The Return to Hogwarts

"Hagrid, what exactly kidnapped the centaur?"

Hermione frowned slightly, and said thoughtfully,

"And this is too much of a coincidence. It just so happens tonight that the centaur tribe was attacked. Malfoy inexplicably wandered into the Forbidden Forest, and that dog..."

"Yes, tonight was really lively."

Hagrid said, feeling agitated.

"I should have reported these things to Professor Dumbledore and Professor Blaine immediately, but they are both not at the school!"

Hagrid's words left Harry and the others with expressions of surprise and uncertainty.

"This could be a conspiracy, Harry!"

While Hagrid struggled to get on his motorcycle, Ron said with a pale face, "Someone must be up to something, and I still can't understand why Scabbers would agree to follow Malfoy."

“I think we should go back to school and tell Professor McGonagall everything, Harry.”

Hermione also spoke seriously.

Harry didn't speak, but he expressed his opinion through his actions. As the motorcycle roared to life again, he flipped over and climbed into the sidecar. Beneath his eyelashes, which were covered in shards of ice, were a pair of unwavering eyes.

Now, they returned to their original path. Compared to the outer edge of the forbidden forest, the terrain here was much more complex. It was no longer a flat ground covered with fallen leaves; puddles, mud pits, and strange rocks were everywhere, making it very difficult to find footprints. As a result, their speed slowed down.

The three little ones lit up their wands and helped Hagrid search.

So far, they haven't heard a single human sound, which is perhaps a good thing. Malfoy is certainly no match for Black, but Harry thinks he can still manage a few screams before he dies.

This time, Hagrid's expression was much more serious as he rode his motorcycle, and he exuded a sense of urgency. His original mission was simply to find a young wizard who had the wild idea of ​​practicing his flying skills in the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night, but now he also had to hurry up and see what was going on with those centaurs.

The existence of werewolves in the Forbidden Forest nestled within Hogwarts was merely a school legend among the young wizards, but Dumbledore and he both knew that werewolves were indeed active deep within the Forbidden Forest.

A war broke out between centaurs and werewolves, and Hogwarts was dragged into it.

Just thinking about it made Hagrid's insides groan.

They flew for about ten more minutes before Hagrid had to stop his motorcycle due to the dense vegetation in the forest. Now, the four of them had to proceed on foot.

After walking a while, the dog paw prints on the ground became messy, probably because the dog had exhausted most of its strength to get here. Moreover, Hagrid found traces of a spell breaking on the trunk of a tree.

"It was Malfoy who did it, wasn't it?"

Ron said, his voice trembling.

No one answered his question, not even Harry and Hermione.

As night deepened, the damp ground gradually froze solid. Stepping on it caused the frost-covered branches and leaves to crack and snap, a sound that was extremely jarring and unsettling in the quiet forest.

"Harry."

To avoid missing any clues, they spread out in a fan shape in the woods. Just as Harry, standing on the far left, was struggling with the marks on the ground, Hermione, on the far right, suddenly spoke, and her voice was full of fear and helplessness.

Harry immediately sensed something was wrong. He looked up abruptly and pointed his wand in the direction Hermione was facing. In just one glance, he felt as if a cold, large hand was gripping his stomach, and pain and nausea tormented his nerves at the same time.

Ron looked like he was about to faint, while Hagrid stood motionless beside Hermione like a wooden statue.

The cold moonlight shone on a rare clearing in the woods, and the liquid in the crater reflected the moonlight and shimmered silver. The liquid might be water mixed with ice crystals, or it might be blood.

A man holding a broom fell into a pothole, while a disheveled man groped his body beside him.

Malfoy had always been Harry's most hated wizard, but when he actually saw him collapse limply to the ground, Harry didn't know how to describe his feelings. However, he knew that the look in his eyes as he stared at the crouching wizard was definitely not one of gratitude.

Chapter 294 Those Hatreds

2023-05-17

The man next to Malfoy stood up. He slowly turned around, and when he saw Hagrid and Harry standing a few dozen feet away, his body visibly trembled. He instinctively wanted to run away, but in the end, he only staggered back a step.

High in the sky, clouds drifted with the wind, obscuring the cold moonlight. On the ground, a shadow crept in from the other side of the hillside, enveloping Harry and the others, as well as the man.

The two groups stared at each other in the darkness, neither making a move, while a hint of murderous intent unconsciously seeped into the ethereal mist surrounding them.

The eerie silence lasted for a long time, until the dark cloud in the night sky reluctantly moved away, and the moonlight fell, once again draping everything in a shimmering white veil, and only then was the silence broken.

"I thought it would only be Hagrid. How did the three of you end up here?"

Sirius said with a complicated expression.

Harry had imagined countless times what his reaction would be if he actually met Sirius Black one day. At first, he thought he would rush up and fight this filthy, stinking traitor without hesitation until one of them fell to the ground.

But Professor Blaine's advice made him realize that if the murderer really appeared, he wouldn't even have the courage to fight him, let alone beat him. The right thing to do was to stay quietly in the castle, out of everyone's sight, and not put himself in danger. Even if he did encounter him, he should try his best to escape, because since Black didn't pity the unbreakable friendship between him and Harry's father, he was unlikely to pity him either.

