Harry Potter: I started checking in from Diagon Alley

“Now, I want everyone to be quiet and get into their sleeping bags!” Percy shouted, his voice echoing throughout the hall.

After Percy had passed, Harry began to call out again in a low voice, "Eric!"

"……What's wrong?"

"Do you know what happened? How did Blake get into the school? My roommate Seamus told me that he successfully persuaded the ghosts in the school to transform him into a ghost-like form, which allowed him to sneak in."

Eric, the instigator, smiled without saying a word; of course he knew what was going on.

Blake was brought in by him.

But Blake was even less intelligent than he had imagined.

With Eric as an inside man, they still tried to break into Gryffindor's common room.

Is it possible that one's intelligence really does decrease when they are turned into a dog?

Hermione, standing nearby, couldn't help but say, "If you've read 'Hogwarts: A History,' you should know that outside ghosts can't enter Hogwarts; the castle has special magic to defend against them."

Eric agreed, "That's right. Hogwarts' defenses can withstand the vast majority of attacks and infiltrations."

Except for Animagus.

Ron said, "Could it be that he used the Polyjuice Potion and turned into someone else?"

“That’s even less likely. Dementors have no sight; they only recognize wizards by smell and emotion. Polyjuice Potion won’t work on them,” Hermione said.

"Why didn't I know?" Ron retorted.

"It's probably because you never go to the library."

Seeing that the two were about to start arguing again, Eric changed the subject and asked, "Ron, where's your mouse?"

"You mean Blister? She's in my sleeping bag," Ron said. "What's wrong?"

"No, it's nothing."

While Ron was still wondering, two more voices came from the darkness beside him.

"Even if he becomes someone else, Ron—"

"—He couldn't possibly escape our eyes... Oh, sorry, I stepped on your foot."

As they drew closer, they recognized the Weasley twins from Gryffindor, Ron's two older brothers, George and Fred.

The two of them spoke with great pride, their voices perfectly in sync.

Ron winced in pain after his foot was stepped on, clutching his foot and glaring angrily at George.

George said, "It wasn't me, it was Fred who stepped on it."

Ron glared at Fred beside him.

Fred rolled his eyes at him and said, "I'm George."

Ron turned his head again, and Fred took advantage of the moment to stomp on Ron hard again, then hid behind George and high-fived him in celebration.

Eric smiled and waved to the twins, who returned the greeting. They had met a few times, thought highly of each other, and occasionally exchanged experiences about nighttime outings, so they had some common ground.

Harry pulled back the enraged Ron and asked curiously, "George, why do you say that?"

George grinned smugly: "Because we have a mysterious magical item—"

"—It can help us pinpoint the location of everyone in the castle right now," Fred continued.

“What’s that?” Ron asked, rubbing his foot, his attention drawn to the question.

“Since I’ve already said it’s a mysterious magical item, how could I tell you, brother?” George said.

“…Then what the hell are you talking about?” Ron said, exasperated.

Eric chuckled softly, "Do you have any with you? Show them to me so I can see them."

“Of course, here you go, Eric.” George and Fred grinned.

In the darkness, Fred reached into his pocket, pulled something out, and quickly shoved it into Eric's hand.

“Why didn’t you show it to me, but to Eric? I’m your brother!” Ron said.

George rolled his eyes in the darkness: "Of course, it's because we made an agreement with Eric beforehand."

Fred added insult to injury: "You're really not very smart, little brother."

"I said! Quiet! Fred and George, get back to your seats!" Percy couldn't take it anymore, walked back over, and yelled, "Don't even think about messing things up with your prank products at this time!"

Fred and George chuckled, not afraid of Percy at all. After handing over the work to Eric, the two stood up nonchalantly, grabbed their sleeping bags, and left.

They were never afraid of Percy deducting their points, since the Weasleys were all Gryffindors anyway, so no matter how many points were deducted, it would be deducted from their own house.

