Chapter 434: Sirius' Embarrassment
Chapter 434: Sirius' Embarrassment
After making their decision, the group immediately set off, planning to take advantage of the night's cover to reach Hogwarts.
Harry also took out the Invisibility Cloak, intending to drape it over Sirius once they returned to the castle.
Although it was currently curfew time, and there would likely be no students around, it was still better to be cautious until Sirius' name was cleared.
Moreover, there was also Filch inside the castle.
The group returned to the tunnel.
Unlike the tense atmosphere on their way there, the return journey was much more relaxed.
Professor Lupin led the way, with Harry, Hermione, and Ron following behind. They occasionally glanced back, and Sirius brought up the rear, tightly clutching Peter's cage.
Kyle brought up the rear, guarding against the unlikely event of Peter suddenly breaking free from his cage and escaping...
If a rat could so easily escape from Sirius' grasp, Kyle might as well return the Order of Merlin Second Class medal and save himself the embarrassment.
The journey back was relatively smooth, and everyone proceeded in an orderly manner.
"Hand over Peter Pettigrew," Sirius suddenly said to Harry as they slowly made their way through the tunnel. "Do you know what this means?"
"You're free," Harry replied, turning back to face him.
"Yes..." Sirius said, "but I... I don't know if anyone has ever told you... I'm your godfather."
"Yes, I know," Harry said.
He had heard it from Cornelius Fudge at the Three Broomsticks, but at that time, he had only felt a sense of shame and disgust.
However, upon hearing this news now, he experienced a strange joy.
Finally, his life would no longer be solely defined by the Dursley family.
"That's right... Your parents appointed me as your guardian," Sirius said somewhat unnaturally. "Well... you can consider it... If I clear my name... If you want a different home..."
Harry felt his heart skip a beat, as if he had just received a second acceptance letter to Hogwarts.
"You mean... live with you?" he asked, so excited that he accidentally bumped his head against a rock on the tunnel's ceiling.
"Of course, if you want to live with your aunt and uncle, I can understand," Sirius quickly added, his tone slightly constrained. "I just wanted to..."
"Are you crazy?" Harry exclaimed, his heart overflowing with joy. "Of course I want to leave the Dursleys. Do you have a house? When can I move in?"
"Are you serious?" Sirius asked.
"Yes, I am," Harry affirmed.
Kyle noticed that Sirius' haggard face broke into a genuine smile, as if he had shed his withered mask and aged backward by more than a decade.
At that moment, they had also reached the tunnel's exit.
Professor Lupin was the first to leap out, reaching up to press a knot on the tree trunk.
This knot was similar to the Whomping Willow's on-off switch; as long as it was pressed, the tree would remain calm.
After that, the rest of the group also emerged from the tunnel.
Sirius stood in the moonlight, arms outstretched, greedily embracing the night breeze.
"Let's go quickly; there will be plenty of opportunities later," Harry said, already eager to meet Dumbledore.
They hurried across the grounds, and the castle lights gradually came on...
However, as they walked, Professor Lupin, who was at the front, suddenly stopped, causing Ron and Harry to bump into him.
"What's wrong, Professor Lupin?" Harry began to ask, but before he could finish, he was roughly pulled backward... Ron experienced the same.
It was then that they noticed Professor Lupin's body trembling uncontrollably.
"Oh no... It's a full moon tonight," Hermione screamed. "I forgot to tell you, Professor Lupin is a werewolf!"
"What did you say?"
Ron felt a chill run through his body.
There was no need for confirmation as Professor Lupin's head began to elongate, and brown fur sprouted on his exposed arms.
"Why didn't you tell me something so important sooner!" Ron's teeth chattered.
"Run!" Sirius whispered, "Run, quickly!"
The three of them took off running, but when Sirius glanced back, he was horrified to see that Kyle was still standing in the same spot... rummaging through a box, with half his body already inside.
"You..."
Just as he was about to say something, Kyle waved his hand.
"It's fine, it's fine. Maybe Harry didn't tell you, but I earned my Second Class Order of Merlin for defeating a werewolf."
There was still some time before Professor Lupin fully transformed into a werewolf, and Kyle calmly continued searching through his box.
Mandrake... no, it would be too loud, and Professor Lupin probably couldn't handle it.
Mistletoe... it might not be suitable either, considering the werewolf's resistance.
After looking around, Kyle finally found what he was looking for.
He pulled out a large bundle of vines from the box, and at that moment, Professor Lupin had completely transformed into a werewolf.
The werewolf stood on its hind legs, its long mouth opening and closing, emitting a terrifying roar.
A large black dog darted past Kyle, biting the werewolf's neck and attempting to drag it back. The dog and the werewolf were locked in a struggle, their claws tearing at each other...
Kyle was stunned, but as soon as he reacted, he immediately used his wand to send the bundle of vines flying?
"Fly away!"
The vines collided with their bodies, and the thick tendrils, upon being attacked, immediately became agitated, twisting and coiling endlessly.
Like a fly caught in a spider's web, in an instant, the werewolf and the large dog were tightly entangled by the vines, unable to move.
The scene became somewhat awkward for a moment.
Especially for Sirius, who suddenly realized that he might be in the way.
"This is Devil's Snare, you should be able to break free," Kyle asked.
The dog nodded, then relaxed its body and freed itself from the vines.
The werewolf continued to struggle violently, and the vines around it tightened further.
"How did you pull that out of your box?" Sirius, in his Animagus form, asked incredulously, "Your box doesn't seem that big."
"Well... it's a little bigger than it looks," Kyle extended his little finger to gesture.
Sirius looked at the Devil's Snare, which was as large as a house, and then at Kyle's hand gesture, feeling speechless.
A little bigger?
However, Kyle wasn't in the mood to explain further. He looked at the werewolf, now resembling a tightly wrapped zongzi, and felt a bit concerned about how to get rid of it.
What about Mandrake?
The werewolf, upon hearing the Mandrake's cry, would likely survive, at most falling into a state of unconsciousness, similar to the previous encounter with the giant spider.
Even if its resistance was higher than that of the giant spider, there were over a dozen Mandrakes in the box. If one wasn't enough, they could use two together, and if that still didn't work, they could add more until they found the right amount for the werewolf.
Dealing with an unconscious werewolf would be much simpler; they would only need a simple Levitation Charm to transport it to Professor Dumbledore's office.
The more Kyle thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
But just as he was about to transfigure a few thick earmuffs for Harry and the others, he suddenly felt a chill in the air, and the moonlight dimmed significantly.
Kyle looked up, and in the distance, a "cloud" was rapidly spreading towards them along the lake's edge.
(End of Chapter)
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