Chapter 141 Crookshanks And The New Password
Evan, Harry, and Hermione left the Great Hall. Indeed, there was no mad axe murderer in the hallway.
Professor Trelawney and Ron disappeared around the corner. She headed to the basement, while he climbed the stairs back to Gryffindor Tower.
"We should hurry!" Evan exclaimed urgently, noticing the stairs to the second floor were in motion.
The trio arrived just one step too late. By the time they reached, the stairs had already moved, forcing them to turn back. This delay left them five minutes behind Ron.
Just as they entered Gryffindor Tower, Evan spotted a ginger figure emerging from the shadows.
It was Crookshanks, carrying a piece of white paper in its mouth.
Upon seeing the three, Crookshanks approached, purring and meowing strangely.
Hermione picked up the paper, examining it with curiosity, and asked, "Crookshanks, where did you get this paper? What is written on it?"
Evan and Harry, intrigued, glanced together and saw a few twisted letters on the paper forming: "Scurvy Cur."
"I don't understand. What does this mean?" Harry questioned oddly.
"This is rather impertinent! Perhaps it's some student's prank!" Hermione remarked, frowning. "Crookshanks, didn't I tell you not to pick up random things?"
Crookshanks lazily purred and meowed in Hermione's arms.
Evan remained silent. Gazing at the dirty scrap of paper, he had a peculiar sensation. Knowing Crookshanks, that cunning little creature was no ordinary cat. It should not be picking up pointless notes for no reason.
Scurvy Cur, is it truly just a simple jest?
However, someone had intentionally written this note to Crookshanks, expecting it to be delivered.
On their way, they debated for a while about the paper. Upon reaching the portrait hole, they found Sir Cadogan enjoying a Christmas feast with a couple of monks, several former Hogwarts headmasters, and his fat pony. He raised his visor, toasting them with a horn of mead.
"Merry - hic - Christmas! Password?"
"Oddsbodkins!" Harry replied to Sir Cadogan.
"Incorrect password, not that one!" Sir Cadogan approached him at once, drawing his grand and eccentric sword from its sheath and shouting fiercely, "Are you ready for this? Enter this room behind me? I shall not let you pass. Fight, wretched knave!" Sir Cadogan yelled.
"Shut up!" Harry exclaimed, bewildered. "How can the password be incorrect? It was that one just this morning."
"I have just changed it and informed you of the new password!"
"But we don't know it! Let us pass, we are in a hurry."
"No! I shall not allow you entry without the correct password," Sir Cadogan bellowed, "Unsheathe your sword, vile knave! Face the wrath of Sir Cadogan, I shall defeat you! Otherwise, I shall valiantly meet my end in combat!"
Harry helplessly stared at Sir Cadogan. Faced with such madness, he felt utterly powerless.
"Maybe he told the new password to Professor McGonagall, and we should go back…" Hermione suggested hesitantly.
"Wait a moment, the words on that scrap of paper!" Evan suddenly remembered.
"What?!" Harry turned and glanced at him perplexedly.
"The words on the paper might be the new password," Evan said to Sir Cadogan, "Scurvy Cur!"
"And the same to you, sir!" Sir Cadogan roared, as the portrait swung open to let them through.
The deserted Common Room greeted them.
"This is preposterous; this fellow keeps changing those ridiculous passwords all the time!" Evan was the first to enter the room, expressing his irritation, "This time, he's really giving the new password to the cat. If we hadn't run into Crookshanks, we would have…"
"That note couldn't have been written by Sir Cadogan," Hermione remarked. "He's a portrait. How could he write?!"
"Who else could it be?"
"It must be Ron!" Evan squinted his eyes and analyzed. Sir Cadogan really mentioned it; he said he had informed us of the password. There are only four Gryffindor students in the castle, and none of the three knew it. So yes, it can only be Ron."
"But why would Ron write the password on a note? Isn't it too strange?!"
Hermione looked worried. She glanced around and whispered, "Evan, what do you think that guy is going to do?"
"I don't know!" Evan shook his head. It seemed really strange to him, and he couldn't understand why Pettigrew would do such a thing.
Why would he write the new password and then hand it to Crookshanks?
No matter how he looked at it, it was absurd, too foolish, and even too dangerous for Peter Pettigrew to do such a thing!
He knew all too well that Black was looking for him at Hogwarts. He had even broken into the castle and tried to get into the Common Room on Halloween Eve. He couldn't do it then because he didn't have the password. Now, there are two possibilities: either Pettigrew had Ron write the note and then Crookshanks found it; or, he deliberately gave it to the cat himself.
It was all too strange. Pettigrew should be well aware of the relationship between Crookshanks and Sirius Black. The cat had been chasing him in his Animagus form for the past 6 months!
But now he is giving the password, which means he was giving it to Sirius Black!
In other words, Peter really wants Black to enter the castle!
Evan had a bad feeling about this whole matter. What does Peter want to do? Last night, Ron accused Professor Lupin of attacking him, and from that moment on, everything has been too different from the original plot and progressing in a truly unpredictable way. All these alterations were beyond Evan's control.
Evan tried to think about the whole thing from Peter's perspective: first, he controlled Ron and blamed Professor Lupin, thereby managing to remove Professor Dumbledore from the castle. Now, he is seizing that opportunity to bring Black inside!
All of this was obviously abnormal. After all, Pettigrew had been hiding from Black all this time! Why bring him to the castle now?
Suddenly, Evan remembered that Peter couldn't have known about his plan with Black, and he really shouldn't know that Black would come to the castle tonight. This means he wanted Black to enter the castle and the Gryffindor Common Room.
He's not crazy, he has a new plan!