Something big has happened at Hogwarts.
The Fat Lady at the entrance to Gryffindor suddenly disappeared—this even alarmed Dumbledore, who came to investigate with Lorne and a group of faculty and staff. They found the Fat Lady hiding in a grove of trees in a landscape painting, frightened. She told Dumbledore that Sirius had returned, and his grin made him look like he wanted to eat her alive.
Dumbledore immediately led all the professors to inspect every corner of the castle. For the students' safety, he had everyone sleep in the Great Hall with sleeping bags, and the professors took turns patrolling.
Harry lay on the floor, listening to the professors talking in hushed tones.
Snape spoke first, " Black couldn't have gotten into the school without inside help. He must have accomplices. I think the answer is obvious, Professor. Someone just joined Hogwarts this year, and he's an old friend of Black's."
Dumbledore shook his head. "There will be no one in Hogwarts to help Black, Severus. When facing an enemy, the first thing we must do is avoid infighting."
Lorne spoke up, "Professors, it's not in the basement, it's not in the Astronomy Tower, he must have escaped. Perhaps he has some way to freely enter and Hogwarts."
"Then you can ask Professor Lupin," Snape said grimly. "He always enjoys associating with people of dubious origin and with ulterior motives."
"..."
The professors came and went, barely sleeping all night. Percy didn't sleep either. As the student council president and Prefect, he indulged in his official duties, patrolling the Great Hall and issuing warnings to anyone who spoke.
This resulted in Harry's intelligence not being disseminated until the following day.
" Professor Lupin and Sirius are friends, very close friends."
During breakfast, Harry exchanged information with Ron and Hermione: "So I suspect Professor Lupin might have let him in. Of course, I'm just suspecting; I won't go around saying anything and cause trouble for Professor Lupin."
" Professor Lupin is a good teacher," Ron commented objectively. "I really don't know where Headmaster Dumbledore finds his Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor every semester; something always goes wrong."
"We need to investigate," Hermione said, taking a sip of her corn juice. "But I think it would be better to ask him directly, right after class when the professor and students are still around. That way, we can ensure our safety and avoid damaging Professor Lupin's reputation."
Harry nodded. "You're a genius, Hermione."
Hermione tossed her long blonde hair. "Louder, Harry, I'm proud of it."
Harry has a Quidditch match before his next Defence Against Dark Magic Class.
The weather hasn't been very good lately, it's either windy or rainy. Gryffindor's rivals, Slytherin, suddenly announced that their Seeker, Malfoy, has injured his arm, Harry and his friends' opponents have become Hufflepuff.
Wood was furious about this and angrily denounced Slytherin as a bunch of cowards.
Hufflepuff wasn't particularly strong in previous years, but this year they welcomed a new captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory, the same one who worked with Harry in the Chamber of Secrets.
Fred and George, who knew him well, commented, "He's very fast and quite tall."
The girls in the group covered their mouths and giggled, "He's a handsome guy who doesn't talk much."
Wood slammed his fist on the table. " Quiet! Although our current tactics are all aimed at Slytherin, Harry, you only need to keep Cedric occupied. The rest of you, cooperate according to the previous plan—rain or shine, Gryffindor will never surrender before the battle even begins!"
Harry was thrilled and secretly trained with Wood every night until the weekend, the day the Quidditch tournament officially started.
Gale and sudden rain.
Dean's " Harry's Banner" fluttered wildly in the wind, which brought out the fabric's suppleness and elasticity to the extreme. Harry watched the fabric dance powerfully, and a flame inexplicably ignited in his heart.
He raised his right hand and waved to everyone in the audience.
Harry could see Professor Director Lorne in the professors' chair, holding up his mushroom-shaped umbrella; he could see Ron and Hermione waving and shouting in the Gryffindor area; and he could even see... a black dog?
Like the one he once saw in Diagon Alley.
It's like the one Professor Trelawney saw in the teacup during her Divination.
Grim.
Harry suddenly felt that nothing good would happen today.
The wind was so strong that Harry couldn't even hear Madam Hooch's voice, only vaguely seeing her open her mouth as everyone jumped onto their brooms.
The cold rain lashed his face, and Harry couldn't help but shiver. His hands, gripping the broom, began to itch irritably. His glasses were covered in water droplets, and he didn't know how he could possibly find that golden figure in the downpour.
Wood didn't give a pre-match pep talk; all everyone waited for was a strange sob from him. Harry really wanted to win a championship for Wood; such a pure person deserved a trophy.
But Harry was in a daze throughout the first half – he had nothing to do, he couldn't even tell whether the balls flying past him were teammates or opponents, he could only vaguely see red or yellow figures flying in front of him, and he almost got Bludger into the stands several times.
During halftime, Harry wiped the raindrops from his glasses and asked, "How did the scores go?"
"Temporarily in the lead," Wood's lips trembled. "Neither side is finding it easy to score, so be prepared for a long battle."
"Wait a minute!" A cloak suddenly appeared at the door of the lounge, Hermione strode in. "I saw you weren't moving at all in the sky, you must be missing this."
Hermione placed her wand on Harry's glasses. " Impervius!"
Harry's cloudy glasses instantly brightened, and he exclaimed in delight, "Wow!" He clicked his tongue in amazement, "I really have to say it: Hermione, you're a genius!"
"Didn't any of you think of this?" Hermione said, exasperated.
Wood was even more excited Harry himself. He really hadn't expected this. He was very meticulous in Quidditch, but careless when it came to his teammates. He thanked her repeatedly and even wanted to kiss Hermione.
"If only you had told me sooner, I could have engraved a waterproof and moisture-proof Magic Power Matrix on your glasses, so you would never have to clean them again for the rest of your life," Wood said regretfully.
" The Magic Power Matrix?" Hermione was hearing this name for the first time.
"Oh, it's the alchemy taught by Director Lorne. That's what Little Banana Star calls it at the Magic Mobile Phone shop in Hogsmeade." Wood is already in seventh grade, and he also participated in the creation project of the Magic Mobile Phone.
Hermione's eyes gleamed with a thirst for knowledge, and her hand unconsciously reached for the necklace around her neck, only to drop it halfway.
"We'll talk about that later. I'll wait for your good news from the stands today."
Wood flicked two fingers across his eyebrows with a flourish, then turned and walked toward the Quidditch Pitch. The storm seemed to vanish against his cloak, as if it were just a joke.