#249 - Chapter 249 Where is My Shrieking Shack?
Having made up his mind, Sirius Black deftly moved to a corner, crouching in the shadows, his eyes quickly scanning the surroundings.
After a long while, a wizard in tattered robes staggered over, clutching a wand in his hand, completely unaware of the large black dog in the corner.
That's him!
The scent of dark magic on this man could be smelled even from a distance.
A cold glint flashed in Sirius's eyes; this was precisely the type of target he was looking for.
He quietly emerged from the corner, his limbs moving nimbly as he stalked the man, his movements as agile as a cheetah.
When he was only a few steps away from the wizard, Sirius suddenly pounced from the darkness, leaping nimbly beside him, transforming back into his human form in mid-air.
He swung his fist violently, striking the back of the man's neck with a heavy blow.
The wizard, caught completely off guard, was knocked unconscious to the ground, the wand falling from his hand and rolling aside.
Sirius immediately stepped forward, quickly snatching the wand from the ground.
After confirming that no one had noticed the change here, he looked down to examine the wand in his hand, a cold smile appearing on his lips.
"It's not ideal, but it's better than having no wand at all."
He quickly turned and walked back into the shadows, transforming back into a black dog, quietly disappearing into the darkness of Knockturn Alley.
To be safe, it wasn't until Sirius reached an abandoned Muggle construction site that he canceled the Animagus transformation, reverting to his human form and sitting on the ground to rest for a moment.
He clutched the wand he had just snatched from Knockturn Alley tightly, his eyes scanning the surroundings warily through the darkness.
Good!
There wasn't a single person nearby; he didn't need to worry about causing unnecessary attention by using Apparition.
He took out the Hogsmeade promotional leaflet he had picked up in Knockturn Alley from his pocket, which clearly read:
【Aurors patrol day and night, guarding your safety.】
"Can't risk it!" Sirius muttered to himself, the expression on his face gradually becoming gloomy.
He frowned, constantly pondering his next steps.
"Although I got the wand, I can't Apparate directly to Hogsmeade."
"After all, Apparition must be done in human form. If the Aurors discover me, it won't be good to stir up trouble."
After thinking for a long time, he decided to adopt a more cautious strategy.
Under the cover of night, he used Apparition to quietly appear in a Muggle town closest to Hogsmeade.
He hid in a secluded alley, his black dog form making him look no different from an ordinary stray dog, attracting no attention from any Muggles.
The town was quiet at night, with only the occasional low rumble of a car engine coming from afar.
Sirius found a hidden corner, curled up next to a pile of discarded cardboard boxes, closed his eyes, and prepared to spend the night there.
Near October, the weather had already turned cold, and the chilly air crept under his fur, but this bit of coldness was nothing compared to the bone-chilling cold of the past.
The moonlight of midnight shone on the town through the clouds, but Sirius's thoughts had already drifted to Hogwarts, to the rat he thought about catching day and night.
Before falling asleep, Sirius silently murmured in his heart.
Be patient a little longer.
Be patient a little longer......
As soon as a glimmer of dawn appeared on the horizon, Sirius immediately got up and ran towards Hogsmeade.
He ran on the country roads, stepping on the dew-covered grass, speeding all the way, not caring that his fur was wet with dew.
When it was close to noon, he finally ran to the edge of Hogsmeade, and everything in front of him left Sirius completely dumbfounded.
This is Hogsmeade?!
If the old village wasn't preserved on the west side of the modern city, he would never have believed that the city in front of him was Hogsmeade.
The scene before him completely panicked him.
This is bad!
I don't know if the Shrieking Shack is still there.
He originally planned to lurk in the Shrieking Shack for the next period of time, and then take the opportunity to sneak into Hogwarts through the secret passage under the Shrieking Shack to catch that rat.
He exerted force with his limbs and ran quickly towards the location of the Shrieking Shack in his memory.
"Merlin bless, the Shrieking Shack must be alright."
Reality is often cruel; the original Shrieking Shack had long since disappeared, replaced by brand-new high-rise buildings.
Sirius gasped for breath, slumped to the ground, and cursed frantically in his heart.
"Where is our Shrieking Shack?!"
"Where did such a big Shrieking Shack go?!"
"These damn bastards don't even spare haunted houses!"
After venting for a while, Sirius gradually calmed down, his breathing gradually stabilized, and the anger and anxiety surging in his chest also slowly eased.
Don't panic! Don't panic!
The secret passage leading to Hogwarts is far more than just the Shrieking Shack.
When I and James made the Marauder's Map, we marked all the secret passages around Hogwarts one by one. There are seven in total.
Those past adventure memories resurfaced in his mind, and he knew all the locations of the other passages.
If this road doesn't work, just change to another one.
Thinking of this, Sirius didn't bother to rest, and relying on his familiarity with the terrain around Hogwarts, he ran towards the location of another secret passage.
He ran to the entrance of the secret passage leading behind the mirror on the fifth floor, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
However, when he entered the secret passage, the scene in front of him made his heart sink.
This secret passage had completely collapsed, completely blocked, and there was no possibility of passing through.
Damn it!
Sirius suddenly grabbed the ground tightly, scratching the ground hard with his claws, but it was useless.
He really wanted to transform back into his wizard form and use magic to reopen this secret passage, but he knew it wasn't realistic.
Neither the fluctuations of magic nor the vibrations of digging the secret passage could be hidden from the professors at the school.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down: "It doesn't matter, there's still the Honeydukes passage."
He muttered to himself, quickly turned around, and ran towards the other end of Hogsmeade.
It's just a pity that although Honeydukes has moved into the new city, this old house has been transformed into an ordinary residence and storage warehouse by the shopkeeper couple.
In order to prevent theft, they have placed protective measures on the house.
Sirius helplessly discovered that it was impossible to enter this house without alarming anyone.
Two secret passages were no longer feasible, but he didn't have time to stop and complain.
He eagerly continued to run to the other secret passages, one after another, but each time, his hope was ruthlessly shattered by the facts before him.
The remaining four secret passages had all been sealed off, and even traces of magical traps had been placed.
Despair gradually spread to Sirius's heart.
He stopped in front of the last secret passage, looked down at the ground, and all he could hear was his own rapid breathing.
His eyes were full of frustration and unwillingness, as if the world was slipping away from under his feet.
The professors had expected it long ago......
After being depressed for a while, he looked up at the direction of Hogwarts, and the flame of revenge filled him with fighting spirit again.
It doesn't matter!
So what if there are no secret passages.
There is still one way.
That is to slowly detour from the depths of the Forbidden Forest.
......
...
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