A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

“Severus, I’m only doing this to save face for you in front of your students. If they see you brought back by the Levitation Charm… tsk tsk!”

He opened the candy box—the same one Sirius Black used—and inside slept a tiny, unconscious man, Severus Snape.

"Mrs. Rosmerta was wondering how you, a perfectly healthy person, suddenly disappeared. Luckily, I managed to evade the question."

He tapped his wand lightly, restoring Snape to his original state, and then used a levitation charm to place him on the bed, with Snape's wand beside the pillow.

the next day.

Felix kept the Weasley twins behind after their fifth-year Ancient Runes class.

"Marine Map?" The twins looked at each other, communicating with various small gestures.

Felix could tell that this had potential!

Fred hesitated before saying, "Professor, this is us—"

"—It came from Mr. Filch." Felix nodded.

"Uh..." Fred looked a little embarrassed. "You knew all along?"

"I know a little, but what I care about most is whether it's still in your hands?"

“We gave it to—” George said, and Fred quickly covered his mouth, frantically gesturing with his eyes, then awkwardly said to Felix, “We gave it to a friend. If it’s of any use to you, we’ll get it back for you. Don’t worry, it won’t delay anything.”

George blinked and realized that they had given the Marauder's Map to Harry, and Harry had used the Marauder's Map to go to Hogsmeade Village—but that couldn't be discussed in detail.

Although they often break school rules, they should try to avoid exposing their own shortcomings.

“You should know about Moonface, Wormtail, Bigfoot, and Fork, right?” Felix asked.

The twins' eyes widened, and Fred exclaimed in surprise, "You knew about this too? Professor, you're not one of those four, are you?"

"Or perhaps the previous map user?" George guessed.

Felix smiled. "I didn't have this opportunity when I was in school, but I know two of them. I'm here today on behalf of one of them to borrow the Marauder's Map for a while. Don't worry, I'll return it to you..."

Fred's eyes lit up, and he kept rubbing his hands together. "Oh, Professor, could you introduce him to us?"

"Yes, which one? We owe them a lot of favors!" George asked eagerly.

“I can only tell you that the man’s code name is Bigfoot. As for whether he’s willing to see you,” Felix looked at their eager faces, “it’s definitely not possible right now. It’s inconvenient for him to show his face.”

He watched the twins with great interest; their expressions were like those of pilgrims. It was clear that, although they had never met, the two regarded the mapmaker as a predecessor and role model for pranks.

They dashed off in a flash. "Professor, we're off to find the map!"

That noon, Felix received the Marauder's Map. It was the first time he had ever seen the map in its entirety; before that, he had only heard of it but never actually seen it.

It was a rather old piece of parchment, not very big, but actually folded in layers, and when unfolded, it looked like a tablecloth.

“This is the secret to our success.” Fred patted it affectionately, sighing with emotion, as if reminiscing about his youthful days.

Felix smiled without speaking. He tapped his wand on the map and silently swore: I solemnly swear I have done nothing wrong.

This was the password he got from Sirius Black. Sirius Black could only stay in Grimmauld Place for the time being, but Felix secretly connected the fireplace in his office to the old Black mansion so that he could use it whenever he wanted and seal it off when not in use to avoid being discovered by the Ministry of Magic.

Lupin also agreed to visit Sirius over the weekend. When he left, Sirius and the house-elf Kreacher were busy cleaning.

In Sirius Black's words, "At least we need to tidy up the living room and prepare two more bedrooms for guests."

With the command and the wand, dark ink lines emerged like a spider web on the blank parchment. They intersected and extended, outlining the buildings in Hogwarts Castle and some surrounding areas with just a few strokes, including the greenhouse outside the castle, Hagrid's hut, the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and all kinds of details.

What is most striking is the vast number of randomly moving ink dots on the map, each labeled with a name in tiny letters.

Felix spotted his name immediately. Next to it were two small dots that read Fred Weasley and George Weasley.

He looked around and saw Dumbledore in his study, Snape in the Potions classroom, and Professor Sprout in the greenhouse. He also tried to find the Room of Requirement but couldn't, probably because it was blocked. He had expected this and wasn't surprised. However, he did see Trelawney wandering around in her little attic. Judging from the movement of the ink dots, he guessed that the Divination professor seemed to be dancing some kind of dance.

