Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 465 Sirius Has a Problem

At other times, Professor McGonagall would be happy to discuss this new topic about Animagus with her best student.

But now that Siron is in fifth grade, which is one of the two most important milestones for wizards, Professor McGonagall is not so keen to continue talking to Siron about things that are not related to the OWL exam.

But Xilun did not leave; instead, he spoke again.

"Wait, Professor, there's something else I want to say."

“Then you’d better hurry.” Professor McGonagall glanced at her time. “I need to finish reviewing the assignments you just handed in as soon as possible…”

"There's something wrong with Sirius!"

Professor McGonagall stopped abruptly, turned around in confusion, and asked, "Wait, what did you just say?"

“There’s something wrong with Sirius,” Sirius said again. “I think he might not be Sirius, or rather, someone might be impersonating him.”

“That’s impossible,” Professor McGonagall said firmly. “Headmaster Dumbledore brought him into the school, and no one can deceive Dumbledore with magic.”

"Um, I don't think so..." Xilun muttered to himself.

“You really should go get something to eat,” Professor McGonagall continued. “Besides, many of the professors at Hogwarts are old acquaintances of Sirius, including myself, but none of us have noticed anything wrong with him. And Potter, surely he wouldn’t mistake his godfather.”

That's even harder to say... Xilun thought to himself.

If you look closely, Harry and Sirius didn't spend much time together at all. They were definitely close, but to say they were that familiar with each other before?

That's not necessarily true.

“But Professor, Sirius has forgotten my pet cat,” Sirius said again. “If it were him, he wouldn’t have forgotten.”

“A pet cat?” Professor McGonagall frowned. “What does that mean?”

“Tom, my pet cat,” Sirius explained. “I’m sure you know, Professor, that Sirius is also an Animagus. He was able to stay in Hogwarts by transforming into an animal.”

Professor McGonagall nodded.

Although this matter has not been made public, it is not a secret to many people, and she certainly knows about it as well.

“That’s the key point,” Sirius said. “When Sirius came to Hogwarts, he was given a good beating by Tom, and from then on he became Tom’s sidekick.”

“But when he was talking to me, he didn’t even know I had a pet cat, and he didn’t recognize it when he saw Tom either, which is obviously very unusual.”

The amount of information was overwhelming. Professor McGonagall blinked, feeling her head buzzing.

If she remembered correctly, Sirius's Animagus was supposed to be a dog, and a large one at that... but it ended up getting beaten up by a cat after sneaking into Hogwarts?

No... now is not the time to think about these things.

Professor McGonagall quickly noticed the second half of Celan's sentence.

"You mean, he's completely forgotten about your cat?"

“That’s right.” Xiren nodded. “This is very unusual, isn’t it?”

Professor McGonagall's expression gradually turned serious. "Are you sure?" she said. "This is no laughing matter. Are you sure the Sirius we're seeing now is someone else in disguise?"

“To be honest, I’m not entirely sure,” Siren said, his mind drifting back to the Marauder’s Map.

Actually, Marauder's Map is the simplest and most direct method. As long as they take the map and open it, they can immediately expose the other party's identity, unless that person's name is also Sirius Black.

But that's highly unlikely, considering the Black family is practically extinct—you could count them on one hand. Even if we take a step back, who would choose a name that sounds like "the shame of the family"? And if someone did, they'd probably have changed it long ago.

Indeed, Sirius Black is a disgrace to the Black family, as evidenced more than once by Mrs. Black's portrait and the house-elves of their old house.

For a long time afterward, Professor McGonagall remained silent, simply looking down as she paced aimlessly back and forth in the classroom, lost in thought.

After what seemed like an eternity, she finally stopped and said, "I need to tell the principal about this."

When in doubt, consulting Dumbledore is arguably the safest course of action.

“I’ve been meaning to say this,” Celen said, spreading his hands, “but by the time I realized it, Headmaster Dumbledore had already left the school.”

"So when you asked me about the headmaster's whereabouts that day, it wasn't actually to ask about the time he was going to Hogsmeade Village?" Professor McGonagall asked.

“That’s part of the reason,” Celen said. “Back then, I also needed a few owls that could fly long distances to help me deliver messages, and the ones at school weren’t very good enough.”

After another long silence, Professor McGonagall said nothing more, only telling Siron to hurry up and have lunch in the Great Hall.

“I will continue to observe him,” Xiren said as he walked to the door.

"No." Professor McGonagall rejected the suggestion without even thinking.

“No, Sirius,” she said seriously. “If it’s really as you say, and Sirius is an imposter, then what you’re doing is too dangerous.”

“On the contrary, Professor.” Sirius shook his head. “Given the relationship between Sirius and me, it would be strange if we suddenly became distant, and it would likely alert him.”

"I said, no!" Professor McGonagall had no intention of listening to Hillon's explanation and refused again with a stern face.

Even though she knew perfectly well that Sirius was right, it wasn't enough for her to agree to let a student like Sirius risk his life to get close to Sirius, whose true identity was unknown.

“I can assign more homework,” Professor McGonagall said. “Fifth graders already have a lot of work, so this will give you a good reason not to go see him.”

Xilun felt a chill run down his spine...

Add more homework?

They already had so much homework they were about to finish. In the common room, the fifth-year students who were still rushing to finish their homework in the early hours of the morning were so resentful that even ghosts wouldn't want to approach them... Siren had a premonition that if this matter were to be exposed one day, he might never be able to leave the gates of Hogwarts.

Those fifth-graders, blinded by rage, will kill him.

“Ah, Professor McGonagall, I suddenly realize you have a lot to say.” Sirius cleared his throat. “I’ll avoid Sirius from now on. As for more homework… I don’t think it’s necessary. The current amount of homework is more than enough to make an excuse.”

Before Professor McGonagall could say anything more, Celen dashed out of the classroom, closing the door behind him.

……

(End of this chapter)