Who Will Die This Time?

Within the Safety Watch,

It was greatly enlarged by the Undetectable Extension Charm.

The furnishings and layout of the room are almost identical to those of the cottage in the Ottery St Catchpole.

Black was sitting at the oak dining table, wolfing down his food.

The dishes on the table were simple. He opened his mouth wide and shoveled rice into his mouth, not even using utensils, grabbing it directly with his hands, like a starving ghost reincarnated.

Not far away, William and Hermione snuggled together on a velvet sofa, quietly discussing how to reply to Fudge.

Anne lay sprawled across the sofa, her slender legs draped over William's thighs, her feet resting on Hermione's lap.

Her head was resting on a teddy bear pillow, and she was holding a thick hardcover notebook in her hand, flipping through it.

She raised her head slightly and glanced at the kitchen table.

Sirius was holding a small porcelain bowl when she quickly poured a mouthful of porridge into her mouth, immediately feeling a shiver from the heat and gasping for breath.

He couldn't bear to spit it out, so he forced it down before opening his mouth wide and fanning himself vigorously with his blackened hands.

Anne's lips twitched as she watched, wondering if the Dahei was starving, or if it was just a little slow on the uptake.

He didn't seem to have this problem when he was a pet.

Sirius, who was already used to observing his surroundings, quickly turned around and gave Anne what he considered to be a "friendly" smile.

His clothes were tattered and unkempt, revealing a set of yellow teeth with a missing front tooth; he looked exactly like a child trafficker.

When she was discovered, Anne didn't hide; instead, she glared at him and raised her little fist.

It seemed to be a warning to him that she was watching him!

Sirius scratched his head, wanting to say something, but Anne had already turned her face away sharply.

He gave a wry smile and sighed.

I haven't interacted with people much for over a decade. Recently, I did have some experience being a dog, but it was all just "woof woof woof"... I couldn't handle that situation.

He hung his head in frustration and continued to wolf down his food, though at a slower pace.

Hermione whispered in William's ear, her breath hot against his skin, and said smugly, "I told you my cooking skills had improved."

William kept writing, but he also nodded like a lackey.

As luck would have it, from afar, Sirius deliberately made conversation:

"To be honest, what I miss most these days is the baguette Anne bought, the porridge Hermione made, and William, all that toxic dog food you gave me."

Yes, it's similar to the porridge we have today.

It's overcooked, there's not much water left, and it's sticky like a rice ball.

The taste was terrible at first bite, but upon closer tasting... tsk tsk, even worse.

But it's filling.

Anne held back her laughter, trying hard not to laugh out loud. Her two little feet dangled happily on Hermione's lap.

William remained expressionless, secretly pinching his thigh with his left hand, the pain suppressing his laughter.

No, if I laugh now, Hermione will definitely kill me!

Sirius, with his gaping mouth, was still chattering on and on.

"I always thought Hermione was the smartest witch I knew, even smarter than Lily."

But your cooking is clearly not as good as hers, William, you're in for a rough time.

Hermione raised her eyebrows high, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"I think it tastes delicious."

William, though seemingly addressing no one, spoke with utmost seriousness:

"It's because you've been hungry for too long; you can't get used to good food."

Hermione crossed her arms and nodded in approval.

Sirius rolled his eyes, wiped his mouth, and walked towards the three of them.

"What are you looking at?" he asked, moving closer to Anne.

Anne ignored him, her face expressionless as she looked at her notebook.

He craned his neck and exclaimed in surprise, "Transfiguration Charm... You're only in second grade, right? And you're already researching this?"

This family... how terrifying!

"Yes, it's very difficult, it's N. E. W. T. level magic."

Anne repeated Hermione's words from earlier.

She covered the notebook to her chest and said bluntly:

"Can you?!"

"Um... well... I knew how when I was in school."

Sirius smiled kindly again, his tone ingratiating:

"I have quite a few magic books at home. Anne, if you're interested, you can take them all..."

The little girl rolled her eyes even more, covered her face with Hermione's notebook, and didn't really want to talk to this conman pretending to be a stray dog.

Sirius scratched his head and then moved closer to William and Hermione.

You won't believe it until you see it, and what you find will shock you.

The two are writing a letter to Fudge!

The letter began by inquiring about the Ministry of Magic's activities, asking if he had discovered any trace of Black.

William's calligraphy was vigorous and flowing; he even suggested to Fudge:

The search headed towards France, and the Thunderbird returned to France, possibly summoned by Black.

The tone, the wording... presenting facts and reasoning, yet neither affirming nor denying, which makes one's imagination run wild, giving the feeling that it is indeed the case!

Tsk tsk, if Sirius hadn't been standing here perfectly fine, he might have believed it too.

