From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

Harry looked at the contents of the three suitcases with a hint of horror and fell into deep thought—wasn't it supposed to be done in a day or two at most?

“That’s right. The one on the left is a variety of gifts—gifts to the various intelligent creatures in the Forbidden Forest, to prevent other creatures from getting close to you.”

"The one in the middle is a gift for feeding the Thunderbird. If it's not cooperating, try to make it happy."

What about the right side?

"The one on the right is to prevent you from damaging your clothes or anything else you bring, and it's also for us to carry as supplementary materials in case we can't finish today."

Sirius nodded confidently, "As for the potion you're going to drink, when you finished the first step and went to sleep the night before last, I had Goldpie and Dobby watch over you and went to the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts overnight to bury it. We're just waiting for the thunderstorm to come."

"We were very lucky; the full moon the night before last wasn't cloudy at all. Now it's up to Hagrid's side to perform."

He ruffled Harry's hair. "Repeat the remaining steps one more time."

“Okay,” Harry recited the next steps without a second thought, “The instant the lightning flashes across the sky, go immediately to where the bottle is buried. If you have completed all the prerequisites correctly, I will find a mouthful of blood-red potion inside.”

"That's right, what's next?"

"I must immediately travel to a wide and safe place to ensure that the transformation process will not attract attention or endanger my body. Point the tip of my wand to my heart, chant the spell 'Amador, Animo, Animado, Animagus,' and then drink the potion."

Harry spent his entire holiday writing letters, completing assignments, and training specifically for this, so naturally he remembered it very clearly.

"very good."

Sirius pressed further, asking about the spell's reaction, the signs of a successful spell, and the process of returning to the original form. Only after confirming everything was correct did he look at Harry seriously and ask, "Are you sure you haven't mentioned Animagus transformation to anyone during this holiday?"

"Yes, no."

"Including your friends and girlfriend?"

"Yes."

“Very good,” Sirius sighed, “I hope your Animagus is a bit smaller, although that traitor’s shapeshifting was really awful, but it was really useful for escaping…”

-

"This is... utterly ridiculous..."

In the empty Hogwarts Castle, Professor McGonagall complained to Dumbledore.

Although she agreed to Sirius's letter and decided to provide the necessary assistance when Harry underwent Animagus transformation, this did not change her mind at this moment that she wanted to lock the two Gryffindors in solitary confinement to copy the school rules.

No—there were three, plus Lupin, who only realized something was wrong when success was almost within reach…

“Special times, Minerva,” Dumbledore said with a good laugh, “It’s better than before. At least I told you that back then we inexplicably had three extra Animagus students, and we didn’t find out until the year before last.”

"No, there are four..."

Professor McGonagall retorted irritably, "And there's Ravenclaw... This is the first time I've known that my student has such a high talent for Transfiguration!"

“Including today, that makes five—four Gryffindors have achieved unbelievably high grades in Transfiguration, Minerva,” Dumbledore said, showing no sign of displeasure at being forced to work overtime. “Your Transfiguration grades are the best in the history of Hogwarts.”

"We also encounter the most unruly students..."

Professor McGonagall responded irritably, glancing at the glow emanating from the office fireplace, "It should be around this time..."

At that moment, the one-way fireplace restriction was temporarily lifted, and as the fireplace flames flickered, Lupin's face appeared before the two headmasters.

"Good morning, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall."

Lu Ping greeted them with a hint of shame—he still couldn't forgive himself for not noticing Black and Harry's little interaction earlier.

Before Professor McGonagall could say anything, Harry quickly appeared in the flames carrying a large trunk.

When he first saw Professor McGonagall's expressionless face, the happy smile that had appeared on his face because he had returned to Hogwarts with Sirius Black instantly disappeared, and his face was full of guilt.

"Hello, Professor."

"Hello, Potter."

Professor McGonagall nodded and replied, "At least Harry performed well in last year's Triwizard Tournament, and his performance on the Hogwarts team over the years has been commendable. Besides, his way of arriving at school this year was relatively normal; he didn't crash into the school with a car..."

But this led to Sirius seeing a murderous gaze that could freeze the flames as soon as he crossed the fire.

"Good morning, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall."

Sirius tried hard to maintain a smile on his face to make himself look less timid—only his trembling legs betrayed his guilty conscience.

Fortunately, Dumbledore was there. He smiled and nodded at Sirius, without asking what was in the three boxes. "Alright, Minerva, have them get ready to go to the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid is almost done."

Even so, Sirius always felt a constant stream of murderous intent emanating from behind him as he walked.

"We're doomed..."

-

“Take a look at this, Professor William.”

The sound became very strange after being amplified by the Bubble Head Curse, but none of the wizards present felt like laughing.

Bubble head spell, iron armor spell, dragon skin gloves, and fixed protective magic have become standard equipment in this curse-breaking team. They also prepare a large cauldron for each of the commonly used potions for detecting curses.

Although everyone knows these things, the combination of standardized usage and a very ceremonial inspection method makes it seem very high-end.

'As expected of... a renowned master of defensive techniques...'

Almost all the wizards admired the newly arrived anti-curse expert—after all, his reputation preceded him, and the sheer scale of his security system, down to the hair's breadth, was truly impressive.

