Chapter 81 The Omen Of Despair

Malfoy did not reappear at the Slytherin table until Wednesday morning. He entered the Great Hall with arrogance, amidst the cheers of the Slytherin students; his right arm covered in bandages and wrapped in a sling, as if he were the heroic survivor of some dreadful battle.

Harry and Ron looked disdainfully at his appearance, but Malfoy himself was proud and made a taunting face at them.

Harry looked away and tried to restrain himself as if he hadn't seen Malfoy's taunt. He noticed that everyone around him was flipping through that day's Daily Prophet.

"What are you looking at?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"The latest news about Sirius Black!" Hermione murmured, passing him the newspaper.

Harry read that Black had been sighted by a Muggle not far from Hogwarts. When the Ministry of Magic arrived, he had already left and is currently being sought.

It was rumored that Sirius Black was attempting to enter Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Harry swallowed. What did Sirius Black want by trying to enter Hogwarts? Did he really want to kill him as Mr. Weasley said?

Thinking about being the target of such a maniac, Harry suddenly lost his appetite. What caused him even more distress was having to rely on the Dementors outside the castle to protect him.

"It's really serious. He appeared somewhere not far from here!" Ron said anxiously, "This Black, how on earth did he escape from the Dementors?"

"Perhaps it's the Patronus Charm!"

"That's impossible. He doesn't have a wand, and there are two hundred Dementors outside," Hermione quickly said. "Do you know what this means?"

Watching Harry, Ron, and Hermione muttering quietly, Evan did not join in their discussion. What he needed to consider at this moment was how to control Peter Pettigrew and contact Sirius Black smoothly.

These two things were easy to say but difficult to achieve.

The easiest way was undoubtedly to go to Dumbledore and tell him that Ron's rat, Scabbers, was actually Peter Pettigrew in his Animagus form. With Dumbledore's ingenuity, as soon as he received the news, he would be able to unravel the whole story.

The problem was that, just like with Tom Riddle's diary last year, Evan did not know how to explain how he knew that Scabbers was Peter Pettigrew.

It was a very unpleasant feeling to know everything and be unable to do anything.

Evan sighed. It seemed he had to figure it out all by himself. He wasn't in a rush about Sirius Black. First, he had to find a way to control Peter Pettigrew. He remembered there was a very useful potion in the book Most Potente Potiones.

Just as Evan was thinking about that, Malfoy suddenly approached along the long table. He stopped behind Harry, his eyes gleaming maliciously.

"Have you seen your friend Hagrid lately?"

No one paid attention to him. Harry and Ron clenched their fists and tried to restrain themselves.

"What a shame, I'm afraid he won't be a teacher for much longer," Malfoy said with false sadness. "Father is not very happy about my injury!"

"Get lost before I beat you up, Malfoy," Ron growled.

"If I were you, I wouldn't be so impulsive. It wouldn't benefit you or your good friend Hagrid. You'll know soon..." Malfoy's eyes landed on the newspaper Harry held in his hand and he continued, "Well, are you thinking of trying to catch Black on your own, Potter?"

"What does this have to do with you?"

"Of course, if it were me..." Malfoy's thin mouth curved into a malicious smile. "I wouldn't stay in school like a good boy; I'd be out there looking for him."

"What are you talking about, Malfoy?" Ron said rudely.

"Don't you know, Potter?" Malfoy exhaled, his pale eyes narrowed. "If it were me, I would seek revenge. I would personally pursue him."

"What are you insinuating?" Harry said angrily.

"It's truly disappointing to me. Don't you want to risk your life hoping the Dementors will take care of him, right?"

"Malfoy, if you have something to say, say it out loud or get out of here." Ron drew his wand.

"Five points from Gryffindor!" Snape approached calmly and sneered, "Weasley, put away your wand, I don't want to see you spitting those disgusting slugs everywhere."

Ron's face turned red. Malfoy feigned a smile and followed Snape as he walked away.

Harry continued to watch his back, thoughtful.

"Horrible, why did Snape deduct points from Gryffindor? It was clear that Malfoy came to provoke Harry first and said something despicable," Ron said angrily.

"You shouldn't have given him a chance. Snape has been watching us for a while, and he was hoping you would show a weakness," Hermione whispered.

"If he wants to deduct points, he will simply find any excuse," Ron picked up his backpack. "We have double Potions this morning. I hope it's not too challenging."

Indeed, the third-year Potions lesson was almost a disaster. Harry and Ron messed up all the ingredients for Malfoy's lesson. Snape threatened Neville with poisoning his pet unless he could prepare the antidote himself.

Eventually, Neville's antidote was successful, but Snape still deducted five points from Gryffindor, arguing that Neville's toad didn't die thanks to Hermione's help.

All the young Gryffindor wizards thought they were going to push Snape to the limit, but clearly that wasn't the worst Snape could do.

Soon, everyone would personally experience what desperation was, which might be the third warning.

It happened in the third-year Defense Against the Dark Arts class in the afternoon. Professor Lupin introduced them to a Boggart. It was a dark shape-shifting creature. It would look into one's heart and become what they feared most.

Evan didn't quite remember what most people were afraid of, but Neville's greatest fear in the world was clearly Snape.

Encouraged by Lupin, Neville used the Ridikkulus spell to turn "Snape" into a comical image: he wore a long lace dress and a tall hat crowned with a tattered vulture, swinging a huge crimson handbag.

The story quickly spread on campus.

The Gryffindor students laughed all night, and in the subsequent retaliation storm from Snape, they soon lost their laughter.

Now, every time Professor Lupin's name was mentioned, Snape's eyes glowed menacingly; he intimidated Neville more than ever. Ginny secretly told Evan in Potions class the next day that she had seen Neville wiping away tears in secret at noon that day.

Evan sympathized with Neville, but they were now in trouble.

Snape paced back and forth in the second-year Potions class, looking at every Gryffindor student grimly, trying to find all sorts of excuses to deduct points from them.

In less than an hour, he deducted over 50 points and managed to make three girls cry.

In this lesson, only Evan successfully completed his potion.

Snape glared at Evan and ignored him. He severely ridiculed the others and assigned so much homework that it was nearly impossible to finish.

As for the poor Boggart, it was said that Snape made it disappear completely with a magical spell.

Evan felt immensely embarrassed by this. He also longed to confront that which he feared the most.