The next day, Saturday, Jerry and the others slipped into Hogsmeade unnoticed. Harry's schoolbag was stuffed with food they had secretly saved from lunch.
At half past one, they reached their agreed meeting place outside Hogsmeade.
A scruffy but imposing black dog waited quietly for them, his front paws resting on the top rail of a fence and several crumpled newspapers held loosely in his mouth.
"Sirius!" Harry stepped forward and greeted him softly.
The big black dog sniffed Harry's schoolbag eagerly, wagged his tail a few times, then turned and led them across a clearing thick with bushes toward the foot of a rocky hill.
The others climbed over the fence and followed close behind.
After nearly half an hour, Sirius brought them to a rock face. A narrow crack opened before them. They squeezed through carefully and found themselves in a dim but remarkably cool cave.
Deep inside stood Buckbeak, the magnificent Hippogriff, his tether fastened securely to a large rock.
Just then, the black dog's form shifted, and he became Sirius again.
"Did you bring the food?" Sirius tossed the old newspapers onto the cave floor. His voice was a little hoarse.
Harry quickly handed him the food from his schoolbag.
Sirius took the bag and eagerly pulled out the food wrapped in greaseproof paper. He sat on the ground and grabbed a chicken leg. "I've been living mostly on rats lately. Stealing food from Hogsmeade is too risky. It might draw attention I don't need." He explained between bites, a rueful smile on his face.
Sirius looked up at Harry and smiled warmly again, but Harry's answering smile was strained, his eyes full of conflicting emotions.
"Why did you come back here? Sirius, you shouldn't have!" Harry said.
"Because it's my responsibility as your godfather, of