His tone held not only mockery, but a trace of bewilderment.
In his school days, Gryffindor had stood for courage and a spirit of adventure. Faced with Dark Magic, they should have drawn their wands and charged, not trembled in fear.
"Everyone says Hogwarts is the safest place, but that's because Dumbledore is here. Even Dumbledore, though, can't stay beside you at all times to protect every one of you. So you must learn to protect yourselves." Black's voice echoed through the quiet classroom, lingering for a long time.
"Protect ourselves?" Cedric raised his hand. "But wasn't He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named defeated by Harry Potter? Who else do we need to be afraid of?"
Sirius glanced at Cedric. His tone softened somewhat, but his words were not gentle in the slightest.
"Let's set aside whether He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has truly been destroyed for good. His Death Eater lackeys are still out there. There are plenty of Dark Wizards, too. Not all Dark Wizards take orders from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but every one of them would use curses against you without hesitation if you got in their way."
He turned and drew a crooked arc on the blackboard with his finger, representing the outer wall of Hogwarts Castle.
"The front gates and the Great Hall aren't the only ways into Hogwarts. Don't think that's impossible. I discovered several myself when I was at school. What if there's a passage even Dumbledore doesn't know about, and those Dark Wizards get into the Castle? Are you really going to stake your lives on whether Professor McGonagall can hear your screams, or whether Dumbledore can arrive in time?"
Hearing this, Gerald suddenly had a thought.
Although he did not understand why Sirius was saying all this in his very first lesson, his words had indeed reminded him of something.
There really