The rapid footsteps pierced the silence of the castle, and also caused the portraits on both sides of the corridor that had fallen asleep to wake up one after another. They looked at the little wizards running past like the wind, and smacked their lips dissatisfiedly at their backs.
"Oh my God, you can't wait for me!"
When they got down to the fifth floor, Hermione finally caught up with Harry and Ron. She ran behind him, constantly brushing away the hair floating in front of her eyes with her white hands.
Harry was about to ask Hermione what she was doing when she was delayed for a while, but when his eyes moved down, he immediately saw the invisibility cloak in Hermione's hand, and he couldn't help but admire him.
"I didn't think of this at all just now, Hermione, your reaction is so quick."
"You'll find out,"
Hermione raised her nose proudly. She glanced at Scabbers, who was so nimble and flexible, her expression as relaxed as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
"My judgment is always accurate!"
Neither Harry nor Ron spoke, but both of them knew what Hermione wanted to express. Scabbers was not dead, which meant that Crookshanks was innocent. It was indeed the two of them who had misunderstood Hermione before.
Thinking of this, Harry couldn't help but feel a little guilty, but at the same time, he also felt very confused. The Scabbers in front of him was so lively and jumping, and he couldn't seem to be hurt at all. So, what happened after Halloween last year? What happened to the blood on Ron's sheets and Crookshanks' hair that night.
Just as Harry was thinking about this, Hermione suddenly grabbed Harry and Ron by their collars from behind and dragged them behind a tapestry in the corner without any explanation. Ron immediately wanted to question something, but Hermione Min gestured to them to be quiet.
It's Professor Lupine.
He was walking from the other end of the corridor with a toothbrush and some toiletries. Logically speaking, he should have discovered them. However, compared with the morning, Professor Lupine's face was sicker and his steps were less steady. , looked dazed, so he didn't notice them running down from upstairs.
The waiting time was very excruciating. It was only twenty seconds, and it felt like a century had passed. When Professor Lupine finally opened the door slowly, Ron immediately rushed out and ran down.
"I never understood-"
Harry followed immediately, but at the same time he looked puzzled.
"Why does Professor Lupine always look sick?"
"This -"
Hermione's breathing was rapid. She quickly glanced at the moon outside the window, then moved her lips, but did not continue.
"Oh, thank God!"
When they ran to the first floor, Ron was relieved to see Scabbers reappearing in sight.
Scabbers' purpose was very clear. He was going to the outside of the castle. When Harry and the three of them went down the marble stairs from the castle gate and came to the empty outdoor area, Ron immediately shouted impatiently,
"Scabbers, why are you running away like this idiot? I'm Ron!"
Ron's anxious calls kept ringing in the breeze on the playground, but Scabbers turned a deaf ear to the cries of his old owner. He ran wildly along the road leading to the school gate. If it weren't for Harry's excellent capture as a genius seeker, If you don't have enough power, they will probably lose you directly.
The three people and the mouse ran along the passage for most of the campus. Suddenly, Banban changed direction and scurried into the grass.
"Hey, don't do this, Banban!"
Ron followed Ban Ban onto the lawn and ran all the way towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest. However, within two steps, the three of them completely lost track of Ban Ban.
The bright moonlight reflected on Ron's dazed face, making him look even more helpless.
Seeing his appearance, Hermione, who was out of breath, could not say anything else. Originally, she was going to take the opportunity to propose that Crookshanks return to the dormitory.
"What's going on, Ron?"
Harry wiped the sweat from his forehead, and his eyes roamed the lawn swaying in the wind, but found nothing.
"I don't know, Harry."
Ron shook his head stupidly,
"I've never seen Banban look like that. What is he afraid of?"
Suddenly, a sharp and manic barking sound came from the direction of Hagrid's hut. The sound seemed so harsh amidst the rising and falling of the forest.
"It's Fang!" Hermione reacted immediately and said anxiously, "It's Hagrid who encountered some emergency!"
"We have to go check it out!"
Harry looked nervous and immediately agreed with Hermione's statement.
Ron was very reluctant to this proposal. He wanted to continue looking for Banban. In the past two months, he had been secretly depressed countless times because of Banban's unexplained death. Now that he had discovered that Banban was not dead, Apologizing to Hermione wasn't a problem, but for him, the first priority was finding Scabbers.
