Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 312 Sirius Black

What Rice noticed was a big, dirty black dog.

It looked no different from a stray dog. If Rice hadn't seen it on Privet Drive, he really wouldn't have noticed anything unusual about the black dog from this distance.

Just as no two leaves are the same, so too are no two black dogs.

Following him all the way from Privet Drive to Hogwarts? To say there's nothing fishy going on here would be an insult to Rice's intelligence. Coupled with the Dementors' past actions, Rice's sensitive nerves were immediately triggered.

He jumped directly from the platform outside the window, gliding towards the black dog like a giant black bird.

……

Sirius was exhausted. He had been traveling for the past month, almost without sleep. When he was hungry, he would catch some small animals, or steal something from the Muggle neighborhood, or rummage through the trash cans. When he was thirsty, he would find a stream or irrigation ditch to drink some cold water—having become a black dog, he had inherited the canines' strong immune system, so he hadn't gotten into any trouble.

Finally, Sirius arrived at Hogwarts shortly after the start of the school year. The place was surrounded by Dementors, but he only needed to transform into a black dog to swagger right under their noses.

He looked up at Hogwarts Castle not far away, and his barren heart felt as if it had been refreshed by a spring of water, but this warmth was quickly extinguished by the rising anger.

Peter Pettigrew! That despicable rat is hiding in the castle! He must catch that treacherous creature and tear him to pieces to avenge James and the others.

Sirius was a man of action. He glanced at the position of the sun and determined that it was during class time.

Could he take advantage of this moment to sneak into the Gryffindor common room and drag Peter out? The thought flashed through his mind, but Sirius dismissed it immediately.

The timing isn't right yet. There might be students without classes in the Gryffindor common room, and barging in would definitely alert them. Not only would Peter not be able to catch him, but he might also get himself into trouble.

As Sirius was seriously considering his plan of action, he suddenly felt that something was not quite right. He looked up and was stunned: he saw a little wizard flying towards him.

Yes, he had no flying broom or flying props; he flew entirely out of thin air.

Before Sirius could react, the little wizard landed in front of him and stared intently at him.

Sirius had a bad feeling and was about to tuck his tail between his legs and run into the Forbidden Forest when he heard the little wizard speak.

"Reveal your true form immediately and explain your purpose for entering this place, or there will be another skeleton in the Forbidden Forest."

Sirius had no intention of getting entangled with him. Without looking back, he strode off into the Forbidden Forest. But after only a few steps, his feet tightened, and several black ropes appeared out of thin air around his ankles, tripping him and causing him to fall.

After he fell, the rope shot up and bound him tightly.

Sirius suddenly felt a huge headache coming on: This student who skipped class is quite skilled in shapeshifting!

Rice walked over to Sirius, grabbed the rope, lifted him up, and led him straight into the Forbidden Forest.

After venturing more than ten meters into the forbidden forest, the two were surrounded by layers of trees. Rice casually tossed the black dog he was holding into the shade of a tree, then snapped his fingers, and the rope binding the dog came loose.

"Show your true form and explain why you broke into Hogwarts." He stared expressionlessly at the black dog under the shade of the tree, feeling that his patience was nearing its limit.

If Helga had witnessed what had just happened, he would have exclaimed in disbelief—how could Salazar's temper have become so mild? A thousand years ago, he would have mercilessly killed the black dog when it chose to flee, and would never have given it a second chance to explain.

This is an intruder who concealed its true identity, trespassed into Hogwarts, and chose to flee when questioned by the school administrators. Showing it mercy would be irresponsible to the students.

Sirius sensed something ominous from the little wizard's tone, and without further hesitation, he revealed his true form.

A gaunt, skeletal-looking man with long hair appeared before Rice. If it weren't for the light still gleaming in his eyes, Rice would have mistaken him for a corpse lying dead by the roadside.

Even though half of his face was hidden in the shadows, Rice still recognized him: Sirius Black, a fugitive wanted by the Ministry of Magic.

This guy is the "culprit" behind Hogwarts being surrounded by Dementors.

Rice raised an eyebrow: "Sirius Black?"

Upon realizing he had been recognized, Sirius leaned back and sat down against the large tree behind him, readily acknowledging his identity.

As for taking advantage of his height to launch a sneak attack on the boy in front of him, knock him down, and then run away, the thought flashed through Sirius's mind but was quickly dismissed, because he didn't think he was a match for the little guy in front of him.

He just conjured ropes to bind and untie himself without using a wand, which shows he's a wizard very skilled at wandless spellcasting. Fighting such a wizard would undoubtedly result in his defeat.

Looking at Rice's face, Sirius couldn't help but marvel at his youth: to be able to cast spells without a wand at such a young age is truly remarkable.

"Are young wizards this strong now? Hogwarts' teaching quality has really improved..."

"No, the teaching quality has declined a lot. I'm just a special case." Sirius's words touched Rice's heartstrings, and he couldn't help but explain for him.

Sirius didn't know how to respond to that, and could only blame his bad luck.

"Enough with the small talk. Tell me your purpose for coming here," Rice said, ending the conversation and staring into Sirius's eyes.

Sirius was silent for a moment, then told Rice that he had come for Peter Pettigrew.

At first, he thought the little wizard opposite him would dismiss it and say, "Peter Pettigrew is dead. You killed him." But the boy didn't interrupt him, so he just kept talking.

Perhaps because he hadn't spoken to anyone in a long time, Sirius Black once he started talking, he couldn't stop. He recounted all the misfortunes he had encountered.

After rambling on for nearly fifteen minutes, Sirius finally finished telling his story. He leaned against the tree trunk, feeling like his throat was about to burst into flames.

"That's why I ran away from Azkaban and all the way to Hogwarts..." Sirius Black panted, looking at Rice, "I'm going to catch Peter Pettigrew."

However, the boy opposite him still took out his magic wand from his pocket.

Sirius closed his eyes in anguish: Yes, who would believe an escaped Azkaban prisoner?

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

This is the second update; there will be another one tonight.

(End of this chapter)