Chapter 249 Where is My Screaming Shack?
After making up his mind, Sirius walked lightly to a corner, crouched in the shadows, and quickly scanned the surroundings.
After a long time, a wizard in tattered robes staggered over, holding a wand in his hand, and completely unaware of the big black dog in the corner.
It's him!
The scent of dark magic on this man can be smelled even from a distance.
A cold light flashed in Sirius' eyes. This kind of person was exactly his target.
He quietly emerged from the corner and stalked towards the man with the agility of a cheetah.
When he was only a few steps away from the wizard, Sirius suddenly jumped out of the darkness, leaped nimbly to the man's side, and changed back into human form in the air.
He swung his fist violently and hit the opponent hard on the back of the neck.
The wizard was caught off guard and was knocked unconscious to the ground. His wand fell from his hand and rolled to the side.
Sirius immediately stepped forward and quickly grabbed the wand on the ground.
After finding that no one noticed the change here, he lowered his head to examine the wand in his hand, and a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"It's not very convenient, but it's better than having no wand at all."
He quickly turned and walked back into the shadows, transforming once again into the form of the black dog and disappearing quietly into the darkness of Knockturn Alley.
To be on the safe side, Sirius did not remove his Animagus transformation and return to human form until he arrived at an abandoned Muggle construction site, where he sat on the ground to rest for a while.
He tightly grasped the wand he had just snatched from Knockturn Alley, and glanced around vigilantly through the darkness.
very good!
There's no one around here, so there's no need to worry about attracting unwanted attention by using Apparition.
He pulled out the Hogsmeade leaflet he had picked up in Knockturn Alley from his pocket. It read:
[Aurors patrol day and night to protect your safety. ]
"Can't take the risk!" Sirius muttered to himself, his expression gradually becoming gloomy.
He frowned and kept thinking about his next steps.
"Even though I got the wand, I can't Apparate directly to Hogsmeade."
"After all, Apparition must be done in human form. If the Aurors find out, it would be bad to alert them."
After thinking for a long time, he decided to adopt a more cautious strategy.
Under the cover of night, he used Apparition and quietly appeared in the Muggle town closest to Hogsmeade.
He hid in a remote alley. His black dog form made him look like an ordinary stray dog and he did not attract the attention of any Muggles.
The town was quiet at night, with only the occasional muffled sound of cars starting in the distance.
Sirius found a secluded corner, curled up next to a pile of broken cardboard boxes, closed his eyes, and prepared to spend the night there.
It was approaching October and the weather was getting cooler. The cold air was biting under his fur, but this chill was nothing compared to the bitter cold he had felt in the past.
The midnight moonlight shone through the clouds onto the small town, but Sirius's thoughts had already drifted to Hogwarts, to the mouse that he had been thinking about catching day and night.
Sirius said this silently in his mind before falling asleep.
Just be patient.
Be patient...
As soon as a glimmer of dawn appeared in the sky, Sirius immediately stood up and ran towards Hogsmeade.
He ran along the country road, stepping on the grass sparkling with dew, and he was running all the way, not caring even if his hair was wet by the dew.
When it was almost noon, he finally ran to the edge of Hogsmeade, and everything in front of him left Sirius completely stunned.
This is Hogsmeade?!
If it weren't for the quaint village still preserved to the west of the modern city, he would never have believed that the city before him was Hogsmeade.
The scene before him made him completely panic.
broken!
I wonder if the Shrieking Shack is still there.
He originally planned to lurk in the Shrieking Shack for the next period of time, and then wait for an opportunity to use the secret passage under the Shrieking Shack to sneak into Hogwarts and catch the rat.
He exerted all his strength on his limbs and ran quickly towards the location of the Shrieking Shack.
"Merlin, the Shrieking Shack will be fine."
Reality is often cruel. The original Screaming Shacks have long disappeared, replaced by brand new high-rise buildings.
Sirius panted heavily and collapsed to the ground, cursing wildly in his mind.
"Where's our Shrieking Shack?!"
"Where is that huge Shrieking Shack?"
"These damn bastards don't even let the haunted house go!"
After venting, Sirius gradually calmed down, his breathing gradually became steady, and the anger and anxiety surging in his chest slowly subsided.
Don't panic! Don't panic!
There are many secret passages leading to Hogwarts other than the Shrieking Shack.
When he and James were making the Marauder's Map, they marked out all the secret passages around Hogwarts one by one. There were seven in total.
Memories of past adventures came back to my mind, and the locations of other passages were all clear in my mind.
If this road doesn't work, just try another one.
Thinking of this, Sirius didn't take time to rest. Relying on his familiarity with the terrain around Hogwarts, he rushed towards the location of another secret passage.
He ran to the entrance of the secret passage behind the mirror on the fifth floor and breathed a sigh of relief.
However, when he entered the secret passage, the scene before him made his heart sink.
This secret passage has completely collapsed and is completely blocked, making it impossible to pass through.
Damn!
Sirius gripped the ground fiercely and dug his claws into it a few times, but it was of no use.
He really wanted to transform back into a wizard and use magic to reopen the secret passage, but he knew that was unrealistic.
Neither the fluctuations of magic nor the vibrations from digging secret passages could be hidden from the professors of the school.
He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down: "It's okay, there is still the secret passage of Honeydukes."
He muttered to himself, turning quickly and running towards the other end of Hogsmeade.
Unfortunately, although Honeydukes moved into the new city, the old house was converted into an ordinary residence and storage warehouse by the shop owner and his wife.
To prevent theft, they put all the protective measures on the house.
Sirius found helplessly that it was impossible to enter the house without alerting anyone.
Both secret passages were no longer viable, but he didn't have time to stop and complain.
He continued to run eagerly towards other secret passages, one after another, but each time his hope was ruthlessly shattered by the facts before him.
The other four secret passages have been blocked and even have traces of magic traps.
Despair gradually spread into Sirius' heart.
He stopped in front of the last secret passage, looked down at the ground, and all he could hear was the sound of his rapid breathing.
His eyes were filled with frustration and unwillingness, as if the world was slipping away from under his feet bit by bit.
The professors had expected this...
After being depressed for a while, he looked up in the direction of Hogwarts. The fire of revenge filled him with fighting spirit again.
It's ok!
Isn't it just that there is no secret passage?
There is another way.
That is to slowly go around from the depths of the forbidden forest.
......
...
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