"this…"

William took the item and carefully tested it with a few common spells. "It's an interesting find. It's a variant of a curse. Some materials are hidden within the decorative patterns. Try flushing it with potions a few times."

“Yes, Professor William.”

The wizard who handed over the item nodded quickly, then began to soak and treat the unearthed object with a potion.

William smiled after completing the test and moved on to the next item.

He's been working here for a few days now, and probably because of his reputation, his requests are quickly fulfilled. He also has a full range of commonly used potions and other consumables.

Thanks to the knowledge Azkaban had acquired and the knowledge found in the school's forbidden library, he quickly adapted to the work of breaking the spell—processing what was unearthed here obviously allowed him to access more knowledge much faster than trying to dig out anything useful.

Simple objects are unlikely to be of much help to him; it would be more effective for him to learn knowledge from the large-scale excavations here.

Clearly, this decision was absolutely correct. During this time, even just by coming into contact with some less dangerous items, he had quickly absorbed a portion of the knowledge about curses he had learned at Hogwarts.

Just like what he did to his students, a lot of practice is a very, very effective way to improve oneself, especially when dealing with all sorts of strange and bizarre curses attached to artifacts unearthed from various places.

Moreover—there was absolutely no repetitive work involved. Wizards wouldn't consult him when they encountered the same troubles; they would only come to William with things to ask about unorthodox methods. This made his growth even faster—the difficulty of learning from nothing is completely different from seeing real objects.

"In about two weeks, I'll need to apply for the processing of more important archaeological finds. After that, if I have time, I can get involved in some on-site excavations... but that will be much slower..."

"However, let's get the records sorted out first—I promised to do a report analyzing the curses on common excavated artifacts..."

-

"It's in a very good mood...that's great news."

"Ready, Harry, it's about to take off!"

Hagrid's almost roaring voice rang out, but Harry knew that Hagrid was so happy that he couldn't control his voice.

The magnificent Thunderbird, dwelling in the Forbidden Forest, spread its wings and soared into the sky with Hagrid's laughter—and as it unfurled its wings in the air, the sky darkened almost instantly.

"What a great partner... If only we'd had someone like that to help us back in the day..."

Sirius muttered in Harry's ear, and at this moment his legs finally obeyed his master's command, though there was still a slight aftereffect—after all, Professor McGonagall hadn't left, but was also standing guard here.

As the Thunderbird circled in the air, the sky grew darker, much like Professor McGonagall's complexion—not long after it passed, a bolt of lightning pierced the darkness, followed by a slow, rumbling thunder.

"Quickly, Harry!"

Sirius's voice even seemed to drown out the thunder with urgency, "Go over there, get the potion!"

Almost the instant he heard Sirius's instructions, Harry rushed to the location Sirius had pointed out earlier, then quickly dug through the soil with his wand and carefully retrieved the glass bottle.

At this moment, the potion, made under the moonlight and using his saliva, hair, mandrake leaves he had held in his mouth, dew, and the pupa of the ghost-faced hawk moth, underwent a special ritual and transformed into a small sip of blood-red potion.

"that's it!"

Sirius's face lit up with joy, and Professor McGonagall's icy expression softened somewhat.

Harry quickly recalled the method in his mind, then pointed his wand at his heart, chanting, "Amado, Animo, Animado, Animagus!"

As Harry drank the potion, he instantly felt intense pain and two rapid heartbeats. Then, two green lights, flickering like fireflies, appeared in his mind. As these two green lights flashed, leaped, and ran, they nimbly leaped from the dark forest into the moonlight. A cunning beast with fur so smooth it reflected silver light roared at the moon.

Then came the constant howling that echoed in Harry's mind.

'Why is it a wolf?'

Harry froze for a moment, but there was no turning back—his body began to rapidly curl up, everything around him was melting and growing, his wand merged into his body, and sharp claws extended…

As he crouched down, a wolf with exceptionally smooth fur appeared before them.

"Why are they wolves?"

Sirius, who had been on tenterhooks, felt relieved after seeing that Harry showed no signs of aggression and couldn't help but ask.

"I thought you'd be a stag like James..."

"Success?"

Lupin noticed the commotion and ran over. "Wolves?"

His eyes were also full of confusion. "This shouldn't be happening..."

"Based on an uncertain theory I've read, a wizard's guardian spirit is the power he desires to protect him, and the Animagus is the power he's willing to protect..."

"There's such a speculation?"

"It's just speculation... After all, few wizards master either of these spells... let alone both at the same time... You don't have a Patronus, do you? Otherwise, why would the Ministry of Magic assign Dementors to hunt you down..."

Sirius Black was speechless after Lupin's words, so he looked at Harry and said, "If that's the case, wolves are a bit like you and me...they also like to live in packs, which is similar to the argument that Professor William likes..."

"But it should be a wolf, right?"

Sirius convinced himself, and then muttered to himself again.

"Harry, no, shout—ah!"

With a scream from Sirius, Lupin quickly drew his wand and saw that Professor McGonagall had already conjured bandages from it, silently binding the unconscious Sirius...

"Um, Professor McGonagall, do you need me to carry you?"

Lupin calmly put away his wand and asked a question.