The Return to Hogwarts

Throughout, Amosta didn't urge him on at all, but Filch was clearly under immense pressure; he was frantically muttering to himself as he searched.

"Damn it, damn it, could a thief have broken in here?!"

An hour later, Filch finally gave up the search. He straightened his aching back and said to Amosta with a mournful face,

"Please give me a little more time, I swear I will find what you are looking for."

This situation didn't surprise Amosta much. After more than a decade, a piece of parchment with no special features on its surface had likely long since been used as a draft and burned in the fireplace. Faced with Filch's apology, he simply sighed regretfully and offered a word of comfort.

"Do your best, Argus. It's okay if you can't find it."

His magnanimity only made Filch more uneasy. After all, Mr. Blaine rarely gave him instructions, and he had ruined another rare opportunity to make a contribution.

"I'll go back and search my place today, Mr. Blaine. I'll report back to you whether I find it or not!"

Filch called out anxiously before Amosta stepped into the fireplace.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Argus--"

Amosta waved his hand with his back to Filch, and his figure once again transformed into a phantom and disappeared into the forest-green flames.

Behind a tapestry beside the grand staircase on the first floor of the castle, Fred and George looked at each other, both seeing the unease in each other's eyes.

“This is not good—” Fred said, pulling the flesh-colored string back with all his might. “Where did Professor Blaine know about that? It couldn’t be what Harry said, right?”

"We'll never figure this out,"

George, peeking out to check what was happening outside, said urgently.

"But we need to give Harry a little reminder!"

Chapter 247 A Hair's Breadth Away (Part 2)

After a dizzying moment, Amosta returned to his office, dusted the ashes off his robes, and spread his hands to Sirius.

"Filch said he would try to look again, but in my opinion, the chances are not very high."

This result was somewhat expected, so Sirius was only slightly disappointed for a short while before regaining his composure.

Perhaps because he'd spent far more time acting like an animal than a human in recent months, Sirius returned to the sofa, but instead of sitting down, he sprawled out on the cushions like a cat or dog. If it weren't for Amosta's strange gaze, he wouldn't have noticed anything amiss.

"Whether it's lost or destroyed, it doesn't matter—" Sirius muttered to ease the awkwardness, "I just hope that thing doesn't fall into Peter's hands, otherwise he'll be able to track down all of us."

Amosta slowly returned to his desk. He had never seen the Marauder's Map that Sirius had mentioned and lacked a certain understanding of its wonders. However, through the explanation, he could roughly understand how it worked.

Just like many years ago when Voldemort was active, the reason why people were so afraid of the name 'Voldemort' that they dared not even utter it was because for a considerable period of time, Voldemort had cast a spell on his name. Names have magical power, and Voldemort used this to locate wizards who dared to call him by his name, and then cruelly murdered them.

Over time, these three words became a taboo in the magical world.

"You probably referenced the knowledge in the book 'Names and Magic'—"

Amosta stroked his chin, looking thoughtful.

As far as he knew, among all the conventional magic for concealing one's whereabouts, Polyjuice Potion and Animagus were probably the best, especially Animagus. Even with Amostella's current level of insight, if one wasn't on guard, there was a high chance of being fooled. But Sirius actually said that the map could see through the disguise of Polyjuice Potion and Animagus, which was indeed a remarkable thing.

"I can't tell you how we did it either--"

It's no easy feat to be surprised by a wizard of Amosta Blaine's caliber. Sirius's face, regaining some color, showed pride, but when Blaine pressed him further, Sirius said regretfully...

"To make this map work, the four of us spent a long time on it. Just designing the magic corridor related to alchemy alone kept us in the library for months. And when it came to the actual production stage, 'Names and Magic' was just the basic framework of the map. Each of us cast our own spells on the map, some of which were incomplete ancient spells we got from the forbidden library."

You know, Blaine, given our level of magical skill at the time, containing so much magic on a plain parchment was beyond our capabilities. Some spells that tracked magic failed, and some fused together, so—”

Sirius spread his hands, feigning innocence.

Amosta nodded; one of the wonders of magic is its unpredictability.

"So, there's no way to evade the Marauder's Map's tracking?"

Although he had been monitoring the castle, Amostak didn't feel so happy when it came to the possibility of being monitored himself, especially after what happened with Clona. He was always wary of this way of finding him out of nowhere.

"That's not quite right—"

Sirius's memories were somewhat hazy due to his long imprisonment. He frowned and pondered for a while before speaking.

"We conducted experiments back then. There are some spells specifically designed to conceal one's name, allowing one to remain undetected. After all, the most basic framework for building a map is the magic of names—"

"This has given me a wake-up call—"

After July, all information about his identities, whether 'Golden Viper' or 'Amosta Blaine', was protected by magic. Even if someone actually had the Marauder's Map, they probably wouldn't be able to find out his activities in the castle. But Sirius Black might be a different story. If the map hadn't been lost and was in someone else's possession, it would cause him unnecessary trouble.

