Professor McGonagall nodded, and then proceeded to ask more detailed questions, such as how they found out and scared off Sirius, and how he managed to sneak in…
Ivan briefly explained that he heard a noise in his sleep, and when he opened his eyes, he saw a tall figure in his room, and then Ron's pet mouse started to squeak, waking everyone up, and Sirius ran away in panic.
"Looks like you're in luck…" Professor McGonagall said fearfully.
An outlaw would do anything in the heat of the moment, as evidenced by the destruction of the street and the deaths of a dozen Muggles!
Fortunately, Sirius cherished his life and fled as soon as he was discovered, presumably because he was afraid of being surrounded by the professors.
While McGonagall was questioning the professor, the other professors who had heard the news rushed over.
"Where is Sirius? Any children hurt?" Professor Flitwick asked anxiously.
The first thing Lupin did was to look at Harry to make sure he was safe.
McGonagall told the professors what had happened, and then discussed with them how to arrange for all the students to be placed under protection in the Great Hall, and then send people to search the castle for Sirius.
At the very least, make sure Sirius isn't still hiding somewhere in the castle waiting to pounce…
Hermione asked curiously, "Professor, how did Sirius manage to sneak into Gryffindor's room without knowing the password?"
"We'll just have to ask the Fat Lady!" Professor McGonagall said, raising her eyebrows.
She had been so worried about the safety of Harry and the others that she had failed to notice…
It was only when they arrived at the door that they noticed the strange look on the portrait of the fat lady. Despite such a huge incident, the fat lady seemed to be at ease.
When McGonagall asked why she let Sirius in, the Fat Lady looked confused and asked, "Sirius? Is he in? Why didn't I know?"
"It seems the castle's defences will have to be strengthened…" Snape said darkly. He raised his wand and a blinding light flashed, instantly lifting the Confunding Charm from the Fat Lady.
Recalling everything, the Fat Lady's face turned pale and her lips trembled. She was ashamed and screamed:
"My God! How could I do such a thing? I let Sirius in as a student…"
"You're not to blame, you're just under a Confunding Charm," Professor McGonagall explained, then went on to ask, "Can you tell us what happened? It's best not to leave out any details!"
"Oh… of course, how this will help you catch him!" The Fat Lady wiped the tears from her eyes and told them about her meeting with Sirius.
The professors were extremely surprised to learn that Sirius, who had escaped from Azkaban, now had a wand and was able to give out orders accurately.
"Are you sure you didn't make a mistake, Fat Lady? Did you actually see him take out a note and find the password on it?" Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, her face grim.
"Yes! I'm sure!" The Fat Lady tried to remember, and finally nodded violently.
"It seems that one of us, a traitor, helped Sirius Black get in! Our new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor happened to be one of Black's best friends."
Snape sneered and fixed his empty eyes on Lupin, his meaning clear.
For a moment, all eyes were on Lupin, staring at him in bewilderment.
Fortunately, Lupin's Defence Against the Dark Arts class had won the approval of most of the students, so the young wizards present were dubious and waited for Lupin's explanation.
In the slightly dark night, Lupin smiled bitterly and said helplessly.
"Severus, I understand you have some bad feelings about me, but you should know that since Black betrayed James…"
Lupin paused abruptly, glanced at Harry and quickly changed his mind. "Anyway, Sirius and I had nothing to do with each other after what happened, and I wanted him back in Azkaban more than you!"
This time, Harry spoke urgently before Snape could reply.
"Professor Lupin! You said my father's name, didn't you? And you mentioned betrayal! What happened? Did Sirius betray my father?"
"Shut up, Potter!" Snape shouted, interrupting Harry's questioning.
Snape then leaned down and glared at Harry, warning him word for word.
"If I were you, I wouldn't be asking these stupid questions and adding to everyone's misery! Don't forget who's got the whole school out of bed tonight!
So the most important thing for you to do right now is to keep your mouth shut and stay under the nose of every professor so that you don't get caught by that mad dog that's been running around the castle! He's not going to be kind to you just because you're the great savior of the wizarding world…"
Snape's mocking tone nearly drove Harry mad, and in the cold of the night he felt as if a hot flame were burning in his heart and would burst at any moment!
Harry raised his wand, intending to give Snape a vicious blow to prove that he did not need anyone to protect him!
Luckily, Lupin managed to stop Harry's recklessness in time and gave him a headache. "Calm down, Harry! I'll explain everything to you when I have time…"
The professors gave Snape unhappy looks.
Although they admitted that Snape was right and that Harry had better be able to stay in front of them at all times so that Sirius does not find an opportunity to capture him, it would be wise to be more tactful with a child!
However, Snape did not stop there. His eyes were still on Lupin as he sneered.
"Remus! I think you'd better stay away from our Mr Potter until you're cleared. There's nothing very convincing about what you just said!"
"If you had not helped him, Black would never have been able to get his hands on a wand, get his hands on that note full of recent passwords, and sneak back into the castle!"
Snape looked at McGonagall, Flitwick, and the others and said in a low voice, "So… I suggest that we hold Lupin until we catch Black!"