Professor McGonagall looked at the handrail of the stairs above her head. She knew that behind the handrail was the boy named Tom. The scene when she went to pick him up three years ago was still vivid in her mind. If someone had told her at that time that this little guy would be there three years later.
If he behaves like that, she will definitely think that person is crazy.
But who would have thought that he would grow into a reliable wizard in just three years. Professor McGonagall even felt a little regretful: Why is such an outstanding little wizard not Gryffindor?
What Tom did just now was more like a Gryffindor prefect! Filius really picked up a good idea.
Professor McGonagall watched the young wizards lining up in a long line towards the auditorium with mixed emotions. She knew that now was not the time to lament that "every generation has talented people." She had more urgent things to do.
She stood on the spiral staircase and pulled out her wand. Suddenly four silver cats jumped out from the tip of the wand. There were patterns like glasses around their eyes. The four silver patron saints circled around Professor McGonagall.
The stairs were filled with silver light. The cats rubbed the hem of Professor McGonagall's robe and ran along the stairs, disappearing one by one.
Three of them were running around in Hogwarts Castle, and the remaining one ran directly out of the school and disappeared into the gradually falling night. The three patron saints in the castle found the other three deans respectively.
, so when the little wizards of Gryffindor had not been sitting in the auditorium for a long time, students from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin also came in with puzzled expressions.
The fourth Patronus ran all the way to Dumbledore. Before leaving Hogwarts, he told Professor McGonagall where he was going so that Professor McGonagall could contact him in an emergency.
Watching the Patronus slowly disappearing into the air, Dumbledore was still recalling the news he had just heard. Two figures were lying in front of him, and their heads were opened, revealing the twisted roots inside.
's brain.
During this period of time, Dumbledore has been dealing with the follow-up matters of the Dream Flower. Although the original body of the Dream Flower has been eliminated, the people who were infected before are still there, and the flower seeds left in their minds are gradually sprouting, so Dumbledore
Lido is seizing the time to clear them out before causing more damage.
Fortunately, after so many days of hard work, he and the wizard who called himself Evans had cleared out the infected people. The two people in front of him were the last remnants.
"Sirius Black..." A young, handsome and unruly face appeared in his mind. Dumbledore was deeply impressed by this student who was born in the Black family but entered Gryffindor House. Thinking of this student,
His expression became complicated.
Dumbledore flicked his robe and appeared on the streets of Hogsmeade. Fortunately, it was already dusk, and no one noticed the headmaster of Hogwarts appearing here.
He quickened his pace and walked quickly towards Hogwarts Castle.
After the four deans settled the students in their respective houses, Dumbledore walked into the auditorium. While Dumbledore stood in front of the staff table, McGonagall and Professor Flitwick closed the door of the auditorium together.
"The school teachers and I will conduct a comprehensive search of the castle," Dumbledore looked at all the students and gave his response, "I'm sorry, children, you need to stay here for the night."
With a wave of his magic wand, the four long tables flew to the edge of the auditorium, and hundreds of purple sleeping bags appeared on the ground.
"I hope that the prefects can guard the entrance to the auditorium. The presidents of the male and female student councils will take over the management on behalf of the professors. If there is any change, report to me immediately and send a ghost to deliver the message." He looked at Percy who was standing aside.
Normally, Percy, who was entrusted with an important task, would be very proud and show a serious look, but today he just nodded seriously, indicating that he had received the order.
He has been reflecting: Just now at the entrance of the college, why was his performance so awkward? He was completely overshadowed by two junior students. He reviewed his performance and felt that he was simply a mediocre buffoon.
. He analyzed it further and found that even if the two juniors had not appeared, his response would never have been so appropriate.
He really should reflect on it! Ever since he became the President of the Student Union, he has indeed been a little impetuous, Percy thought in his mind. After learning from the pain, he decided to cheer up this vigil in the auditorium and never let Dumbledore down.
Professor’s expectations.
