"Oh, Kruckshon!"
Hermione rubbing the ginger cat's head, her expression slightly remorseful but still smiling, "How have you been lately with Hagrid, Kruckshon."
"Miao."
Kruckshon licked his paws and rubbed his fluffy face against Hermione's hand.
Seeing no sign of blame from Kruckshon, Hermione felt even more saddened. She took a deep breath, as if gathering her courage, and then turned her head towards Ron.
"Ron, I think it's time for Kruckshon to return to the castle now. You can't..."
Halfway through her sentence, Hermione choked up because Ron obviously grasped her implication. His expression instantly turned very grim.
"You guys think--"
Harry stared at the slightly uncomfortable black dog, speaking slowly,
"Where did Kruckshon find this dog?"
Because of Kruckshon, the atmosphere between Hermione and Ron became somewhat strained. Neither of them answered the question immediately, until after a moment's pause, Hermione blew her nose and, suppressing her emotions, said,
"It's hard to say, Harry, maybe Hagrid felt Yaya was a bit lonely and brought it from somewhere."
"Maybe we could ask Hagrid," Harry said suddenly.
Ron and Hermione were both looking at Harry, taken aback by his response. The small black dog on the steps seemed reluctant to go to Hagrid, turning to run as soon as it noticed them. However, its agility was clearly not as good as Harry's, and before it could even take a step, Harry caught it by the body and pinned it down.
Harry threw the Firebolt, which he had tucked under his armpit, to Ron and took the black dog towards Hagrid's hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Ron and Hermione, although somewhat confused, could only follow Harry as he acted decisively.
The tightly closed door of the cottage spoke volumes. Harry looked a bit disappointed, but he was not yet deterred, scanning the area. Eventually, he spotted Yaya playing with the Dwarves on the grassland west of the cottage.
"Hey, Yaya!"
Harry called out loudly, and Yaya immediately gave up playing with the unfortunate goblin, wagging his tongue happily and running over to them.
"Where's Hagrid?" Harry patted Yaya on the head, "Patrolling in the Forbidden Forest?"
Yaya shook his head and looked towards the direction of the school gates.
"It seems Hagrid is out--"
At this moment, Ron and Hermione came running from behind. Seeing this scene, Ron helplessly shrugged his shoulders.
"It seems you care a lot about this dog, Harry?" Hermione asked somewhat strangely, "Is something wrong with it?"
"I'm not sure, Hermione--"
Harry fell silent for a moment, tilting the black dog's head back and frowning as he stared into its eyes.
"But I feel like I've seen it somewhere, um, it gives me a very familiar feeling."
"It's probably just your imagination, Harry--"
Ron twirled the Firebolt Harry had thrown to him, his eyes gleaming with desire as they swept over the smooth white ash handle of the broom and its perfectly trimmed twigs, and he said casually.
"Or maybe you saw it in Hogsmeade, you know, the villagers there like to keep dogs. They can help with hunting and keeping watch on the house--"
"You're right, Ron."
Harry pressed his lips together, setting the frightened Sirius on the ground. Now they were in the Hogwarts campus, and if Harry really had discovered something and let out a couple of loud howls, Sirius wasn't sure whether the beasts from Amortika would arrive faster or if the horcrux guarding the school gates would be quicker to arrive. Those terrifying creatures wouldn't listen to any explanations he might give.
"So, what do we do now, Harry? Do you want to leave it here or bring it back to the castle?"
Hermione asked.
"Never mind--"
After a brief moment of reflection, Harry shook his head. He neither liked dogs, and he also didn't want to earn detention from Filch the first weekend before the Quidditch season started.
"Let it stay here then; Hagrid will take care of it," Hermione said, "It's Kruckshon's companion."
The incident with the little black dog was just a small interruption for Harry, Ron and Hermione. Tomorrow was the first day of school, and most of their classmates were back at Hogwarts. Moreover, Harry finally got to use his Firebolt, even if Black had suddenly run into the castle, it wouldn't ruin his good mood.
After Hermione handed Kruckshon over to Yaya, the three of them turned and walked towards the castle. Seeing Harry leave with a relief, Sirius finally took a deep breath. He tilted his head to avoid Yaya's tongue and looked towards the Forbidden Forest, where the occasional cry was heard, excitement lighting up his gray eyes at the thought of being free again.
Unnoticed above Hagrid's garden, a panoramic telescope as colorless as the air flapped its wings and hovered in the air. Seeing Harry return to the castle and Sirius darting into the Forbidden Forest, the panoramic telescope circled in the sky like an eagle for two turns before it soared steeply upwards towards West Tower!
Clouds come and go, the moon rises and sets, within the dark castle, the bright candles glow through each window hole, along with laughter in the campus, making the deep night radiant.
Tonight is the first time since Halloween night last semester that all students and staff have gathered in the Great Hall to celebrate, and Dumbledore is still not back. This would be an excellent opportunity for Sirius to infiltrate the castle.
Sparky had settled early on the Marauder's Map, and he had no interest in the castle that was now crowded with students' names. His alert eyes only roamed around the map's perimeter, but he found nothing until all the students began to leave the Great Hall one by one, their dormitory lights turning off one after another, still nothing.
Could it be that Black really had given up on avenging himself against him?
In the still, quiet night, Peter gazed up at the hanging moon, and couldn't help but feel some confusion in his eyes.
No, it can't be like this!
But after a moment, Peter said to himself again.
Harry knew Sirius well, and someone like him would never give up on a plan just because of difficulties. The current situation was more likely to have made Sirius more patient and less impulsive, considering the twelve years he had spent in prison.
And Sirius's change in character was definitely dangerous for him.
Peter sighed, discarded those 'innocent' illusions from his mind, and bent down to continue examining the map.
Filch was pacing the corridors on the second floor, Snape was just leaving Rams' office and walking down from the hallway to the underground space of Slytherin, McGonagall was on her way to her office from the Gryffindor common room as usual, and Hagrid and Yaya who were patrolling in the courtyard were also preparing to go back to their cottage for rest.
Peter's gaze followed Hagrid and his dog back to the cottage, and then he turned to look towards the school gate, but suddenly, a name appearing behind the cottage sent a shock through Peter's body, and his dark little eyes sparkled suddenly!
On the third floor of the castle, the safe office.
Amarstic leaning back in the chair, staring at the single picture on the opposite wall, a few screens connected together. His lips tilted up, showing a slight smile.
"So, what are you going to do, Peter?"
(Chapter completed)
