#156 - Section 156

"Sirius Black's Animagus form is a black dog. Dementors don't actively attack animals, which is the main reason he was able to escape. I'm going to find him now," Ethan stated his purpose. Although Penelope's strong denial made Ethan even more puzzled, he didn't ask further.

"Sirius Black, there have been rumors that he's near Hogwarts. Are you after the Ministry of Magic's bounty?"

After Sirius's escape, the Ministry of Magic issued a warrant, starting from 30,000 gold Galleons, and now it has risen to 100,000.

Near Hogwarts, there are quite a few hunters who have come specifically to capture Sirius for the bounty.

"No, I'm after the Black family's wealth. You should know about their family, right?"

"I know!"

Penelope nodded numbly, realizing Ethan was playing it big.

Penelope was quite aware of the wealth gap in the wizarding world.

This family, which once controlled the Ministry of Magic and could manipulate the entire British wizarding world with its own power, had an unimaginable foundation.

After pulling off this job, even if they did nothing else, their descendants could live comfortably for at least several centuries.

Ethan led Penelope directly to the Whomping Willow at the edge of the grounds. The Whomping Willow, which was initially thrashing wildly as Ethan approached, immediately stood still after Ethan released his pressure, as if it were an ordinary tree.

Ethan began to feel around the trunk, remembering that there was a protrusion here, which was the switch to open the secret passage below. However, Ethan had never used this passage before, so he fumbled around for a while before finding it.

Ethan gently rubbed it a few times, and after a vibration at the base of the tree, a hole just big enough for one person to crawl through was revealed.

Ethan went in first. After confirming that there were no problems, he used a Lumos charm before beckoning Penelope to come in.

Penelope ducked down and entered, looking around at the narrow, dirty, and somewhat damp tunnel.

"Where does this secret passage lead to?"

Ethan closed the entrance while replying:

"The Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade."

After doing all this, Ethan cast a Levitation Charm and a Silencing Charm on himself and Penelope before leading the way.

Sirius was most likely hiding in the Shrieking Shack, as almost no one would approach it.

It wouldn't be surprising if they encountered him halfway through this tunnel.

Ethan really didn't know if Lupin had gone to find Sirius.

Logically speaking, Lupin definitely knew Sirius's Animagus form and knew which places Sirius would go to hide near Hogwarts after escaping.

If Lupin had the intention to find him, he definitely could.

Even if Lupin just mentioned Sirius's Animagus form, he could be found.

After all, even in his Animagus form, Sirius still needed to eat. As long as Sirius's identity and the black dog characteristic were confirmed, he couldn't hide.

Unfortunately, Lupin hasn't shown any indication and is still enjoying his teaching life, as if he's completely unaware of all this.

Due to the narrowness of the tunnel, Ethan had to walk in front, with Penelope following behind.

Ethan really disliked this environment. It was much worse than the secret passage leading to Honeydukes' basement. At least that secret passage was dry enough, and water wouldn't drip from above.

After about an hour, Ethan and Penelope finally reached the exit.

Like Honeydukes, this was an upward entrance, like a well.

Ethan pushed open the wooden board above and came out first.

It was quite dim here. After using a Lumos charm again, Ethan could see the situation clearly 0...

The place wasn't big, and there was nothing here, making it seem somewhat empty. Cobwebs and dust were everywhere, but many footprints could be seen, all of which were dog footprints.

Following the direction of the dog footprints, a small staircase could be found, with a wooden door closed at the top.

Besides that, there was nothing special.

Ethan reached out and pulled Penelope up. She was also curiously looking around.

She had heard of the Shrieking Shack's reputation before she even entered Hogsmeade, but she had never seen it up close, let alone entered it.

"Ethan, are you sure Sirius is here?"

"There are dog footprints here. If he really is an unregistered Animagus and his form is a dog, it's quite possible."

Thanks to the charm Ethan cast, she wasn't worried that the sound would travel outside this range.

"This is the only place around here to hide, and Sirius knows about this secret passage. Where do you think he would hide?"

"The Marauder's Map I showed you guys before was actually made by Sirius and his group."

Ethan hadn't used the Marauder's Map for a long time, mainly because he didn't need it.

Although he had encountered Filch and Mrs. Norris a few times on his way to the Room of Requirement while using a Disillusionment Charm, after taking the Magic Blood, Mrs. Norris would immediately lead Filch away as soon as she sensed Ethan, not daring to pounce on him.

This also meant that as long as he used a Disillusionment Charm, he could run around freely without any obstacles, and there was no need to look at the Marauder's Map.

"Made by Sirius?"

"Then Harry's dad?"

Penelope still remembered the rumor that was widely circulating in Hogwarts before the Christmas break, which was also highly credible.

"He was also one of them."

"You'll find out what exactly happened later."

Ethan said, leading Penelope towards the staircase.

"Alohomora!"

As the charm took effect, the wooden door opened with a bang. Because Ethan released a wide-range Silencing Charm, the sound could only travel within a 2.5-meter radius of Ethan or Penelope.

Beyond this range, there was no sound.

Leaving the basement, it was a very messy room, with various useless wooden furniture discarded to the side. There were also some food wrappers and remnants on the ground.

This indicated that someone had indeed been living here recently.

Searching all the way to the doorway, Ethan finally found his target for this trip.

A large black dog was lying on the ground, fast asleep. It was so skinny that it was practically skin and bones, but you could tell that its frame was still quite large.