Dumbledore didn't know what was going on in Percy's heart. He just felt that the child seemed a little calmer today. He walked down from the staff chair and led the professors out of the auditorium. When he passed by the Ravenclaw House,
When he was talking about "territory", he remembered something and stopped.
"Excellent way of coping, very good amplification spell, twenty points for Ravenclaw." He winked at Tom and Hermione, then left the auditorium and closed the door of the auditorium.
When the door closed, the auditorium immediately burst into chatter. The little wizards of Gryffindor told their friends from other houses what they had just seen as quickly as possible - the little wizards of Slytherin,
Just prick up your ears and listen carefully.
"Tom, tell me what happened." Several young wizards from Ravenclaw also gathered around. They didn't bother to hear the news that the Gryffindor group had changed hands. They knew that at that time,
It was Tom Yoder who stepped forward and successfully controlled the situation.
"I'm ashamed that I only made a small and insignificant contribution," Tom said modestly, and then told the students around him exactly what had just happened.
At this time, Percy's voice urging everyone to get into sleeping bags and sleep came from the staff table. Tom used an excuse to break away from the surrounding students, grabbed a sleeping bag and ran to the corner.
Looking at Hermione, who was also carrying a sleeping bag, Tom motioned for her to put the sleeping bag next to his sleeping bag.
"Tell me, is Black still in the castle? Can Professor Dumbledore and the others catch him?" Hermione had always been a little anxious, but she couldn't show it. Now that they had the chance to be alone, she hurriedly
Asked the two questions that were most concerning to me.
"I think he should have left the castle. I'm not very optimistic about Professor Dumbledore's actions." Tom analyzed briefly and came to his conclusion.
After Sirius's plan to enter the Gryffindor common room failed, knowing that he was wanted, he would definitely evacuate quickly to avoid being captured by the professors who came after hearing the news - then he would never be able to achieve revenge in his life. And as a
How could Sirius, who had escaped from Azkaban, be found by the professors?
Too much time had passed between the incident and the search. Sirius only needed to hide in the Forbidden Forest and no one would be able to find him.
Hearing Tom's answer, Hermione became even more anxious.
"What can I do? I mean, it's lucky that he chose today's dinner time. There are no students in Gryffindor Tower. If - I mean, if he breaks in and meets the students again, then it might be...
It will lead to a tragedy. Someone will definitely die!" Hermione said in a low voice but speaking quickly.
Tom shook his head, "I think he deliberately chose this time when no one was around."
Tom knew that Sirius's mind must be clear. As a Gryffindor, how could he not know that a password was required to enter the Gryffindor common room? So he seemed a little reckless this time, and his crazy actions had only one purpose:
Knock on the mountain vibrator.
Sirius was unwilling to settle his grudges in the little wizard's dormitory, so he could only find a way to force Peter out of the dormitory. He needed to use an action with enough momentum to disturb Peter Pettigrew and make him fall into fear. Let him know
, he has already sneaked into Hogwarts.
In this way, Peter Pettigrew will choose to escape - he knows that it is not difficult for Sirius to get the password. Once Peter escapes from the dormitory, Sirius can take action.
However, due to the lack of information, even Hermione could not guess the truth of the matter. When she heard Tom's guess, her eyes widened in surprise, "But this doesn't make sense, he's not..." She spoke in a low voice again
Zoomed out a notch so that only Tom, who was very close, could hear, "...are you going to cause trouble for Harry?"
Although they don't know the root cause of the matter, most young wizards believe that Sirius escaped from prison in order to avenge his master Voldemort.
"No, if Sirius wanted to take revenge on Harry, he would have found a way to escape long ago. Why wait twelve years? There must be a hidden secret in this matter."
However, Hermione was not very able to accept Tom's statement. She felt it was too far-fetched and couldn't help but find an explanation: "Maybe he has been planning to escape from prison for twelve years."
At this time, a sentence floated not far away: "...I'm afraid he has no concept of time, otherwise he will definitely rush into the auditorium..."
