Herman hurriedly looked back and saw that an enormous monster had appeared out of nowhere in the middle of Flourish and Blotts at some point. It stood around three meters tall, its entire body pitch-black, with a pair of enormous wings on its back. Spread wide, those wings took up almost half the bookshop. Its face was hideous and terrifying, and misshapen horns sprouted from its head, making it look like a demon that had crawled out of the depths of hell.
At that moment, the monster was frantically destroying all sorts of books inside Flourish and Blotts. It looked like a student venting their fury after disastrous exam results and a breakdown under overwhelming pressure.
Strangely enough, though it sent books and shelves flying everywhere, miraculously, not a single person was hurt. It was almost as if the monster still had some kindness in it.
In the eyes of the Flourish and Blotts staff, however, this monster was utterly despicable. After all, these ruined books might well lead the owner to dock their wages!
The shop assistants drew their wands and attacked the monster. For a moment, multicolored beams of magic rained down on it, setting off a string of deafening explosions.
But who could have expected that the monster would not only remain completely unharmed, but seem to have its fighting spirit roused? It grew increasingly ferocious, putting ever more energy into its work, and even appeared to be getting stronger.
No, Herman keenly realized, the monster did not merely look stronger. It was actually growing bigger. It had only been three meters tall at first, but in the blink of an eye, it had grown to four. Its enormous body broke straight through the ceiling of Flourish and Blotts, and it began taking the building apart like a set of blocks.
Seeing customers fleeing frantically outside, the Aurors keeping watch outside the shop already sensed that something was terribly wrong. They exchanged glances, communicating with their eyes, and were about to go inside to investigate. Before they could act, however, they saw the roof of Flourish and Blotts being ripped open, and a monster's head poked out.
The Aurors hurriedly drew their wands and cast spells at the monster, but they did not forget their duties, continuing to keep a close eye on the bookshop's front and back doors.
At the front counter of Flourish and Blotts, the shop assistants all rushed out to fight the monster in order to save their jobs-and, in other words, their wages.
Herman instinctively tried to push the trolley out of the shop too, only for Harry to grab him.
"What? Aren't we running yet? Do you think you can beat that thing?" Herman looked at the monster's enormous bulk, then thought about his own pitiful magical abilities. He felt that getting out of there as quickly as possible was the sensible choice.
Harry pointed at the counter instead. "Pay a little more. For repairs."
"Repairs?" Herman froze, his face full of confusion.
Seeing this, Harry helplessly pointed to the bottom of the trolley. Herman followed her finger and was immediately astonished to discover that one of the statues they had taken from the vault was missing.
He hurriedly looked back, only then realizing in shock that the supposed monster was actually that statue, enlarged. The difference in size was simply so vast that he had failed to recognize it at first.
"Did you do this?" Herman had only just asked when something else occurred to him, making him shudder. "That's the thing I was holding earlier. If it had grown while I was holding it..." Just imagining the scene made his hair stand on end. Wouldn't it have flattened him outright?
Seeing what looked like Aurors pushing their way inside through the chaotic crowd, Harry hurriedly urged him, "Quick, we need to get going."
With that, Harry took the trolley and headed for the wall the statue had just smashed through. Herman hurried after her. Still, he kept her instructions in mind. After taking a large handful of Galleons from the money bag, he hesitated, then put some back. "They have repair magic anyway. Fixing the building shouldn't be too difficult, right?"
Having found an excuse that put his conscience at ease, Herman hurried out. After climbing through the collapsed wall, he looked around and found himself on a secluded street without a soul in sight.
Seeing Harry hurrying along ahead, he quickened his pace to catch up and asked, "What are you trying to do? You've practically torn Flourish and Blotts down!"
Harry looked utterly unconcerned. "Didn't I tell you to pay for the damage? Unless you didn't pay enough. That would be your problem."
Only then did Herman catch on. "So all that money you took out wasn't payment for my work, but a renovation fund for Flourish and Blotts?"
Rather than answer his question, Harry looked around warily for a while. Once she was sure no Aurors had followed them, she pushed the trolley over to Herman and said, "I imagine you kept quite a bit of money. Be careful. We're not in Diagon Alley anymore."
"Not Diagon Alley?" Herman looked around in confusion, suddenly finding the surroundings rather familiar. Dim alleys, deserted shops with hardly any customers, and a few furtive wizards hiding inside those shops, secretly sizing them up.
"Is this Knockturn Alley?" Herman could not help asking in a low voice.
"Don't talk so quietly. Stand up straight. The more timid you are, the bolder they'll get." As Harry finished speaking, her wand slipped silently from her sleeve. She gripped it tightly, and an eerie blue flame instantly sprang from its tip.
"You made all that commotion just to shake off those people following us and come to Knockturn Alley?" Herman asked, his face full of confusion.
When blue Fiendfyre emerged from Harry's wand tip, half the gazes scrutinizing them from the surrounding shops instantly vanished. Even so, quite a few people continued secretly watching them.
"Coming to Knockturn Alley isn't the goal. It's just a step along the way." At that point, Harry suddenly spotted a hooded wizard waving to her in the distance. She broke off and said, "This is my goal."
With that, Harry walked toward the hooded wizard, and Herman could only helplessly push the trolley after her.
When Harry reached the hooded wizard, he slowly lowered his hood. He was tall and thin, and a head of untidy hair emerged as the hood came down. His dark gray eyes held a brooding air, and his face was lean, his cheeks even slightly sunken, making him look somewhat haggard.
Even so, he exuded a distinctive elegance and a charm all his own. It had to be said that he was quite handsome.
But Herman was in no mood to appreciate this old man's charm. His first reaction was to think of the wanted notice in the Daily Prophet.
Wasn't the man before him none other than the wizard killer-Sirius Black!
"Did you shake off those tails?" Sirius asked Harry.
Harry nodded. "They should be busy dealing with Persephone's gargoyle statue right now. But they don't know the statue's secret, so it'll probably take them quite a while."
"That little thing really is rather interesting." At the thought of the Aurors discovering that the more they attacked the statue, the bigger it grew, and that they could not destroy it at all, Sirius could not help smiling reflexively as he pictured them scratching their heads in frustration.
"Godfather, why did you ask me to come to Knockturn Alley?" Harry asked curiously.
Ever since the pure-blood families had reported the Black family's ancestral home to the Ministry of Magic, the Ministry had stationed people in the neighborhood. Although they could neither enter nor see the old Black family home, they had made it impossible for Sirius to return home.
As for Harry, she was watched whenever she went out, as the Ministry of Magic tried to find Sirius's whereabouts through her. So, after receiving Sirius's letter, the two had discussed meeting in Knockturn Alley.
After all, with the start of term approaching, coming to Diagon Alley to shop was perfectly reasonable. Harry had then come up with a plan to cause a disturbance and shake off the Aurors following her.
The plan had gone very smoothly. Once Harry saw the disguised Sirius leave the Leaky Cauldron, she prepared to act. It was just that a passing whim had added Herman as her tagalong.
Sirius did not immediately answer Harry's question. Instead, he turned his gaze to Herman, who was standing obediently to one side, and asked teasingly, "Is this your little boyfriend?"