Harry had once accepted Professor Blaine's teachings, but today, now, when he truly saw the culprit who had orphaned him and caused him eleven years of humiliation at the Dursleys' house, Harry couldn't convince himself to hide behind Hagrid.

He imagined he would see a criminal exactly like the one in the wanted poster—emaciated, tortured and insane, wearing tattered prison clothes.

But that wasn't actually the case; the man opposite him didn't look that disheveled.

His grey eyes were bright, and his face was rather thin, but he looked to be in good health. In particular, he was wearing a robe—not some rags he had dug out of a trash can, but an expensive robe that fit his body well and reflected a faint light in the moonlight. Wearing that robe, Sirius Black looked like an elegant and proper normal wizard.

He actually had time to find himself a nice outfit?!

Harry thought Sirius Black must be living in constant fear, no matter where he was hiding, but that was the punishment he deserved—the punishment a dark wizard who betrayed his friend and followed Voldemort deserved.

Harry's vision blurred for a moment, not from exhaustion, but from the sudden rush of hot, surging blood to his head, making him lose consciousness. Yet, in this state, without the command of his brain, his body faithfully carried out the desires that arose from his soul, and he raised his wand.

“Professor Blaine, you are wrong about me—”

Before he could utter the most powerful spell he knew, a thought flashed through Harry's mind, and then...

"Candid Leviosa!"

Harry roared, and an arrow suddenly flew up from the quiver in Hermione's arms. Under the cover of darkness, the arrow, which whistled through the air like cold lightning, appeared in front of Sirius Black in an instant!

boom!

Sirius Black swung his wand fiercely, summoning the Iron Barrier. A burst of brilliant yet tragic sparks illuminated the Forbidden Forest, followed by the sound of the barrier shattering.

"That was a good move, Harry, you almost killed me—"

Sirius Black, slightly out of breath, looked at Harry with a complicated expression.

"Of course, I'm not surprised you would do that."

"Don't say my name, you scum, you don't deserve it!"

Harry roared, raising his wand once more as he took a step forward, wanting nothing more than to get close to Black and end his life, even if it meant being seriously injured or dying.

But after taking only one step, Harry found himself unable to move, because Hagrid suddenly reached out and grabbed him, while Hermione and Ron almost simultaneously grabbed him—one around the waist, the other around the arm. In his desperate struggle, Hermione cried out...

"Don't be impulsive, Harry, let Hagrid handle this!"

"He killed my mom and dad!"

Harry roared, still struggling to break free.

"Don't let this guy smudge your hands, Harry. Let me handle it."

Hagrid strode forward, shielding Harry, Ron, and Hermione behind him, and spread his arms like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

While Hagrid and the others stopped Harry from making an attack, Sirius stood with his hands hanging at his sides, without any defensive posture, just watching the scene with a sorrowful expression.

"When Harry said that the dog might be you, I just took it as a joke. I thought it was just a little boy's wild imagination—"

After finally calming Harry down a bit, Hagrid's eyes widened, his entire being radiating ferocity. He glared menacingly at Sirius, as if he were about to pounce on him and tear him to pieces at any moment.

"I must say, you're really good at disguising yourself, you despicable traitor. I bet nobody knows you're an illegal Animagus, right!"

"In fact, quite a few people know about it—"

Sirius sighed, about to say something more, but Hagrid's sudden roar startled him.

"What did you do to that little wizard? He's dead!"

"Calm down, Hagrid."

Sirius frowned and emphasized, "This kid named Malfoy has only fainted, he's not dead."

"Yeah!"

Regardless, hearing that Malfoy was still alive, Hagrid, as a teacher, felt a sense of relief, but his tone remained unchanged.

"This isn't like you, Black. When did you learn to hold back? What, did you soften your heart in Azkaban?"

"Let me explain, Hagrid."

Veins bulged on Sirius's forehead; clearly, Hagrid's words had not been without hurt.

"explain?!"

Hagrid shoved Harry hard with his hand behind his back, the force sending Harry, Ron, and Hermione sprawling to the ground. His dark eyes blazed with fury, and the next second, he suddenly strode forward like a crazed monster, charging towards Sirius Black.

“You should explain, Blake, but not to me, but to James and Lily!”

"Wait, Hagrid, stop and listen to me!"

When a giant standing twelve feet tall begins to charge recklessly, the sense of oppression is unparalleled. Sirius screamed and retreated, but in the blink of an eye, Hagrid had already rushed to within thirty feet of him. In just one more second, that fan-like hand would be on his head. Before things were cleared up, Sirius had to consider saving his own life.

"Stop, Hagrid!"

The forest, filled with a chilling atmosphere, was suddenly filled with two startled shouts. Sirius's Stunning Curse was deflected by Hagrid's skin, and from the shadows, a thin rope, like a venomous snake, lashed out and bound Hagrid's legs, causing him to lose his balance and fall heavily to the ground.

Chapter 295 In the Dark