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Chapter 378: Pursuit in the Castle
Chapter 378: Pursuit in the Castle
Having spent an excessive amount of time in the Room of Requirement, the group hurried towards the Great Hall at the reminder of Qiu and Connor.
"I can't believe we missed the start of the Halloween feast," Fred muttered as he quickened his pace, leading the way. "Pumpkin pasties... fried pork chops... roasted meat pies..."
"Shut up, Fred," George grumbled from just behind him. "I wasn't hungry at all a moment ago, but now I feel like I could eat a cow."
The group hastened their steps, soon reaching the end of the corridor.
Just around this bend and a short distance ahead lay the staircase. From there, they could make their way downstairs directly to the Great Hall.
However, Fred, who was at the forefront, suddenly halted just as he was about to exit the corridor. "Wait, is the feast over already?"
"How is that possible..." Connor trailed off, "The feast has only been going on for ten minutes. It's too early for it to be ending, unless you've somehow overeaten already."
Fred pointed ahead. "Then why is someone already coming back?"
"What?"
The others rushed to the corner and peered in the direction Fred was indicating.
Not far ahead was the staircase, and beyond it, a dark figure stood before a large painting.
The lighting was dim, obscuring the figure's features, but they recognized the painting.
It was the portrait of the Fat Lady, the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.
"How odd, who is that?" George blurted out subconsciously. "He must have eaten really fast in just ten minutes..."
Before he could finish his sentence, the Fat Lady in the portrait let out a loud, ear-piercing scream.
"You're that Sirius Bla... "
"RAAAR!"
The figure raised a hand and began tearing frantically at the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Let me in... he's in there... let me in!"
His voice was odd, hoarse and muffled, as if it was being squeezed out of his throat. It sounded more like the low growl of some animal.
"What did the Fat Lady say... Is he Sirius Black?" Fred exclaimed, as if just realizing.
But despite his words, he wasted no time in drawing his wand, his actions swift and decisive.
"Apparently so," Cedric echoed, his eyes fixed intently on the dark figure before them, his wand at the ready.
Their movements had not gone unnoticed, and the figure whirled around.
A beam of light illuminated his face...
Matted hair hung down to his elbows, his eyes were sunken, and his skin was waxy and stretched taut over his cheekbones, giving him the appearance of a skeleton wrapped in skin.
"It's really Black!" Fred's tension rose another notch. "He looks exactly like the picture in the Prophet!"
At the mention of the Prophet, Black bared his teeth in a sinister grin, resembling a wild beast about to pounce.
"Stun him!"
"Bind him, quick!"
"Petrificus Totalus!"
...
Without hesitation, Cedric and the others unleashed their most proficient spells simultaneously.
Five streams of light, each a different color, shot towards Black.
But their target was quick to react.
Even as they cast their spells, Black dropped to all fours and, with uncanny agility, dodged every curse that came his way.
Maintaining this peculiar stance, he then darted away down the corridor in the opposite direction.
"We can't let Black get away! He must not have his wand on him right now!" Fred bellowed, taking a step forward to give chase. But before he could move any further, someone else was already ahead of him.
Perhaps due to his haste, Kyle collided with a suit of armor as he ran, sending it tumbling right in front of Fred.
By the time Fred looked up again, Kyle had disappeared around the corner of the corridor.
"Wait, it's too dangerous for you to go alone..." Fred shouted after him.
But Kyle didn't stop.
After exiting the corridor, he weaved through a few more hallways and soon spotted Black.
The fugitive had lifted a dragon tapestry and was about to crawl through the passage behind it.
"Stop right there!"
Kyle cast a spell that exploded right by Black's ear.
His intention had been to force Black to a halt so he could talk to him, but the fugitive seemed impervious to the spell mere inches away from him. Instead of stopping, Black quickened his pace and vanished into the passage in the blink of an eye.
This was a shortcut to the fourth floor, with an exit hidden in an empty classroom.
This time, Kyle didn't pursue further; he only poked his head into the passage to take a quick look.
Black seemed overly anxious, intent solely on escaping the castle as fast as possible. Any attempt at conversation would likely be futile, and explaining things might waste too much time—by the time he finished, the others could arrive.
"Kyle..."
As if on cue, Fred, George, Cedric, and Connor came rushing up, breathless.
"What are you all doing here?" Kyle turned to them, puzzled. "Why didn't you go to the Great Hall to notify the professors?"
"Are you crazy?" George retorted. "How could we possibly let you face Black alone?"
"Autumn has already gone to the Great Hall," Cedric informed him.
"You ran off too fast, so we asked Peeves for your location..." Connor added, "But where's Black?"
"Are you alright?" Connor asked anxiously, stepping closer. "You're not hurt, are you?"
"I'm fine," Kyle assured them. "But Black got away; I couldn't catch up to him."
"You couldn't catch him?" Fred exclaimed in surprise.
To be honest, they had only been concerned about whether Kyle would be in danger facing Black alone; it had never crossed their minds that he might lose the trail.
After all, Kyle had crafted the Hogwarts map for four consecutive years and knew the castle's every twist and turn like the back of his hand.
Was Black some kind of wizarding marathon runner? How could he possibly outrun Kyle?
Kyle shrugged helplessly. "He seems very familiar with the castle; he always finds the best escape routes. By the time I got close, he had vanished."
"Oh, right, Black is a Hogwarts graduate, too," George suddenly recalled. "I remember reading in the Prophet that he was in Gryffindor as well, so he'd know the eighth floor like the back of his hand."
Fred glanced at the nearby tapestry depicting a fire-breathing dragon and mused, "You don't think he could have...?"
"So, this is where you've all gathered..."
A familiar voice interrupted Fred's train of thought.
The group spun around.
Professor Dumbledore stood a short distance away, and none of them had noticed his approach. It was as if he had been there all along.
...
(End of Chapter)
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