Above the center of the parchment, a line of cursive script began to appear: "The suppliers of magical pranksters, Mr. Moonface, Mr. Wormtail, Mr. Bigfoot, and Mr. Fork, proudly present the Marauder's Map."

Felix stroked the map for a long time before he came to his senses.

"A very clever structure, I need to take a closer look..."

Chapter 289 Brewing

"Professor, are you planning to capture Sirius Black?" Fred asked.

Felix looked at him in surprise. "You guessed it?"

Without hesitation, Fred said, “George and I, oh, and Lee Jordan, we thought you were definitely going to do something, you know, after that day…” He winked.

"Everyone's talking about it, they're quite frightened," George chimed in, his face full of admiration. "Blake just swaggered out in the open space in front of the castle, disguised as a Muggle boy, he's got some nerve!"

Felix had no idea how the young wizard viewed the attack; he had been too busy last weekend to go to the Great Hall for dinner and was unaware of the latest gossip.

It seems that Dumbledore has no intention of denying the rumors. Such public opinion may reassure Peter Pettigrew, who is hiding in the shadows. However, there are advantages and disadvantages. The Ministry of Magic has used this as an excuse to try to pry open a crack in the wall more than once.

In times of peace, the Ministry of Magic represents orthodoxy, and prestige is more valuable than power. But once war breaks out and the Ministry of Magic is disqualified, individual strength will override everything, and their prestige will shine like the sun throughout the entire magical world.

Castle Chapel.

Ha forcefully shoveled a potato into his hand, soaked it in sauce, and suddenly lost his appetite.

"They look at me like some kind of rare, magical creature!"

“No, you’re lucky.” Ron cut open a sausage on his plate, took a big gulp of soup, and said with a grin, “To them, you look like you just escaped from the jaws of a three-headed dog.”

Harry grinned, suddenly recalling the image of the shrunken Cerberus being furiously petted by Ron.

Hermione glanced at the two of them. "Speaking of magical creatures, we can meet Hagrid in the Magical Creatures Protection class and ask him about the progress of the Buckbeak case."

"Hasn't the fine already been paid?" Ron asked, objectively commenting, "This is the best outcome possible, Hermione."

Harry agreed; it would only cost a little money to solve Buckbeak's problem, and he believed Hagrid wouldn't care.

"It's hard to say. Although they received the money, the Ministry of Magic has been dragging its feet on giving a formal conclusion. Hagrid has been distracted lately."

Harry recalled, "I think Hagrid is doing pretty well; he hasn't produced any more Flobber caterpillars." His and Ron's ban was still in effect, so they could only see Hagrid in class these days. Last class, they learned about fire crabs.

This amazing creature, native to Fiji, is called a "crab" but looks exactly like a large turtle, with its shell studded with jewels.

Hagrid explained, "If it weren't for their different living environments, Nifflers would absolutely adore these creatures. Oh, Nifflers are little creatures that love treasure hunting; I'll introduce you to them another day..."

“That’s because Professor Hyp and I helped oversee it,” Hermione said, waving her fork. “I simply can’t believe he’s included a sphinx in the curriculum.”

“Uh, human head and scorpion body… what is that?” Harry asked blankly.

“It’s a man-headed lion-bodied scorpion-tailed beast,” Ron pronounced the correct name in one breath. He said with lingering fear, “Charlie told me about it when I was a child. It’s one of the few magical creatures that can rival dragons. Its scorpion tail is highly venomous, its teeth are extremely sharp, and its skin naturally repels most spells!”

Harry believed Ron, since Ron rarely described the characteristics of a magical creature fluently. He was simply curious: "Are there such creatures in the Forbidden Forest?"

The last time he expressed a similar question was when he learned that there was a nest of giant eight-eyed spiders in the Forbidden Forest.

“The Forbidden Forest is huge, Harry,” Hermione explained, then added angrily, “Hagrid later claimed he was mistaken, that he was just doing research. I’d like to see what he can come up with…”

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance and continued eating in silence. Hermione was not going to be persuaded in this state; she had a whole host of reasons to give you.

