A few days after Halloween, the whole school was talking about Sirius Black.
Discussions were focused on how he managed to infiltrate into the castle. Evan heard people saying that Black is invisible and other things of that sort. Hufflepuff's Hannah even wrote an article about it as a contribution to the Hogwarts Magical News. She swore to witness Black's incarnation as a flowering bush.
This article was submitted while Evan was not there but it had been rejected by Hermione.
Thanks to a series of articles introducing the "Dementors", since the beginning of the school year, sales of the Hogwarts Magic News had been good, and the "Patronus Charm" issue hit the highest record with a full print of more than two thousand copies.
In addition to the school's wizards, many adult wizards learned about this defensive Charm through the Hogwarts Magic News. Evan had just discovered that so many people never knew about this spell before. He was worried about the overall level of power in the magic world.
In addition to the increasing esoteric rumours, there were many changes in the castle.
For example, the portrait of Fat Lady, which had been damaged, had been taken from the wall and replaced by a portrait of a fully armed Sir Cadogan and his obese grey pony.
No one was happy about this matter. Sir Cadogan spent half his time challenging people and asking them to fight him. The rest of the time was spent on pondering complex and ridiculous passwords. He actually changed his password twice a day
As another example, Harry was now under surveillance.
The professors walked with him in the corridor for various reasons and various excuses; Percy followed him everywhere, as if he was his guard dog.
Black invaded the castle. The most affected should be Peter Pettigrew.
Ron told Evan that the rat's tonic he gave him had no effect. Now, besides drinking water, Scabbers did not eat anything. It stayed in the corner of his bed all day and did not move, as if it were dead.
A more accurate description should be that he was waiting for his death. Evan already tested it. The tracing potion was effective; he could feel the rat's presence whenever he was less than 100 meters away from him.
The next step was to look for opportunities to contact Sirius Black. This would be the end of the year's event. But the first two failed contacts made Black wary of Evan. He became more cautious and Evan did not know where he was hiding.
According to the original story, Black should hide in the Shrieking Shack, but Evan checked after Halloween and he was not there.
On Halloween eve, Lupin also saw Black. He knew the Shrieking Shack. With Black's caution, he could not stay there.
Just like Lupin did not trust Black, Black did not trust Lupin either.
Twelve years of life in Azkaban left little of his sanity. He didn't trust Dumbledore. He had only revenge on his mind.
Black was now very likely to be hidden in the Forbidden Forest. Evan was not interested in finding a dog all over the woods. He decided to design a plan to bring him out.
At the lunch table, Evan saw Crookshanks running out of the auditorium with a big loaf of bread. It suddenly flashed in his mind; maybe he could use it…
Hermione's cat was clever and incomprehensible, and sometimes Evan suspected that it was also an Animagus. It must have become a friend with Sirius Black. The bread he had just taken was for Black.
Just as Evan stared at Crookshanks, who had slipped past him, he saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione entering the auditorium with a look of frustration.
"You know what Snape told me to do! He actually asked me to wipe the pots in the school infirmary. And I wasn't even allowed to use magic!" Ron gasped; his fists clenched tightly.
"Why can't Black hide in Snape's office, so he could take care of him for us!"
"How, Ron! Don't the 3rd year students have the Defence Against the Dark Arts class this morning?" Colin asked. "How could you be punished by Snape?"
"Good question, Colin!" Ron yelled heavily. "I actually was punished by Snape in the Defence Against the Dark Arts class in the morning. Then I went to the Potions class in the afternoon and I had to endure him once again..."
"But why?"
"Because Snape said Professor Lupin was ill and couldn't attend classes, this session of Dark Arts defensive was his." Harry sat down angrily. "Snape must have something to do with this. You guys remember when I said that he had given Professor Lupin a recipe of potion a few days ago? What did he put in that potion?!"
Harry's words were approved by Ron. Evan knew that Snape's potion was a scorpion venom agent. The potion needed to be taken one week before the full moon night.
Today should be the day of Lupin's transformation. No wonder no one did see him.
"Don't talk nonsense, Harry, why would Snape do this?" Hermione took out her Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook.
"He has always wanted to teach this course." Ron shouted, "Look at what he did in class, he spent half the time criticizing Professor Lupin's teaching methods and the rest half of class time asking us a strange question!"
"What did he ask?"