However, something didn't sound right about Fang's cry. Hagrid was also their mutual friend, so he couldn't refute Harry's suggestion.
Their location was not far from Hagrid's hut, and just a few dozen seconds later, they saw Hagrid's unique and huge body.
Hagrid stood on the small slope outside his house, staring at the dark Forbidden Forest in a daze, while Yaya was staying next to Hagrid, facing the same direction and howling desperately.
"What's wrong, Hagrid?"
Harry asked loudly from a distance of fifty or sixty feet,
"We heard Yaya's cry, what trouble are we in?"
Hagrid turned around when he heard Harry's question and the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps, but the expression on his face was the same as when the three of them found Scabbers in the common room just now, confused and confused.
"Oh, it's you three—"
What he had just encountered was obviously so incomprehensible to Hagrid that he did not even think about the problem of Harry, Ron and Hermione wandering around the campus so late.
"I just saw Malfoy running into the Forbidden Forest."
"Malfoy?!"
Harry and the three of them shouted in unison, with surprise and confusion in their voices.
"Oh, that's right-"
Hagrid swallowed. He stared at his big copper bell-like eyes and said in a tone of doubt about life,
"Just now, I was reciting the information to help Buckbeak's defense in the house, and then suddenly I heard Fang's cry. I thought it had discovered an animal trying to break into the campus, so I rushed out, but it turned out to be Mal. Fu stood on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, holding a broomstick and a mouse squatting on his head——"
The three Harrys looked at each other, and they all saw the shock in each other's eyes.
This is impossible!
Maybe Malfoy was stimulated by Harry's outstanding performance on the field today, so he made up his mind to hone his flying skills alone, but that mouse, if he guessed correctly, should be Scabbers.
Not to mention how Ban Ban became friends with Malfoy. They chased Ban Ban all the way down and only stopped on the roadside for a short while. This little effort was not enough to make Ban Ban and Malfoy reunite. Could it be that, Malfoy has a rat himself?
"--and the little homeless black dog,"
Hagrid ignored the three of them and continued talking,
"It was originally staying in the small nest I made for Crookshanks. After it discovered Malfoy, it suddenly changed its appearance and grew dozens of times in size. It became much bigger than Fang. It carried Crookshanks rushed towards Malfoy, apparently intending to bite him to death."
The little black dog has grown in size and wants to bite Malfoy to death? !
This fact was so magical that even Hermione couldn't give any reasonable guesses for a while.
"I've never seen a dog that can change size--"
Hagrid's focus was obviously a little off track. When he gradually came back to his senses, his eyes lit up and he said with great interest,
"Perhaps it is a special breed bred by a wizard. Oh, if so, I will definitely come and ask for advice!"
At this time, Hermione suddenly noticed something was wrong with Harry's expression, as if he had been struck by lightning. She asked worriedly,
"What's wrong, Harry, what did you think of?"
"I've seen that dog--"
Harry slowly closed his enlarged mouth, his face becoming very scary.
Just when Hagrid was describing it, he suddenly wanted to understand it all.
"I saw it near Magnolia Crescent just before last summer vacation when I left the Dursleys and took the Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron for inflating Aunt Marge."
"What are you talking about, Harry?"
Ron, who still had Scabbers and Malfoy who was bitten by a dog in his mind, looked at Harry with a ridiculous expression.
"There's no way a Muggle dog could follow you over the mountains to Hogwarts, right?"
"Don't you understand yet?"
Harry turned pale and suddenly became very excited.
"How can there be a dog that can change its size? Ron, have you ever heard of such a magical animal? Unless, it's not a dog at all, it's a disguise!"
"You mean, Harry."
Ron didn't quite understand yet, but Hermione immediately covered her mouth, her yellow pupils filled with fear.
"Professor McGonagall said in class, Animagus?!"
Silence fell suddenly, but was quickly broken,
"Who would deliberately disguise themselves as a dog and enter Hogwarts at this time?"
Harry's green eyes were flashing with angry fire, and he said decisively,
"Sirius Black!"
(End of chapter)