This is deliberately misleading the Ministry of Magic.

He's a cautious person, impressive!

"Are you close to Fudge?" Sirius asked curiously.

He knew that the two little ones were well acquainted with Cregan, the head of the France Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

During his time as a dog, he witnessed William and Cregan chatting and laughing together.

I didn't expect to have connections with a United Kingdom minister.

"Just a matter of vested interests," William said calmly, gesturing for Sirius to sit down.

"Hagrid's Buckbeak is going to be sentenced to death; Fudge wrote to let me know."

William handed the quill to Hermione, gesturing for her to continue writing.

Hermione's imitation of his handwriting is already about 80-90% accurate; most people wouldn't notice the difference.

"Ah... was that Hippogriff?"

Sirius sat in front of the sofa, his two black hands brushing the dust off his body.

"I've heard you mention it; on the first day of school, it attacked Malfoy... Since it's sentenced to death, why would it bother stealing it?!"

William glanced sideways.

Sirius really loves adventure. When he learned that Buckbeak had been sentenced to death, his first thought was to steal it.

"No need, there are other, safer ways to move it." William shook his head.

Fudge wrote the letter to remind him; otherwise, why would he write the letter at all?

Although he didn't know why the minister was being so enthusiastic, William couldn't refuse such an overture.

"I've always been curious, why did you run away from Fluffy?" William asked.

Sirius cleared his throat.

"Because I knew you would find out my identity sooner or later, I ran away and stayed at the Mopsy the Dog Lover's house in Hogsmeade for a while."

That's certainly the truth, but not entirely.

Could he possibly say that he ran away because the three-headed dog was constantly clinging to him and trying to do unspeakable things to him?

"By the way, did you receive the Christmas presents I sent?" Sirius asked with a smug smile.

"You probably never guessed it was me who sent it, did you?"

Hermione paused, chuckled, and shook her head haughtily.

"No way... you guys figured that out?" Sirius exclaimed in astonishment.

William shrugged.

"That's right, Hermione had Professor McGonagall examine the gift you gave her very quickly."

She also deduced from those gifts that you are an illegal Animagus.

"..."

No, how did you deduce that? He was so cautious, he didn't even leave any information.

Black scratched his head, thought for a moment but still couldn't figure it out, and asked again:

"Are you satisfied with the gift...?"

All three nodded.

"That's good." Sirius breathed a sigh of relief. "I was worried you wouldn't like it."

"Where did you get the money to buy the gift? You shouldn't be allowed into Gringotts, right?" William asked curiously.

"Yes, that's right," Sirius said with a smug smile.

"Didn't I just tell you? I broke ties with my family when I was sixteen."

"My uncle Alphard left me a considerable amount of gold—he was also removed from the family tree, probably for that reason."

He opened that vault, and it was registered in his name.

After I returned to London with you, didn't I disappear for a day and a night?

They went to his old house and found the vault key.

Later, they sent letters using Mopsy's owl. Anyway, Gringotts didn't suspect me.

William hummed in agreement, then tilted his head to watch Hermione write her letter.

"William, could you...?" Sirius hesitated for a moment. "Let me see Harry!"

"No," he refused without looking up. "Harry won't believe you."

"He now believes you betrayed his parents. Without Peter as proof, he simply won't believe you."

Black sighed. They were both young wizards, so why could Harry deduce it, but not him?

Indeed, being too stupid isn't good either.

Harry clearly did not inherit Lily's intelligence.

"You can stay here for now. I'll take you back to Hogwarts; it'll be safer there," William said earnestly.

"But you must promise me you won't leave; you can only stay here."

"If you don't want to, you can stay in the cave."

"Yes," Sirius readily agreed.

William tossed a wand at him.

Black caught it and laughed, "Werewolf's?"

"That's right," William said softly.

"It probably won't feel right. When you have time later, go to Ollivander's and get a new wand."

"There's no rush," Sirius hesitated for a moment before asking, "Do you think Peter escaped Hogwarts?"

"No, he's still at school," William replied affirmatively.

Sirius didn't know why William was so sure, but he knew the boy was intelligent.

He's at least much smarter than him.

Since William says no, then he must not have.

Sirius leaned back on the sofa, listlessly saying, "... I hope we can catch Peter."

"Certainly."

William said that, but he didn't really think so.

Peter definitely didn't leave; he's Tom's spy, Tom wouldn't let him leave empty-handed.

Tom must have already devised a series of escape plans for Peter.

It's not that easy to catch.

Moreover, Tom likes rituals, and the dead are very ritualistic to him.

I wonder who will be the unlucky one this time.

(Please vote for this post, everyone!)