"It was about werewolves, Colin!" Ron turned and said, "Snape has been asking us the way we recognize the werewolf. Hermione knew the answer. But he didn't let her talk. I asked him: if he didn't want to hear the answer, why did he keep asking. And that's why I've been punished!"
"But there must be a reason for this. Why does he want us to know how to identify werewolves?" said Hermione thoughtfully.
"Anything is possible; maybe he was bitten by a crazy werewolf, so he came out of his mind!" Ron said yelling, "I mean check this out. Snape left us with homework that discusses the identification and killing of werewolves. At least two parchment papers. He is absolutely crazy!"
"The difference between the werewolf and the real wolf, the symptoms of the werewolf in the human form…" Hermione looked through her Dark Arts defensive textbook.
"God, Hermione, you're not really going to finish the assignment, on how to identify an evil werewolf and kill him?"
"The middle finger and the ring finger are the same length, weak, full moon, change of time, fear of…" Hermione ignored him. Her hands quickly crossed through the book. Then it seemed like she found something. She raised her head sharply, and her beautiful chestnut eyes were full of shock.
"A werewolf is not necessarily evil, Ron!" Seeing Hermione's look, Evan knew she had discovered the truth and he sighed. "Wizards usually think that he has no reason and feelings, and that he only knows destruction and Killing, being full of bloodthirsty desires. In fact, this image is incorrect."
"You must know that even a pure hearted person, a person who does not forget to pray at night, will inevitably be transformed into a wolf on a full moon night when exposed to the moonlight." Evan calmly looked at Hermione, "but he is kind in nature. Just because he is a werewolf, that doesn't mean we can't trust him."
"Isn't it, Evan?!" Hermione asked this question, being troubled. But with his regard, she became less worried.
"Yes, I trust him!" Evan nodded.
Harry, Ron, and Colin looked at Evan and Hermione. They were confused and they couldn't understand what the two were saying.
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Although Evan said he trusted him, Hermione's face was still as gloomy as the dark night sky. She could not believe that Professor Lupin actually would be a Werewolf, the news was simply too shocking!
"I tell you what, are we missing something here?" Ron looked suspiciously at Evan and Hermione.
Harry and Colin nodded along with him wanting answers.
Evan and Hermione looked at each other. Hermione was not sure if she should tell them that Professor Lupin was a Werewolf. Since both Dumbledore and Evan believed in him, she should also keep it secret. What's more, Professor Lupin was particularly friendly, and nothing like the image of a vicious Werewolf.
Hermione quietly kicked Evan under the table and nodded so that he answers Ron's question.
Evan didn't have an idea on how to put it for his friends. Fortunately, he saw Oliver Wood coming over with an angry face and the Gryffindor Quidditch team gathered.
"Bad news, we won't play against Slytherin tomorrow!" he said angrily. "Professor McGonagall just told me that our opponent tomorrow will be Hufflepuff."
"Why?" the other players asked in one voice.
"Slytherin's excuse is that their injured player's arm is not healed yet." Wood frowned, furiously panting. "But the purpose of this is obvious. They just don't want to play in such weather and think it would destroy their chances to win."
Hogwarts had been stormy in recent days. As Wood finished his words, everyone heard the rumbling of thunder outside the castle.
"Slytherin's Seeker?" Angelina said in surprise.
"It is Draco Malfoy. His arm was injured in the Care of Magical Creatures class in the first week of school when he was attacked by Hagrid's Buckbeak!" Ron whispered. "But that was exactly what he deserved. If I were Buckbeak, I would've given him a harder time."
"Malfoy's arm has nothing anymore!" said Harry furiously. "It's completely healed!"
"I understand, but we can't prove it," Wood said bitterly. "They used this as an excuse when talking to professor Snape…"
"I knew it was him!" Harry and Ron shouted in disgust.
"The problem now is that we have been practicing for Slytherin and we are playing against the Hufflepuff team tomorrow. Their style is quite different. Even more troublesome is that this year, they have a new Captain and Seeker: Cedric Diggory."
As soon as his voice fell, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie suddenly giggled.
"What are you laughing at?" Wood said curiously disapproving this carefree behaviour.
"You mean that tall, handsome looking boy, right?" Angelina said.
"The strong, non-talkative one." Katie added, "He's really charming."
They began to giggle again, and Wood and Fred looked very unhappy.
