Author: Muduoduomu

The original story page: http/onebook.php?novelid=3415654

Chapter 19. Great Black back home

Sirius wandered in the Forbidden Forest for a long time, being confident for no pursuers behind him, he finally went back to the Shrieking Shack along the tunnel under the Whomping Willow.

Located in Hogsmeade, the Shrieking Shack, where no one had been near because of the horror of the stories.

There was a thick deposit of dust on the stairs and floor.

Sirius slipped upstairs, panting in the dust, and slowly reformed his human form.

For a moment he felt his heart stopped, but he was still breathing.

He's still alive.

Since he's still alive, he had something to do.

He closed his eyes and endured the hunger.

There were too many magical animals in the Forbidden Forest, he can't catch something to eat. And he had been hiding from the centaurs, who were grumpy and didn't like wizards.

Moreover, he wasn't sure if the centaurs would tell Hagrid about seeing a great black dog. The half giant had always been very good at magical animals.

After it's dark, he would turn into a dog and sneak out to see if there's any food in the garbage can in the village.

Suddenly, came a sigh.

Sirius immediately turned over and climbed up alert! He kept a dog's movement, landing on all fours.

He began to become a dog.

A candle suddenly lit up, brightened the room.

Headmaster Dumbledore stood in the corner, looking at Sirius, with a loving face, as if he were still the naughty Gryffindor.

Sirius was in twisted face and sour eyes. He wanted to run but didn't dare, wanted to explain but couldn't speak.

At last, he could only say, "headmaster, you may not believe me, but I have something to do, I can't be caught."

He's ready to run before his voice fell.

Dumbledore raised a hand, showing that he had nothing on his hand, he said, "Sirius, I'm here just telling you that we've got a mouse from Gryffindor's common room."

Sirius stood rigidly.

He couldn't believe and stammered, "you got him?" Dumbledore whispered, "a smart Gryffindor found out his abnormal. She trusted me and told me. I immediately found out the big secret of that mouse, and caught him. Now he's in our hands. If you like, you can go with me. The people of the Ministry of Magic will arrive at 10 o'clock. We will hold a small trial in Hogwarts to testify a person is guilty, while the other one… is innocent."

Sirius was crawling on the ground wailing. He grabbed his chest as if to tear out his ribs and take out his heart.

He cried like a child.

Dumbledore slowly approached him, conjured a cloak on him, and helped him up, saying: "you scared Ron Weasley a lot. Although he's a boy, he's the youngest son of the Weasleys, so he's a little timid. If you meet him later, it's better not to mention this thing which will make him ashamed. I think you will see him soon." He winked at Sirius, "he's Harry's good friend. Harry spent the last few days of last summer vacation at the Weasley's house."

When heard of Harry, he rubbed his hands nervously and sniffed, "he… I mean, will he accept me? Will he like me?"

Dumbledore nodded, "If you ask me, yes. Harry is a very gentle child, a little sensitive. Like the most Gryffindor of this age, he is adventurous, has a strong sense of self-esteem and loves friends." He raised his eyebrows and shook his head disapprovingly, "but not paying enough attention to his lessons."

Sirius was thirsty to listen every word, trying to imprint on his brain. In his word, the image of a clever, lovely, naughty little boy unfolded slowly.

He'll be a bit like James.

He sniffed, an unskilfully grin breaking across his face, "he's good at riding a broomstick, like James." He took a quick look at Dumbledore and explained in a low voice, "I've seen him play Quidditch secretly, he's flying so well!"

Dumbledore: "So you sent him a Firebolt for Christmas?" Sirius shrugged as before, "I'm his godfather, I should give him gifts, some big things that parents won't buy him!" He stretched his hands and gestured.

He was very happy, and hoped Harry would like the present.

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He was taken to the hospital wing to take a bath, changed clothes, got a cut of hair and beard, and had a full meal.

Then he saw Lupin.

Sirius stood up with sandwiches in his mouth, opened his thin arms to him: "Good bro!"

Lupin hugged him and the two hugged tightly.

Sirius wept. He wiped away his tears, smiled and looked at his good friend with treasure, his only one left friend.

Lupin said: "Headmaster asked me to pass you a word: When you come to the Ministry of Magic, you should keep your mouth shut."

Sirius nodded as rolled his eyes, "when can I meet our old friend Peter?" he asked.

Lupin looked at the old friend, he could see what was in his mind.

"For a moment." He replied.

Sirius wolfed down everything on the plate, but it was immediately filled with sandwiches.

He had eaten two plates just now, even if he was so starving, he would need a rest.

He said, "you lied to me."

Lupin curled his lips, looked sideways to him, saying, "I'm lying to you, you know".

"Headmaster won't let me see Peter. He's afraid I would kill him in a flash!" Sirius couldn't help roaring.

Lupin was like a skilful mother dealing with an innocent child, waited for his finished. After a while, he looked at him and said, "you're very clever, headmaster needs him to speak out the truth before you can appear in front of the Ministry of Magic. You're still a criminal. Your crime was convicted by the Ministry of Magic, who is prickly to deal with. Don't make headmaster headache, he has put a lot effort into calling those people coming here in a short time."

Of course, Sirius knew. And he didn't believe himself, what he would do if he really saw Peter.

Obviously, Lupin knew how to divert his attention. He stood in front of the window of hospital wing and looked into the courtyard. "See, Harry, they're having a flying lesson."

