The Return to Hogwarts

This time, Ron finally reacted. He supported himself on the table with his hands, looking like he was about to vomit, but he still looked at the portrait of the fat lady slowly and listlessly.

At that moment, the portrait of the Fat Lady was opened. Percy, who had finished inspecting the castle, found that the Gryffindor common room was exactly the same as when he left that evening. He was about to get angry when a cool breeze suddenly lifted his robe. He looked down in surprise and only vaguely saw a yellow, ghost-like thing suddenly dart away from his feet.

"Banban!"

Before Percy could even turn around to check, his brother Ron pounced on him, brushing past his shoulder as he rushed out of the doorway and sending him spinning several times.

"Ron!"

Although he didn't understand how this had happened, Harry didn't hesitate and immediately rushed out with Ron.

"Wait, Harry!"

Hermione stepped off the sofa, ready to follow, but then she suddenly remembered something and wanted to call Harry to stop. Harry ignored her calls, and after stomping his foot in frustration, she turned back, found Harry's backpack on the sofa, pulled out the Invisibility Cloak, draped it over her arm, and rushed out of the lounge.

"Hey, you guys can't openly break school rules in front of a prefect!"

Percy yelled angrily.

"Just this once, Percy."

Hermione, at the very back, waved to Percy with her back turned, and then disappeared down the stairs.

Chapter 290: Situation Unknown

2023-05-13

The sound of hurried footsteps pierced the castle's tranquility, waking up one after another the portraits that had been soundly asleep along the corridor. They watched the little wizards running past like the wind and clicked their tongues in dissatisfaction at their backs.

"Oh God, couldn't you wait for me?!"

When Hermione reached the fifth floor, she finally caught up with Harry and Ron. She ran after them, constantly brushing away the strands of hair floating in front of her eyes with her small, white hands.

Harry was about to ask Hermione what she had been doing for a while, but when his gaze shifted downwards, he immediately saw the Invisibility Cloak in Hermione's hand and couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.

“I hadn’t even thought of that, Hermione, you’re quick on the uptake.”

You will find,

Hermione proudly curled her nose, glanced at the incredibly agile Scabbers, and looked as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"My judgment is always very accurate!"

Neither Harry nor Ron spoke, but they both knew what Hermione was trying to say: Scabbers wasn't dead, which meant Crookshanks was innocent, and that they had indeed misunderstood Hermione before.

Thinking about this, Harry felt a pang of guilt, but at the same time, he was also very confused. Scabbers was so lively and energetic that he didn't look like he had been hurt at all. So, what was the bloodstain on Ron's sheets and Crookshanks' fur on the night after Halloween last year?

Just as Harry was pondering this, Hermione suddenly grabbed Harry and Ron by the collar from behind and dragged them behind a tapestry around the corner without saying a word. Ron immediately wanted to ask something, but Hermione gestured for them to be quiet.

It's Professor Lupin.

He was walking down the corridor from the other end, carrying a toothbrush and some toiletries. Logically, he should have already noticed them, but compared to the morning, Professor Lu Ping's face looked even more sickly, and his steps were unsteady. He seemed dizzy, so he didn't notice them rushing down from upstairs.

The wait was agonizing; a mere twenty seconds felt like an eternity. When Professor Lupin finally opened the door slowly, Ron immediately darted out and ran downstairs.

"I've never understood—"

Harry followed him out, but looked puzzled.

Why does Professor Lu Ping always look so sickly?

"This one—"

Hermione was breathing heavily. She glanced quickly at the moon outside the window, then moved her lips but didn't continue speaking.

"Oh, thank goodness!"

When they reached the first floor, Ron breathed a sigh of relief when Scabbers reappeared in his sight.

Scabbers' purpose was clear: it wanted to go outside the castle. And as Harry, Ron, and their companions descended the marble steps of the castle gate and entered the open outdoors, Ron immediately barked impatiently.

"Banban, you idiot, why are you running? It's me, Ron!"

Ron's anxious calls echoed across the breezy playground, but Scabbers paid no heed to its former master's cries. It ran wildly along the path leading to the school gate, and if it weren't for Harry's excellent tracking skills as a genius Seeker, they might have lost it entirely.

The three people and the mouse ran along the passageway for about half of the campus. Suddenly, Banban changed direction and darted into the grass.

"Hey, don't do that, Bambi!"

Ron followed Scabbers onto the lawn and ran towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest, but after only a few steps, the three of them completely lost track of Scabbers.

The bright moonlight shone on Ron's bewildered face, making him look even more helpless.

