heartbreaking discovery of a high rate of post-bite infanticide; the Moony Institute itself was the first Safe Haven location tonbe announced), (4) require employers to offer medical leave for werewolves around the full moon, and (5) require hospitals be trained in lycanthropic medicine;
Lobbying efforts to end the shuffle of werewolves between the beast and being divisions of the Ministry, and instead classify them as human (this was the project Sirius was most passionate about); and
Project Pup, which pairs werewolves with a dog to keep them company and soothe them during full moons. Werewolves apply for Project Pup and have to pass a background check and psychological evaluation (to make sure the dog will be safe). Much like Guiding Eyes for the Blind, it is then the recipient’s responsibility to take care of the dog. When the dogs get too old to accompany the client on full moons, they can either return it to the Moony Institute to be adopted out, or they can keep it as a pet (which most do). Either way, they are automatically eligible for a replacement full moon companion. All dogs are pulled from “death row” at high-kill Muggle animal shelters (that part was Hermione’s idea). (This was Sirius’s first project, and it is probably the Moony Institute’s most acclaimed accomplishment.)
The Moony Institute became much larger than Sirius ever envisioned, and it had tremendous impact on the lives of people with lycanthropy all over the world. A surprising number of donors came forward to keep it afloat and non-profit (even the Black fortune couldn’t do it alone forever!). It created a lot of jobs, and preferentially hired werewolves to fill them. So much of the staff has lycanthropy, in fact, that many offices shut down altogether around the full moon! (Which is fine, because their clients are in poor shape at that time too.) It brought Sirius endless joy to put his bigoted family’s money to use improving the lives of “half-breeds,” especially because it was all inspired by his half-blood friend.
Finally, although he may never hear of it since it’s a Muggle charity, but if he ever found out about the Innocence Project, Sirius would be a regular and generous donor.
(Obviously these headcanons rest on the assumption that he experienced some personal growth, which I think is entirely possible if he had time to heal from Azkaban and got to spend more time with Harry and Remus.)
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