Chapter 220

To be honest, Felix isn’t sure if Luna has the gift for divination, this little girl has always been special, but the major point of his concern is: “Do you still go to the Forbidden Forest regularly?”

Luna flinched for a moment, seemingly thinking of how to answer the question, and Felix wanted to hear how she would defend herself, but then Luna drifted off into a trance.

Felix snapped his fingers in front of her, and then Luna said dreamily, “Firenze is a good man.”

Felix is not sure whether her remark is an answer to his previous question, but he roughly understands what she means: the centaur named Firenze will protect her.

He asked tentatively, “Perhaps I could get to know that centaur friend of yours? I coincidentally needed to make a trip to the Forbidden Forest during the weekend to set free a small creature …”

“Oh, I’m not sure, Firenze said his companions are very traditional, which, from my understanding, means bad-tempered,” Luna said. “I suppose I can mention it to him first.”

…

Two more days passed, and Hogwarts became gloomy and drizzled with rain, with black clouds so low that it made it draughty. The temperature hit the bottom further, and Madam Pomfrey reminded the young wizards more than once to switch to thicker clothes.

“It doesn’t even need her reminder, I mean, it’s not like we’re stupid.” Ron gestured to the weather outside as a light rain drizzled outside the window and battered the shed of the second greenhouse.

Harry fiddled the pods feebly, “Wood will do that, he thinks there’s a good chance that our first game will be on a rainy day, and he is desperate to add that part of the training … so he’ll take this chance.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Mrs. Sprout clapped her hands to get the young wizards’ attention, and she cautioned, “Watch your manoeuvres and be gentle, or in return, they will hit you hard.”

But she is too late, Seamus Finnigan is very rough in his movements, because he is repeating his experience in the Ancient Runes class to Neville, “As you can see, as soon as I touched that fire-red magic rune, it gave me a strong reaction, I guess … ouch!”

The pod in front of him burst open at once, and from it 7 or 8 hard seeds shoot out, all hitting him in the face, one of which also accidentally hit Neville, and he groaned along with him.

Mrs. Sprout came over quickly, and she scanned the scene, “Not following the instructions and treating the Professor’s words with deaf ears! I really should nick some of your house points, Mr Finnigan .” She led Seamus and Neville to the corner, “Just a little ointment needed, and frankly if you’re this careless when squeezing the pus from Bubotuber, you will definitely suffer …”

A lightning bolt suddenly flashed through, illuminating the somewhat dim castle, Felix withdrew his wand and pointed to the parchment to write and draw, and in a glass container next to him, the fist-sized Acromantula said angrily, “You are not keeping your word, wizard!”

Felix said, “I promised to let you go back before Halloween, didn’t say exactly which day. And … you’re really not going to consider my proposal? I can make you my assistant.”

“What assistant? The same as that little girl?” The Acromantula said as it met Hermione, and the little witch was interested in it until Felix showed her its true size.

In its normal state, the Acromantula is big as a small wagon, covered in hard black hair, with a small, ugly head and a pair of large claws that always makes a “click” sound at any time.

“Ah, almost, but you have to cooperate with my research,” Felix said.

The Acromantula thought for a moment, then yelled angrily, Felix thought it is too noisy, and cast a Silencing Charm on the glass container.

“Finally got the detailed test data, the rest of the work is about some repetitive tests on other creatures, and comparing the results to make a good estimate.” Felix put away a thick stack of parchment.

Every ancient magic he currently mastered, he would do this once. Filius approved of this caution.

That night, the drizzle turned into a downpour, pearly rain pounding against the castle’s window edges, and in the middle of his sleep, Felix heard a low, beeping alarm.

He sat up sharply and his wand instantly appeared in his hand. Waiting quietly for a few seconds, there was no one in sight, but he quickly thought of something, and he swiftly made his way out of the bedroom and pushed open the office window –

Rainswept into the room by the gale, the alarm sounded clear all of a sudden when the window opened.

“It’s the pocket sneakoscope at the castle door, Sirius Black is here!”

He directly jumped from the window, and a light flashed from his ring, a flying broom suddenly appeared, and the next second he rode it through a layer of rain as thick as a curtain and disappeared in front of the office.

When he appeared at the entrance of the castle, the place is empty, except for a specific spot above the gate, which constantly flashed with golden light, accompanied by a loud beeping sound.

Felix pointed to himself with his wand, a large swath of water mist emanated from him, making him look like a boiling kettle. Just then, Dumbledore appeared, wearing a gray-blue nightgown, not even wearing his glasses, with a fiery red phoenix sitting on his shoulder.

“Hello, Fawkes.” Felix greeted.

Fawkes lightly chirped.

Then a black cat appeared from afar, transforming into a panting Professor McGonagall.

“Did you find anything, Felix?” Dumbledore said in a hushed tone.

“Obviously, I’m late.” Felix pointed to the broom in his hand, of the three, he is closest to the castle gate. “Already came as fast as I could, but the rain helped him a lot.”

“Is it Sirius Black?” Professor McGonagall asked in a panic.

“Obviously …” Felix waved his wand and made the beeping sound stop.

“We should search the castle again, Dumbledore,” Professor McGonagall said seriously, “Filius Flitwick, Severus Snape, Argus Filch …” she chanted one name after another, three silver-white cats flew out from her wand and flew away in different directions.

Dumbledore watched quietly as Professor McGonagall’s Patronus disappeared, he leaned down to observe the ground at the entrance of the castle, running his fingers over the cold marble, then he nimbly walked into the castle and asked the row of portraits closest to the door.

“Did any outsiders break-in?”

“No, we didn’t find anyone.” The figures in the portraits said in a guttural voice, “Of course, we can be blinded, Mr. Headmaster.”

Dumbledore nodded, not speaking anymore.

“Is it possible that Black is hiding in the castle, Albus?” Professor McGonagall asked worriedly.

“Unlikely,” Dumbledore said softly, “Felix arrived so quickly that he could not able to enter without leaving a trail. It’s likely that he just appeared in the range, which set off the alarm. But we’d better do something to prepare for the worst, Fawkes–”

———-

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