Before leaving, whether it was Fred or George, they took advantage of the chaos to stomp on Ron's foot again.

In the darkness, Ron wanted to cry but had no tears.

Percy's anger silenced the others, who quickly retreated into their sleeping bags.

A tense atmosphere filled the auditorium.

Nothing was said that night, but Harry was restless.

Chapter 63 You don't want Dumbledore to know about this either, do you?

Let's go back half a day.

Sirius Black ultimately chose to compromise, reverting to his dog form and following Eric back to Hogwarts. The two parted ways after exiting the secret passage.

This time of year also happens to be when the students who went to Hogsmeade return.

To Sirius's surprise, Eric did not impose any restrictions on his behavior.

Eric neither used any spells to control him nor asked him to do anything.

Eric's goal seemed very simple: to bring him safely back to Hogwarts.

Eric didn't care at all about what happened afterward.

Eric even proactively provided Blake with information about Peter.

Peter Pediru has turned into a mouse and is hiding next to Harry's best friend Ron Weasley.

Upon learning this information, Sirius Black, after exiting the secret passage, impatiently shook off Eric and charged toward the Gryffindor Tower with a fierce look on his face.

He knew Hogwarts far better than Eric; he could walk there with his eyes closed and not get lost.

Eric watched Sirius leave with a smile, awaiting news.

Sirius will be fine.

Besides telling Peter where he was, he also provided Sirius with a hiding place.

That was enough for him to hide in the castle and hold out until Eric arrived the next day.

Eric hid his suitcase in the Room of Requirement.

He also taught Sirius how to get inside.

The Room of Requirement is not entirely hidden.

However, most people who know about the Room of Requirement only pay attention to the surface and would never imagine that someone would create an extra space inside the Room of Requirement.

Eric put his suitcase inside, which was like setting up another layer of protection.

This at least guarantees that no one will find Sirius in the short term.

All he needed was for Sirius to return to Hogwarts and create enough chaos.

It's easier to catch fish when the water is murky. If it's clear water, or under Dumbledore's watchful eye, Eric will get nothing.

As Eric watched Sirius leave, he calculated the time; there was still a while before Sirius caused a sensation.

He turned and walked toward the owl hut outside the castle.

He wanted to use the school's public owl to deliver a letter.

To Minister of Magic Fudge.

……

After all the students spent the night in the auditorium, Lupin was somewhat dazed when he saw Eric waiting for him outside his office the next day.

Eric was carrying an ordinary little suitcase containing Sirius Black, a wanted criminal by the Ministry of Magic, and a headless Dementor.

Lupin didn't know what was inside the box; he just thought Eric's outfit looked strange no matter how he looked at it.

Travel? It doesn't seem like it.

Giving gifts? That's even more absurd.

Poor Lu Ping, a professor, hadn't slept all night and had been working continuously for nearly thirty hours.

Last night, with the full cooperation of the professors, they successfully searched the entire castle.

Then we can draw a conclusion.

They couldn't find Blake who had infiltrated.

The castle has been searched inside and out, and all the defensive magic within the castle has been rechecked, but no signs of breach have been found.

If it weren't for Black's foolish attempt to enter Gryffindor's common room, no one would have noticed that Black had infiltrated.

The Dementors outside the castle seemed rather impatient upon learning this information.

They all asked Dumbledore for permission to enter the castle to search.

What professors can't find, they might find as well.

But Dumbledore refused, insisting on the principle that Dementors were not allowed on campus.

With Blake nowhere to be found, the restrictions in the castle were lifted, and the students resumed classes.

Under Dumbledore's instructions, the professors flexibly divided into groups and adjusted the schedules, maintaining a balance of relaxed exterior and tight interior.

We're just waiting for Blake to reappear.

Of course, everyone involved in the search would probably be furious if they knew that Sirius was hiding in Eric's suitcase in the Room of Requirement.

Who can find this?