"That's impossible!" Hermione exclaimed first. " Director Lorne is in his office too. If Sirius were to appear in front of him, the director would definitely subdue him."
"We don't even know if the director is a match for him yet..." Ron added weakly.
Neville's face stiffened. He suddenly stood up, trembling slightly. "We're going to rescue the director, aren't we?"
"You'll only cause trouble, Neville," Fred patted him on the shoulder. "Besides, nothing is necessarily true. We really need to consider the authenticity of the Marauder's Map. We searched Ron's bedside this morning, but found nothing."
"It's never made a mistake before," George shook his head regretfully, then waved his wand at the Marauder's Map and said, " Mischief Managed."
"We still need to save up to buy Magic Mobile Phone, so we can't fix the Marauder's Map for now."
"You guys are saving up?" Ron's eyes lit up. "Then you'll definitely give me a decent birthday present this year, right? It won't be last year's canary candy that turned me into a bird, right?"
Fred and George exchanged a smile, ignored each other, and went upstairs arm in arm.
Harry and Hermione were still analyzing. "The leads with Fred and George have gone cold. Where should we go next? Does anyone know both of them?"
The professors definitely know, but they might not tell us.
Harry wanted to tell Hagrid the whole truth, but he still felt guilty for lying to Hagrid last time and didn't want to repeat the same trick.
"Why not go see Professor Lupin?" Neville suddenly asked. "He's a good teacher, open-minded and gentle."
Harry's eyes lit up, and he immediately wanted to go outside to find Professor Lupin, but Hermione stopped him. "Curfew starts in half an hour, Harry. We might not be able to get back in time. It's dangerous outside. We can go tomorrow. Neville doesn't want to see you get points deducted, right, Neville?"
There was no response from her side. Hermione turned around and looked around. "Where's Neville?"
"He's gone out," Ron said, raising his hand. "Maybe we shouldn't go out; it's getting dark, and I need to check my bed and Scabbers. Fred and George must be trying to keep me awake tonight by telling me this; I'm a little scared... Harry, is your bed big?"
Harry said speechlessly, "Come on, come on. We've slept together several times already."
Hermione was a little worried about Neville and decided to wait for him downstairs. Ron, on the other hand, pushed Harry up the stairs back to the dormitory, saying he wanted Harry to help with the packing and tidying.
At this moment, Neville ran all the way and finally arrived at the General Affairs Office. In principle, this was the private time of the faculty and staff, but the General Affairs Office, which has always been committed to serving the public, was still half open.
Neville swallowed hard, his chest heaving from running. He didn't know if Director Lorne was in danger; according to Fred and George, it was likely that everything was due to a malfunction in the magical artifacts.
But what if?
Director Lorne not only helped him a lot, but also saved his parents. He was finally able to eat dinner without empty chairs this summer, and the room that his grandmother had put a dust-proof spell on was finally opened again.
Neville still didn't dare to knock on the door, afraid of disturbing Director Lorne. He just stood at the door, listening to the barely audible voices inside the General Affairs Office, as if trying to discern whether it was an argument or casual conversation with other students and teachers.
There was a little wizard!
Just as Neville's legs were about to go numb, a cheerful voice suddenly came from behind him. He turned around and saw a House-elf wearing a short-sleeved shirt with a banana logo on the front.
"Are you looking for Director Lorne? He's inside," Dobby introduced enthusiastically, already ahead of Neville. He knocked on the half-open door. " Director Lorne, a young wizard is looking for you."
"Hide quickly, hide quickly... You're here, oh no, please come in."
When Neville entered, he only saw a polite and well-mannered director sitting at the table, elegantly drinking tea.
"I'm sorry, Director Lorne, I was a little worried about you," Neville wasn't good at lying, and besides, he didn't think it was anything that couldn't be said. Director Lorne wasn't pedantic and wouldn't confiscate ordinary magical items. " Fred and George have a magical item that can see Sirius Black your room. I was a little worried about you, so I came to check."
"Good heavens," Lorne said calmly, responding perfectly, "I'm honored by your concern, Neville, but rest assured, Hogwarts is the safest place in the Wizarding World, Dumbledore won't let anything happen to me."
"That's good," Neville scratched his head. "Curfew is coming soon, I have to go back to my dorm. Goodnight, Director."
Goodnight, Neville.
After seeing Neville off, Lorne couldn't resist kicking the black dog hiding under the table with his toe. "Come out, Sirius, you almost got caught."
"What magical artifact could detect me?" Sirius shook his robes, which had just been restored from his transformation. "It must be the Marauder's Map. We left it at Hogwarts as a treasure—who are Fred and George? How did they get their hands on the Marauder's Map?"
"They are two mischievous children who like to play pranks."
"That must be the Marauder's Map," Sirius exclaimed excitedly, even a relieved smile spreading across his face. "It reminds me of the days I spent with James and Lupin..."
Lorne interrupted without hesitation, "But the Marauder's Map can now find you, and it can also find Peter Pettigrew. I'm a little worried they might cause some trouble."
Neville already knows, so Harry, and his friends must know as well. It would be bad if they discovered that Scabbers was Peter Pettigrew, accidentally let him out, or were tricked by him, causing Peter Pettigrew to escape.
Because of the year of memories stolen from him, Lorne actually wanted to defy fate a little. If he were more careful and avoided getting involved in the final battle of the semester, could he have avoided Hermione's Time-Turner and broken the grandfather paradox?
At the same time, it is also necessary to ensure that Peter Pettigrew does not escape. It seems that all uncontrollable factors can be resolved. Sirius has regained his strength, and Lupin will not turn into Werewolf after drinking his Potions. Peter Pettigrew should have no room to escape.
Dobby suddenly volunteered, "Watching that mouse, right? Dobby can help."
Lorne's eyes lit up.
Yes, we can send Dobby there.
However, Hogwarts does not allow House-elf to be kept at home, Dobby violates the school rules. The only two feasible solutions Lorne can think of are to hand Dobby over to Hogwarts or to grant him temporary mission permission.
Handing it over to Hogwarts was out of the question; Dobby was his employee, not a pet. He had no choice but to tell Dumbledore another little lie.
Perhaps... we'll need Sirius's cooperation.