"He doesn't talk often because he's too stupid to say two words in a row" said Fred impatiently. "Oliver, I don't understand why you should worry. The Hufflepuff team is an easy opponent. When we last played against them, Harry took the Golden Snitch in only five minutes. Don't you remember?"
"We were in a completely different situation!" Wood shouted, his eyes slightly protruding. "Diggory organized a strong team. He is an excellent Seeker! Your thinking worries me. We must not underestimate the enemy! We must tackle the main issues. Slytherin wants to observe us on every step of the way looking for our mistakes. We must win this year!"
Wood's voice was loud; loud enough to make most people in the auditorium turn his way curiously.
"Oliver, take it easy and don't get angry."
Fred panicked a little: "We will take Hufflepuff seriously, we are serious!"
"All team training, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, all the players should gather at the Quidditch stadium. We must come up with a set of coping strategies."
No one spoke. Everyone nodded palely.
In their eyes, Evan saw the storm of thoughts within their minds. He silently prayed for these guys.
Evan could understand Wood's mood. This year was his last year at Hogwarts. He had to get the Quidditch Cup. Since Harry joined the team, the Gryffindor team had clearly been the strongest in the school, but in the past two years, they had always encountered all kinds of accidents, and eventually missed the Quidditch Cup.
To be more precise, it was Harry who was really unreliable. Apart from being an outstanding Seeker, he had to have a career as a part-time hero! If this year Gryffindor would not get the Quidditch Cup because of him, there would no need for Voldemort, because Wood would kill Harry himself.
Yeah, he had it in his eyes!
The sudden training continued until seven o'clock in the evening. Evan had just persuaded Hermione not to tell anybody that Professor Lupin was a Werewolf. Then, he saw the members of the team crawl into the common room looking exhausted. After a bit of talking, they went to the Dormitory and fell asleep.
The next day, about five o'clock in the morning, Evan woke up. He was awakened by the roaring winds outside the castle. He could hear the rumbling thunder in the air, the turmoil of the wind hitting the castle walls, and the sound of the trees in the Forbidden Forest.
He walked out of the bedroom with his sleepy eyes and saw that Harry had been dressed and took his light Nimbus 2000 quietly in front of the fireplace in the common room.
There was no light in the fireplace, and the entire public lounge was really dark.
"Oh, Harry! When did you get up?"
"Good morning, Evan!" Harry said with a worried voice. "About three o'clock, I was awakened by Peeves. He kept blowing air on my neck."
"And then you have been sitting here all this time?!"
"Yeah, Crookshanks wanted to sneak into our dormitory. I sat on the stairs so that he wouldn't get there. The guys needed to rest."
"But you need to take a break, too!" said Evan in surprise. "In three hours, you'll have to spend a whole day outside flying in such ghostly weather."
"I'm not sleepy, Evan, I have an ominous hunch." Harry waved his hand weakly. "The big black dog, the unknown… When I trained last night, I saw it in the direction of the Forbidden Forest. It was watching us in the woods."
"It's should be just a stray dog!" Evan couldn't understand what Sirius would be doing in such a messy weather.
Any normal sane person would try to find shelter from the rain! However, judging from the current situation, Sirius Black was not normal.
"But this is the third time. I can't be seeing the same stray dog all the time." Harry sighed. "You know that Black is chasing me. If that means death, I'm afraid… …"
"You don't have to worry about a stray dog. I have seen it many times."
Harry's words reminded Evan of what happened in the original story during the game. He looked out at the sky and added, "Harry, you need to save your strength for now. If there is anything you should worry about, I'm worried about the Dementors…"
"Dementors?!" Harry looked up and his face paled instantly.
"Yes, those guys are stationed not too far from the Quidditch field, and the happy atmosphere on the field should make a great feast for them. If they come, then ..." Evan paused, then said, "You need to prepare your wand, and be ready to cast the Patronus Charm"
"I'm not making any good progress with that spell!" Harry shook his head. "I don't seem to have any happy memories to recall."
For the next few hours, Evan practiced the Patronus spell several times with Harry. No matter how hard he tried, Harry's wand could only emit a blur of white fog.
Evan sighed. Although this might not be able to drive away the Dementors, it was better than nothing. It should be enough to resist for a while, giving him enough time to land safely.
Besides, with Dumbledore watching the game, Evan didn't really think that over hundred Dementors could do anything.