Chapter 112 It's Better To Be Honest
Sirius Black vowed never to underestimate children again.
Though this young brunette was only 13 years old and appeared vulnerable, she was undoubtedly more intelligent and insightful than most adult wizards.
Originally, Black wanted to use Hermione's presence to embarrass Evan a little. Who would have thought that wagging his tail would only expose his identity?
He realized that the joke he made was actually on himself.
Upon hearing Hermione's words, Sirius Black's first instinct was to escape.
Despite their appearances, the two before him were not easy to deal with. First Evan and then Hermione, each of them was more challenging to handle than the other.
Black was completely alert as he took two steps back.
His intuition told him it was best to have little contact with the two.
However, upon seeing Hermione draw her wand again, he stopped in his tracks.
He couldn't just turn around and flee. Although he had a good chance of avoiding Hermione's curse, this was Hogsmeade. The shops on both sides of the street are teeming with heavily armed Aurors. Outside the town, there are hundreds of Dementors waiting for him.
Hermione only needed to shout to make it nearly impossible for him to escape.
Should he lunge at the girl to stun her? Seeing Evan with his hand on his wand, he quickly dismissed that idea. Three consecutive encounters had taught him enough about Evan to realize he was a truly powerful wizard. And although Evan was inferior to him in combat, his overall strength was not much worse than his, not to mention the fact that he was now without a wand.
Perhaps he should act like a true stray dog, thus giving himself a chance to escape.
Sirius Black hurriedly looked at Evan and then tried to appear expressionless. He looked at Hermione with his large eyes directly and seemed very foolish.
Seeing Black's appearance, Evan let out a faint sigh.
What a terrible companion he had ended up with! He clearly instructed him to stay up and hidden, yet he came out without warning exposing his identity to Hermione.
This is the real dilemma. Forget all about catching Pettigrew; getting through Hermione is the real challenge.
"Hermione, this stray dog cannot be an Animagus."
"No, I have a hunch. The third years recently studied Animagi in Professor McGonagall's course. For personal reasons, I researched the matter after finishing my task." Hermione quickly glanced at Evan, blushed, and firmly pointed her wand at Sirius Black. She hastily said, "Believe me, Evan, this dog is definitely an Animagus."
Seeing Hermione's expression, Evan secretly admired her learning efforts.
"Hermione, since you have carefully read the book we studied, then you know that the Ministry of Magic has a record of all witches and wizards who can become animals. There are detailed records showing which animals they could transform into and the markings they had on their bodies. Only seven successful Animagus transformations were recorded in the last century. This dog was not among them."
"That was my initial thought, but it could be an illegal Animagus!" Hermione continued, "You told me before that you completed the transformation in the summer. You didn't register with the Ministry of Magic, did you?"
"Yes, but..."
"Evan, what is your Animagus form?" Hermione suddenly asked.
Since the last time she saw Evan's patronus on the Quidditch field, Hermione had been secretly investigating Animagi for a month.
So now, she had more knowledge on the subject than most wizards.
But she was still unsure of what Evan's Animagus form was.
Nor could he confirm any relationship between the Animagus form and the Patronus.
On the last day of summer vacation, she encountered a black cat. She always wondered if it was Evan. She had always wanted to ask him this question, and now she had finally gathered the courage to do so.
"My Animagus form is a black cat. You have seen it before..."
Evan froze! Hermione had indeed seen his Animagus before. Not only had she seen it, she had also hugged it. Not only had she hugged it, but also...
Obviously, Hermione remembered all of that. The atmosphere turned completely awkward.
Sirius was surprised to see that they were completely ignoring him. He silently took a few steps back, and Evan and Hermione barely responded.
The corners of his mouth lifted. This scene was very familiar to him; he had seen it countless times with James and Lily.
Love is the fastest way to lower one's intellectual quotient.
Black knew that Evan and Hermione were not going to deal with him in the near future.
He turned around silently and ran out of the Owl Post Office, quickly disappearing around the corner of the street.
"Evan, your Animagus, the black cat, that night..." said Hermione, biting her lip.
"Hermione, I wouldn't mind giving you a demonstration of my Animagus transformation, but it seems that dog has fled!" Sensing the discomfort of the situation, Evan said that to divert her attention.
"What?" Hermione snapped out of it and realized that the big black dog had disappeared. She said anxiously, "Oh no, Evan! That big black dog could be Sirius Black; we should inform Professor McGonagall of this."
"Relax, Hermione, there is no evidence that the stray dog was an Animagus. It's just your hunch."
"We can't take that risk. If it is Sirius Black, then this is probably how he could get into the castle. The teachers surely don't know that Black is an Animagus, so they won't be prepared for this." Hermione said seriously, "We must report this matter to the professor. It's very important."
Indeed, it was truly important.
Evan's mouth formed a bitter smile; if she had waited just one more day, she could have resolved the whole issue.
Unbeknownst to him, Black could have gone wherever he pleased; he could have even gone to Minister Cornelius Fudge's office without being noticed.
Who could have thought this would happen at the last moment?
If Hermione informed the teachers, forget entering Gryffindor Tower to catch Peter; even getting close to the castle would be a huge hassle.
Knowing Snape, Evan was sure he wouldn't even sleep at night, and he would even go to the forest before dawn to catch Black if he ever found out his Animagus form.
He should try to stop Hermione, but he also didn't want to lie to her.
Lies will be uncovered sooner or later. Regardless of the good intentions behind them, they will harm and cause irreparable divisions between the two.
Especially, considering that Hermione had discovered that the black cat she met on the last night of summer vacation was his Animagus form, Evan felt it was better to be honest.
Perhaps he should consider telling Hermione everything about his plan, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. Surely she would believe him.
In this case, he would gain another ally, and his chances of catching Scabbers would be even greater.