After the viewing mirror's image appeared, Sirius waited a long time, but Harry never came into view.
He asked in puzzlement:
"Has something happened to Harry?"
Douglas sorted through the students' homework as he said:
"No. When class ended just now, I saw him heading toward the Quidditch pitch."
Sirius worked out the date, nodded, and turned back to the mirror.
This time, Douglas asked curiously:
"Harry isn't even there. What are you still watching?"
Without looking back, Sirius said:
"I'm waiting for that Weasley boy to bring that damned traitor over..."
Without raising his head, Douglas said:
"He won't be bringing Wormtail out for a while..."
Sirius turned back and asked:
"Why?"
Douglas looked up at Ron in the mirror and said:
"He came to me a few days ago to ask whether something was wrong with his rat. It slept all day without waking, but its body was growing healthier and stronger.
"I told him Scabbers was undergoing a transformation, and after sleeping for a year, he would enjoy a second lease on life. The best thing to do was not to move him. Then I took the opportunity to give him that cage."
Sirius studied Douglas and asked, his face full of anticipation:
"Was that really just an ordinary cage...? I mean, did you put anything strange in it?"
Without so much as blinking, Douglas said:
"Of course... not!"
Sirius stared hard at Douglas, his expression saying, "Really? I don't believe you."
Suddenly, Douglas smiled and said:
"All right, I put a nightmare spell on the cage. As long as he sleeps inside it, he'll keep having nightmares..."
Sirius asked in confusion:
"What good does that do?"
Douglas shook his head lightly without explaining.
Time passed very quickly once you grew accustomed to spending it a certain