"I'm telling you, when we went back to the common room just now, we found the Fat Lady—the portrait guarding our entrance—and guess what happened?"
"Stop dragging it out and spit it out! The prefect's coming!"
"Cough… the Fat Lady's portrait was torn to shreds, and there was a huge hole ripped right through it!"
"Merlin's beard! That really happened? And I thought Hogwarts portraits were incredibly hard to damage—especially the ones guarding common rooms!"
"That's the thing… the Headmaster rushed over himself later. He found the Fat Lady hiding in another portrait and learned who the culprit was. Take a guess—cough—it was Sirius Black!"
"Black got into the school?!"
"You bet. Percy was scared stiff at the time…"
It turned out that even Gryffindors—normally the bravest bunch—couldn't help feeling shaken after realizing they'd nearly had their common room broken into by a vicious, magically formidable escaped convict. Still, there were a few people with nerves of steel who were animatedly recounting the whole story to students from the other Houses, drawing a huge crowd that even included Slytherins…
After all, Black had only damaged the portrait. Whether he'd actually made it into the common room was another matter—and that at least proved the entrance was extremely secure. No need to worry too much on a normal day, right?
"Everyone into your sleeping bags!"
Sure enough, the prefect was drawn over by the noise to restore order. "Hurry up—stop talking. Lights out in ten minutes!"
"…So how do you think he got in?"
The prefect's command couldn't instantly extinguish the excitement of a group that had nearly been robbed blind. After students from the other three Houses left Gryffindor with a bellyful of gossip to chew on, the Gryffindors themselves kept up the heated discussion, their voices impossible to suppress. "Did he break through the school's Apparition wards? Sneak in under an Invisibility Cloak? Or—"
"Lights out, now!"
Gryffindor prefect Percy had to go over again. "Everyone into your sleeping bags. No more talking—get some sleep. Professor Dumbledore and the others will handle it!"
The candles were extinguished at once. Only the silvery ghosts cast faint light as they drifted about, murmuring seriously with the prefects. The enchanted ceiling, as clear as if it didn't exist at all, reflected the night sky beyond—stars glittering so brightly that the moonlight seemed pale by comparison. The whispers still echoing through the Great Hall were like insects chirping in a quiet wilderness…
"All right, enough talking."
Over in the Gryffindor section, Ron suddenly yawned and rubbed his eyes. "I'm kind of sleepy."
"Probably burned too much energy at the feast," Harry yawned as well. That yawn spread through Gryffindor like a contagion, and before long, yawns somehow turned into the soft rumble of snoring…
"?!"
Bathed in such a sleep-inducing atmosphere, Avada had nearly nodded off himself—when, within his perception, Peter Pettigrew, who'd been right next to Ron, suddenly started moving again!
At an unhurried pace, he gradually moved away from Ron and came to rest beside a tightly closed door, lying in wait. He was probably waiting for the professors to rotate in to check on the students, then slip out the moment the door opened…
"He's making his move—how's he going to do it?"
Avada jolted awake, all drowsiness gone. Still cocooned in his sleeping bag, he carefully observed his surroundings, confirming that nearly everyone around him had drifted off. Thank the earlier Halloween feast for draining everyone's energy—despite the scare about Black, once they lay down, they fell quickly into a heavy sleep.
Then he took out his wand and quietly disabled the little safeguard Dumbledore had left inside the sleeping bag. When the Headmaster conjured them, he'd added a life-detection function to ensure students actually climbed in to sleep, instead of stuffing a dummy inside and sneaking out…
Very Gryffindor of him.
Once that hidden mechanism was shut down, Avada could operate without restraint. After confirming again that everyone nearby was asleep and no one was paying attention to his position, he swiftly took out a lump of transfiguration material and turned it into a breathing figurine of himself. At the instant he activated the Near-and-Far Spell, he enlarged the figurine, and in almost no time it completely filled the sleeping bag he'd been in. From the outside, nothing looked any different at all…
The figurine breathed normally and even rolled over now and then. From the outside, it was indistinguishable from a real person.
Next, Avada produced his broom and, within a fold of space, quietly flew to Peter Pettigrew's side. Pettigrew was crouched in the corner, staring nervously at the door. He even had a wand clenched in his mouth—probably Ron's. He seemed quite confident in his own stealth.
Before long, the door opened a crack. Professor Sprout had come to check on the students. Seizing those few seconds, Pettigrew slipped out in a silent blur, Ron's wand still in his mouth, and escaped without anyone noticing…
"The state of his mental energy doesn't look like someone fleeing… Is he going to find Black?"
Avada moved swiftly within the spatial layer, sticking close to Pettigrew. After successfully leaving the school, Pettigrew—just as expected—raced straight to the Whomping Willow. Using his small size to his advantage, he reached the base without hindrance and, with practiced ease, slipped into the tunnel hidden among the roots…
"Just as I thought."
Avada nodded and followed on his broom. From within the spatial layer, he naturally wouldn't trigger the Whomping Willow's attacks.
…
Hogsmeade, inside the Shrieking Shack.
"Huff… huff…"
A large black dog lay sprawled in a corner of the shack, tongue lolling as he gasped for air. Heaven knew how fast he'd had to run to evade Hogwarts' manhunt.
Fortunately, after escaping prison he'd been able to hunt animals for extra meals. His diet was leagues better than Azkaban's, letting his body slowly recover enough strength to sustain such frantic running. Had this been right after leaving Azkaban, he'd probably have collapsed halfway there from exhaustion or cramps…
"Peter…"
Sirius Black slowly returned to human form, dug out the food and water he'd hidden earlier, and wolfed some down. His breathing gradually steadied. "I was impulsive. I shouldn't have attacked the Fat Lady. I couldn't open the common room anyway, and it only added variables—nearly exposed me…"
"But don't think this is over. I will kill you. I swear I will…"
"Petrificus Totalus! Incarcerous!"
Just as he was about to turn back into the black dog and sleep for a while, something absolutely impossible happened—two spells shot out like lightning from the tunnel entrance and slammed into him, robbing him of all ability to move!
Panicking, he turned his head toward where the spells had come from—and saw a face he would never forget, staring back at him with a complicated expression…
"Pe—ter—!!!"
In the Shrieking Shack, silent for over a decade, a bone-chilling scream rang out once more.
(End of Chapter)