Seeing him like this, Hermione, who was panting, couldn't say anything more. She had originally planned to take the opportunity to suggest that Crookshanks move back to the dormitory.

"What exactly happened, Ron?"

Harry wiped the sweat from his brow, his gaze sweeping across the swaying lawn, but he found nothing.

"I don't know, Harry."

Ron shook his head blankly.

"I've never seen Banban look like that before. What is it afraid of?"

Suddenly, a sharp and frantic barking came from the direction of Hagrid's cabin, sounding so jarring amidst the undulating forest.

"It's Toothpick!" Hermione immediately realized, and said anxiously, "Hagrid must have encountered some emergency!"

"We have to go check it out!"

Harry looked nervous and immediately echoed Hermione's statement.

Ron was very reluctant to accept the suggestion. He wanted to continue searching for Scabbers. Over the past two months, he had privately felt disheartened countless times because of the mysterious death of Scabbers. Now that he had discovered that Scabbers was not dead, apologizing to Hermione was not a problem. But for him, finding Scabbers was the most important thing.

However, Baa's barking did sound a bit off, and Hagrid, being a mutual friend, couldn't refute Harry's suggestion.

They were not far from Hagrid's hut, and just a few dozen seconds later, they saw Hagrid's uniquely enormous body.

Hagrid stood on the small slope outside his house, staring blankly at the dark Forbidden Forest, while Awful stayed beside him, howling desperately in the same direction.

"What's wrong, Hagrid?"

Harry shouted from fifty or sixty feet away,

"We heard Yaya barking. What's wrong?"

Hearing Harry's question and the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps, Hagrid turned around, but the expression on his face was just as confused and bewildered as when the three of them had found Scabbers in the common room.

"Oh, it's the three of you—"

Hagrid was so bewildered by what had just happened that he didn't even realize how late it was and what it meant for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to be wandering around the campus.

"I just saw Malfoy run into the Forbidden Forest."

"Malfoy?!"

Harry, Harry, and his two friends all cried out in unison, their voices filled with surprise and confusion.

"Oh, is that so—"

Hagrid swallowed hard, his large, round eyes widening as he spoke in a tone of utter disbelief.

"I was just in the room reciting the materials for Buckbeak's defense when I suddenly heard a fang chirping. I thought it had spotted some animal trying to break into the school, so I rushed out. It turned out to be Malfoy standing at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, holding a flying broomstick with a mouse perched on his head—"

Harry, Harry, and his two companions exchanged glances, all seeing the astonishment in each other's eyes.

This is impossible!

Perhaps Malfoy was spurred on by Harry's outstanding performance on the field today, and thus resolved to hone his flying skills on his own. But that mouse, if I'm not mistaken, should be Scabbers.

Putting aside how Scabbers became friends with Malfoy, they chased Scabbers all the way down the road and only stopped for a short while by the roadside. That was hardly enough time for Scabbers and Malfoy to reunite. Could it be that Malfoy also kept a mouse as a pet?

"--And then there was that homeless little black dog,"

Hagrid ignored their thoughts and continued speaking.

"It was originally staying in the little den I made for Crookshank, but after it discovered Malfoy, it suddenly changed drastically, growing dozens of times larger, becoming much bigger than Tooth. It carried Crookshank on its back and charged at Malfoy, seemingly intending to bite him to death."

The little black dog has grown so big, it even wants to bite Malfoy to death?!

This was so surreal that even Hermione couldn't come up with any reasonable explanation for it.

"I've never seen a dog that can change size before."

Hagrid's focus had clearly wandered a bit. Gradually regaining his senses, his eyes lit up, and he said with great interest,

"Perhaps it's a special breed cultivated by some wizard. Oh, if that's the case, I'll definitely go and ask him for advice!"

Just then, Hermione suddenly noticed that Harry's expression was off, as if he had been struck by lightning. She asked him worriedly,

"What's wrong, Harry? What's on your mind?"

I've seen that dog before.

Harry slowly closed his gaping mouth, his face turning terrifying.

Just as Hagrid was describing it, he suddenly understood everything.

"Just last summer, before I left the Dursleys' house after inflating Aunt Maggie's, I saw it near Magnolia Crescent Street before taking the Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron."

"What are you talking about, Harry?"

Ron, whose mind was still filled with images of Scabbers and Malfoy being bitten by a dog, looked at Harry with an absurd expression.

"A dog from the Muggle world couldn't possibly follow you all the way to Hogwarts, could it?"