Harry glanced at the teachers' table. Snape was sitting far away from Professor Hyp, his body turned to one side, and even when taking food, he only picked the plate on his left. Harry wasn't sure if he was avoiding him.

What exactly happened? He recalled the scene he had seen through Professor Hyp's eyes—Professor Lupin and Snape confronting each other. However, when he inquired about the situation, Professor Hyp dismissively said that he was overthinking it and that everything was normal.

He stared at Snape's face, thinking to himself, this is definitely not normal. He felt he had another task added to his repertoire: to observe Professor Lupin's condition during Defense Against the Dark Arts class this afternoon…

He was lost in thought and it took him a while to notice Snape staring at him with a terrifying look in his eyes. Harry quickly lowered his head.

"Humph~"

Snape snorted, his mood brightening slightly, but his sour feelings quickly returned. He suspected he'd been hit by a Confusion Charm; otherwise, why would he have agreed to go to the Three Broomsticks with that kid?

More importantly, he couldn't recall if he had said anything he shouldn't have.

His memory was a bit hazy, but he vaguely recalled that Rosmerta recommended a mead, saying enthusiastically, "You absolutely have to try it. It's infused with all sorts of flower petals—roses, violets, hibiscus, irises, asters… It tastes amazing and won't make you drunk."

'fraud.'

As evening fell, Felix sat quietly in his office, studying the Marauder's Map.

Suddenly, a flame burst into flames in the fireplace, the orange flames coalescing into a blurry face. "Let me come here, Felix!"

He looked up from his desk. "You can't abuse Floo Net; you might get caught by the Ministry of Magic."

"Are you talking about yourself? You were reading last night, reeking of alcohol..." a voice chattered on the other side.

Felix waved his wand, and the next second, Sirius Black emerged from the fireplace.

"Cough cough!"

Sirius's robes were covered in dust, and his face was filthy. "Cleaned up!" he said, pointing at himself with his wand, and became clean again.

Seeing the Marauder's Map in Felix's hand, he stared wide-eyed and exclaimed in surprise, "You got it?"

"Yeah, good luck."

"Have you found him?" Sirius asked softly, holding his breath and tensing his body unnaturally.

“Not yet. I’ve checked, and found nothing.” Felix continued his research, tapping the parchment lightly with his fingertips. “I guess Peter Pettigrew is hiding deep in the Forbidden Forest, or maybe he’s found a new wizarding family.”

Sirius slumped on the sofa, dejectedly saying, "So what are you planning to do? How about I turn myself in to the Ministry of Magic? With Dumbledore as a witness, they'll at least listen, right?"

Felix glanced up at him but didn't say anything.

“Okay.” Sirius stood up, looked around the office, and muttered under his breath, “Old-fashioned.”

He stood in front of a portrait half his height, only half-finished, and clicked his tongue twice. "You have this hobby too, hanging yourself up?"

“That’s for St. Mungo,” Felix said without looking up.

"Why are you still a therapist? Researching how to tie people up?"

"There are newspaper clippings on the workbench. Also, if you say another word, I'll kick you out."

Sirius Black pursed his lips, picked up the newspaper and started reading. After a while, he fell silent. "Frank and Alice? I didn't know they went through all this... This damn war!" he muttered under his breath. "Voldemort was utterly rotten. Thank goodness he's dead."

He put down the newspaper and saw a small golden trinket on the workbench. His eyes lit up. "May I pick it up and take a look?"

"As long as you don't bite it, it's already been through a lot."

Sirius scoffed, "I'm just an Animagus in dog form, I don't have the habit of grinding my teeth." He said guiltily, reaching for the tattered Golden Snitch on the table. Half of its wing was broken, and the other, intact wing flapped only once every few seconds, looking weak and listless.

After a while, Sirius came closer and asked cautiously, "About that thief... do you have any plans to fix it?"

“Maybe,” Felix replied casually. “I found it in a huge junkyard and wanted to take it apart to study it.”

"How could there be a golden thief in a garbage dump? Oh well... how much?"