Sirius couldn't help walking up, seeing Harry flying around a girl in a low height, circling that girl, as if to encourage her.

The girl was not very good at riding a broomstick. She laughed and waved to drive Harry away.

Lupin and Sirius both grinned.

Sirius pointed to them and said, "James did it."

Lupin: "But I remember Lily hit him off the broomstick. She said he was showing off his cleverness and she didn't like it at all."

Sirius: "He was like a rabbit around Lily." He asked Lupin curiously, "is that the same with Harry?" Lupin shook his head, "not before Christmas, he preferred to be with friends at that time. After Christmas… he seemed to have a crush on Hermione."

Sirius: "Hermione?" "Hermione Granger, her name." replied Lupin.

"It's a lovely name." Sirius smiled.

"She is like Lily, very strict, smart, and good at studying, is the best one among the whole grade." Lupin went on, "she always taught Harry lessons, I guess they used to have conflicts, since Harry has a lot pride. He may want to make up for the girl now, as a result…" He spread his hands.

Sometimes, love just came suddenly.

They kept watching them till Harry finished the class. He saw another boy came to Harry after class, the red-hair Weasley.

Sirius: "I'm going to apologize to that boy. What do you think is good for him?" Lupin: "He has five brothers."

Sirius: "All right, I got it. Something cool, right?" It's better that none of his brothers had it.

They talked until Dumbledore called them.

Dumbledore saw the smile on Sirius's face and said, "you look good. Then come with me, Sirius. I need you to be polite. If you are beyond angry, be quiet. Remember? Keep quiet when you get angry. Leave the rest to me."

Sirius stood up and nodded nervously, "ok, headmaster, I remember. I won't do it wrong."

Dumbledore smiled. "If everything goes well, you can sit with Harry at the table and eat lamb chops at dinner. After so many years of school, do you miss the school dinner?"

Sirius nodded, "every day."

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It's too exciting at dinner today.

Della and Katie came in together, they were talking with Fred that he had seen people from the Ministry of Magic.

Fred's father, Arthur worked in the Ministry of Magic, so he knew a lot of people in there.

Katie: "Why does the Ministry of Magic come to Hogwarts?" "Maybe it's for those things out of school?" Della said.

Those things were ghosts like floated monster with feet off the ground.

She knew they're called Dementors, but it's never written in the book that they're more like a ghost!

"I hope headmaster can get rid of them as soon as possible!" Della complained.

"Maybe soon, Miss Bush." A voice from Headmaster Dumbledore suddenly came from behind.

Della turned around and said hello with Katie.

Headmaster Dumbledore blinked at her, "let me introduce for you. This is my friend."

Della saw the man behind the headmaster.

He almost lost his shape, but brightened in his eyes, shining with fire, which made the whole person in an abnormal excitement.

However, he stood straight, and naturally held her hand and gave her a kiss when he saw her.

Della thought he was an artist, while after he kissing her hands, she immediately regarded him as a pale and weak aristocrat, who enjoyed roses and drank tea every day.

"Nice to meet you, miss." He winked at her.

Then he did the same thing to Katie.

Fred had pulled her aside — he didn't get his head around just now.

Della: "He's so handsome, isn't he?" Fred: "No, he's not better than a stool."

Della: "He's just a little thin."

Fred: "All he left is the skeleton."

Della: "Don't be so mean, he's very polite."

Fred rolled up his sleeves, "I'll show him how polite I am."

But he didn't squeeze in. Headmaster Dumbledore brought the skinny man to Harry and asked him to take care of him.

Harry readily promised.

Hermione was nervous, from the moment she saw the man, after her eyes looked up and down at his face. If he wasn't taken from Headmaster Dumbledore, she might have taken out the wand.

This man, he claimed to be Black, was very talkative, he's a Gryffindor that everyone could tell. He attracted a lot of people, and he began to talk about his adventure story.

Hermione said pointedly, "if talk about adventure, it's very risky for you to enter Hogwarts, if you see, it's all Dementors outside the school." Harry nodded, "they're terrible." Black said casually: "Miss, please forgive me for my offence, but I know much about Dementors, I've been dealing with them for a long time. When it comes to handle them, I'm very experienced!"

Hermione sneered, "of course you're experienced!"

Harry found the impoliteness of Hermione, didn't know why. He thought it was impolite but didn't want to contradict Hermione to embarrass her in the front of others, so he took her hand under the table.

Hermione blushed.

Black gave Harry a quick look and a bad grin. He patted Harry on his shoulder and saw the girl named Hermione staring at his hand nervously.

This was a smart girl who loved Harry, a good girl.

"It's easy to cheat them." Black said.

He attracted everyone around him.

All of them were talking.

"Did he say cheat Dementors?"

"How to cheat? Dementors don't talk nor accept bribes, they don't even recognize gold Galleon."

"I really want to know! I've wanted to slip into Hogsmeade for a long time!"

Fred, who had just imagined how to finish the man, was determined to put down his hatred and listen to what he said.

He began to jostle into the crowd.

Della peeled a toffee.

Black cleared his throat and was about to say.

Above, Headmaster Dumbledore stoop up and knocked on the goblet. The whole room was quiet. He amplified his voice and said, "please sit down. Today, we have a mistake that has been corrected. A sinner was pleaded guilty, and an old friend, come back to us."