The wisps of black smoke billowing from the tip of the Amosta staff darkened the entire room. The winding, twisting smoke swirled in mid-air, rapidly coalescing into chains that appeared both real and unreal, radiating an eerie glow.

"Don't be nervous, Blake, it's just a precaution—"

As Sirius asked in surprise, Amosta casually waved his wand.

As the Charms classes for Gryffindor and Slytherin came to an end, the students filed out of the warm and comfortable classrooms. The cold wind howled through the corridors, striking the young wizards' rosy cheeks like hammer blows.

Many people were blocking the corridor, frantically wrapping themselves in scarves. Harry glanced at Malfoy and his two henchmen, who were walking silently in the cold wind. Lately, his mind had been filled with Black's betrayal that led to his parents' deaths. He suddenly realized that it was somewhat surprising how well-behaved Malfoy and his two little followers had been lately.

"Harry!"

Harry frowned as he stared at Malfoy's retreating figure, when suddenly he heard someone calling his name from the corner of the stairs.

"Fred and George?"

Ron muttered, shivering, "That's weird, they're just lying in wait for you, Harry?"

Why don't we just go and ask them directly!

"There's still a ton of stuff to do," Hermione said irritably.

Fred and George dragged Harry and his two companions directly to an empty classroom on the other side of the stairs. It was recess time, and there were many students coming and going. George stood guard at the door to prevent anyone from eavesdropping on their conversation.

"I don't recall inviting either of you?"

Fred raised an eyebrow and spoke to Ron and Hermione.

"Black is still on the run, and we don't want you to come up with some crazy ideas to lure Harry out of the castle again!"

Hermione pursed her lips and said with dissatisfaction.

To prevent the Weasley brothers from getting into trouble, they had already exchanged information about what had happened before, so Fred knew what Hermione was trying to say. However, he didn't have time to argue with Hermione now, and simply described in as few words as possible the information they had overheard in Filch's office.

"Professor Blaine knew about the Marauder's Map?" Ron asked, puzzled. "But that's impossible, isn't it? Otherwise, he would have confiscated the map that night."

"So we came here to ask—"

Fred looked at Harry intently. "Have you talked to anyone about this map?"

Harry was clearly incapable of making such a basic mistake, and he hadn't told anyone about it except Ron and Hermione.

Perhaps what Professor Blaine is looking for has nothing to do with the map at all, but the possibility of this happening is very small.

"Perhaps it's Professor Lupin—"

After a moment of silence, Harry, who had been deep in thought, suddenly looked up and said to Ron and Hermione, "Remember Professor Lupin's strange question that night? He questioned me about whether I had any help in discovering the secret passage under the Whomping Willow?"

Harry's guess was not without merit, but it also raised a new question: how did Professor Lupin know that the map existed?

"Is that map on you, Harry?"

Hermione's question reminded Harry, who opened his bag, frantically spread the parchment on the table, and then took out his wand and gently tapped it.

In an instant, fine lines of ink spread from the tip of the stick like a spider web, connecting and crisscrossing, extending to every corner of the parchment.

Even though it wasn't the first time they'd seen it, Ron still stared at the Marauder's Map with a look of awe, while Hermione instinctively looked away. After a moment, she suppressed her thoughts on the map, whose origins were unclear, and turned her head back. However, she suddenly noticed that Harry's face had turned pale, and something seemed wrong.

"What's wrong, Harry?"

Hermione's heart pounded as she thought of the notebook from last year.

"nothing--"

Harry pointed to Professor Blaine's office, which was completely empty. It seemed that Professor Blaine himself was not in his office, nor was Professor Lupin, whom they had guessed was not there.

But that name that just disappeared... Am I seeing things?

Chapter 248 Twists and turns

For the next three days, the castle was peaceful and uneventful, and most of the young wizards and staff looked forward to the Christmas holidays with great anticipation.

There are also people who are not having an easy time. For example, there is a retired professor who has to share a room with a cat that is particularly energetic and likes to argue with people. In addition, Harry has been a bit absent-minded these days. The name he caught a glimpse of on the Marauder's Map that afternoon is like a thorn in Harry's heart, making him unable to eat or sleep.

Harry didn't tell Ron and Hermione about this because he knew their reaction; they would probably think he was under too much pressure and was hallucinating. But to be honest, even Harry himself couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.

The fact that Sirius Black's name appeared in Professor Blaine's office was so surreal that it was hard to understand how it happened.

There was no moon outside the window, and the dormitory was pitch black after the lights were turned off.

Before long, Harry, who was lying in bed pretending to sleep, heard the familiar, loud snoring. He raised his head slightly to look around, then pulled the Marauder's Map from under the soft mattress and covered himself up completely with the blankets.

Since receiving the warning from Fred and George that day, Harry stopped carrying the map with him and hid it in his dormitory to avoid being raided.

Fluorescent flashing!

Harry muttered something under his breath and examined the map again by the light of his wand.

Professor Blaine's office remained empty and deserted; not only was that fleeting name absent, but even Professor Blaine's own name was not there.