Hermione shivered.
Tom sensed the fear in Hermione's heart, so he changed the positions of his and Hermione's sleeping bags, placing Hermione's sleeping bag against the wall.
"You can sleep inside."
Hermione was stunned for a moment, pursed her lips, intertwined the fingers of her hands, and moved restlessly. After some thought, she chose to accept Tom's kindness.
"Thank you." She took off her shoes, put them aside, got into the sleeping bag with her clothes on, and then tightened the zipper, leaving only her head outside.
At this time, the students nearby were also chatting with their friends. They were only curious about one thing: how did Blake get in.
The answers are varied. Some say he apparated, some say he flew in, and some think he is good at disguising himself. Hannah Abbott of Hufflepuff believed that Sirius could turn into a bunch of bushes.
"I don't think many of them have read "Hogwarts: A School History"" Tom complained to Hermione across from him after getting into the sleeping bag. He turned sideways and slept opposite Hermione.
"Yes, Hogwarts cannot apparate, and the dementors at the entrance can see through all disguises. Filch has also sealed all the secret passages..."
The surrounding discussions are getting more and more heated. The enchanted ceiling is no different from the real sky, and coupled with the breeze coming from nowhere, this time taking refuge in the auditorium is like camping. It can be heard that this "
"Team Building" activities are very popular with little wizards.
However, the discussion was ended by Percy. He shouted: "Get ready for bed!" and ordered everyone to get into their sleeping bags and prepare to rest.
Hearing Percy say this, Hermione also closed her mouth. But she looked at Tom, who was less than thirty centimeters away from her, and pouted.
Tom arched his body vigorously, approached Hermione, and pecked Hermione's lips like a dragonfly.
"Good night~"
"Good night."
Tom looked at Hermione with her eyes closed, her slender eyelashes trembling, her red lips, her face with fine downy hair, and her small nose. Tom's heartbeat was speeding up.
Suddenly, Hermione opened her eyes, "It's broken. Crookshanks is still in the lounge. I should have brought it down..."
"It can take care of itself. You don't always keep it with you, right?"
Hermione closed her eyes again. But this time, she stretched out a hand from the sleeping bag, and Tom also stretched out a hand from the sleeping bag, and the two held their hands tightly.
The sleeping bags of the little wizards crowded the auditorium, but there was a large open space at the entrance of the auditorium. It was the most empty space in the entire auditorium. The other little wizards subconsciously kept a distance from this place. Only Percy took the initiative.
I walked here carrying my sleeping bag.
"Lights out!" Percy shouted loudly, and at the same time placed his sleeping bag at the door of the auditorium, so that even if Sirius Black wanted to sneak in through the door and harm his classmates, he would be the first to give an early warning.
Percy felt that he was ready to wake up.
However, all his preparations were in vain. Tonight was Christmas Eve, and the students didn't even see the shadow of Sirius. When he woke up early in the morning, Percy, with his messy hair and two dark circles under his eyes, punched the air.
The feeling - he almost didn't sleep all night last night, and only slept for an hour or two in a daze at dawn.
This can't be blamed on him, because every hour, a teacher appears in the auditorium to make sure everything is okay here. With such interruption, it's a wonder that Percy, who is blocking the door, can fall asleep.
When he opened the door for the first time, he almost jumped up to warn him. If Snape hadn't acted quickly and was proficient in silent spells, all the students in the school would have been woken up by Percy.
After doing this several times, Percy simply stopped sleeping and sat at the door guarding the door.
What is certain is that countless people were sleepless tonight, and most of the little wizards did not fall asleep until after two o'clock in the morning. But Tom was not among them. He and Hermione slept deeply and soundly.
At three o'clock in the morning, Professor Dumbledore walked into the auditorium again, followed by Snape.
They began to patrol the auditorium. Percy moved a little, but in the end he did not get up. He chose to continue guarding the door.