Its fur was filthy and unkempt, covered in all sorts of grime that had clearly never been cleaned. In many places, it was matted into clumps.

If the ancestors of the Black family could see this, they probably wouldn't recognize this descendant. It was such a disgrace to the Black family.

Although Ethan didn't make any noise, the light from the Lumos spell still startled the big black dog awake, showing that it was still quite vigilant.

Now awakened, the big black dog was baring its teeth at Ethan, and saliva was dripping from its mouth.

Anyone who saw it would think it was a very irritable stray dog.

[Thank you to the generous patron, Wen Qing, for the monthly ticket! Thank you, generous patron!].

Chapter 198: Sirius Black Accepts His Fate

Sirius Black, in his black dog form, saw that the man and woman opposite him were completely unmoved, instead looking at him like he was a clown. He immediately felt that something was wrong.

Did they know something? Otherwise, what was the point of looking at a stray dog like that?

But the fact that his Animagus form was a black dog should only be known by Peter and Lupin.

Could it be someone sent by Peter?

Last time, on Halloween, he had already sensed the Dementors wanting to capture him, and now he had found reinforcements from who knows where.

It must be like that, otherwise, how could they have entered from the basement? Peter must have told them about the secret passage and this Shrieking Shack.

He absolutely couldn't let them catch him.

Thinking of this, the big black dog immediately turned around and charged towards the door.

Ethan's expression changed. He had thought it would pounce and bite, but it had just been baring its teeth and now it was turning around and running away.

This was the heir of the most ancient and noble House of Black?

Ethan pointed his wand forward, and immediately the door closed automatically, and the entire Shrieking Shack's material was transformed into rock.

Bang!

The black dog slammed its head into the stone door. It really looked painful, and just listening to the sound, you knew it was a solid hit.

After rolling around on the ground a few times, the big black dog shakily got up, lowered its head, and hunched its body, baring its teeth at Ethan again.

The entire house had been turned into stone, directly blocking its escape route.

One had to admire that its head was really hard; it was fine even after crashing into it like that.

Fortunately, he had used Transfiguration to change the material. Otherwise, if it had been the wooden door from before, this impact might have directly shattered the door, allowing it to escape.

By now, Sirius Black was almost certain that the other party knew his identity and had come specifically for him.

But he hadn't personally killed Peter Pettigrew yet, he was unwilling!

Immediately, the big black dog's eyes changed, and it pounced directly.

Opening its bloody mouth and extending its sharp claws, it aimed directly for Ethan's throat and chest.

Although he didn't have a wand now, which greatly reduced his strength, his Animagus form wasn't just a dog for show.

Due to the influence of magic, his Animagus form had a very explosive physical quality. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to return to Great Britain from Azkaban by swimming across the sea.

As long as he could get close, victory would definitely be his.

These two young wizards would definitely pay the price for their actions, and he would obtain a usable wand.

But in the midst of this, Sirius Black saw the wizard opposite him give him a disdainful smile, and then extend a hand.

Ten

Shouldn't he be using a wand to cast a spell?

Never mind, not casting a spell would actually be beneficial to him. Thinking of this, Sirius Black's confidence greatly increased.

But reality gave him a hard punch, just one punch. Before he could pounce, the wizard opposite him struck first.

A hard punch landed on his head. At that moment, he seemed to see James beckoning to him.

Bang!

The entire dog-mouthed, deformed Sirius Black flew backward even faster than he had pounced, and then crashed heavily into the stone wall.

Ethan also held back some of his strength, otherwise, he was really afraid of killing Sirius Black with one punch.

Although this black dog was capable of fighting werewolves in close combat, Ethan's strength now surpassed that of giants. Even if a werewolf came in person, its brains would probably splatter out if it took a punch to the head.

This time, the heavy blow made the big black dog struggle on the ground for a long time without being able to get up, its limbs flailing wildly on the ground.

And its dog mouth was also a little crooked, a canine tooth was directly broken, and a lot of saliva kept flowing down from the crooked mouth.

It really looked extremely disgusting.

But at the same time, the black dog's eyes became even more ferocious.

A full two and a half minutes passed before the big black dog finally got up.

He would absolutely not compromise. As long as he could kill Peter, the traitor, what would it matter if he risked his own life?

He would definitely kill these two people sent by Peter here, and then kill Peter to avenge James.

Driven by hatred, the big black dog pounced again.

A pair of black dog paws swung directly at Ethan's head, as if this strike would blow Ethan's head off.

Ethan looked at Sirius Black like this and sighed. He had thought that the heavy blow just now would have allowed him to see things clearly, and then have a good talk.

After all, Ethan hadn't directly killed it or restrained it, which could be considered showing mercy. He definitely wasn't here to capture it or kill it.

Unexpectedly, he was still so reckless.

As expected of a Gryffindor,果然就是没有脑子 (guǒ rán jiù shì méi yǒu nǎo zi - 'sure enough, they have no brains').

A kick was delivered directly to the lower abdomen. In the process, he seemed to have kicked something, the feeling was a bit off!

"Awoo ~"

A shrill and miserable cry came from the big black dog's mouth, and then the entire dog body soared into the air, rotated one thousand and eighty degrees, and then landed.

After landing, the big black dog was also curled up, constantly struggling, and constantly making the whimper of a puppy being bullied.